Charles Barkley says Knicks still progressed this season
Charles Barkley joins the crowd before the start of the world welterweight championship bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas on May 2, 2015. Credit: AP / John Locher
Charles Barkley has been more bullish on the Knicks than usual lately, picking them to make the NBA playoffs before the season began and seeing positive signs for the future despite their late-season fade.
“It’s been surprising they folded the way they did,” the Turner analyst said Tuesday at a CBS/Turner breakfast in Manhattan to promote the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
“They’ve got to solve their point guard situation. I was hoping they’d pull off the trade for [Jeff] Teague, but I still think it’s been a progress year for them. They’re progressing. I think everybody’s shocked at [Kristaps] Porzingis. He’s probably the second guy in Rookie of the Year [behind Karl-Anthony Towns]. I don’t think anybody predicted that going into the season.
“But they don’t have draft picks. So it’s going to be interesting how they get better next year.”
Barkley dismissed the notion Carmelo Anthony can recruit free agents this summer. “Nobody can recruit free agents,” he said. “Everybody makes the same money now.”
Does he believe the triangle offense favored by Knicks president Phil Jackson still can be effective?
“It’s all about the players,” Barkley said. “I’ve said this before: Without Kobe [Bryant] and Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal] and Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the triangle is just a circle.”
To Barkley, the Knicks – and most other teams in the NBA – simply are not worth the price of admission for potential season ticket holders.
“Let’s be realistic,” he said. “How many NBA teams would you buy season tickets for? There’s five. If you’re a hard-working man, I feel bad for you. You’ve got Golden State, Oklahoma City, the Spurs, the Clippers, and you’ve got the Cavaliers. Maybe even Toronto if you want to stretch it. Why would you buy season tickets for those other teams? I would not.”
Barkley said he was misinterpreted last week in an interview on ESPN Radio in which he said there are only a handful of teams whose games he watches from beginning to end. He accused ESPN of misrepresenting his take.
“I’m not watching [expletive] Philadelphia play Milwaukee the whole [expletive] game,” he said. “That’s what I said, but they wanted to be [expletive] because they are [expletive]. Seriously, nobody is going to watch the Washington Wizards play the Orlando Magic [expletive] nonstop unless you’re a [expletive] idiot.”
Does Barkley ever worry about being fired for some of the things he says publicly?
“I don’t think they have the [expletive] to fire me. They’d have to pay me . . . If I got fired it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I’d be at my mailbox twice a month when the check came. I fish and golf every day. The only two days I wouldn’t fish and golf would be the days I got paid. I wouldn’t want to miss the mailman.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
