Gilbert Arenas has never been shy about speaking his mind, and when it came to defending LeBron James from recent criticism by Charles Barkley, he didn’t hold back. On his latest episode of Gil’s Arena, the former NBA All-Star unloaded on Barkley for suggesting that LeBron doesn’t deserve a spot in the top five players of all time if the Los Angeles Lakers lost their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“When people talk about ‘you’re not a top five,’ like, I heard Charles Barkley, ‘You’re not a top five player if you lose this series and you’re 40 years old.’ N***a, where were you at 40? Talking.”
“What was your last year looking like? Houston, fat, they complaining about you trying to get on the treadmill and stuff. You know what I mean? But those are the people that sit there gauging somebody, because you’re trying to figure out how to discredit someone.”
“You wasn’t even that dude at 40, 38, 37, to even be compared, to even have an opinion. Like I can say, if you was KD, Curry, y’all doing what y’all doing at this age and you get to talk your s**t. All you old motherf***ers—y’all wasn’t these guys at that age. You wasn’t putting up these numbers for you to even throw dirt on them.”
Arenas took issue not just with the content of Barkley’s claim, but with the audacity of it. In his view, players from Barkley’s era don’t have the standing to criticize what LeBron is doing at his age, because none of them ever reached his level of excellence so late in their careers.
He continued, arguing that if current stars like Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry wanted to critique LeBron, he could respect it, because they’re still performing at a high level in their mid-30s. But Barkley, who retired at 36 with declining production and no rings, has no room to talk.
Arenas’ passionate defense of LeBron is rooted in his appreciation for what James is still accomplishing in year 22 of his career.
At 40 years old, LeBron averaged nearly 25 points per game, still dominating games and leading his team in minutes. Barkley, in contrast, was hobbling toward retirement when he was 36 and hadn’t been elite for years.
To Arenas, this kind of comment is another example of the constant moving of goalposts that critics apply to LeBron. What’s more galling to Arenas is that Barkley didn’t just deny LeBron the GOAT title, he dismissed the idea that he’s even in the top five.
For a player who has made 10 NBA Finals, won four championships, been named Finals MVP on three different teams, is the league’s all-time leading scorer, and is still playing at an elite level at 40, Arenas believes there’s no reasonable case to put LeBron outside the top five.
