Charles Barkley Calls JJ Redick a 'Dead Man Walking,' Coach Responds

Charles Barkley bit back after JJ Redick publicly shared his disdain for TNT postgame show Inside the NBA.

During a news conference on Dec. 20, the Los Angeles Lakers implied that criticism of the NBA on TNT was a partial reason for declining ratings.

"If I'm a casual fan, and you tell me every time I turn on the television that the product sucks, well, I'm not going to watch the product," Redick said around the 2:30-minute mark of the clip below.

He continued, "It's not funny to me. Nothing is entertaining to me. This game should be celebrated. I've watched the league evolve. I'm in this league right now. I can tell you with fact that the league is more talented in skill than it was 18 years ago when I was drafted. That's a fact."

But after taking time to gather his thoughts during the holiday break, Barkley returned to Inside the NBA and gave Redick a clear response. Following the Boston Celtics-Minnesota Timberwolves game, co-host Ernie Johnson remarked on the game's high number of three-point attempts.

This made Barkley sarcastically take the blame and add, "I heard JJ Redick said something about me."

"Did he name you specifically or was he just talking about folks on TV?" Johnson replied.

But rather than being up for guessing games, Barkley issued a warning. "He said something about we're the reason people ain't watching this crappy product we got," Barkley said. "Yeah, us, like we're out there jacking up 100 threes a night."

The two-time Hall of Fame inductee then took a classic line from former HBO crime drama The Wire. "JJ, you come for the king, you better not miss. Because I can get you, brother," he said. "Remember, I got your Lakers games. You can’t hide them flaws they got. You’re just a dead man walking,"

Barkley continued, "They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job, they got rid of Darvin Ham, who did a good job. But you came out there thinking you were gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on a date with."

When Johnson attempted to reel in the tirade by returning to the game's highlights, Barkley gave a final remark. "He came in there thinking, 'I can make this thing work.' The hell you can! Put some makeup on that pig," he said.

According to ESPN, Redick heard Barkley's comments but expressed that he isn't fazed. "I didn't make it all the way through the clip, I got to be honest with you," Redick said ahead of the Lakers-Hawks game on Friday (Jan. 3). "My resting heart rate is probably 64 [beats per minute]. I watched the clip, it was 64. Literally don't care. I have other thoughts, but don't care."