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If I was still poor, I wouldn’t have the platform to speak up about the stuff we ought to be confronting. Some years ago, in a Nike commercial most people consider controversial, I suggested that athletes should not be primary role models. I told people to listen to their parents, not to athletes or celebrities, and I got killed for it. Is that bad advice, to say, “Listen to your parents, or your teachers, and not some damn celebrities”?

But that’s okay. I’m not overly concerned about people disagreeing with me. I’m concerned with the response in that I want to get people talking, get the discussion started. I’m going to say what’s on my mind. Dan Patrick of ESPN, who I like very much, introduced me once as “Charles Barkley, who makes you think, makes you mad, but sometimes doesn’t think before he talks.” And I said, “Hey, wait a minute. I know exactly what I’m saying. I may say something some people consider controversial or outrageous, but I’ve thought about it before I said it.” I always know what I’m saying, and I’m always prepared for the reaction.

I may ask a dozen people about something, especially when it’s a sensitive topic or something that’s likely to be explosive. And I like getting input from smart people and people who’ve experienced things I’ll never experience or haven’t yet experienced. But ultimately I’m going to make up my mind and say what I really feel. Saying something just for the hell of it isn’t worth anything because unless you provoke some conversation, what you’re saying is irrelevant. Just because I say something and get a strong reaction or a negative reaction from somebody doesn’t mean I didn’t anticipate it. I don’t like getting caught off guard. Hell, a lot of times I know exactly what’s coming and I say it anyway because I feel it needs to be said, or I need to be confrontational on a certain issue. But I’ve thought about it, trust me.

And I also know people think, “Charles is just saying that to get attention.” And, yes, there are times I’ll say something crazy or silly because I’m not going to be serious all the damn time. And other times the way to make an important point is by using humor. But when you read my comments in interviews it’s not like I was seeking attention. Somebody asked me to sit and talk about something. I didn’t go to some publication or network and say, “Hey, I’ve got some shit to say.” They called and asked me to talk about a number of issues. I’ve started telling people, “Don’t ask me if you don’t want to hear what’s really on my mind, or what I feel is the truth about a subject.” Is it okay to express myself only as long as I say what somebody hopes I’ll say? Do you think I’m going to say something I don’t feel, or just tell people something they want to hear?

In March of 2002 I did a piece for Sports Illustrated with the magazine’s longtime basketball writer Jack McCallum, and immediately after it ran I must have had two hundred people come up to me and start to tell me their opinions, what they liked and didn’t like. Some people who said they didn’t even subscribe to Sports Illustrated said they picked up the issue and read the piece. Most of the media reaction to it had to do with my opinions about Augusta National changing the course, and why I thought they were targeting Tiger Woods. A lot of people come up and say they disagreed with what I said about Augusta National, but I haven’t had anybody say to me they disliked the things I discussed in the piece. I would say to almost all of them, “Okay, you disagree with my view on Tiger and Augusta, that’s cool. But what did you think of the entire article?” See, it wasn’t as important for them to agree with me as to get whoever read it engaged in some sort of discussion or debate about the bigger picture.

I’ve been criticized for expressing certain views for nearly twenty years. And even though I never minded getting hammered, toward the end of my career I was thinking, “Let me finish my playing career before I start