When Charles Barkley was asked to offer his first-half takeaways from Friday night’s NCAA Tournament Game between No. 6 Illinois and No. 11 Xavier, he deferred. You might wonder why the typically outspoken Barkley would do this, but his reasoning was sound — he wasn’t watching. The halftime show began conventionally enough with Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, and Barkley. “Biggest takeaway from the first half,” Johnson prompted, directing the question at Barkley. That’s when things spiraled out of control.
“Well,” Barkley said, “I think — that’s a good question.” Laughter erupted from Smith and Kellogg, with Smith pointing out the obvious, “That’s his job.” Johnson remarked, “It kinda came out of left field,” while Smith followed up with, “Did you expect Ernie not to ask you anything?”
Barkley responded, “You know the game I’m watching. I’m watching Bryant against MSU. You know Ernie, I’m not gonna lie. I was paying attention to the Bryant score. So get after Clark or Kenneth please.” Johnson couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “That’s a first. ‘I wasn’t watching.’ That’s a first.” Kellogg added, “He’s a man of many firsts, by the way.” At that moment, Barkley was focused on a potential 15 vs. 2 upset as Michigan State struggled against Bryant in the first half. Barkley deserves credit for not pretending to analyze a game he wasn’t truly following.
