Cavalier forward LeBron James defended the innocence of his step over Warrior Draymond Green in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, but Kevin Love and Charles Barkley spoke out with alternate views Sunday.
"I was just trying to get back into the play," James said in an NBA interview June 12. "That was my whole mindset."
Not so according to basketball hall-of-famer Charles Barkley on Bleacher Report Radio.
When a player steps over you, they're rubbing it in your face, Barkley claimed. "They're deliberately trying to punk you."
Though Cavs forward Love declined to address James' specifically, he reportedly agreed that a step-over was looked at as a form of disrespect.
Kevin Love on stepover moves: "You don't see it too much, but, yeah, I think it is looked at as a form of disrespect."
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) June 13, 2016
In the face of rumors that Love may be playing for a new team next season, the wisdom of his remark is up for arm-chair pundits to debate.
Still Love didn't go as far as Barkley, who straight out said, "When a guy steps over you, you have a moral obligation to punch him in the..."
When Green responded to James' move with with a hand to his groin on June 10, two day later the NBA called it a retaliatory swipe and ruled a flagrant-1 foul.
The NBA's call set off a cacophony of criticism among the already rumbling NBA conspiracy theorists who suspect the league is trying to drag out the competition.
What the NBA called foul, Barkley deemed "a perfectly fine response," adding, "Now you've got to act like you didn't try to do it. I will admit that."
But it's the NBA's verdict not Barkley's that ruled the day and the day after, keeping Green off the court for Game 5 Monday.
Watch Game 5 of the NBA Finals as the Cleveland Cavaliers face off the Golden State Warriors live on NewsChannel5 at 9 p.m. ET
The Cavaliers head into the competition lagging two games behind the Warriors at 1-3.
