He may hail from the deep south, but Charles Barkley has a big love for the north.
The NBA great shared his praise for Toronto during a recent podcast appearance, stating that the capital of Ontario ranks at the top of his favourite places.
The native of Leeds, Ala., was speaking with Big Cat and PFT Commenter on the Pardon My Take podcast when the co-hosts asked Barkley to say hello to their mutual friend, Paul Bissonnette — a former NHLer turned analyst who hosts the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.
The pair joked that Bissonnette — known as ‘BizNasty’ — needed to tone down his support of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to which Barkley countered that he also hopes to see the boys in blue and white raise the Stanley Cup some day.
“I’m rooting for (the Maple Leafs). They gotta win soon. I know they let (Mitch) Marner just go, but I gotta root for them because that’s my favourite city in the world,” Barkley said.
“Toronto is the best city in the world. Easily. Chicago’s summer is the second-best. Those are my two favourite places in the world.”
Like Bissonnette, who works at TNT alongside Barkley, the Round Mound of Rebound has showed support for the Leafs on the network. In fact, at the start of last spring’s NHL playoffs, Barkley picked the Leafs to make it to the Stanley Cup Final but to lose to the Edmonton Oilers.
While the Oilers did reach the Final, they lost in six games to the Florida Panthers, who had bounced the Leafs in the second round.
This isn’t the first time that Barkley has sung praise for the Six. While covering the 2019 NBA Finals between the Raptors and Golden State Warriors, Barkley said that he visits Toronto every summer.
“This is one of the best cities in the world,” Barkley said at the time. “I come up here every summer. This is one of the best-kept secrets in the world.”
Barkley didn’t have much of an opportunity to take in Toronto during his playing days. Before he retired in 2000, the 11-time all-star only made three trips to the city to face the Raptors.