Basketball Hall of Famer turned NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley has had his share of controversial and blatant comments at some of the biggest names in the NBA. His ongoing fascination for the New York Knicks has always been a featured topic in many of his interviews or weekly "analysis" on television. While in New York City promoting Turner Sports' annual coverage of NCAA March Madness, Barkley spoke at the press conference about his thoughts on the Knicks tumultuous season.
“I think coming into the season we were all optimistic. I’m a big Melo fan. I said well, Derrick Rose is going to be a free agent. He’s going to have a monster year. That’s what I thought going in. It just hasn’t worked. You know, the thing with Carmelo, they’ve been disrespectful, Carmelo should want to get …show more content…
His most recent and notable rant took place a day after the infamous Charles Oakley altercation leading to the Knicks great's arrest on national television. Barkley shared his thoughts blaming both the Knicks organization and Oakley for tarnishing the NBA's reputation.
“I thought that it made the Knicks look bad, it made Charles Oakley look bad and it made the NBA look bad. Plain and simple. There was no winners. We all are losers. Our job, we get paid to promote the NBA, the Knicks are an awful basketball team, they have been disrespectful to Carmelo Anthony, but this was a black eye for the entire sport. Plain and simple. Like I said, everybody looked bad. It makes us look bad because we’re supposed to put a good product out there, and that was just a bad night for the NBA. Plain and simple.”