The rise of statistical analysis in NBA life has many loud proponents and detractors. Some herald the increasing prevalence of advanced metrics in NBA decision-making and writing as a sign that the league and those who cover it are developing a more nuanced view of what makes certain players and activities valuable. Others consider the onset of math-heavy models a bummer, reducing NBA action to stacks of spreadsheets that strip away so much — the spontaneity, the fluidity, the awe-inspiring athleticism — of what makes basketball so fun.

That push-and-pull argument's been playing out in the City of Brotherly Love over the past few months, kickstarted by Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins saying he'd "blow [his] brains out" if he had to read through advanced stat printouts. Months later, Sixers legend Julius Erving scoffed at analytics as "turning basketball into rocket science, right?" Dr. J's comments came weeks after the 76ers decided they wanted to be in the rocket science business, hiring former Houston Rockets assistant general manager Sam Hinkie to become their new GM and chart a new direction for a franchise fresh off a disastrous 2012-13.

Hinkie didn't waste much time in reshaping the franchise, pulling the trigger on a draft-night deal that sent All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for highly touted but injured 2013 draft pick Nerlens Noel and a top-six-protected first-round choice in next summer's draft, then drafting somewhat divisive Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams. Then, following months of speculation on who would lead the rebuilding effort after Collins "stepped away," Hinkie hired longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant Brett Brown; despite Brown's bona fides, there was some agita (among Philly media, at least) about how Hinkie conducted the coaching search, how little he said and how he chose to operate.

One national media member very familiar to Sixers fans — Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley — shares some of that agita. In a recent visit with WIP-FM to share his take on all things Philly sports, Barkley took issue with the way Hinkie has steered the Sixers' ship since taking the helm, even firing a shot across the bow of Hinkie's analytical bent. As transcribed by CBS Philly:

[...] I had a problem with — if I’m a coach, I would want to have some say in the draft, I would want to have some say in the draft. These are all Sam Hinkle's people who they drafted this year. He traded one of the better point guards in the NBA; yeah, I have a problem with the way the Sixers are running their organization right now. Listen, Howard, you know I don’t believe in that analytical crap. If LeBron James couldn’t spell cat, I want him on my team. I always tell people, give me a dumb guy that can really play. Don’t give me no smart guy.

The guy, he came from Houston. When did Houston get good? When they went out [and] paid James Harden all that money and [Omer] Asik, and now they went out [and] got Dwight Howard. That’s got nothing to do with analytics, that’s got to do with paying really good players to come to town.

OK. A few things about that, from little quibbles to larger ones:

• It's "Hinkie," not "Hinkle." This could help you remember: "Sam thinks analytics are the key to winning!"

• LeBron (whom, to be fair, Barkley probably used just as a stand-in for "really good basketball player") seems an ill-fitting example, considering the four-time MVP's been praised by noted smart guy/Miami Heat teammate Shane Battier for having "a quasi-photographic memory that allows him to process data very quickly" that the Duke grad says is "a little like 'A Beautiful Mind.'" While James' remarkable physical gifts are evident to anyone who's ever watched him play, it also seems clear that LeBron wouldn't be LeBron — the Magic-reminiscent passing wizard, the all-court force, the league's preeminent strategic advantage — if he wasn't also a very smart player.

• Anyway, I'm not sure what an individual player's IQ has to do with whether or not you should want to have a smart GM who's good at building teams. This might be a controversial take, but I am pro-having a smart GM who's good at building teams.

• Of course, whether Hinkie will turn out to be successful in constructing a winning, contending Sixers roster remains to be seen. But Barkley's anti-Hinkie argument — that the Rockets' rise had nothing to do with smarts and analytics, and everything to do with writing big checks — ignores the years of work that Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and his lieutenants (including Hinkie) put into turning a capped-out, going-nowhere roster topped by aging, injury-plagued stars into arguably the NBA's most exciting collection of young talent. That multi-year teardown — marked by stockpiling draft picks, finding contributors on rookie deals, flipping older/higher-priced players for younger/more cost-effective replacements and steering clear of long-term deals — was heavily informed by a thoughtful and, yes, analytics-driven approach to team-building.