{"id":576907,"date":"2026-02-02T08:22:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/576907\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:22:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:22:50","slug":"charles-barkley-calls-nba-star-paul-georges-25-game-suspension-fishy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/576907\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Barkley Calls NBA Star Paul George’s 25-Game Suspension ‘Fishy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

NBA superstar and Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Paul George has been suspended for 25 games, the league announced on Saturday, January 31 \u2014 but Charles Barkley<\/a> isn\u2019t buying the explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something fishy going on here,\u201d the NBA Hall of Famer said on Saturday\u2019s episode of Inside the NBA. \u201cNow, I don\u2019t joke around about mental health, but if you\u2019re taking something for mental health, that\u2019s got to be an outlier to the NBA. Like my girl Judge Judy says, \u2018If it don\u2019t make sense to me, it don\u2019t make sense,\u2019 because I like Paul George \u2026 but if you\u2019re taking something for mental health, even if it\u2019s on a list, you should get a hall pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cThere\u2019s never a good reason to take a performance-enhancing drug. But if you\u2019re taking a drug for your mental health, you should get a hall pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the league, George violated the NBA\/NBPA anti-drug program. The NBA did not clarify how the star violated the policy or which drug \u2014 or drugs \u2014 was allegedly involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past few years, I\u2019ve discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication,\u201d George told ESPN<\/a> on Saturday of his suspension. \u201cI take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates and the Philly fans for my poor decision making during this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cI am focused on using this time to make sure that my mind and body are in the best condition to help the team when I return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Milwaukee
\n Paul George Mitchell Leff\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 25-game suspension started on Saturday, with the Philadelphia 76ers\u2019 game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and could run until March 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhiladelphia 76ers forward Paul George has been suspended without pay for 25 games for violating the terms of the NBA\/NBPA Anti-Drug Program, it was announced today by the NBA,\u201d read a statement from the league. \u201cGeorge\u2019s suspension will begin with tonight\u2019s game between the 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans at Xfinity Mobile Arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

George \u2014 a nine-time NBA All-Star \u2014 signed a 4-year, $212 million contract with the 76ers in July 2024, after spending five seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. Per ESPN, this suspension will cost George $11.7 million.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Charles
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n Related: Charles Barkley Slams \u2018Pigs at the NFL\u2019 for Scheduling Games on Christmas<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSir Charles Barkley has spoken, and he\u2019s not happy with the NFL. Barkely, 62, unloaded on NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the league for scheduling three games on Christmas Day, a holiday traditionally reserved for the NBA, where Barkley played for 16 seasons. \u201cI mean, it is tremendous because you got five games,\u201d Barkley said [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n

Barkley\u2019s fellow NBA analyst and Hall of Famer Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a> also chimed in on Inside the NBA.<\/p>\n

\t\tThank You!<\/p>\n

You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey give us a booklet on what to do and what not to do,\u201d he said. \u201cThey give us a booklet. They also give you, inside the booklet, how long it takes to get rid of something. So I don\u2019t want to elaborate on what he was doing, but stuff like this should not happen because they give you a booklet that says don\u2019t take this, this, this. Letter of the law. Do not take any of these things. And when you\u2019ve been in the league this long, you know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

George is averaging 16 points per game so far this season \u2014 his 16th in the league.<\/p>\n

The 76ers sit at 27-21 on the year, currently sitting in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA superstar and Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Paul George has been suspended for 25 games, the league announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,7,74,6,678,207,3817,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-576907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","14":"tag-philadelphia76ers","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116000075481220009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}