Charles Barkely Slams ‘Fools’ in Canada Giving Hockey Legend Wayne Gretzky a ‘Hard Time’ Over Association With Trump

Charles Barkley took aim at Canadians for their recent treatment of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky for his support of President Donald Trump.

Gretzky, a native of Brantford, Ontario, has been open with his support for the 47th President of the United States. In November, he even attended a victory party after the presidential election was officially called.

Not long after Trump’s second term began in January, he expressed his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st state. At the time of writing, Trump also had the U.S. on the verge of a trade war after imposing massive tariffs on Canada. Shortly after announcing those tariffs, however, Trump started to roll back significant portions of them.

While all of this was going on, Gretzky was noticeably silent. That led to outrage among Canadians, who felt that one of their biggest heroes had turned his back on them.

During a segment on Thursday’s episode of Inside the NBA, the panel was discussing some of the greatest records in the history of sports. As Barkley made a note of Gretzky’s virtually-unbeatable points record, he called out Canadians for the way they’ve treated the man known as “The Great One.”

“That’s crazy how great Gretzky is,” Barkley said, “and you got them fools up in Canada giving ‘The Great One’ a hard time. I went off on them today on the podcast… I was in that mood today… Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player ever. He’s the nicest person.”

Kenny Smith then noted the fact that his nickname is “The Great One.”

“I know, but the fools up in Canada gave him a hard time because of the tariff with Trump and everything,” Barkley said. “He has nothing to do with that. He played hockey. He’s the greatest hockey player ever. He got no control of what these fools do down here in our government.”

Watch above via TNT