Everybody hates Chuck: 3 other NBAers who have ripped Barkley
Let's not kid anyone. It's part of Charles Barkley's shtick to play the old man of NBA media, lamenting shooting efficiency and slighting anyone who didn't play in an era of 83-79 games.
Yet his outspokenness has seemed to engender some real hostility over the years, criticism similar to LeBron James' ethering of him on Monday.
DeMarcus Cousins
Barkley and Cousins have one thing in common: They are rare NBA superstars to come from Alabama, a state far better known for football. Yet that didn't stop Barkley from ripping Cousins' perceived reaction after the Sacramento Kings' hired George Karl in 2015.
Boogie summed things up adroitly in the aftermath.
"I mean, I don't really respect the guy, but at the same time, I don't really care what he thinks either," Cousins said at the time. "I don't respect him, and I don't care what he thinks."
Charles Oakley
While Barkley appears to be a guy who "doesn't give AF," the same could be said about Charles Oakley, possibly tenfold. The two power forwards of the same age faced off throughout the 1980s and 1990s, but Oakley is still taking shots at his old rival.
After suggesting Barkley "hides behind TNT," Oakley warned him about coming to his native Cleveland because projectiles might find "that big head."
Scottie Pippen
The Houston Rockets' failed 1999 experiment at uniting an early superteam of Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen, and Barkley resulted in some real bad blood between the latter two.
Pippen promptly took his message to a TV interview, going scorched earth on Barkley in a manner unseen until James' diatribe Monday.
A sampling:
I wouldn't give Charles Barkley an apology at gunpoint ... if anything he owes an apology to me for coming to play with his sorry fat butt. He's a very selfish guy. He doesn't show me the desire to want to win, and that's my reason for wanting to get away from playing with him ... I probably should have listened to Michael (Jordan) a year ago when he said that Charles never will win a championship because he doesn't show any dedication.
For the record, Barkley never won a championship.