In an appearance on 'The Dan Patrick Show,' NBA veteran Charles Barkley did not hold back on his attack against one of his own. After being told that Perkins called his take on USA coach Steve Kerr "asinine," Barkley took the gloves off in a heated retort.
"First of all, listen, don't bring up a guy who averaged five points a game. I'm not gonna stoop to his level. You average five points a game, shut the hell up!"
The 2024 Olympic Games marked a strong showing for the USA, who walked away with 40 gold medals in total, including in basketball. And while the country did go undefeated in the tournament, not everyone is pleased with how it turned out. Despite the star power, USA nearly lost a couple of games and it sparked some serious conversations on the state of USA basketball.
One of the biggest topics was centered around Barkley's recent criticism of Steve Kerr. As the acting coach for Team USA, Barkley holds Kerr responsible for what he views as a subpar Olympic performance.
According to Barkley, who is a 2x gold medalist, Team USA should not be tested during the tournament when their talent level is so much higher than everyone else. This year, every player on the 12-man roster was an elite NBA starter, including LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, and Tyrese Haliburton.
Most games were blowouts, but they did have a few close calls, especially against South Sudan when it took a buzzer-beating layup from LeBron James to win the game. After this match, Barkley called out Steve Kerr and ripped him for not fitting Jayson Tatum into the rotation .
While Barkley is right that the USA has such an extreme talent advantage, he might be surprised to learn that things aren't nearly as lopsided as they used to be. The world is catching up to the USA and they showed that this summer with standout performances from teams like France, Serbia, and South Sudan.
Even still, Charles Barkley is of the mind that the USA is too good to be challenged by these teams. Many across the league, including Perkins and NBA insider Brian Windhorst, condemned his take but Barkley has never been one to back down. He went after Perkins and attacked his entire NBA career.
Compared to Barkley , who averaged 22.1 points for his career, Perkins was just a role player with minimal impact on the court. In 14 years, he averaged just 5.4 points per game and played primarily under the rim as a rebounder and shot-blocker.
Today, you could say that Perkins has become more successful as an analyst than he ever was as a player and it rubs some people the wrong way. Barkley, who recently announced his intentions to stay on TNT , is clearly one of those people and it's why he doesn't hold Perkins' opinion in high regard.
Related: Stephen A. Smith On The 2024 Olympics: "I Thought Stephen Curry Deserved The MVP..."
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