During an NBA opening night interview on TNT, Charles Barkley held commissioner Adam Silver’s feet to the fire.
As the broadcast was about to end a sitdown with Silver and go to an ad break, the Hall of Famer jumped in to get one last question in.
Barkley wanted Silver to discuss what the league had been doing to address domestic incidents involving NBA players.
“They said go to commercial, but I’ve got a serious question for you,” Barkley began. “There’s a couple of disturbing incidents of domestic violence in the NBA right now. What are we doing to address that? You can’t put your hands on women, man, and we should be at the forefront in sports when men hit women.
“So what are we as a league gonna do about that?”
The question, which The Athletic reported was unscripted, seemed to catch Silver off guard, and the commissioner fumbled for a moment before responding to the pointed question.
“That’s an area where we’re not looking to compete against other leagues when you say forefront,” Silver responded. “I think all the leagues are trying to address this issue. But I know, again, our players association, credit to them, this wasn’t adversarial. We put in place a new program for how we deal with, first of all, accusations of domestic violence even before they’re prosecuted. Part of it goes to the training of our players.
“Counseling of our players to make sure they understand during high-stress situations obviously never to resort to violence against anyone and so we’re addressing it. We have state-of-the-art counseling professionals dealing with our players, but of course, if a guy does cross the line the consequences are enormous.”
Barkley’s line of questioning comes amid several high-profile cases involving NBA players.
Hornets forward Miles Bridges turned himself in to authorities earlier in October over an arrest warrant that was issued in January for violation of a protection order stemming from a 2022 domestic violence case.
The Mecklenburg County (NC) Sheriff’s Office issued a criminal summons that alleged Bridges threw pool table balls at his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle during a custody exchange.
Bridges pleaded no contest to felony domestic violence charges in November involving his ex, and he was suspended 30 games by the NBA, which credited him for 20 games times-served or missing all of last season.
Kevin Porter Jr. is also facing legal trouble over an alleged domestic violence incident that occurred at the Millennium Hilton New York Hotel with ex-girlfriend and former WNBA player Kysre Gondrezick.
Porter, a free agent after being traded by the Hornets and subsequently waived by the Thunder, is facing charges of second-degree strangulation and third-degree assault from the altercation.
He has not been punished by the NBA.
Porter is due back in court on Nov. 27.