You don’t have to be an NBA fan to recognize Charles Barkley. Indeed, Sir Charles doesn’t need the pretext of a ring to be the people’s champion: Between his past as an athlete, his present titles of entertainer, ad man du jour and an indespensible ingredient within TNT’s award-winning Inside the NBA — he is as likable as he is brutally honest.
When pressed on the differences a young Barkley received off the court compared to today’s professional athlete, during a recent sit down with Entrepreneur, the always-forward formerforward bristled at the lack of focus with many talented pros.
“Guys, you’re already making so much money playing basketball; you don’t have to jump at every dime that comes your way,” notes the Leeds, Alabama native. “Do you want to be the best basketball player you can be?”
Barkley insists that there are exemplars among today’s pros, (citing Lebron James and Kevin Durant as two notables) who do a lot outside of the sport, but their respective number one focus is always basketball.
