Charles Barkley spent over an hour of his All-Star Saturday in San Francisco volunteering at GLIDE, a social center in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Then, on his popular TNT show “Inside the NBA,” the Hall of Famer pledged a $250,000 donation to the organization.
“Barkley is known for calling the shots on TV, but he served meals at GLIDE and shared time with the community today,” the foundation’s social media account said. “It’s not about fame; it’s about showing up. If you can, find a way to do the same.”
GLIDE is a center for social justice dedicated to fighting systemic injustices and creating pathways out of poverty and crisis. The center serves meals to the hungry every day, assists homeless people in finding shelter, provides programs and resources to families and helps with substance abuse treatment options.
The commitment means Barkley is becoming more of a frenemy to the city of San Francisco than just a critic.
In the past, Barkley has called San Francisco a “rat-infested” place and described the city as having “homeless crooks.” His comments have gone on for years, leading Warriors fans to boo him when he comes to Chase Center for games.
“I actually like San Francisco,” Barkley said during a live broadcast this weekend. “I really do. I mean, obviously, we’ve got to do something about the homeless, they need help. We need to clean it up a little bit.”
That comment drew boos from the bans. On Sunday, fans at Thrive City chanted, “(Expletive) you, Chuck,” to which the TNT analyst flipped them double middle fingers.
The antics are par for the course for Barkley, regarded as one of the most entertaining sports television personalities ever.
But Barkley is also known to be a generous humanitarian and person in general. His frequent criticism of San Francisco is at least partially a schtick.
There’s nothing fake about serving meals to the less fortunate and actually spending time in the community.
“They work so hard over there,” Barkley said of GLIDE. “I want to give them a lot of love and shine.”
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