Charles Barkley latest to consider joining LIV Golf; will he leave ‘Inside the NBA’?
As LIV Golf continues to lure more golf players, other sports figures are considering joining the Saudi-backed league, with the latest being Charles Barkley
The Saudi-financed league, LIV Golf, continues to spark controversy and attract big names within and outside of the golf community. Money, opportunity, and other motives have seen more than 16 golfers abandon the PGA Tour and hop over to the newly-emerged league in the last few months, making the golf community look more divided than ever.
Most recently, public figures like the former US president, Donald Trump, openly supported the politically-powerful league, despite it being accused of “sportswashing” Saudi Arabia’s image in exchange of financing the league with rivers of money.
On Monday, Trump, who is associated in a way or two with the new league, urged all PGA Tour players to ‘take the money’ and make their way to LIV. And just when we couldn’t imagine LIV would go further than this, former professional basketball player and television analyst, Charles Barkley, made us think twice.
Related: Why is LIV Golf controversial? Trump’s association with LIV; Barkley’s possible move
Charles Barkley might leave ‘Inside the NBA’ for LIV
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” analyst is planning to meet with LIV Golf to discuss the possibility of joining the new Saudi-backed league. Barkley confirmed last week that he is going to sit down with LIV’s CEO and commissioner, Greg Norman, to see what LIV may have to offer. He, and others around him, know that hopping over to the other side of the pond means that he would leave TNT, and possibly make a full career shift to a full-time golf analyst.
While many people have criticized golfers for jumping from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, Barkley has not been one of them. The 59-year-old publicly supported players who joined LIV Golf, saying that for the kind of money the new league offers, he’d “kill a relative.”
“I don’t judge other people,” said Barkley. “If somebody gave me $200 million, I’d kill a relative. I’m serious. They’re saying Phil Mickelson got $200 million, and Dustin Johnson got $150 million. For $150 million, I’d kill a relative. Even one I like.”