Photograph: Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesĬharles was certainly not a secret to the Sixers. “I didn’t leave college for $75,000,” Charles replied to his new agent in a not-so-calm tone.Ĭharles Barkley’s photoshoot for Sports Illustrated referenced his love for pizza. “You do know if the Sixers draft you they are going to give you $75,000, right?” Luchnick said to Charles. Then, Charles’s agent, Lance Luchnick, had some tough news to deliver to his prized client. In other words, whoever was getting picked by Philadelphia, a franchise capped out at around $4.5m, would not have the security of a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal.Ĭharles had already lost about 10lbs that summer, a request made by the 76ers before a pre-draft weigh-in. Teams with payrolls at or above the salary cap could only offer their first-round picks a one-year deal worth $75,000. To address the escalating problems plaguing the league, the collective bargaining agreement announced for the 1984–85 season helped institute a salary cap. All of this came as salaries had spiked too quickly and several franchises were in danger of folding. Critics supported the notion that by pointing to Marvin Gaye’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at the 1983 All-Star Game, a groundbreaking, funky version of the national anthem meant to reflect the Black excellence of the players on the court. On top of the rampant cocaine abuse among players, TV executives and advertisers felt the league was not marketable to mainstream America because it was too Black. "I'll be long gone, but I would like him to know that I accomplished some things in my life.This excess consumption was never the plan, but the league’s unstable footing complicated Charles’s financial future. I hope he does some research on me," Barkley said. "Then when he gets older, I want him to Google me. The experience of spending time with his grandson lives up to the hype, and Barkley said he's focused on spending as much time as possible with Henry "It is by far and away the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my life," Barkley said. Every bit the proud grandpa, he broke out a video of Henry laughing to show the 60 Minutes team. Barkley said he's never felt joy like this. His daughter Christiana recently had a son, Henry. Now 60, Barkley is focused on his own legacy. Not long after, Barkley was traded to the Phoenix Suns where he was named MVP in 1993.Īnd months after retiring in 2000, he embarked on a broadcasting career delivering blunt, provocative commentary and earning more than he ever did as a player. "I'm getting all the dirt off my shoulders. "I am only gonna play basketball 'cause I'm great at it and I love to play," Barkley said he vowed after the incident. Gomez, a Spanish teacher who'd flunked him, which prevented him from graduating with the rest of his high school class. Barkley said his play had been fueled by anger at his dad, who left the family when Barkley was a year old, and Ms. "I was sittin' in my hotel room, and I was like, 'you are the biggest loser in the world.'" "I got suspended, rightfully so," Barkley said. In 1991 while playing with the 76ers in New Jersey, he spat at a heckler and inadvertently hit a young girl. One of Barkley's most infamous moments, though, came not because of a controversial opinion, but on the court. "He got a mouth like granny," one of his friends agreed during a visit to Barkley's hometown of Leeds, Alabama. His friends say it's a trait he inherited from his grandmother, who helped raise Barkley alongside his mother. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, it didn't take long for the kid from Alabama to become as famous for his quotability as for his furious rebounding. After Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was suspended for flashing a gun in an Instagram Live video, Barkley used the opportunity to address gun violence.īarkley's proclivity for sharing exactly what is on his mind began when he was still a young NBA player. Sixty nights a year on "Inside the NBA," Barkley offers his take on everything and everyone from the Milwaukee Bucks to LeBron James, and no topic is out of bounds. Jordan isn't the only one to find himself in Barkley's crosshairs. "He got my number," Barkley told Wertheim. If their relationship is ever to be mended, Barkley said the ball is in Jordan's court. Jordan's greatness doesn't give him "the right to be a jerk," Barkley continued. "Because I have zero credibility if I criticize other people in the same boat and not criticize my best friend." For Barkley, who makes a living sharing his unvarnished opinions as an analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA," there's no room for a double standard.
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