We have heard plenty of stories about drugs and alcohol ruining NBA careers, but Charles Barkley believes bad coaching has ruined many more. During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Barkley spoke about the importance of good coaching but expressed his disappointment at how player power has made coaches cowards.
“I think the biggest thing you need to be a great player is have a good coaching staff,” Barkley said. “That’s probably the most important thing, the coaching staff. I think more players get ruined by bad coaching staffs because the coaches are cowards. They’re scared to coach.
“I wanted a Pat Riley,” Barkley continued. “I had a great coach, Billy Cunningham, a Gregg Popovich. But most of these coaches today, they are cowards. Because the players make so much money, they don’t have them under control. The players run the team. And the coach need to realize, that player going to get him fired.
“We have taken away the power from the coaches away, because the players make so much money,” Barkley added. “But I say bad coaches have ruined more players than anything in the NBA.”
The players are the ones who call the shots today, and a lot of coaches just end up biting their lips in fear of losing their jobs. There are only a handful of them in the NBA today who feel empowered to criticize their players without having to worry about their future.
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is one of them. Recently, Spoelstra called out sophomore center Kel’el Ware for not being professional enough. Whether that’s right or wrong, it’s not something you see happen all too often.
Barkley believes players need hard coaching in order to get the best out of themselves. That’s what he wanted during his career, and he got it from Billy Cunningham during his rookie season.
Barkley would have loved to have Pat Riley as his head coach, and former NBA player Byron Scott did get that honor. Scott also coached in the NBA for over a decade, and he stated that coaches have no authority in this player empowerment era.
“As a coach in the NBA now, you have no authority whatsoever,” Scott said. “I truly believe that. The coach was a position you respected. It demanded respect. Coaches say you do. It was that simple. We’ve all come from that old-school mentality. The entitlement of players today to be able to make suggestions or changes…”
“I think, right now, with the way that the NBA is going, I’m with you as far as player empowerment goes,” Scott added. “That’s something that we all wish we had at that particular time. But I think now it’s overboard. It’s going crazy. The prisoners are running the asylum right now, that is the bottom line.”
The situation isn’t going to get better either. You can be a successful head coach, but if the players start tuning you out for one reason or another, you’re out of the building. On the flip side, if you are able to stay on their good side, they could well end up keeping you in the job even if the results aren’t ideal.
