Charles Barkley calls on Pope Leo, divine intervention to help Sacramento Kings
Charles Barkley is never shy to speak his mind, particularly if he’s on the golf course.
Naturally, the former NBA megastar and current ESPN analyst used his humor and perspective when asked what it will take for the Sacramento Kings to be successful while practicing on the driving range Thursday at the American Century Championship celebrity pro-am tournament near Lake Tahoe.
“A miracle, the hand of God, the Pope coming to town before the Kings going to be any good. Yeah, we got to get Pope Leo in town,” Barkley said. “The Kings are in bad shape right now, and it sucks because they have one of the best fan bases in the world. I love Sacramento fans, but they need a miracle.”
It’s early, but Kings fans are latching on to rookie Darius Acuff Jr., who impressed in two games at the California Classic before heading to Las Vegas this week for NBA Summer League. The Kings used the No. 7 overall pick on Acuff in last month’s NBA draft with the expectation of becoming a building block at point guard.
“He’s a good young player,” Barkley said of Acuff. “But yeah, the Kings, man, they’re not close. They’re not close. I mean, I want to see the Kings do well because, like I said, they got a tremendous fan base. But you need to, God need to come in, the Pope, Jesus, Moses. Yeah, y’all need a lot of help for the Sacramento Kings to be in the good.”
Barkley is one of 90 celebrities in the field at the ACC, which officially begins Friday and runs through Sunday. The tournament will be broadcast on NBC, NBC Sports Network and NBC’s streaming app Peacock, while some 80,000 fans are expected to be at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada, throughout the weekend.
Barkley, who has improved his golf game considerably over the years, is not among the favorites to win the tournament. Caesar’s Sports Book lists former tennis star Mardy Fish (+285), last year’s winner and former hockey star Joe Pavelski (+290), former pitcher John Smoltz (+450) and Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry (+450) atop the betting odds.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 1:46 PM.
