Charles Barkley claims one Phoenix Suns player should be in the 2025-26 NBA All-Star Game

Charles Barkley says one Suns star deserves an NBA All-Star Game roster spot:

Charles Barkley campaigned for Dillon Brooks to be on the 2025-26 NBA All-Star Game rosters not just from a statistical standpoint, but from a cultural one. Talking with NBA Radio and Sirius XM’s Justin Termine and Suns analyst Eddie Johnson, Barkley cut straight to the questions of why Brooks isn’t more in the conversation of heading to the NBA All-Star Game. Barkley also discussed and questioned what Dillon Brooks does differently than Draymond Green? His answer, not much, wasn’t a slight. It was Barkley showing that Brooks has more than the requirements to be qualified for a spot.

Brooks’ value in Phoenix also lives in the margins that decide playoff games. He can guard the opponent’s best perimeter scorer, shift lineups defensively, and absorb the emotional stress that frees stars to score. Barkley also highlighted that Brooks has become a major piece of why the Suns have been so successful, as he just isn’t bringing his signature intensity; he is ingraining it in the Suns’ culture.

For Phoenix fans, this hits home harder because it’s validation from a former Suns legend in Charles Barkley. Phoenix isn’t short on scorers; it’s searching for stability when games tilt sideways, and Brooks provides that. He communicates, he disrupts, and he plays with an edge that travels from October through May. That’s why Barkley called him a big piece of what’s going on in Phoenix, even while admitting the odds are against an All-Star nod. Nationally, Barkley’s argument challenges All-Star orthodoxy. If the league celebrates winning basketball, then players who enable winning, without gaudy stats every night, deserve the conversation.