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Viewer Discretion Advised: Charles Barkley's 2019 Black Masters highlights are here
Give the NBA on TNT crew all the Emmys. Over the years the quartet of EJ, Kenny, Shaq, and Chuck have crafted their very own brand of off-kilter NBA coverage, stumbling through personal beefs, career advice, nutrition tips, and bizarre performance art on their journey to center of the basketball universe. Besides their informal interplay, which usually results in one of either Shaq or Chuck threatening to feed the other a knuckle sandwich on live TV, the crew's greatest asset is their myriad interests off the court, most notably golf.
Last year, the crew launched the first-annual Black Masters, an invite-only "celebrity" golf "tournament" starring EJ, Chuck, and a host of friends and former athletes. After many shanks and much bickering, EJ took home the inaugural victory. This weekend, however, the Black Masters returned to the Legends Course at Château Élan for its second year, this time with a stacked field including Grant Hill, Gary Sheffield, Chris Webber, Vince Carter, Charles Barkley, Turner Broadcasting's head of security Gary Chico, and defending champion Ernie Johnson. Shaq, of course, served as unofficial event emcee.
When the dust finally settled, Gary Sheffield emerged victorious with a respectable 86, despite a lovely chip in from EJ on 18, but, per usual, it was Chuck's highlights—or should we say lowlights—that provided the most entertainment. You can practically hear the Protracer crying from here.
Needless to say, nobody's spent that much time in the Georgia woods since Deliverance. Chuck, whose yips appeared to be on the mend as recently as the fall, unfortunately seems to have suffered a bit of relapse of late, with the trademark hitch back in full force. That said, it's not the bad shots you remember, but the good ones, and Chuck did manage to pure one on the par-three 12th. See ya next year, big fella.