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Charles Barkley on the eight fans he punched: ‘They deserved it’

By Josh Criswell

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Charles Barkley doesn’t hold back discussing the numerous altercations he had with fans during his NBA career.

If you need an honest opinion that refuses to cater to bias and public opinion, look no further than Charles Barkley.

He was one of the all-time great post players in the NBA during his playing career, and he never refused to bring a loud mouth to an argument, something that his play on the court always backed up. Barkley was not shy to voice his opinion while he was in the league, something that carried over to a successful broadcasting career as a television personality on TNT’s Inside the NBA.

Although he has the microphone and a national audience as a broadcaster, Barkley’s outlandish behavior on television is actually much tamer than it was during his playing days. He gained notoriety as one of the ‘bad boys’ of the NBA throughout the 1990’s, an attitude that would not just be limited to the basketball court.

Barkley’s biggest adversaries, besides cameramen, referees and opposing teams, was the fans; something put on full display through the eight instances in which the power forward punched fans.

Certainly an older and wiser Barkley would go back and disapprove of such actions, right?

Think again.

During an appearance Colin Cowherd’s The Herd on ESPN Radio, Barkley was asked about his rocky relationship with fans, and to no surprise, gave a very blunt answer.

He also jumped to the defense of embattled Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel, who recently made the news for throwing a water bottle at a heckler during the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson Classic.

Barkley gave the following comments to Cowherd, via Uproxx:

"“Ninety percent of fans are great. But it’s the ten percent that I’d like to take out back and just shoot ’em. They’re jealous and angry. It sucks. I just think to myself, ‘Please come close enough to touch me.’ I know I’m fat. I know I didn’t win a championship, but my life is pretty good. And I’m saying to myself under my breath ‘Please touch me.”"

The NBA Hall-of-Famer brings up a very valid point. While it is a common argument that dealing with heckling fans is part of being a multi-millionaire athlete, it is also an extremely simplistic one.

Just because someone is a celebrity gives no right for overzealous spectators to provoke them, but public figures are also expected to hold themselves to an impeccable degree of focus and accountability.

Regardless, it would have been interesting to see how Charles Barkley would have behaved as a star player during the social media craze that professional athletes deal with today.

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