Charles Barkley called members of the media “cowards” for their apparent reluctance to call out NBA players and instead blame coaches for teams’ struggles.
With the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, the conversations about their disappointing seasons have included the fates of their coaches. The rationale is that with Lakers having LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and Suns having Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, coaching is likely at fault for not getting the best out of their talents.
On Wednesday’s episode of Inside the NBA, Barkley expressed how frustrated he is with that narrative. He also accused the media of being afraid of tarnish relationships with players.
“A lot of these people on television, they’re cowards because they want the players to like them,” Barkley said. “They don’t want to do their job, which is to tell the truth. And I just wanna say this about coaching: anybody who thinks the reason the Lakers suck is because of Darvin Ham, or the reason the Suns suck is because of Frank Vogel, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
“Frank Vogel is a hell of a coach. Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach trying to get his career started; but for all you punks, idiots, and jackasses on other networks, who wanna be media, that want all the players to like y’all, do your damn job. The Lakers suck and the Suns suck because of the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches.”
Watch above via TNT.
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