Charles Barkley is one of the most popular sports analysts of all time due to his unapologetic style and willingness to criticize the NBA’s biggest stars. According to Charles Oakley, that popularity has come with a cost.
Oakley has long had beef with Barkley, and Oakley makes it clear in his new book “The Last Enforcer” that the two are not on good terms. Oakley mentioned in the book how Barkley has a strained relationship with Michael Jordan and many other NBA legends. He said Barkley is often not invited to the party with the other cool kids because of it.
“So I know he wants to come to the cookout and play 18 holes with us. But we’re not inviting him no more. He’s out,” Oakley wrote, via the Toronto Star. “You act up, you go stand in the corner with one leg in the air. … That’s Charles, in the corner of the playground by himself. You can see him, because he’s kind of big.”
There’s a story that Oakley punched Barkley in the face at an NBA Players Association meeting during the 1990s. Oakley said that is not accurate but claims he “did, however, slap the s— out of him.” The former New York Knicks star insisted in an interview with GQ this week that he has “no issue” with Barkley, but the two clearly are not friends. Oakley said Barkley can dish out criticism but doesn’t like taking it.
“He probably got an issue with me — ‘Why Oak always gotta talk about me?’” Oakley said. “Same way you get to talk about these young kids now, trying to make a living for themselves.
“You criticize them every night. So, why can’t somebody criticize you? You was an a– when you played. Great talent, but ask anybody he played with, he was an a– to play with. It was never teamwork. It was all about him. So, hey: It is what it is.”
Oakley has called Barkley out in the past over some of his analysis. Barkley has also had a fractured relationship with Jordan for years, and Chuck admitted last year that he is bothered by that.
Again, Barkley is a tough analyst. That often bothers today’s NBA players, and it has impacted his relationship with some of his peers as well. That is certainly the case with Oakley, Jordan and other players from Barkley’s era.
Photo: May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
