Charles Barkley endorses legendary coach for U.S. Senate

Former NBA star turned NBA media personality Charles Barkley has never been afraid to share his political opinions publicly. And recently, his latest political thoughts surprisingly included current Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl.

Recently, former college football coach Tommy Tuberville announced his plans to run for Governor of Alabama in 2026, which would leaving his current position as a U.S. Senator from Alabama vacant.

During a recent conversation with Roy S. Johnson of AL.com, Barkley outlined how he had spoken to Bruce Pearl about getting into politics and potentially taking Tuberville’s soon to be vacant U.S. Senator seat should he win the seat as Governor, explaining how he would “100% support” Pearl should he have an interest in a political career.

“I respect and trust him. I just told him to do what he wants to do,” Barkley told Johnson. “Obviously, he’s made Auburn basketball relevant, which makes me happy. I said, ‘Hey, man, as much as I love you being the head basketball coach at Auburn, you taking Auburn to two Final Fours, something I never thought would happen, but I do understand.’ If he wants to run, I’m gonna support him 100%.”

While Pearl hasn’t exactly made any kind of indication that he does have an interest in politics, he has used his platform to speak about certain political issues. And notably, Pearl is the chairman of the U.S. Israel Education Association and has been quite vocal about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran.

One factor that makes it quite unlikely that Pearl would make any move to a political career anytime soon is the fact that Pearl is in the midst of a long-term contract at Auburn that would keep him with the program at least through the 2029-30 college basketball season.

Still, it seems as if Charles Barkley is holding out hope that Pearl at least considers a career in politics sometime down the road, even if it’s not something he does by 2026.