LeBron slams Barkley: 'He's a hater'

After a Hall of Fame playing career, Charles Barkley has carved out a niche as a popular broadcaster with a penchant for outspoken, unapologetic takes. His criticism last week of LeBron James for being "whiny" prompted a tame response from James, but on Monday night the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar responded with brute force.

"He's a hater," James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?"

LeBron then ratcheted things up even further.

I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that. I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying. All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that.

Barkley, who channels the "back in my day" take better than anyone in sports media, has needled James repeatedly over the years, from saying he doesn't belong among the best 5 NBA players of all time to poking fun at the 32-year-old's receding hairline.

Related: Everyone hates Chuck: 3 other NBAers who have ripped Barkley

Beyond making note of Barkley's run-ins with authorities in the 1990s, James suggested he's still forced to work in media for the money, and issued a challenge to bring the criticism face-to-face.

"I know he wanted to retire a long time ago, but he can't," James said. "He's stuck up on that stage every week ... and if this makes him want to talk to me, the schedule's out there. He knows every road arena I'll be in. Don't just come up to me at All-Star and shake my hand and smile."

According to McMenamin, James then exited the locker room with a parting thought.

"I'm tired of biting my tongue," he said. "There's a new sheriff in town."