Charles Barkley can come across as the “get off my lawn” type of analyst at times. Love him or hate him, the Chuckster has years and years of basketball wisdom that still applies to this day.
When Barkley joined the CBS panel covering the 2026 Final Four, the topic of coaches laying brutal love on their players came up. Barkley, who played in an era of gruff athletes and even gruffer tacticians, was adamant in his stance on this matter. Unsurprisingly, some of today’s players were indicted by his comments.
“Your job as a coach is to get the best out of your players,” Barkley said. “And these guys think that criticism is bad coaching. That’s part of being a coach!”
To bolster his point, the former NBA MVP cited successful coaches who set an example by shunning preferential treatment for any superstar. “Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley, they’re on the Mount Rushmore [of coaches]. You ask any of the Spurs, Popovich yelled at Tim Duncan. He yelled at David Robinson, Parker, and Ginobili.”
Barkley couldn’t have picked two better models of this “tough love” approach, as Popovich and Riley were strict disciplinarians who tolerated no nonsense on the court. Though their words stung on countless occasions, the results speak for themselves: Popovich established a championship dynasty in San Antonio, and Riley immortalized his ’80s squads as the multi-titled “Showtime” Lakers.
For Barkley, the approach embodied by coaches like Popovich and Riley is a proven method for player development. “If you don’t yell at your stars, you can’t yell at your mediocre players,” he said.
Barkley’s comments come on the heels of a viral coaching moment weeks ago. During the North Carolina-Maryland matchup in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Maryland coach Brenda Frese got in the face of Oluchi Okananwa and appeared to admonish her player. Frese was also seen pointing her finger at the junior guard in this tense moment.
After the game, which Maryland lost, Okananwa told reporters that Frese was urging her to regroup and refocus. What’s more, Frese was telling Okananwa that she believed in the player’s ability to bounce back.
While some spectators might not appreciate the optics of Frese yelling at Okananwa, Barkley knows exactly what she (and so many other coaches) are determined to do, night in and night out.
“That’s the power of coaching,” Barkley added.
