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Topics: NBA, Basketball
Ryan Baldi
Charles Barkley believes American sports teams should not turn down invitations to the White House, regardless of whether they agree with Donald Trump.
The former NBA MVP has is one of the highest-paid and most popular analysts in sports broadcasting and he has never been shy of sharing a controversial opinion.
An on-screen co-star with Shaquille O'Neal on TNT's Inside the NBA, Barkley is known for his sense of humour and entertaining style of analysis.
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Discussing the tradition of championship-winning US sports team being invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for an audience with the president, the ex-Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns star said personal politics should be put aside.
"Even though I disagree with President Trump on some things, if I met him, I would still give him the respect and dignity he deserves," he said on TNT's The Steam Room podcast.
"It bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House. When did we reach a point as a country when we were like, 'We’re not going to the White House because we don’t like who is in there?'
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"That’s just stupid, in my opinion. The [report] came out [that] the Eagles were not going to the White House, I said, "I hate that."
"Then they came back and said, ‘No, we would definitely go.’ And I said, ‘Yo man, I don’t care who the president is, he’s the president of the United States.’ It's bothered me for the last 10 years when athletes are like, 'Well I’m not going because this certain person is president.'"
Last year, Barkley controversially said he'd punch black people wearing Trump's mug shot on a t-shirt.
Trump had claimed that his mug shot appealed to black voters because he was "being discriminated against".
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"If I see a Black person walking around with a Trump mug shot, I’m gonna punch him in the face," Barkley told CBS journalist Gayle King. "Oh, I mean that sincerely.
"If I was at that, I would have gotten up and walked out. That was an insult to all black people. It’s not a fair comparison. He’s a billionaire. He’s had a great life. He’s been President of the United States.
"To insult black people who have been discriminated against all these years, to put them in the same category, I was just offended."