The All-Star weekend is heading to California in 2025 after a seven-year absence, as the Golden State Warriors‘ home arena, the Chase Center, will host the festivities. While that’s great news for the superstars on the four California-based teams in the NBA, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley isn’t thrilled about going to San Francisco.
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During his commentary on the All-Star game’s alternate broadcast on TruTV, alongside Warriors veteran Draymond Green and presenter Taylor Rooks, Chuck made snide remarks about San Francisco’s homelessness problem. He asked Reggie Miller,
“Hey Reggie, if you had a chance to be in cold or be around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco…”
Green cut off Barkley by expressing his disbelief at his question, while Rooks claimed they all loved the city. The retired star continued his scathing attack and said the only way to walk around in San Francisco was “with a bulletproof vest”.
While Barkley did not receive much support in the commentary booth, he did on social media from a surprise personality. X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk backed his claims about San Francisco with a post, with just three words, writing,
“He’s not wrong.”
San Francisco’s homelessness problem is well-documented, but no massive city is flawless, and Barkley’s comments were cruel.
Charles Barkley’s beef with San Francisco
Charles Barkley has made no effort to hide his disdain for San Francisco. Before Game 4 of the 2022 Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks, he made another wild comment about the city. While the crew discussed how heavy rainfall in Dallas would affect the attendance inside the American Airlines Center, Barkley said,
“The only bad thing about all this rain? It’s not raining in San Francisco to clean up those dirty ass streets they got there.”
Barkley’s beef with San Francisco caused him grief when the NBA on TNT had their pregame show live outside the Chase Center. During the show, Warriors fans hurled trash at the Hall of Famer, who stood up preparing to throw it back, only to be calmed down by co-host Ernie Johnson.
During a commercial break, Barkley told the fans,
“If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll come to your house and f**k your mama.”
Barkley clarified that his beef wasn’t with all Warriors fans but only those based in San Francisco. In an interview, during the 2022 American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in South Lake Tahoe, he said,
“I like the Warriors. I hate their fans,” he said. I do. I love Steph and Klay. But I’m sayin’, I really don’t like the fans. They’re just awful people. They were much better when they were in Oakland. They had great fans. They were great in Oakland.”
It’s unclear what originated the beef between Barkley and San Francisco residents. However, he’s made it known time and again that he despises the city and its people with a burning passion.
