NEW YORK -- As most of us with a pulse know all too well, Charles Barkley rarely says something that isn't stone stupid unless he has impounded somebody else's original thought. And TNT couldn't be prouder presenting its Master of the Oblivious.
Barkley's witless commentary, staged to shock and awe, elicits such pubescent giggles from the peanut gallery that ESPN felt compelled to counter with more of the same contrived histrionics; the lone exception being the almost always insightful Greg Anthony, who, when egged on by deflated ball Kevin Frazier, occasionally allows Bill Laimbeer insipid input and Stephen A. Smith's pomposity and preening to drag him down to their subbasement level.
ESPN's vacuous coverage is an insult to even Barkley's senseless abuse of substance. Since churning out content is so inconvenient and such a waste of time, Anthony should be barred from the set.