‘It’s Exhausting Being Black’: Charles Barkley Sounds Off on the NFL’s Lack of Coaching Diversity

Charles Barkley gets paid to talk about basketball, but the Hall-of-Famer often feels forced to address repeated examples of systemic inequality, the latest occurring in the NFL.

“I’ve said this before when we were doing the stuff with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. Man, it’s exhausting being Black,” Barkley said on a recent episode of The Steam Room podcast.

“It’s something that’s always coming up,” Barkley continued. “You’re sitting at home, minding your own business and then somebody hits you in the head, and being a limelight Black person, you have to comment on it. Man, I just hope these Black coaches get an opportunity…I want some Black coaches to get the job. If they suck, they get fired. But they deserve an opportunity.”

Last week, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores hit the NFL with a lawsuit, alleging racial discrimination within the league’s hiring process. Currently, Mike Tomlin is the only Black head coach employed by an NFL team. Three other teams have minority head coaches, including the Miami Dolphins who recently hired Mike McDaniel.

One Black head coach among 32 NFL teams is especially deplorable when you consider 60 percent of the league’s players are Black. Barkley has strongly advocated for more Black head coaches in the NFL and NBA.

Last year, Barkley put the NBA on blast for repeatedly recycling White head coaches, while putting Black head coaches in situations where they’re expected to fail. After being criticized for a its lack of coaching diversity last year, the NBA now employs 14 Black head coaches among its 30 teams.

Listen above via The Steam Room