Charles Barkley and Charles Oakley share the same first name, but apparently don’t share anything else in common. Decades after their on-court rivalry finished, Oakley commented on how he feels Barkley is doing as a commentator and analyst.
The former New York Knicks veteran sat down on ‘The Art of Dialogue’ interview and defended LeBron James from people who criticized him for joining a super team. But for the major part of his stance, Oakley vented his frustration about Barkley.
“They always wanna talk down on that; Commentators and other people. But you look at Barkley, he said, ‘Everybody team up,’ When he teamed up with Hakeem and Scottie Pippen in Houston. And he’s talking about someone else teaming up. These guys are just hypocrites on TV,” the former Knicks center said.
Oakley is referring to the latter stage of Barkley’s career. Diwali was traded away to the Houston Rockets. Although that team had a decent regular season debut, winning 57 games in their first season, and making it to the Western Conference Finals.
But that ‘superteam’ was full of old legends and scoring options. It was never the right fit for someone like Barkley, and they only realized it later.
So he defends his time in Houston by saying that his teammates were no longer the young superstars they used to be, so the superteam tag is not justified when none of their Big Three or even Big Four, if you include Clyde Drexler, were in their prime.
“They’re not educating people about the game, cause no IQ, okay, some people have.. Even though you’re good doesn’t mean you need IQ. You can just be good cause you get the ball a lot. IQ is not.. I think it’s overrated,” Oakley added.
The 61-year-old former center is unwilling to see Barkley’s commentary as entertaining and different. For Oakley, the analysts sitting on the center stage are not doing justice to their role. He wants them to insert more analysis, in-depth study, and breaking down plays, while the panel he’s referring to is more interested in keeping people interested, and for that, they’re willing to do anything. But he doesn’t see anything special in Barkley.
“He’s just talking. If you listen to him, they’re must be… there’s something wrong with you. Everybody thinks ‘he’s so good, he’s so opinionated,’ he ain’t saying nothing! Clowning, TNT, and those guys do more clowning around than telling and educating people about the game. It seems like they’re trying to throw you off,” Oakley added.
He went on to explain how he thinks this is intentional, not talking about the game, making it about the athletes, and their personal issues, instead of analysing their game. He also contended that the analysts need to do this so that the eyeballs don’t go away, as the game has changed for the worse for Oakley.
“See, the game ain’t the game no more. We know this. But at least, your people are gonna tune in, they’re doing more acting than stunts, they’re doing Hollywood sometimes,” the Knicks legend said.
But he might be forgetting that he’s also gone Hollywood with Charles Barkley when he featured in the ’90s classic Space Jam. Oakley even asked for a role in the sequel. But he clearly has an issue with analysts using any kind of theatrics.
