LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

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LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Tue Jan 31, 2017 6:54 pm

According to LeBron, Barkley is just a "hater".

After years of being fodder for Charles Barkley to comment on in his role as an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA" program, LeBron James has heard enough.

"He's a hater," James told ESPN of Barkley following the Cleveland Cavaliers' 104-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. "What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?"


"I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that," James told ESPN. "I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying.

"All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that."

James, whose friendships with Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony have also been called into question, recalled watching an old 1993 NBA Finals game between Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns and being surprised what he saw on his screen.

"Go watch the '93 Finals when John Paxson hit the shot," James said. "Barkley and Jordan were laughing and joking with each other during one of the games while somebody's shooting a free throw. In the Finals. But, oh, nobody were friends back then."


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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby I Hate Mondays on Tue Jan 31, 2017 10:21 pm

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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Stress Fracture on Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:55 pm

Barkley wouldn't have said that had he just went into David Griffin's office and said his demands. No need to tell the media that, as what Kenny and KG also said.
benji wrote:LeBron is such a choker. And people were talking about him as an all-time great. As having possibly surpassed Kobe. What a joke.

velvet bliss wrote:Andrew, you the real MVP.

Andrew wrote:He who flops and flails to the Finals and a title, flops and flails best.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby volsey on Wed Feb 01, 2017 2:56 am

This is so juicy.

LeBron's been called out and talked about in likely worse matters than what Barkley had to say about him this time, but he's had a rough month with the team, and is likely frustrated. I would venture to guess he regrets what he's said already; Not because it will come back at him and really hurt or affect him, but because it's a low blow. What he said is irrelevant to the topic, has nothing to do with basketball, and further makes LeBron look like a fucking grown 260lb child, which I've always thought he was/is. Frustration after a loss, a rough month, and overall bad timing leads to a slip of that stupid perfect boy image he constantly tries to portray.

I can't wait for Chuck's response. Honestly though I don't think it will really effect or hit Chuck much. He knows what he's done, he sits across and works with a much larger child in Shaq daily. I'm saddened to think that if Chuck acts like a man and takes the high road idiots will think LeBron pwned him, however I really would rather not see Chuck further a battle he can't really win/ stoop to this douchebags level.

Anyways I've got my popcorn ready for TNT tonight.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby I Hate Mondays on Wed Feb 01, 2017 3:33 am

I kinda feel bad for Barkley. He just speaks his mind, even though sometimes his mind is as dull as a rock. Most of the times, he proves he has a great basketball IQ. And I know he doesn't have the most diplomatic way of expressing himself and that could make others dislike him, but I swear to God I didn't get to hear his full opinion this season. He always gets interrupted.
In the past, Shaq was the only guy ridiculousing Barkley whenever he got the chance. But now whenever he cracks a joke he starts looking for EJ's sight, begging for a feedback and a join in. What is worse, Kenny started spilling the most annoying interjections whenever Barkley expresses himself, only to disagree with him in the end. He has become more "aggresive" towards Barkley than Shaq. KG is fine, his contradictions with Barkley are funny and everyone can see there is no real beef there.
So suddenly, you have 2-3 guys going against one big, vocal guy. I am not taking sides, but Inside the NBA becomes chaotic most of the times. It's like I am watching a youtube video with 1k views of some 4 random guys having a video podcast in their garage. It's on national TV for God's sake, keep the proffesionalism.
Maybe if Barkley would be allowed to finish his idea most of the times, his opinions would look different at the end of everything. You can't interrupt and contradict someone after their first sentence, especially when that person is obviously not the best talker around. Give him a chance.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Wed Feb 01, 2017 8:57 am

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Dwyane Wade has also come out in support of LeBron, and taken a few shots at Barkley himself. Not altogether surprising.

I have to agree that LeBron went kind of low with his response, which is why it's annoying that people are talking about how he's right, and how he "roasted" Barkley. Nothing he said invalidated Barkley's criticisms, making his comeback a textbook ad hominem. I don't think it'll affect him too much either, as it seems people are happy he spoke out. It's all part of the "old guys are just bitter haters and overrated" narrative that is used to dismiss any valid criticism these days. LeBron's had the basketball world singing his praises and marvelling at him since he was a teenager; he doesn't like it when someone dares to criticise him.

Unfortunately there are quite a few people in the media who support him on that. I found myself being called an "insecure Michael Jordan" fan because I dared to point something out to an ESPN columnist who was vague about his point in the first place. He didn't respond when I clarified my position, nor did he further clarify his, of course. He just Re-Tweeted me with a snide remark so that his sycophantic followers and LeBron James fanboys could do his dirty work for him. Kinda cowardly, and ironic given the insecurity that a lot of LeBron fanboys display, but I digress.

