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Charles Barkley Went Off on JJ Redick, Lakers As 'Inside the NBA' Crew Cracked Up

The "Inside the NBA" analyst had a harsh critique for the Lakers and their coach.

Stephen Douglas

The ‘Inside the NBA’ crew discusses what’s wrong with the NBA.
The ‘Inside the NBA’ crew discusses what’s wrong with the NBA. / @NBAonTNT
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The NBA had a great Christmas Day with a bunch of games that people actually watched. The news of the solid ratings came amidst the league's latest round of worries about why no one is watching, which is something that everyone from Caitlin Clark to JJ Redick has weighed in on recently.

During a press conference in December, Redick noted that the league's broadcast partners had not done a good job celebrating the game.

"If I'm a casual fan and you tell me every time I turn on the television that the product sucks, well, I'm not going to watch the product," Redick said.

Redick's comments clearly bothered Charles Barkley, who went off on the Los Angeles Lakers coach (and his team) during TNT's first doubleheader of 2025 on Thursday night. While doing highlights from the Boston Celtics' win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Barkley called out Redick and dubbed him a "dead man walking."

"He said something about we're the reason people ain't watching this crappy product we got," Barkley said. "Yeah, us. Like we out there jacking up a hundred threes a night. JJ ... I don't know Jason Monroe, I don't know who that is, but JJ, you come for the king, you better not miss. 'Cause I can get you brother. 'Cause remember I got your Lakers' games. You can't hide them flaws they got. You just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel who did a good job. They got rid of Darvin Ham who did a good job. If you came out there thinking you were going to change things with that same ugly girl you went on the date with—the Lakers stink.

"He came in there thinking I can make this thing work. Hell you can. Put some makeup on that pig. The Lakers stink man. Come on man."

Jason "Monroe" could be FS1's Jason McIntyre, who was critical of Barkley and Inside the NBA on The Herd with Colin Cowherd a couple days before Redick made his comments.

Either way, Barkley's comments tonight are exactly what Redick and McIntyre were talking about. Barkley called the product "crappy" and said the Lakers, who are currently a playoff team featuring one of the greatest players to ever play the game, "stink." They're slated to meet the Dallas Mavericks, who are just one game ahead of them in the standings on TNT on Tuesday night.

Why should anyone bother tuning in?

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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