Charles Barkley’s latest rant — this time basketball analytics made Sir Charles mad

IT SEEMS like former NBA star ‘Sir’ Charles Barkley finds a new person to upset every week — this time it’s the basketball nerds.

SINCE Charles Barkley has had recent beefs with Phil Jackson, Gabrielle Union and even the entire female population of San Antonio, it seems like he finds a new person to upset every week. This this time it’s Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey and the NBA analytics community he represents.

Morey tweaked Sir Charles on social media, and Barkley used his position as a TNT analyst to hijack Tuesday night’s show and turn it into a 10-minute diatribe against analytics.

Best part of being at a TNT game live is it is easy to avoid Charles spewing misinformed biased vitriol disguised as entertainment

— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) February 11, 2015

He called Morey “one of those idiots who believes in analytics,’’ and described those aforementioned idiots as “a bunch of guys who’ve never played the game, and they never got the girls in high school.’’

And this was all after a Rockets win, with TNT doing postgame for a 127-118 victory over the Suns that vaulted them to 36-16, third-best in the Western Conference. That apparently didn’t impress Barkley.

“First of all, I’ve always believed analytics was crap. You know I never mention the Rockets as legitimate contenders, because they’re not. And listen, I wouldn’t know Daryl Morey if he walked into this room right now,’’ Barkley said of the Rockets GM, who has built a team that’s 15th in points allowed per game (99.6) and seventh in defensive efficiency, or points allowed per 100 possessions (100.2).

“Just because you’ve got good stats doesn’t mean you’re a good team defensively. They’re not a good defensive team. They gave up 118 points. No good team gives up 118 points.’’

His rant provoked plenty of Twitter reaction, including a look at Barkley’s own Suns team that made the Finals despite coughing up that figure 11 times.

Barkley: "No good team gives up 118 points." His '93 Suns gave up 118+ points 11 times in the regular season. Went to the Finals.

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) February 11, 2015

Still, Barkley isn’t a fan of analytics and went off the rails.

“They say that same crap in baseball, and they put these little lightweight teams together and they never win. They’re always competitive to a certain degree and they don’t win. It’s the same thing in the NBA,’’ said Barkley, adding it’s about talent, not math. “The Rockets sucked for a long time, so they went out and paid James Harden a lot of money; they got better. Then they went out and got Dwight Howard; they got better.

“The NBA is about talent. All these guys who run these organisations who talk about analytics, they have one thing in common — they’re a bunch of guys who have never played the game, and they never got the girls in high school, and they just want to get in the game.’’

The antagonism is in keeping with Barkley’s history. When he critiqued Dwayne Wade’s All-Star selection, Union came to the defence of her significant other (we can’t call them married because of that whole marriage license drama), saying she valued Kenny Smith’s opinion more because he had championship rings and Barkley didn’t, the way Oscar winner Meryl Streep’s opinion meant more than hers.

Basketball player Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union.

“Meryl Streep would never be on ‘Snakes on a Plane’ or ‘Madea,’’’ Barkley shot back on TNT, “so don’t ever mention you and Meryl Streep in the same sentence.”

Union wasn’t even in the Samuel L. Jackson aeroplane thriller, but whatever.

During last season’s playoffs, Barkley also tried to fat-shame the women of San Antonio.

“There’s some big ol’ women down there. That’s a gold mine for Weight Watchers,’’ Barkley said. “Victoria is definitely a secret … they can’t wear no Victoria’s Secret down there.”

Tim Duncan’s girlfriend, Vanessa Macias, and others responded at a recent TNT game by sporting T-shirts that read: “Barkley Don’t Know.” When the lithe Macias, a former “Amazing Race” contestant and a San Antonio local, appeared on camera, Barkley insisted, “That woman ain’t from here. They flew her in from Dallas.”

And when Jackson prodded Barkley on Twitter during a Knicks-Bulls broadcast, Barkley shot back, “I don’t do any social media but he’s too old to be tweeting. Phil’s got sensitive in his old age.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post

Originally published as Charles Barkley’s latest rant — this time basketball analytics made Sir Charles mad