Nickeil Alexander-Walker Calls Out Charles Barkley for 'Disrespectful' Actions

During the Western Conference finals between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, Hall of Famer and current TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley made fun of Nickeil Alexander-Walker's first name. 

“Is his real name Nickeil?” Barkley asked. “Boy, somebody just made up some stuff again. Nickeil is not a name. They named him after a coin. They just spelled it wrong."

Alexander-Walker, who is Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's cousin, told Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson that Barkley's comments about his name were "disrespectful."

“I didn’t see it when it aired,” Alexander-Walker said. “But my text messages and DMs started going off. People were sending me the clip. Honestly, I felt a little slighted at first. It was a little disrespectful because I take pride in who I am, and my name is part of my identity. 

"Knowing that it was given to me from people who I care about a lot means a lot. My mom’s name is Nicole and my dad’s name is Nicholas. My mom originally wanted to name me Khalil; she had a friend who had a baby named Khalil maybe a year or a couple months before I was born, and so, my grandmother just named me Nickeil. And you know, my grandmother’s very close in my life.”