#NBA legend Charles Barkley slams unvaccinated ‘a–holes’

Charles Barkley has an opinion on most topics, so it’s not surprising that the outspoken NBA legend offered strong thoughts about COVID-19 vaccinations.

The basketball Hall of Famer and longtime TNT analyst told CNBC in a recent interview that unvaccinated people are “just a–holes” and that he believes all pro sports leagues should mandate their athletes and staffers receive the shot.

“Yes, I’m vaccinated. Everybody should be vaccinated. Period,” the 58-year-old said. “Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bullsh-t? I think that would be tragic.”

Large percentages of professional athletes in North America have received at least one shot, but the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB do not require their players to do so a resurgence in the numbers of positive tests due to the Delta variant.

 The NFL recently released guidelines that will penalize unvaccinated players with stricter protocols and possible fines and team forfeits due to violations of the new rules. Still, players such as Buffalo’s Cole Beasley and Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins have been outspoken in their refusal to be vaccinated.  

“There’s sh-t you can’t do at work and there’s sh-t that you have to do at work,” Barkley said. “So every workplace has rules, and I think one of the rules [should be] that guys have to be vaccinated.”