Charles Barkley has a couple words if you think he has a gambling problem

Two years ago, Charles Barkley said he had probably lost $10 million gambling and that it might be a problem. That he liked gambling but had to learn to do so without losing so much money.

Now he tells GQ that he doesn’t have a problem (via TrueHoop):

“Yeah, I like to gamble. And I’m going to keep gambling. And I just have to tell people, if they don’t like it, they can kiss my a$%. F#@% ‘em. You know, I quit gambling for a while. But then I was like, “Why am I quitting gambling? I don’t have a problem.”

It’s Barkley’s money. He’s earned it. If he feels the need to spend it to help make sure Steve Wynn has a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in, so be it. (I know we’re all a little concerned about the Wynn family and have tried to help out in our own way.) It’s America, he can do what he wants.

But gambling addition is a serious issue. Just because you can afford to lose is different than saying you do or don’t have a problem. Barkley may not have a problem, but the flippancy of the answer to what is a serious problem for many. I wish he would use his pulpit to help spread that message a little. But it’s America, he can do what he wants.