"Inside the NBA" co-host Charles Barkley has never been known to be shy with opinions.
Many see him as a truth-teller with respect to sports. But opinions are like, well ... you know. Still, Sir Charles often gets many right.
It's difficult to disagree with him on his latest take from Thursday night's show when Barkley went in on TNT rival ESPN for its lack of coverage of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder this season.
"Y'all just want to talk about the Warriors and the Lakers . They're both doing great. Don't get me wrong. If I turn out to be wrong, I got no problem with that," Barkley said. "But y'all are idiots because y'all talk about the Lakers and the Warriors all the time. The Cleveland Cavaliers have won 12 straight games . The Oklahoma City got the MVP and they are on fire. Y'all are talking about who's in second place."
To say coverage has been uneven would be a fair statement. The two teams have been running neck-and-neck for best team in the NBA this season. Currently the Cavs hold a one-game advantage with a 52-10 record to the Thunder's 51-11 mark. Each lead is respective conference.
That hasn't translated to heightened coverage or appearances on the largest over-the-air broadcast (and largest overall) platform that holds NBA rights — the ABC television network. The Thunder will receive their first appearance in an ABC broadcast window at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Cavs were just flexed to the same spot on March 16 .
In the meantime, as usual, the Golden State Warriors (five ABC games this season) and Los Angeles Lakers (six ABC games this season) received significantly more appearances.
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Part of the blame for that lies with the NBA's inability to develop new faces — for lack of a better term — for the league. Steph Curry and LeBron James won't be around forever. And it's easy to justify their increased exposure because they pull ratings but, at some point, doesn't the integrity and reality of the situation at hand come into play?
The Cavs have been the only team this season to have three winning streaks of 10 or more games. The Thunder have been romping through the Western Conference and hold a 10.5 game lead over the second-seeded Lakers. The Lakers have been playing well, winning eight consecutive game and appear to have been rejuvenated by their fleecing of the Dallas Mavericks in acquiring Luka Doncic.
Ditto for the Warriors in trading with the Miami Heat to land the disgruntled Jimmy Butler . However, Barkley's criticisms possess merit.
"That's the reason I get pissed. Hey, the Lakers are doing great. I don't mind being wrong. The Warriors are doing great, but Oklahoma City and the Cavs been balling for six months," he said. "Y'all talking about teams that had two great weeks."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Charles Barkley blasts ESPN for lack of Cavs, Thunder coverage
