Even though Charles Barkley is covering the March Madness tournament and is away from the NBA, he chimed in on the ongoing feud between Lakers star LeBron James and ESPN star Stephen A. Smith, which has dominated the sports world for the past week. James’s appearance on the Pat McAfee show dominated headlines for his comments on Stephen A. Smith following their March 6th confrontation over what the four-time NBA champion deemed as Smith questioning his parenting.
Never would I ever not allow people who talk about the sport to criticize players about what they do on the court,” James said on Wednesday. “That is your job to criticize, or to be in a position where if a guys not performing, that’s all part of the game.”
James joked about Smith, saying he was the “one person who couldn’t wait for the video to drop” so he could “address” it after it went viral.
“It started off with, ‘I didn’t wanna address it. I didn’t wanna address it. I wasn’t going to address it, but since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Are you, are you kidding me? If there’s one person that couldn’t wait for the video to drop so you could address it, it’s your ass. Like, seriously?”
Smith did indeed address LeBron James’s comments on the latest edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show, sharing that he doesn’t like the four-time NBA Champion and believes he’s selfish. But Smith didn’t stop there. He also dedicated a significant portion of First Take to respond to James’s comments, even alleging that James didn’t attend the memorial service for the late Kobe Bryant, although he retracted his comments on that matter after it was proven that James was indeed at the service.
“I’ve always liked LeBron, but him being a bully, it turned me off… Stephen A., the way he reacted, was so lame and weak.”
Charles Barkley on the ongoing LBJ-SAS saga
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While appearing as a guest on The Dan Patrick Show, Patrick asked Barkley who he thought had a better week. Barkley was non-commital and scolded both parties.
“They both had an awful week. They both had an awful week. LeBron, he’s too big to be that type of bully to bully Stephen A. and to bully Brian Windhorst. Brian Windhorst. Is a sweet person, man. He’s just trying to do his thing, and I’ve always liked LeBron, but him being a bully, it turned me off, Dan. But I will say that Stephen A.’s reaction was lame and weak. And Stephen A. is a good dude, man.”
Barkley believes that James’s confrontation of Smith was calculated, calling him a “control freak.” But, the Inside The NBA star also took Smith to task for going on the Gil’s Arena podcast to further speak about the incident.
“ So there’s only losers, Dan, in this scenario. Us as the sports media. You got the biggest star in the game. You probably got the biggest star on television. And they both look bad in my opinion. And they,, what bothers me the most? They both good dudes. I don’t mind people who are an asshole looking bad. I don’t mind that at all. They deserve it. But Stephen a’s a good dude, and LeBron is good dude, but they both look really bad this week.”
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