Charles Barkley rips ring chasers and super teams: 'I would rather not win'
Since this is the week of fireworks, it’s probably no surprise that we heard an explosion from Charles Barkley.
Coming out against the formation of NBA “super teams” has become an annual obsession with Sir Charles, and DeMarcus Cousins’ signing with the Warriors was the latest to ignite the storm.
On the “Unnecessary Roughness” podcast, Barkley put it pretty simply.
“I’d rather have no rings than join a super team,” the hall of famer said.
Barkley is on the list of greatest players in league history to have never won a title, along with the likes of Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone and John Stockton.
He says the guys who stay in one spot instead of “ring chasing” have a special place in his heart.
“It doesn’t matter what option you are, sports are about competition,” Barkley said. “I admire Patrick Ewing for trying to bring a championship to New York, I admire Reggie Miller for trying to bring a championship to Indiana, I admire Michael Jordan for not leaving when they were getting beat by the Pistons every year. He didn’t pack up and say let me go play with Magic (Johnson) or ( Larry) Bird. There’s something to be said about that. When Dirk Nowitzki finally won the championship he could be like, ‘yes, I did this.’”
Of course, as is often the case with Barkley, he doesn’t really take into account all of the factors.
For example, Miller, Jordan and Ewing played in an era where free agency didn’t exist in a form anywhere close to what it is now.
He also neglects to mention that he basically forced his way out of Phoenix in 1996 to join future hall of famers Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen.
When the deal was made, Barkley said he knew time was running out on his chances to win.
“At this stage of my career, I’m not a great player. I’m a good player,” Barkley said at the time. “But with Hakeem and Clyde, I have a great shot at a championship.”
Kind of sounds like a super team, right? Not according to Barkley, who said on the podcast, “We were old and we weren’t very good. First of all, I got traded and then Scottie tried to join us but I had nothing left in the tank. But that’s not the same because we never thought about that in our prime. We weren’t any good in Houston.”
Hmmm, that scuffing sound wouldn’t be Barkley backtracking, would it?
We haven’t even brought up his behavior which forced the Sixers to deal him to Phoenix in the first place.
But now, Barkley is selling loyalty to your team.
“I mean can you win? Yes, you can win like that but No. 1, I would want loyalty from my city. We didn’t appreciate when LeBron went to Miami the same way we didn’t appreciate it when Kevin went to Golden State. I just don’t understand why you would want to do that,” he said.
Loyal listeners to the Unnecessary Roughness Podcast might remember that Barkley said he’d consider leaving his TV career with TNT if James were to join a super team like he did in Miami.
Thank goodness we’ve all been spared from that.
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