When the NBA announced Salt Lake City as the host of the 2023 All-Star Game, there were plenty who wondered how exactly the extracurriculars around the game would go, given Salt Lake’s reputation as a city without much nightlife.
Just about everyone who has been in Salt Lake has praised how All-Star has gone and how good of a job they’ve done as host, including the NBA on TNT crew, who were pleasantly surprised at how good the 2023 All-Star experience has been — Draymond Green, in particular, was shocked at how much he’s enjoyed SLC. However, after talking about how great the people of Utah have been and how much they’ve enjoyed All-Star, Charles Barkley couldn’t help but take a dig at the lack of options for debauchery in the city, joking that everyone in Salt Lake City is going to heaven because “ain’t nothing to do in this boring-ass city.”
Chuck on SLC: “These people going to heaven. Ain’t nothing to do in this boring-ass city.”
Shaq: “I never ate so much room service in my life.”pic.twitter.com/lFRE0aTyrq
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) February 20, 2023
The timing of this was hysterical, because they were literally just talking on the broadcast about how great Utah had been, and then Chuck buried the Salt Lake nightlife and Shaq got a dig in about eating more room service this week than his entire time in Los Angeles. Shaq also keeps winding Chuck up with a “where they goin’, Chuck?!” which is always my favorite thing Shaq does on Inside the NBA.
All things considered, Charles Barkley only being able to joke about the lack of places to drink and smoke is actually a pretty strong endorsement for Salt Lake’s All-Star performance this week.