NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley has shared his thoughts on superstar LeBron James. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, @yahoosports on Instagram uploaded a carousel post of Barkley, who spoke about Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James during his guest appearance on “The Jim Rome Show.”
In the video, Barkley discusses James‘ lengthy career in relation to his not yet suiting up in the 2025-26 season due to injury. Barkley hopes that James steps away from the game as soon as possible, as he does not want the four-time NBA champion to tarnish his legacy. Barkley compared it to his own career when he was an aging player in the league.
“You know, he’s got to accept. Now, I hope he leaves sooner than later because I hate to see great players out there struggling. I really struggled my last year, probably my last two years. It was very frustrating and humiliating from me. Obviously, LeBron’s a better player than me, but I don’t want to see great players just hanging on. I would love to see him have a farewell tour then just walk away ’cause he’s one of the the three greatest players I’ve ever seen after Michael and Kobe,” Barkley explained.
“Charles Barkley would rather LeBron retire than watch LeBron deal with health concerns 👀 (via @jimrome),” @yahoosports on Instagram captioned with an emoji.
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James is in his 23rd season in the NBA, the most in league history. In his absence, coach JJ Reddick’s Lakers have played well, thanks to James’ co-stars in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. They have a 7-2 record so far, good for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, with their next matchup being against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, Nov. 8, in away territory.
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Charles Barkley Claims That LeBron James’ Sciatica Is a Label For Him Being “Old”
During his recent appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” Charles Barkley weighed in on the sciatica injury that LeBron James is dealing with.
James has been on the sidelines for all nine games of the 2025-26 Los Angeles Lakers so far due to the setback. Barkley said it’s a sign for the star to hang up his boots.
“ You know, father time always gonna win. There’s nothing you can do about it. You know, I joked on the show a couple weeks ago, they had just said sciatica. They could have just wrote old. It’s the exact same thing. Yeah, all old people’s back hurt,” Barkley shared.
Also Read: Charles Barkley Backs Victor Wembanyama in Hypothetical Showdown vs Shaquille O’Neal After Spurs Spoil Cooper Flagg Debut
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