We know Charles Barkley loves to criticize NBA champions, society, Black people, poor people, rich people and anyone else that he is paid to pontificate about. Chuck was an NBA Hall of Famer who performed like a champ but fell short of the ring. As a media and entertainment mogul, he’s elevated himself to a network of $100M, with most of that coming after his NBA days.
Rarely does Barkley get the brunt of the punishment as he always has the mic and as one of the NBA’s Top 75 All-Time players can drop bombs while keeping his hands clean of ever having to compete against the players he criticizes and clowns at 62 years of age. Barkley has all these answers and has become a purified soul who sets the standard on morality. Who isn’t shy to call today’s generation of players soft and undisciplined. Sat they’re spoiled by riches, lacking the toughness to rise as a champion.
Richard Jefferson Choose Karl Malone Over Charles Barkley
Former NBA player Richard Jeferson also has a podcast microphone, a gig as an NBA analyst and a large following. In a recent episode of the “Road Trippin Podcast” Richard Jefferson says he’s chosen former Utah Jazz star Karl Malone over Charles Barkley because “the Mailman” was more professional off the court. while Barkley was known for his partying issues, which some say held him back from his ultimate goal.
“The reason why I would pick Karl Malone over Charles is because of the level of professionalism that Karl Malone always approached. So when I look at Karl Malone versus Charles — when Charles was in Philly, he was in and out of shape, and then he would — some of his off-the-court partying that we knew about…I’m saying Charles was a rebel. He’s not a role model. So I’m not taking shots at him. But I’m saying, when you look at a guy like Karl Malone who trained for eight hours a day, he played for 19 years. He was second in scoring. And if his body would have held up, he probably would have been the all-time leading scorer,”
NBA Fans Run Karl Malone’s Past Through Ringer After Richard Jefferson Calls Charles Barkley Bad Role Model
Of course, Jefferson’s comments opened up a whole can of worms concerning Malone’s past. His appetite for younger women and numerous babies that he refused to acknowledge until they were adults.
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“Not sure how being a ped- off the court could be considered “being professional” but whatever floats ya boat I guess.”
“Nobody is a better role model than Karl Malone. It’s not like he got a 13-year-old pregnant as a grown man..” said another netizen taking another shot at Malone’s issues that resurfaced from the 80s.”
“Malone showed up ready to play every game. It wasn’t a secret that he tried to hit on Vanessa Bryant so there’s that,” said another fan referencing old reports that Malone tried to hit on Kobe’s wife in the one season he played on the Lakers before retiring. Past reports suggest that it is one of the internal conflicts that helped the Detroit Pistons defeat Kobe and Shaq for the 2004 NBA championship.
“Karl Malone was a model citizen. The kind of guy you wanted your daughter to date,” quipped another fan.
NBA Fans Say Charles Barkley A Better Player & Person Than Karl Malone
Yes, the low hanging fruit was definitely the weapon of choice, but most fans kept it basketball and still disagreed with Jefferson.
“Barkley was miles better than the postman. Professionalism is crucial though.”
“Malone was better as a post-up player. I’d give Barkley the edge in fast break situations,” said another NBA fan.
“From a basketball perspective? Not even a question (it’s Malone),” one fan, who agreed with Jefferson, wrote.
Richard Jefferson Is Talking About Reputations Of Malone & Barkley Across NBA
Those discretions, however, don’t fall into the context that Jefferson was talking about. He meant, during their time together in the NBA, the understanding among players in the league was that Malone was more dedicated to his craft. mature with his nightlife and how he approached each game. He had more respect for the game than Chuck did in their opinion.
Jefferson, however, had to know that when he put Karl Malone and character issues in the same sentence in an attempt to down Charles Barkley, that it wasn’t going to work out. This is one comparison Jefferson needed to just stay away from. Confine his argument to sports comparisons, not character comparisons. For reasons that one fan stated on X: “Jefferson wouldn’t believe what Karl Malone was doing off the court if he had internet access.”
Geesh.
