Charles Barkley Roasts Kenny Smith For Disrespecting Celtics And Pacers: 'One Of The Dumbest Things I've Ever Heard'

Barkley, despite not countering Smith's points with a long explanation of his own, was right to criticize Smith. Players like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton have proven that they are stars in their own right, and should have every chance at proving that they can be the face of the NBA. Especially Tatum, who has been in the NBA for 7 years now, and has been one of the most consistent players in the league during his time.

Jayson Tatum has played really well in the playoffs, averaging 25.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. The same goes for Tyrese Haliburton, who averaged 19.3 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.9 rebounds. Those numbers justify their presence in the conversation for the face of the NBA.

It is far too early to try and determine the face of the NBA right now anyway. There are a lot of great young stars in the league, but the older superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant still play at a high level and attract a great deal of attention from the NBA audience.

Charles Barkley Changed His Pick To Win The Western Conference Finals

During the preview of Game 1, Charles Barkley explained which players are going to be the most important in this series. While explaining why Naz Reid and Karl-Anthony Towns need to step up for the Timberwolves, Barkley noted that he wanted to change his pick from the Timberwolves to the Mavericks to win the Western Conference Finals. Barkley added that the Mavs had a more favorable match-up for them to win the series.

Charles Barkley: “To me, it's (the most important player) always Karl-Anthony Towns but it's going to have to be Karl-Anthony Towns when he stops shooting threes, posts up, and uses the size advantage. To me, it’s really going to be Naz Reid. Because I think the Timberwolves are going to have to go small to play against the Mavs. Kyrie and Luka, they’re going to be downhill and it’s going to be up to the smaller guys on the Mavs to step up and make threes. For me, it’s going to be Naz Reid and Karl. Karl has to force his will upon those smaller Mavs, and Naz Reid is going to have to play a lot of minutes."

"Rudy Gobert is a terrific defensive player, but they’re not going to, and the Cavs don’t have a guy they go to in the post. So it’s going to be up to them to go small and see how they can stop the Mavs three-point shooters… I watched tape the last couple of days. I’m changing my pick, I’m going with the Mavs to win this series… I got caught up in the moment after the game because the Wolves were great against Denver. But I think this is a game of match-ups, and I’m switching my pick to the Mavs.”

Charles Barkley made some excellent points when talking about why he picked the Mavericks over the Timberwolves. And many of the match-up issues he pointed out turned out to be true during Game 1, where the Mavericks were able to grind out a crucial win away from home.

Luka Doncic was sensational, scoring 33 points with 8 assists and 6 rebounds to help the Mavs win the game. Docic's performance allowed him to become the all-time points-per-game leader in the Western Conference Finals.

Kyrie Irving was right behind him with 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. After the game, Luka Doncic acknowledged the importance of Irving's performance and credited him for the win.

Irving spoke after the game about Anthony Edwards saying he wanted to guard him, noting that Edwards' words motivated him to play better and show him that he is still one of the best offensive players in the NBA.

The Timberwolves will look to bounce back in Game 2. Head coach Chris Finch slammed his team's performance after the game. The Timberwolves must-win Game 2 to give themselves a strong chance to win the series and head to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.