NBA fans and media were recently triggered by a Charles Barkley quote about LeBron James that doesn’t appear to be real.
Last week, a social media graphic shared by HoopsMixOnly went viral after claiming Barkley called LeBron out ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Charles Barkley on LeBron: pic.twitter.com/ysQAW8cLBZ
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) April 30, 2025
“If LeBron and the Lakers lose this series against Minnesota, I don’t want to hear about LeBron being a top 5 all-time player,” the graphic reads, attributing the quote to Barkley.
Gilbert Arenas treated the quote as if it were true. On his podcast, Arenas ripped Barkley for judging LeBron’s career off one first-round playoff series at 40 years old.
Gil roasts Charles Barkley for saying LeBron is not a Top 5 player after losing to the T-Wolves at 40 👀 pic.twitter.com/x4GpZ7Vc5e
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArenaShow) May 3, 2025
“I heard Charles Barkley, ‘Oh, you’re not a top five player if you lose this series and you’re 40 years old.’ Where were you at 40?” Arenas ranted. “What was your last year looking like? Houston, fat, complaining about you trying to get on the treadmill and stuff. Those are the people sitting there gauging somebody cause they’re trying to figure out how to discredit someone. You wasn’t even that dude at 40.”
The thing is, Arenas never heard Barkley say LeBron isn’t a top-five player because of a playoff result at the age of 40. He read it and assumed it was true, but he didn’t hear it.
Arenas ripped Barkley for the take, Marcellus Wiley broke the quote down, Sports Illustrated wrote about it, as did Athlon Sports, Fadeaway World, and others. And in their defense, judging James on one playoff series at 40 years old would be an awful take. But did anyone find it odd that there is no video of Barkley making this declaration? Further, does anyone find it strange that the graphic was initially created by Goatman23, which is a LeBron James troll account?
We went back and searched for this quote on TNT, but according to our sources, Charles Barkley never claimed LeBron James is not a top-five all-time player based on the Lakers’ first-round series with the Timberwolves during these NBA Playoffs. If someone has a video that details otherwise, please share.
Barkley has, however, previously kept James out of his all-time top five. Two years ago, during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast, Barkley named Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bill Russell as his top five, putting James in his top 10. But Barkley didn’t use a first-round series against the Timberwolves to make his point.
Regardless of whether you think James is the GOAT, second to Jordan, a top five player, or top 10, whatever he does at 40 and older should only be able to add to his legacy. If James misses the playoffs at 41, that shouldn’t detract from his career. If James wins a title at 41, however, it can still add to his legacy. Surely, Barkley knows that. Which is why he never claimed losing a game to the Timberwolves at 40 years old can be proof that LeBron James isn’t a top five player of all-time.
Barkley has no shortage of headline-worthy quotes, so there is no need to credit him with fake ones. A good rule of thumb is that if there isn’t a video of the quote, Barkley probably didn’t say it.
