- In 1995, the NBA was dealing with the first of four lockouts in its history over a new CBA
- Charles Barkley gave an interview during that time, in which he called the league out
- Frustrated, Charles Barkley also got angry with the reporter conducting the interview
Charles Barkley may seem like a fun and genial uncle to fans from the 2000s, but in his playing prime, he tended to lose his cool a fair bit. A perfect example of this is his interview with a reporter during the 1995 NBA lockout, which didn’t go too well.
“We gotta get this strike settled, man,” Charles Barkley said. “You know, it’s unfair to the players, it’s unfair to the fans, it’s unfair to the TV viewers. They gotta get off the a** up there in New York and get it done.
“These guys are doing the best they can, but it’s unfair… But they got it done. They fighting over hundreds of thousands of dollars or maybe a couple of million.
“The NBA is a billion-dollar business, it’s not fair. We’ve got to get the f**king strike settled and that’s it.”
After a reporter pointed out that he had cursed while speaking, Barkley angrily doubled down saying, “I said it. Yeah.”
In this scenario, Charles Barkley was talking about the dispute between the NBA and the referees, which was causing issues for the players in the game. His frustration is evident in the video, players hated the replacement referees.
Ernie Johnson, Who Narrated The Clip, Would Go On To Become A Key Figure In Charles Barkley’s Life
A fun little tidbit about this video is that the interview was aired on a program being hosted by Ernie Johnson. After Charles Barkley retired from the NBA, he started working for TNT on Inside The NBA alongside Ernie Johnson.
Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley have worked together for 23 years at this point, and the former has referred to Barkley as a brother. It’s wild to think that they would go on to be this close based on just that clip.
Charles Barkley can still be a little hot-headed, but he has calmed down quite a bit since. Replacement referees have only been used one more time since, so it seems the NBA received Barkley’s message loud and clear.
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