Charles Barkley is a basketball legend and a terrific entertainer — and, as of late, not a half-bad golfer — but he doesn't always have the finest NBA analysis. But hey, that's part of the fun of it all!
If we only focused on incorrect predictions in sports, I (and everyone else in the industry) would be out of a job. You don't hear me talking about how I had the Knicks at the bottom of my power rankings for the 2020-21 season. Instead, you hear me bragging about how I knew Chris Paul to the Suns would have a bigger impact than most people predicted. You don't hear me recalling how I thought the Raptors' strong foundation and Nick Nurse's coaching would get them another easy playoff berth. Instead, you hear me gloating over my prediction that the Celtics would disappoint instead of contend at the top of the East. And the list goes on.
So instead of dwelling on the bad takes from the past year of analysis from the Round Mound of Rebound, let's look at one that turned out really well and wasn't the most obvious of predictions. As Reddit user jimbiz pointed out, Barkley was high on two teams prior to the season that not everyone had on their radar. What's more is that it was Barkley's first trademark "GUARANTEE!" of the whole year.
"The Hawks and the Wizards are going to make the playoffs — GUARANTEED!" Barkley said, drawing groans from the rest of the "Inside the NBA" cast of characters.
And sure, with the newly implemented play-in tournament, there's a good chance that a competent team will make the postseason. But neither of the two franchises Barkley called out were playoff teams in 2020, with the Wizards going 25-47 and the Hawks going 20-47 — the difference in games played can be attributed to the COVID-shortened regular season and the bubble appearance from Washington.
And he didn't make these predictions without any reason or logic behind them. The Hawks were one of the most active teams in the offseason, adding Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn, Solomon Hill and Tony Snell. That's not a small haul. Add in the draft acquisition of No. 6 overall pick Onyeka Okongwu and, most importantly, the return and team debut of Clint Capela, and you had a whole list of reasons to be excited. Chuck couldn't have felt too excited about his prediction, though, when the Hawks were 14-20 after the first two months of the season. But a coaching change and the return of injured stars helped to push Atlanta to a 27-11 record the rest of the way and the No. 5 seed in the East.
As for the Wizards, Chuck's prediction isn't quite there yet. In a typical year, Washington would be entrenched in the postseason as the No. 8 seed as the No. 8 seed with a 34-38 record, one that was surely achieved thanks to the big-time acquisition of Russell Westbrook and continued offensive dominance from Bradley Beal. However, they'll have to either beat the Boston Celtics in the first play-in game or, if that doesn't happen, beat the winner of the Pacers-Hornets play-in game to officially become a playoff team. With Jaylen Brown out and the Celtics looking as uneasy as ever, though, don't be surprised if the Wizards get into the postseason with relative ease, even without Beal at full health.
And there you have it. Barkley was on to something, and though we may have laughed at the time, the Hall of Famer is the one that's laughing now.