I'd also have to agree that Inside the NBA devolves into chaos far too often, and they can end up looking childish as well. I think you hit the nail on the head there, Mondays; they talk over each other so often, and it often seems like Charles isn't allowed to finish his thought or explain his position, which ends up making his ideas and criticisms look half-baked and unexplained.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Jeffx on Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:29 am

Even though LeBron has rabbit ears at times (which I'm sure all great athletes do), I'm so glad he put Charles on blast. These cats get amnesia when they retire. I loved Dwayne Wade's quote:

"Sometimes when guys get on a microphone in front of their face they just talk and talk and talk and forget about their history. We all make that mistake, but especially that guy on TV. He acts like he just walked on water. I like the fact that Bron called him out ... He said there's a new sheriff in town so I'm excited to see what's next."


I remember when Barkley accused LeBron of "championship-hopping" - didn't Charles do that TWICE? Please...
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:41 am

The "new sheriff in town" line was pretty corny, I thought. And once again, nothing LeBron said refuted anything that Barkley said.

I also have to question how he's "always" done right by the game and the NBA, when he's a notorious flopper, has a history of throwing his teammates under the bus, claimed to be a "winner" after losing the 2011 NBA Finals among other asinine comments, and held the painfully self-serving "Decision" special back in 2010. He's looked bad on more than one occasion, and pouted because people had the gall to call out "The King". Still, I guess when you call up people trying to recruit them to your brand and introduce yourself as "The King", and have it tattooed on your body, it shouldn't be surprising that you're an egotistical brat.

Meanwhile, Barkley responds:

A day after LeBron James called him a "hater" and dug up some personal history, TNT analyst Charles Barkley says he stands by his criticism of the Cleveland Cavaliers' star player.

"I stick by what I said, I'm not going to make this personal ... he was all whiny last week," Barkley said on the Waddle & Silvy show on ESPN Radio. "... I'm good and I'm straightforward, I'm never going to get personal on an NBA player."


When asked Tuesday if he felt James crossed the line, Barkley said it was a case of shooting the messenger and that he had no issues with James' remarks.

"I was laughing, clearly he did some homework ... he Googled me and found some things," Barkley said. "He was young when I was playing so I appreciate that, but I'm not upset about it ... my criticism was fair and I'm good with that."

Despite drawing the ire of one of the biggest names in the sport, Barkley said he doesn't plan to rein in his opinions.

"Some of the stuff he said about me is correct -- doesn't make the message I said about him incorrect," Barkley said. "Some of them are intimidated about LeBron [but] I'm not intimidated at all."


That excerpt from the interview: "When you don't like the message, you just kill the messenger...that still does not make my message incorrect." Spot on.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby air gordon on Thu Feb 02, 2017 4:25 am

Good thing this is Barkley instead of some hack like skip

It is Barkley's job to give his opinion and since he is an accomplished player and well liked, people will continue to listen

Its a no win situation for the players... especially the top stars who live under the microscope and this current era of social media. Good for him for firing back at least

I wonder how it will be when players from the social media era become expert commentators. Knowing how it is to get criticized by anyone with internet connection, will they still criticize the players??
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby [Q] on Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:17 am

Jeffx wrote:Even though LeBron has rabbit ears at times (which I'm sure all great athletes do), I'm so glad he put Charles on blast. These cats get amnesia when they retire. I loved Dwayne Wade's quote:

"Sometimes when guys get on a microphone in front of their face they just talk and talk and talk and forget about their history. We all make that mistake, but especially that guy on TV. He acts like he just walked on water. I like the fact that Bron called him out ... He said there's a new sheriff in town so I'm excited to see what's next."


I remember when Barkley accused LeBron of "championship-hopping" - didn't Charles do that TWICE? Please...

The worst is when people like Mark Jackson or Ray Lewis (who killed a man and got away with it) go on TV and act like they're saints or better than someone else. I can't stand that.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Thu Feb 02, 2017 8:57 am

I'll certainly jump on the "Mark Jackson is a horrible, hypocritical person" bandwagon.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby I Hate Mondays on Fri Feb 03, 2017 3:55 am

Mark Jackson is another type of person. He is the ultimate sore loser
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:40 am

I have to admit that it was kind of funny hearing him call the games when the Warriors won in 2015. He sounded like the best man giving a speech at a wedding of someone he almost married himself.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby I Hate Mondays on Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:30 am

Andrew wrote:I have to admit that it was kind of funny hearing him call the games when the Warriors won in 2015. He sounded like the best man giving a speech at a wedding of someone he almost married himself.



