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Charles Barkley: Clippers playoff losses not Chris Paul’s fault

By Stanford Crissey

Feb 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) reacts after a play during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 110-105. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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TNT analyst Charles Barkley doesn’t blame Chris Paul for Clippers’ past playoff losses

TNT analyst and former star basketball player Charles Barkley is not known to be shy about talking…about anything. Whether it’s the tribulations of Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon or the attractiveness of San Antonio women, Chuck has a lot to say.

Talking with Los Angeles Clippers beat writer Dan Woicke today, Barkley refuted the arguments of those who blame Chris Paul for the Clippers’ failure to advance past the second round of the playoffs the past few years.

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I think it’s safe to say that Barkley didn’t use analytics to arrive at this conclusion.

Interesting that this comment comes from the same guy who thought Paul didn’t deserve to make the All-Star team this year.

Paul has taken some heat from NBA fans and pundits for not leading his Clippers to even the Conference Finals since being traded to L.A., but Barkley believes these fans are misguided.

Unlike some of his outspoken statements, Barkley is right on the money with this one. Paul is the Clippers’ best player and the fortunes of a team are usually placed, for better or worse, at the feet of the star player. LeBron James heard a lot of similar talk before winning his first championship. Some of it was justified and some wasn’t, but it all evaporated when he did win the title.

Barkley added that “we have to blame somebody,” but he didn’t elaborate on who that somebody might be. So who else could we blame?

The first, and most obvious, name to throw out is Blake Griffin’s. But that would be just as misguided as blaming Paul. Those two are the reasons the Clippers succeed, not the reasons they fail.

So maybe it’s Doc Rivers? Rivers has a championship pedigree, but it’s possible that he has trouble coaching teams that aren’t loaded like the 2007 Boston Celtics. That’s probably not the case though. You can blame Doc the GM for not bringing in a strong cast of bench players (giving up a draft pick for his son Austin is the most egregious of the many moves that have eroded the team’s depth), but that doesn’t really apply to past Clippers losses.

Maybe there’s a curse we can blame it on? The curse of Michael Olowokandi or something?

The turth is, the reason the Clippers haven’t advanced past the second round is simply because the Spurs and Thunder were better than them. They’re a good team, but not the best in the West, and that’s been their problem. They’ll have to hope this is the year they get over the hump, as they start their series against the Spurs on April 19.

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