I love NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley. Always have. Beyond his basketball talent. What I most love about Sir Charles is you never have to wonder what’s on his mind; he’ll tell you whether you want to know or not. Such was the case Thursday about the Breonna Taylor shooting.

Rioting broke out in Louisville, Kentucky, on Wednesday and quickly spread to other cities after a grand jury failed to charge any officers with shooting Taylor to death in her apartment on March 13.

On the Thursday night TNT pregame show for game four of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Barkley sounded off about his thoughts on the case. And then some.

First and foremost, Barkley said the shooting of Taylor shouldn’t be compared with the shootings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

“I don’t think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that. I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I  think this one was —  the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of … across the board.

“But I am worried to lump all these situations in together. And I just feel bad that the young lady lost her life. But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop.

“So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I just don’t think we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery.”

An assist from Shaq.

Fellow Hall-of-Famer and co-host Shaquille O’Neal  — who in 2015 became a part-time police officer in Miami —  agreed with Barkley.

“I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in. You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges.

“When you talk about murder, you have to show intent.

“A homicide occurred and we’re sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back.”

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson, not so much.

In my June piece titled Former NBA Player: 2020 Season Would ‘Take the Attention Off What We Fighting For’, I reported on former NBA player Stephen Jackson calling on the league to suspend the entire 2020 in protest over the death of George Floyd in May.

Needless to say, Jackson disagreed with Barkley and O’Neal.

“Big fella — Chuck. There you go again with the same clown sh*t. Lemme tell ya this, man. Dat’s an insult to Breonna’s family. Breonna is in the same category with George Floyd — my twin. Because they both was [sic] murdered by police.

“Them bullets went for her; she did nothing wrong. So that’s why she was murdered. That’s why Floyd was murdered. So for you to get up on TV and say all that clown sh*t that you sayin’ just ’cause you got a platform.

“You lookin’ real weak by the day; you lookin’ real weak by the day. You try to jump on the narrative. […]”

Uh-huh, Stephen.

“Big fella” and “Chuck” have not only the conviction but the courage, to speak the truth — knowing full well they will be skewered by you and your ilk. The narrative, Stephen, is what you, Black Lives Matter, the liberal media, and the Democrat Party push on a daily basis; every time a police action involving a Black American occurs. Facts matter not.

“Defund the cops?”

Barkley went after the “defund the police” insanity, as well. “We need to be careful,” he said. “I hear these fools on TV talking about “defund the police” and things like that.”

“We need police reform and prison reform and things like that. Because you know who ain’t gonna defund the cops? White neighborhoods and rich neighborhoods.

So, that notion they keep saying that, I’m like, wait a minute, who are black people supposed to call, Ghostbusters?

“We have crime in our neighborhoods. We need police reform. But like I say, white people — especially rich which people — they always gonna have cops.”

Barkley and O’Neal were right, of course — but being right and speaking out against the BLM narrative just won’t do. Again, truth matters not. As a result, detractors on Twitter would have none of it.

Aaannd Twitter promptly loses its mind.

Conservative political analyst and Fox News contributor Candace Owens congratulated Barley and O’Neal for having the courage to tell the truth about the Breonna Taylor case — noting that it’s rare for “respected athletes” to “buck the “DISHONEST media narrative.”

Congratulations to @SHAQ and Charles Barkley for having the courage to TELL THE TRUTH about #BreonnaTaylor on live TV.

It is rare for respected athletes to have the spine to buck the DISHONEST media narrative but the facts are the facts.

Try it Lebron!https://t.co/lzPjuQcHyI

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) September 25, 2020

Numerous people agreed with Owens; there were plenty of commenters who did not, some with a vengeance.

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal are attacked on social media for defending police officers who killed Breonna Taylor https://t.co/ohfhAmqthV pic.twitter.com/OKBwGRkuzB

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 25, 2020

@SHAQ you and that donut-eatin’ muh fucka just SHUT THE FUCK UP‼️ You bamas are some clowns. Just the type MFs Dr. Claud Anderson be talking about. #meritoriousmanumission #inappropriatebehavior https://t.co/MJ9SmDuyuW via @usatoday

— 🇺🇸 (((RealClayDade))) 🇺🇸 (@ClayDade) September 25, 2020

Why NOT? It STILL Wreaks of Police that Practice Racial Profiling! Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal: Don’t ‘lump’ killing of Breonna Taylor with George Floyd, Ahmaud Arberyhttps://t.co/5d8kLkuZxj

— Katherine Lunbery (@KatherineLunbe2) September 25, 2020

Black women’s lives don’t get much attention and Black people, particularly Black men, will make sure there are stipulations.

Charles and Shaq will win white fans and hopefully lose Black fans.

***https://t.co/NieaVraJGA

— Dr. Kimya Nuru Dennis, 365 Diversity, LLC (@365DiversityLLC) September 25, 2020

Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal just defended the police killing Breonna Taylor on national television. And you wonder why we keep saying NO ONE cares about black women. Not even these black men with these prominent platforms can think beyond their paychecks.

— ✨10k Hours✨ (@pen_and_a_lens) September 25, 2020

And on it went — including multiple tweets I chose not to include.

So this is where we now exist.

Facts, evidence, sworn testimony, a desire to learn the truth, and avoid the Black Lives Matter narrative. All are now nonexistent on the Left.

That is frightening. Chances are, it will get worse before it even has a chance of getting better. (See: SCOTUS confirmation hearing.)