NBA legend Charles Barkley raves Toronto is 'best city in the world'

Charles Barkley made only three visits to Toronto during his NBA career, but the city clearly made quite an impact on the Hall of Famer.

Retiring from the NBA in 2000, Barkley missed the heyday of the Raptors franchise during his playing career.

But in a recent appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast, the Leeds, Alabama, native Barkley gave his flowers to his neighbours to the north — and their hockey team.

In his closing remarks, co-hosts "Big Cat" and "PFT Commenter" told Barkley to say hello to mutual friend Paul "BizNasty" Bissonnette, who works both alongside the duo at Barstool Sports and Barkley at TNT. While they were complimentary of Bissonnette, they said he needed to tone down how loudly he's supported the Leafs in public over the years.

Barkley countered with the fact that he's hoping to see the Stanley Cup come back to Toronto someday.

"I'm rooting for them. They gotta win soon. I know they let [Mitch] Marner just go, but I gotta root for them because that’s my favourite city in the world," Barkley said. "Toronto is the best city in the world. Easily. Chicago's summer is the second-best. Those are my two favourite places in the world."

Earlier this year, Barkley picked the Maple Leafs to make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, before being defeated by the Edmonton Oilers. It wasn’t the worst prediction, as the Oilers did make the Stanley Cup Final, while Toronto fell in seven games in the second round to the eventual champion Florida Panthers.

In 2019, while visiting during the NBA Finals, Barkley said that he comes to Toronto every summer.

"This is one of the best cities in the world," Barkley said. "I come up here every summer. This is one of the best-kept secrets in the world."