Former LeBron James Teammate Calls Out Charles Barkley's Criticism, 'F--- Him'

Barkley's argument, essentially, was a repudiation of the team-building James managed to pull off in free agency in 2010, '14, and '18. He formed supergroups with future Hall of Famers Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on the Miami Heat in 2010, then signed up to join future Hall of Fame point guard Kyrie Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers and coordinated a trade for fellow future Hall of Fame forward Kevin Love in '14.

James joined the Lakers without another superstar in the wings, but Anthony Davis quickly forced his way to L.A. from the New Orleans the subsequent summer.

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Barkley sees the second apron as a direct response to this kind of superstar team-building, which also (through a quirk of the salary cap) saw Kevin Durant join a 73-win Golden State Warriors club as a free agent in the summer of 2016.

Longtime NBA swingman Richard Jefferson, who won a title with James on the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, came to his old comrade's defense on his own "Road Trippin'" podcast recently.

Jefferson — somewhat playfully, it should be noted — clapped back about Barkley's argument.

"F--- him," Jefferson said. "I remember, Charles Barkley got drafted to a team with Moses Malone, maybe Dr. J [Julius Irving] and Maurice Cheeks. So he got drafted by a team that was loaded."

Barkley The Hypocrite?

Barkley was later traded to the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns, who also boasted All-Stars Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle, plus recent All-Star Tom Chambers (two-time All-Star wing Danny Ainge was far past his prime at that point) — although none of those players is, as of yet, in Springfield.

"Then I remember Charles Barkley going to Houston, and he teamed up with Hakeem Olajuwon, and Scottie Pippen was also there," Jefferson added. "That sounds like teaming up. Hey, let's go to Shaq and Kobe. Does everybody remember when they recruited Gary Payton, who was still in his prime, and they recruited Karl Malone?"

That Rockets club went 31-19 in a lockout-shortened 1998-99 season and fell to a younger Los Angeles squad in the first round.

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In terms of that 2003-04 Lakers club with O'Neal and Bryant, Payton was coming off his final All-Star season, 2002-03, which he had split between the Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks. But Payton, 35, was never an All-Star again. In fairness, he was playing a more deferential role on a Lakers club that fancied itself a contender. Malone was 40, and playing in what wound up being his final season.

Unlike those loaded Lakers or Rockets teams, all those James teams were constructed when all the star players were very much in their primes (James was 34 when he teamed up with Davis, yes, but he's still an All-NBA player even now thanks to some incredible, historic longevity).

"So when we look at teaming up, he did it! He joined Olajuwon, and then Scottie Pippen came in. And now we're talking about, 'The second apron exists,'" Jefferson said. "Charles, let's be honest: you literally joined a team with Hakeem Olajuwon because he had won two championships. Wow, that sounds like maybe LeBron going and joining D-Wade."

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