Charles Barkley Gives Rare Praise To Miami Heat By Comparing Them To Oklahoma City Thunder

Shandel Richardson | Apr 27, 2024

Apr 24, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) has his team ahead against the New Orleans Pelicans - Alonzo Adams/USA TODAY Sports / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

TNT analyst Charles Barkely often criticized the Miami Heat over the years.

It has snowballed since starting during the LeBron James era from 2010-2014. Barkley has taken shots at the Heat at every chance.

On Saturday, though, he flipped the script.

While discussing the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, Barkley compared them to the Heat. At the time, the Thunder were holding a double-digit lead at halftime against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Thunder are up 2-0 in the series.

Barkley said the Pelicans were playing like the Heat, who have made the NBA Finals twice since 2020. He also threw in the San Antonio Spurs teams that were at their peak during the 2000s and 2010s under coach Gregg Popovich.

"We're not going to play a bad team and play down [to the competition].," Barkley said during the halftime broadcast. "The Miami Heat, to me, are the best team to ever do that since the Spurs with Pop. Now, it's this Oklahoma City team. They play at the same speed all the time. You're going to have raise your level to beat them." 

It was quite the turnaround for Barkley when opining on the Heat.

While the compliment was nice, the Heat tend to ignore what is said about them by outsiders. They are more focused on tonight's Game 3 against the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

After losing big in Game 1, the Heat won Game 2 behind big performances from Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. A Heat win tonight would once again put the pressure on the Celtics in what has become one of the league's top postseason rivalries. They have met in the playoffs four of the last five years.