Charles Barkley Declares ‘We Live in a Homophobic Society’ During Discussion About Late NBA Player Jason Collins

Charles Barkley

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Charles Barkley on Wednesday argued that society still wasn’t accepting of gay people during a talk about the recent death of former NBA player Jason Collins.

Collins, 47, died Tuesday after a months-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. A 13-year veteran of the NBA, Collins made history in 2013 when he came out as the first openly gay athlete in any of the four major North American sports leagues.

On Wednesday, the Inside the NBA crew paid tribute to Collins and his bold decision to come out 13 years earlier. Kenny Smith noted that, at the time, Collins’s announcement was a big deal. Because it wouldn’t be as big a deal today, he argued, showed that Collins helped to make society more accepting of the gay community.

Barkley, however, wasn’t as eager to give the general public that much credit.

“Yeah, but Kenny, in fairness now, if another guy did it, it would still be a big deal,” Barkley contended, “because we live in a homophobic society, and that’s unfortunate. That’s why– first of all, anybody who thinks we ain’t got a bunch of gay players in all sports, they’re just stupid. But there is such animosity toward the gay community, and that’s what’s really unfortunate; but [if] anybody thinks him — and I know a couple of other soccer players that came out — if you think there are not more gay players in the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA, you’re just stupid.”

The new of Collins’s death was just part of the one of the darkest days in the NBA in recent memory. Hours earlier, it was announced that current Memphis Grizzlies player Brandon Clarke suddenly died the night before. According to TMZ, the 29-year-old’s death was being investigated as a possible overdose.