Charles Barkley Aims to Dig into Donald Trump as He Compares NBA All-Star Fan Vote to Election

NBA Hall of Famer Charley Barkley has asserted that basketball fans should no longer account for 50 percent of the NBA All-Star Game votes, likening it to a popular vote presidential election.

The TNT analyst expressed his opinion on Thursday’s ‘Inside the NBA’ following the revelation of the starting five for both the Western and Eastern Conferences. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named captains of the annual game on February 19 in Utah.

“We let the fans vote…look what happened the last time they voted for president,” Barkley said before an awkward pause reigned in the TNT studio for a brief second.

“Okay, hello,” said the show’s host, Adam Lefkoe, who was filling in for Earnie Johnson. Other pundits on the panel, Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith and Shaquille O’Neal were left speechless.

“I don’t mean the old man,” the former Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets forward clarified in a hint to Donald Trump.

‘I’m sorry president [Joe] Biden.

Headlines for this year’s edition were traditionally selected by a combination of three different votes: fan voting was 50 percent, media voting was 25 percent, and NBA player voting was the final 25 percent.

A change at this year’s All-Star Game is the final decision on which players will be chosen to start, even though the traditional announcement comes a little less than a month before the game.

Team captains James and Antetokounmpo will make their picks in a live televised pregame segment shortly before the start of the contest in Salt Lake City.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association announced the format change Tuesday night, two days before Thursday’s revelations.