Charles Barkley has heard enough from Kyrie Irving.
Barkley, never one to hold back when giving his opinion, absolutely went off on Irving in an interview Thursday morning with ESPN’s “Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin” show.
Irving has been in the headlines recently, first for declaring he wouldn’t speak with the media and then for an Instagram post explaining himself that only made things worse. Irving eventually spoke with reporters and kinda, sorta tried to clear the air. In the process, Irving once again propped himself up as an artist or something of the like.
Barkley isn’t having it.
“Kyrie, you know, he’s interesting,” Barkley said. “I don’t know what’s going on with that scenario. It’s like he’s, I’m not sure what he’s doing. I don’t like it. They don’t pay you $40 million just to play basketball. Part of it is sitting down with you guys, sitting down with me and Kenny and Ernie and Jet, talking to the New York reporters. Meeting with the media is part of your professional obligation. You can say what you want to say. These guys today, I don’t hate on them, but I’m not sure what point Kyrie is trying to make.”
Barkley continued: “When he talks, I’m like, ‘What the hell is he trying to say? What is he saying? What is he trying to say?’ He starts talking about what an artist he is. He’s a basketball player. That’s what he is. Listen, we’re not frontline responders. We’re not teachers. Yo, man, you dribble a basketball, stop acting like you’re the smartest person in the world.
“Now can you talk about social issues and things like that? Of course. But some of the other stuff, I’m like, ‘Yo, man, you do realize you’re just a basketball player, right?’ And it seems like he’s like ‘No, I want you guys to know I’m the smartest guy in the room.’ Well, first of all, you’re not. You only went to college for six months. A lot of guys are smarter than you are. Just answer stupid basketball questions. And if you want to say something about social justice, say it and mean it, because it’s important and significant. But all that other stuff? Like, ‘Yo, man, shut the hell up and talk basketball.'”
It will be interesting to see whether Irving has any sort of reply to the Round Mound of Rebound.
We’d certainly be all about a war of words between Chuck and Kyrie to kick off the 2020-21 NBA season, that’s for sure.
(Hat tip to SI.com)
