Charles Barkley Slams ESPN For Exploiting LeBron James Jr. By Broadcasting His High School Games On National Television

Shortly after the turn of the millennium, there was an increasing amount of buzz in the basketball world about a high schooler from Akron, Ohio who had all of the makings of a generational talent and it was only a matter of time until the city found itself at the center of the national spotlight thanks to a budding superstar named LeBron James.

During his freshman year, James helped lead the St. Vincent-St. Mary Fighting Irish to an undefeated season and the first of two consecutive state championships and the hype train only began to pick up steam from there until it hit maximum velocity during his senior campaign.

LeBron spent a solid chunk of his final year in high school facing off against some of the best teams in the country, and on a December night in 2002, history was made when ESPN2 broadcasted its first high school basketball game to a national audience that saw James and his squad upset the top-ranked Oak Hill Academy.

It’s safe to say James lived up to the hype he generated at such a young age, and as he enters the twilight of his storied career, the son he gave his name to is gearing up to pick up where his father will eventually leave off.

Bronny James started generating some attention before he even entered high school—people started placing bets on where he’d play in college when he was still 13 years old—and last year, his dad was in attendance to watch the freshman throw down for the first time as a member of the Sierra Canyon high school team.

The 15-year-old has plenty of room to grow over the next few years and the world will have plenty of chances to watch him develop, as fifteen of his games will have been aired across various ESPN platforms by the time his first season ends.

However, Charles Barkley isn’t exactly thrilled with this media attention and ripped into the network on Monday for obsessing over the younger James on the same night Bronnny had some trash thrown at him by a fan.

Here’s what he had to say:

“This is the ultimate exploitation. What is the financial incentive other than the network making money on these high school kids?…

You’re making money on college kids now you’re making money on high school kids.”

He makes a somewhat valid point, but at the same time, you could argue James—as well as some of his lesser-known teammates—could stand to gain from the exposure in the long run. Regardless, the American media has a long and storied history of valuing money over ethics so I don’t think these games are going anywhere at any point soon.