Pro Basketball

Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers apologized for a postgame comment that women’s groups claimed made light of wife-beating, a club official said.

Barkley, who said the remarks were meant as a joke, was quoted as saying after a tough Nov. 3 victory over the New Jersey Nets that “this is a game that if you lose, you go home and beat your wife and kids. Did you see my wife jumping up and down at the end of the game? That’s because she knew I wasn’t going to beat her.