Stephen A. Smith schools Emmy award-winning Charles Barkley over accusations of Lakers obsession

Stephen A. Smith responds to Charles Barkley's earlier claim that ESPN's coverage is overly focused on the Lakers and LeBron James.

Stephen A. Smith schools Emmy award-winning Charles Barkley over accusations of Lakers obsession

Stephen A. Smith claps back at Charles Barkley

Media outlets are known to chase the hottest and trendiest things going around. Recently, former NBA player and current analyst Charles Barkley called out the ESPN network and its crew of analysts and experts in a viral rant over their consistent efforts to push big-market teams like the Lakers and the Warriors. Since then, the network’s Stephen A. Smith has come forward to defend its integrity from the slights of the “Mound of Rebound.”

On the latest episode of First Take, Smith, while as vigilant in his vocabulary as ever, shot back at the 62-year-old. ‘Sir Charles’ criticized the ESPN’s coverage of the Lakers, Warriors, and GOAT debates. However, ‘SAS’ asked Barkley to speak with caution since he must know how these gigs work given his long tenure on an Emmy award winning show.

YouTube video

Barkley does television. He’d never be accused of knowing television. That would be Ernie Johnson who handles that responsibility. Maybe Charles Barkley should look at its rundowns from time to time even though they are an NBA show as opposed to a show that talks about an abundance of things. The fact of the matter is some stories get a higher profile than others because they resonate with the viewing public. And in television, it’s called ratings.

Stephen A. Smith stated

Stephen A. Smith‘s First Take is almost certainly the number one highest-rated daily studio show on ESPN as of early 2025. TNT’s Inside the NBA on the other hand has carved out its own lane with a mindboggling 21 spots Emmy awards.

FS Video

And since the TNT lost broadcasting rights and under the new settlement, Inside the NBA will not disappear but will instead be licensed to ESPN starting next season. It’s kind of laughable that Barkley would knowingly bad-mouth his future employers.

Prior to addressing the verbal attack on his show, SAS hopped on to X to pushback at Charles Barkley. He called out the Hall of Famer, over his obscure and cryptic wording with the use of “y’all” and asked him to be more precise. He also said that he couldn’t wait to have him over at the ESPN.

Charles Barkley slams Kendrick Perkins over his Lakers’ hot take

Kendrick Perkins, a former teammate of LeBron James, said that he is thankful for the Lakers and the ‘King’ for saving the NBA not too long ago. However, this take by ESPN’s analyst didn’t sit well with ‘Sir Charles.’ So, in one of his classic banters, he berated ‘Perk’ over his biased stance. Here’s what ‘Chuck’ had to say as the rest of the panel died with laughter:

He (Kendrick Perkins) said the Lakers saved the NBA season. That’s because of them fools at the other network, which we’re going to be working at next year, that’s all they talk about. Let me tell y’all something. First of all, I want all the smoke. I don’t whistle when I walk by the graveyard or anything like that.

Charles Barkley on TNT

While Charles Barkley might come across as brash, he didn’t mean any harm. His only point was to highlight how both the media and fans tend to overlook other great stories happening simultaneously. With OKC leading the Western Conference and the Cavaliers holding the league’s best record this season, they certainly deserve some credit and attention for their hard work.