"Do not write a check" - When Charles Barkley had a piece of infamous advice for those involved in illegal activities

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Charles Barkley has offered up a ton of advice on air over the years. Perhaps one of Barkley’s funniest pieces of advice came in 2019 when the legend joked about actor Jussie Smollett’s infamous hate crime hoax.

On Jan. 29, 2019, Smollett staged and reported a hoax in Chicago involving two disguised Nigerian brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo. He had the brothers shout racial and homophobic slurs at him, pour bleach on him and put a noose around his neck.

The incident became one of the top news stories in America, but was later proven to be a hoax. Police uncovered a $3,500 check that Smollett had written to the brothers as well as incriminating text messages he had sent them.

Following the news of the hoax, Barkley had some fun with the incident and offered up some simple yet hilarious advice.

“America, let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks,” Barkley said.

“If you're gonna break the law, do not write a check. … Get cash, man. I never use the ATM. Now, I heard you can only get $200 out of it or $500. He’s about to make a lot of stops at the ATM. America, do not write checks when you're committing illegal activities.”

Following Barkley’s joke, the “Inside the NBA” crew burst out into a fit of laughter and disbelief that he had brought up the incident on air.

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Charles Barkley told Jussie Smollett that he should have moved to a wealthy neighborhood

NBA legend-turned-TNT analyst Charles Barkley

Later in his segment regarding the Jussie Smollett scandal, Charles Barkley cracked one more joke about the actor’s situation. The NBA legend joked that Smollett should have just used his money to move to a wealthy neighborhood instead of trying to make himself a victim.

“Jussie, you wasted all that damn time and money,” Barkley said.

“You know what you should have did? Just went up to Liam Neeson's neighborhood. You could have solved all your damn problems.”

Three years after the incident, Smollett was sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, including 150 days in jail, in March 2022. He was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine for making false police reports.

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