“The Lakers stink.” Charles Barkley didn’t hold back in responding to JJ Redick’s comments against media coverage for the league. Redick had earlier stated that some media members are constantly targeting the league with a perception that the “product” is no good and it’s because of such criticism that the league suffers. Representing the media fraternity in a way, ‘Sir Charles’ clapped back at the rookie head coach. Amid all of this, Gilbert Arenas has found a flaw in Inside the NBA analyst’s take.

Discussing the comments from both Redick and Barkley on the podcast, Josiah Johnson pointed out that the Los Angeles Lakers are presently 20-15 in the series under JJ while they were 17-18 under coach Darvin Ham last season. Thin defense for Redick against Ham but Arenas took it to highlight the flaw he sees in Barkley.

“See that’s the problem with Charles. He don’t actually watch basketball. They telling him what to say in his ear,” Arenas said. To further establish his opinion, the former Golden State Warriors star re-emphasized that the Purple & Gold are in a better position under Redick in the same time frame as compared to Ham.

Now, Gil’s comments against Chuck might seem irrelevant considering what Charles Barkley had previously stated. “Remember, I got your Lakers’ games. You can’t hide them flaws they got. You just a dead man walking,” Chuck said. The former NBA star further highlighted that the Lakers fired Frank Vogel and Darvin Ham, hoping that Redick would turn the tables around for the franchise.

“He [Redick] came in there thinking, ‘I can make this thing work.’ Hell you can! Put some makeup on that pig… The Lakers stink, man…” Chuck said. While the take might sound harsh, a 3-game advantage as compared to last season is not something you go on screaming about. Especially when the fans expect far better results from a new head coach.

As for Gil’s take on Barkley’s opinion, this won’t be the first time that the former Warriors star has voiced his issues with Barkley.

Why does Gilbert Arenas dislike Charles Barkley?

This goes back to last season when the Lakers and Phoenix Suns entered the season with high hopes. But then they stumbled out of the playoffs in the first round. Naturally, fingers started pointing at respective head coaches, Darvin Ham and Frank Vogel. But leave it to Barkley to take a different route. He blamed the players instead.

“Frank Vogel is a hell of a coach. Darvin Ham is a hell of a coach,” Chuck said, holding nothing back. But the broadcasters on other networks?

‘The Chuckster’ called them “punks, idiots, and jacka**es” for their takes against the coaches rather than holding the players accountable.

Now, the former Philadelphia 76ers star didn’t name names, but Gilbert Arenas, who had been calling out coaching decisions during the Suns’ and Lakers’ playoff woes, took offense with the comments. On Gil’s Arena, his panel even speculated that the 1993 MVP might have been pointing fingers at Arenas himself.

And ‘Agent Zero’ was in no mood to stay silent. He fired back at Barkley, accusing him of hypocrisy. “I don’t like him,“ Arenas said bluntly. “I just don’t like how he talks about whose fault it is because when he was playing he didn’t take no responsibility for what was going on with him … I hate when you get to a certain stage and start throwing shots when you were a problem yourself when you played.” 

So Arenas’ comments questioning Charles Barkley’s credibility now should not come as a surprise considering the two stars now have the aforementioned history between them. In light of their ongoing feud, Gilbert Arenas’ latest criticism of Charles Barkley adds another layer to the complex relationship between the two former NBA stars.