Sir Charles Barkley as GM for the Suns?

01 Jul 2010

TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who says he wants “that challenge,” would listen if the Phoenix Suns wanted tooffer him the general manager’s job.

No word on whether he’d hire Kenny Smith to be his director of basketball and Ernie Johnson Jr.,to be his traffic cop and run interference after one of Barkley’s brutal assessments.

“I don’t think it’s a good job right now,” Barkley told Arizona Republic columnist Dan Bickley. “But I would listen to the Suns because I love Phoenix. I would listen to Robert(Sarver) out of respect for working in Phoenix. But I’ll be honest: I would not re-sign Amar’e Stoudemire.”

Barkley, who has no unspoken thoughts, was just warming up.

“I wouldn’t do it for three reasons. One, his knees; two, his eyes; and three, he wants a maximum deal. Now, he’s a terrific player. Don’t get me wrong. But at this stage of his career he’s never been the best player on his team. That’s not a max player.”

Barkley’s assessments would go all the way up to the owner’s office.

“Let’s not kid ourselves: Just because you have a lot of money doesn’t mean you know anything about basketball,” said Barkley, who played four seasons for the Suns. “I don’t think (Sarver) made his money in basketball. He made his money in banking. We don’t get stimulus packages in the NBA.”