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Lebron James Ethers Charles Barkley

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B

Black Mamba

Member
DALLAS -- 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?"

James had been stewing the last couple days after Barkley took James to task for the four-time MVP calling out the Cavs for needing to fortify the roster with another playmaker in order to have a realistic shot at a repeat title.

"Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above," Barkley said of James last week. "The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him. He wanted (Iman) Shumpert last summer. They brought in Kyle Korver. He's the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They're the defending champs."

Barkley has consistently needled James, telling HBO's Bill Simmons last summer James would "never" ascend to top-five status in NBA history over Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain and going back all the way to "The Decision" television special when Barkley told ESPN Radio 103.3 FM in Dallas/Fort Worth it was a "punk move."

James initially took the high road when asked about Barkley's recent comments, saying they were "good for the ratings" while defending his competitive spirit.

But after an ESPN followed up with a story asking Tristan Thompson for his thoughts on Barkley's comments, James chose to speak out again in ardent fashion.

"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."

Bringing up Anthony reminded James of another basketball luminary that has tweaked him this season -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson -- and he had a story to share about Jackson as well.

"I went to see Melo at the Garden two years ago when we were in New York," James said. "They played Portland. I went up to a suite at halftime and Phil Jackson didn't say one word to me."

This fall, of course, Jackson brought up James' name unprompted in an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan and described him and his close circle of business associates -- Paul, Maverick Carter and Randy Mims -- as his "posse."

"I'm here to win ball games and take care of my teammates and take care of my, what's that word, oh, my 'posse,' " James said, animatedly.

He had more words for Barkley, too.

"I know he wanted to retire a long time ago but he can't," James said. "He's stuck up on that stage every week."

He then issued a challenge, of sorts.

"And if this makes him want to talk to me, the schedule's out there," James said. "He knows every road arena I'll be in. Don't just come up to me at All-Star and shake my hand and smile."

It was James' second bout of frustration shared with the media in a week as the Cavs finished out the month of January going just 7-8. It was the first time James has had a losing record in a calendar month with a minimum 10 games played since February 2006 -- his third season in the NBA -- when the Cavaliers went 6-8, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

He also spoke up about the perception he and his inner circle face as young, successful, black businessmen, believing that identity being so rare in the power structure of professional sports, makes him and his partners targets.

"I collect one paycheck from this," James said of his role with the Cavs. "There's the owner, Griff's (David Griffin) the GM, I'm the player. Screw Charles Barkley."

James put on his baseball cap and offered a parting thought as he prepared to leave the visitor's locker room at the American Airlines Center to head to the airport for a flight back to Cleveland.

"I'm tired of biting my tongue," James said. "There's a new sheriff in town."
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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...valiers-throws-gauntlet-charles-barkley-hater


I'm really liking this older, crankier Lebron. Fuck Chuck and his 80s/90s bball revisionism.
 
B

BadenBadenLily

Banned
LeBron can do or say whatever he wants at this point.

People would have been spot on calling him a crybaby or a whiner last season, but anyone who brings Cleveland a championship is vindicated for all eternity.
 
C

cordy

Banned
43f95c911149ee7c7cba7463d96178b0.500x456x1.jpg


Look forward to hearing Barkley cry and mumble on air next.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Chuck wasn't wrong but god damn Bron killed his ass dead. Straight, pure, unfiltered savagery.

For this and the political stuff he's aokay forever in my books.
 
T

theWB27

Member
Frozenprince said:
Chuck wasn't wrong but god damn Bron killed his ass dead. Straight, pure, unfiltered savagery.

For this and the political stuff he's aokay forever in my books.
Click to expand...

I like Charles but he has no place telling bron what he needs to win a ring. Its beyond chucks expertise. Yea.. bron wants the best team possible around him... its a team sport.
 
P

Paskil

Member
I don't watch basketball, or particularly care for CB. I did see LJ in Trainwreck and he was pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed CB getting shut the fuck down. CB is a noisy asshole.
 
CassidyIzABeast

CassidyIzABeast

Member
91c253943a654f1667043af3d3acae06e31035c.gif


What's beef? Beef is when you need 2 Gats to go to sleep
Beef is when your moms ain't safe up in the streets
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU, one more time
What's beef? Beef is when you make your enemies start your Jeep
Beef is when you roll no less than 30 deep
Beef is when I see you
Guaranteed to be in ICU
 
B

Brinbe

Member
lol Chuck'll be just fine.

Bron whining is funny though and Charles was completely right about him. Cavs/Griffin have done nothing but do whatever LeGM has wanted and he's still complaining about not having enough. This is his team! There's only so much they can do when they're in luxtax territory and have zero assets to go around.
 
S

Sandfox

Member
I'm tired of both Lebron and Barkley because they are grating for different reasons. I kinda find it telling that this article didn't come out until right after Barkley went off the air. All LeBron does is whine now and the game has completely left Chuck behind.

Also, it's dumb for Lebron to bring up the role model thing because that was a good message for kids about how they should be looking up to other realistic professions that they can strive to be rather than a professional athlete.
 
J

JesseEwiak

Member
Don't forget taking a moment to take out Phil Jackson as well.

"I went to see Melo at the Garden two years ago when we were in New York," James said. "They played Portland. I went up to a suite at halftime and Phil Jackson didn't say one word to me."

