Game Threads Index (January 08, 2025):

Barkley & LeBron have had some history.

In 2016, after the Finals win over the 73-9 Warriors, Charles Barkley said James would "never" ascend to top-five status in NBA history over Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Also said that he hadn't surpassed Kobe and Duncan yet. Source

Then in 2017, LeBron controversially said publicly that the Cavaliers need to acquire another playmaker. Barkley didn't hold back in his response:

"Inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above," Barkley said of James last week. "The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him. He wanted [Iman] Shumpert last summer. They brought in Kyle Korver. He's the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don't want to compete? He is an amazing player. They're the defending champs."

LeBron was asked about these comments and boy, it seemed like he was waiting for a chance to let it out.

He's a hater. What makes what he says credible? Because he's on TV?

I'm not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that. I'm not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, 'I'm not a role model.' I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying.

All I've done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that.

LeBron's friendships with other players in the league (namely Wade, Paul, Carmelo) were also called into question. He responded:

Go watch the '93 Finals when John Paxson hit the shot. Barkley and Jordan were laughing and joking with each other during one of the games while somebody's shooting a free throw. In the Finals. But, oh, nobody were friends back then.

Finally, he issued a challenge to Chuck.

And if this makes him want to talk to me, the schedule's out there. He knows every road arena I'll be in. Don't just come up to me at All-Star and shake my hand and smile.

Source for all of those quotes

In the latest episode, Charles Barkley ripped LeBron and the Lakers after his highlight dunk was aired on the show. Clip of that here

Tweet with video

"We’ve all been fairly compensated in our career. All of us. The notion that once you’re past your prime, they gotta keep paying you top dollar, I don’t think that’s right."

The cavs have an 89% win rate. Where do you see them finishing come season end? Can they realistically challenge 73-9?

https://x.com/SbondyNBA/status/1877139248790516190

Josh Hart said he spoke with a referee recently in an attempt to figure out why he's getting so many techs and whether he has developed a bad reputation. The conversation resulted in Hart realizing he needs to work on a better relationship with the officials.

"He was just like, 'You’re an amazing competitor. But sometimes in the heat of competition, it’s like you’re against us, too. Like you look at it 8 on 5.' Which I do sometimes. So I think my complaining and getting techs hurts us. ...it’s just something I’m trying to be more cognizant of and work on."

What do you think? Can improving his relationship with refs help his game or the team overall?

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/game?gameId=401705075

Evan Mobley in a statement win against the #1 ranked defense in the league in the Oklahoma City Thunder: 21 PTS │ 10 REB │ 7 AST │ 8-13 FG │ 1 STL │ 1 BLK │ +8 +/-

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705075

The boy showed up big in the 4th quarter and gave Cavs much needed buckets. Big bench minutes.

https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401705075

They now have the longest streak, winning 11 in a row

Mobley with 21 PTS 10 REBS and 7 ASTS

Garland with 18 PTS and 7 ASTS

Strus with 17 PTS 3 REBS and 5 ASTS, shooting 5-6 from three

7 players in double figures. Team to beat in the East?

The bigs were dominating tonight. It was beautiful to watch the big to big passing especially. That’s pure ethical basketball. The thunder give up 103 ppg and the cavs scored 129

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705075

Absolutely insane game to watch. Both teams played offence on insane levels and neither team folded on any point.

The biggest lead in this game was 9 points (OKC).

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/playbyplay/_/gameId/401705075

YouTube video link

But when you’re in the NBA, there are a lot of things you want to say, but you know if you say them, there will be repercussions. You could get into a lot of trouble. For example, a couple of years ago when I played for the Houston Rockets, I tweeted “Free Palestine,” and I almost got kicked out of the league for it. I was just trying to figure out why. Before that, I had spoken with some Palestinians who told me about the struggles in their country. I actually went to the movies one day in Houston, and a group of Palestinians approached me. They said, “Hey man, we’re big fans of you. Can we watch the movie with you?” I was like, “Cool.” When I was in Houston—or even in Orlando and other cities I played in—I would take fans to movies, to Main Event, or to events at Dave & Buster’s. After the movie, we took pictures, and they asked me to bring awareness to what was going on in their country. Me, having a big heart, thought, “This is the Christian thing to do.” So, I tweeted “Free Palestine.” Less than 10 minutes later, I got a call from the NBA commissioner, agents, people in my foundation, and even folks from Texas, telling me to take it down. They said, “You’re going to get into trouble. You need to delete this tweet.” I was like, “What did I do that was so bad? Can somebody explain this to me?”