If you thought Charles Barkley would be intimidated by LeBron James’ response to his criticism last week, then you don’t know Chuck.
Barkley went on “Waddle & Silvy” on ESPN 1000 Chicago on Tuesday to respond to James, who ripped him on Monday night.
To recap this whole feud, last week Barkley said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” that James ripping the Cleveland Cavaliers’ front office for not bringing in more talent was “inappropriate.” On Monday night, James decided to respond with these harsh comments in which he personally attacked Barkley and his questionable background.
Barkley is friendly with Waddle and Silvy and frequently goes on air with them. Here’s what he said Tuesday in response to James:
“Clearly he did some homework on some screwups I’ve had in my life. I appreciate him — clearly he ‘Googled’ me and found out some things. But I’m not going to get upset that somebody said something bad about me. I’m not 12 years old. My initial criticism of him was fair, and I’m good with that.”
Asked why he thinks James responded in that way.
“When I think that you don’t like the message, you kill the messenger. Some of the things he said about me are correct, that still does not make my message incorrect. I thought he was really whiny and complaining the last couple weeks. It’s the middle of the season and he just bashed his teammates — I think that wasn’t right.
“I appreciate Tristan Thompson actually having the stones to say something. But he’s the only one. And anybody in that circle — they’re just so intimidated. But I’m not intimidated at all.”
Barkley says he only follows a few rules when talking on-air.
“My basketball opinion is strictly about basketball. I have really strict rules: I never talk about a guy’s personal life, and I never say a guy should be fired. All my stuff is going to strictly be about basketball.”
“I’ve only met LeBron casually. He’s always been great to me and I’ve been cordial to me. But the notion that we have to be friends … we’re never going to be friends. That’s not a negative thing. I’m not friends with any of these young guys. My job is to do my job. But I understand that this is a different generation where anytime you say something about young guys they take it personally. They don’t worry about whether the criticism is fair at all — they take it personally.”
“I’ve said the guy is one of the ten greatest players ever. I’ve said the guy is the best player in the world. I’ve said he’s a wonderful guy. I’m not sure how that constitutes hating when he’s coming out and bashing his teammates every day. I thought it was inappropriate for him to say everyday how bad his team is, and I think it’s a fair criticism.”
Barkley then referenced James talking about being a sheriff and said he challenged him to a gun fight.
“I should dress up as a cowboy and challenge him to a gun fight. Instead of the skills competition, we should do a sheriff gun shootout.”
Barkley asked on ESPN's @WaddleandSilvy show about sitting down w/LeBron "Why I got to clear the air? It's not going to change my opinion."
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 31, 2017
Charles Barkley adds that LeBron forgot a few insults about him, like that he finished last on Jeopardy.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 31, 2017
On LeBron bringing up that he once threw someone through a window: "We were on the 1st floor. I told the judge I wish it was the 3rd floor"
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 31, 2017
Charles Barkley now suggesting to @WaddleandSilvy that he and LeBron should go at each other with paintball guns as an event at All-Star.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 31, 2017
Barkley thinks James is wrong for going after him personally after the criticism. How does he expect James to react when Barkley ripped him for it? I guess maybe to ignore the criticism. But Barkley has one of the loudest microphones of all NBA analysts in the league, so his opinion carries a lot of weight. And it’s clear that of everyone, Barkley’s criticism seems to matter a lot to LeBron. Recall that James once referenced Barkley in a Nike commercial about being a villain.
The difference is Barkley doesn’t view his criticism as personal, but rather him objectively reviewing matters. Barkley even said in 2012 after James won his first ring that he was “happy” for LeBron. So it’s not personal for Barkley when he criticizes someone. The players see it differently.
