Charles Barkley wasted little time with the topical political jokes during Inside the NBA’s ‘Gone Fishin’ segment Sunday night.
Within seconds after the start of the segment, Barkley took notice of the imaginary megayacht the guys were supposed to be on and quipped, “This looks like the one Clarence Thomas was riding on… and wasn’t telling nobody.” The Supreme Court justice was accused of failing to disclose luxury vacations and a real estate deal that was funded by a Republican mega donor.
Barkley’s joke got some laughs off-stage, but the joke didn’t exactly register with the other three people on set. Barkley seemed puzzled as to why neither Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, nor Kenny Smith reacted to Chuck’s joke. Maybe they didn’t catch the joke. Maybe they wanted to avoid going political in order to keep the segment on track. Either way, the crew got things back on track and continued with the segment.
‘Gone Fishin’ is an Inside the NBA staple that humorously recognizes the teams who failed to make the playoffs. The New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago Bulls, Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors, and Dallas Mavericks were lampooned.
Barkley might have a better audience if he takes his political comedy chops to CNN. While Barkley claimed nothing was imminent, there have been rumblings about Barkley potentially getting a CNN show. Possibly co-hosting a show with Gayle King.
