The legendary Charles Barkley has seen almost everything in the league. He has a lot of advice to spare for younger players, having spent 16 seasons in the NBA. Sharing the court with some of the greats of the game like Michael Jordan, he has seen different phases in his career. Sir Charles, on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’, discussed the one thing that athletes playing for bad teams should avoid at all costs.
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At the time when Chuck joined the Sixers, the team was relatively struggling to replicate its championship success from two seasons back. As a rookie on the team, Chuck was overwhelmed by the media attention, the constant pressure to perform, and the scrutiny that he would receive from the notorious Philly crowd, especially after a loss.
Most importantly, Chuck’s biggest fear was the barber shops around the neighborhood that wouldn’t hesitate to slam the players on a bad team. Advising the younger generation of players, he remarked,
“Hey, never go to a black barber shop when you are on a bad team, ever. Under any circumstances, never.”
He revealed that the people at the barber shops do not hesitate to dish out the harshest criticisms for the underperformance of the teams. Sometimes, they might even blame the players who might not even have any fault for their team’s performance. Adding to this, Barkley said,
“Never go to a black barbershop when things are going bad. They will tell you the truth. And even if it’s not your fault, they are just going to tell you ‘Y’all suck.'”
Clearly, Barkley’s accounts can have a lot for young athletes to draw inspiration from. In a way, barber shops are places with the rawest and most unfiltered takes from the fan communities. Though players might sometimes feel overwhelmed by accepting criticism, listening to them can sometimes even help motivate them to perform at their best potential. Besides, Chuck also once gave an upfront opinion about the underperforming players.
Charles Barkley believes bad players shouldn’t be making too much money
In 2017, Barkley remarked that no tenth man in any NBA team should start considering himself as the best for their suited role. In fact, every player, no matter how humble they are, should be sated at all points. This specifically applied to even the best in the league, especially when their careers dawn towards an end by their mid-30s. In an episode of the ‘Inside The NBA’ show, he remarked,
“I do think that so much money in the NBA has had a negative affect on the bad players. The great players always want to be great. But I think some of the mediocre players are making so much money in the NBA now, there’s no need to be great.”
Barkley seems to have a point, given players can underachieve at any salary the same way they can overachieve. However, through his statement, Barkley sought to remind the audiences that sometimes, an average player is nothing more than that, despite the league always favoring money above anything else.
