Charles Barkley revealed on Friday that he has ended contract talks with the LIV Golf Tour, but that doesn’t mean the entire process hasn’t left an impact on him.
Barkley sat down with OutKick founder Clay Travis at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey after both had participated in the LIV Tour’s Pro-Am. In the interview he expressed his feelings regarding some of the criticism he and the Tour received over the last couple of weeks.
“Some of this LIV stuff has really pissed me off, to be honest with you,” Barkley announced. “People use a word like ‘sportswashing,’ ‘blood money,’ and that really pisses me off. These guys have the right to make money any way they want to.”
Barkley said that he had some empathy for those who were protesting this particular event, families and survivors of the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City.
“And I understand the 9/11 people,” Barkley added. “They probably have a legitimate gripe because it’s something that happened that’s personal to them. But (when I’m) reading some of these other articles, I say, ‘Well, wait a minute. You guys don’t even give a shit about shit that’s happening in the United States!”
Barkley added: “And all of sudden you’re all worried about what’s happening in Saudi Arabia.”
“I don’t like selective outrage as you grab your iPhone that’s made in China,” Barkley said. “You guys are killing me…I’m not gonna let you guys bad mouth these (LIV golfers).”
“I played in the NBA for 16 years, I’ve been on TV for almost 21 years. We’ve been working with China for almost 40 years,” Barkley said. “Secondly, I’m a Nike guy. This notion that I’m gonna have this moral high ground and like, well, I’m not taking money from anybody. I’m like, well, you have selective, you know?”
