By now all NBA fans know of the spat between LeBron James and Charles Barkley. Today, I'm going to give my take on what's going on. I said on our mini podcast that I side with Charles Barkley, and while I still do, I am going to give points as to why both are right and wrong.

So, first off, LeBron has done nothing but gripe about his teammates, the lack of another playmaker, the fact that the front office has "done nothing" and so on and so forth. To all this I say, stop it LeBron. The Cavs and the front office and the GM have answered your every beck and call. When you came back 2 years ago, they traded away Andrew Wiggins to get Kevin Love. I know Love is figuring out his role with the Cavs now, but he is hurt, and I'd honestly much rather have Andrew Wiggins. He is a playmaker, a much better defender and young. Then, after getting beat by the Warriors in the finals 2 years ago, in the middle of the next season, with the best record in the East, they fired David Blatt and hired your buddy, Ty Lue. It turned out to be the right move, the Cavs went on to win the title, but still, you wanted Blatt out, and you got your wish. Then, this offseason, you wanted Mike Dunleavy on the team, the Cavs signed him and it did not work out. So, they traded Dunleavy away and got Kyle Korver for you. That has not worked out yet. I know the roster is thin, but the people who make the decisions have done everything you have wanted them to do. That is why people call you the GM and the coach, as well as the player.

Lebron is far and away the best player in the NBA, there is no question. But, this constant complaining at this point in the season, needs to stop. It seems like LeBron does this every year. He did this last year, when he took 2 weeks off, which was well deserved, but he had many complaints about the team during his mid season vacation. It just seems like that when LeBron isn't the most talked about player in basketball, he finds some way to get his name out there so everyone, me included, will talk about him.

I agree with Barkley that this makes him a whiner. In fact, I was fully on Barkley's side after LeBron came out with all his comments. I do think that LeBron whines way too much. I do think that he wants to have all the best players on his team so he doesn't have to give his full effort. I do think that he, and most NBA players, are way too friendly nowadays. I do think he blames everyone but himself, and that comes off as childish at times.

Where I disagree with Barkley, LeBron has a legitimate complaint about his playing time. He is playing way, way too many minutes. He is in fact leading the league in minutes played. That is a lot to ask from a guy that has been to 7 straight finals, played in multiple Olympics and goes extra hard in the playoffs. But, that is not Charles Barkley's fault, that is the fault of his handpicked coach and his handpicked roster. See, even when I try and find a way to agree with LeBron, I still find reasons why I think his comments were out of line. Barkley is not making him play all those minutes. That is his coach, as I already said.

And sure, LeBron pointed out that Barkley was friendly with some of his rivals, but all of that was off the court. He may have cracked one or two jokes during a game here and there, but when they were playing, Barkley wanted to crush the team and players in front of him. There was no hugging or high fiving Jordan before games from Barkley. But, when Dwayne Wade and LeBron meet in a game in the middle of the season, they embrace like family, which is just fine, just do not try and claim that Barkley did the same stuff. He did not. I watched him obsessively because he is my all time favorite NBA player.

Also, to call him out for the whole I'm not a role model thing, that was ridiculous. That was a marketing campaign from Nike, and it was so much more memorable than any commercial you will do with the same company. I also liked the message of the I'm not a role model thing. He was flat out telling parents and fans that he is simply a basketball player, and that the parents and people in kids lives should be their role models, not an NBA player. While I may have modeled my game after Barkley's, he was never my role model. My father is my role model. So, if James thinks it is on him to be a role model, that is his deal. He doesn't need to drag Barkley into his personal decisions. And the whole spitting on a kid thing, come on with that nonsense. If he did spit on a kid, I'm sure it was on accident, and to bring it up now, that makes you sound more like a "hater" than Barkley.

All of this is just nonsense. LeBron James is above all of this. He does not need to fight with former NBA players. He is never going to change their minds, just like they are never going to change his mind. This is childish, and I feel like LeBron is starting to realize that his name isn't the biggest in the NBA anymore. He is still the best player in the world, but more people that watch and talk about the NBA want to talk about the Warriors, Russell Westbrook, Giannis Antentekoumpo, James Harden, Joel Embiid and some of the newer generation of players. This was clearly, in my opinion, just a way for LeBron to keep his name as the top story for a day or 2 on sports radio, TV and blogs. This will all be forgotten about in about a week, thankfully. But, I just need to let everyone know that I am fully on Barkley's side with this "beef".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Hear his thoughts on all things sports by downloading the newest edition of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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