Charles Barkley, who threw a man through a window, says Zeke needs to grow up

NBA legend Charles Barkley thinks Ezekiel Elliott needs to grow up.

The controversial but loveable TNT analyst, who has had his own run-ins with the law over the years, said famous people in today’s society, especially athletes, need to be cognizant of cell phones filming at all times.

Barkley was in Dallas Wednesday for SMU’s Athletic Forum luncheon on Wednesday and was a guest on Bad Radio on KTCK/1310 AM.

“You just have to live with it,” Barkley said. “I’ve done stupid things in my life but we don’t get the luxury of getting away with it now.”

Barkley went into detail about the time in 1997 when he threw a man through a bar window after he threw a drink on Barkley.

He was with the Houston Rockets at the time and enjoying some drinks with teammates, including fellow Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler. Barkley, who was 34 at the time, retaliated and eventually threw the man through a glass window at Phineas Phoggs, an Orlando bar. He was arrested and charged with aggravated violence and resisting arrest without violence.

“All of sudden I got wet,” he said. A stunned Barkley asked his teammates what just happened and Drexler told him: “That guy just threw a drink on you.”

Barkley, who will be a guest on The NFL Today on CBS from 11 a.m. to noon Sunday, said he has no regrets 20 years later. Well, except for one.

“I regret we were on the first floor. I wish we were on the third floor,” Barkley joked, echoing his famous line to the judge during a court appearance.

Barkley says he stays completely away from social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook to steer clear of the back and forth with “idiots.”

Barkley cautioned that today’s sports stars have to keep a mental shield up when out in the public.

“There are five to seven people filming us at all times,” he said. “They have to be filming you the whole time [to get the incriminating footage], which is a perfect example of why, when you’re out in public, you can never let your guard down.”

Elliott, who turned 22 in July, was suspended by the NFL six games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. He has been accused of domestic violence by an ex-girlfriend, was caught on camera groping a woman at a St. Patrick’s Day parade and he is accused of punching a man at a Dallas bar. Elliott has appealed the suspension.

Barkley added, without prompt from either host Dan McDowell or Bob Sturm, that hitting a woman is wrong.

“It’s never appropriate to hit a woman,” he said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Charles Barkley, who threw a man through a window, says Zeke needs to grow up."