When Hollywood stars shower praise on NBA players, it is usually for their accomplishments on the basketball court. Rarely do fans see a big-time actor or a filmmaker giving a shoutout of sorts to an athlete for standing up for mental health. Former NBA star Charles Barkley managed to draw the attention of Ben Stiller after Barkley urged the NBA to help out a former player.
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On one of the more recent episodes of Inside the NBA, the crew seemed to be discussing possible reserves for the Eastern All-Stars. And right in the middle of this segment, NBA legend Charles Barkley took a stand for Tony Snell as well as his two autistic children, leading to Ben Stiller’s response.
Agree https://t.co/0ii1W9uS6f
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) February 2, 2024
Having played in the NBA and currently in the G-League, Tony Snell’s desire to be signed by a team in the league may be higher than the rest. During the show, Charles Barkley went on to share the fact that Tony Snell needs to land a contract with a team in the NBA for him to be able to afford healthcare for his two children who suffer from Autism.
Despite the competitiveness and the on-court rivalries, the NBA and its players have always maintained the standard of calling one other family. Barkley urged to the very same emotion of camaraderie.
“We always talk about what a family we are. Let’s sign that kid for the rest of the season.”
This gesture caught the attention of Ben Stiller who went on X to show his appreciation for Charles Barkley. Especially over the fact that he took a stand for a fellow NBA player who could use all the help he could get.
charles barkley remains the fucking best. pic.twitter.com/yFEGIMEwQ0
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) February 2, 2024
Stiller retweeted a post containing a snippet from the show on X and captioned it, “The Best,” while referring to none other than Sir Charles. Barkley’s words and actions even drew the attention of former NBA player Rex Chapman and former Tennis star Mardy Fish.
Charles Barkley’s heart of gold
Charles Barkley may be a lot of things for his career but he does not consider himself to be a role model. In fact, the Round Mound of Rebound believed that kids should not emulate athletes or celebrities.
Back during his playing days, Barkley did a video with Nike with the title, ‘I am not a role model.’ The purpose of the video was to urge kids to see their parents as their role models and not celebrities on TV and athletes in action.
Despite Barkley’s decades-old video urging not to see him as a role model, his actions speak otherwise. Sir Charles is a generous philanthropist. And Barkley’s $1,000,000 donation to black colleges is something a child will be inspired by down the lane. Back in 2021, Charles Barkley even urged people to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Based on the amount of counterfactual information floating around the time, Barkley decided to use his platform and reach in order to better educate people on something that could literally save their lives.
Charles Barkley has always been a stand-up guy, there is no denying that. It’s just his acts of generosity usually don’t grab front-page attention and Barkley himself does not like to make a spectacle out of his philanthropy.
