Charles Barkley has such disdain for the New Orleans Pelicans that you’d think they played in San Antonio. But really, he took aim at the No. 7 seed in the West, who’s now down 3-0 in the Western Conferences first-round after a 105-85 drubbing at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
New Orleans, mind you, is arguably without its best player in Zion Williamson, who suffered a hamstring strain in the play-in tournament. But that doesn’t matter to Barkley, as the NBA on TNT analyst used Saturday’s postgame show to start planning an offseason vacation for Willie Green’s squad.
Shaquille O’Neal set up Barkley with a perfect alley-oop pass while jokingly needling him by asking where the Pelicans were going after their anticipated elimination from the playoffs.
“Galveston — that dirty a** water,” said Chuck. “We not gonna even send them to Cancun. We’re gonna send them to Galveston, where that dirty a** water wash up on the shore. and people think they at the beach. We ain’t gonna send y’all to Cancun…Y’all quit. Drive your a** to Galveston. C’mon man. They didn’t even try, man. We not getting them no plane ticket to the beach. We’re sending they a** to Galveston, Texas, right where that dirty water washed up on the beach. They can’t even get in no water.”
Shaq: I’m disappointed in New Orleans, where they going, Chuck?
Chuck: Galveston. That dirty-ass water. We’re not even gonna send them to Cancun. We’re gonna send them to Galveston where that dirty-ass water be washed up on the shore.pic.twitter.com/3Z6qNIIPLH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 27, 2024
Poor, Galveston.
The water around Galveston might look a little murky due to rivers like the Mississippi depositing sediment and currents swirling up sand from the seabed. And while Galveston might not have the crystal-clear turquoise water of some tropical paradises — like Cancun — it’s not necessarily “dirty” in the traditional sense.
But that’s not going to stop Chuck from getting his jokes off and taking another shot at a city in Texas that people love to poke fun at.
The NBA on TNT’s crew loves to rub salt in the wounds of teams on the brink of elimination with their signature “Gone Fishin'” bit. And while they playfully imagine teams jetting off to a tropical paradise, like Cancun, for some post-season R&R, Barkley doesn’t have enough respect for the Pelicans — and the city of Galveston, for that matter — to keep on the running joke.
So, as the Pelicans pack it in, Barkley is jokingly sending them to Galveston, of all places. Hopefully, they made sure to pack their baby oil.
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About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.