Could the man in the above photo actually become the Governor of Alabama one day?
In today's world, anything is possible, but I'd have to say it's not likely. Just as it's not likely that Barkley will ever be an NBA GM one day, even though he stated matter of factly that he "is going to be an NBA GM" on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption last week.
To many people in the sporting community, Barkley is like a big, lovable, talking teddy bear, who fans and players alike revered for his candidness and on air personality as a broadcaster.
Truth be told, Barkley is a teddy bear that has spit on a little girl at a basketball game (albeit he wasn't aiming at her), broke a man's nose in one fist fight after an away game and threw another man through a plate glass window on another occasion, (Sounds a little more like Chewbacca than the Snuggles Bear to me).
For years Barkley has gotten free pass to speak freely on many sensitive topics of a social and racial nature that many other black sports personalities get blasted for in the media. Jason Whitlock of FOX Sports and Detroit Piston Rasheed Wallace are examples of black sports personalities that have felt the backlash of being openly vocal about racial issues, a dynamic that apparently has no affect on Barkley's relationship with fans or his bosses.
Sir Charles has called Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson race baiters, said that athletes should not be role models for children and also told USA Today that the reason that black people cannot be successful is because of other black people. While there are many who would agree with his assertions, it is still a wonder that in today's 'politically correct' media, the future Hall-of-Fame player remains unchecked.
Now, Barkley's gambling addiction has been thrust front and center for the world to see and the picture that has been painted is not a pretty one.
According to Bloomberg News reports, Wynn Resorts Ltd., which owns a casino in Las Vegas is suing the 'Round Mound of Rebound' for $400,000. Money which the casino reports to have loaned Barkley last October.
When asked why he hadn't paid back the money, Barkley said simply, "I let the time lapse...I forgot." Like the comedian Chris Rock once said. "You don't ever forget where you got some free money."
I do not dislike Charles Barkley, but I don't have any special affinity for him as a commentator nor as a representative of the black perspective in sports. Part of the reason that it seems to get away with being on the controversial side of many topics is because he has always been quick to dismiss the pulse of much of black America, choosing a position that often comes off as elitist.
Even in in his response to the gambling debt he is facing in Nevada now, "I'm not broke..." Barkley added. The problem is many Americans are broke, or close to it anyway. In Alabama, where Barkley wants to be Governor someday, over a million people are living below the poverty level and over 65% of those people are black citizens.
Barkley is taking some heat for his recent gambling revelations, but he continues to push forward as if he's wearing a teflon suit. While the majority of blacks in Alabama are living paycheck to paycheck, he acknowledges that he has lost over $10 million in his lifetime, once over $1 million in a single day.
Yet Barkley continues to brush any character defects off of his shoulders with callous disregard to both the example he might be setting for the next generation of aspiring sports stars concerning fiscal responsibility as well as the judgement capabilities, or lack therof that you think he would need to exhibit for any constituency he may plan on pandering for votes in the future.
One of Barkley's most memorable assertions in his career was that athletes should not be role models. If we are to take Barkley's actions into as much consideration as his words, then he is dead on in that assessment.
If his track record is anything to gauge his performance by, they shouldn't be Governors either.
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2 months ago
I wouldnt really say he haas had a free pass to speak freely, this guy has gotten more critisizime then any other NBA player ever. Have you ever read his book? You might change your opinion of him.
2 months ago
I love CB4. He is great on TNT. His comments are very insightful and often quite funny. I am not making apologies for his faults, but neither is he. He has owned these mistakes. In the long run, are they really destructive? I feel that his comments on sport and race, especially, "I am not a role model" were largely ignored, and at best they threw a new perspective on the scene that opened up positive discussion about the issues. While he wasn't always the best act in his playing days. I feel that his comments were not harmful, at least not as harmful as his most public words from the 90's, "Anything else would be uncivilised". (right guard)
Jayson Williams paints a hilarious picture of Sir Charles in his book Loose Balls.
from 2 months ago
I agree with all of your comments 100%
2 months ago
i dont care, Charles Barkley is god's gift to live tv. The dude is just a fun cat to listen to. His combination with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith is the best in any sports show. ESPN desperately tries to copy TNT's format only to come up with duds, same with other sports shows. But the chemistry on the TNT's set is genuine, you'd think those guys are actually really good friends off the court.
