Barkley says the ongoing saga surrounding the former Cavaliers star "is like a bad movie."
View full sizeFormer NBA star and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley, above, is not impressed by LeBron James' claim that race has played a role in criticism of James. Says Barkley: "It's like watching a movie. Just when you think it couldn't get any stupider, it gets more stupid."Ira Winderman / Orlando Sun Sentinel
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. — LeBron James thought he put the race issue to rest Thursday at Miami Heat camp when he said, "I think people are looking too far into it."
But seemingly as long as Charles Barkley is given a platform to pontificate on all things LeBron, James seemingly never will have the last word.
Interviewed Friday on WIP radio in Philadelphia, Barkley needed little prodding when it came to James discussing race in relation to the reaction to his decision to leave the Cavaliers as a free agent.
"It's like watching a movie," said Barkley, the Hall of Fame power forward. "Just when you think it couldn't get any stupider, it gets more stupid."
In an appearance on Wednesday night's edition of "Primetime" on CNN, James replied that he thought race was a factor in the ugly backlash.
"I think so, at times," he told CNN correspondent Soledad O'Brien. "It's always, you know, a race factor."
A day after that interview aired, James declined to expand on the issue.
"I'm not going to go back on my words," he said Thursday. "I answered the question. I think people are looking too far into it. But, at the same time, sometimes it does play a part in it."
James was not asked to revisit the issue Friday.
But Barkley was more than willing to continue what has become a three-month assault on the way James handled his free agency.
"Sometimes," Barkley said, "you just say he's making bad decisions and you're like, 'OK, he's gonna get it together.' Then he makes more bad decisions."
Barkley said James utilizing a one-hour special on ESPN to announce his decision "was just stupid." He called the Heat's ensuing gala celebration at AmericanAirlines Arena "silly."
"That has nothing to do with race," Barkley said of those who offered similar assessments. "That's what makes this last thing so stupid."
Barkley, who works for cable network rival TNT, also criticized ESPN's intense focus on Heat training camp.
"To go down to training camp and report every day is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen," Barkley said. "I'm watching yesterday and one of the guys actually said 'LeBron looked fierce in practice.' I'm like, 'Fierce in practice? What the hell does that mean?' He was fierce in the second day of training camp?
"This summer with LeBron and all the stuff that went on is like a bad movie."