The 2021 NBA regular season is still fresh on the minds of many. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that teams were battling it out for home-court advantage.
But over the pasts few days, two teams have dismissed their coaches, including the Orlando Magic (Steve Clifford) and Portland Trail Blazers (Terry Stotts), with the official reports labeling the split as a mutual “parting of ways.”
But on TNT’s Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley challenged that definition, saying that the terminology is only being used because they’re white.
“America, that means they were white,” Barkley said. “They fire brothers, they don’t part ways.”
Barkley: "America, that means they were white. They fire brothers, they don’t part ways" pic.twitter.com/R7rzd5XyFh
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) June 5, 2021
Barkley’s claim isn’t actually true, as there have been a number of black coaches in the past whose exits have been described as a parting of ways.
But he does have a point in that, 9 times out of 10, “parting ways” is just a euphemism for saying the coach got dumped by their team for one reason or another. Likely, it’s a way for the organization to pull one last favor for their coach and make the exit look graceful and non-dramatic.
Whatever the case, though, it seems coaching searches have already begun for the NBA, and it will be interesting to see which spot opens up next.