This fall, of course, Jackson brought up James' name unprompted in an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan and described him and his close circle of business associates -- Paul, Maverick Carter and Randy Mims -- as his "posse.

"I'm here to win ball games and take care of my teammates and take care of my, what's that word, oh, my 'posse,' " James said, animatedly.
 
C

CartridgeBlower

Member
I mean, to be fair, wasn't Barkley right about everything he said in regards to the Cavs paying all the players LeBron specifically insisted they pay?

It kinda seems like LeBron's getting more of a backlash in the media than he imagined when he spoke out about the payroll, and this is his way of trying to save face...
 
V

Vault Dweller 111

Member
JesseEwiak said:
Don't forget taking a moment to take out Phil Jackson as well.

"I went to see Melo at the Garden two years ago when we were in New York," James said. "They played Portland. I went up to a suite at halftime and Phil Jackson didn't say one word to me."

This fall, of course, Jackson brought up James' name unprompted in an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan and described him and his close circle of business associates -- Paul, Maverick Carter and Randy Mims -- as his "posse.

"I'm here to win ball games and take care of my teammates and take care of my, what's that word, oh, my 'posse,' " James said, animatedly.
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Literally in the op. Lol
 
P

Pkaz01

Member
Everything Charles said is still true, in fact everything they both said is true. He can call Charles a hater all he wants.

Charles put the heat on him by calling out by saying he went to the media complaining about needing them to make a move, so he responds by attacking Barkley's character to deflect from what he did.
 
V

valkyre

Member
The response is savage from LJ, but what CB said is true though...

LJ has been a whiner for a long time now... be it minutes played, be it constantly not being happy with an all-star ensemble he -most of the times- has specifically requested himself, not being happy with coaches, not being happy with the Cavs owner paying truckloads of money for fines in order to satisfy his requests/demands...

the list goes on and on.

So yeah, CB got himself a handful from James with this response, but CB is still right about James being a whiner.
 
J

jordan0386

Member
valkyre said:
The response is savage from LJ, but what CB said is true though...

LJ has been a whiner for a long time now... be it minutes played, be it constantly not being happy with an all-star ensemble he -most of the times- has asked himself, not being happy with coaches, not being happy with the Cavs owner paying truckloads of money for fines in order to satisfy his requests/demands...

the list goes on and on.

So yeah, CB got himself a handful from James with this response, but CB is still right about James being a whiner.
Click to expand...

Most here are too young to remember but CB shitted on Sixer mgnt all the time.
 
T

True Savior

Member
Everybody knows Charles Barkley past though. He is still right. Lebron is whiny. Dude is the greatest player in the world, he plays with amazing colleagues, yet he likes to throw them under the bus a couple times of the year. He can't have it all.
 
P

Pkaz01

Member
jordan0386 said:
Most here are too young to remember but CB shitted on Sixer mgnt all the time.
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Which is very well true; but Lebron should he held accountable for his own actions. Barkley isn't ruining his "legacy" Lebron is the only one who influences that and whining to the media doesnt help it, even if Barkley did it too.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
Future PhaZe said:
Not sure why he's so pissy lately. He speaks truth but the timing is odd. Don't understand why he's so on edge. Maybe its Trump.
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Because his team is playing like shit over the past month and 1) he's trying to get them to wake up/play better 2) Bron knows deep down that they're not good enough to beat the Dubs this season with KD.

Which is getting to him personally because he knows he only has a few years left at his current prime level before age takes over (it doesn't matter who the superstar is, no one beats father time) and that tightening window scares the living shit out of him.

LeBron is 100% about his legacy/ring chasing at this point so the idea that he may not win this year or that his team may not be good enough in the future is a disaster to him.

If they don't win this year or look like they've reached their limit as a team I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves again and joins up with Melo/CP3/Wade on his personal super team.
 
V

valkyre

Member
jordan0386 said:
Most here are too young to remember but CB shitted on Sixer mgnt all the time.
Click to expand...

CB was a lot of things. He always had the "bad boy" attitude, he even carried that image in the Olympics against individuals who were nowhere near his skill level and even admired him. That didnt stop him from acting like a "punk" numerous times.

Was he a whiner himself at times? Sure, I remember him crying that he never got a "Pippen" on his team. I also remember him getting furious with officials and a bunch of other things.

So, is he a hypocrite? Sure, nobody should be surprised at this point.

What he said though... is STILL true.

LJ sounds like a crybaby way too often... he has pretty much made the Cavs owner his bitch, everyone tries to satisfy his demands and after all is said and done, after all the millions that are spent on fines, he is still not happy and tries to shuffle the roster.

I mean... its too much...
 
J

jWILL253

Banned
Lebron willed his historically downtrodden team to come back from being down 3-1 against one of the greatest teams of all time, and did so in memorable fashion.

He can say whatever the fuck he wants.

Also, fuck that Uncle Tom in a monkey suit. Barkley continues to not know a goddamned thing about anything. Worse part is, he's not qualified to speak on anything. Politics, sports, winning championships, you name it. He's propped up for being the loudest asshole in the room.
 
C

Chumley

Banned
Murdered.

giphy.gif


Brinbe said:
lol Chuck'll be just fine.

Bron whining is funny though and Charles was completely right about him. Cavs/Griffin have done nothing but do whatever LeGM has wanted and he's still complaining about not having enough. This is his team! There's only so much they can do when they're in luxtax territory and have zero assets to go around.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
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