Superstars in the National Basketball Association live quite the life. On and off the court, these world-class athletes are the ones we watch the closest, respecting their craft and observing their lifestyles with awe and jealousy. When you are at the top of your profession, everything you do is magnified and picked apart, for better or worse.

LeBron James is commonly referred to as the world’s best basketball player in the game right now and is constantly compared to Michael Jordan. James is known to be one of the hardest workers out there and is someone who every player in the NBA would love to get a chance to play with or against. A freak athlete, James can torch you in the paint or beyond the three-point arc. He is a dynamic playmaker and skilled passer, a vocal leader and a player-coach, as well as a father and a member of the Cleveland community, which he values so highly.

Recently in the news, James has been feuding and trading shots with former All-Star power forward Charles Barkley.  Barkley, who has been out of the NBA since 2000, now works on TNT’s show “Inside the NBA” as an analyst. Barkley heard James’ complaints about the Cavs and their recent struggles and did not like what he was hearing.

Barkley called James “inappropriate. Whiny. All of the above. The Cleveland Cavaliers, they have given him everything he wanted. They have the highest payroll in NBA history. He wanted J.R. Smith last summer, they paid him  …  He’s the best player in the world. Does he want all of the good players? He don’t want to compete? He is an amazing player. They’re the defending champs.”

James caught wind of what Barkley had been saying about him and fired back on a more personal level.

“I’m not going to let him disrespect my legacy like that. I’m not the one who threw somebody through a window. I never spit on a kid. I never had unpaid debt in Las Vegas. I never said, ‘I’m not a role model.’ I never showed up to All-Star Weekend on Sunday because I was in Vegas all weekend partying,” James said.

After everything was said and done, people began to take sides. Shaquille O’Neal, a co-host on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” said “I would’ve punched you in the face” to Barkley.

The hostile reaction towards Barkley is understandable.  After all, as LeBron pointed out, Barkley is not the exemplary icon of the NBA. However, as an analyst for a major network covering the league, Barkley has a responsibility to call it like he sees it. If he thinks James is doing something wrong, he gets paid to state his opinion on the matter.

James, who has done mostly everything right in his career, took things very personally  and insulted Barkley’s character. He has the right to defend his name and his legacy, which he has worked so hard to build, but taking a low blow at Barkley might not have been his best response while his team was struggling throughout January.

James recently called out sports writer Frank Isola for his report saying James would like the Cavs to exchange Kevin Love for Carmelo Anthony. He said the report was “trash” and called the person who wrote the article “trash” too.

Anthony has been struggling with New York media enough, with trade rumors constantly circulating around Madison Square Garden.

Top players in the league can only do their best to stay out of the negative side of the media, but instances occur, and maybe next time James will be more equipped to handle

the situation.