Charles Barkley has a long-standing tradition of saying outlandish things about the Washington Wizards. The Wizards usually deserve it, of course, but it's still a trend. Maybe Barkley is still mad about the way the Wizards treated good friend Michael Jordan. Who knows.
Point being, you should take what he said on TNT's Inside the NBA on Thursday night with a grain of salt.
"I call them the Bullets, because I want to shoot them," Barkley said to start. "I ain't never called them the Wizards."
Editor's Note: while I don't endorse shooting anyone, I'm cool with Barkley calling the team something other than the "Wizards." Except Generals, of course.
"Let me tell you something," he said later. Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkins, all of them coaching together couldn't make them bums winners."
Oh, I don't know. Wouldn't Coach JackAuerKins be a big boost to morale? Who wouldn't want to play for a tall, soft-spoken chain smoker with back problems?
Anyway, Shaquille O'Neal agreed in a much more subdued fashion.
"I think with all the ability and talent that John Wall has, he needs to do a better job of leading the team. Just like, they make a lot of juvenile mistakes," he said. "The other day, we saw JaVale McGee throw it off the glass when they’re down by six. Andray Blatche is a good player and I think he could step his game up a little bit."
We can all agree that the Washington Bullets/Wizards/Generals have been bad this year. Let's just leave it at that.
(Via Bullets Forever, Wizards Insider)