Charles Barkley did little to hide his frustration with “clowns on TV” who’ve created a narrative that the Oklahoma City Thunder are playing “dirty” against San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
Throughout the Western Conference Finals, fans and pundits alike have argued that theThunder— namely center Isaiah Hartenstein — are bending the rules while guardingWembanyama. Following hishistoric 41-point outburst in Game 1, Oklahoma City defenders have begun grabbing, pushing, and pressuring the Frenchman in an effort to slow him down in the paint.
The physical style of play has largely gone unchecked by the referees, prompting many around the NBA to question the officiating. NBC Sports’ Reggie Miller noted during a broadcast: “[Hartenstein is] using all of his body weight. He’s grabbing him, pushing him, and constantly trying to wear him down.”
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Bill Simmons similarly called out the officials for not blowing the whistle, writing on X: “I thought Hartenstein couldn’t play in this series. But if they’re letting him grab and hit Wemby on every possession, then he should play all 48 minutes.”
On Saturday’s edition of ‘Inside the NBA,’ Barkley couldn’t help but poke fun at the overall discourse surrounding Wembanyama and the Thunder’s defense against him.
“I think we need to all pray for Wemby, because he can’t play too many minutes, they’re gonna kill him out there,” he said.
Once Kenny Smith questioned if his colleague was joking, Barkley replied: “Man I am damn sure joking, because you guys — these people — man they pissing me off. I’m watching the whole game, they ain’t playing dirty.
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“These are some of the softest fouls I've ever seen in my life. You've got these clowns on TV talking about, 'Oh, they're going to hurt poor Wemby.' I was like, ‘Hurt him? You're kidding, man.’ It drives me crazy watching these shows."
Barkley expressed a similar sentiment following the Thunder’s 122-113 victory over the Spurs in Game 2 of the series, adding: “All of you at home and on TV saying they were too physical with Wemby need to stop. I’ve had kisses harder than those contacts.
“Sure, he was bodying him up, but it wasn’t anything excessive. No hard shots, no dirty fouls. If you think that’s physical, then you’re overreacting.”
Wembanyama, to his credit, is hardly letting the Thunder’s divisive approach throw him off his game.
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In Game 4, the 22-year-old scored a game-high 33 points — eight of which came at the free-throw line — along with eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks en route to propelling the Spurs to a 103-82 win that tied up the series at two apiece.
Assessing his performance during a postgame press conference, Wembanyama told reporters: “We all have high standards, and I know I have a lot of responsibilities, but I’m here for it.
“Yeah, it was better today. It wasn’t perfect. But, you know, all of us, I’m talking about the whole organization, so we’re going to have to do things that we didn’t sign up for.”