But Charles do get away with murder though. how many man can kiss another man on the mouth twice and get away with it? How many sportscasters can appear on TV drunk or depressed(yes charles has appeared on TNT sometimes without even being a able to must one word and i know im not the only who've observed that).
but still, Charles gambling issues are a problem because it creates an opening for people to rag on him since he usually tells most of them what he thinks to their face but now he's fair game to them. And yes i think he has a gambling problem although which he denies. I think he should get help for it b/c i'd hate to see the Chuckster end up like a nobody.
2 months ago
Barkley gets away with stuff because he's funny. That exactly what I was trying to say. People don't mind Barkley speaking about race because he's funny. He amuses people like blacks in a minstrel show. But if someone tries to be serious about a race issue ala Craig Hodges or Sheed then they are causing race problems. People will continue to love Barkley like a joking monkey. But God forbid we want to have a serious talk about race issues in America. Barkley panders to white viewers when he's on air. I don't know what he says when he's chilling with Air Jordan, maybe he's ghetto as all get back.
I agree, Barkley did come clean about his gambling addiction some time back. But does that excuse him from the same abuse that Pete Rose has had to endure for so many years, just because he came clean? He hasn't stopped! How can we be sure that he didn't bet on basketball? When you are down a million bucks there's no telling what you would do to break even. Barkley has shown a pattern of self destructive and abusive behavior his entire career, but he gets away with it? Why is that? I know Barkley is loved by many, but you would be surprised of the number of blacks in professional media who view him as a step and fetch commentator.
Don't get me wrong, Barkley, like everyone else, is always entitled to his opinion and I'm not saying it's his responsibility to champion black causes. But I find it peculiar that he has done some of the same things that someone like say, Stephen Jackson has done and yet Captain Jack is vilified by the media while Barkley has to turn down television appearances. Yet if someone was to take an in depth look at the work Stephen Jackson does off the court they would be overwhelmed by the compassion and commitment that he gives to those in need. I don't hate Barkley, but he's as much of an eyesore as Stephen A. Smith. Give me more John Saunders' in sports, more Mike Tirico's you see what I'm saying?
from 2 months ago
While i do agree that Charles gets away with murder but at the same a lot of the stuff he says are true. And other people can't say it because they'll get fired. Like when he went on Foxnews and said that the Conservatives(Republicans) were bunch of hypocrites and such which a lot of people are afraid to say. And bunch of other stuff he says that are true.
And no, Black in the media dont like Charles because he says things they want to say but can't. Like how he said that Sharpton and Jackson are race baiters which they are(Remember Duke Case?). And i think Blacks in the media are just envious of Charles because he has moved on top of the food chain without puttin the same amount of work as them.
Gamblin aside, Charles is a good for TV.
2 months ago
This is frankly a silly article. You are simply highlighting some of Barkley's antics throughout a long career, most of which happened in his youth, that can't compare with JR Rider, AI, Bonzi Wells, etc.
This last post by Curly, ripping on Barkley for gambling...funny there's no mention of MJ "throwing games" , and he was and is still a notorious gambler. A lot of people don't like Barkley for having a big mouth, but he is simply one of the most colorful figures in basketball. He is brutally honest, funny, and good for the league. He knows he can create an instant controversy with a few words, and he has fun using it to his advantage to bring more attention to himself, and everyone (including the author of this article) plays right into his hands.
And uh, excuse me, but since when is Barkley now the spokesman for black folks to "have a serious talk about race" while being a basketball analyst? Do all WNBA players need to be experts on Feminist issues now too or they're just "pandering to the male audience"? I do agree that some black players are vilified unfairly, and certainly have been throughout American sports history but Barkley is not a good example of that double standard. Barkley has and will continue to get press for his love of the spotlight, his sense of humor (who hasn't laughed out loud watching him, Kennie and Ernie broadcast on TNT?) and his provocative comments.
If you want to have a serious discussion about race, perhaps we should be looking somewhere else, maybe our elected officials? Just a thought...
