Is there a smell of tension? At this point, it is no surprise that TNT’s failure to acquire the NBA rights deal caused major drama. Following that, it was announced that a new deal between TNT and ESPN will bring the Inside the NBA show under its rival network. However, the already apparent analyst rivalry between the two sides seems to be on the rise, with an ESPN analyst taking a shot at Charles Barkley.

Speaking about Charles Barkley’s commentary style, ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson harshly criticized it. He pointed out that the basketball legend can have his opinion about the game. But he isn’t fond of Barkley harshly marking out mistakes and claiming he doesn’t want to watch the games. Jefferson argued that by doing so, Barkley is failing in his role of promoting and elevating the game.

“I support their opinion but if your job is to sell the product, you are doing a sh*tty job selling the product,” Jefferson made the argument while discussing how as soon as a game he was watching went into halftime, Chuck’s critical judgment was not exactly a welcome sign for him.

“Now you can say I want it to be better, you can say, ‘I don’t like this about it, but here are some good things’. If you spend the halftime saying, ‘This is trash!’, people are going to be like, ‘You know what? This is trash. Let me see what else is on. You know what? If Charles says it’s trash, it is trash. I’m going to watch something else,’” he argued.

Furthermore, Jefferson highlighted that, as a game caller, he was taught to elevate the game. He added, “Charles is not an idiot. He knows that that gets great attention but that does not bring it for them and what they talk about like we’re talking about does not bring jobs to the game and one thing I was taught as a game caller: Your job is to elevate the game,” Jefferson shared. That was quite a sharp criticism.

This was also influenced by recent discussions about the decline in NBA viewership. TV ratings dropped by 19% compared to the same time last year on ABC, ESPN, and TNT. As per Sports Media Watch, the drop increased to 25% when NBA TV was included.

Jefferson also touched upon JJ Redick’s thoughts, who was also harshly criticized by Barkley. So, is there a real tension between the analysts or just the potential for incredible chemistry?

Kendrick Perkins criticized Charles Barkley for his  harsh comment

Well, the answer can only be found when the next season starts. As of now, the feud between the two rival analysts has been sparked again. Not just the head coach, but the players also felt the heat from Barkley. The Philadelphia 76ers legend recently called the rest of the players, except LeBron James and Anthony Davis, “bums.”

Fans have mostly found Barkley’s opinion honest and entertaining, but this wasn’t pleasing to Perkins. During a segment of Road Trippin’, he expressed his opinion on how Barkley might be wrong to call these players “bums” because every player is talented enough to be where they are.

“That s**t right there p*ssed me off. There’s no player in the f******g league that should be called, deserved to be called a bum. Like, you make it to this level for a reason. Like, and when you’re talking and you have a platform like that, you shouldn’t be disrespecting players like that and calling them no bums, man. That s**t is not cool,” Perkins highlighted.

The TNT analysts are usually quick to respond to their rival analysts. We are yet to hear what Charles Barkley has to say on this.