On February 26, 20-year-old Southern University and A&M College student, Caleb Wilson, unfortunately, passed away. His death was a result of a fraternity hazing ritual gone wrong. Hall-of-Fame forward Charles Barkley caught wind of the news and shed light on the situation. Sending prayers to Wilson’s family, he expressed his passionate opinion regarding fraternities.
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Wilson died from repeated punches to the chest in a hazing incident. The entire situation angered Barkley, as he had never agreed with the concept of fraternities in the first place. This recent development was enough to send him off the rails.
Barkley addressed this situation on a recent episode of The Steam Room. He brought up the topic to cohost Ernie Johnson and didn’t mince his words during the fervent take.
“You know I hate fraternities because I just think who wants a bunch of dudes hanging together if you can’t get real friends?” Barkley said. “So I’m anti-fraternity.”
Barkley didn’t just come to this realization because of the Wilson case. During the podcast, he also referenced the 2017 incident involving Max Gruver in Baton Rouge, who drank a fatal amount of alcohol as a part of a fraternity hazing.
Barkley focused his distaste of fraternities on how avoidable these cases are. There was no need for these young men to lose their lives, but they ultimately did over something that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
Although Barkley doesn’t condone the actions of fraternities, he doesn’t shut down the notion of hazing. However, he does believe hazing should only be tolerable to a certain extent.
Barkley was on the receiving end of hazing from the veterans on the Sixers roster during his rookie season. They gave him tasks such as grabbing newspapers and carrying their bags. This type of hazing remains prevalent within the NBA.
At the root of the discussion, Barkley shared his thoughts and regards to Wilson’s family during this time of mourning. Additionally, he sent a message to other young men to avoid fraternities, citing real friends are much more worth it in the long run.
