If I screw up, I'm gonna say, 'You know what? I really screwed up.' That's all you can do. Some people gonna forgive you, some people not gonna forgive you. That's just the way it works.
— Charles Barkley
It drives me crazy when guys making $30 million are complaining about playing basketball two days in a row.
Every player has played with gay guys.
You can't sit on the sidelines of life.
The only people who distrust the cops are crooks. They're not out there just harassing innocent people. Maybe sometimes they do. But there's no inherent situation where cops are deliberately out there harassing people.
Kids are born into the situation they're born into, and obviously, they have no control over that. And we, as adults, it's up to us to take care of kids - that's part of your moral responsibility. I always tell people, 'There's two groups we should take care of - old people and young people.'
My perspective is never gonna change on that... We've got to do a much better job to take care of poor people, because you cannot put all the poor people in bad neighborhoods, send them to bad schools, and say, 'Good luck in life.' That's just not right.
I was only 5'10'' until I was a senior in high school.
White America don't get to dictate how me and Shaq talk to each other.
I do not use words like 'liberal' or 'conservative.' You can ask me a question, and I will give you an answer. Those are words rich people on television use to divide and conquer.
Bill Clinton is the greatest president of my lifetime. Period.
I would love to be a general manager just for the challenge.
Golf is fun - until you hit somebody in the head.
Everybody wants to protect their own tribe, whether they are right or wrong.
I'm willing to sit down with anybody and have constructive criticism.
All the poor white people, all the poor black people, all the Hispanics, they're in the same boat. They've got no economic opportunities.
The Republicans always do a good job of dividing and conquering. They do a really good job of making black folks, poor white folks, and Hispanics not like each other.
To think that everybody's like you is silly.
Any professional athlete who gets on TV or radio and says he never played with a gay guy is a stone-freakin' idiot.
I really like ESPN. They do a great job.
That's one of the problems with this country: they put you in a box. You're a Republican, you're a Democrat, you're conservative, you're liberal. And that's really unfair.
'War Eagle' is like 'I love you.'
It's interesting - the greatest country in the world, we shouldn't have people starving. We shouldn't have young people not getting something to eat.
What bothers me the most are the Republicans and the Democrats: they act like little kids. They are lying to real people out here trying to get through life.
I'd love to see an openly gay player, a really, really good gay player come out.
In the locker room, and when I'm with my friends, we use racial slurs... What I do with my black friends is not up to white America to dictate to me what's appropriate and inappropriate.
If you are born poor, whether white or black, you are going to be in a bad neighborhood and go to a bad school. If you are making three million dollars a year, a couple hundred thousand in taxes ain't gonna kill you.
The NBA man, we have always been progressive.
I don't stand for anti-Semitism. We can't have that.
One of the reasons I don't trust the media is you can't have a double standard for guys you like and dislike.
We never discuss race in this country until something bad happens.
I've always said that: 'We as black people, if you want respect, you have to give each other respect.' You can't demand respect from white people and the cops if we don't respect each other.
If you're a poor white person and your life sucks, it's easy for you to blame Hispanics cos you don't want to look in the mirror and say, 'I'm the reason my life sucks.' The Republicans do a good job exploiting that.
If you get a chance to play with great players, that's half the battle.
I remember I'd be sleeping in the airport at 5 o'clock in the morning, traveling three hours, and playing a game that day. We never even chartered until my third year in the NBA.
I'd rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can't play.
It's my job, with the position of power that I'm in and being able to be on television, I'm supposed to stand up for the people who can't stand up for themselves.
I just grew up a poor black kid in Alabama with a single mom and two brothers.
I think Nick Saban is the greatest college football coach in history over there in Tuscaloosa.
I got some cash from agents. I've talked to the NCAA. I think that should be legal. I want some money, too; everybody else is making money. I want to go on dates. I want to go buy myself some new suits. I want to buy myself some new sneakers, and I paid the agents back.
I love sports because it takes me away from reality, and I tell people, 'No matter how bad your life is, if you are having problems at home, you are having problems at work, that's the beauty of sports.'
I love women's college basketball, but I don't want it in the NBA.
At some point, I don't want to have any obligation. And just chill out.
I accept the media for what they are. Most of them are really good people. Some of them are scumbags.
I live in Arizona, and I don't like the way they treat Hispanics there.
I think people got more common sense than people give 'em credit for.
Anybody who walks out peacefully, who protests peacefully, that's what this country was built on.
I respect and admire what cops do.
We need the cops, especially in the black community.
Everybody wants to talk about black and white, when the situation is really about rich people against poor people.
