Before Wednesday night’s Eastern Conference semifinal matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons, the Inside the NBA crew paid tribute to two players who passed earlier this week: current Memphis Grizzlies player Brandon Clarke and former New Jersey Nets star Jason Collins.
Clarke died at just 29 years old in Los Angeles, and it is being investigated as a possible drug overdose, according to NBC Los Angeles. Collins died at just 47 years old after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
As the program discussed the two basketball players, much of the focus was on the history Jason Collins made as the first active player to come out as openly gay in the four major professional sports leagues.
In discussing the legacy of Jason Collins, Charles Barkley spoke about how important his public statement was and its lasting impact on sports and society. But he also addressed how much further society still has to go when he talked about the homophobia that still exists over a decade after Collins came out.
The full Inside the NBA segment discussing the passing of Brandon Clarke and Jason Collins, and Collins’ legacy as the first active openly gay player in the four major sports leagues. pic.twitter.com/ZfwLcu15ty
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“Courageous, and when he came out, man, I thought it was amazing to put himself under the microscope and the scrutiny and the hatred and the vitriol that was going to happen,” he said. “But man, I hate the way this story ended because he was a shining example. Do you man. Obviously, anybody out there who’s struggling with their sexuality, do you. Gay people have the right to do what they want to do. It’s nobody else’s business at all. For him to come out, it was great and obviously, you know, a lot of times, especially in the black community, when you’re gay, you get treated awful. And that sucks, too. But I was proud of him for coming out. And when I got that news yesterday, it just sucked.”
Barkley then addressed Clarke’s passing, expressing his sadness about the reported drug paraphernalia found at the place of his passing.
The rest of the set then paid tribute to Collins with Shaquille O’Neal sharing his memories of playing in the league with Jason and his twin brother, Jarron Collins, and praised them both as great human beings from a great family. Kenny Smith then shared his own condolences and his work with them. Smith praised them both as players in their time at Stanford and in the NBA, then discussed the impact of his decision to come out and what the moment meant.
Smith said that it was a big deal when Collins spoke out, and he has blazed the trail for others in his footsteps. That’s when Charles Barkley jumped in again to talk about the issue of homophobia and that there is still a long way to go for gay athletes to be fully accepted in the sports world.
“But Kenny, in fairness, now, if another guy did it, it would still be a big deal because we live in a homophobic society. And that’s unfortunate,” Barkley said. “That’s why, first of all, anybody who thinks we ain’t got a bunch of gay players in all sports, they’re just stupid. But there is such animosity toward the gay community, and that’s what’s really unfortunate. But anybody who think him, and I know a couple other soccer players that came out, if you think there are not more gay players in the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA, you’re just stupid.”
Charles Barkley is never afraid to be real and talk about tough topics, which is why he is one of the best to ever appear on sports television, and this was another example.
