Mike D'Antoni chose not to get into a verbal firefight with Charles Barkley over the TNT analyst's comment that D'Antoni's Phoenix teams played "sissy ball." "I have my thoughts, but I'm not going to say anything," D'Antoni said before the
Knicks played the Heat Saturday night. "I don't win with that one. He gets to talk every day, I don't. So I'll let that one go." D'Antoni did acknowledge that it's not the first time that Barkley has ripped his
style of play. When D'Antoni coached the
Suns, Barkley, a Phoenix-area resident, used to criticize the
Suns' lack of defense. "More than once," D'Antoni said, laughing. "But that's his deal. He's an entertainer." Thursday night, Barkley went after D'Antoni ball again when he discussed the Knick coach's former team during a
Suns-
Lakers telecast.
"Just for the record (former
Suns coach) Terry Porter got the shaft," Barkley said. "They brought him in to make the team play defense, but the players gave up, they did not want to play defense. As a player, players want to play like this. The great teams always play defense, but most players just want to run up and down the court. The
Suns have played sissy ball for the last few years. It's fun to watch, it's exciting, but they don't have those types of players (who can play defense)."