NBA legend Charles Barkely comes clean on never-ending hatred for $76,000,000 Florida Panthers D-man

NBA legend Charles Barkley shared a funny moment during the first period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final between Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

Speaking on "NHL on TNT" with Paul Bissonnette and Will Arnett, Barkley admitted he dislikes Panthers defenseman Seth Jones although he mentioned that it's not for hockey reasons.

" .... let me tell you something: I hate Seth Jones; I really do okay," Barkley said. "His dad, I played in the NBA for all those years; his dad was the only person who kicked my ass all the time to this day like Bird was great, McHale was great. Karl Malone was great, Garnett, all these guys, and I could hold my own against those guys.

"I never had any success against Popeye Jones, and to this day, I have no idea why. So I will always hate Seth Jones because of his dad."

Seth Jones, now a key player for the Florida Panthers, has had a strong playoff run. In Game 2 against Carolina, he played 23 minutes and 47 seconds. He didn’t score but finished with a +1 rating. He helped the team shut down Carolina’s offense in a 5-0 win.

So far in the 2024-25 playoffs, Jones has six points—three goals and three assists. He also has a +8 rating, and this is a solid improvement from the regular season. He had 36 points but ended with a -24 rating, which was a concern.

Jones was acquired by the Panthers from the Chicago Blackhawks before the trade deadline in March. He is in the third year of an eight-year, $76 million contract, and he will become a UFA after the 2029-30 season.

Seth Jones could win his first cup with Florida Panthers

This year there's a possibility for Seth Jones to finally lift the Stanley Cup trophy. He has played in the League for 12 seasons and this is the most deep run he has had with a team.

In Thursday's game, the Florida Panthers scored three goals in the first period and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0. Gustav Forsling's opening goal made it 1-0 and Matthew Tkachuk scored the second. Sam Bennett tipped in a power-play goal at 15:50 to make it 3-0.

Bennett scored again at 19:21 of the second period. Then, Aleksander Barkov made it 5-0 in the third for the final score. Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and earned his third shutout of the playoffs. Florida now leads the series 2-0.