Charles Barkley took a firm stance about physical violence against children — and he’s not particularly concerned what his critics have to say about it.
Barkley, 63, made an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday, March 23, where the basketball legend railed against the current climate in the NBA.
“The players have so much power now. It’s crazy,” he said. “You can’t even yell at them anymore. When you yell at somebody when they do something wrong, that’s called being a coach.”
Barkley continued, “People talk about, ‘You can’t yell at your kids.’ Yes hell you can yell at your kids. You whoop their ass too.”
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Patrick, 69, attempted to push back at the severe left turn in conversation, saying, “I don’t think you’re allowed to do that. I don’t think you can whoop ass anymore.”
“Yes, you can,” Barkley responded. “That’s why these kids are crazy.”
Barkley explained that he was speaking from experience, recalling how his grandmother used to whip him with some of his toys.
“One year I made the mistake of getting those Hot Wheels racetracks,” he said. “Man, that was one of the worst decisions ever. Kids, never get those Hot Wheels racetracks.”
Patrick laughed and said, “I loved Hot Wheels.”
“I did too, until it became a weapon,” Barkley answered.
Hot Wheels trauma aside, Barkley said his upbringing taught him to “believe in discipline.”
“I’m not going around telling people to beat their kids,” he said. “But I think if you don’t spank your kids and discipline them, they turn into some of these brats that we got today. I’m not here for child abuse. But how are kids going to know they’re doing something wrong?”
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Barkley continued, “First of all, you can’t rationalize with kids. They’re dumber than rocks. They don’t know they’re doing stuff wrong. But when you spank ’em, that gets the message across because they don’t want that.”
The 11-time NBA All-Star acknowledged that his comments would stir some controversy but isn’t making plans to wade into the discourse.
“You can blast me on social media. You guys know I don’t do social media,” he said. “I don’t ever read any comments. I don’t care what y’all think. Y’all can kiss my big Black ass.”
Barkley added, “I’m gonna say what I gotta say. Some of y’all gonna like it. Some of y’all are not. And y’all will get over it.”
