"They got Dwight Howard, they got James Harden. How analytical is that?": When Charles Barkley threw shade on Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets' use of analytics

NBA Legends like Charles Barkley are not big fans of analytics in the NBA. Things got a little heated up when Charles targeted Rockets General Manager regarding this

The NBA we see now is much more complex than in previous eras in terms of stats. Advanced analytics entered into sports in the early 2000s through Baseball.

By the next decade, many front offices of NBA teams bought into the idea of analytics. The Houston Rockets was the poster boy for this. Rocket’s then General Manager, Daryl Morey was a big believer in integrating advanced statistical analysis with traditional scouting and basic statistics, a trend that started after Moneyball.

In 2012, the Rockets got James Harden and a year later they got Dwight Howard. NBA legend Charles Barkley pointed out the irony in Morey’s system. He said, ” They got Dwight Howard, they got James Harden. How analytical is that?”.

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During Morey’s tenure, the Rockets made it to the playoffs 9 times but never went past the Western Conference Finals. After trading Harden this year, they are in a rebuilding phase.

In terms of the championship, the ‘Moneyball’ experiment has failed in Houston. According to Chuck, “The NBA is about talent”. He is right when you consider that since 2000, all championship teams had at least one All-Star.

Chuck doesn’t hold back on anything. He once said, ” All these guys who run these organizations, who talk about analytics have one thing in common. They never played the game and they never got the girls in the high school. And they just want to get in the game”.

Chuck’s criticism can be harsh but there is no denying that analytics has impacted the game, both for good and bad. Modern big men are asked to shoot more 3s, all that’s to the advanced metrics. Inside The NBA panelists, Chuck and Shaquille O’Neal’s criticism on centres shooting 3s rather than going into the paint continues to this day.