Twitter Reacts to Charles Barkley and Top Moments from Capital One's 'The Match' Adam Wells @ adamwells1985. Featured Columnist November 28, 2020 Comments. PARKER/Associated Press. Charles Barkley was apparently offered a job on “Monday Night Football.” The legendary NBA player and current pundit recently appeared on “The Jim Brockmire Podcast” to discuss Twitter trolls, and he dropped a bombshell claim.
Charles Barkley has an avowed hatred of social media, and he expanded on why a bit on Saturday.
Barkley was part of the pregame coverage for Saturday’s March Madness action, and the topic of discussion turned to the abusive tweets sent to Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell following the Buckeyes’ loss to Oral Roberts on Friday. Barkley cited the treatment of Liddell as one reason he has no interest in tweeting himself.
Charles Barkley on EJ Liddell harassment from fans on Instagram “I’m never gonna dignify these losers and interact with them ever, I don’t care how much money some offers me, I’ll never do social media because of this” pic.twitter.com/fCpgC0O12f
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) March 20, 2021
“These guys give me a hard time because I refuse and will never do any type of social media. Osx upgrade to catalina. This is the reason why,” Barkley said. “For you to give this kid death threats and hurl racial slurs at him because you’re safe in your own home like a coward behind a computer and nobody knows who you are. You need to take a hard look at yourself in the mirror.
“I am never going to be able to dignify these losers and interact with them ever. I don’t care how much money somebody offers me, I’m never going to do social media because of this. Barkley said on Saturday when discussing the messages Liddell received this week.”
Barkley’s position is completely defensible. Sure, a lot of people would probably love the chance to interact with him on social media. On the other hand, as a well-known figure, he’d also likely have to deal with a lot of nonsense and hate on the platform.
Barkley has demonstrated just how dug in he is when it comes to avoiding social media. This is just a reminder of that seriousness.
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Related slideshow: Charles Barkley: Career retrospective (Provided by Yardbarker)
AUSTIN, Texas — NBA Hall of Famer and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley is arguably the most entertaining person in sports television, as regular viewers of Inside the NBA know well.
Whether he's bashing sports analytics, roasting colleague Shaquille O'Neal or giving his unique take on today's NBA — the man stays entertaining.
But much to the dismay of Basketball Twitter, Barkley has little love for social media. He revealed why in conversation with Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch at SXSW Interactive on Friday afternoon. And because it's Charles Barkley, he also dished on many other topics as only he can.
See also: March Madness: Can Kentucky go 40-0 to make college hoops history?
Barkley told Deitsch the main reason he doesn't partake in Twitter: 'I don't want to give some of these losers power.'
Referencing the prevalence of sports trolls online, he's just fine avoiding that negativity.
'I have to pick a team to win the game, so half the population's going to kill me anyway,' Barkley said, using his Inside the NBA colleague Ernie Johnson as an example. 'If you say something bad about Ernie Johnson, I know there's something wrong with you because Ernie's the nicest guy in the world.'
Being famous makes you more of a target, according to Barkley.
'It's like being smart,' he said. 'All the dumb kids hate you.'
Charles Barkley Wife Twitter
Barkley even said he'd advise a rising NBA star like Andrew Wiggins to stay off social media — going against the advice of most sports business professionals.
Suffice to say, Barkley is no early adopter of new technologies. The NBA legend gave a well-publicized rant against the rising use of advanced analytics in sports last month. He doubled down on that criticism in Austin on Friday. Analytics are just statistics with a fancier name, he said — 'It's like if you're black you're a cook, if you're white you're a chef.'
But Barkley saved his best quote in making an unlikely comparison that had nothing to do with social media:
'Golf and sex, you can suck at those and still have a good time.' — Charles Barkley #SXsports
Charles Barkley Twitter Suspended
— Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) March 13, 2015
When Deitsch pressed Barkley on whether we'd ever see him join Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or the like, Barkley hesitated but seemed steadfast in his resolve.
Charles Barkley Twitter Kobe
As his quotes from Friday prove, that may be Barkley's gain — but it's the loss of anyone who enjoys basketball or a good laugh.