Charles Barkley absolutely hates the homeless in All Star Weekend venue San Francisco
As the All-Star Weekend will get underway in San Francisco this weekend, lets take a look at Charles Barkley's beef with The Bay.
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Charles Barkley has a dislike for San Francisco
The 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend is bringing the best basketball talent to San Francisco, but not everyone is thrilled about the location. One person who has made his disdain for the city crystal clear is Charles Barkley. The Hall of Famer and TNT analyst has repeatedly criticized San Francisco. Over the years, he’s taken several jabs at the city’s condition, particularly focusing on its homeless crisis.
Though his comments are often met with backlash, that hasn’t stopped him from doubling down. In fact, during last year’s All-Star game broadcast from Indianapolis, Charles Barkley made headlines when he called San Francisco a city filled with ‘homeless crooks.’ It led to immediate pushback from co-hosts Draymond Green and Taylor Rooks.
If you had the chance between being cold or being around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco, which would you take… You can’t even walk around down there… unless you have a bulletproof vest.
Charles Barkley said on TNT
Barkley has repeatedly voiced his frustration about San Francisco’s homeless issue, calling for city officials to take action. In 2022, he criticized the city’s “dirtiness,” and earlier this year, he joked that he had no plans to step foot in San Francisco for All-Star Weekend.
Charles Barkley again bashed San Francisco, this time around talk of the cold in Indianapolis. "If you had the chance between being cold or being around a bunch of homeless crooks in San Francisco, which would you take?" pic.twitter.com/o0W9aUQCyI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 19, 2024
Not only Barkley, right-wing folks have also pointed out the problem in the city. Famously, Elon Musk has come out to call out everything wrong with the city. However, with the All-Star game headed to The Bay, Chuck and other critics has no option but to head to San Francisco to enjoy All-Star experience.
Charles Barkley welcomed by downpour of boos in San Francisco for All-Star opener
If Charles Barkley thought he could show up to San Francisco without any hostility, he was in for a rude awakening. During NBA on TNT’s live broadcast from Pier 48, fans in attendance let him have it. They booed him almost every time he spoke. To his credit, Barkley attempted to mend fences, shifting his focus from outright bashing the city to advocating for improvements.
I used to like San Francisco. I really do… Honestly, we’ve got to do something about the homeless, they need our help. We need to clean it up a little bit.
Charles Barkley said on the TNT broadcast
Instead of applause, however, the crowd responded with more boos, frustrating Barkley. Chuck’s comments about San Francisco earlier in the year had already soured the relationship with Bay Area fans. Moreover, even his attempt at a more measured approach wasn’t enough to win them over.
His history of criticism made it difficult for the audience to separate his call for action from what most fans in the arena perceived as another dig at their city. The TNT broadcast paid tribute to Bay Area culture, featuring a video celebrating local music legends like E-40, Too Short, and Mistah F.A.B. But for Charles Barkley, the damage had already been done, his feud with San Francisco fans is far from over.
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Armaan Gupta
(441 Articles Published)