Politics 'really should stay totally, completely out of sports,' retired NBA star tells Levin

Professional basketball legend Rick Barry has had enough of politics making its way into sports.

"It wasn't even something that came up," Barry told LevinTV host Mark Levin on Sunday night's episode of Life, Liberty & Levin.

"The writers used to come out with the guys and go have a beer with them after a game," Barry remembered. "I mean, now they're all looking for the sensational story; they're looking for what's happening in your life; what's happening outside of the game. They don't just stick to the game."

"Politics should stay out of sports," Barry later added. "It really should stay totally, completely out of sports."

Barry, who is the only player to have led the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring, was named to 12 all-star teams during his professional career and joined the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. He spent some of the most notable parts of his professional career with the San Francisco Warriors, now the Golden State Warriors.

Barry also responded to the practice of NFL players protesting by taking a knee during the national anthem at football games.

"There's a time and a place for everything, okay?" Barry said. "And if you want to have an opportunity to demonstrate about something or to express your opinion about something, the time is not to do it while you're being paid at your job; I really do believe that."

He also aired out some of his frustrations with current trends in American politics.

"So many things that go on in our government today are an insult to my intelligence," Barry said. "How do you justify a country that's so far in debt to borrow more money and give it away to countries that don't like you? ... And then we spend billions of dollars on people who aren't even supposed to be in this country."

"The way that we treat our military or the people who have helped to make this country what it is today is reprehensible," Barry continued. "Why don't we take this money that we're borrowing and giving away and the billions we're spending on all of these immigrants and help our own people out first?"

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