Charles Barkley, not known to mince words when expressing his opinion, didn’t hold back while blasting Daryl Morey over the sudden dismissal of Kevin McHale, suggesting the Houston Rockets general manager fired the head coach in an effort at “covering his own ass.”

Barkley, appearing on Colin Cowherd’s radio program Wednesday, acknowledged he and Morey have had their beefs in the past. The opinionated analyst then utilized his past issues and previous points of contention with the Rockets GM in criticizing the dismissal of McHale after a 4-7 start to a season that came fresh off an appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

“I just think Daryl Morey screwed Kevin McHale,” Barkley said, via The Big Lead. “Obviously me and Daryl Morey don’t like each other, because he’s one of those analytics geeks who think you get numbers winning games instead of players. The guy just was in the [Western] Conference finals five months ago, and he sucks after 11 games? I just think that’s really unfair to Kevin McHale … I just think it’s the GM covering his own ass, and Kevin McHale got screwed.”

Morey argued Wednesday that the “team was not responding” to the coach, arguing he “had to make a tough call” because there’s “no time to wait in the Western Conference.”

As noted, Barkley has had no problem criticizing Morey in the past, specifically regarding the GM’s affinity for analytics. Last February, Barkley, while saying that while he has “nothing against” the Rockets boss, argued the team’s success is due to “bringing in better players.”

“How is that analytical?” Barkley asked.

Morey had no issue criticizing Barkley, either, as he took a potshot at Barkley’s analyst acumen about the same time Barkley was hammering his so-called obsession with analytics.