Charles Barkley ‘Did Not Like’ Kyrie Irving Revealing He Called LeBron James ‘At All’

TNT

Kyrie Irving’s revelation that he recently called LeBron James to apologize drew all kinds of attention over the weekend. Any time Irving and James gather together as part of the same story, the spotlight is shines bright. In short, it was a made-for-the-internet story that caused a lot of reaction but not all of it was overwhelmingly positive.

Generally, Irving garnered respect for his candor but blow-back exists in some corners and, as of Thursday, one of those detractors is Charles Barkley. The TNT analyst shared his thoughts on Irving’s decision to publicly reveal what transpired and he indicated that he “did not like” what Irving did “at all.”

It’s not outlandish to suggest that Barkley is old-school and his comments here seem to reflect that. In some ways, it makes complete sense that Barkley would point to leadership as not needing to announce this sort of thing publicly and he is far from the first person to suggest that Irving’s comments, even if indirectly, placed the burden on some of his young teammates in the middle of what has been a trying season.

Anytime Barkley speaks, much of the NBA world listens and it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction these comments garner. Still, Barkley might have a point in suggesting that it’s better for Irving (and anyone) to simply lead, rather than announcing that they will do so.

×