NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley isn’t surprised that Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James faced no visible consequences for his reported breach of the NBA health and safety protocols.
Barkley discussed during an interview with LaJethro Jenkins on Yahoo Sports’ “Dunk Bait “how James attended a promotional event for tequila before the NBA’s play-in tournament, which saw the Lakers beating the Golden State Warriors and thus making a return to the NBA playoffs.
Barkley said that rules don’t apply for stars like James and the NBA doesn’t have the courage to suspend the Lakers star for what he did.
As ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported on Saturday morning, the NBA hasn’t suspended James for the breach even though they discussed the matter with the Lakers.
“I love Adam Silver, rest in peace David Stern, best commissioner in sports. The NBA ain’t got the balls to f***ing suspend LeBron James. Zero. Listen, today, when I read that, I just — sometimes you read stuff, you just start laughing,” Barkley said during the interview with Yahoo.
“Hey, the NBA, they ain’t got no chance of suspending LeBron James. If it was a nobody, they would put him in healthy and safety protocols. Ain’t no f***ing way LeBron James is going to be sitting out with all the health and safety protocols. When I read that, I just started laughing. LeBron James is playing Sunday. Guarantee.”
James was there at the event on Tuesday as one of the several celebrity guests. The event was for Lobos 1707 tequila, which James has invested in. Drake and Michael B. Jordan were also seen in the event and they also participated in Wednesday’s play-in game.
One of the main criteria for guests to attend the event was to either produce a proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test. It is not clear and James has repeatedly declined to comment whether he has been vaccinated yet.
“It’s a violation of the agreed upon protocols, and, as we have in other comparable instances around the league, it has been addressed with the team,” a league spokesman told ESPN on Friday.
“It’s a violation of the agreed upon protocols, and, as we have in other comparable instances around the league, it has been addressed with the team,” a league spokesman told ESPN on Friday.
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