Charles Barkley Scolds Shannon Sharpe Over Fiery Altercation With Grizzlies: ‘Reporters Should Never Get Into It With Players’
Inside the NBA‘s Charles Barkey criticized Fox Sports host Shannon Sharpe after Sharpe got into a verbal altercation with Memphis Grizzlies players.
On Friday night, Sharpe sat courtside at the Grizzlies’ game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena and got into a heated shouting match with Dillion Brooks, Steven Adams, Ja Morant, and Morant’s father, Tee Morant. Arena security escorted Sharpe from his seat, but he returned to watch the game’s conclusion.
On Monday’s Undisputed, Sharpe apologized to the Grizzlies and the Lakers and took full responsibility for the incident.
“I’m never going to be too big to say that I was wrong, and in that situation, I was absolutely wrong,” Sharpe said.
On Tuesday, Barkley joined Sirius XM’s NBA Radio program, NBA Today, and show host Justin Termine asked the Inside the NBA host his thoughts about the incident. Sir Charles did not approve of how Sharpe acted.
“Reporters can never get into it with players,” Barkley said. “That’s my rule of thumb ’cause we get paid to talk about these guys, and if you hate guys or don’t get along with guys, you’re gonna be somewhat biased, whether you believe it or not.”
Sir Charles pivoted and compared his role on TNT to Sharpe’s on Fox Sports and how players and fans take their words seriously.
“Television is a very powerful vehicle,” Barkley added. “And you got to be really careful because people believe everything we say, unfortunately, so I’m not saying anybody was right or wrong. What I’m saying as a guy who’s on television, I can never get into it with the players. That’s just my rule of thumb.”
Barkley was on ESPN’s morning show, Get Up, in June after the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship. He took a dig at former Warriors player and current Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant that his championships in 2017 and 2018 with Golden State should not count since the Warriors won the championship two years prior.
“Until he is the guy on a championship, we’re not going to ever give him the respect he probably deserves,” Barkley said. “The game hasn’t changed. Kobe (Bryant) said it, LeBron (James) said it, we’re going to hold him to the same high standard.
Durant responded to Barkley’s claim and said:
All this shit is nasty, another terrible analogy from a hatin old head that can’t accept that we making more bread than him. It’s just timing Chucky, don’t hate the playa.
In December, Barkley was a guest on Taylor Rooks‘ Bleacher Report show, and he called Durant, “insecure at times.”
Watch above via SiriusXM.
