I was just having a conversation about how stupid and rude James was for making the free agent comments, then saw this story ...
CLEVELAND (AP) Lebron James reacted strongly to Charles Barkley’s comments
that the Cavaliers star isn’t showing respect for Cleveland fans and his
teammates by discussing his possible free agency following the 2010 season.
“He’s stupid. That’s all I’ve got to say about that,” James said Friday
night before the Cavaliers’ game against Golden State.
Barkley made the comments on TNT’s NBA studio show and Dan Patrick’s radio
show.
“If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up,” the Hall of Famer said
on Patrick’s show. “I’m a big LeBron fan. He’s a stud. You gotta give him his
props. I’m getting so annoyed he’s talking about what he’s going to do in two
years. I think it’s disrespectful to the game. I think it’s disrespectful to the
Cavaliers.”
James, under contract for two more seasons, was bombarded with questions
about his future when the Cavaliers visited New York to play the Knicks on
Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers can offer him an extension as early as July 1, 2009. There has
long been speculation James will eventually end up in one of the NBA’s larger
markets and the Knicks have cleared salary-cap space in anticipation of the 2010
free-agent class.
“I think July 1, 2010, is a very big day,” James said when the Cavaliers
were in New York. “It’s probably going to be one of the biggest days in
free-agent history in the NBA. So a lot of teams are gearing up to try to
prepare themselves to be able to put themselves in position to get one of the
big free-agent market guys.”