Charles Barkley could have been like Jim Nantz, Joe Buck, Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, Tony Romo, and the full cast of sports media members who attended the wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, but he said no thanks.
Last month, Barkley said “ain’t no place I’d rather be” before Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. But in terms of the Swift-Kelce wedding at MSG, Barkley had better places to be.
Barkley joined Unfiltered with Ricky Bo and Bill Colarulo on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic Monday afternoon to discuss the 76ers acquiring Jaylen Brown among other NBA offseason topics. And considering Barkley was not on any of the attendee lists for the Swift-Kelce wedding last week, Colarulo assumed it meant he wasn’t invited. Because who would turn down the opportunity to say they were at one of the most lavish celebrations in the world, right? Well, apparently Charles Barkley would, and he did.
“I don’t go to weddings or funerals,” Barkley said. “But I did get an invite, and I politely declined because I thought it was going to be a crap show. I love Travis and Jason, and I’ve only met Taylor one time, but yeah, I did get an invite. But I said, that’s just too much. I just want to hang out and play golf, and I don’t want to dress up and all that other stuff. But I appreciate the invitation; it was pretty special.
Barkley was on hand for some of the “crap shows” that occurred outside MSG as the Knicks ran through the playoffs to win their first championship in 53 years. Maybe he thought Swiftees might be on hand to cause a similar ruckus during what has been described as the American version of a royal wedding.
The list of sports media members who attended this royal wedding was very long, with it seeming like all the cool kids were there to watch Swift and Kelce get hitched. And then Barkley had to go establish himself as the coolest kid, revealing he declined an invite to the very place everyone else wanted to be seen at.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com