2 months ago
Gee
You obviously missed the point and maybe that is because I didn't articulate it well enough. Jordan's gambling issues would not be the correlation that I would use to parallel my argument but rather Jordan's refusal to use his platform to address issues of a racial and political nature.
Neither Jordan nor Barkley are responsible for for the black race overall, but here is the problem in a nutshell. The bigotry that has existed in this nation and across the globe for that matter has not disappeared at all but rather has been repackaged in more subtle variations. Just because a few members of our society manage to climb out of impoverished or negative circumstances does not mean that there is not some responsibility to the effort made by the legions of individual who endured great pain and struggle in order to create an environment where someone people like Barkley and Jordan can enjoy the success they have. Neither of them nor myself or any other black American achieved anything on our own. Many people not only struggled but died in the effort to ALLOW people like Charles and Mike do do what they do. As a white person I understand if this dynamic either makes no sense to you or seems like much to do about nothing, but as a white person I would never expect you to understand. This same dynamic and controversy is being dealt with now as Kobe Bryant has chosen to support the Darfur issue and only recently has LeBron James who has wrestled with the issue of world human rights violations because of his business interests in China, decided to be vocal about the circumstances involving China's facilitating the slaughter of non Muslims in the African nation.
When Barkley decides he wants to make a political statement too many times it is at the expense of another black American, and again to try to gain some brownie points with the overwhelming white media. So I agree with you that we shouldn't look toward a basketball analyst to be a voice for race related issues, but Barkley has brought that on himself by continuously sticking his own two cents in. Trust me, those of us who are conscious about such issues would rather he just shut up and stick to basketball, but he doesn't he gets all sorts of credit for being straight forward and relevant when his own personal history would suggest that he is not informed enough to offer a valuable opinion. Who is Barkley to call Sharpton and Jesse Jackson race baiters? Both of those gentlemen have put themselves on the frontline of the civil right issues. Unfortunately, our younger generation (like Ralph) use media soundbites to formulate an opinion on serious topics without doing the due diligence to uncover the underlying truth. Ralph: Sharpton came to Durham, NC only AFTER the District Attorney FILED rape charges against the Duke students. in the absence of formal charges, we would've never seen Sharpton get involved. based on the information he received he was doing what he has done his entire life, attempt to stand up for those who need a voice. A black woman accused white students of rape and the local D.A. charged them with the crime...Sharpton followed the legal trail, he didn't create the spectacle, he reacted to it. While I'm sure that you still will not understand where I'm coming from Gee, I'm accustomed to it. As a white American, you have never had to deal with the subliminal racism that many blacks deal with every day of our lives. Barkley's ascension into spokesperson of the black experience as opposed to someone like Craig Hodges only exacerbates our frustration that qualified individuals can't seem to get enough airtime, and buffoons like Barkley are featured everywhere.
2 months ago
Listen, half the problem here is that ever since Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, the black community has been struggling to reclaim that level of excellence in leadership. Say what you will about Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson, but you can't deny that they are essentially reactionist. They tour the nation reacting to injustice as they see it, ask very little of their constituents, and merely keep their very legitimate fight alive. They advance it not at all. Now, I realize that I'm a white American, but to dismiss all whites as people who you would "never expect to understand" race relations does very little to advance the cause of the black community in general. What really needs to be articulated is what the cause of the black community really is. In the past, there have been leaders who have addressed that very well, but I can't think of many today. Anyone demanding accountability is labeled a pariah in the media, and anyone blaming the establishment is a freeloader. Obviously, in some measure, we need to look at both. Part of this is due to the unhealthy idolization of sports celebrities who are largely unqualified to be carrying this cross. Though I'm not a huge fan of Sir Charles, his message about athletes not being role models carries weight if carried to a larger context. Look to your parents. Look to your community. Look to the working professionals, the college educated, the community organizers.
I do agree that Barkley gets away with much because he is funny, and therefore, easily dismissed. He doesn't present the angry black man front that is threatening to the white media. But maybe there's a lesson to be learned here. Don't get me wrong, Barkley is largely a clown, but at some point a concessional tone must be put forward. On both sides of this debate. Until that happens, I'm afraid we may be arguing these same points when I'm an old man. Good article though. Thanks for introducing the topic.
2 months ago
Daniel:
Point well taken.
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