NBA Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA All-Star Charles Barkley recently spoke about his former team, the Houston Rockets, ahead of the 2026-27 season. Unfortunately for Houston supporters, he was pessimistic to say the least about their chances to contend in a loaded Western Conference.
In an interview with reporter Kyle Odegard, Barkley was asked what he thinks about his former franchise. “I don’t think about them at all,” quipped the 1992-93 league MVP.
"They’re not any good. They’ve got no leadership and they don’t have a style of play." With these comments, Barkley endorsed both Oklahoma City and San Antonio for years to come.
Luckily for Rockets fans, Barkley has a history of making incorrect predictions as an analyst. While Houston won't be favorites
in the West by any means, their roster has undoubtedly improved after a fifth-place finish in the conference last season. Steven Adams and Fred VanVleet are both fully recovered from injury while free agent signings Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic should add depth to Ime Udoka's rotation. Not to mention, Houston had another summer to develop their young core: Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard.
For more NBA content, check out the BasketBaltes podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/@BasketBaltes/videos
https://www.instagram.com/basketbaltes/
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: NBA legend Charles Barkley disses the Rockets ahead of 2026-27 season
