LeBron James blasts Charles Barkley - NBA - Yahoo! Sports CLEVELAND (AP)—LeBron James reacted strongly to Charles Barkley’s comments that the Cavaliers star isn’t showing respect for Cleveland fans and his teammates by discussing his possible free agency following the 2010 season. “He’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” James said Friday night before the Cavaliers’ game against Golden State. Barkley made the comments on TNT’s NBA studio show and Dan Patrick’s radio show. “If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up,” the Hall of Famer said on Patrick’s show. “I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the Cavaliers.” James, under contract for two more seasons, was bombarded with questions about his future when the Cavaliers visited New York to play the Knicks on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers can offer him an extension as early as July 1, 2009. There has long been speculation James will eventually end up in one of the NBA’s larger markets and the Knicks have cleared salary-cap space in anticipation of the 2010 free-agent class. “I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day,” James said when the Cavaliers were in New York. “It’s probably going to be one of the biggest days in free-agent history in the NBA. So a lot of teams are gearing up to try to prepare themselves to be able to put themselves in position to get one of the big free-agent market guys.” I don't know why LeBron is getting all bent out of shape. I do think it is kind of disrespectful to his current team and fans to be facinated with other teams when he still has 2 more years to play for the Cavs.
Obviously they are not close, but still, maybe a private phone call to discuss it would have been nice..but of course before he could even think about that, a reporter with a mic got to him first. "No comment" would have been better or "I respect his opinion of the situation, but I have nothing to say until he and I discuss it." But when you are only a youngun, you might think about those things...
I totally agree with Sir Charles. Haven't been able to understand Lebron running his mouth about something 1 1/2 years away. Maybe slightly far-fetched, but the Cavs could possibly win 2 titles before then. His reply to Barkley was punk and should help end speculation of him becoming a Piston.
and stern gets upset when folks talk about throwing games at the end of the year for a few slots in the draft (aka one of the reasons for the lottery) the media is partly to blame for fanning the flames of the whole discusion but the punk from cleveland has done nothing but throw gasoline himself. this so should be a none story... were talking 18 months away, this story is already getting more annoying then the brett farve situation from the summer/fall ever thought of being...
It's not Lebron's fault, that the Cavs GM sucks (biggest reason why he's leaving). Mo Williams Who? Delonte West is playing better then him. You can't blame the guy for wanting to ring a championship. I mean Shaq deserted the Lakers for another ring. It's another reason why Bosh is unhappy with the Raptors too. I dunno about Carmelo.
I don't remember shaq talking about leaving TWO years before he left... I don't hear Bosh saying he's gone and teasing other cities about him coming to there teams... heck when it was brought up about detroit he talked about how he had to keep the his fans happy.... when was the last time James said one nice thing about those ohio fans? I see him doing tons of nice things for new york fans tough...... add to that list, of the 10 plus great players that will be free agents in the summer of 2010... how many do you hear talking about how there going to have a choice to make, to look out whats best for them? They all may be thinking it, but atleast there smart enough to keep there mouths shut.
IMO they both are stupid. Why is Barkley so concerned about what LeBron is saying about this issue? Sir Fat A** is extremely annoying at times. Is he hating?? And as someone mentioned earlier, King Ego just needs to not address the issue at all. I mean two years from now anything can happen. What if he suffers a career ending injury? Or maybe one that could severely impact that huge contract he is anticipating.
That's how you can tell Lebron is not educated with that comeback. Instead of saying Charles was stupid, he just should've said that he is a grown man and he'll talk about what he wants to talk about. Charles is correct, it is disrespectful (highly disrespectful) to the Cavs. If anyone on the Pistons, was really wanted like LBJ, and they were talking about how what they were going to do in 2 years, I would find that highly disrespectful as well. It's going to be funny when Charles finds out what he said and light his butt on fire. He's going to look like a over-toasted marshmellow lol.
Barkley is right. King James is showing a complete lack of respect to the Cavs management and to the fans in Cleveland, who have done nothing but roll out the red carpet for him ever since he came into the league. He still has nearly two seasons before he becomes a free agent. What a jerk.
Agree on all points. Lebron either has to give a much wittier insult, or he has to just smile, shrug it off, and say he loves Charles, and Charles is paid to say provocative things. And Charles was right; Lebron's remarks are disloyal to his own team and fan base. Can you imagine if Lebron was making remarks during the playoffs about going to another team in a couple of years?
Perhaps the current CBA needs a re-vamp. Right now it's outta bounds for organizations to talk about players they desire...BUT it's "okay" for prima donnas to sell out their current team 2 seasons in advance? WTF? I hope Lebron signs a contract in Europe cuz the NBA would be better off without him.
Lebron is a 5 year old. He's so used to getting whatever he wants, this is the way he handles criticism.
I could be wrong, as I haven't been following this very closely, but it isn't like LBJ is instigating these conversations is it? I was under the impression that he's being bombarded by all these questions by reporters. Granted, he should probably answer them differently - or not at all - but it isn't his fault that he's getting asked all of these questions almost 2 years early.
Commentating, hating, whatever. Like I said Barkley can be very annoying. James is a jerk for entertaining these questions. Perhaps Barkley is upset nobody cared what would happen to him when he had a couple of years left in his contract. He just enjoys doing and saying controversial things. Dude loves the spotlight and TNT is certainly providing it for him. He has his opinion like we all do.
