Charles Barkley is a proud Auburn alum who has donated a lot of money to the school, but the Hall of Fame former NBA player has no interest in becoming the face of his alma mater’s NIL collective.
Barkley spoke about the donations he has made to Auburn during a Wednesday morning interview with the “McElroy & Cubelic in the Morning” show on WJOX 94.5FM in Birmingham, Ala. He said he has given his former school money and will continue to do so, but Barkley made it clear there is a limit.
“I’ve given more money to Auburn, legal or illegal, than any athlete in the history of the school. And the notion that I’m going to come up with a couple million dollars every year so that we can be good at basketball and football — that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Barkley said.
Barkley earns more than $20 million per year from TNT alone, and that does not include any endorsements or other sources of income. The 62-year-old said he is not going to risk squandering his fortune to help the Tigers win games.
“I’m really proud of what I’ve given Auburn and I’m going to continue to give them money, but I’m not going to give them millions of dollars every year so we can be good at sports,” Barkley added. “That’s just stupid. People will be talking about me behind my back: ‘How did that guy go broke? How did he lose all that money?’ Because y’all wanted to be good at sports, fool!”
Barkley: "One thing I'm pretty sure of, Black and broke don't work, in any municipality in the world. I've been rich for a long time. I plan to stay that way. But the notion that I'm going to give Auburn millions of dollars every year so we can be good at sports, that's just not…
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) May 14, 2025
Barkley has been a big supporter of Auburn’s basketball program since he played for the school from 1981-1984. We saw an example of that when the former SEC Player of the Year had a classy gesture for an Auburn player after the Tigers lost in the Final Four this year.
At the same time, Barkley has spoken openly about how he believes college sports are headed down a dangerous path with how much money top athletes are being paid. No matter how much money Barkley makes, he does not want to contribute to a culture that he believes is quickly getting out of control.
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