Barkley, Kaitlan Collins remember Willie Mays, Hank Aaron as ‘greatest athletes from Alabama’

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Charles Barkley, Kaitlan Collins remember Willie Mays, Hank Aaron as ‘greatest athletes from Alabama’

Published: Jun. 18, 2024, 9:47 p.m.

~3 minutes

Charles Barkley pointed out to Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday night that the state of Alabama, generally known for its college football, has a rich tradition of greatness in baseball.

The former NBA star joined Collins on CNN and remembered the Willie Mays, who died Tuesday at 93.

“It was always an honor and a privilege,” Barkley said of the close to 10 times he met Mays. “Anytime I was around him or the late, great Hank Aaron, man, it was pure joy being around royalty.

“Most people don’t even know they were from Alabama. ... When they talk about the greatest athletes from Alabama, he and Hank are right at the top of the list.

“But their greatness and humility are what separated them from anybody else.”

RELATED: Sports world reacts to Mays’ death

Mays was born in Westfield, a mill town that no longer exists, while Aaron was born in Mobile.

Mays’ family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night he had died earlier in the afternoon in the Bay Area.

“My father has passed away peacefully and among loved ones,” son Michael Mays said in a statement released by the club. “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my broken heart for the unwavering love you have shown him over the years. You have been his life’s blood.”

Barkley, who is from Leeds, talked about the legacy Mays and others left behind.

“We’re so young,” he told Collins, a Prattville native. “Most of us Black athletes, we have no idea what these guys have been through. ... I can’t imagine what it’s like to be Black and trying to play sports. ... To try to be great at a sport, and then deal with all the racial strife that these guys had to deal with is what makes them heroes.”

The center fielder, who began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in 1948, was baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer. He was voted into the Hall in 1979, his first year of eligibility, and in 1999 followed only Babe Ruth on The Sporting News’ list of the game’s top stars. The Giants retired his uniform number, 24, and set their AT&T Park in San Francisco on Willie Mays Plaza.

Mays died two days before a game between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals to honor the Negro Leagues at Rickwood Field in Birmingham.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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