The NBA has a brewing rivalry and it's not the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors but LeBron James vs. Charles Barkley. The two basketball legends traded barbs after Barkley called James "whiny" last week on television.
The basketball Hall of Famer blasted the three-time NBA champion on Inside the NBA. He called James "whiny" for publicly demanding the Cavaliers front office to find him a playmaker. It was during the struggles of the Cavs in the month of January wherein they finished 7-8. Now, the LeBron James vs. Charles Barkley issue has taken over the Internet.
"Chuck" pointed out all the things the Cavaliers front office has done to make him happy. The Cavs re-signed J.R. Smith and they traded for Kyle Korver but James was pretty frustrated with losing, ESPN reported.
Nevertheless, Barkley also had praise for James as he called him the best player in the world but he wants him to compete and stop whining. Clearly, the 53-year-old was just doing his job but his comments finally got to James and he was not happy.
The four-time MVP told Dave McMenamin of ESPN on Monday that he's not going to let "Chuck" disrespect his legacy. James got personal as he called out Barkley for all the bad things he has done during his career. He also called Barkley a "hater".
"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," James said.
It should be noted that Barkley is known for his compulsive gambling and he is not ashamed of it because he can support his bad habit. The TNT analyst just laughed off James' comments and he was flattered that "The King" did some homework about his personal life.
"He Googled me and found some things. 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," Barkley said on the Waddly & Silvy Show.
The war words between the two could be over since Barkley took the high road and he did not make it personal, unlike James. The reigning Finals MVP should not be whining in the next week or so since the Cavaliers are close to getting him a new playmaker. LeBron James vs. Charles Barkley is not going to die down anytime soon as the latter is expected to fire more shots in the coming days.
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