There was a time not that long ago when the Phoenix Suns were a dysfunctional mess, which prompted the firing of then-head coach Jeff Hornacek in 2015-16.
That led to a classic Barkley rant where he talked over the highlights of a Suns loss to the Rockets and absolutely flamed everything about the Suns’ organization from top to bottom, starting with the players being ‘trash’ but then diverted to even the in-arena food at the Suns’ home stadium being horrible.
Ernie tried to give the Suns the benefit of the doubt, saying, ‘They have a bunch of injuries, their top three scorers are out.’ Chuck replied wittily, ‘They wasn’t no good when they had them.’
Smith asked, ‘Chuck, how’s the popcorn in the arena?’ Barkley replied, ‘Stale popcorn.’ O’Neal asked, ‘How are the hot dogs?’ Chuck said, ‘They got those old hard buns.’ Smith asked, ‘How about the soda? Is it flat?’ Barkley replied, ‘Soda’s flat. It’s awful. The beer’s flat, Kenny.’ Shaq asked, ‘What about the pretzels?’ Barkley replied, ‘The pretzels are hard as a rock, you can break a denture.’ O’Neal then asked about the nachos, to which Barkley replied, ‘Oh my God, the cheese is cold.’ Ernie told Barkley that he won’t have to worry about the Suns inviting him to games anymore and Chuck replied, ‘Why would I wanna go watch that? C’mon man.’
Mind you, as Chuck was saying all of these things, the entire cast and even the producers behind the camera were laughing audibly.
Everything Kenny Smith and Shaq sent Barkley’s way, Chuck was able to immediately and astutely mold into a roast of the Suns’ franchise, showcasing the brilliance of Inside the NBA in one six-minute segment.
