The first round of this season’s NHL playoffs has had a little bit of everything. Good and bad, there’s been exciting plays, drama when it comes to officiating, physicality, controversial calls, and close games between bitter rivals. When it comes to some of the competition in the sports world that airs at the same time as the NHL playoffs, one former NBA great says the entertainment value isn’t even close.

During Sunday’s NBA broadcast of the Denver Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA on TNT host Ernie Johnson asked: “Is it just me or does this game need a Red Bull?” Barkley responded, “I was watching hockey. Not gonna lie this game is boring as hell.”

It’s not often you hear someone in the mainstream sports landscape advocate for the NHL over the NBA. It’s certainly rare to hear an NBA player give props to hockey as he’s covering his own sport and is paid to sell the game that he’s profited hundreds of millions of dollars off of. That said, Barkley isn’t like most people. He’s always called it like he sees it, and in this case, he was bored watching Dever and Minnesota play in a game that had no drama or excitement.

It could be a matter of just this particular series having little to write home about and a genuine lack of excitement. It could also be about the fact that most of the NBA’s playoff action has lacked true drama. Meanwhile, the NHL has offered up countless storylines for which the media coverage has done their best to market in an attempt to draw in more viewers.

Barkley likes the stir the pot and provides entertaining takes. It’s one of the reasons Warner Bros. Discovery has invested in a new show featuring Barkley and Gail King in a weekly hour-long discussion show that is about more than basketball. The show is called “King Charles” and it centers around the topics shaping our world, regardless of the industry.

Who knows, maybe he’ll talk more about hockey there, even if it’s unlikely.

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