Doc Rivers may be the NBA’s king of flabbergasted reactions. But Charles Barkley appears to be coming for his throne.
As the new NBA season tipped off on Tuesday, TNT’s “Inside the NBA” crew gave their takes on the Kyrie Irving-Brooklyn Nets situation. Barkley’s co-host, Kenny “The Jet” Smith, defended Irving, saying that he understood the All-Star guard’s choice to remain unvaccinated as long Irving was willing to accept the consequences. The camera then panned to Barkley, who delivered a priceless reaction by staring blankly into the void as Smith spoke. Take a look:
Chuck’s face as Kenny Smith concludes his point about Kyrie Irving and vaccinations: pic.twitter.com/zdtX7M6eff
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) October 20, 2021
Needless to say, Barkley was of the exact opposite opinion. After Smith was done, Barkley proceeded to skewer Irving, saying, “You don’t get the vaccine for yourself. You get it for other people.” He also said that Irving should not be getting paid $17 million this season to sit at home and blasted the recent comparisons of Irving to the late Muhammad Ali.
The Nets tipped off the season against the Milwaukee Bucks without Irving, losing by the lopsided final score of 127-104. The team has decided not to accommodate Irving, who is ineligible to play in home games, as a part-time player this season. That means that Brooklyn could be without Irving for the entire year unless he suddenly decides to get vaccinated.
The outspoken Barkley clearly does not agree with the way that Irving is handling his business here. This is also far from the first time that Barkley has gone in on the former No. 1 overall pick on national television.
