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Charles Barkley Mocked as Stanley Cup Prediction Backfires

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Apr 25, 2025 6:04 AM ET

Charles Barkley’s Stanley Cup winner prediction is already in trouble, and Ernie Johnson didn’t waste any time calling it out after Barkley tried to reverse course.

During Thursday’s edition of NBA on TNT, Johnson brought up Barkley’s pick of the Edmonton Oilers to win the Cup after the team fell behind 2–0 to the Los Angeles Kings in their first-round playoff series.

“Let me tell you something, the Kings are spanking the Oilers,” Barkley said mid-show, drawing laughter from the desk.

“And who did you pick to win it all?” Johnson asked.

“The Oilers will get spanked,” Barkley admitted.

The exchange came just one week after Barkley revealed his full “Guaranteed Bracket” live on NHL on TNT, predicting an all-Canadian final between Edmonton and Toronto, and crowning the Oilers as champions.

With Barkley changing his view of the Oilers' outlook for the playoffs, the situation gave Johnson a chance to mock his co-host.

“They’re going to come back (to the Stanley Cup Final) and win it this year,” Barkley said Friday. “Same scenario.”

Charles Barkley has revealed his GUAR-AN-TEED #StanleyCupPlayoffs bracket and he's got some Canadian teams going on a deep run pic.twitter.com/FTCgDHlzG4
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 20, 2025

Instead, the Oilers find themselves in a 2-0 hole after Wednesday night’s 6-2 loss to the Kings in Game 2.

Anze Kopitar led the way with four points, Adrian Kempe scored twice and assisted two more goals, and Los Angeles chased Stuart Skinner until the Oilers decided to pull him.

The Kings have now scored 12 goals across the first two games. Barkley’s Cup pick, meanwhile, has conceded those 12 while scoring seven to no avail.

The Oilers, who represented the Western Conference in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, will try to avoid a 3–0 deficit in the fourth consecutive first-round series against the Kings.

Games 3 and 4 shift to Edmonton, with the first one scheduled for Friday night.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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