Charles Barkley Responds in Tuscaloosa (AUDIO)

Thursday night as basketball fans turned on Inside the NBA on TNT, Charles Barkley appeared on screen with a head bandage.

While the image appeared strange Barkley was prompted, giving the response:

"Being the Auburn guy that I am, I want to be first class. I went down to The University of Alabama to congratulate the Crimson Tide on winning the BCS Championship, and I got mugged. I got mugged in Tuscaloosa, Ernie (Johnson), and my credit cards are missing."

No sooner than Barkley uttered the words, Alabama fans took to social media to respond the the former Auburn basketball star's comments.

Friday night Barkley joined The Game in Tuscaloosa to clarify his comments

"Naw man i was just trying to have some fun. When you're on TV it's your job to entertain people. I was just trying to have some fun. You guys are king of the world right now and i have nothing but respect for your program, but i had to have some fun with y'all at your expense."

During the course of the interview Barkley was offered an olive branch. All would be forgiven if he would just utter the words "Roll Tide" to which Barkley responded:

"Let me tell you something, i'd rather drink gasoline and set myself on fire"

While Barkley still carries a lot of pride for his former program as an Auburn alum, he still carries a lot of respect for the Alabama football program:

"Auburn people get mad at me when I say it, but we'll never be as good of a program as the University of Alabama. I mean, you guys have one of the top five programs ever...If we can be competitive and beat you 2 of 5 years, I'd be happy with that to be honest"