The one and only Charles Barkley didn't hold back on the Charlotte Hornets.
NBA legend Charles Barkley never minces words and he surprisingly had nice things to say about the Charlotte Hornets.
After the Hornets beat the Washington Wizards to improve to 18-28, Barkley said on Inside the NBA that Charlotte will make the play-in tournament.
The Hornets are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings. They have to be at least the 10th seed to make the NBA play-in tournament.
Charlotte is 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th spot in the East. It will be fascinating to see if the Hornets make Barkley's prediction come to fruition.
There have been rumors that the Hornets would trade Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball at the 2026 NBA trade deadline. Both players, though, have made it clear that they don't want to get traded.
Charlotte hasn't been to the playoffs since 2016. Ball and Bridges have never been to the playoffs. They made the NBA play-in tournament in 2022.
As of this writing, the Hornets are 18th in the NBA in points per game, 16th in points per game allowed, ninth in offensive rating, 21st in defensive rating and 15th in net rating.
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