Charles Barkley Uses His ‘SNL’ Monologue To Defend Speaking Out As An Athlete (And Make Fun Of Lebron’s Hairline)

Charles Barkley’s fourth time hosting SNL started as expected, with the former NBA great fumbling some of his lines in his monologue before using it say something great. The main focus of his monologue ended up being the year of athletes using their position to speak out on important issues. This gained some new momentum thanks to some recent comments made by Fox News host Laura Ingraham where she told LeBron James to “shut up and dribble.”

According to Barkley, there is nothing wrong with athletes speaking out and saying what they want. He’s the perfect example because he’s said what he’s wanted to say all his career and it hasn’t done him any harm. He is the man who famously said, “I am not a role model,” and he’s still hosting SNL for the fourth time. Not only that, but he’s on television weekly throughout the NBA season and can’t seem to do any wrong.

As he says, dribbling is the fourth thing that LeBron James is great at, right behind making his hairline magically reappear. He also doesn’t think LeBron should shut up ever, speaking about him in the same conversation as Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Michael Jordan — even if the latter was just a way to joke about Space Jam.

It’s an American tradition for athletes to speak out and Barkley makes it clear that nobody should ever try to make it seem otherwise. That and Michael Che is probably pretty racist.

(Via SNL)