Chuck the All-Star Game? Barkley Makes Promise For Knicks' Jalen Brunson

Charles Barkley has threatened to ditch the 2024 NBA All-Star Game if New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is not invited.

If Jalen Brunson isn't among the Eastern Conference All-Stars come Feb. 18, Charles Barkley is chucking his duties.

The Hall-of-Famer and TNT analyst attached his All-Star fate to that of Brunson, the New York Knicks point guard kept off the list of Eastern Conference starters for the 2024 exhibition in Indianapolis. While Brunson will presumably be included among the All-Star reserves (set to be unveiled next week), Barkley is prepared to make a statement if he isn't.

"I’ll tell you what: if he ain’t going, Chuck ain’t going,” Barkley vowed. 

Contractual obligations may force Barkley's hand either way, as the game will be broadcast by TNT for the 22nd consecutive season. But Barkley remains in awe of Brunson, placing the former Dallas Mavericks in rare metropolitan air.

"He made the New York Knicks relevant for the first time since Patrick Ewing," Barkley declared. "Plain and simple."

Brunson was already one of the biggest snubs from last year's exhibition in Salt Lake City but keeping him out of the next tilt could spark investigations: the point guard's second season has outdone his first, as he's currently putting up career-highs in scoring (26.5 points per game), assists (6.4), and three-point percentage (42.4). 

But that, along with posting one of the most single-game prolific shooting performances in NBA history in a win in Phoenix last month, wasn't enough to convince voters to place Brunson amongst the East's five. Tyrese Haliburton of the hosting Indiana Pacers was always going to be tough to pass but fans and players granted the edge to Milwaukee's Damian Lillard, who will start alongside Joel Embiid (Philadelphia), Jayson Tatum (Boston), and teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brunson finished second behind Haliburton among media voters.

Chuck Patience! Charles Barkley Begs New York Knicks: 'Make a Move!'

Barkley was reluctant to deny Lillard's progress with the Bucks, but his inclusion on Thursday's list over Brunson didn't sit right. 

“I’m never going to show throw shade at Dame Lillard,” Barkley said. “I love him as a person and as a player, but I would have loved to see Jalen Brunson be a starter.”

It's safe to say that Brunson, and perhaps the Knicks as a whole, took things personally on Thursday night: the point guard up 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting in their ensuing game against the Denver Nuggets, which was part of a 122-84 shellacking over the defending champions.

Brunson has another prime opportunity to keep making his All-Star case on Saturday afternoon when the Knicks (28-17) face a nationally-televised showdown with the Miami Heat, the team that ended their championship dreams last season (3 p.m. ET, ABC).