Barkley Decries Media, Claims Racism : Pro basketball: He reacts after 76ers’ coach criticizes shot the forward took during loss to Bulls.

Charles Barkley derided Philadelphia reporters for questioning his judgment after missing a three-point shot with 24 seconds to play and his 76ers trailing by three points during Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls. It was a shot Coach Jim Lynam called “ill-advised.”

Barkley, last among the team’s regulars in three-point shooting at 23%, said that Lynam was entitled to his opinion, adding, “I’d do the same thing tomorrow.”

Of reporters, Barkley said: “The (Philadelphia) Daily News, the Inquirer has been on my back. Everything I do is wrong. They want their black athletes to be Uncle Toms. I told you white boys you’ve never heard of a ‘90s nigger. We do what we want to do.”

Earlier this season Barkley predicted the 76ers would keep a white player, Dave Hoppen, on the roster to placate the city’s white fans. Hoppen did start the season with the team, but later was injured and is not on the roster.

“It’s always a racial thing. Racism always exists,” Barkley said Sunday. “I’m going to be a little more vocal now. Striking back at you guys. I’m going to do what I want to do. And you’ve got two choices. You can kiss my behind. Or you can try and get me traded.”

Michael Jordan, who scored 34 points for the Bulls, said he recently told Barkley “to think about what he is saying, then comment.”

“Don’t just blurt (something) out,” Jordan said.

Barkley had 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists Sunday. “When I start worrying about missing a shot, then I can’t be as good as I am,” he said of his late three-point attempt. “If I make it, nobody says anything. Everybody’s going to be in here congratulating me. Nobody’s going to tell me how to play this game.”

Jordan said he understands Barkley’s statements about race “to a certain extent, but not fully. I never said that what he says aren’t things we don’t think about. What he says, he speaks for all of us.

“Everything he says has some truth to it. You have to be in the game to know. People who don’t know think he’s a spoiled brat. He’s not.”