Charles Barkley: ‘I would be shocked’ if C’s don’t win championship originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
At this point, it’s safe to say anything less than Banner 18 would be a massive disappointment for the 2023-24 Boston Celtics.
The C’s own the NBA’s best record (48-13) and recently put together an 11-game win streak in which they dominated their opponents. They’ve been the odds-on favorite to win the 2024 NBA championship since the start of the campaign and that’s likely to continue for as long as they’re in contention.
Thursday marked a potential NBA Finals preview between the Celtics and defending champion Denver Nuggets. Before the marquee matchup, TNT’s Charles Barkley emphasized that anything less than a title would be a failure for Boston.
“If they don’t win the championship this year, it would be a total gag job,” Barkley said of the Celtics on TNT’s pregame show. “Because they’ve got everything.”
Host Ernie Johnson countered Barkley’s point by identifying Boston’s bench as a weakness.
“Dude, come on. You’ve got (Jayson) Tatum, (Jaylen) Brown, Jrue Holiday — Ernie, your rotation is gonna shrink during the playoffs so your bench is not as important as you think it is,” Barkley responded. “They’ve got everything. You’ve got Brown and Tatum, you’ve got two of the best 10 players in the league probably. You’ve got a great leader in Jrue Holiday. You’ve got probably the best sixth man, even though he’s a starter — I’m talking about (Kristaps) Porzingis, I’m not even counting Derrick White.
“Porzingis is probably the best guy who’s not a number one or two guy on the team in the NBA. And then you can throw Derrick White in there too. I would be shocked if the Celtics don’t win.”
“If [the Celtics] don’t win a championship this year it would be a total gag job because they’ve got everything. … I would be shocked if the Celtics don’t win.”
Chuck on the 2024 Boston Celtics 👀 pic.twitter.com/j2ykDrcmYQ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 8, 2024
Barkley has a knack for controversial takes, but this isn’t one of them. The 2023-24 Celtics have been the franchise’s best team since the 2007-08 championship…
..
