Charles Barkley likes physical play during the NBA playoffs, but after seeing Luka Dončić get taken out, he drew a line between physical and dirty.
Dončić helped the Los Angeles Lakers even up their first round playoff series with a 94-85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night. But about midway through the fourth quarter, Dončić was part of a reckless play that Barkley believes could have left the Lakers superstar injured.
On the play, Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels fell to the floor while seemingly attempting to sell a foul on Dončić after making a 12-foot jumper. As Dončić tried to then step over him, their legs became entangled and McDaniels took the Lakers superstar to the floor with him.
“That’s a dirty play right there!” Barkley said immediately while seeing a highlight of the incident on Inside the NBA. “When you leg somebody, whip somebody like that, that’s a dirty play!”
Shaquille O’Neal quickly pushed back on Barkley being quick to dub the play dirty, urging his NBA on TNT co-analyst to “stop crying.”
“I’m not crying,” Barkley insisted. “I never played dirty. I’ll hit somebody, but that was just dirty…you could have did something wrong with his leg. I don’t like that play at all.”
Ernie Johnson revisited the play a few minutes later, asking Shaq to clarify whether he thought there was anything to the way McDaniels knocked Dončić to the floor with his legs.
“There probably was,” O’Neal admitted. “But hey, this is the playoffs.”
His “this is the playoffs” defense wasn’t enough of an excuse for Barkley, who maintained the play was dirty while calling for McDaniels to be fined.
“You just can’t do this right here,” Barkley continued. “You can’t do that. That’s a leg whip…I don’t think he should get suspended. It should be a fine. I wouldn’t suspend him, but it was a dirty play.”
McDaniels tripping Dončić certainly seemed intentional, which makes the play dirty. But Dončić didn’t suffer any injuries on the play. If he did, there would undoubtedly be more people siding with Barkley in calling for McDaniels to face some sort of punishment. Regardless of whether the NBA takes action, Dončić and the Lakers won’t forget about the incident, particularly as tensions increase throughout this series.