Charles Barkley has never been shy about calling out the Denver Nuggets, and the Hall of Famer took aim at them again this week.
Barkley argued that Denver has squandered Nikola Jokic in his prime years by failing to keep a championship-caliber roster around him.
“The problem they have now is that they’re playing catch-up,” Barkley said on The Bill Simmons Podcast.“And I always tell people this: You never catch up. It might be too late because they’re not head and shoulders, the best starting five. They got rid of their two best players off the bench when they won the championship.”
Barkley was referring to Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, both of whom left in free agency after their pivotal roles in Denver’s 2023 title run.
The Nuggets also lost two-way starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope the following summer.
Despite Jokic winning MVP and the team posting 57 wins in 2023-24, Denver fell to Minnesota in the second round. Last season, they won 50 games but were eliminated in a seven-game battle with Oklahoma City.
“Man, if you got a chance to win, you better go for it. And they really wasted the Joker over the last couple of years,” Barkley continued. “The problem they got now is they’re not better than Oklahoma City. And I’m sure they’re not better than the Rockets.”
He pointed to past dynasties as examples.
“Perfect example. Go back and look. When those guys had [Larry] Bird, they brought in somebody every year,” Barkley said. “What about the Lakers? They brought in somebody every year. You can never stand pat when you win. The Celtics, they brought in [Bill] Walton one year, the Lakers bring in Mychal Thompson. They brought in Bob McAdoo and Sam Perkins. That’s what made the Celtics and Lakers the best franchises in NBA history.”