Charles Barkely
 

Has anyone seen the recent Sports Illustrated issue with Charles Barkely on the cover? The title reads "Charles Barkely -Unchained", and depicts him as a slave breaking the chain of the collar around his neck and wrists. Last night on TNT he vocally supported taking this picture. How do you feel about that as AAs?

I'm not shocked
 

I've never been a fan of "Sir" Charles :rolleyes:. I'm not surprised that he agreed to pose for the layout that way, nor am I shocked that he supports it.

YET, he wants to claim BLATANT racism because a club wants to alter its course, because he thinks they are trying to make the course harder for Tiger. (it's probably is true)

I have no comment regarding him being shown as a slave. If he is comfortable "oh well". He is the one looking like a fool. I had the same sentiment when Rikita...oh, I mean Ricky Williams and Ditka posed as husband and wife. :rolleyes:



Barkley is a JOKE! And he claims he's going to run for Governor of 'Bama...:rolleyes:

Kenny Smith, who is one of his co-hosts told him to his face tha it was disturbing to him. He said with the racial tension in this country being in the state that it's in, he takes our people back 50 years with this picture. Charles Replied that he isn't here to please everyone. He knows that there is racial imbalance in this country and he will address it in any manner he chooses. If no one likes it then just ignore him. Personally, I think that Charles has good intentions but needs someone with a brain to lead him to a SMARTER way of doing things.

Just finished the piece
 

I just finished the piece, and thought it was a good read. Some of the scenes where he's talking to Michael Jordan are straight up funny.

I would tend to agree with Dexter -- Barkley's got good intentions, but he needs to be led to a smarter way of using whatever influence, power he has, if he's got any. :confused:
Frankly, I thought his critique of Rev. Jackson was on point. I have reservations about clergy and politics, but that's another thread.

What makes me uneasy about Chas. is the fact that he seems to idolize people such as Justice Thomas, who really believes he came up in a vacuum and wants to impose that on other people. I believe in hard work, but I also realize that someone got their butt kicked or killed so that people like myself and others could go to college, get an education and have a professional career.

PS -- Soror AKA2D, CTFU about your reference to "Rikita" Williams. It reminded me of "Shaqueesha" O'Neal appearing in a blond wig on Fox Sports Net's "The Best Damn Sports Show." :p :p

I had to agree with what Kenny said on TV that night. How can the cover be referred to as "breaking the Chains", when in fact, Charles ALWAYS says whatever he feels. What chains exactly did he break? What's so new.

I don't like Charles because: he has never truly analyzed a game, he just makes fun of whomever during the short game clips; he openly and actively ROOTS for teams that he likes.

In all he is extremely unprofessional and not considerate of the opinions of others and he talks over people too much.

"Sugar Shaq" turns SI down
 

At least one NBA star didn't take Sports Illustrated's bait. :p
From today's Los Angeles Daily News:

Can't `enslave' Shaq, either


By Howard Beck
Staff Writer


EL SEGUNDO -- "SHAQ UNCHAINED."
That could have been the headline, and yes, that could have been Shaquille O'Neal in Civil War-era slave pants, shackles and chains on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Charles Barkley struck that controversial pose for last week's edition of the magazine, drawing sharp criticism from newspaper columnists, talk-show hosts and even Barkley's TNT studio-show partner, Kenny Smith.

It could have been O'Neal in the eye of the tempest. Last fall, the magazine proposed the same shot to the Lakers' star, to accompany a story about the impossible challenge NBA teams face trying to contain him.

The proposed photo intrigued him, but O'Neal -- image conscious and a savvy marketer -- declined.

"Because I knew what would happen, what people would think," O'Neal said Monday. "Because there are more negative thinkers in this world than there are positive thinkers."

Using slave imagery, even to promote a positive message -- Barkley is symbolically breaking the chains -- is "real dicey, real dicey," O'Neal said.

Discussing the issue last week on TNT, Barkley made an oblique reference to O'Neal's decision, noting that the photo concept first had been proposed to "one of the three or four most famous athletes in the world."

"I don't want to say he chickened out, but he said, `You know what, I can't take all the heat for it. I'm not going to do it,' " Barkley said. Barkley said he told O'Neal, "If you're good enough to put you on every commercial in the world ... you're good enough to play basketball, be one of the best five players in the world, why can't you say and speak what you want to, and say you're breaking away from this?"

O'Neal said the photo doesn't necessarily offend him.

"I think one actual part made it look it like slavery. I think if he would have took the neck (shackle) off and just had the chains, I think he could have gotten away with it," O'Neal said. "But I didn't look at it as `slavery,' I look at it as, `you can't enslave him.' That's the way I look at that. People when they look at stuff, you have the negative thinker and you have the positive thinker.

"However, Charles has always been that type. What it is, is negative marketing to keep his name out there," O'Neal said. "But I don't look at it as going back to slavery times. I look at it as, `I'm a guy, I'm strong, you can't enslave me.'

"I'm not saying I'm offended or not offended (by the image). I just don't pay it any mind. Charles is going to always be Charles."

Re: Just finished the piece
 

Hmmmm...you see he's going to SouthBeach, I mean Miami to play football...:rolleyes: ;)

Crazy
 

First off I just wanted to say that Barkely is wack, I will elaborate if people would like me to. Second the thing about Tiger.... you have to realize that he has the longest drive in the program, if they make the course longer it will play in his favor, and I believe thats what they want to do. They want him to hit to his fullest potential to see where others stand.

Fraternally,
D