Anytime you sit down with Charles Barkley, you’re in for a treat. The New Orleans Times-Picayune did just that.

Asked about being disliked because of what he says…

“That’s why you’ve got to be honest,” said Chuck. “That’s where this whole honesty thing started with me. I was trying to please everybody and no matter what I said, somebody was going to dislike it. So I said I’m going to be honest with myself. That’s all I can do. That’s the thing that was interesting to me in the beginning.”

“This is how the whole thing started: I was watching television one day and (former Philadelphia Phillies) Lenny Dykstra and Darren Daulton were on the news and they were talking about, ‘We’ve got to get better, our team’s not as good as some of the other teams, we’ve got to go out there and bust our butt every night, we’ve got to draft better.’ So the announcers come on and say, ‘These guys are great leaders.’”

“So what I did was, I said, ‘I want people to say the same thing about me.’ So I repeated the (. . .) the next day. The headline said, ‘Barkley Badmouths Teammates.’ So I was like, ‘Wait a minute. These guys say we’ve got to get better, we’ve got to get better players, and they’re great leaders. But when I say it, I’m badmouthing teammates.’ So I said, ‘Oh, wow, that’s how it works.’ So from that day, I just said I’d be honest, straightforward, no BS. And 25 years later, people say to me, ‘I don’t agree with everything you say, but at least I know you’re going to be honest and fair.’”

Read more from the interview HERE.