Through an offseason punctuated by Charles Barkley firing one broadside after another at the Phoenix Suns, team president Jerry Colangelo has kept quiet.
It was inevitable that the frustration would show eventually."When comments are made about people being called idiots, people not knowing what they're doing, that's really uncalled-for," Colangelo said Monday. "Name-calling is something that should go out with the Dark Ages. . . . I don't appreciate anyone taking shots at our organization."
Barkley said last week in Phoenix that he has wanted a trade since Colangelo fired coach Paul Westphal in mid-January.
At the same time, he claimed being offered as trade bait is disrespectful, exulted at the prospect of playing for the Houston Rockets and hinted that he'd play for the Suns again if management "said they was idiots" and apologized.
"We've gone out of our way for Charles Barkley, so when he talks about an apology, he has the roles reversed," Colangelo said.
Discussing Barkley publicly for the first time in months, Colangelo said he has had no contact with Barkley since the season ended.
He said he'd be willing to meet with the talkative superstar provided Barkley softens his stance.
"I don't owe Charles Barkley anything," Colangelo said. "I don't think he's helped his own cause at all, whether he's traded or whether he stays. And it's just inappropriate to be doing as much talking as he has."
He declined to comment on Barkley's claim that the NBA killed a proposed three-way deal that would have sent him to Houston.
"The Rockets deal is dead because the NBA said we've been tampering. That shows me they're gutless because everybody's been tampering," Barkley said Sunday on NBC during halftime of the game between Greece and the U.S. Olympic team.