There has been no shortage of physicality as the OKC Thunder and San Antonio Spurs square off in this year’s Western Conference Finals. As far as Charles Barkley is concerned, though, the physicality on the Spurs’ main man isn’t as bad as people make it out to be.
Appearing on ESPN’s pre-game coverage Thursday night, Barkley downplayed the intensity of the defensive coverage on Victor Wembanyama in Game 2, which ended up in a 122-113 Thunder victory.
“You people at home and TV talking about they were physical with Wemby, man y’all need to stop it. I’ve been kissed harder…For you people thinking that’s physicality, y’all need to shut the hell up.”
Barkley’s take drew flak from netizens, with some fans going so far as to troll the Chuckster by evoking moments from his playing career.
“Yeah let’s not forget Charles gave that ref a hard ass kiss on the lips bout 10 years ago”
“lol watch an entire clip in the 90’s, defense was trash as hell you won’t believe it”
“I can’t watch this dude man. They grabbing and holding the man every play. Like what game he watching?”
“Does he know we can go back and watch his games?”
“That wasn’t physicality that was a guy grabbing someone’s arm on every play in front of the referee and it not being called”
Though the debate on the defending champions’ brand of defense rages on, Victor Wembanyama was nevertheless able to post monster numbers once again. The MVP finalist finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, four blocks, and one steal.
Only Wemby and his teammates can say for sure how bad the physical toll is, but they now find themselves in a unique position to grab an edge over the Thunder as Games 3 and 4 shift to San Antonio.
“This Is Hilarious”: Bill Simmons Comments on Isaiah Hartenstein’s Defensive Performance Against Victor Wembanyama in Game 2
One analyst who thought that the Thunder went too far with their physicality was Bill Simmons. Tuesday night, Simmons tweeted that OKC big man Isaiah Hartenstein was sending a clear message to both Victor Wembanyama and the Thunder coaching staff.
“I didn’t think Hartenstein was playable in this series – but if he’s gonna be allowed to maul and grab Wemby like this on every play he should play 48 minutes. This is hilarious.”
Down the stretch in Game 2, Hartenstein did a good job of putting a body on Wembanyama and denying him good looks in the shaded lane. When Game 3 rolls around, Wemby and the Spurs braintrust will likely have a response to this defensive coverage.
