Even the biggest hoop head should be able to admit the Stanley Cup playoffs have been more exciting to watch than the NBA playoffs.
The Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins look destined for a seven-game series after the Preds’ win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night, while the much-anticipated NBA Finals “three-match” between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers has been rather one-sided through two games with the Warriors twice rolling to relatively easy wins.
The NBA playoffs have lacked parity the entire spring, as evidenced by the two teams meeting in the NBA Finals winning 24 of their 25 combined games leading up to the Finals.
That’s a long way of saying it shouldn’t be entirely surprising when someone says the NHL playoffs have outperformed the NBA playoffs, which is exactly what basketball Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley said Monday night on the NBC intermission show during Game 4 of the Cup Final.
He shared a similar opinion on the Sportsnet telecast.
Of course, it’s not even the first time this spring Barkley has sided with the hockey playoffs. He said basically the same thing last month, exclaiming “Thank God for the NHL playoffs,” and followed that up a few weeks later when he said he wanted to leave Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals in Boston to go watch the end of a hockey game.
Thumbnail photo via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports Images
