Charles Barkley is easily one of the most opinionated men in the basketball world. Sometimes, his words get him into trouble. Other times, people just vehemently disagree with what he has to say. It's a position that Barkley doesn't mind, and he has proven that over the years.
Recently, Barkley has been thrust into the Kyrie Irving discourse. This is a polarizing subject, with more and more people going after those who won't defend Kyrie. Barkley has been staunchly anti-Kyrie, and as it turns out, that won't change anytime soon.
Charles Barkley Doubles Down
After criticizing Kyrie alongside Shaq last week, Barkley is now doubling down on his sentiments. For instance, Barkley was on CNN this morning when he went after Kyrie for going too far with free speech. Barkley feels like free speech doesn't mean you get free reign to disrespect people. Additionally, he would have preferred to have seen more action from the NBA.
“People have the right to feel and say what they want to, we have freedom of speech, but there are repercussions when you say certain things," Barkley said. “This thing with free speech has really gotten out of hand. You can’t go around insulting people and think it’s OK just because it’s freedom of speech.”
This is one of those takes that is probably going to receive vitriol from people online. Of course, there are going to be a few people out there who agree with Barkley. Regardless, this is an incredibly divisive topic, and that is absolutely not going to change any time soon. It is very unfortunate, but it's true.
As for Kyrie, he has yet to return to the court. It remains to be seen when he will be allowed to, although Joe Tsai still thinks the point guard has work to do. That said, keep it locked to HNHH for the latest news from the basketball world.
[Via]