Save the fawning, says Charles Barkley, Kyrie Irving shouldn’t be commended for reaching out to LeBron James and telling the media about it. see also Why Kyrie Irving owed LeBron an apology phone call BOSTON — Kyrie Irving said he regretted criticizing his younger... “He threw the guys under the bus,” the TNT broadcaster said on the air. “I didn’t like it at all. It seemed like he was saying, ‘We’re losing because of these guys. They’re young, they don’t know how to win.’ “They made it to the Eastern Conference finals without him last year. You don’t have to tell people you’re a leader. Just be a leader.” Irving said on Wednesday night that he recently called James to apologize for “being that young player” during their time together, which produced an NBA title. It fell apart when Irving demanded a trade from the Cavaliers after the 2016-’17 season. Recently, he came under fire for questioning some of his teammates, saying they are lacking experience and “the young guys don’t know what it takes to be a championship level team.”<doc-sep>Kyrie Irving said on Wednesday that he called LeBron James to apologize for the way he acted when they were teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers. While many people said the comments showed that Irving had grown up, some in the basketball world raised an eyebrow at what seemed to be Irving taking a shot at his current teammates. Charles Barkley did not hold back during "NBA on TNT" on Thursday, saying he would have "whooped his a--" if he were Irving's teammate and Irving had thrown him under the bus. Listen to Barkley's comments in a video at the bottom of this post. Kyrie Irving made headlines on Wednesday when he told reporters that he called LeBron James to apologize for how he acted when they were teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Read more: LeBron James was eating dinner with Kevin Love when Kyrie Irving called to apologize for bristling at LeBron's leadership on the Cavs But while many fans and people in the media said the comments showed Irving's maturation and reminisced about what might have been with the Cavs, some in the NBA had a big problem. The top critic was Charles Barkley, who said on "NBA on TNT" on Thursday that Irving had thrown his teammates under the bus. Ernie Johnson asked Barkley whether the comments were at least, in part, a sign that Irving had grown up. "No," Barkley said, "because — like Shaq said — he says, 'When I called LeBron, I said, "I want to apologize because I used to be a young guy like these young guys, and I think I wanted everything handed to me."' So he threw the guys under the bus." Barkley noted that the Boston Celtics were one game away from the NBA Finals without Irving, who he said was supposed to be the one to put them over the top. Barkley added that had he been blamed for the team's poor performance, "I would've whooped his a--." "We made it to the conference finals without you," Barkley said as the voice of a young Celtics teammate. "Your job is to get us past the conference finals. We were one game — we were in Game 7 in the finals last year ... and you are our highest-paid player. You're our quote-unquote superstar. You've won a championship before. And your thing is, 'Well, the reason we're not winning now is because these guys are too young and they don't know how to win.' Boy, are you kidding me? I would've whooped his a--." Abbie Parr/Getty Irving said he apologized to James for wanting to be the leader and "being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips." Irving added that it takes a "real man" to make the call. "It takes a real man to go back, call somebody and be like, 'Hey, man, I was young. I made some mistakes. I wasn't seeing the big picture like you were. I didn't have the end of the season in mind,'" Irving said. Kenny Smith agreed with Barkley but took a less aggressive approach, saying Irving should have kept the conversation private and that he "didn't have to give us that conversation, to the media." You can listen to Barkley's comments here, via TNT:<doc-sep>Los Angeles Lakers superstar small forward LeBron James was reportedly very appreciative that Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving called him and apologized for how he acted during his younger days in Cleveland, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. After the Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Kyrie Irving revealed to local reporters that he called LeBron James and apologized for being a selfish and young teammate when James came back to the Cavs in 2014. Kyrie Irving is now the leader in Boston, so he’s seeing what LeBron James had to deal with all those years in Cleveland. Uncle Drew said he’s grown to appreciate James’ style of leadership now that he’s in the same position. James returned Irving’s call in private. A source close to James declined to share what was said on the call but said LeBron was very appreciative that Irving called him. If their relationship was frayed, which the manner of their breakup in Cleveland says that it was, then some repairs are obviously underway. Kyrie Irving famously requested a trade from the Cavs in the summer of 2017 because he didn’t want to live in the shadow of LeBron James anymore. The relationship between the two superstars was believed to be sour after the trade went down, but it looks like the two are beginning to patch things up, slowly but surely.<doc-sep>Kyrie Irving explains that he called LeBron James after the Celtics' loss to the Magic because he finally understand what it meant to be a leader of a team. (2:02) BOSTON -- Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said that in the wake of his outbursts at coach Brad Stevens and forward Gordon Hayward on the court at the end of Saturday's loss at the Orlando Magic and pointed criticisms of Boston's young players afterward, he called LeBron James and apologized for the way he handled criticism from James when the two were teammates in Cleveland. "Obviously, this was a big deal for me, because I had to call [LeBron] and tell him I apologized for being that young player that wanted everything at his fingertips, and I wanted everything at my threshold," Irving said after scoring 27 points and dishing out a career-high 18 assists in Boston's 117-108 home victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night. "I wanted to be the guy that led us to a championship. