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Barkley: Gay Players Were “No Big Deal” In The NBA

Charles Barkley knows a thing or two about the NBA. He was a player for more than 15 years so surely he would know something about gay players in the league, right?

In a radio interview on the Dan Patrick show, the subject of Jason Collins, who recently came out as the first openly gay NBA player, and gay players in the NBA became a topic. Barkley said he, and pretty much every other player, had played with a gay teammate during their time in the league:

Everybody did. Everybody played with a gay teammate, Dan. And it’ s no big deal. First of all, I think it’s an insult to gay people to think that they’re trying to pick up on their teammates. But everybody has played with a gay teammate… It’s obviously discussed, privately, because the problem is, Dan, unless somebody tells you they’re gay, you can’t say a thing about them being gay. Ya know, until somebody has the courage, and I think it takes great courage to come out, it’s kind of an unspoken word to be honest with you.

He used Collins to back up his claim saying that the Wizards center had played with six teams, so by extension, players on those six teams had played with a gay teammate. He also said that nobody knows a teammate is gay until they come out because “it’s none of your business.”

You can check out the full interview with Barkley below:

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