“Charles Barkley, You’re F***ing Nuts!”: Suns Legend Reveals Motivation Behind Doing ‘I’m Not a Role Model’ Commercial with Nike

Charles Barkley revealed how he wanted to make a difference with his Nike ‘I’m not a Role Model’ commercial in a recent interview.

Charles Barkley is one of the least filtered people to ever feature on primetime sports television. It’s one of the endearing things about his personality that draws in so many viewers for Inside the NBA.

Since his first day as a TNT analyst, Barkley has remained true to his colors. He always speaks what’s on his mind, even if he knows it could cost him later on.

Over the years, we’ve seen him rip into players, organizations and even former friends like Michael Jordan on TV. He’s even toed the line with his comments about fat women in San Antonio on several occasions. But it has never crossed into outright disrespect.

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Chuck once starred in a Nike Commercial in which he states that he’s not a role model

Chuck signed with Nike as one of their signature athletes during his debut NBA season in 1984. However, he did not get a signature shoe line for himself until after his MVP 1992-93 season with the Suns.

The commercial that he shot with Nike to promote that line is truly one for the ages. It features him playing on a basketball court, rebounding the ball and making other moves. His lines were:

“I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I’m paid to dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”

Charles Barkley reveals his motivation for doing the Nike Commercial

Speaking to Chris Cuomo in a recent interview Charles Barkley laid out why he did the role model commercial with Nike:

“When I went to Nike in, I think it was 1989 back then. I said want to make this commercial about the role model, they said ‘You’re f***ing nuts.’ I said ‘No, I’m not!’ I said ‘Guys, I’m really noticing something.'”

“When I go to predominantly black schools, I said ‘Well, how many of y’all want to play sports?’ It’s like 95% of them want to play sports. But then I go to predominantly white schools and they said ‘I wanna be a doctor. I wanna be a lawyer, or I wanna be an engineer.'”

“In fairness to Nike, they came back 2 years later and said ‘That was a stroke of genius.’ 95% of the letters we got were positive.”

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