Charles Barkley Rips NCAA President For Wanting Help From ‘Awful’ Politicians: ‘Democrats And Republicans, They All Crooks’

Basketball analyst Charles Barkley ripped the NCAA President Charlie Baker for admitting he would go to politicians to help student-athletes protect their Name, Image, and Likeness deals.

Baker (R) finished his second term as Governor of Massachusetts in January and assumed the role as the new head honcho of the NCAA earlier this month. He sat down with CBS Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg on Thursday before the start of the Sweet 16 round of March Madness, and the former Governor was asked about his top priorities at his new job.

“I would really like to see some sort of uniform, standard contract so that when somebody signs it, they know they’re signing the same kind of agreement everybody else is signing,” Baker said.

The NIL allows schools and athletic programs to compensate players, but the NCAA’s rule does not override state NIL rules.

Kellogg asked the NCAA President how he could make that become a reality, and the former politician turned to his colleagues in our nation’s capital.

“We’re going to talk with the folks in Washington about this,” Baker said.

That last claim did not sit well with Barkley, who decided to lay into Baker’s notion that he wants help from the country’s leaders. Gumbell noticed Sir Charles shaking his head.

“Did he say we gon ask the politicians to help us? See that pisses me off already,” Barkley said. “Our politicians are awful people.”

Barkley explained that he would ask people who “actually care about basketball” and thinks Kellogg, along with basketball people, should be on a committee.

“We can’t ask these politicians nothing!” Barkley said. “Those people are awful people. Democrats and Republicans, they all crooks.”

NIL took effect on July 1st, 2021, so it’s still relatively new. The NCAA clearly is trying to figure out a way to level the playing field for all athletes to get compensated fairly.

Watch above.