Even if you criticize Charles Barkley, he won’t stop sharing his honest and rather controversial takes. Chuck was quite unshaken even after receiving backlash for calling out ESPN’s coverage of the LA Lakers and Warriors earlier. He did it again during a conversation on the Bill Simmons Podcast. This time, he got a stern response on behalf of the numerous disgruntled San Francisco fans by a former ESPN employee.

Mike Missanelli revealed on his show that he received a text from the company’s former program director regarding Barkley. The message simply read, “Tell Barkley to stop hating all my Warriors. People in the Bay want a piece of him,” as relayed by Missanelli to his guest on the show.

Did the warning work? He did pop off to argue if he was to say what the audience wanted to hear. “Are we supposed to tell you what you want to hear?” he questioned on The Mike Missanelli Show. But he did go on to clarify that he is a fan of ESPN and that the only thing that troubled him was the network’s repetitive coverage of the Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

Charles emphasized that for three months, he had been highlighting the poor performance of the Lakers and the Warriors who got the attention other teams deserved. He said it on the Bill Simmons Podcast. Chuck said it again in his recent interview, stating that both teams were underperforming. 

“For 3 months they had a discussion ‘who’s going to make a better run? The Lakers or the Warriors.’ And I’m like ‘yo man, the Warriors and the Lakers both stink.’ I had to hear this for three months every day on ESPN. ‘Who’s going to run make?’ ‘A run?’ I said neither,” Chuck concluded. Not to mention, Chuck’s many friends who work for ESPN. But he didn’t hesitate even once before calling ESPN a clown, thanks to their fans?

Charles Barkley picks the Kings over Warriors for one reason

One thing about Chuck is he doesn’t speak without facts. He pointed out how the Warriors failed to beat the Kings in the play-in game to advance to the 2024 NBA playoffs, and the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 4-1 series loss to the Denver Nuggets was not handled in a dignified manner. However, Chuck’s distaste for the Warriors runs deep. 

During his appearance at the American Century Championship golf tournament, the Philadelphia 76ers legend was asked about DeMar DeRozan signing a $73.7 million deal with the Kings, as well as about the Warriors. He had nothing but praise for the former.

However, his comments took a harsh direction when discussing the Warriors. “I really pull for the Kings. They’ve got some of the best fans in the world. They’re the total opposite of those jackas–es in Golden State, their fans are the worst,” Chuck told Mike TeSelle of KCRA. Chuck has previously referred to the Dubs as a “jump-shooting team” and has consistently criticized both the team and its fans. The disdain now proves to be mutual.