Charles Barkley is never one to mince words. Sunday morning the NBA on TNT analyst, Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor member and basketball hall-of-famer let his frustrations be known regarding the struggles of his hometown NBA team the Suns who are limping towards the finish line, losers of 11-straight games entering April.
“I’m very disappointed in the Phoenix Suns as we speak,” Barkley said without hesitation before a celebrity basketball game at Chaparral High School. “They’re just not very good right now and they need to figure out what direction they want to go.”
Phoenix, currently 22-55 with the third-worst record in the NBA entering Sunday night’s game against the Houston Rockets, has an identity crisis as a franchise with their last playoff appearance now nearly seven years ago nothing more than a far distant memory.
According to Barkley, the only way to build the roster correctly is to start over…again.
“You might as well do a complete rebuild with a bunch of young guys,” Barkley continued. “Stop trying to mix and match [youth and experience] because that’s not going to work. You can be a young team building for the future but you can’t be a young team with some old guys trying to patch little holes. That’s what they’re doing.”
Barkley has been critical in the past of his former franchise, whose overall lack of direction seems to becoming an increasingly sore subject to their loyal fan base. He reiterated his love and appreciation for the Suns’ fans and said he “really wants to see the Suns do well.”
Phoenix ranks at or near the bottom of the league in several statistical categories this season including points allowed and opponents points per shot (30th), opponents field goal percentage and turnovers (26th).
Only the Brooklyn Nets (17-59) and the Los Angeles Lakers (21-55) sit below the Suns (22-55) in wins entering the final month of the regular season.
