Charles Barkley donates a lot of money to Auburn. Some of that money is for NIL. Some of that money is and/or was not.
The 62-year-old Hall of Famer admitted to providing illegal financial benefits to athletes at his alma mater before Name, Image and Likeness came to exist.
Barkley, whose jersey number is retired by the 76ers, Suns and Tigers, was named as the SEC college basketball Player of the Year in 1984. He went on to play 16 years in the NBA with 11 All-Star appearances and one MVP in 1993. Now he works for Turner Sports as a member of the analyst desk for March Madness and Inside the NBA.
Even though “journalists” are supposed to be “objective,” Charles Barkley consistently makes it very clear that he will always and forever root for Auburn over anybody or anything. Tigers come first. He wants them to win a national title in football and in basketball at whatever cost. Literally.
Barkley made two interesting points during an appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning on WJOX-FM. First and foremost, he said that he would not and is not going to “come up with a couple million dollars every year so that we can be good at football at basketball.” His use of “we” obviously refers to Auburn. He called that “the stupidest thing he’s ever heard.”
It just goes to show that the current, unregulated model of Name, Image and Likeness is not sustainable. One of the school’s most prominent boosters is not going to bankroll a roster every year.
However, that does not mean Charles Barkley does not give money to Tigers athletes. In fact, he admitted to doing so through likely illegal channels. And a lot of it!
I’ve given more money to Auburn, legal or illegal, than any athlete in the history of the school.
— Charles Barkley
The NCAA is largely irrelevant (and entirely incompetent) at this point but these comments might’ve sparked an investigation if this was 20, even 10 years ago. How much money has Barkley slipped to an athlete under the table? How many $100 handshakes? The world may never know…