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Barkley apologizes to Rockets for lashing out

SSM/RC Reuters / Reuters

Charles Barkley never shies away from a confrontation, and he's characteristically blunt in delivering his unfiltered thoughts.

But sometimes, upon reflection, Barkley can come to regret the things he once said. On Tuesday, he apologized for jawing at his once-beloved Houston Rockets.

"I want to apologize to the Houston Rockets," Barkley said on TNT's "Inside the NBA" broadcast, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I (overreacted) to two tweets. I said something I shouldn't say. So I want to apologize to Daryl Morey. And I want to apologize to Tad Brown, the CEO, for overreacting. I want to apologize to Les Alexander.

"You know, I don't do any social media. When you show stuff or I hear about it, I get mad. So I want to apologize to those three guys and the entire Houston Rockets organization because when you're on television, Ernie (Johnson), it should never be personal. We're supposed to do our jobs. When Daryl Morey sent a tweet during the season, I got mad. I was 100 percent wrong. When Tad Brown tweeted last week, I was 100 percent wrong.

"Les Alexander treated me great when I was in Houston. So I just want to apologize to those three guys."

Earlier in the playoffs, Barkley jokingly wrote off the Rockets' chances against the Golden State Warriors. That prompted general manager Daryl Morey and CEO Tad Brown to respond in kind.

As he is wont to do, Barkley took it one step further by claiming that Rockets owner Les Alexander had underpaid him for his time with the team, while also calling Morey "Daryl Moronic" and Brown "Toad Smith," but later distanced himself from those childish remarks.

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