His attitude is holding both himself and his team back
Chriss has an attitude problem. When things don’t go his way (which is apparently often) he shuts down. Not only will he quit on a play to complain or sulk, but on the defensive end in particular, his frustration will also cause him to swipe listlessly at the ball earning unnecessary fouls, or simply just play poor, un-energized play.
I have often compared his attitude to that of Charles Barkley. Sir Charles was well known for his complaining, often slamming the ball high into the air in frusteration, getting in the face of officials, and on at least one occasion, even pretending to shoot a couple of them with a finger gun.
The difference between Chriss and Charles is that Barkley had a fire and passion for the game that backed up his complaining. He earned the right to argue with officials because he was one of the greatest players in the history of the league. You could expect a couple of plays off here and there to sulk, but he sure as hell was going to go all out and get his team 25+ points and 10+ rebounds every time he stepped on the floor.
Marquese Chriss can’t even reach double-digit scoring this season, doing so on only two occasions so far in 18 games (as of November 21), and double-digit rebounds only once.
Sure, Chriss has the talent to be a very good player (one would assume), but so far in his career he does not have the mentality, and he doesn’t seem to even care.
His attitude was a problem for him throughout his rookie season when he finished tied for 9th in the league in technical fouls, and it came out in embarrassing fashion during Summer League when he quit on a play to pout/complain, while Earl Watson was at that moment doing a live televised sideline interview discussing Chriss’ game and attitude.
Yet, he has yet to fix it. Granted, he only has one technical foul this season (compared to Devin Booker, Josh Jackson, and T.J. Warren who each have three), his complaining has not ceased, creating recurring problems.
Even Suns interim Head Coach Jay Triano addressed his situation last week saying that Chriss’ attitude it is a concern, and that the coaching staff has dealt with it by benching him after an emotional outburst or reaction, and asking him to let them know when his mind has cleared and that he is ready to come back into a game.
Imagine a star player needing this kind of mental release during games (I suppose outside of Dennis Rodman and more recently DeMarcus Cousins). It just doesn’t happen. Star players know how to keep their mind straight. Sure they can complain, I’m not saying that Chriss shouldn’t defend himself when somehow a referee has absolutely wronged him. His problem though is that apparently he believes that refs wrong him or the team all the time, and when he doesn’t agree, he hurts his team.