NBA Veteran Calls Out Charles Barkley For Asking LeBron James to Retire Early

Former NBA player Chandler Parsons disagreed with Charles Barkley's statements about LeBron James retiring soon.

NBA Veteran Calls Out Charles Barkley For Asking LeBron James to Retire Early

Former NBA player Chandler Parsons disagreed with Charles Barkley's statements about that LeBron James should retire soon (Image credits - Firstsportz)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Charles Barkley is well known for not mincing his words and he had a few words to share about LeBron James. James remains an active member of the Los Angeles roster and is close to making his first appearance in the 2025-26 season. It will be James’ 23rd season in the league, a record-breaking number, as no player has ever played for that long.

The four-time NBA champion has won and achieved everything there is to do in the NBA. But his commitment and dedication to the game has still kept him hungry for more. There is no doubt that his retirement is closer than ever before, as rumors regarding his retirement and that this season would be his last grow stronger.

James has been ruled out since the start of the season and has missed the Lakers’ first 14 games. While the Lakers have done well in his absence with a 10-4 record, led by recently acquired superstar, Luka Doncic and one of the most improved players of the season, Austin Reaves.

As James is nearing his comeback which may be as early as Tuesday against the Utah Jazz at the Crypto.com Arena, it will be interesting to see how he is integrated into the squad and how it affects the chemistry of the team.

Charles Barkley, a Hall of Famer, spoke on “The Jim Rome Show” recently and shared his thoughts on James and said he hopes James leaves sooner rather than later because he would hate to see great players struggling out there. It can be very frustrating and humiliating. Former NBA player, Chandler Parsons, did not agree with Barkley’s statements on Run it Back:

When has he struggled? I haven’t seen LeBron struggle and I don’t think we will. I don’t think this guy is going to be hanging around averaging 8, 9, 10 points. He takes such good care of his body. He is not going to play if he not elite and I have not seen any signs of slowing down. I also don’t like when other people tell other people when they should retire.

LeBron James has shown no signs of slowing down

While James has battled a lot more injuries lately compared to his prime years, he has not shown any real signs of slowing down. The 40-year-old is coming off a productive 2024-25 season averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists, playing 70 games out of a possible 82. Even in the season preceding to that, the 2023-24 season, he went on to play 71 games.

LeBron James
LeBron James (Image credits – NBC News)

To add to his individual numbers, James went on to earn an unprecedented 21st All-Star selection and was included in the All-NBA Third team. With the addition of Doncic, a lot of the offensive burden will not be placed on James’ shoulders, in fact, he may be seen as the second option on most nights as the Slovenian is currently averaging 34.4 points per game this season.

While the Lakers were eliminated in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, Lakers nation will believe they still have what it takes to win the NBA championship after their hot start to the season and with James returning.

It is a wide gap between the Lakers and the Thunder

While they were down, 70-38 at the end of the first half, to Oklahoma City Thunder, a lot of questions were asked whether the Lakers have what it takes to go all the way despite not having James in the lineup.

Barkley is admittedly not a fan of the Lakers and has often been critical of JJ Redick’s team. He did not hold himself back once again and trolled the purple and gold team, “King Better Bring the Whole G League With Him”, referring to James practicing with the G League team as he continued his recovery from injury.

Barkley insisted that he does not believe that the Lakers are going to be contenders in a stacked Western Conference. While they may have made a strong start to the season, the heavy loss to OKC showed that there is a big gap between the Lakers and the top teams.

Also Read: