Charles Barkley fails Canada quiz, can’t pronounce Valanciunas

Former NBA player Charles Barkley attempts to pronounce Jonas Valanciunas' last name on 'Inside the NBA.'

A retired NBA player and current sports analyst who has been praising Canada's only professional basketball team was quizzed on what he knows about Canada.

It turns out, he doesn't know much.

Barkley was quizzed on TNT's "Inside the NBA" by co-hosts Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.

He got most of the answers wrong, but has been getting fan flak for failing to pronounce the surname of Toronto Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas.

The Lithuanian-born athlete was recorded in a gym asking Barkley, "Hey Chuck, I can say your last name: Barkley. Why you can't say mine?"

Barkley responded that he was scolded by Valanciunas (which he pronounced "Val-a-see-nus"), for mispronouncing his name.

Then he corrected himself: "Val-a-chu-nas! Val-a-chu-nas!"

The show then cut to the Valanciunas footage, where the smiling 21-year-old says "Vah-lan-CHEW-nas. It's easy!"

His co-hosts then goaded him to spell the player's name, a challenge the ex-NBA player failed.

"V-a-l-u-n-c-h-u-n-a-s," he spelled out, with his eyes shut.

Barkley also guessed that the Loonie was a type of cake and that there are eight provinces in Canada.

He knew that some Canadian hockey players call their jerseys "sweaters," and that the Toronto CFL team is called the Argonauts.