Golden State Warriors News: Legend Charles Barkley 'Guarantees' Warriors Will Not Defend Title
NBA legend Charles Barkley has always been skeptical about the Golden State Warriors successfully defending their title this season.
During his appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert in early March (as reported by The Washington Post), "Sir Charles" already made his prediction on what he thinks would be the fate of the current league-leading team after the season.
"They have a terrific team. They've been great for the NBA. I'm telling you right now: They're not gonna win the championship this year," Barkley said.
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Back then, Golden State held a 56-6 win-loss slate, and the mere idea of breaking, let alone matching the record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team of 72-10 was not in the conversation.
The Warriors have officially toppled the Bulls' record by defeating the Memphis Grizzlies with a score of 125-104. They end the season with a win-loss slate of 73-9.
Yet, despite their achievement of this rare feat, Barkley still believes Steve Kerr and his wards would not be able to make a repeat of last year's title run.
"I'm telling you right now, I'm guaranteeing the Warriors will not win the world championship," Barkley said on NBA on TNT.
The Warriors won the 2015 NBA championship by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers within six games. Big man Andre Iguodala emerged as the Finals MVP for that year. But according to Barkley, Golden State's victory was not because of skills, rather, it was a product of smart coaching from Kerr.
"See, everybody acts like they won the championship shooting jump shots," Barkley said. "They actually did not. They won because LeBron got tired because Steve Kerr did a magnificent job of inserting Andre Iguodala to the starting line-up."
Back in December, Barkley also made claims that the 1995-96 Bulls team would easily run through the current Warriors team. Having zero belief in Golden State, the former Phoenix Suns stalwart even made a friendly wager, should the Warriors end up winning the title.
"If the Golden State Warriors win the championship this year, I would get on my knees and congratulate them," he said.
