NBA News: LeBron James And Charles Barkley Not Headed Towards Friendship
Charles Barkley and LeBron James do not appear to have any plans to become friends, despite dominating news headlines with public comments about each other.
James and Barkley both understand what it takes to be NBA All-Stars, although they played in the league during completely different eras. However, it appears that neither takes kind to public rants.
Barkley addressed the comments that James made about him, after Charles’ initial comments about LeBron on TNT’s “Inside The NBA.”
The NBA Hall of Famer does not care about James thoughts’ about him as a player, analyst or friend. On the notion of the two becoming friends, Barkley said via the Waddle & Silvy radio show via CBS Sports:
“We’re never gonna be friends. And that’s not a negative thing, I’m not friends with none of these young guys. My job is to do my job.”
Otherwise, the NBA analyst said that he was not going to overreact to LeBron James’ rant. Barkley said he was not going to respond with anything bad or personal about James. Charles said he had no problem with James’ comments about his past and being a hater. Barkley simply said that James googled him and did his homework. However, Barkley stood by his initial comments about LeBron appearing whiny.
Charles said he had no problem with James’ comments about his past and being a hater. Barkley simply said that James googled him and did his homework. However, Barkley stood by his initial comments about LeBron appearing whiny.
“Some of those things he said about [me] were correct, but that doesn’t make my message incorrect,” Barkley said. “I thought he was really whiny and complaining the last couple of weeks.”
Barkley said James got personal in his comments, but the NBA Hall of Famer said he would never get personal with comments about a current player. The NBA analyst said all of his criticisms and critics are about basketball.
Further, Barkley said that he is going to continue to be straightforward. With that, he understands that NBA players are going to come back at him.
“Any time you criticize these young guys, they call you a hater,” Barkley said. “They never ask you if the criticism is fair or not.”
Moreover, Barkley says that LeBron James is one of the greatest players in the world and a wonderful guy. He also said that he has only met James casual. The past James-Barkley encounters have been great and cordial, per Barkley.
Nonetheless, Barkley said his initial comments were about James bashing his teammates every day.
What were Charles’ comments about LeBron James anyways? Check them out in this tweet:
Charles Barkley gets visibly angry about LeBron James wanting more players pic.twitter.com/l16WUXvalz
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) January 27, 2017
Among other things, Charles calls out LeBron for wanting more help after he won the NBA Championship in 2016.
After those TNT comments, Lebron James responded with his own rant about Charles Barkley’s past. James questioned Barkley’s credibility and the Cleveland Cavaliers star said he did not want his legacy disrespected.
James also called the NBA legend a hater and brought up Barkley’s past.
The Cavaliers forward told ESPN that he never spat on a kid, threw somebody through a window, claimed he wasn’t a role model or almost missed All-Star Weekend.
SB Nation actually verified LeBron’s claims that include a $400,000 gambling debt, popular Nike commercial and bar window incident.
As for the hater part of James’ comments, former Heat teammate and current Chicago Bulls player Dwyane Wade said he is glad that LeBron finally opened his mouth about all of the shots that ex-players take at him.
Wade said that some of the ex-NBA players turned analysts forget their own pasts.
“We all make that mistake, but especially that guy on TV,” Wade said via Yahoo Sports. “He acting like he just walks on water.”
Hence, Wade said he is happy that LeBron James called out Charles Barkley.
“Humble yourself. LeBron is who he is. We all have flaws. But when your flaws a little bit more, you should shut up,” Wade added about the James-Barkley beef.
Wade and James have appeared to be friends since the two entered the league in 2003. Either way, don’t expect Barkley and James to become friends anytime soon.
Therefore, we could see more news on LeBron James and Charles Barkley as the NBA season progress.
[Featured Image by John Locher/AP Images]
