Watch: Charles Barkley starts ‘Let’s Go Mavs’ chant outside Chase Center before Warriors-Mavericks
Charles Barkley hasn't been shy about hating on San Francisco.
It’s no secret that Charles Barkley is not a fan of San Francisco and the Bay Area.
But as the Warriors and Mavericks start up the Western Conference finals at the Chase Center, Barkley is leaning into being a heel and taken to antagonizing Warriors fans outside the arena.
Before Barkley and the Inside The NBA crew on TNT started their pregame show, Barkley started a “Let’s Go Mavs” chant from the pregame show stage.
"Let's go Mavs!"
Chuck had a message for the fans in San Francisco
pic.twitter.com/MJDSL1MwxW
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 19, 2022
Warriors fans immediately responded with a chorus of boos. But the boos only made Barkley’s smile grow, knowing he had elicited strong emotions from Golden State fans.
Barkley added a second “Let’s Go Mavs” during the pregame show, about 30 minutes before the scheduled tip.
Barkley never played for Dallas in his Hall of Fame career, and he even was rooting against the Mavericks in the last round when they faced the Suns, one of Barkley’s former teams.
To the Round Mound of Rebound, the hierarchy in the Western Conference might as well be ABW: Anybody But the Warriors. And after the Mavericks’ Game 7 win in Phoenix, Barkley lamented that the TNT crew would travel to the Bay Area.
“We’re going to hell — I mean, San Francisco,” Barkley said. Asked to elaborate by Ernie Johnson, Barkley said he “hates” San Francisco and added that he’s “never had fun there.”
"We are going to hell, I mean San Francisco"
Chuck is not a fan of the City by the Bay. pic.twitter.com/v9HWVoHegU
— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) May 16, 2022
Barkley has also been a prominent doubter of Golden State for the entire Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green era, famously decrying the overwhelming reliance on 3-point shooting and the emergence of “jump-shooting” teams.
Clearly, there’s no love lost between Barkley, Warriors fans and the Bay Area.
But if the Warriors have their way, Golden State fans will get to watch Barkley eat his words and praise the team. And that might be must-see TV.