Charles Barkley isn’t about NIL.
He is so much against name, image and likeness, the “Inside the NBA” analyst said he wouldn’t give money to his college team, the Auburn Tigers. And he would do anything for his favorite team.
“Hey, I love Auburn, I do,” Barkley said during an appearance on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” on OutKick.com.
“I’d do anything for Auburn, within reason. But I’m not gonna give Auburn millions of dollars, so we can be good in football or basketball. That doesn’t help my life in any capacity. And let me tell you something, black and broke does not work in any states. Guam, District of Columbia, all 50 states. I never want to be poor and black. That does not work.”
That’s quite a statement from a man who continues to give in other areas.
“I just gave $10 million dollars to HBCU’s, that stuff is way more important to me,” Barkley said. “I just gave a couple of million dollars to ‘Blight‘, in my hometown of Birmingham, to tear down old houses and rebuild houses. That stuff is way more important to me than joining the cesspool that is college athletics. We’re such a sh–ty country, Dan. We’ve ruined college athletics, and I don’t wanna even get in that cesspool.
“This notion that you have to come up with tens of millions of dollars to pay kids to play basketball, and have them be free agents every year and transfer to another school and get more money every year. Like, we don’t even get to do that in the NBA. Can you imagine if players in the NBA got to be a free agent every year?
“I’m not opposed to players getting paid. I want to make that clear. But, this notion we got to give college kids tens of millions of dollars a year, and basketball is the worst because you’re only gonna get a great player for six months. I don’t even see how you’re gonna get the return on investment.”
Barkley also said the NCAA is a “bunch of fools and idiots.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
