Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal are at it again. This time, they had differing positions regarding the Atlanta Hawks.
Chuck wasn't having it when Shaq said the Hawks are just a few pieces away from being a legitimate contender. The Hawks lost their game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, which had the two frenemies debating as always (via Hoop Central).
https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1382878695883374593
Sheesh, Chuck.
To Shaq's point, it does seem that the Hawks are slowly finding ways to make their revamped roster work. They've been on a nice run in the past few weeks, winning 16 of their last 22 outings. Their 120-109 loss against the Bucks in Giannis Antetokounmpo's return was just their second loss in nine games, which shows they're definitely finding their groove in this crucial stretch of the season.
The Hawks do have a solid core led by Trae Young with other key pieces like John Collins and Clint Capela. They also have highly serviceable players in Kevin Huerter, De'Andre Hunter, Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Lou Williams. The competitive roster has definitely helped the Hawks cement a spot in the Eastern Conference's upper echelon.
That being said, Barkley isn't completely wrong. One can argue that the Hawks' current position suggests they're definitely building something, but as long as they don't have legitimate postseason success, it'll be hard to give them merit.
With a couple of weeks left before the regular season ends, it's undeniable that the Hawks are peaking at the right time and it's now up to them to shut haters up, including Charles Barkley. And when that happens, Shaquille O'Neal will surely be laughing.
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