Charles Barkley Calls ESPN's Kendrick Perkins An "Idiot And A Fool" In Scathing Rant

Charles Barkley has made jokes at ESPN's expense for well over a decade now. Recently, his frustration has come from the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors dominating their coverage, regardless of how good they are. Before the trade deadline, the Lakers and Warriors were once again at the bottom of the playoff bracket in the Western Conference. Over the last month, they have been two of the hottest teams in the NBA. The Lakers acquired superstar Luka Doncic in one of the most shocking trades in league history. They are now on an eight-game winning streak and have climbed to second in the West, looking like championship contenders after treading water for the first half of the season. The Warriors traded for disgruntled former Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler. Butler has re-energized the Warriors, and Stephen Curry is playing close to his MVP level again.




Despite those teams being good again, Charles Barkley still thinks ESPN has spent too much airtime discussing them. His biggest problem is with Kendrick Perkins, who both Barkley and Inside The NBA co-host Shaquille O'Neal have enjoyed taking shots. Perkins proclaimed the Lakers "saved the NBA season" by getting Luka Doncic and going 22-7 in the 29 games they've played since the start of 2025. On Thursday night's episode of Inside, Barkley called Perkins an "idiot and a fool." He also criticized ESPN for their seemingly never-ending coverage of the Michael Jordan and LeBron James GOAT debate.




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Charles Barkley Mocks Kendrick Perkins

"I saw a fool, idiot talking about how the Lakers saved the NBA. Yeah, he's an idiot and a fool," Charles Barkley said as he opened the rant. He did not intend to name names, but when Shaq asked who he was talking about, he was more than willing to provide an answer. "Kendrick Perkins. He said that. First off, the Lakers are having a great two weeks. He said the Lakers saved the NBA season. That's because the fools on the other network, who we're gonna be working for next year, that's all they talk about. Let me tell y'all something, I want all the smoke. I don't whistle when I walk by the graveyard or anything like that." Barkley then criticized ESPN for not talking about the Thunder or Cavaliers, the #1 seeds in the West and East, respectively. He also said that anyone on television who engages in the Michael Jordan-LeBron James debate for ratings has "no talent."




Stephen A Smith, the face of ESPN, took to X (formerly Twitter) to pen a joking response to Charles Barkley and the TNT crew, as he has longtime friendships with the Inside The NBA quartet. Kendrick Perkins did not respond in kind, calling Barkley a "senior citizen." He threatened to fight him the next time he saw him in person. The replies to Perkins' tweet have been harsh. Many of the top replies are mocking him for even implying he'd fight Barkley over his comments. Obviously, the two won't engage in hand-to hand combat the next time they see each other, which will probably be very soon since Inside will begin its run on ESPN next season. Clearly, there is no love lost between Charles Barkley and Kendrick Perkins at all.




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