#MIDDLEBURY
By Mark Vasto
Charles Barkley has a big mouth, which is appropriate considering he also has a very large head. He used to get paid for bouncing a ball, but for the past 10 years he’s gotten paid to break them as a game-day analyst for TNT.
Nobody knows this more than the King – LeBron James.
Barkley was one of the first to rip James’ decision to leave Cleveland for Miami in his “The Decision” telecast that needlessly cuckolded a fan base that only loved the guy. “Punk move” was how Barkley put it out there.
This year he made a comment about how James will never be considered in the top five of basketball’s all-time players (for the record, Barkley counts them as Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell). Last week Barkley called him “inappropriate” and “whiny” after James openly complained about the Cavs’ inability to sign another playmaker for their anticipated title defense.
“The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted,” Barkley expounded. “They have the highest payroll in NBA history … 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.”
Well, LeBron James has had enough. When an ESPN staff writer reached out to him after a loss for comment, James did another thing Barkley is pretty good at: He teed off.
“I’m not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that,” James said. “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.”
And that’s exactly what we’ll do. There’s James’ take on Barkley. James had every right to pursue championships in Miami. He has professional pride; he may become the all-time leading scorer, winner of championships … who knows? He’s certainly in the top 10. He has represented the NBA the right way. He was great with Amy Schumer in “Trainwreck.” And why shouldn’t he be concerned with Golden State returning with a vengeance – this time with Kevin Durant in tow?
Problem is, Barkley said nothing wrong. “The Decision” was a punk move. LeBron James isn’t on the NBA’s Mount Rushmore plus one, at least not yet. And Barkley was right, complimentary even, when he called him the “best player in the world.”
James asked why Barkley is even relevant in today’s game. The answer is because James, the King, deigned to get into a mudfight with a lowly “Sir,” so quit your whining!
Mark Vasto is a veteran sportswriter who lives in New Jersey.
(c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
