I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It - Charles Barkley [3]
After seeing Barkley need two hours to get through a basic lunch one day in Atlanta because of the interruptions, a patron walked over, signed his name to a piece of paper, put it down in front of Barkley and said, “Charles, I just wanted to give you my autograph. I never knew exactly what to think about you until today.”
Then again, it’s the daily interaction with people that keeps Barkley in touch in a way most celebrities are not. The great attraction to him is that the same guy who said that an African Olympic opponent “probably hadn’t eaten in five or six days” is the same guy who has loaned friends nearly a million bucks with little prospect of seeing any of it again.
I’ve always thought Barkley would make a wonderful talk show host, and he could be moving in that direction. Part of the reason, I hope, Charles wanted me involved with his project is he knows to a great extent we see the world the same way. We don’t agree on everything. I’m a registered Democrat, for example. But we agree to the letter on the need for discussion on just about everything, the more uncomfortable the subject matter the more necessary the dialogue. If the discussion leader can be insightful, irreverent, profane and funny, all the while able to laugh at both himself and others, then it’s so much better. Barkley wants us to examine our own opinions and make him reexamine his, and in the process we may all learn something. Folks are forever asking, “What’s Charles Barkley really like?” Well, here’s the best chance ever to really find out.
What’s Really
on My Mind
I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It isn’t a basketball book. It’s not really even a sports book, although basketball and sports are the vehicles I’m using to generate a much broader discussion, and are the things I am most intimately familiar with. There’s been increased criticism of athletes, sometimes by people in the news media and sometimes by activists, that we run away from dealing with serious social issues, like poverty, racism, politics and education.
Not only am I not running away from these discussions, at this point of my life—approaching forty years old and two years into retirement after a sixteen-year career in the NBA—I usually prefer them. I’m tired of talking about stuff that doesn’t matter. I’m tired of “Charles, tell me which coaches you hated during your career,” or “Charles, let’s talk about which players in the league you don’t like,” or “Let’s talk about groupies.”
Most reporters, I can’t even convince them to talk about any serious topics, which I’m happy to have the chance to do now. If the topic is groupies, guys will blow my phone up. That’s easy. If I want to say something bad about anybody, reporters will hang on every word. That’s easy. So don’t turn the page thinking you’re going to read about that, because that’s not what this is. I’ve done enough of that for the last twenty years. What I’ve come to realize is that I can have some control over this process. I can talk about whatever the hell I want to talk about.
At this point in my life I’m trying to transition from sports into something broader, with wider social implications. I don’t know if you can do it when you’re playing. Guys get criticized for not being more socially conscious, for not spending more time talking about social issues, and that criticism may sound legitimate. But if you actually take on some social issues, particularly if you take some unpopular positions, you’re going to get hammered.
People say all the time they want you to talk about social issues. But if you do, and if you take a position that doesn’t go down easy, you’re “militant.” My favorite one is, “When is the last time Charles Barkley struggled? What does Barkley know about growing