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that, and the responsibility of being the best in the world and leading your team is something that is not meant for many people. "[LeBron] was one of those guys who came to Cleveland and tried to show us how to win a championship, and it was hard for him, and sometimes getting the most out of the group is not the easiest thing in the world." In the wake of his calling out the Celtics' young players, Kyrie Irving said Wednesday that he reached out to LeBron James to apologize for the way he reacted to James' criticism while the two were teammates in Cleveland. Brian Babineau/Getty Images Saturday's discontent was the latest in a series of situations this season in which Irving has called out the team's young players, in some form or fashion, for their play. As Boston has struggled to live up to its preseason expectations -- after Wednesday's win, the Celtics are now 26-18 and remain in fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings -- Irving has repeatedly cited the team's youth and inexperience as something Boston needs to work through to get where it needs to go. The combination of Irving being frustrated with the play Stevens called with Boston trailing by two in the final seconds of Saturday's loss, his reaction when Hayward passed the ball to Jayson Tatum instead and Tatum missed the final shot, and the things he said after the game, though, created a firestorm that lasted through the weekend. "Experience," Irving told reporters after Saturday's loss. "We're lacking it, and because of that, we have a lot of learning to do." Irving apologized for the comments Monday but then didn't play because of a quad injury as the Celtics lost in Brooklyn to the Nets. After that game, one of the team's young players, Jaylen Brown, repeatedly referred to Irving's comments, saying the Celtics "can't be pointing fingers" and that "it starts from the top to the bottom, not the bottom to the top." For his part, Irving said Brown was right, and Irving apologized for saying what he did in a public forum. "I did a poor job of setting an example for these guys of what it's like to get something out of your teammates," Irving said. "You go and you say something publicly, and it ends up received in so many different ways, and you never know how fragile or what guys are going through when you say things like that. You're expecting results, but at the same time, I should've kept it in-house. Going forward, I want to test these young guys, but I can't be a bully like that. I want to get the best out of them, but I can't do it personally like that. That was a learning experience for me of being in this position of really realizing the magnitude of my voice and what I really mean to these guys. I want to see them do well and do that where I empowered them. "It takes a real man to go back, call somebody and be like, 'Hey, man, I was young. I made some mistakes. I wasn't seeing the big picture like you were. I didn't have the end of the season in mind.'" "[Jaylen] was right. I gotta do the right things and not point fingers at individuals and really realize what we can do as [a] group, despite when we go on the road or the mishaps we may have. I've been there to the championship. I've tasted it. But I can't expect that they're gonna get it. I'm just really working on my patience and just coming to helping these guys realize that we can do it against the best teams. But in order to be that championship-level team, we gotta do that every single day to help our team prove to not just the Raptors or Golden State that we can play with them, but we gotta prove it to every team that we can really play with them." One of the ironies of the comments Irving has made publicly at times -- and the friction that has flared up with the team's young players because of it -- is that it has been reminiscent of the way Irving would occasionally bristle at the things James would say about him after James' return to Cleveland in 2014. James, who had won a pair of titles and reached four NBA Finals in his four years with the Miami Heat, came back to Cleveland to team up with Irving and Kevin Love -- a pair of young stars who, before playing alongside James, hadn't played in a postseason game. And at times, Irving was none too pleased with the way James spoke about it. But in thinking about how things transpired Saturday, Irving said he was moved to call James to talk about what happened and about how, with the benefit of hindsight, he has a far better appreciation for what James was trying to do back then.<doc-sep>
On Wednesday, Boston Celtics guard Kyrie Irving told reporters that he called LeBron James to apologize for “being that young player” during their time together with the Cleveland Cavaliers that yielded an NBA title but fell apart when Irving demanded a trade. “I had to call ‘Bron and tell him like, ‘I apologize for being that young player that wanted everything at his finger tips,'” Irving said. “I wanted everything to be at my threshold. I wanted to be the guy that led us to championships. I wanted to be the leader. I wanted to be all that.” Many looked at Irving’s statement as an acknowledgment that his desire to be the focal point of a contender was misguided and led to the dissolution of a contender too soon. Barkley’s not buying it That was not the message TNT analyst Charles Barkley heard. During the network’s NBA coverage on Thursday, Barkley had harsh words for Irving, believing his statement was a veiled message blaming his Celtics teammates for the team’s struggles this season. Chuck wasn't feeling Kyrie's comments about calling LeBron to apologize. pic.twitter.com/H1FELmze4t — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 18, 2019 “He threw the guys under the bus,” Barkley said. … “I didn’t like it at all. It seemed like he was saying, ‘We’re losing because of these guys. They’re young, they don’t know how to win.’ “They made it to the Eastern Conference finals without him last year. You don’t have to tell people you’re a leader. Just be a leader.” Celtics not off to hot start they envisioned The Celtics are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 26-18 record a year after posting the second-best record in the East and making the conference finals in a playoff run that didn’t include an injured Irving. Charles Barkley called B.S. on Kyrie Irving’s proclamations about leadership. (Getty) Irving: ‘How do I get the best out of this group?’ Story continues Barkley seems to take particular issue with this point from Irving, where he suggested he knows how to improve a team that performed better without him in the playoffs last year than with him so far this season. “What that brought me back to was like, all right how do I get the best out of this group with the success that they had last year, and then helping them realize what it takes to win a championship?” Irving said. In short, Barkley’s calling B.S. And as per usual with Barkley, he’s not being shy about raking a guy over the coals when he smells something he doesn’t like. More from Yahoo Sports: • Turkey seeks arrest warrant for NBA star • Atlanta mayor clarifies Saints Super Bowl remark • The real reason for NFL playoff star’s weight gain • Paylor: ‘Redshirt’ year big for Mahomes