Back In The Day NBA

TNT's Charles Barkley Calls Out Austin Rivers Over Saying NBA Stars Could Play In NFL

Shandel Richardson

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Former NBA player Austin Rivers is quickly making a name for himself in the sports media world.

He recently became an analyst for ESPN to speak on a variety of topics. How far has Rivers came in a short time? He's already created one of the hottest sports takes of the week, which even drew a response from Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

On Tuesday, Rivers tried to make a point of saying the NBA has the best athletes while speaking on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN. Rivers, the son of Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, caused a firestorm with his remarks. It even drew a response from future NFL Hall of Famer J.J. Watt.


"I can take 30 players right now in the NBA and throw them in the NFL," Rivers said. "You cannot take 30 NFL players and put them in the NFL."

That caught the attention of Barkley during Wednesday's postgame show on TNT. He quickly shot down Rivers by calling NBA players "soft." This was especially shocking to hear from Barkley, who was one of the most physical players during his career.

"I've got to call out Austin Rivers," Barkley said. "Austin Rivers, you know I love you, we can't play football. You're doing a great job, but to say that we've got 30-40 NBA players who could go play in the NFL ... Football is a grown-man sport. We're soft."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com