Charles Barkley Fired? NBA Fans Defend Isaiah Thomas, Want TNT To Fire Barkley
Charles Barkley getting fired by TNT would please many NBA fans after he spoke about Isaiah Thomas before the Boston Celtics took on the Chicago Bulls Sunday (April 16). Thomas lost his sister to a car accident in Seattle over the weekend and was visibly and understandably upset about it during the pregame warmups. Barkley, serving as one of the TNT color commentators, took the opportunity to share his opinion on the situation.
Charles Barkley on Isaiah Thomas:
“I’m not feeling comfortable with him sitting on the sideline crying like that. That makes me uncomfortable because that tells me he’s not in shape to play.”
It was not a “good look” for Barkley, as he was showing zero sympathies for what was taking place within the Thomas family. Social media is still erupting as a result of what he had to say, showing that Barkley is still making waves with his commentary on TNT. Twitter users who didn’t even watch the game would like the result of this controversy to be that Charles Barkley is fired.
Charles Barkley’s comments in regards to Isaiah Thomas are disgraceful. He should be fired from @NBAonTNT immediately. No questions asked.
— Alex Staab (@StaabAlex) April 17, 2017
A report by the Seattle Times came out on Saturday (April 15) that relayed the bad news about Isaiah Thomas’s sister. Chyna Thomas, a 22-year-old, died in a one-car crash in Federal Way, Washington. She was traveling in the early morning hours, and her vehicle left the road, leading to very tragic results at the scene. A witness to the accident stated that her car had started to drift very casually onto the left shoulder before it left the highway.
Charles Barkley’s comments on Isaiah Thomas came right before Game 1 of the Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls series. This game opened the 2017 NBA Playoffs for both teams, pitting the No. 1 seed against the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls ended up pulling off a Game 1 upset, beating the top team in the East 106-102 on the road. Thomas was still sharp, scoring 33 points on just 10-of-18 shooting. He also had six assists and five rebounds, but the Bulls were just too much for them on this night.
Barkley had also predicted that the Celtics were going to easily win this game, so social media was not kind to him, putting up many posts like the following one in response to his pregame comments.
Oh hey Charles Barkley what was that??? pic.twitter.com/TR2PzC8mT4
— ?arcusD (@_MarcusD2_) April 17, 2017
The network has not released a statement about Charles Barkley’s comments yet, but as the morning sports show start to really get going, it’s possible that TNT will be forced to at least offer some words to fans who are upset about the situation. If nothing changes, Barkley will be back on the air Monday night (April 17), as there are two playoff games on the NBA TV schedule.
Though the Boston Celtics get the night off on Monday, four other teams will be on the court, with Charles Barkley serving as an analyst again. The action begins with the Indiana Pacers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET and ends with the Memphis Grizzlies vs. San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast live on TNT. Pregame coverage will again include Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal.
Many people who didn’t even watch the game or the TNT pregame coverage are learning on Monday about the comments from Barkley this weekend. The backlash continues to be quite strong, with Thomas receiving a lot of support from people around the country. Game 2 for the Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls in on Tuesday night (April 18), which could mean a lot of additional reaction time to the comments from Charles Barkley on Isaiah Thomas.
[Featured Image by Tom Pennington/Getty Images]