Exactly, lol. All those statements, "Stepth is hurting the game, you see kids taking half court shots because of him blah blah blah" and so on and so forth, really made me hate his voice during ESPN broadcasts.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby volsey on Fri Feb 03, 2017 1:37 pm

Chuck's response:
http://www.nba.com/video/2017/02/02/201 ... and-lebron

Chuck reacted how I expected. Shaq though, christ he's a fucking ape. The entire time he's acting as if he's holding himself back from jumping across the table and attacking Chuck. Over what, half-asking about if a guy wants to compete? How can you argue against the fact that people are fucking soft as fuck these days. Honestly that big ape has got to go. I liked him as a goofy entertaining player, but he shows very little of the entertaining side these days. His little ego gets bruised if someone even mentions the words free throw or great bigmen, he often seems to choose sides just for the sake of arguing without any real sound basis.

Seriously, if someone said you (Shaq) didn''t want to compete, you'd go meet that person at the studio and punch him in the face? You're retired, have a "doctorate", and are supposed to be a top 20 player of all time. wtf is wrong with people
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Fri Feb 03, 2017 3:33 pm

While undoubtedly an all-time great, Shaq is notoriously petty, and egotistical. To that end, it's probably no wonder that he sides with LeBron. I too find it annoying that he's so dismissive of Chuck's opinion. Stuff like this didn't make me a fan of Shaq when he did it as a player, and it looks much worse as a broadcaster, worse than anything Barkley has said in the studio. The notion that Barkley made it personal when he was discussing LeBron in the context of professional basketball is absurd; it was LeBron who went low (and away from the point) with his remarks.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby bowdown on Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:23 am

Barkley did make it personal by saying Lebron does not want to compete. Pretty much took a shot at Lebron's masculinity by implying he is too cowardly to play with his current roster. IMO Lebron has nothing left to prove to anyone. He has carried a bunch of scrubs plenty in his career and has gotten quite far. He also created a superteam to win championships. Then he went back to his weak ass hometown and won them a championship by fighting through a 1-3 deficit against a historic GSW team.


Lebron wants to win and nothing else. He is a business man and at this stage in his career winning is all business to him.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby air gordon on Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:19 am

The facts are the cavs have the highest payroll in NBA history. Tristan Thompson has an absurd contract. Smith as well. The team just traded for Kyle korver. I believe Cleveland have no more 1st round picks to trade until James retires

Makes himself an easy target when he complains about the roster which he by the way won the title with last year
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Sauru on Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:29 am

bowdown wrote:Barkley did make it personal by saying Lebron does not want to compete.



this is not personal. this is fully related to basketball. this is also a question he will have to answer forever because of the path he took. KD will have to answer the same question after he wins his ring this year. if you dont want to be seen as soft then dont do shit like this. what lebron started in miami is bad for basketball. what KD did is far worse
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby volsey on Sun Feb 05, 2017 10:29 am

Sauru wrote:what KD did is far worse


Personally, maybe just because I dislike KD less than LeBron, I feel like what KD did isn't much worse. Both were (left) on winning teams. Both became (even though GS already was) instant favourites for the championship.

On topic of the LBJ/Barkely, what the fuck is with douchebags who've won championships?

Dramond Green talking like Shaq about only champions know what it takes?,.. He even said that Ernie can talk about it but not Chuck? HOW THE FUCK WOULD EEARNIE HAVE MORE INSIGHT INTO THE CHALLENGES THAT ACCOMPANY REPEATTTING GAINING THE CHAMPIONSHIP THAN SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY PLAYED A SINGLE FUCKING GAME (CAN I DOWNPLAY THIS MORE???) IN THE NBA LIKE CHUCK?
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby Andrew on Sun Feb 05, 2017 4:06 pm

It's the old "you haven't done it/you don't have a certain qualification, so you have no insight/can't talk about it" ad hominem. It didn't hold water when Rob Schneider tried it when his movie got panned, and it doesn't hold water when NBA analysts try it either.

By that logic, nothing that is presented for critique or scrutiny can be judged by anyone but a select few who have achieved the same thing. It would mean that most of us can't criticise a Michael Bay movie, or an NBA Live or NBA 2K title, because we've never produced a Hollywood blockbuster that made a killing at the box office, or developed a video game.
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Re: LeBron begins War of Words with Barkley

Postby NovU on Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:27 pm

Barkley's job is to entertain and less analyze. What he said about LBJ was exactly that. LBJ ofc takes himself seriously, way too seriously sometimes.
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