Charles Barkley honored Jason Collins and highlighted ongoing homophobia in society during a tribute on *Inside the NBA*. Collins, the first active openly gay player in major sports, passed away at 47 after battling brain cancer.
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Credit: Inside the NBA, imagn images
Before Wednesday nightâs Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, the Inside the NBAcrew paid tribute to two players that passed earlier this week in current Memphis Grizzlies player Brandon Clarke and former New Jersey Nets star Jason Collins.
Clarke died at just 29 years old in Los Angeles, it is being investigated as a possible drug overdose according to NBC Los Angeles. Collins died at just 47 years old after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
As the program discussed the two basketball players, much of the focus was on the history that Jason Collins made when he was the first active player to come out as openly gay in the four major professional sports leagues.
In discussing the legacy of Jason Collins, Charles Barkley spoke out to discuss how important his public statement was and its lasting impact on sports and society. But he also addressed how much further society still has to go when he talked about the homophobia that still exists over a decade after Collins came out.
Charles Barkley paid tribute to Jason Collins, emphasizing that we still live in a 'homophobic society'.
Jason Collins made history as the first active player in the four major professional sports leagues to come out as openly gay.
Jason Collins died at the age of 47 after a prolonged battle with brain cancer.
Brandon Clarke, a current Memphis Grizzlies player, died at 29, with investigations suggesting a possible drug overdose.
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âCourageous and when he came out, man, I thought it was amazing to put himself under the microscope and the scrutiny and the hatred and the vitriol that was going to happen. But man, I hate the way this story ended because he was a shining example. Do you man. Obviously anybody out there whoâs struggling with their sexuality, do you. Gay people have the right to do what they want to do. Itâs nobody elseâs business at all. For him to come out, it was great and obviously, you know, a lot of times, especially in the black community, when youâre gay, you get treated awful. And that sucks, too. But I was proud of him for coming out. And when I got that news yesterday, it just sucked.â
Barkley then addressed Clarkeâs passing, expressing his sadness about the reported drug paraphernalia found at the place of his passing.
The rest of the set then paid tribute to Collins with Shaquille OâNeal sharing his memories of playing in the league with Jason and twin brother Jarron Collins and praised them both as great human beings from a great family. Kenny Smith then shared his own condolences and his work with them. Smith praised them both as players in their time at Stanford and in the NBA and then talked about the impact of his decision to come out and what the moment meant.
Smith said that it was a big deal when Collins spoke out and he has blazed the trail for others in his footsteps. Thatâs when Charles Barkley jumped in again to talk about the issue of homophobia and that there is still a long way to go for gay athletes to be fully accepted in the sports world.
âBut Kenny, in fairness, now, if another guy did it, it would still be a big deal because we live in a homophobic society. And thatâs unfortunate,â Barkley said. âThatâs why, first of all, anybody who thinks we ainât got a bunch of gay players in all sports, theyâre just stupid. But there is such animosity toward the gay community, and thatâs whatâs really unfortunate. But anybody who think him, and I know a couple other soccer players that came out, if you think there are not more gay players in the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA, youâre just stupid.â
Charles Barkley is never afraid to be real and talk about tough topics, which is why he is one of the best to ever appear on sports television, and this was another example.
The post Charles Barkley pays tribute to Jason Collins, says we still live in âhomophobic societyâ appeared first on Awful Announcing.