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NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley says professional athletes should ignore hecklers because these people have more to gain from any confrontation with stars.
Whether it be in the NBA or NFL, fans are always going to taunt and throw curse words at professional athletes in the heat of battle. Charles Barkley says the athletes have to show restraint and ignore it to the best of their ability.
Article Continues Below“You gotta be careful man, 'cause you can't hit a fan. Because they're just gonna sue you,” Barkley told TMZ Sports. “You have nothing to gain. I mean, if you hit a fan, you're going to lose a lot of money, plain and simple.
“First of all, most of the fans are amazing. But there's a certain fanbase that are crazy and you just got to walk away.”
Fans at basketball games can say a lot of hurtful things to players, and because the fans are so close to the action, most of the time the players hear what is being said about them. It appears Charles Barkley is talking about fans coming up to the athletes or talking smack about them in the public setting, and he's absolutely right. The fan has the most to gain and the player has the most to lose. Punching a fan or doing something violent with their cell phone will only cause the player more harm.
In August, J.R. Smith threw a fan's phone into a construction site in New York after the fan tried to take a picture of him. Smith later accepted a deal to pay that fan $600 in restitution for the phone. Players should just listen to Uncle Chuck and walk away.
