The Kansas Jayhawks made history on Monday evening, and not only because they won the 2022 national championship with a 72-69 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels. Kansas trailed by 15 points after 20 minutes, one of the five largest halftime deficits in title game history, and the Jayhawks set a new standard for comebacks on the biggest stage in the world of college basketball. It wasn’t always a smooth ride, as evidenced by several drama-filled moments, but that did not stop Charles Barkley from leaning on a pre-game guarantee to fuel a post-game celebration.
In short, Barkley guaranteed a Kansas victory on Saturday night after the title game matchup was set, much in the way he does on a regular basis during Inside The NBA telecasts on TNT, and that guarantee was largely directed to his colleague, Kenny Smith. As a famous North Carolina alum, Smith likely did not take kindly to Barkley being on the opposite side but, in on-brand fashion, that did not stop Barkley from letting Smith have it at the end of a wild evening in New Orleans.
Chuck guaranteed Kansas to win and let @TheJetOnTNT hear it
@MarchMadnessMBB pic.twitter.com/TD3Ppx9XxF
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 5, 2022
One would imagine that Barkley can get away with this in a way that few can and, of course, Smith is a pro who deals with this kind of thing regularly. Still, this one probably stung at least a little bit for Smith given the way that the game unfolded, and this all took place in front of the watchful eye of about 70,000 people in the Caesars Superdome. Alas, this is part of the fun when watching two members of the greatest sports studio show of all-time, and Barkley is going to be Barkley at all times.
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