Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was slammed by NBA fans on Thursday night for his All-Star reserve picks.
The NBA released the starting lineups for next month’s All-Star Game, with the remaining 14 players to be revealed on January 30.
And fans strongly disagreed with Barkley’s bench picks after he shared them on ‘Inside the NBA.’
‘This is an embarrassment man, Jalen Green as an all star should be a fireable offense,’ one fan said on X, referencing the Houston player with a field goal percentage of 43.2 percent.
‘[It’s] actually hilarious that they’re analysts and don’t even know simple ball knowledge,’ another added.
‘He doesn’t watch basketball anymore,’ a third said of Barkley.
And a fourth said, ‘Giannis as a reserve he lucky people love his jokes man.’
Charles Barkley was slammed by NBA fans for his All-Star reserve picks on Thursday
Barkley and his TNT colleagues did concur on three players in the Eastern Conference
But the Hall of Famer chose to exclude Anthony Edwards and James Harden in the West
In the Eastern Conference, he was somewhat in agreement with TNT colleagues Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, as all three picked Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland and Trae Young to make the game.
However, Barkley shockingly named MVP contender Giannis Antetokounmpo – who is second in the league with 31.3 points per game – as a reserve rather than a starter.
Barkley also nominated the Heat’s big man Bam Adebayo, who is shooting a career-worst 45.4 percent from the field, while he was the only ‘Inside’ panelist to select Indiana’s Pascal Siakam.
In the West, Barkley and his colleagues agreed on just one player, Victor Wembanyama, as a reserve.
Notably, Barkley did not select Minnesota star Anthony Edwards or the Thunder’s Jalen Williams (which O’Neal and Smith both did), while standing alone in picking Domantas Sabonis, Norman Powell and Jalen Green.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was named as a reserve by Barkley despite averaging 31.1 points
Barkley was also the only one of the three panelists to leave James Harden off of his ballot.
Regardless, Barkley won’t have a say in picking the All-Star reserves, as that honor is solely determined by the 30 head coaches in the league.
For the starters, fan voting accounts for 50 percent of the decision while media and players’ votes are each weighed at 25 percent.
Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic were named as starters for the West, while Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Antetokounmpo and Karl-Anthony Towns will start for the East.
This year’s All-Star Game will be at the Chase Center in San Francisco on February 16.
