Phoenix Suns fired coach Frank Vogel after a rough season, but was this the root issue that needed to be addressed? At least, former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley believes otherwise. The 11x All-Star has yet again defended Vogel and revealed the actual changes that the Suns need to make. This came in an interview with 12 News’ Cameron Cox.

Cox asked Barkley of his opinion on the Suns hiring Mike Boudenholzer as the head coach. While Chuck agrees with Mark as a coach, he does not believe Vogel to be the reason for the Suns’ loss. “You know, they got to fix that team. They need to get another big guy to need a point guard. They had no identity… had no leadership, and that was the reason they didn’t win,” he said. This lack of leadership has been more noticeable after Chris Paul left the franchise last year, leaving a void at point guard.

Since then, the team tried switching between Devin Booker and Bradley Beal as the point guard. But that only displaced them from their natural positions. However, Charles Barkley believes either KD or Booker needs to be a leader now for the Suns to win. “They’re both terrific players, but you got to have leaders in the locker room if your team is going to be successful because the team is looking for somebody to galvanize the troops,” he said. Speaking of the leadership requirement, there have also been strong rumors of LeBron James’ possibility of joining the Suns.

The rumors stem from the report that Bronny will work out for the Suns ahead of the draft. So the speculations are that if Suns get Bronny with the 22nd pick, they may as well land LeBron. Now, the possibilities may be very thin but they are not non-existent. And if this were to happen, this may as well just solve the lack of leadership issue in the team that Barkley mentioned, while defending Frank Vogel. However, as stated above, this is not the first instance that Chuck has defended the 2x All Star head coach.

Charles Barkley questions the judgement of people blaming Vogel

Appearing on Inside the NBA last month, Chuck not only defended Vogel but ex-LA Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham as well. He bashed the people who were of the view that both these coaches need to be fired. In fact, the 11x All Star pointed out the real culprits, according to him, who should have been fired.

“Who put those teams together need to get fired. They didn’t just all the sudden suck as coaches, people who put them teams together should start packing up their stuff,” Barkley said. Though coming out of anger against the harsh critics, Chuck had a point regarding Vogel’s past performance. The 50-year-old not only led Indiana Pacers deep into the playoffs on multiple occasions but also won an NBA championship with the Lakers.

“Anybody who thinks the reason the Lakers suck is because of Darvin Ham or the reason the Suns suck is because of Frank Vogel, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Barkley said on Inside the NBA. Although franchise’s decision went against Vogel anyway, it’s to be seen if this change solves the Suns’ issues. Or will it be Charles Barkley whose opinion on the need for actual changes will stand corrected?