Charles Barkley spoke out in a big way to slam ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and others who claimed: “white privilege,” referring to the hiring of Steve Nash as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Leave it to Charles Barkley to cut to the truth no matter what anyone else thinks.

Nash had been named the Brooklyn Nets head coach last week, setting off a string of complaints that he had no experience, and that his hiring was due to “white privilege.”

ESPN’s lightning rod anchor Stephen A. Smith immediately went to race by naming all of the black coaching prospects for the Nets who were overlooked.

Charles Barkley wasn’t having any of Stephen A. Smith’s race-baiting. He spoke out on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” on Thursday saying:

“I was very disappointed in some of the guys on television today talking about white privilege. Very disappointed. They’re like, ‘Well, this doesn’t happen to Black guys.’ And I’m like, ‘It happened to Doc Rivers. It happened to Jason Kidd. It happened to Derek Fisher.’ When you have a responsibility, especially when you have to talk about something as serious as race, you can’t be full of crap. You’ve got to be honest and fair. Steve Nash is a great player and a good dude. But I was so disappointed in some of these guys. I was like, ‘Dude; Black guys have done this before.’ Now, do we need more Black coaches in the NBA? Yes. Do we need more Black coaches in college football? Yes. Do we need more Black coaches in pro football? Yes.”

 

Smith didn’t waste any time responding to Barkley’s comments:

“I mentioned white privilege. I have a message to those who feel that I was wrong, that I need to apologize, that I don’t know what I’m talking about, etc. etc. I don’t give a damn what y’all feel. Y’all can all kick rocks. I don’t give a damn. I’m not budging from my position one inch.”

Smith brings politics and race into the ESPN commentary, just like Jemele Hill did before she left the sports network.

Does political commentary belong in sports, or is it something you would like to see less of?

 

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