Chuck has high praise for @youngwhiteside... pic.twitter.com/iNMMTEv2jF — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 24, 2016

CHARLOTTE -- TNT analyst Charles Barkley has been saying all season he feels Hassan Whiteside is the key to the Miami Heat going deep in the NBA playoffs.

Barkley has also been critical of Whiteside at times.

When Whiteside wasn't selected for the All-Star team, Barkley said: "This kid here has so much potential, but he’s so inconsistent. He’s not even close to an All-Star. Not even close ... if he played defense and got rebounds, they wouldn’t be where they’re at in the standings.”

Apparently, Whiteside remembers that a lot more than anything nice Barkley has to say about him.

Sunday, after TNT sent out a tweet of what Barkley had said about Whiteside following Saturday's Game 3 loss to the Hornets (see it above), I relayed the Tweet to Whiteside.

His response: "Chuck had some nice things to say about me? Am I on Punked? Is this Punked?"

Most Heat fans consider Barkley a Heat hater. He wasn't fond of how the Big 3 came together and often seemed to take joy whenever Miami lost.

Whiteside, meanwhile, didn't seem too moved by the new love from the Hall of Famer.

When I asked him what he thought of Barkley's comments Whiteside responded: "I guess he just read the scouting report."

Whiteside missed Sunday's practice with a bruised right thigh but fully expects to play Monday in Game 4. He said he was hurt late in the fourth quarter Saturday when somebody elbowed or kneed him as he was rolling to the basket.

"I'm icing it, stemming it and getting treatment," he said. "It's just a bruise. I'm pretty confident [I'll play tomorrow]. I'm a tough guy."