Charles Barkley: “Every NBA Player Has Played With Gay Guys”

The Hall of Fame player and TNT analyst added he was certain he had gay teammates “on two of three teams I played on.”

Big deal, Barkley basically said, in a wide-ranging interview we taped Monday for my radio show on WJFK (106.7 FM): Those two teams with gay players? They still won and flourished. They had camaraderie and chemistry. And no, neither he nor his straight teammates were ever hit on or flirted with to his recollection.

Fears of feeling uncomfortable in the shower or the dressing areas, Barkley said, are unfounded in his experience.

“A guy is never going to put himself in that situation in a professional locker room,” Barkley said. “It never crossed my mind, and I never felt any different about the guy.”

Also weary of the perception that a majority of straight male athletes are intensely homophobic, Barkley said gay players pose no problem, adding, “Man, we need to outlaw guys who suck at sports.”

“I really like ESPN,” Barkley added. “They do a great job. But like once every two or three months, they bring all these people on there, and they tell me how me and my team are going to respond to a gay guy.

“First of all, every player has played with gay guys. It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: ‘Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.’ First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.”

We fault and love Charles for the same reason…he speaks his mind. This is one of those cases where you have to love him for it. We spend too much time buying into assumptions and stereotypes we read about in articles from the likes of journalists at ESPN and company, who have never themselves played professional sports. Therefore their ‘first hand accounts’ are often just regurgitating of stereotypes they themselves have been influenced by.