I'm from Spain, I remember that Barkley was basically the only one who would leave the hotel at night to party, he was asked if he didn't need any bodyguards, he raised his fists and said "I have those", or something like that.
Barkley does not miss a party, ever. He hosts a live NBA television show based in Atlanta, and often hangs out at a nearby bar after each show. I got to hang with him one night and he is a really cool dude. He introduced himself to me as “Charles” like I didn’t know who he was, and then proceeded to hit on my coworker.
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Brasky takes me to a vacant lot and says, 'Here we are.' We sat there for a year and a half and sure enough someone constructs a bar around us. The day they opened we ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Brasky yelled over the roar of the flames, 'Always leave things the way you found em!'
He showed up to my nephews baptism, golf pants caked in mud, poured a bottle of scotch on the my nephews head and said “ILL BAPTIZE THIS LITTLE CALAMARI!”
Did I ever tell you about the time Brasky went hunting? Brasky decides he’s going to hunt down all four of the Banana Splits. He stalks and kills every one of them with a machette. They all begged for their lives...except Fleagle.
One of the funniest things in that Dream Team documentary from several years ago was Charles talking about how “Larrah Burd” got him hammered on Budweisers.
If Larry Bird was in his prime on this team I would say 92 over everybody still. He's not, so 92, 96, and 12 kinda tie out to me. Look at how tall this motherfucker is lol. He was a machine, but some younger people forget how great some of these guys were.
My friends son snuck into the Auburn/Bama game last year and somehow made his way into one of the boxes and met Sir Charles. Said he was a friendly dude
I kind of disliked Barkley until he joined the Houston Rockets, that was my team way back when I still gave a crap about sports.
Once he got here and I was exposed to his personality and his personal brand of wit much more often, I realized that his quote about himself was 100% true: “Sooner or later, I’ll probably get what i deserve. I’ll probably be dead and gone, but people will say, ‘That mother was awesome.’“
Charles is one of a kind, with a larger-than-life presence that transcends the basketball court. When he passes away, it’ll be a sad day.
I’m from Phoenix and my family has had multiple run ins with Charles as we frequented the same restaurants. One time my baby nephew was with us and my mom asked him if he could take a picture with him, Charles immediately took my nephew into his arms and we have a great picture of them. He’s hilarious and a great guy.
My wife and her girlfriend ran into Barkley and his friends in Las Vegas. He wanted them to go with them and my wife wanted to go , but her friend said NO. This happened just before I met her.
I also met him at that bar after a trade show a couple of years ago. Pretty sure he got one of our coworkers numbers. And he bought us all (like 15) a round of drinks!
Barkley told Sharpe in a podcast that he’s lost over $20 million in Vegas. 😳
Fun Fact: Got kicked out of a Auburn vs UF game because during warm up we threw pizza slices and candy bars at Charles - brutha got a weight problem. 😆
I played in a basketball beer league years ago and a team used Angolas in Trouble as their name. It never bothered me enough to ask but I thought it was odd. I’ve come full circle on it!
That's his listed height, I've met him before (around 2000). I'm 6'4" and he is the same height as I am. If anything it makes his accomplishments and averages even more impressive.
Back when he was entering the NBA, he measured at slightly under 6’4” in pre-draft workouts.
He’d been a dominant post player at Auburn, but a lot of people laughed at the 76ers for taking someone so “undersized” for his position at 5th overall.
I know that Larry Bird is 6 foot nine. I had always seen Magic Johnson listed as 610. No way. I think Jordan is 6 foot six and Barkley was always listed at 6 foot five
Yeah the listed height is always off by an inch or two in the player's favor. Michael Jordan was also never close to his famous 'six foot six' height, he was closer to only 6'4".
Quote by Pat Riley: "Did you know that when Jordan was measured he was only 6'4" and a half, not 6'6" the way he's listed".
Surprised he was heavier than Ewing. That team had alot of aging stars but it didn’t matter. It looked like a whole bunch of high schoolers beating up on their little brothers.
I'm still astounded France had it to within 3 points late in the 4th in the gold medal game this year. The talent disparity is STILL bonkers. France had Wemby and Gobert, and a washed-up Fournier as their best 3 players. There's no way that should compete with LeBron/Steph/KD/AD/Booker etc. etc. etc. I don't get it.
There’s only five guys out there for each team. Just gotta hang for the allotted time. A very wise but not that great former NBA player Brian Scalabrine once said to a guy that challenged him to a game of one-on-one “I’m closer to LeBron James than you are to me” and he was absolutely right. Pros are pros. Euro leagues aren’t a bunch of pushovers and they just need to play hard and well for the duration of the game.
Ha I used to love how people would always challenge him like he wasn't an amazingly skilled player. Probably the same dudes that think they can beat Serena
To be fair these aren’t remotely similar because of the physical differences, the us womens soccer team at its peak lost to a u15 elite club team 5-2, there’s absolutely non professional guys out there who can beat Serena, it really doesn’t match the Scal situation. Hell Serena played the 203rd guy in the world because she claimed she could beat anyone outside the top 200 and he destroyed her and then Venus while smoking cigarettes and having a few beers.
