Basketball Hall of Famer and "NBA on TNT" analyst Charles Barkley has been singing the praises of Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk all throughout his blistering 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On Saturday, the pair finally had a little time face-to-face.
Tkachuk sat down with the "NBA on TNT" crew -- Barkley, veteran host Ernie Johnson, Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal and two-time NBA champion Kenny Smith -- for an interview before Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Final between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics.
"I think back to like two or three months ago. Nobody in the whole world thought we would be in this position right now, let alone even make the playoffs," Tkachuk said. "The fact that I'm sitting here with you guys and getting ready to play in the Stanley Cup Final, at my first-ever Heat game here with them having a chance to make the (NBA) Finals? It's storybook for South Florida."
Tkachuk shared some laughs with the crew, especially when Barkley asked what he could possibly do after that marathon four overtime Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"I did a lot of sleeping," Tkachuck laughed. "Went in the cold tub for a little bit... The games go by so fast and next thing you know you're playing in Game 2 and going to another overtime and guys are like 'come on, seriously, we're doing this again?' But the fact that we were able to recover that fast and get that Game 2 win was huge for us in that series."
After O'Neal pleaded ignorance on the sport of hockey, Tkachuk said, "I like the honesty."
"I think my dad is more happy with (Shaq) though than Chuck after Chuck gave over the title of (best player in) the family to me," Tkachuk joked.
Johnson mentioned that Keith Tkachuk is one of 47 players in NHL history to score more than 500 goals (he is 34th all-time with 538) and asked Matthew the best advice he got from his legendary dad.
"He always said two things to me: Compete and be a good teammate," Tkachuk said. "Treat the trainers right. Be great to everybody at the rink... I think that's one thing that helped me right away when I came to the NHL."
As far as the NBA Finals, Tkachuk does find himself in a bit of a rooting conundrum. The Heat and Panthers have been in a bonded bromance as dominant-looking 8 seeds during their respective playoff runs, but Tkachuk goes way back -- all the way back to Chaminade Prep in St. Louis -- with Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum.
"It's crazy that we were in the same gym class for all those years and it's cool to say that we are both representing Chaminade and I know everyone back in St. Louis is rooting us on," Tkachuk said. "I was saying earlier my two favorite players are Jimmy Butler - Jimmy Buckets - and Jayson so I hope they both go off and it's an exciting game. But I don't know, everybody here is pulling for me so I gotta join there side for a little bit. But that would make a lot of people in St. Louis mad so I got to keep the honest answer going and just root for both of them."
