“Backed Up To Make Sure He Was Dead”: Charles Barkley Livid At The Suns Making Frank Vogel The Scapegoat

The Phoenix Suns’ subpar performance was one of the shocking stories of the 2023-2024 season. A 6^th spot finish in the West combined with an embarrassing first-round sweep in the postseason resulted in the organization bringing about several changes. Sacking the head coach Frank Vogel was one such move that enraged Charles Barkley.

Firing Vogel was a move that many could’ve predicted after the forgettable campaign. But Barkley believes that the organization could’ve prevented pinning the blame on their former coach. Instead, Vogel became the scapegoat.

“They threw coach Vogel under the bus. Not only throw him under the bus, they backed up to make sure he was dead. They just ran over and just like ‘let’s make sure he’s dead’. He survived the first time they ran over, but they’re like ‘no, he’s not dead, let’s back up and run over him a couple more times’,” Barkley said.

The Round Mound of Rebound is justified in being disgruntled. Front office members of the Arizona side never critiqued other pain points. Each statement implied that the Suns were holding Vogel responsible for the horrendous display.

“We need to improve in a lot of areas – there wasn’t one specific area. By and large it was – we just felt the timing to shift was right… Just because when we look at our roster and what our roster needs, he (Budenholzer) fits it,” GM James Jones said.

There was not much that Vogel could do with the three superstars – Durant, Booker, and Beal – being injured for a large part of the season. Additionally, the absence of a traditional point guard also played a huge role in the lack of ball movement and increased turnovers.

Barkley defended Vogel from critics previously as well

Frank Vogel became the butt of all jokes after the Timberwolves swept the Suns in the first round of the postseason. No one seemed to criticize the players for their awful rebounding performance, allowing second-chance points, and committing turnovers in crucial moments.

Barkley was furious when the players and other personnel of the franchise were not being held accountable. The TNT analyst even defended Lakers’ former HC Darvin Ham for the same reasons.

“Anybody who thinks the Lakers such is because of Darvin Ham or the reason the Suns suck is because of Frank Vogel: You don’t know what you’re talking about… The Lakers suck and the Suns suck because of the players. It has nothing to do with the coaches,” Barkley went on a rant.

Phoenix has used this offseason to bring a conventional point guard to help the All-Star trio to be comfortable in their respective roles. Their 3-2 record in the preseason was motivating and could be a positive sign for an improved performance in the 2024-2025 season.