Charles Barkley is sick of Kyrie Irving's act.
Appearing on ESPN Radio, the TNT analyst aired some of his grievances when it comes to the outspoken Brooklyn Nets' guard.
"I’m not sure what he’s doing. I don’t like it,” Barkley said of Irving (h/t to Larry Brown Sports). “They don’t pay you 40 million dollars just to play basketball. Part of it is sitting down with you guys, sitting down with me and Kenny [Smith] and Ernie [Johnson] and [Shaquille O’Neal], talking to New York reporters. Being with the media is part of your professional obligation, and you can say what you want to say. But these guys today, they’re different. I don’t hate on them, but I’m not sure what point Kyrie is trying to make.
“He starts talking about what an artist is. He’s a basketball player. That’s what he is. Listen, we’re not frontline responders. We’re not teachers. Yo man, you dribble a basketball, stop acting like you’re the smartest person in the world.
“Now can you talk about social issues and things like that? Of course. But some of this other stuff I’m like ‘yo man, you do realize you’re just a basketball player, right?’ And it seems like he’s like ‘no I want you guys to know I’m the smartest guy in the room.’ Well first of all, you’re not. You only went to college for six months. A lot of guys are smarter than you are. Just answer stupid basketball questions. And if you want to say something about social justice, say it and mean it, because it’s important and significant. But all that other stuff? Like, yo man, shut the hell up and talk basketball."
Irving, who returns to Boston Friday night for his team's preseason matchup with the Celtics, recently said he wouldn't be talking to the media, using "pawns" when describing the reporters. It cost him $25,000 in fines.
He backtracked from that stance, attempting to explain his mindset when closing himself off from the media.
“It’s really just about how I felt about the mistreatment of certain artists when we get to a certain platform of when we make decisions within our lives to have full control and ownership,” Irving said. “We want to perform in a secure and protected space."
His reasoning, however, only led to more head-scratching ... as well as a pretty good rant from Barkley.