Charles Barkley Buries Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars While Chastising Struggling Pistons

It has been a struggle in Detroit so far this NBA season.

The Pistons boast the worst record in the NBA, having lost 12 consecutive games on their way to a 2–13 record to begin the season. Detroit is on pace to finish in last place in the Central Division and hasn’t finished above .500 since the 2015–16 season.

A team this bad doesn’t usually find itself as a discussion topic on TNT’s NBA coverage, but it did on Tuesday when Charles Barkley lamented Detroit’s struggles.

“Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars are rolling over in their grave watching the Pistons play,” Barkley said, invoking two Pistons legends of yesteryear.

Wait. What?

The problem, of course, is that Thomas and Dumars are both still very much alive, so either Barkley doesn’t know what the phrase “rolling in their grave” means or he simply doesn’t care.

Does Chuck know what that phrase means? pic.twitter.com/yc1n5WxHY2

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 22, 2023

In fact, both Thomas and Dumars remain prominent in NBA circles, as Thomas works for NBA TV and Dumars serves as an executive vice president and head of basketball operations for the league.

Barkley played during the Pistons’ “Bad Boys” era, during which Detroit won two NBA championships, so it’s apparently incomprehensible for him to see the Pistons franchise struggling so badly.