

He once dunked the ball so hard into the hoop that he shifted the 2,240-pound basket support around six-inches to the right. Unlike many 6-foot, 4-inch players in the NBA, Barkley was a nasty dunker. Don’t ask him anytime soon to recite the alphabet in Spanish as you do not want to poke a grumpy bear.
CHARLES BARKLEY WIFE 2019 PROFESSIONAL
Luckily, this is not a skill that Sir Charles needed to be a professional basketball player. Nevertheless, I could see him chewing up players on the court, but the remote seems a little overboard.ĭidn’t Graduate with his High School Classįew people know that the charismatic, charming professional basketball player-turned broadcaster did not graduate with his high school class due to one failure in Spanish. It is never easy to constantly be in the spotlight and have the media talking about you on a regular basis. Maybe he was nervous, maybe he was anxious at the outcome of the game, who knows. He chewed up one of his remotes so bad that it eventually became completely unusable. When Barkley used to watch television, and he still may do this, he was gnaw on the remote, especially if he was watching an important basketball game. This was a long way from his birth weight. He specialized in rebounded and that was mainly due to his aggressiveness on the court as well as his size. Luckily for him, his family and the basketball world, he recovered and grew to be 6-foot, 6-inch 250 pound power forward during his prime. He had so many issues that at six weeks old, baby Charles was given a blood transfusion. Despite his impressive numbers, he did not gain any attention from the college scouts until the high schools semi’s where he scored 26 points.īarkley was born underweight and with numerous health problems. During his senior year he averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 boards per game to lead his team to a 26-3 record en route to the state semifinals.

However, during the summer between junior and senior year, he shot up to 6’4” thus earning him a starting position on the varsity team. Ironically, he failed to make the varsity team and was named as a backup. As a junior, he already stood 5’10” and weighed 220 pounds. Despite Barkley having several monumental games, the Celtics just outplayed the 76ers enough to beat them.īorn in Leeds, Alabama, only ten miles from Birmingham, Barkley attended Leeds High School. During this same year, the 76ers advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals where they lost to the Boston Celtics under the leadership of Larry Bird. This was evident during his rookie year when he averaged 14 points and 8.6 rebounds per game thus earning his way onto the NBA All-Rookie Team. For Barkley, he did not need a major transition into professional basketball. When he arrived, the team was just a year removed from the NBA title and had a stocked veteran roster including, Dr.

To honor his NBA legacy and 16-years playing professional basketball, the following is a list of 20 things you didn’t know about Charles Barkley.īarkley started his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers. He had a long and successful career that has helped him get into the broadcasting role which he has today. He set many records during his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets. Off the court he was a nice and warm person but do not get in his way on the court unless you want to be trampled. Charles Barkley is a man of charisma, emotion and passion. “Barkley is like a superhero who strolls out of the rubble of a collapsed building, calmly, brushing dust off his shoulders as if nothing ever happened.” This quote from Phil Taylor of Sports Illustrated in 2008 really hits the nail on the head during Barkley’s career.
