NBA analyst and hoops legend Charles Barkley played on good teams and mediocre teams in his illustrious career. And he knows when chemistry isn’t right — ask him about playing in Houston in his twilight with a discontented Scottie Pippen, who was also wrapping up a stellar career. It wasn’t good, as Barkley will be the first to admit.
Lesson being: you need great players to make good teams, but great players don’t automatically make a good team. Sometimes great players don’t mesh. The Boston Celtics have two terrific players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but Barkley says “I don’t think Brown and Tatum can play together.” When your two best players “can’t play together,” you are in trouble. That’s the definition.
Brown sometimes doesn’t seem to need anybody else, as seen below:
Then sometimes Tatum will take the difficult reverse layup instead of dishing it to a wide open Brown in the lane. It works, in this case, but is it sustainable against better defense?
For Celtics fans worried about their troubles, it may be a comfort that Barkley wasn’t singling out the Celtics. Chuck doesn’t think Portland’s Damian Lillard and CJ McCollough are a good match either. Dallas, Philadelphia and Sacramento also need trade help, according to Barkley.
Maybe it’s not that Brown and Tatum can’t play together though — there’s another school of thought that says they’re not playing well with their other teammates, like Marcus Smart. Smart apparently thinks both Brown and Tatum need to pass the ball more. To pass the ball some. To pass the damn ball, as coaches might say!
Stay tuned. No guarantees from Chuck, alas.
