Barkley goes to jail

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Opening Statement from Charles Barkley

Want to start with an apology and a thank you. My bad, my fault.


Getting a DUI is unacceptable in any way, shape or form. I owe an apology to my family, to TNT, to T-Mobile and to my NBA family. I embarrassed all of the above.


Also, I want to say thank you. I've gotten so much support. I've had hundreds of people, total strangers, who have told me to hang in there. You have no idea what that means to me. That means so much to me.


I also want to personally thank some people who took the time to check on me: Adam Silver with the NBA, David Levy, Dick Ebersol, Jeff Behnke, Larry Bird, Quinn Buckner, Mike Pearl, Moses Malone, Billy Cunningham, Herb Sendek, Ric Bucher, Ernie Johnson, Joey Crawford and Red McCombs. If I forget anybody, I apologize. You have no idea what it meant to me for people like that to take time out of their schedule to check on me. I will never forget that.


Ernie Johnson: Where do things stand legally with you right now?


Charles Barkley: My lawyers are currently working on it right now and really can't get into too much detail.

EJ: Will it go to trial?




CB: No, I don't believe it will go to trial.


EJ: What have they told you about going to jail?


CB: I may be looking at potentially some jail time but don't know anything yet.


EJ: Will you have to go out and do anything else?

CB: I will have to go to alcohol counseling.


EJ: Is that something that you need?


CB: Well, I think it's going to be good for me, to be honest. I need to make sure drinking is not a problem for me. I just want some professionals to talk to me about it.


EJ: What if the professionals tell you stop drinking?


CB: Then I'll have to stop drinking.


EJ: Do you think you'll be able to do that?


CB: I feel I can do anything that I put my mind to.


EJ: What was the first thing that went through your mind when you saw the lights behind you when you were pulled over?


CB: I really wasn't thinking anything, to be honest with you. Until they tell you that you're going to jail, you don't even think like that. You don't think anything bad is going to happen. So I was in shock actually.


EJ: Did you think you were over the limit before they took blood?


CB: No and I thought I did well on the sobriety test. But clearly not good enough.


EJ: When you look back at it now and see that you were almost two times over the legal limit and you got behind the wheel, what do you think?