• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, March 31, 2026

Soft-spoken Charles Barkley’s reflections on immigration during an NCAA pregame telecast Sunday on CBS sparked coverage and reactions that totally mischaracterized his tone and intentions.

Foxnews.com labeled Barkley’s comments “a political rant.” The Daily Mail called them “a wild rant.” Neither description is accurate.

A story on AOL said Barkley “blasted the Trump administration.” A story on Mediaite.com said Barkley “slammed the Trump administration.” 

It is true that Barkley’s words, in which he called the treatment of immigrants “a travesty and a disgrace,” could be interpreted as attacking the Trump administration directly. 

But at the same time, Barkley was careful not to mention the president or his administration by name. By his own admission, Barkley chose his words carefully. And he delivered them quietly.

Barkley, 63, made the comments because he had been moved by a feature video about University of Connecticut basketball star Alex Karaban, whose father and mother are immigrants from Belarus and Ukraine, respectively.

“I want to be careful with my words right now because this is a really touchy subject for me,” Barkley said, as his fellow pregame panelists -- NBA stars Kenny Smith and Clark Kellogg, famed college coach Bruce Pearl, and host Nate Burleson -- listened.

“I love that kid and his family, but the way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace,” he said.

“I think there’s a difference between amazing immigrants and criminal immigrants. I think what’s going on in our country, what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad,” he continued.

“And that’s a great immigrant story,” he said. “We have a lot of great immigrant stories out there that their stories need to be told. But some of the stuff that’s happening to immigrants in our country right now is really unfortunate, and it’s really unfair. 

“But immigrants built this country, and we should admire them and respect them,” Barkley said.

I happened to catch the whole thing when it aired, and it was in no way a rant. It was one man’s heartfelt opinion on the treatment of immigrants right now. Nothing more, nothing less.

And yet, various media outlets even linked Barkley’s remarks to the weekend’s massive “No Kings” marches held to protest President Trump, when there was no connection at all between them.

“Barkley made his comments on a weekend in which Americans again took to the streets in ‘No Kings’ rallies to protest Trump’s mistreatment of immigrants,” wrote the Huffington Post.

At no time did Barkley mention the No Kings marches or give any sign at all that he was even aware of them.

Barkley’s comments came as a surprise on the Sunday pregame show, which preceded the Elite Eight matchup between the University of Connecticut and Duke (which UConn won).

The comments were surprising for the simple reason that comments on issues other than the qualities of basketball teams, players and coaches are rare on sports pregame shows.