In 2021, Charles Barkley commented on New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson. This comment left Shaquille O’Neal in a fit of laughter, leading to Shaq requesting Chuck to repeat his statement. The comment spewed along the lines of how Williamson looked that season. Barkley said, “It look like me and Shaq had a baby.” As this ‘roast’ went on, Shaq crushed a piece of paper, stepped out of his seat, and struggled to catch a breath. Barkley continued to be critical of Williamson and was concerned about the youngsters’ issues with injuries. Two years later, once again, the Hall of Famer found himself criticizing the 22-year-old. 

Earlier in the day, the starters for the All-Star Weekend were announced. The starting five for the East are Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jayson Tatum. On the other side, the starting five for the West are Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Zion Williamson. The inclusion of the Pelicans star seemingly left Charles Barkley and the NBA world stunned.

NBA fans side with Charles Barkley

On ‘Inside the NBA’, it was revealed that Williamson got the third-highest votes among players and fourth most in the media. With this and his selection in mind, Barkley voiced his displeasure. He deemed this to be unfair because the All-Star had missed 20 games already this season. He said, “I hope he doesn’t take this the wrong way. Like I said, he has missed too many games in my opinion.” 

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Barkley added that he would have chosen Domantas Sabonis from the Sacramento Kings or the Utah Jazz’s Lauri Markkanen over Williamson. The NBA world seemed to agree with Barkley’s opinion. They rushed online to express the same. Fans wrote that the 11-time All-Star was right about Zion Williamson‘s selection being unfair.

Here are some of the reactions from NBA Twitter:

Shaquille O’Neal on Zion Williamson’s selection

When Barkley and his team of co-hosts were announcing the selected players, he quickly voiced that he had a problem with Williams’ selection. His reasoning, as mentioned above, was simple – Williams had missed too many games to qualify as a starter.  However, Shaquille O’Neal stepped in and indirectly voiced his support for the young star. He said, “I was in his position a couple of times and I was still named All-Star so I’m not going to be a hypocrite.” 

Furthermore, Zion Williamson and the Pelicans are unsure of his availability for the All-Star Weekend. This uncertainty stems from the hamstring strain that he picked up earlier in the month. As per CBS Sports, the power forward is “healing as expected” and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.

WATCH THIS STORY: 10 times Chuck roasted NBA stars.

What do you think about Charles Barkley’s comments on Zion Williamson? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.