Charles Barkley Puts $100,000 on Blazers to Win the West

TNT analyst Charles Barkley has again hyped the Portland Trail Blazers’ chances of making a deep playoff run, but this time he’s putting his money where his mouth is.

Over the past few years, Barkley has become an unabashed Blazer fan, regularly surprising viewers and his fellow TNT panelists when sharing his elevated view of the team.

But in his most vehement show of support, Barkley has told the world, and most likely his bookie, he wants to drop $100,000 on Portland to win the Western Conference — before they’ve even played a second of the 2020-21 season.

“This is my first bet”

“I want $100,000 on the Portland Trail Blazers to win the west, get that done tomorrow, $100,000 on the Portland Trail Blazers to make it to the Finals.”

This is not the first time Barkley has preached his belief in the Blazers.

In July this year, just before teams tipped off in the Orlando Bubble, Barkley claimed the Blazers were a “sleeper title contender”.

In March last year, Barkley also said Portland were going to the Finals — two months before the team made the 2019 Western Conference Finals.