Charles Barkley has become one of the most iconic former NBA players of all-time just because of his entertaining commentary that he has given in retirement.
However, while Barkley’s hot takes can be amusing, he does have moments where he gets serious with something he says, especially when it comes to FOX commentator Skip Bayless.
After the Los Angeles Lakers got eliminated from the playoffs — the NBA on TNT crew were doing their customary “Gone Fishing” segment when Barkley brought up Bayless and what he’d like to do to him.
After Kenny Smith asked about “the guy in the wheelchair,” Barkley quickly said “that would be Skip Bayless if I ever got him in a room by himself.”
Then Barkley doubled down on his claim. “If I ever get Skip Bayless alone, that’s what he’s gonna need. A full body cast.”
The origin of the feud between Barkley and Bayless is unclear, but we can track it back as far as 2005.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
“There’s only two people I want to kill: Skip Bayless and Jay Mariotti. Everybody else, I respect their opinions. But those two guys,” Barkley said in 2005, according to The Washington Post.
In a column he wrote for ESPN, Bayless said that Charles Barkley, who played in the NBA for 16 seasons, was “not fit to be governor” of Alabama.
“Let’s say some unknown but wealthy white guy with absolutely no experience in politics called the Birmingham News and announced he was running for governor of Alabama,” Bayless wrote. “Let’s say he publicly admitted he has a gambling problem and that ‘I am not a role model.’ Let’s say it was no secret he hasn’t always been the best husband. And let’s say he once threw somebody through a plate-glass window in a bar.”
He continued: “Charles Barkley is once again talking — dead seriously — about running for governor of his home state of Alabama in 2010. He is exactly as described above, except that he’s African-American and famous (and infamous) for playing basketball and making hilariously outrageous statements.”
Barkley then also said this in 2013: “If I could get Skip Bayless in a room, you’d need DNA to find out who he was,” per the Post.
