Charles Barkley had a very interesting interview about the power that players have to make a difference, and how the media is distorting what they can do to further their own ends.
He makes some good points. Listen below from IJR:
Barkley says that the message was so confusing that he had forgotten why they were doing the protests in the first place.
“The media has totally hijacked this conversation about who’s kneeling, who’s not kneeling, who’s holding their fist up. I forgot why these guys are doing it. We got a lot of power. We got to use that power in a position way. We can go into some of these communities and do a lot of positive stuff. Don’t worry about what the president says.”
Towards the end he launches into criticism of the rednecks in Alabama, but BEFORE that, he said that Steph Curry would have done better to attend the invite by the White House and talk to Trump about the issues he wants instead of refusing the invite. It sounds like he’s in support of the message behind the protests, but wants players to understand that the media is not on their side. At least a unique take amongst all the boring tribalist bleating…
Check out his pretty awesome response to the confederate statues being taken down here.