{"id":252710,"date":"2025-10-31T07:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/252710\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T07:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:32:08","slug":"did-charles-barkley-just-call-lebron-james-old-nba-hall-of-famer-gives-twisted-reaction-to-lakers-legends-injury-nba-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/252710\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Charles Barkley just call LeBron James old? NBA Hall of Famer gives twisted reaction to Lakers legend\u2019s injury | NBA News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DidCharles Barkley and LeBron James. Image via: Getty Images LeBron James<\/a> is missing opening night of the NBA season for the first time in his 23-year career, raising eyebrows. Amid his injury recovery, Charles Barkley<\/a> made sure to add his own twist to his response. As the Los Angeles Lakers listed James out due to sciatica, Barkley wasn\u2019t convinced. Instead, he suggested something simpler: it was James\u2019 age. The Hall of Famer\u2019s remark during ESPN\u2019s Inside the NBA appears to be a joke, or perhaps a blunt truth about the 40-year-old superstar.<\/p>\n

Charles Barkley calls out LeBron James for constant injury updates<\/p>\n

During the Los Angeles Lakers\u2019 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Barkley didn\u2019t hold back when he saw the team\u2019s long injury list. \u201cAnd first of all, LeBron don\u2019t have a sciatica,\u201d he said on-air.\u201cThey should just put old. O-L-D, with an extra D too.\u201d The jab drew laughter from co-host Shaquille O\u2019Neal, but Barkley\u2019s tone carried that familiar edge.Sciatica, a nerve-related issue, is rare among younger athletes, and Barkley\u2019s comment played on that fact. While the Lakers described James\u2019 absence as a result of \u201cnerve pain\u201d from late July workouts, Barkley suggested Father Time might be the real culprit. This isn\u2019t the first time James\u2019 injury status has faced scrutiny. Kevin Garnett recently implied that LeBron might be using his time off as leverage amid tension with the Lakers, who appear to be transitioning their focus toward Luka Doncic. <\/p>\n

What happened to LeBron James?<\/p>\n

Reports suggest LeBron began dealing with sciatic nerve pain in mid-summer and has been sidelined since. ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin recently shared that the Lakers are \u201ctaking a patient approach,\u201d hoping for a return by mid-November.Head coach JJ Redick confirmed there\u2019s no fixed date, noting that \u201cthe team is eyeing the second or third week of November as the general range.\u201dIn LeBron\u2019s absence, Austin Reaves has stepped up in scoring, and the Lakers have managed a 3\u20132 start. Still, the team clearly misses its veteran leader. James, who turns 41 this December, is no stranger to scrutiny over his durability. However, he has been consistent with his gameplay. As of now, there is no clear update on the King\u2019s return timeline.Also Read: LeBron James teases thrilling new venture that blends nostalgia, imagination, and a hint of Halloween mystery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charles Barkley and LeBron James. Image via: Getty Images LeBron James is missing opening night of the NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,24057,149637,7896,149636,7232,149638,590,85],"class_list":["post-252710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-charles-barkley","tag-charles-barkley-comments","tag-lebron-james","tag-lebron-james-injury","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-los-angeles-lakers-news","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}