Just before Christmas the NBA on TNT crew broke out some old footage of Charles Barkley as a young Philadelphia 76ers forward. At the time Barkley had hair on his head and much gentler voice, which he used to wish NBA fans “Happy Holidays from the Philadelphia 76ers.”
Barkley’s voice was so soft the crew couldn’t help but mimic him for the rest of the segment. Here’s a taste of soft-voiced Barkley from 1992:
But that’s nothing next to the munchkin voice filter they recently put on Chuck and Ernie Johnson in the video below. Talking “icks” and licks, Barkley gets accused of his tireless name-dropping and of wrongly ditching underwear in a bonfire years back.
But the ick that stands out is the way Barkley cleans his phone. He licks the screen and then wipes it on his shirt. Then through his munchkin voice filter, Barkley defends himself saying “nothing cleaner than my tongue.”
Um, really? Barkley has said a lot of questionable things in his life, but surely it is top 5 ludicrous for Barkley to claim he possesses this absurd physical trait — a clean tongue.
Take a dental professional’s word for it. Dr. Julie Gillis writes, “An abundant amount of bacteria live in the rough surfaces on the tongue. The bacteria build-up, and often leave a white film on the tongue – this film can also be yellow, brown, or even black! This film harbors millions of sulfur-producing bacteria that cause bad breath.”
It’s unlikely that Charles Barkley’s tongue functions any differently than most, though it sure gets more exercise than the rest of him! Fans love the bit, which emanates from The Steam Room podcast. “This is gold,” writes one.
Then again, even if Barkley’s tongue is clean before he licks his phone, there’s no chance it stays that way. According to Seattle Times journalist Bobby Caina Calvan, your phone is covered with 25,127 bacteria per square inch, making it one of the dirtiest objects we touch each day.
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