Charles Barkley, Child at Heart

Right up front let me say that if I bumped into Charles Barkley today he would not know who I was. However with some prompting I'm confident he would remember when and where our paths crossed. When I see him in the NBA or NCAA studio shows I'm impressed by the fact he is still who he as always been, a child at heart.  There is nothing phony about Charles Barkley.  He says what is on his mind.  Politically correct?  Not on purpose.  Authentic?  Absolutely.  You love him or you....love him. He is refreshingly honest in a world where people are afraid to own up to their words.

I first met Charles when he was playing with my friend Tim McCormick on the 76er's.  Tim and Charles spent the summer of 84 with Bobby Knight and the US Olympic try outs.  Tim would host a summer basketball camp at his high school in Clarkston, Michigan and invite an team mate to come and speak and play at the camp.  This particular year he invited Charles.  It might have been 1987 plus or minus a year.

So there were a few stories from this week.  First, we would sneak off and play golf one afternoon each week.  Usually there were adult beverages involved.  For those that don't know Charles has had a well documented relationship with golf.  Despite getting lessons from the very best teacher in the world, Butch Harmon for example, he is still probably has the worst swing in the history of the game.  There have been television specials devoted to correcting his game.  It's likely/possible the first time Charles ever played golf he played with Tim, his brothers and I.  This explains a lot.

One evening we all went out to a local sports bar after camp.  Charles left us on the first floor while he and his Benjamins went upstairs to play some pool.  Before he left he dropped his American Express on the table and encouraged us to make sure each of the fine women in the club had a glass of Dom Perignon to enjoy.  We went through at least a case, and $3000 + on his credit card.  I believe he and his favorite photos of Benjamin Franklin were parting ways upstairs as well.

The next morning we went to camp and Charles was the featured speaker.  One question you can always count on from young kids is "can you dunk?"  Charles explained his hands were small and he couldn't palm he ball, important for dunking, therefore he needed to use both hands to dunk.  He is a tall man, 6'3'" but hardly a giant.  He and I are about the same size (although I'm happy to say he is larger today than I).

Of course the kids didn't want to hear excuses, they wanted to see a dunk.  Charles was slightly hung over from the night before.  Three attempts resulted in three balls bouncing off the back of the rim and out to the gym.  Finally on attempt 4 he made it.  It was slightly embarrassing for the Round Mound of rebound.

Later we finished the day be playing a little full court 5 on 5.  I got to guard Charles, which really was more like laying down a red carpet so he could make a great move and then getting out of the way.  However, at the end of the day he proclaimed I was "the finest defender he had ever faced."
We had fun with that quote and he said it a few more times that week.

During the Q & A Charles offered a few answers I'll never forget.  One kid asked "where would you be if you weren't playing basketball?"  Charles said directly, "I would be in jail or I would be dead.  All of my friends I hung out with are dead or in jail.  If the coaches hadn't pushed me and kept me away from my friends I would have hung out with them and for sure I would not have been smart enough to end up any different."

Another, "did you graduate from Auburn?,"  "No but I have a couple of people who work for me who did."

Then my favorite quote, "The world has enough dumb people....don't be one."

A few years later I was working for the UI Baseball staff and we were in Miami to play the Hurricanes.  After our game we went out to Dan Marino's restaurant for dinner.  I had told my "I'm he toughest defender Barkley ever faced" story to guys on the team.  While at Marino's who is sitting at the bar but Charles and several of the Phoenix Suns.  The Illini players "encourage me" me to put up or shut up, so I walk up to Charles to ask him, "who is the toughest defender ever?"  He looks up, a little ticked I'm interrupting him, takes a second look, smiles his famous smile and then says, "there was this guy in Michigan....."