Charles Barkley has said some outlandish stuff on the desk of TNT's Inside the NBA, but Thursday night's rant might have topped them all.
In a discussion about the Golden State Warriors, the former NBA MVP said he didn't enjoy the basketball product that comes out of Oakland, Calif.
"Maybe I'm old school, but I'm never gonna like that little girly basketball where you have to outscore people," Barkley said. "I'm biased against girl basketball. I love Geno Auriemma, one of my favorite coaches, I love women's basketball, but I don't want it in the NBA."
Despite the fact that Barkley said he both did and did not enjoy women's basketball in the span of 25 seconds, he also looks a bit silly when comparing it to the "old-school" basketball he played.
In three years under Steve Kerr, the Warriors have had defensive ratings of 101.4, 103.8 and 104.4. Barkley, in 16 seasons, only played on two teams with a defensive rating below 105 ('96-'97 and '98-'99 Rockets).
Each of Kerr's three years in Golden State has seen the team as a top 10 defensive squad, a feat that Barkley's teams matched only twice in his 16 seasons. In fact, in 10 of his 16 seasons, Barkley's teams were in the bottom 15 in defensive ratings.
Then there's the sexist tone of Barkley's comments.
While nobody can fault him for not liking what he perceives as an offense-only style of basketball by the Warriors, the derogatory nature in which he used to describe them as "girly" is off-putting.
While Barkley seems to have become a headline creator at this point of his career, there's got to be some kind of acknowledgement that this ham-fisted attempt at demeaning the Warriors ranged into sexist, not to mention factually incorrect, territory.
Just winging it
If you were in a Portland-area Buffalo Wild Wings on Sunday afternoon, there's a chance you noticed a man in sunglasses and a hoodie who seemed a little too into the Seattle Seahawks' loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was All-Pro safety Earl Thomas.
Thomas missed the first game of his career last week because of a hamstring injury and didn't travel with the team. According to Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune, Thomas traveled with his family to Portland. He took in a couple of Trail Blazers games. But of course, he was going to watch his teammates play in Tampa Bay.
He said he took in the game at Buffalo Wild Wings with his hoodie up and sunglasses on to avoid attention. Thomas is one of the most intense players in the NFL, so it's easy to imagine him blowing his cover as the Seahawks suffered a 14-5 loss.
"I was into it. You can't be silent. You can't hide who you are when you are passionate about something like this," Thomas told Bell. "Luckily, people kind of knew who I was, but they kind of let me be."
Thomas is expected back in the lineup Sunday, so don't expect to share wings and a beer with him anytime soon.
"It was definitely hard," Thomas said.
SPORTS QUIZ
What season did Charles Barkley win the NBA MVP award?
ANSWER
The 1992-93 season with the Phoenix Suns
Sports on 12/03/2016