ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley have squashed their very public beef, according to Perkins, who made the announcement on The Stephen A. Smith Show last night on YouTube. The feud had been heating up in recent months, especially as the two personalities will be sharing the same airspace on ESPN this coming fall. This change comes as part of the NBA leaving TNT Sports, but with the Walt Disney Company licensing the Inside the NBA program to air on ESPN and ABC.
Furthermore, Perkins spoke about coming to terms with the basketball Hall of Famer Monday night and how ESPN commentator Michael Wilbon played mediator in squashing the back-and-forth.
“I want the world to know that me and the great Charles Barkley have no beef no more,” said Perkins. “You know how my wife can be, she be on my a** about stuff. She was like ‘Have you ever thought what are you and Barkley taking shots at each other for? Why are y’all beefing?’ She said it’s just stupid. So, I reached out to our legend, our colleague, our good brother, Michael Wilbon. And I said, ‘Hey, Wilbon, can you reach out to Barkley and tell him to call me? I just think this is stupid.’”
As a result, the former Oklahoma City Thunder forward said that Wilbon put Barkley and himself in a group chat with a message about making peace between each other over a dinner. Consequently, both sides agreed to end the tension between the two and decided to move on past their disagreements and shots taken at one another.
In response, Smith was happy to see that Perkins and Barkley have found peace with each other, calling Michael Wilbon “the godfather.” He then told Perkins about his excitement to work with Barkley this coming season on ESPN.
“I have been telling you for the last couple of years, (Charles) Barkley is a good dude, man. Barkley is going to say what he feels. But most of the time, it is all in fun,” said Smith. “He calls me a fool at least once a month. But we have got nothing but love for him. And by the way, we’re looking forward to the TNT crew coming to ESPN.”
Earlier this past season, Barkley was critical of Perkins for his opinions on the Los Angeles Lakers’ acquisition of Luka Doncic, calling the former Thunder forward an “idiot.” In turn, Perkins responded to Barkley by calling him a “senior citizen” and told him to keep that “energy” when they were to meet face to face.
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