Charles Barkley: I’m not a role model | Trending Now

0:00From athletic stuff like a full-court pickup game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff like a half-mile stroll. Get those steps in! Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it. Hey, it's Graham. Today's Friday, and that means we're releasing our third podcast of the week. On Monday, we released a full interview with one of our past guests, and yesterday was Motivational Thursday, where we selected a clip that hopefully left you feeling positive. Today, we're releasing another fan favorite. This week, Charles Barkley.

0:35What you're about to listen to is trending this week on our Facebook page. Hope you enjoy. Why have you said your I'm not a role model commercial is the greatest thing you've ever done in your life? Because it started to debate. Because if you go back and look when it happened, it comes up all the time, too, when the term role model comes up. It started a national debate. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids. Let me tell you something. When I went to Nike with this commercial, they was like, this is going to be huge. I said, that's why I want to do the commercial.

1:10Ninety-five percent, 95 percent of the letters Nike got, the 76ers got, loved the commercial. How did the reaction and response you got compare to what you were expecting? I actually thought it would be like 80-20, to be honest with you. 80-20. 80-positive. Yes. Because, listen, I knew the parents. The parents, because, first of all, it became a joke. I said, I'm the only guy in the world who ever got hate mail for telling kids to listen to their parents. In the beginning, I said, just because I could dunk a basketball and throw a basketball, I shouldn't raise your kids. But at the end, I said, parents are role models.

1:48because, you know, I do this little science experiment, Graham, when I speak at schools. Like, let's say I'm at a white school. I say, how many of you kids want to play pro sports? Less than 10 % raised their hand. I say, what do you want to do? I want to be a doctor. I want to be a lawyer. I want to be an engineer. But when I go speak at predominantly black schools, 90 % of the kids want to play sports. 90%. There's a couple like, I want to be a doctor, which makes me really proud. but 90 % of kids, when I speak at black schools, our kids are brainwashed, think they can only play sports and be entertainers.

2:26You've got a better chance of being a doctor and a lawyer than playing in the NBA. I tell you, that's 400 players in the NBA. What a chance you're going to be one of the 400 best players in the world. Like I say, and I'm not trying to bash their dreams. I wish everybody could do it, but you have to also be realistic. You're not going to play in the NBA. Who are we kidding? one quick thing before you leave please consider giving the podcast a rating and review those go a really long way in helping us reach new listeners