AUSTIN, Texas — NBA Hall of Famer and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley is arguably the most entertaining person in sports television, as regular viewers of Inside the NBA know well. Whether he's bashing sports analytics, roasting colleague Shaquille O'Neal or giving his unique take on today's NBA — the man stays entertaining. But much to the dismay of Basketball Twitter, Barkley has little love for social media. He revealed why in conversation with Sports Illustrated's
Richard Deitsch at SXSW Interactive on Friday afternoon. And because it's Charles Barkley, he also
dished on many other topics as only he can. SEE ALSO: March Madness: Can Kentucky go 40-0 to make college hoops history? Barkley told Deitsch the main reason he doesn't partake in Twitter: "I don't want to give some of these losers power." Referencing the prevalence of sports trolls online, he's just fine avoiding that negativity. "I have to pick a team to win the game, so half the population's going to kill me anyway," Barkley said, using his Inside the NBA colleague Ernie Johnson as an
example. "If you say something bad about Ernie Johnson, I know there's something wrong with you because Ernie's the nicest guy in the world." "If you say something bad about Ernie Johnson, I know there's something wrong with you because Ernie's the nicest guy in the world." Being famous makes you more of a target, according to Barkley. "It's like being smart," he said. "All the dumb kids hate
you." Barkley even said he'd advise a rising NBA star like Andrew Wiggins to stay off social media — going against the advice of most sports business professionals. Suffice to say, Barkley is no early adopter of new technologies. The NBA legend gave a well-publicized rant against the rising use of advanced analytics in sports last month. He doubled down on that criticism in Austin on Friday. Analytics are just statistics with a fancier name, he said — "It's like if you're black you're a cook, if you're white you're a chef."
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