Don’t expect to see Charles Barkley breaking bread with Skip Bayless.
The “Inside the NBA” co-host took a jab at the “Undisputed” host in a recent interview, and explained why he doesn’t agree with the way Bayless analyzes athletes.
“I can’t criticize some guys and then not criticize other guys. I think you lose all your credibility because that’s the one thing I hate about a lot of sportscasters and one of the reasons I hate punk-ass Skip Bayless — because cherry-picks the guys he likes and the guys he don’t like,” Barkley explained Monday on the “Grant & Danny” show on Washington, D.C.’s 106.7 The Fan.
“If you have actually paid attention to him going back, you can just tell, he hates that guy, or he loves that guy… and I don’t think that’s the way you should do your job,” Barkley said, noting he’ll always tell the truth.
“I can sleep good being fair,” he added.
The Basketball Hall of Famer also revealed his retirement plans, and said he only has two more years of work to go before he hangs up his mic for good.
“I’m trying to hang on for another couple years until I’m 60, and then they can kiss my ass. I’m only working until I’m 60,” said Barkley, who turned 58 in February.
The 11-time NBA All-Star has served as a studio analyst for TNT since 2000, winning four Sports Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Studio Analyst”.
“I already told them that. I said, ‘I’m not working until the day I die, that’s just stupid,’” Barkley said. “And if I don’t have enough money by now, I’m an idiot anyway, so they should fire me anyway.”
Barkley went on to explain how “cancel culture” has limited what broadcasters can comment on without receiving backlash.
“It’s gotten so out of hand… you can’t even have fun now-a-days without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that,” he said. “That’s all we ever talk about behind-the-scenes now is like, ‘Yo man, be careful going in this direction.’ We can’t even have fun anymore. We’ve had fun all these years, and now all of a sudden, in a year and a half, everybody’s trying to get everybody fired, and it really sucks man.
“Now, if you crack a joke the wrong way, they’re like. ‘Oh, no, no, no, you crossed the line. They won’t even let me talk about San Antonio anymore,” he said, referencing his previous comments about “big ol’ women” in the Spurs’ home city.
“I don’t have to go back there anymore because their team sucks,” Barkley said, adding that he had 10 years of fun with his San Antonio comments.
“My life is dictated by how good your basketball team is.”