“I Have Plenty of Gay Friends, Transgender Friends…”: Charles Barkley Doesn’t Hold Back Throwing Dirt on Skip Bayless
The Phoenix Suns legend Charles Barkley emerged as one of the influential voices and NBA analysts post his retirement. The 11-time All-Star never shied away from having honest takes on the players and the game. Additionally, he has often landed himself in trouble for his honesty. Nevertheless, he recently didn’t restrict himself from having a strong take on the sports columnist Skip Bayless.
Skip Bayless is one of the popular TV presenters in the American sports world. Bayless can often be seen alongside the NFL legend, Shannon Sharpe, analyzing NFL and NBA games. Recently, the veteran analyst found himself in a controversy when he shared an insensitive tweet after the tragic Damar Hamlin collision during an NFL game. However, Barkley took a dig at Bayless in a recent show and admitted that he disliked him.
Charles Barkley throws dirt at Bayless
In a recent episode of All The Smoke, Charles Barkley engaged in a candid conversation, speaking about his ethics as a TV sports analyst. Former NBA star Matt Barnes, who is the host of the show, asked Barkley about the growing disconnection between the former and current NBA players, especially on the opinions that former players make. Chuck went on to talk about his professional ethics as a sports analyst that he religiously follows, owing to the fact that he believes television has a strong influence on people.
When talking about people’s individuality and sexuality, he said, “I never talk about people’s personal life… I don’t comment on people’s sexuality I got plenty of gay friends I got plenty of transgender friends that’s off limits.” As he spoke about his working ways, he took a dig at Skip Bayless. He said, “there’s some guys I hate number one who everybody know I hate, Skip Bayless.”
Barnes further asked Chuck about Bayless’ disrespectful behavior towards players and his co-host Sharpe. 11x NBA All-Star continued reasoning his hate for Bayless. He said, “I don’t like the guy because television is a very powerful weapon..Skip To Me when you these guys are real people and I don’t mind you criticizing guys it could never be personal.” He further stressed that he wants Bayless to be fair and honest.
When the recent Damar Hamlin’s on-field collision shocked the entire US sporting world, Bayless attracted a lot of heat after a tweet criticizing the league for postponing the game.
He tweeted, “No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.” After an array of criticism, he apologized for his tweet.
