Charles Barkley Rips LeBron James For Being A Bully; Claims Stephen A. Smith's Reaction Was Weak
The LeBron James-Stephen A. Smith beef is the biggest talking point in the basketball world at the moment, and Charles Barkley has now shared his thoughts on it. Barkley appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Friday, where he was asked who had the better week, James or Smith.
"They both had an awful week," Barkley said. "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."
James appeared on Wednesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, where he fired shots left, right, and center. LeBron mocked Smith for going on a Taylor Swift Tour following their infamous confrontation and stated he completely missed the point of it.
James also surprisingly slammed Brian Windhorst, and Barkley wasn't a fan of either act. While the Hall of Famer had nothing bad to say about Windhorst, he was critical of Smith for the way he has reacted in this whole saga.
"Stephen A., the way he reacted was so lame and weak," Barkley stated. "Stephen A.'s a good dude, man... LeBron, I blame him for starting the bullying, going on Pat's show, just bullying people, because you know, LeBron, he's a control freak. He knows everything he's doing.
"He knew when he walked up to Stephen A., what he was doing," Barkley added. "But the way Stephen A. reacted, going on [Gilbert Arenas’] podcast, talking tough, come on, man, you're better than that. There's only losers, Dan, in this scenario."
Barkley believes Smith has made this situation even worse by reacting the way he has. He was stunned by Smith incorrectly claiming that James didn't go to Kobe Bryant's memorial, something the ESPN analyst was forced to apologize for later.
All in all, you'd have to say Smith had the rougher week between the two. Sure, James has come under fire from some corners for firing shots at everybody, but at least he didn't end up with egg on his face like Smith.
Barkley was far from the only one to take issue with James dissing Windhorst. It seemed uncalled for, but while Smith angrily responded to the shots fired at him, Windhorst did not. He took the high road when asked about James' comments on ESPN Cleveland.
“LeBron doesn’t owe me anything," Windhorst said. "I owe him a lot. He has been a great friend to my hometown and my alma mater. That I would stand on. Anything else, I would never say or never stand on. Just know, Chris, I met LeBron 25 years ago. And my understanding of LeBron and where people stand in his life has been crystal clear for a long time."
That was classy. You actually wouldn't have blamed him for being a bit upset. James had stated that Windhorst claims to be his best friend, but he'd never said anything along those lines. Windhorst wasn't interested in getting into a war of words, though, and that was the right decision.