BICKLEY & MAROTTA

Charles Barkley wants to see players lead after Suns threw Frank Vogel ‘under the bus’

Oct 23, 2024, 1:20 PM

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Compared to a year ago, three things helped the Phoenix Suns’ prospects entering 2024-25. They added a point guard, fired Frank Vogel and had a year of maneuvering to build legitimate depth after entering last season with a roster patched up by minimum contracts.

Former Suns star and current NBA on TNT host Charles Barkley has cautious optimism about how it’ll go in Phoenix this season.

But he maintains two points he held all last year: Devin Booker must grow as a leader and the former head coach Vogel became a scapegoat well before the team fired him and replaced him with Mike Budenholzer.

“They threw coach Vogel under the bus,” Barkley told Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Wednesday before Phoenix’s opener. “Not only they threw him under the bus, they backed up to make sure he was dead. … He survived the first time they ran over him but they’re like, ‘No, he’s not dead. Let’s back up and run over him a couple more times.’

“I really hate today’s NBA players when they blame their coaches for everything. The Suns underachieved. There’s no reason they should have got swept (in the first round of the playoffs).”

Barkley and Kevin Durant have a long history of feuding that does not need to be rehashed here. Separate from that or not, Barkley sees Booker as a key player needing to make a leap in the locker room.

“Devin has got to be the guy,” Barkley said. “I’m hoping that Devin learned something from being around Steph and LeBron and those guys this summer. He’s a quiet kid, but sometimes you can’t be quiet when you’re leader of a team.”

For what it’s worth, Booker said before the season he sees room for growth. He told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke he feels an urgency to take another step there.

“Understanding that there’s different types of leadership and understanding that some leadership skills work differently with different people,” he said. “I’ve always been a lead-by-example type guy, and I think that’s how my father is, but sometimes it has to be more vocal. … I understand that and I’m up for it and I’ll do it.”

Room for excuses is running out for the Suns whatever happens.

They got their point guard in Tyus Jones to relieve Booker, Durant and Bradley Beal from taking on too much. The depth should help them stay fresh and support their scoring efforts. Budenholzer’s offense and push for evolving beyond the 3-point arc projects to benefit the team after it was too often playing from a math disadvantage a year ago.

“The problem they got is, man, the West is crazy,” Barkley cautioned. “The west is flatout crazy. Zion (Williamson with the Pelicans) looks like he’s in great shape. (Grizzlies guard Ja Morant) looks like he got himself together. Sacramento got better with DeMar DeRozan. The Lakers are going to be decent — I don’t think they’re going to be anything to write home about. But my pick coming out the West is going to be the OKC Thunder.

“Now, the pressure switches to the (Suns) players. Everytime you fire a coach, they say, ‘OK, now it’s on you guys.’ They don’t have Frank Vogel to blame. Mike Budenholzer’s a good coach … but it’s just about the players, man.”

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