Charles Barkley has ‘no problem’ with LeBron James’ response, but sticks by criticism

Charles Barkley was playing golf with his friends when he found out what most people already heard — LeBron James had roasted the TNT analyst for his harsh criticism regarding James’ calls for roster improvements.

But as expected, Barkley stuck by his guns when addressing James’ comments on the radio.

“I have no problem with what LeBron said,” Chuck said Tuesday afternoon on ESPN 1000 Waddle & Silvy. “Some of it was true. I did pay my debt, that’s not true. I was never late to the All-Star Game, so that’s not true. But I don’t overreact, I’m not gonna say anything personal, or anything like that. I stick by what I said. He was all whiny and everything last week.”

Earlier in the day, James hit Barkley with a flurry of jabs, referencing bad moments in Barkley’s personal life. The King said he was “tired of biting his tongue,” and unleashed on Barkley for what turned out to be years worth of chiding the four-time MVP and three-time NBA champion — most recently a critique of James’ assessment of the Cavaliers’ roster.

Barkley took the high road, refusing to strike back with his own personal attacks. But the former 11-time NBA All-Star said James’ personal attacks do not change his stance.

“I’m not gonna get upset that someone said something bad about me, I’m not like 12 years old,” Barkley said. “My initial criticism was fair, and I’m good with that.

“I think when you don’t like the message you just kill the messenger. Some of the things he said about me were correct, that still does not make my message incorrect.”

Barkley’s comments stem from James’ public reprimanding of the front office in late January. After the Cavaliers fell, 124-122, to the well below .500 New Orleans Pelicans, James blasted his team, calling it “top-heavy as sh—,” and publicly called on the front office to make roster improvements.

While the Golden State Warriors improved during the off-season by adding former league MVP Kevin Durant as well as David West, Zaza Pachulia and JaVale McGee, Cleveland allowed Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov to leave elsewhere, only acquiring rookie Kay Felder and Mike Dunleavy in free agency.

“We’re not better than last year. From a personnel standpoint,” James said, according to ESPN.com’s Dave McMenamin. “We need a f---ing playmaker. I’m not saying you can just go find one, like you can go outside and see trees. I didn’t say that.”

Barkley later called James “whiny” for wanting more talent as a team with a core that had just won the NBA championship. He doubled down on that stance on Tuesday.

“Well, I thought he was whiny and complaining the last couple of weeks, talking about you got no help,” Barkley said. “And I’m just like, ‘Dude you just won the championship, and it’s the middle of the season and you’re just bashing your teammates.’ I think that that wasn’t right.”

James called Barkley “a hater” for his recent comments, asking “What makes him credible? Because he’s on TV?” The TV analyst chalked the word up to a new generation of athletes.

“Listen, any time you criticize any of these young guys, you’re a hater. C’mon man, you know that’s silly,” Barkley said. “Any type of criticism of any player today, that’s the word they use: ‘hater.’ They never ask you is the criticism fair or not.”

James issued a challenge to Barkley, according to McMenamin: Don’t just smile in The King’s face and shake his hand next time you see him. But Chuck, while praising James’ hospitality, said there’s no need for the two to be friends in the future. He’s just here to do his job.

“I’ve only met LeBron casually,” he said. “He’s always been great to me. I think I’ve been great and cordial to him, but this notion that we have to be friends — we’re never gonna be friends. And that’s not a negative thing. I’m not friends with none of these young guys. My job is to do my job.”