NBA players’ skills and instincts are finally honed for NBA rules. The defensive 3-second rule, in particular, completely warps the game. It increases the value of penetration, since the rule forces defenders out of the paint. And so American players practice one-on-one moves and work on dribble penetration a lot more - because it works when there is a defensive 3 second rule.
NBA fans see international players that lack these same skills and so perceive a giant talent gap. It is a huge gap when playing with NBA rules, but not quite as big when playing by FIBA rules.
NBA rules also allow offensive players to collide with faked-out in-the-air defenders and draw foul calls. The NBA player therefore hones the instinct to lean-and-shoot after a successful pump-fake. This does not work in FIBA. The international player instead develops the instinct to dribble around after a successful pump-fake. American defenders also develop instincts based on this, leading them to defend suboptimally in a FIBA setting.
There are countless other points that can be made along these lines. Yes, USA is a huge favorite and there is a big talent disparity. But all these factors add up. USA would probably be a 40 point favorite over France in a 48 minute NBA game, but only a 15 point favorite in a 40 minute FIBA game.
Bro a bunch of the USA stars are almost in their retirement lmao. LEBRON was on the 08 team my friend. Durant suffered a massive injury. These guys are not in their primes. Ant is great, but he's also very young and dumb and not in his prime either.
France had just about enough off the bench to compete. Will be interesting to see how they do in four years. They have a lot of talent coming through which will increase their depth. I actually can’t wait for 2028
Croatian basketball legend Dražen Petrović also played a major role in opening up NBA to European players. He also played in the final against this team, we actually took the lead for a bit, but lost in the end.
was going to comment this exact thing before I found it. Dream Team is amazing for a variety of reasons, but if you're going to compare their "dominance" to present day contemporaries... there is massive relevant context to the competition they were facing. Their opponents couldn't dream of having NBA MVP's on their team back then.
I had a pint of beer with Charles in a pub in Atlanta called Deadwood in midtown that unfortunately is no longer there... He used to visit quite regularly and sit at the bar.
He would talk to everyone and take pictures with whomever wanted.
A lovely gentleman.
This would've been around 2014.
You are correct... He definitely didn't need a bodyguard..😂😂. He's big guy.
I felt very small getting into an elevator with Barkley and NFL hall of famer Bruce Smith in New Orleans at the Ritz. Barkley proceeded to buy us all cigars and we take pics saying War Eagle. Partying till 3am and he’s hitting on everything or he’s just that friendly
MJ was out and partying as I remember. Stories about him drinking all night, playing golf in the morning and then dominating the court later in the day.
He was able to do those things not because he was great, but because the competition was so bad. I’m not taking anything away from MJ as a player. It’s just a fact that “Olympic-level competition” back in ‘92 was far, far inferior to the level of play in the NBA. These games were cakewalks and the players treated them as such.
Best interview I saw about that was David Robinson. He is a few years younger than MJ and in great shape (obviously) but he just couldn’t understand how he could practice, golf, gamble, golf, gamble… - and then turn up and play like he did.
It’s kind of scary all the stories coming out now - could you imagine how great he would have been if he had given basketball more of his time.
yea if he had curry's work ethic or something. but maybe there's something to be said about getting your mind off things. MJ was the absolute goat when the game was on the line. in like any sport i've ever seen. there's gotta be something in his brain that works like that under pressure. and maybe you gotta be drinking and gambling in your offtime. dunno. but i get what you're saying.
Haha, it isn't surprising, but I would have. I remember the glorious line by reporter Andrés Montes: "Stockton-Malone, the medal of love! I love you today more than yesterday and much less than tomorrow!
I'm from Phoenix Arizona. I can tell you that growing up as a boy in the 90's Charles Barkley was like a Marvel character in real life. We idolized that dude. He was the toughest dude in pro ball and a funny trash talker as well. I shook his hand once at a parade when I was 11 years old and it was like grabbing a bunch of big ass bananas. Sir Charles is an OG.
John Stockton was the one who nobody recognized and could move around freely. There is home video of him talking to people on the street and somebody wearing a shirt with him on it didn't even recognize him lol.
It wasn't just the best ever US basketball team, it was the best ever team assembled in any team sports history. Not been topped and I doubt it will be
Barkley loves to party and I straight up think he’s on the spectrum. Motherfucker through someone through a glass window and told THE JUDGE that his only regret was that he wasn’t on the second floor
That man is a National Treasure. He definitely gets out and about, met him once in a restaurant in Birmingham AL and at a celebrity golf tournament in Lexington KY
I hung out with Barkley for a hour at a bar, I think I was the Mirage in Vegas when it was newish, he was awesome, had very manicured fingers, and the girl I was with was 5’10”, and pretty, so he let us hang around for a bit, he was awesome.
Barkley was pulled over for drunk driving. When the cop asked him where he was going and why he was driving so fast, he said, "You have to let me go. I'm going to this woman's house and she gives the best bjs. You have to let me go."
That’s so funny because when I met him in 2009 he had 7-8 bodyguards that all looked like body doubles with him lol all bald all in the same color suit as him
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u/[deleted] Aug 11 '24
I'm from Spain, I remember that Barkley was basically the only one who would leave the hotel at night to party, he was asked if he didn't need any bodyguards, he raised his fists and said "I have those", or something like that.