Charles Barkley, Shaq and co. unafraid to elicit reaction on ‘Inside the NBA’

The television on a mobile stand was taking a tongue-lashing. Still sweat-soaked after a game in Seattle’s KeyArena, a visiting player watched “Inside the NBA” and listened to Charles Barkley criticize him and his team after a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics almost a decade ago. The player shouted expletives at the screen, hammering on Barkley’s weight and using the bluest of terms.

That player is not the first and will not be the last to react to one of sports television’s most provocative shows.

The program’s no-holding-back delivery is the core of the award-winning, laugh-inducing and highly critical show on TNT. Two Hall of Fame players, Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, team with former player Kenny Smith and host Ernie Johnson to produce one of the most compelling sports programs on television, perhaps ever. There is no script. There are massive opinions. Stir in legacy and humorous graphics, and the result can be deep discussion mixed with shout-filled debate. It’s the program NBA players watch above all others.

This week, Barkley was launched into the middle of a public back-and-forth with LeBron James. He had criticized James as “inappropriate” and “whiny” after James publicly complained about the current makeup of Cleveland’s roster. In a rare turn, James directed comments back at Barkley when talking to ESPN, citing Barkley’s rough-and-tumble past as a player.

“I’m not the one who threw somebody through a window,” James told ESPN. “I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, ’I’m not a role model.’ I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying. All I’ve done for my entire career is represent the NBA the right way. Fourteen years, never got in trouble. Respected the game. Print that.”

Just before the all-star break last season, the “Inside the NBA” crew conducted a conference call with reporters. Barkley, O’Neal and Smith were asked for their thoughts about possibly offending players with their pointed critiques. Each dismissed the issue.

“Well, am I supposed to say everything positive about a player so they’ll like me?” Barkley said then. “Dude, I’m gonna do my job. If I criticize somebody, I’m going to be fair. I don’t have a hidden agenda. I’m not an idiot like Skip Bayless who certainly hates certain players. If you ask me about any player or any team, I’m going to be 100 percent honest with you. But to answer your question am I going to say great things about every player or every team just so they like me? That’s just not going to happen.”

“I think what makes this show the best is we have G-14 classification to say what we want to say, Charles, all the players,” O’Neal said. “I put in work. Kenny put in work. Obviously, when we say something, I don’t look at it as criticism, I look at it as we’re helping you out. We definitely know what we’re talking about. When I watch other shows, I can definitely tell you you they have no idea what they’re talking about, but I know the three of us know what we’re talking about. They may take it as criticism, I think it’s just us being honest.”

“The one thing that helps is that the respect comes from, we respect them,” Smith said. “I don’t think you’ll ever hear one of us say, ’This guys has no heart. No mental fortitude.’ We won’t go there, but if your butt don’t get back on defense, I’m going to run back to that big board back there and show you how three guys passed you, and I’m gonna do it three or four times to show you that if you don’t run back on defense, so when I say it, I don’t feel I need to check Twitter or Instagram because I know I put something on and I put it in your face as well. The one thing I never question is anyone’s heart or mental capacity, but I will question your effort, I will question your decision-making and I will question if you’re good enough. If that makes you uncomfortable, please Tweet it.”

That mentality has made the show so engaging. Often, the trio of players and Johnson have moved beyond basketball to discuss cultural issues. Even there, they don’t always agree. They openly mock each other, taking shots at their playing legacy, speaking ability or attire. Barkley and O’Neal being in the Hall of Fame also provides them a respect other critics — think media members who did not play in the NBA — may not receive.

“You’ve got legends up there,” Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal, who said he doesn’t watch basketball-related things much when away from work, said Tuesday. “People respect their opinions. Respect their voice. I don’t have any problem with any negative things they say about me. It is what it is. It’s just like any media outlet that does. They do their jobs.”

Wizards point guard John Wall was on the “Inside the NBA” set Jan. 26. The Wizards are not typically discussed much on the show, but when they have been in the past, Barkley would grumble about them as underachievers. Wall knew he would need to be prepared for any shots fired his way.

“Those guys are funny,” Wall said Tuesday. “They’re comical together. They’re a great group of guys. That make it fun and interesting up there. You got to come in with your hard hat. They will talk a little junk about you here and there.”

Wall was not aware of the kerfuffle between James and Barkley when he commented on the show in general. However, longtime James allies Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony were.

“Thank God he finally said something,” Wade told the Chicago Tribune. “LeBron, a lot of guys take a lot of shots at him — for whatever reason. He just has kept his mouth closed and continued to focused on what he needs to. But it’s about time he said something man. Guys ride him, especially ex-players.”

Anthony was in Washington Tuesday morning before the New York Knicks lost that night to the Wizards. He has often been the focal point of hefty opinions.

“At the end of the day, I think [James] is human, like we all are human,” Anthony said. “Even though we’re considered these kind of super heroes, super-athletes and nothing is supposed to affect us and we’re supposed to go through life taking it on the chin, it affects us in certain ways. I think in his situation, maybe he just got tired of kind of just hearing it from that particular person.”

That was enough to produce a public airing of what has gone on in locker rooms prior.