“They act like we pulled it out our a**”: Charles Barkley slams “annoying” Michael Malone for calling out Nuggets detractors
Charles Barkley wasn't a fan of Michael Malone's strategy to use clips from "talking heads," including him, to fuel the Nuggets' comeback against the Timberwolves. Many, including Barkley, had ruled Denver's chances of winning the conference semis series after the T'Wolves outplayed Malone's team in the first two games on the road.
The Nuggets looked disjointed and rattled for the first time since their 2022 playoffs first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors. The lopsided nature of the Timberwolves' 106-80 win made them seem like the playoffs' best team. However, the Nuggets showed their championship mettle to return Minnesota the favor and bag two wins in their den to level the series.
While compiling clips of critics seemed to reignite the Nuggets, Barkley wasn't feeling Malone's tactics and made his thoughts known on Monday's edition of "Inside The NBA."
"That's really interesting that he [Malone] said that," Charles Barkley said. "Dude, we get paid to give an opinion. If you watched those first two games, you didn't think Denver was going to win. They act like we pulled it out our a** or something or just made it up."
"Now Denver's playing great. And he won't act like he played a tape. Man, I don't care. You know, I've always liked Michael Malone, I really liked his dad [Brendan]. But he annoys me cause' he thinks like he won a championship, he ain't the greatest thing since sliced bread."
Charles Barkley's prediction was off as he predicted the Timberwolves to sweep the Nuggets. He didn't believe in them until those two wins and made that clear, too. However, Barkley credited the Nuggets for tying the series and swinging the momentum, shouting out three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray for playing better in Games 3 and 4.
Michael Malone clarified Charles Barkley and other critics weren't wrong about Nuggets' assessment
Charles Barkley fired away at Michael Malone, saying the prediction wasn't wrong as the Nuggets had been outplayed. However, Malone said the same thing when he revealed showing an edit to his players about the national media calling the curtains on Denver's repeat chances.
"Not that they were wrong, this is not a shot on those people because after the first two games, [I] probably would have said the same thing," Malone said.
Malone's move wasn't solely responsible for the Nuggets' fightback but seemingly influenced the players' mentality. Denver's body language didn't seem encouraging after the first two games.
The Nuggets seemed unwilling to match the Timberwolves' physicality or regroup their focus after rough stretches. Jamal Murray throwing a towel and a heat pack in Game 2 amid a 3 of 18 shooting performance summed up the Nuggets' frustration.
There was a drastic change in how the Nuggets asserted themselves in Minnesota during Games 3 and 4, which resulted in back-to-back blowout wins, giving them all the momentum they required to stay in this series and potentially regain control.