Stephen A. Smith urges Charles Barkley to ‘do better’ when criticizing him

Stephen A. Smith maintains he didn’t do anything wrong by calling LeBron James out for his Memphis comments, but Charles Barkley may have screwed up.

Earlier this month, James faced criticism for mocking Memphis and Milwaukee during an appearance with Bob Does Sports. James alleged that most NBA stars agree the Grizzlies should move to Nashville, adding that he has no desire to stay at a Hyatt in Memphis on a random weeknight during the regular season.

Smith may not have taken issue with the comments last year, when he himself controversially alleged that NBA players aren’t comfortable playing in Memphis. He may not even have taken issue with the comments last month, when he suggested Nashville should get an NBA team. But when James essentially echoed the complaint about Memphis as an NBA city, Smith accused him of being insensitive for putting down an area with a large Black community, especially while on a show hosted by white content creators.

Barkley, however, had less of an issue with James claiming he doesn’t like Memphis, and more of an issue with Smith and others for what he believes was rage baiting by invoking race into the conversation.

“LeBron said something about Memphis and the world took over, they made it about race, which is what anybody does when they want to stir up controversy. Y’all are successful!” Barkley said on The Steam Room podcast. “Stephen A., you’re one of the most successful people we have in television. Come on, man. Y’all got to do better, man.”

Smith heard Barkley’s mini rant, and it set him off on a rant of his own, claiming the Inside the NBA analyst didn’t understand the full context of the discussion before interjecting to defend LeBron.

“Respectfully, Charles Barkley, you have to do better,” Smith declared Wednesday afternoon during his Mad Dog Sports Radio show on SiriusXM. “Why don’t you listen to the substance of what’s being said before you have a comment about it and really dissect it?”

Smith went on to note that Barkley has previously pushed back on politicians and people in power, all in the name of defending the poor. And that’s what Smith claims to be doing by criticizing James for his comments on Memphis.

“He didn’t just say, ‘I don’t like the city of Memphis.’ He went into detail about how the team should leave. How the NBA should relocate it to Nashville,” Smith explained of LeBron’s comments in question.

While Smith has had his issues with James, he repeatedly stated how much love and respect he has for Barkley throughout this rant. But Smith took issue with Barkley being critical without inviting him on the podcast to defend his position.

Without an NFL, MLB, or NHL team in Memphis, Smith believes losing its NBA team would be detrimental to a city with a population that is 63.5% Black, which is why LeBron’s comments struck a nerve. The problem, however, is that Smith was the one who was making headlines for ripping Memphis as an NBA city just a year ago. Smith seems to believe he can say NBA players don’t like Memphis, but LeBron James can’t.