Charles Barkley Suggests Players Should be More Balanced with the Media
A thank you once in a while, according to Sir Charles, would be nice.
NBA players and the media have a complicated relationship.
When something good is said about players, they don’t respond. But when a critique is verbalized, even the slightest little thing, (some) players will go ballistic.
Some will contact the reporter or analyst or commentator directly and some will go onto a social media platform to air their hurt feelings.
And this is something that Charles Barkley hates.
During a recent appearance on the All the Smoke podcast, he told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson a story of when Kobe Bryant berated him after he called The Black Mamba out for not shooting the ball so that he can prove a point to the Lakers’ brass.
Barkley said that he criticized Kobe for being petty and the Lakers’ legend privately texted him all of these expletives.
“Remember that game where Kobe didn’t shoot? He texted me, calling me ‘asshole, jackass.’ And all I said was, ‘as much as I love Kobe Bryant, what he did that game was total BS.’
“He started texting me after the game. We get off around one, two, in the morning. He texted me 25 times and called me every name in the book… this goes on for like, 2-3 hours.”
But the thing that bothered Barkley the most about that situation was that he’s said so many good things about Kobe (and other players) other times and never once got a kind word in return.
“The point I’m trying to make is these guys, like when I said I had been saying for three years ‘[Kobe] is the best basketball player in the world,’ he never called me and said ‘thank you.’
“I could say nine great things, but that one bad thing, they go out there [and respond].”
I’m sure this happens to every member of the media and not just guys like Barkley (players who become analysts and/or commentators).
So here’s the question: Should players be more balanced in how they deal with the media?
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