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Galveston Fires Back at Charles Barkley With Mysterious Series of Clever Billboards

Galveston, Texas took it on the chin this weekend.

The Gulf of Mexico resort city—minding its own business during the NBA playoffs—suddenly gained notoriety when Hall of Fame forward and TNT analyst Charles Barkley proposed the city as an alternate vacation destination to Cancun for teams after uninspired playoff efforts.

"We're not even gonna send them to Cancun. We're gonna send them to Galveston with that dirty-a-- water," Barkley said after the New Orleans Pelicans lost 106-85 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the first round Saturday. "Y'all quit. Drive your a-- down to Galveston."

However, Galveston has struck back. Per TMZ, mysterious billboards taking shots at Barkley have sprung up around the city.

Messages include "Hey Charles, our water is cleaner than your golf swing," "Hey Charles, come on down—the water's fine!" and "Hey Charles, you've never turned down any of our great food."

All are signed, "Love, Galveston."

Who would've guessed a feud between a television personality and a city that has produced two NBA players ever—and a city close to one of Barkley's old teams, the Houston Rockets—would rank among the most compelling rivalries of these NBA playoffs?

1 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Rockets Owner Tilman Fertitta Interested in Bringing WNBA Team Back to Houston

Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta believes that he is a natural fit for ownership of a new WNBA franchise in Houston if the league were to expand from 12 to 16 teams by the 2028 season.

Fertitta would be interested in being an integral part in the team's return, he told the Houston Chronicle.

"I feel like WNBA expansion is going to always work better and has a better chance of success in a city like Houston, where the Rockets are one of the strong teams from a financial standpoint," Fertitta said. "I think that I would probably be the natural owner."

Fertitta told the Houston Chronicle that he planned to register interest with the WNBA in the coming weeks.

League expansion is beginning this season with a new franchise in Oakland, Ca. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters at the draft last month that expansion can be complex.

A WNBA team in Houston would not be new. The Houston Comets were one of the original eight WNBA franchises, and won the first four WNBA titles in 1997, '98. '99 and '00. Comets owner Hilton Koch put the team up for sale in 2008, and the WNBA took over operations after no investors met Koch's $10 million purchase price. The franchise was disbanded and has not been part of the league since.