Charles Barkley gives a shoutout to Dabo Swinney after Clemson basketball's Sweet 16 win
After Clemson basketball's win over Arizona in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, CBS studio analyst Charles Barkley gave a Clemson-related shoutout — to Dabo Swinney.
"I thought it was a pick-'em game," Barkley said after the Clemson win. "And I said earlier, this is going to be a really difficult game. And obviously Clemson played very well. Shoutout to Dabo Swinney."
Barkley continued on with his analysis of the Tigers' 77-72 win, and host Ernie Johnson eventually interjected.
"While you are shouting out Dabo Swinney, would you also like to shoutout Brad Brownell for the job he's done?" Johnson asked.
"Well, he's done a fabulous job," Barkley said before going into further analysis about the Tigers victory.
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Barkley was shouting out fellow Alabama native Dabo Swinney independent of any basketball connection and not confusing him with Brownell, right? Right?
Social media wasn't so sure.
“Shout out to Dabo Swinney” 😂 #clemsonvsarizona pic.twitter.com/dQWFsv9Gzi
— Klay Jacks (@tyler_klay) March 29, 2024
S/O to Dabo Swinney 😂😂
— Tajh Boyd (@TajhB10) March 29, 2024
Barkley often does a shoutout on his usual "Inside the NBA" show to people he is friendly with who might have a passing connection to the topic at hand, so it's plausible that he was simply giving a shout out to Swinney with no issue.
Give Barkley a break, y'all. Clemson has at least one more game, an Elite Eight matchup on Saturday against Alabama or North Carolina, two teams the Tigers have already beaten. There is plenty of time left in this tournament for him to make a real, honest and meme-able mistake.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Charles Barkley gives shoutout to Dabo Swinney after Clemson basketball Sweet 16 win