Charles Barkley Doubles Down On Blasting LeBron's Retirement Talk, Using It To Shift Narrative

After getting bounced from the NBA playoffs in four games by the Denver Nuggets, LeBron James shocked a lot of people with what sounded like retirement talk. One person that wasn't impressed by it — at all — was Charles Barkley.

And he has been more than happy to let people know.

While retirement is an inevitability, what bothered Barkley wasn't that LeBron was kicking around retirement publicly. It was when he did, and perhaps even more so, why.

Barkley said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show that he thought LeBron had floated his retirement in a bid to control the narrative.

"I was disappointed in LeBron. He had to know that these fools on TV were gonna talk about it all the time. I got so frustrated the other day watching television," Barkley said, per The Spun. "The first two stories were LeBron retiring, not about how great the Denver Nuggets played."

Wait a second, saying something to draw attention away from others and onto himself? That doesn't sound like something LeBron James would do.

...wait. That's exactly something he would do.

While a lot of people took LeBron's retirement talk hook, line, and sinker Barkley has been around too long to fall for this sort of thing.

"How great the Joker is. And hell no, LeBron isn't gonna retire!"

Barkley's appearance on The Pat McAfee Show wasn't the only time Barkley spoke out about LeBron's Possible Retirement-Gate. He torched the media earlier this week for taking the bait and not focusing on the achievements of the Denver Nuggets.

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