Charles Barkley Criticizes Lakers Over ‘Awful’ Handling of Bronny James, Says He’s Not Ready for the NBA

NBA legend Charles Barkley didn’t hold back when offering his take on the Lakers’ plan to shuffle rookie Bronny James between the NBA and the team’s G League squad.

During a recent appearance on the Bettor Angle podcast, Barkley heavily criticized the Lakers and Bronny’s father, LeBron James, for the unique plan. “They’ve handled it awful,” Barkley said. “I thought it was great, a little ceremony his first game. But the kid is not ready to play in the NBA.”

“He should be in the G League, so he can play basketball. He’s not going to get better sitting on the bench. This thing where he’s only gonna play home games? It’s stupid,” Barkley added. “It’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to the team. Can you imagine the coach of that team?”

Continuing, Barkley said that the decision isn’t fair to Bronny, 20, and casts a bad light on the team as well as LeBron.

“You come off a road trip and there’s a player you ain’t seen in a week or two. And then you feel like you probably gotta play him. I don’t think they’re doing Bronny any favors and they just handled this thing really bad. It’s a bad look for the Lakers and I honestly think — I really like everything LeBron’s done — this is a bad look for him, in my opinion,” he said.

In the two games that Bronny has played so far with the G League’s South Bay Lakers, he’s averaging five points and three assists in 28.5 minutes per game, according to Sports Illustrated.

In recent weeks, there has been criticism from sports experts and commentators regarding Bronny getting perceived special treatment by being allowed to only play home games for the Lakers’ G League.

On Thursday, Nov. 7, the Lakers franchise formally announced that the rookie will join the South Bay roster.

The decision to move Bronny to the G League has been in the works from the beginning of the player’s time with the NBA, Lakers coach JJ Redick said in October, per the Associated Press. “The plan for Bronny to move between the Lakers and South Bay has always been the plan since day one. Rob and I have talked about that. LeBron’s talked about that,” said Redick.

While Bronny is set to divide his time between the two teams, Redick said, “Those plans could change,” with the coach telling reporters, “Our plans are always fluid based on real time.”