Charles Barkley thinks stats and analytics are different (Video)

Charles Barkley has long critiqued the use of analytics in basketball, but it appears he doesn’t even know the difference between them and statistics.

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Charles Barkley has an ax to grind against analytics in basketball. That has been clear for quite some time. But Thursday night on TNT’s Inside the NBA, Barkley made it clear he doesn’t even know the difference between “analytics” and “statistics.”

The reality, of course, is that there is no difference, yet Barkley would have you believe otherwise.

The former player, affectionately known as “Chuck,” compares statistics and analytics to a “cook” and a “chef.” He says with the latter, “they can just charge you more.” Understandably, host Ernie Johnson is ready to move on. Kenny Smith refuses to back him.

And even Shaq, of all people, refuses to comment, instead making light of the “cook and chef” analogy.

Two weeks ago, Barkley called Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey “one of those idiots who believe in analytics.” Morey does believe in analytics, so much so that he has successfully crafted his roster entirely based on the premise of “advanced metrics.”

The timing is interesting, given that ESPN published a piece on Monday about the use of analytics in the four major professional sports. Not surprisingly, the study found that the majority of the most successful NBA teams are the ones pioneering the analytics movement.

And the MIT Sloan Analytics Conference began Friday in Boston. Several NBA people, including Morey and former Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy, were in attendance.

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