Charles Barkley exudes a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that’s difficult to fully verbalize. The reason he’s been on television over the past quarter of a century can be attributed to this quality of his. Kevin Johnson, his former Suns teammate, spoke on this ad nauseum on the Club520 podcast.
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Aside from speaking on Chuck’s nightlife shenanigans, Johnson kept his name in high regard. He expressed his distaste for Shaq and Kenny having bragging rights over Chuck due to them having a championship.
“[It] pisses me off every time I see it on TV,” said Johnson, claiming Barkley deserved a title and that he’d exchange his own title to bestow it upon Chuck in a heartbeat.
This conversation then divulged into another anecdote from KJ where he recalled Chuck discussing with his family on whether he should vote Republican and back George Bush. “You can’t vote for Bush. He’s for the rich people,” yelled out his family.
Chuck’s response according to Johnson? “Beg your pardon? I’m rich now.”
It’s unclear if he did eventually vote for Bush. However, it should be noted that in 2015 he revealed that he’s always voted Democratic. He’s also let it be known that he thinks the entirety of the political sphere is a sham.
“All politics is rich people screwing poor people. Poor people are too stupid to know they’re just chess pieces in a game,” said Barkley in 2016.
While Chuck is known for making heavy statements such as this, he can get away with it for the most part due to his lovable personality. This is what Kevin Johnson was ultimately talking about: Chuck’s likability as a person.
“He’s not afraid to take a stand on things that may not be politically correct. His role model growing up was Muhammed Ali. And Charles is the modern-day Muhammed Ali. He just has this gift of likability and you just root for him whether you agree with him or not.”
Barkley’s outspoken nature has earned him a great deal of cache in consumers’ minds. He does hold a certain level of influence and he recognizes that. It’s just that he doesn’t have a modicum of care in the world for what people perceive him as in regards to his personality.
