TNT Studio Hosts Opine On Election, Say People Need To Give Trump A Chance

TNT's NBA studio panelists show led off Thursday's double-header not with a preview of Dwyane Wade's return to Miami as a member of the Bulls, but with a discussion about the presidential election. Charles Barkley said he was "shell-shocked” after Donald Trump was elected, noting, "I'm not going to lie, I was totally surprised at the election results." But he said the country now needs to "move on." Barkley: "I was disappointed because my candidate didn't win. ... But it’s over now. He’s going to be the President of the United States. We have to respect the office and we have to give him a chance. That's the bottom line." He continued, "Everything (Trump) said in the past, that's water under the bridge. We have to give him a chance, and we have to support him because he’s the President of the United States of America." Kenny Smith said, "You just can't be naive to think that anybody who voted for him is a racist or narcissist or any kind of -ism. But you still have to acknowledge that he made so many of those misogynistic, racist and narcissistic remarks. You have to acknowledge that, and that's disheartening to the people who did not vote for him like myself.” Smith: "He has to be more inclusive for sure." Shaquille O'Neal said, "We have to give him a chance to do his job. Candidate Trump made a lot of promises. Now we just hope President-elect Trump, soon to be President Trump -- hopefully he can make this world a better place for us to live in. ... It’s over and done. We live in a democracy. He won, he’s the president. Now we have to give him a chance.”

MATTER OF THE HEART: Host Ernie Johnson admitted he "couldn't vote for either" Trump or Hillary Clinton, saying he felt like voters "had been dealt a bad hand" with the two major party candidates. He noted there were "trust issues with Hillary Clinton I couldn't get past, and there was this inflammatory rhetoric from Donald Trump, which to me was incomprehensible and indefensible." Johnson: "For the first time going to the polls in 42 years, I hit the write-in button and I voted for John Kasich. I left knowing that John Kasich wasn't going to win, but I left with a clear conscious because I hadn't settled.” But Johnson noted he was “encouraged that there will be a difference between President Trump and the campaigning Trump” after watching video of his visit to the White House Thursday to meet with President Obama. Johnson: “We have to give him a chance, but here's the deal. I just hope that he’s all in in fixing the wounds in this country and the divides that separate this country. And I want to be part of that too. For me to be part of it, I have to look into the mirror and say how am I going to be a better ... American, how can I be a fountain and not a drain” ("Bulls-Heat," TNT, 11/10).

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD: In New Jersey, Steve Popper writes it is a "credit" to NBA players that they have "taken on a role whether you agree with their politics or not." The responses are "respectful and thoughtful." Much of the "credit has gone to" former NBA Commissioner David Stern for "changing the image of players in the NBA." However, the "real credit has to go to the players themselves, who have risked their endorsement dollars and some of their fan base to educate themselves and to speak out" (Bergen RECORD, 11/11).

SKIPPING THE TOUR: With on-air pundits wondering whether athletes will decline to visit a Trump White House, ESPN’s Dan Le Batard said, "You can’t force anybody to show up." Le Batard: "All of these guys will choose individually whether they support this president or not. It’d be nice if you supported the office and the country, but if you don’t want to meet this president, then you don’t want to meet this president.” ESPN’s Bomani Jones said teams are "going to be invited” to the White House after winning championships and "are going to accept." Jones: "I don’t know what they’re going to do after the fact, but I know this: If you do show up, the teams are going to make sure you act right because you’re not going to embarrass them on TV” (“Highly Questionable,” ESPN, 11/10).