Charles Barkley Says 20 Per Cent of NBA Fans Should Be Shot

When former NBA star and current TV basketball analyst Charles Barkley speaks,  you can be sure you are hearing exactly how he feels about an issue, no sugar coating, no nuances, no political style doublespeak.  Charles spoke his mind recently on two basketball related topics.

Barkley appeared on the Jim Rome radio show on February 29th, and the conversation turned to the subject of NBA basketball fans.  Sir Charles told Rome “I think 80 per cent are great.  Twenty per cent I wish you could just take out back and shoot them”.  When Rome suggested maybe that was bit harsh, Barkley replied “No, I meant that Jim,” he said. Eighty percent of the fans are fantastic. But 20 percent of them are so mean-spirited and say the most nasty things to you, because they know you can’t grab them.”

Then on March 1st, Barkley was a guest on the Waddle and Silvy show on ESPN’s Chicago radio station.  Barkley was critical of Michael Jordan’s ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats, essentially saying he has a bunch of yes men around him who want to make him happy (and stay employed) and not enough knowledgeable basketball people.   “I don’t know if he has hired enough people who he will listen to….  Your flunkies are never going to disagree with you.”  As of March 2nd, the Bobcats had an NBA worst record of 4-29, so something in Charlotte just isn’t working.

Barkley can be abrasive and abrupt, but he is refreshingly honest and there is usually a lot of truth in what he says.  Once, years ago, he spoke at a high school and said in regards to a career in professional sports “most of you will never make it.”  He was criticized in some quarters for trying to kill off those kids’ dreams, but in fact he’s absolutely correct; very few make it to the highest level.  He simply wanted them to make sure they didn’t neglect school and would be in a position to do something else because of the long odds.  That was sound advice.  We’ve never heard if anyone from that school beat the odds and made it as a pro, but we’re guessing that the ones that followed his advice are in better shape today than those who didn’t.