Is he profane? Yep. Unfiltered? Sure. Politically incorrect? Absolutely. But rarely is Charles Barkley wrong. In a world of NBA pundits who cater to narratives or to clicks, Sir Charles shoots the same way he always has: straight from the hip. Any hand could get bit, including the ones that feed him. The kids in the Grading The Week offices also appreciate that, like his “NBA on TNT” teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, he’s a fan of Jokic and sees the big Serbian for what he is: the spiritual heir to Tim Duncan, someone who’s elevated a “flyover” NBA market into the center of the national spotlight. Or should be elevating it, at any rate.
Because if the last six days are any indication, we’ve still got a long, long way to go there.
Barkley defending Nikola Jokic while ripping his own network — A.
When Warner Bros. Discovery Sports ran a preview graphic to plug its coverage of the league’s Opening Night, the heads on the screen featured representation from every team but the defending champs, who also happen to be the team with the best player on the planet. Oh, and Boston’s Jayson Tatum was there, too, for some reason, even though the Celtics opened their season a day later on … ESPN. Barkley basically apologized on old pal Vic Lombardi’s morning radio show with Marc Moser and Brett Kane on Altitude 92.5 earlier this week, saying: “Not only is it stupidity not to put Joker on there, but also, we’re actually coming to Denver to start the season.” We were glad to have you, Chuckster. Sorry about your Auburn Tigers.
Blake Barnett breaking Christian McCaffrey’s TD record — A.
Belated GTW congrats to the Erie quarterback and Kansas State commit, who knocked Front Range prep icon Christian McCaffrey out of at least one spot in the state record books late last Friday night. Barnett’s three first-half touchdowns — one passing, one rushing, one on defense — in a 57-13 rout of Longmont pushed him past McCaffrey as Colorado’s all-time prep TD leader. McCaffrey scored 141 times for Valor Christian from 2010 to 2013.
Jon Gray, World Series pitcher — B.
Speaking of exes, belated congrats on two fronts to the former Rockies mainstay. Team GTW is happy for the righty’s first World Series berth as a member of the Texas Rangers. But only so much. Because …
Anybody who tells you, “Hey, if Arizona and Texas can do it in two years, so can the Rockies!” — F.
…we will be reminded constantly — and already have been — about how Texas and Arizona lost 100 games two seasons ago. Some bloggers and social-media posts will use that as living, breathing proof of how the Rockies of present, by jiminy, could also turn it around. But before you subscribe to similar hopes, remember this: The Rangers sport a luxury-tax MLB payroll of $235.9 million and mega contracts at second base (Marcus Semien) and shortstop (Corey Seager). The Diamondbacks in August 2022 had the No. 5 farm system, per MLB Pipeline, in all of organized baseball. Dick Monfort’s Rox, at present, are on neither of those paths, despite stellar flashes from rookies Nolan Jones and Ezequiel Tovar during a 103-loss summer.
Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.
