It's Charles In Charge

The

TNT control room in Atlanta has 20 TV monitors, enough to follow an entire evening's worth of NBA action. On the giant center monitor, Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards are struggling against the Boston Celtics in TNT's featured Wednesday night game. Charles Barkley, one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and an analyst for TNT's Inside the NBA half-time and postgame shows, sits by a corner monitor, mesmerized by the action--The West Wing action on NBC. "Prepare for my work?" he snarls, interrupted during a critical presidential plot point. "Hell, I played 16 years. I can tell you who can play and who can't."

That's true. In little more than a year on the air, Barkley has emerged as the most entertaining talking head in sports broadcasting, displaying not just a distilled knowledge of the game but great television instincts too. Recognizing that TV abhors a vacuum, he keeps his mouth running constantly. What comes out is a mix of Yogi Berra neologisms and Winston Churchill drollery that has transformed the sports- highlights show into something accessible to both diehard hoop fans and the jock laity.

Barkley has always had a cast-iron wit. After throwing a barfly through a plate-glass window in 1997, he was asked whether he had any regrets. Barkley replied, "I regret that we were on the first floor." Now he's verbally tossing NBA players through glass. Unlike other analysts, he refuses to ignore the obvious for the sake of stroking egos. When Atlanta Hawks guard Jacque Vaughn opened the season with an astonishing 23 consecutive missed shots, Barkley brought a Bible to the set and held an impromptu "Pray for Jacque" revival. Informed live that Vaughn hit a lay-up, Barkley exalted. "He scored? The power of prayer!"

As for strategy, Barkley doesn't care much for X's and O's. After co-analyst Kenny Smith claimed that Michael Jordan's 32-point performance against the Celtics was owing to Jordan's "finding his legs," Barkley said, "I don't think it had anything to do with his legs. He wanted [the Celtics'] Paul Pierce. Paul Pierce talked trash to him in the pre-season...Michael can kick his butt." It is hardly Harold Bloom on the Bard, but sports, as Barkley points out, "doesn't require a Harvard degree." He confirms what most hoops fans suspect is true: that the game is often driven by clashing personalities and deep grudges, and the better athletic talent usually wins.

Barkley's musings would be harsh were he not known for moments of self-flagellation. Last year, during an aborted comeback try, he castigated himself with weekly "Fat Trak" weigh-ins; he also takes noticeable delight when straight man Ernie Johnson gets in a shot at his expense. Barkley still looks miserable when discussing the end of his playing days, but he should take solace. He's an MVP of the airwaves.