Charles Barkley comes out strongly against Indiana's 'religious freedom' law

On Friday afternoon Charles Barkley issued a statement through his agent condemning Indiana's Religious Freedom Act, a law that grants businesses the right to refuse service to gay and lesbian couples.

“Discrimination in any form is unacceptable to me," said Barkley. "As long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state, I strongly believe big events such as the Final Four and Super Bowl should not be held in those states’ cities.”

The NCAA has already issued a statement about the law, saying the organization was "especially concerned" about how the law might affect student-athletes and employees.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said in the statement:

"The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events. We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees.

"We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week's Men's Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill. Moving forward, we intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce."

Update: Fellow former NBA player Reggie Miller has also issued a statement.