Charles Barkley is Both Friend and Foe to Warriors

Charles Barkley is one of the greatest basketball players of all-time.

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He’s also one of the most visible and vocal analysts in all of sports. He’s one-fourth of TNT’s popular Inside the NBA crew. His best moments are when he talks about anything besides basketball because it’s becoming increasingly clear that he just doesn’t watch the actual games he’s paid to analyze.

Barkley has never been a fan of the Warriors’ work. Golden State fans remember when the small ball 2007 “We Believe” team made their magical run to the playoffs and Barkley insulted “them little midgets” every chance he got.

And now nearly 10 years and one championship later, the Chuckster is still singing the same song. The Warriors are still too small, Ernie! Forgetting the type of player he was, Barkley claims that Draymond Green is too small. Forgetting that his era was dominated by a perimeter player on a team without a dominant low post threat, he discredits Stephen Curry and the Warriors. Jump shooting teams can’t win says the guy without a title.

So, in a sense, Barkley is a foe. He’s one of the most powerful basketball voices who seems to constantly be on a mission to tear down the league’s top team because of a personal bias built on an outdated philosophy. In fact, as ESPN’s Ethan Strauss noted, there’s almost an irony to Barkley’s discourse. His analysis isn’t just a little misguided, it’s completely uninformed and dangerous.

But Barkley is also one of the Warriors’ biggest weapons.

There are misconceptions about the Warriors that can be traced back to Chuck. For example, Green being too small to defend other big men or Curry being a poor defender. For whatever reason, many have considered the Warriors to be “too soft” because they’re a “finesse” team. If you flip on TNT after the Warriors play a nationally televised game, you’ll most likely hear Barkley saying one or all of those things.

Because of his legacy as a great player and his visibility as a broadcaster, Barkley’s words resonate. Just last month when the Warriors handed the San Antonio Spurs their worst loss of the season, LaMarcus Aldridge told the media that he felt like he had a good matchup with Green. The Spurs continued to try to feed Aldridge in the post and Green came away with stop after stop. In fact, teams post Green up a lot, despite being one of the best defenders in the league. He held Anthony Davis, Zach Randolph, and Marc Gasol in check during last year’s playoffs and he has great success against Blake Griffin. Yet there’s still a notion that Green is too small for bigger players, a notion perpetuated by Barkley.

Everyone asks “how do you stop Steph Curry?” While many analysts and experts have started to concede that you don’t, Barkley remains firm in his belief that you have to expose Curry’s apparent defensive shortcomings and play him physically. Neither of these strategies actually work. Curry is a much-improved defender, better than a player like Russell Westbrook who somehow has won the (incorrect) reputation of being a good defender.

Barkley’s advice oversimplifies the Warriors’ offensive attack and downplays their defensive strengths, particularly in their small lineup. For fans, it completely controls the discourse. They take his word for it and eat up his hot takes. Despite creating an unfair narrative surrounding their historic play, Barkley actually helps the Warriors because his words are heard around the league.

Players like Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Dwight Howard are criticized nonstop when they fail to perform against Golden State. Rather than giving credit where credit is due, he and O’Neal blame the big men–they should command the ball and punish the Warriors. By downplaying Golden State’s greatness, he’s helping them create an advantage.

By downplaying Golden State’s greatness, he’s motivating them. Despite being the best team in the league, the Warriors don’t take their foot off the gas. They play with a chip on their shoulder largely due to the fact that many try to discredit what they’ve won. Everytime Barkley calls the Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder the best teams in the league, the Warriors take note.

Hey Charles, what were you saying about jump-shooting teams? https://t.co/PbEbt1vjwk pic.twitter.com/s8uVmCZV7i
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 28, 2015

I like Charles Barkley. I find him amusing. I enjoy his back-and-forth with Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith. I think he’s a funny guy, especially when he’s being brutally honest about his experiences. Inside the NBA is a great TV show and . But I’m not going to trust Barkley for solid basketball analysis. It just doesn’t seem like he’s watched a game in years.