Charles Barkley on Life, The Nuggets, and Everything

I like Charles Barkley.

He's opinionated, passionate about the game, and always good for a quote. Here's a bunch of my favorites:

"I know we have to work a lot during the playoffs, and that's part of working. But I look at those five months of vacation where I do nothing but play golf and go to Vegas and lay on the bench and be the big sex symbol that I am."

Barkley, to George Clooney: "I'm depressed, I finally met a guy better looking than me."

On Nuggets forward Nene Hilario, after he legally changed his name to Nene: "Nene is going to be a great player, but you can't give yourself one name until you've accomplished something."

At All Star Weekend, watching Voshon Leonard shoot threes:
Kenny Smith: Voshon Lenard doesn't appear to have the conditioning to hold up in the second round.
Charles: He's in the condition to hold up his pants.
Kenny: You can see he put on a couple pounds.
Chuck: A couple? That's an understatement. That's like calling the Titanic a small boating accident. We could wear the same underwear now!

Barkley, on the matchup between Sam Cassell and Earl Boykins: "Cassell shooting over (Earl) Boykins is like shooting over a chair."

Barkley, on Toronto guard Vince Carter: "When you have that much talent, you don't get to say 'I just want to blend in.' That's not the way it works. It's up to the great players to make the other scrubs better. It's up to Vince to put his teammates on his back and carry them. That's the responsibility of being a great player. Kevin Garnett can't just say he wants to blend in with the other guys. Shaquille O'Neal can't say that; Allen Iverson can't say that; and Tracy McGrady can't say that. Great players have to play great and they have to lead. You're not one of the guys -- you're better than everyone else. That is why you're an All-Star and you get the highest salary. If you just want to be one of the guys, then cut your salary and make what the other guys make. They don't pay you a lot of money to blend in. There's a reason Shaq makes $20 million a year. You can't just blend in! You have to lead the team."

On why he likes foreign players: "They play really hard, and they don't have posses. They come over here and they work hard and they are not spoiled. America is the greatest country in the world, but we have some spoiled ..."

When he was asked if he'd ever used steroids: "No, never. I've always had to try and lose weight. I've never heard the words, 'Charles, you need to bulk up.'"

Later, on learning that Don MacLean tested positive for steroids in 2000 (remember MacLean from UCLA?): "Don MacLean. I've seen Don MacLean naked, and he doesn't use steroids."

Charles on how so many NBA players think they are better than they really are, aka his "Playboy Bunny Theory": "Most guys think they are married to Playboy bunnies, when in reality they're married to rabbits."

Barkley, after watching footage of Denver fans throwing garbage on Latrell Sprewell: "You should be able to go and pick out one fan a game, and just beat the hell out of him."

Barkley on life: "If I offend someone, I'm not trying to do it. If they get offended, they'll get over it."

"I owe basketball every single thing in my life, because I grew up a poor kid. All these kids aren't going to make it to the NBA, but one thing about sports is it can give you a chance to go to college. And that's what I think more kids should use college for instead of trying to make it a profession."

Link: Barkleyisms