Barkley Slams Pelicans, Sends them to Galveston After Playoff Loss

Charles Barkley heavily criticized the New Orleans Pelicans during their recent playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In Saturday’s game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams all scored over 20 points as Oklahoma City emerged victorious with a scoreline of 106-85. This series win marks the first time since their NBA Finals appearance in 2016 that the Thunder have won a playoff series. Barkley, speaking on TNT, went further than just criticizing the Pelicans’ performance during this particular game; he claimed they were headed for Galveston, Texas instead of Cancun due to how poorly they played throughout their loss in the series against Oklahoma City. Shaq burst out laughing at Barkley’s suggestion that “dirty water” would be washing up on shore when they arrived there. The Basketball Hall of Famer went as far as saying that because the Pelicans didn’t even try, they wouldn’t receive a plane ticket to Cancun; instead, he suggested sending them to Galveston where the dirty water washes onto the beach. Oklahoma City will now face either the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks in their next series after defeating New Orleans. The Mavs currently lead that particular matchup 2-1.