This week’s edition of Inside the NBA featured not only the announcement of this year’s All-Star starters but also saw Charles Barkley and Co. make their picks for the All-Star reserves, which will be revealed the next time they are on air.

While media votes for All-Star starters get a 25 percent weight in the NBA, the league’s 30 head coaches are the only voters for reserves. That means the crew’s votes were primarily for entertainment’s sake on the broadcast. And of the Inside panel, only host Ernie Johnson has an actual media vote for All-Star and award recognition.

So while Charles Barkley won’t impact anyone’s trophy room or contract bonuses directly, his All-Star picks lit up the internet on Thursday night. The beloved NBA analyst tested fans’ love in a big way with his selections in both the Eastern and Western Conferences.

how is Charles Barkley real pic.twitter.com/eyCqHrMkkg

— A ✩ (@adryanashton) January 24, 2025

Start with Miami’s Bam Adebayo, having the worst season of his career by a mile for a sub-.500 Heat team. Good enough for Barkley!

And not only did Barkley select Adebayo in spite of his poor season so far, he pushed Adebayo ahead of teammate Tyler Herro, who is in the middle of a breakout season and leading the Heat in scoring, assists and three-point shooting.

Beyond Herro, other analysts around the NBA would place players like Cleveland’s Evan Mobley or Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard ahead of Adebayo.

No one on TNT’s Inside the NBA had Tyler Herro as a reserve.

Charles Barkley had Bam Adebayo as a reserve. #HeatNation

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) January 24, 2025

Out West, Barkley shocked viewers with two reserve guards who almost nobody (including his fellow Inside panelists) believes to be in contention for an All-Star spot.

Those would be Clippers vet Norman Powell and Houston’s Jalen Green.

Not only did Barkley slot Green ahead of his superior teammate Alperen Sengun, he also placed Green ahead of a slew of superior players on winning teams.

The same is true for Los Angeles, where Barkley voted for Powell, who is having a career-best season at 31. All fine and good, but somehow Powell came in ahead of teammate James Harden, who handles significantly more responsibility for the Clippers and has played five more games.

Perhaps most egregious of all, Barkley put both players in over Anthony Edwards, who is eighth in the NBA in scoring and is doubling or tripling his teammates in most all-in-one advanced statistics, such as Box Plus-Minus.

That’s not to mention everyone from OKC’s Jalen Williams to Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr. to trusty vets like LeBron James or Devin Booker.

Charles Barkley left Anthony Edwards off his All-Star list entirely

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— Timberwolves Muse (@Wolvesmuse) January 24, 2025

Reasonable minds can differ when picking 12 players out of hundreds to represent the best of each conference. It’s not as if Barkley picked benchwarmers for his squad.

But Charles Barkley is more than a fair target when, in the same show in which he made these picks, he and Shaquille O’Neal criticized media voters for not watching enough games to make informed picks.

Yes, really.