Kyrie Irving burning sage sparks ethnicity questions, angry reaction from Charles Barkley

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving always seems to have the spotlight on him. The 28-year-old has recently claimed that he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honour his Native American heritage, and did exactly that during Brooklyn's two pre-season games last week. However, NBA Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley has slammed Irving for his behaviour and claimed that the NBA champion "tries to act like the smartest guy in the room".

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Kyrie Irving burning sage before Nets' pre-season games

Prior to the Nets beating the Boston Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the NBA pre-season finale for both teams, Kyrie Irving was spotted burning incense at the TD Garden Arena. However, it wasn't the first time that NBA fans saw Kyrie Irving burning sage before a game. The Nets guard had done so just prior to the game against the Wizards last Monday. 

While speaking to ESPN, Irving explained, "Burning sage before a game just comes from a lot of native tribes. Being able to sage, just cleanse the energy, make sure that we're all balanced. I saged last game, and I plan to sage almost every game if the opposing team will allow me to." However, Irving's recent behaviour hasn't gone down well with NBA icon Charles Barkley, who launched a scathing attack on the Nets guard's "intelligence". 

ALSO READ: Kyrie Irving Cleanses Court In Return To Boston

Charles Barkley on Kyrie Irving: NBA legend slams Nets guard over his antics

Irving recently threatened to boycott talking to the media and instead release statements through a PR team or on social media. That led to the Nets and Irving being fined $25,000 for breaking the NBA’s media rules. Irving, however, took another shot at explaining himself. 

While speaking to reporters on Monday, he said, "It’s really just about how I felt about the mistreatment of certain artists when we get to a certain platform or when we make decisions within our lives to have full control and ownership." Continuing, Irving emphasized, "We want to perform in a secure and protected space.” The comments from Irving, however, did not go down well with one person in particular.

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NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley was left fuming with Irving's comments. The 57-year-old, in an angry rant over Irving's recent behaviour, said, "I don't understand the point Kyrie is trying to make. What's he talking about being an artist? He's a basketball player, not a frontline responder, not a teacher. What he does is dribble a basketball and then try to act like the smartest person in the world".

Barkley continued, "Now he's talking about social issues and things about his ethnic background. I'm like 'yo! you've spent six months at college and there are people smarter than you'. If you want to say something about social justice, say it and mean it, because it’s important and significant. But all that other stuff? Like, yo man, just shut up and talk basketball.’”

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Image Credits - AP