Charles Barkley scolded for awkward Billy Ray Bates comment

Charles Barkley asked an awkward question Sunday night, but Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal appeared to make it worse.

Barkley is beloved for his outspokenness and blunt honesty, but every so often, his Inside the NBA co-hosts need to keep him in check. Usually, they do a good job of that. But Sunday night was a struggle.

Ty Jerome helped the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 121-100 win over the Miami Heat with 28 points off the bench during the Game 1 of their first round playoff matchup Sunday night. And during the NBA on TNT postgame show, they put a graphic on the screen that showed Jerome’s 28 points, which were the fourth-most points scored by a player coming off the bench in a playoff debut. Jerome sat right behind Billy Ray Bates, who scored 29 points off the bench in 1980.

“I wonder if he’s still alive?” Barkley bluntly asked about Billy Ray Bates, a question that was met with immediate silence as Johnson and Smith could be seen shaking their heads in disbelief.

Charles Barkley was scolded on ‘Inside the NBA’ for asking if Billy Ray Bates is still alive. pic.twitter.com/c3QID1DRNy

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2025

Barkley quickly doubled down, insisting, “It’s a fair question!” with a chuckle.

“Not on national television!” Smith said. “Maybe under your breath. Maybe Google it.”

“Not unless you know the answer,” Johnson added to dispute Barkley’s claim that it was a fair question. “You do not need to ask a question like that.”

Smith could be heard saying “unfortunately…” in the background as Shaq interjected to say Billy Ray Bates had “passed away.”

“I can’t even ask questions now,” Barkley said, prompting Johnson to state the importance of “social skills.”

“You’re gonna get us fired, Chuck!” added Shaq.

Maybe Johnson, Shaq, and Smith know something that Barkley and the rest of us don’t know. Because if you take Smith’s advice and “Google it,” there is no record of Billy Ray Bates having passed away. According to Wikipedia, Bates is still alive. There are also still services and websites offering to book Billy Ray Bates as a guest speaker, which similarly would imply he’s still alive.

At least Barkley asked the question. The rest of the Inside the NBA crew just rushed to tell us Bates was dead, which, if true, would appear to be breaking news.