Barkley: ‘I played with gay players’

Jason Collins became the first openly homosexual athlete in major American team sports when he wrote an account in Sports Illustrated describing his experiences as a gay player in the NBA. The 12-year-veteran contacted the magazine because he wanted to use their forum as the platform to tell the world his story.

On April 29th, Dan Patrick broke the story of Collins coming out, and it immediately rose to the top of the sports news cycle.

The response to Collins’ decision has been overwhelmingly positive, but the concept of playing with a gay player is still a major talking point across the world of sports. Former NBA star Charles Barkley joined The Dan Patrick Show and talked about Collins’ decision to come out, telling Patrick about his experiences with gay players in the locker room.

During the interview, Barkley stated that everyone who has played in the NBA has had a gay teammate at some point.