Read Online I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It by Charles Barkley - Free Book Online
Authors: Charles Barkley
Tags: nonfiction
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And it’s an honor to be a celebrity. And I just refuse to stop living my life and enjoying great restaurants or hanging out with friends because I’m a public person.
It’s not as easy as it sounds, because I’ve been arrested I think five or six times for getting into altercations with people in public. But each and every time I’ve been acquitted. I just wish when reporters write or talk about this they would get the whole story and tell it accurately. I have never bothered anybody in public or anywhere else. I’ve never walked up to anybody and initiated anything. Famous people don’t go out to bother people; they go out to do the same things everybody else does. But there’s always some drunk with liquid courage who wants to get some attention or make you notice him or make an ass of himself with the people in your group.
You know what I’m thinking when I see one of these guys? “Hey man, it’s not my fault your damn life sucks, or is so ordinary you’re looking to spice it up by starting trouble with people minding their own business just because you’ve seen them on TV or read about ’em in the newspaper or a magazine. I’m sorry you don’t like your life, but let me enjoy mine.”
The funniest thing of all is after you’ve both been arrested and they have to come to court, they’ve got this look on their faces like, “Oh my God! All of this!” I’ve had a couple of them come to me afterward and say, “You know, I’ve had to do twenty-five interviews. All these reporters were standing outside the courthouse with notebooks and microphones! Man, I’m sorry. I was drunk that night. I didn’t realize what your life was like and how public everything about your life is.” And I’ve said, “No shit, asshole. The next time you go out and see a famous person or some public figure, leave him alone, don’t harass him. Cut out the BS.” Because they have no idea, they don’t understand the stories that are going to be in the press, that reporters will be calling them, how it’s going to look when their lives are exposed to public scrutiny.
I’ve lived my life in the public eye for twenty years, and I know that if I get arrested or something negative happens that it’s a really incredibly big deal. I know on
Headline News
you’ll see a picture of Barkley every eighteen and forty-eight minutes after the hour. And I’ll be the cover story of
USA Today
. But some fool who’s never dealt with all this, who wants to punch you because he’s drunk and he wants to brag to his boys the next day . . . when he sobers up he’s like, “You have to deal with this every day of your life?” I say, “Man, it’s not what you thought it was, is it?” It was a big news story when David Stern told me he wanted me to have a bodyguard, and I understood his concern. But I think it’s easier for a famous person to go relatively incognito, or if not incognito then to just get around more easily if you’re by yourself, with no entourage. I don’t want to think about calling my bodyguard before I go out to do something. I want to put my clothes on, go out and do whatever. I don’t believe in getting the entourage together before you can go out and live your life. I think what happens is the extra attention you draw by having somebody guarding you pisses people off more. And when they’re drunk you’re like a magnet and they’re thinking, “Look at this guy, he thinks he’s a big deal because he’s got his entourage with him.” If I’m by myself there’s less of a commotion.
The funny thing is, I’m not some asshole who goes around beating up people. Anybody who has spent any time with me knows I meet a million people, and I’ve had a problem that became a serious problem with five or six crazy people.
A long time ago, I adopted what I call the 50-50 rule: no matter what you do in your life, 50 percent of the people are going to like it and 50 percent will dislike it. . . . If you’re out there
It’s not as easy as it sounds, because I’ve been arrested I think five or six times for getting into altercations with people in public. But each and every time I’ve been acquitted. I just wish when reporters write or talk about this they would get the whole story and tell it accurately. I have never bothered anybody in public or anywhere else. I’ve never walked up to anybody and initiated anything. Famous people don’t go out to bother people; they go out to do the same things everybody else does. But there’s always some drunk with liquid courage who wants to get some attention or make you notice him or make an ass of himself with the people in your group.
You know what I’m thinking when I see one of these guys? “Hey man, it’s not my fault your damn life sucks, or is so ordinary you’re looking to spice it up by starting trouble with people minding their own business just because you’ve seen them on TV or read about ’em in the newspaper or a magazine. I’m sorry you don’t like your life, but let me enjoy mine.”
The funniest thing of all is after you’ve both been arrested and they have to come to court, they’ve got this look on their faces like, “Oh my God! All of this!” I’ve had a couple of them come to me afterward and say, “You know, I’ve had to do twenty-five interviews. All these reporters were standing outside the courthouse with notebooks and microphones! Man, I’m sorry. I was drunk that night. I didn’t realize what your life was like and how public everything about your life is.” And I’ve said, “No shit, asshole. The next time you go out and see a famous person or some public figure, leave him alone, don’t harass him. Cut out the BS.” Because they have no idea, they don’t understand the stories that are going to be in the press, that reporters will be calling them, how it’s going to look when their lives are exposed to public scrutiny.
I’ve lived my life in the public eye for twenty years, and I know that if I get arrested or something negative happens that it’s a really incredibly big deal. I know on
Headline News
you’ll see a picture of Barkley every eighteen and forty-eight minutes after the hour. And I’ll be the cover story of
USA Today
. But some fool who’s never dealt with all this, who wants to punch you because he’s drunk and he wants to brag to his boys the next day . . . when he sobers up he’s like, “You have to deal with this every day of your life?” I say, “Man, it’s not what you thought it was, is it?” It was a big news story when David Stern told me he wanted me to have a bodyguard, and I understood his concern. But I think it’s easier for a famous person to go relatively incognito, or if not incognito then to just get around more easily if you’re by yourself, with no entourage. I don’t want to think about calling my bodyguard before I go out to do something. I want to put my clothes on, go out and do whatever. I don’t believe in getting the entourage together before you can go out and live your life. I think what happens is the extra attention you draw by having somebody guarding you pisses people off more. And when they’re drunk you’re like a magnet and they’re thinking, “Look at this guy, he thinks he’s a big deal because he’s got his entourage with him.” If I’m by myself there’s less of a commotion.
The funny thing is, I’m not some asshole who goes around beating up people. Anybody who has spent any time with me knows I meet a million people, and I’ve had a problem that became a serious problem with five or six crazy people.
A long time ago, I adopted what I call the 50-50 rule: no matter what you do in your life, 50 percent of the people are going to like it and 50 percent will dislike it. . . . If you’re out there
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