Charles Barkley does not like analytics. He does not understand analytics. He does not care about analytics. This really comes as no surprise that the NBA legend would hate advanced statistics. When he was playing the game, there was no such thing as shot charts and next-level analysis of play. Players just played and coaches tried to sway the best ones to come to them. Barkley thinks that way of thinking is what makes teams successful.
In an interview with CBS Philly, Barkley discussed the use of analytics in sports, especially the NBA. The issue arose after Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie said he was using advanced statistics to build the team. Hinkie's but in to the analytical way of building a team caused the 76ers to trade away a top point guard and fail to improve the team. Barkley believes that genius does not make a team great, the level of top talent does.
"I have a problem with the way the Sixers are running their organization right now. Listen, Howard, you know I don't believe in that analytical crap. If LeBron James couldn't spell cat, I want him on my team. I always tell people, give me a dumb guy that can really play. Don't give me no smart guy," Barkley said.
Barkley drew upon the Houston Rockets as an example. The Rockets only began to get good when they opted to just go out and pay some of the best players to join their team. They gave good money to James Harden, Omer Asik and then Dwight Howard, making them a team on the rise. The coaching staff paid no mind to analytics, instead just targeting the best players available to play from them.
Barkley's argument might be true about Houston, but those signing did not happen without a long-term vision from Daryl Morey. The Rockets general manager made several key moves over the course of year, releasing several players and signing the right contracts in order to have the right amount of cap space to sign the super stars. Analytics will continue to force their way into sports, but certain general managers will have to realize that at the end of the day if the talent level is not present, nothing will come.
