Charles Barkley Says Teams Only "Part Ways" With White Coaches: “They Fire Brothers"

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Charles Barkley, Black, White coaches
Charles Barkley said that only white coaches "part ways" with their teams, while black coaches are fired.

In the wake of head coaches Steve Clifford and Terry Stotts parting ways with the Orlando Magic and Portland Trail Blazers respectively, Charles Barkley said that only white coaches are allowed to "part ways" with their team, rather than being fired. Barkley discussed the different treatment of white and black coaches on TNT ahead of the second-round playoff matchup between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks.

“Mutual parting of ways in Portland and in Orlando,” Ernie Johnson said. “Steve Clifford out with the Magic, Terry Stotts out with the Portland Trail Blazers…”

“America, that means they were white,” Barkley said. “They fire brothers, they don’t part ways.”

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Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Johnson laughed as they moved on, welcoming Chris Haynes to the show.

Barkley has spoken about racial disparities between black and white coaches before. In the wake of the Nets' hiring Steve Nash, Barkley defended the hiring by disputing Stephen A. Smith who claimed it was an example of "white privilege." 

“Steve Nash is a great player and a good dude," Barkley said at the time. "But I was so disappointed in some of these guys. I was like, ‘Dude, Black guys have done this before.’ Now, do we need more Black coaches in the NBA? Yes. Do we need more Black coaches in college football? Yes. Do we need more Black coaches in pro football? Yes. But this wasn’t the right time to say that today. Good luck to Steve Nash.”

[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.
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