“Imagine Michael Jordan leaving Bulls at 25”: Charles Barkley advises Giannis Antetokounmpo on Bucks future; mocks LeBron

One of the greatest players never to win an NBA title, Charles Barkley understands the pain of coming up short. But he still advises Giannis to stay loyal.

The Milwaukee Bucks were unceremoniously knocked out of the NBA playoffs 4-1 by the Miami Heat. Giannis performed below par in the 3 games that he was fully fit for.

But much of the blame went to his coach Mike Budenholzer for playing him fewer minutes. The Bucks suffered a shooting slump in the series as well. The Heat were a bad matchup for them overall.

Charles Barkley on Giannis engineering a trade away from Milwaukee

Chuck attributes the overt ‘superteaming’ desire rampant in the league today to the media. According to him, talking heads on TV don’t credit people with no championships any more.

This leads to the players trying to team up and form super teams in an attempt to manufacture championship rosters.

With this statement of his, he took a sly dig at both LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who have been accused of joining and forming super teams in order to get their rings.

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Good point Charles Barkley. MJ didn’t get his first chip until 28. Giannis is only 25 years old. Miss me with any Giannis slander!

— Torus Washington (@TorusW) September 19, 2020

Charles Barkley with the Michael Jordan reference for Giannis Antetokounmpo

Barkley referred to the delayed success found by GOAT Michael Jordan. Jordan had been the best player in the league for several years, but came up short in the playoffs in his first 6 tries.

“He’s only 26. Michael Jordan didn’t win his first championship until he was 28, same thing with LeBron. I get frustrated when these guys in the media tell if you don’t win a championship this year he’s gotta leave Milwaukee. Nobody said that to Michael Jordan” Chuck said.

This run included some first round exits with terrible teams. Jordan even led his team in all 5 statistical categories as the rookie.

The notion that players need to form super teams to win in the modern NBA was broken last year by Kawhi Leonard. The former Spurs forward used an even talent spread around him to propel the Raptors to victory over the KD-less and Klay Thompson-less Warriors.