Source: Patrick McMullan / Getty
Charles Barkley was due to say something insanely dumb, and he didn’t disappoint on Thursday night (Sept.24), and he had Shaq to co-sign his headassery.
Before last night’s Western Conference Finals matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, the Inside The NBA crew decided to touch on the terrible decision handed down by the grand jury in the Breonna Taylor case and the outrage that immediately followed. Right then and there, you should have immediately begun telling yourself that Chuck, who often gets praised for his style of commentary, would say something absolutely ridiculous regarding the matter.
The Chuckster put on his cooning hat and said Breonna Taylor’s case should not be “lumped in” with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery cases. Barkley further stepped in it when he also caped for the plainclothes police officers that fatally shot Taylor while executing a no-knock warrant pointing out that Taylor’s boyfriend Kenneth Walker shot at them.
“I don’t think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that. I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think this one was — the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of … across the board. But I am worried to lump all these situations in together.”
“And I just feel bad that the young lady lost her life. But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop. So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I just don’t think we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery.”
Barkley’s co-host, Shaquille O’Neal didn’t want to be left out of the cooning session and further added:
“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in. You have to get a warrant signed, and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. A homicide occurred, and we’re sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”
Keep in mind, O’Neal has a thing for law enforcement and was deputized in Georgia.
While not surprising at all, Barkley’s ridiculous comments earned him well deserved criticism throughout the night. Some even called for TNT to fire the analyst, but we highly doubt that will happen.
Barkley wasn’t done. He also went on to call the people calling for the defunding of the police “fools” and labeled the movement “crap.” Barkley asked the panel “who are Black people supposed to call Ghosts Busters when we have crime in our neighborhoods?
Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith also agreed that law enforcement should not be abolished, but that’s all they said on the matter. BUT, Barkley missed the entire point as to why the movement exists in the first place.
They did manage to impress some people with their asinine statements regarding the case, and it was none other than fellow sports talking head, Stephen A. Smith, and the most notorious coon of them all Candace Owens.
Unlike the rest of the sports world, it’s clear these folks don’t get it. You can peep the rest of the reactions to Shaq and Chuck and cooning together in the gallery below.
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Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty