Charles Barkley is never one to hold his tongue on a subject. The NBA legend and former MVP has often gotten himself into some hot water based on him giving his strong opinion on matters without a filter. It's part of what also makes him so endearing as a TV analyst and media personality following his playing days.
In a recent interview with Dan Patrick, Barkley was discussing how he took money from agents while he was at Auburn, which is against NCAA rules. He claimed that he didn't regret doing it because he needed it at the time. The only thing he regrets doing is not signing with one of the agents he took money from once he turned pro. In fact, he is so upset at his first agent Lance Luchnick that we should hope they don't see each other in person ever again.
This was the exchange he had with Dan Patrick on "The Dan Patrick Show" earlier on Friday:
Barkley: "He stole all my money. He's a scumbag. If I see him today, I'd blow his damn brains out. I hate that S.O.B. His name is Lance Luchnick. He's a scumbag."
Patrick: "Well, how did he take all your money?"
Barkley: "Well back then, I think players are a lot more smarter now. Your agent got your paycheck, he gave you an allowance, and he 'invested' the rest of your money. I was getting $15,000 a month allowance just to have fun with and I'm a 21-year old kid. You can't give me [that money]. I think I was given $15,000 allowance. That came at the first of every month and man I didn't care. He said, 'I'm investing the rest.' I'm like, 'OK.' And after four years, I was broke, hadn't paid taxes. Like I said, I don't want to mention his name -- Lance Luchnick."
Patrick: "You don't mean that you would shoot him."
Barkley: "If I carried a gun, I would."
Patrick: "No."
Barkley: "I probably won't have a gun when I see him, but I'd probably beat his ass down like a dog.
Barkley goes on to say that stealing from someone is one of the worst things you can do because it's a sign of disrespect for how they earn their money. According to Basketball-Reference.com's estimations, Barkley went from $437,000 his second season to $822,000 his fourth season. If he's getting $15,000 a month over the course of four years as an allowance, that's $720,000 of his money he received during that four-stretch.
Even if we estimate that his rookie salary was similar to his second season and that his third season was in the middle of the $822,000 he supposedly made in his fourth year, Barkley's anecdote gives him just about 30 percent of his earnings of those first four seasons. And if he hadn't paid his taxes at that point and was broke, that is a lot of money to lose in "poor investments." Barkley has since rebounded financially, but that certainly seems like a reason to not like a former associate or agent of yours -- just not to that extreme.
(H/T - Deadspin)
