Barkley, who loves Klay, doubles down on critical comments originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Believe it or not, Charles Barkley isn’t backing down.
The Hall of Fame player and current TNT analyst doubled down Tuesday on his critical comments about Warriors star Klay Thompson.
“I was disappointed that he took it personally,” Barkley said on “Inside the NBA” after the conclusion of the nationally televised game between the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves. “I said a few years ago that I thought he was the best two-way guard in the NBA. But because of age and injuries, he’s not the same player. I didn’t say he was a bum. I’m saying he’s not the same player.”
At that point, host Ernie Johnson asked Barkley if he expected Thompson to be the same player.
“No, but I was talking about what I’ve been seeing, going back to the Finals,” Barkley said. “When I went back to the Finals last year, he’s … he said give him time. No, when you get older, time ain’t your friend. I love Klay and that’s what bothered me. I love that kid. I love everything about him. Like I said, I used to say this guy is the best two-way guard in the NBA but because of age and injury, he’s not the same guy. I wasn’t worth a damn my last two years in the NBA.”
Fellow analyst Kenny Smith came to Thompson’s defense and tried to interpret what the five-time NBA All-Star was saying when he ended a recent press conference by admitting he was hurt by Barkley’s comments and asked for time to get back to who he was.
“This is what he’s saying. I understand what you said,” Smith said. “But to me, you’re kind of putting it here in the present. What he’s saying is that he’s on an upward trajectory and he needs time to get to that point to plateau where he is. So you’re judging him off of today and not judging him off where he feels he’s going to be.”
Later in the four-minute conversation, Shaquille O’Neal also tried to protect Thompson.
“I think a lot of guys, for what he’s done and how he’s done it, would have loved a little more respect,” Shaq said.
“Shaq, we’ve got to do our jobs,” Barkley said in response.
“I’m just saying what I think,” Shaq said. “I think he would have liked a little more respect. And like he said, give him a little time to get back and then if I don’t get back by playoff time, then you probably can make that comment. But the season just started… “
“Guys who have those two serious injuries, he’s just going to get older.,” Barkley said. “When I say he was the best two-way guard in the NBA, those days are over. He can still be a heck of an NBA player, and Ernie, we all get old, ain’t nothing wrong with that, but you factor in those two injuries, that’s the only point I was trying to make.”
Thompson is off to a slow start to the 2022-23 season, though he had one of his best games of the season in the Warriors’ 116-109 loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday.
After scoring 19 points against the Heat, Thompson is averaging 13.3 points in seven games this season.
But following the Warriors’ win over the Heat on Oct. 27, Thompson spent the final 90 seconds of his postgame press conference calling out Barkley for his initial comments in which he said Thompson and Draymond Green were slipping at this stage in their careers.
“I’ve got one thing to say,” Thompson said last week. “So, it hurts when someone like Charles Barkley, with the platform that he has, says you’re not the same player prior to the injuries you had. It’s like ‘No, duh, man.’ Consecutive years, like. I tore my ACL and Achilles in consecutive years and still helped the team win a championship. It hurt hearing that because I put so much freaking effort to get back to this point. It’s hard to even put into words what I had to do to be the player I am today.
“I played 55, 57 games in three years. Give me some freaking time to get that back. To hear someone say ‘Oh, he’s not the same player as he was prior to the injuries.’ Like, duh. Who goes through that and comes back…I don’t know, it just hurt my heart hearing that. But you know, I’m going to internalize it and it’s going to be fuel for me to be even better. I’m very proud of what we accomplished last year and I feel like I was a huge part of it. I’m not going to let these injuries be a crutch for me. I’m just going to keep going and I’m going to have a great year. You can bet on that.”
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The Warriors are eight games into a season. Thompson has played in seven of them after not playing in any pick-up basketball over the summer and appearing in just one preseason game. He’s a notoriously slow starter and he is 100 percent convinced he will get back to an All-Star level at some point. When that will be is up to him.