So, here is the quick rundown of the Barkley situation.
Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas was visibly shaken in Sunday's game against the Chicago Bulls. 37 hours prior his 22-year-old sister had been killed in a car crash in Washington which, if anyone could imagine, had him in a state of grief.
His coach, Brad Stevens, had admitted before the game that Thomas was “struggling” and said he’d left the decision whether to play up to Thomas. - Cindy Boren, Washington Post
Charles Barkley was quoted as saying:
“That’s just not a good look for him, in my personal opinion. I mean, he is clearly devastated, like we all would be if we lost a sibling, but sitting on the sideline right before the game, that makes me uncomfortable.”
...and of course, social media went to town on this statement. Insinuating that he was being a horrible person and blah blah blah. Completely disregarding the simple point he was making about how he can relate to him with the exception of emoting on the sideline of which makes him uncomfortable.
Barkley did admit that playing through grief can be therapeutic, as it was for Brett Favre, who famously played in a Monday night game a day after the death of his father. He passed for 399 yards in that 2003 game. Tiger Woods won the British Open two months after the death of his father and collapsed into the arms of his caddie. For Barkley, it was the lead-up to Game 1 that was tough to take. - Cindy Boren, Washington Post
Charles Barkley was also quoted saying:
“I think he’ll be glad — like, this is just me thinking — I think he’ll be glad when the game starts,” Barkley said. “Because as a player, we have so much going on in our mind. We’ve got the game plan, we’ve got wondering what plays to run and things like that. You’ve got so much going through your mind once the game starts. In his free time, I know it’s going to be painful, but I know if he’s going to play today, it’s going to be a relief for him. At least, it was for me, because I had to think about so much going on in the game, and it gave me two hours of pain relief, as I called it. And then you go back after the game."
Now where the rest of the world got their message from is besides me. Steve Harvey can definitely relate to words being misconstrued and has something to say about that as well.
Listen below to hear what Steve the crew had to say.