Charles Barkley Fires Back At Nuggets’ Michael Malone Over Sweep Prediction

Charles Barkley had some words for Denver's Michael Malone and the way he chose to inspire his team after falling behind 2-0 against the Timberwolves

The Denver Nuggets were up against the ropes after losing the first two games of their series with the Minnesota Timberwolves. But then they went on the road and evened things up with two impressive wins and are now back to looking like the defending champs heading into Tuesday night's pivotal Game 5.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Game 3 that he used some words from national pundits like Charles Barkley, who said the Nuggets were done and would get swept by the Timberwolves, to fire up his team when things looked bleak after falling behind 2-0 in the series.

Barkley didn't seem to like what he heard from Malone about that form of inspiration, and he went off on the coach during a rant on Monday night's Inside the NBA:

“Dude, we get paid to give an opinion. If you watched those first two games, you didn’t think Denver was going to win.”

Chuck on Michael Malone using an edit of critics to motivate Denver ahead of Game 3 https://t.co/qrN7zFls65 pic.twitter.com/siKtmQmDYQ

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 14, 2024

Game 5 should be a fun one in Denver.