‘We used to shower in our uniforms’: NBA legend Charles Barkley leaves fellow analysts HELPED with funny story from his playing days
Charles Barkley left his fellow basketball analysts in awe of the wind by shockingly claiming that he washes his own NBA uniform in the shower between road games.
The NBA legend brought up the amusing anecdote in the presence of Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg and Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith during CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA March Madness Tournament on Friday.
The 60-year-old, who also appears on TNT’s NBA gameshow twice a week, played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets during his 16 years in the league between 1984 and 2000 – a completely different era. of basketball, according to the man himself.
‘Shout-out to all the trainers, and the guys who make all the uniforms,’ Barkley said. ‘To clean these uniforms and everything – I’m old, we bathe in our uniforms.’
Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith wrote: ‘Time out. There is no time where you did it. You do it.
Charles Barkley, 60, said he washed his uniform after games during his playing days
‘Chuck’ played for the 76ers, Suns & Rockets between 1984 and 2000, winning the MVP award
‘There is no way you should wash your uniform. You do it. No one in their right mind would have done that.’
‘Sir Charles’, however, is adamant about his story being true.
‘When I first came to the NBA, we went commercial,’ said Barkley, who was drafted by the 76ers as the fifth overall pick of the 1984 draft.
‘So when you played last night, and flew out the next morning, when exactly were you going to clean your uniform? You wash your uniform yourself.
‘So, after the game, when you got to your room, you showered in your uniform and dried it and dropped it on the commercial plane the next day.’
Clark Kellogg interrupted, pointing out to ‘Chuck’ that ‘you can clean your uniform without showering in it.’
Smith agreed with his broadcasting colleague, telling Barkley that ‘you don’t have to wear it’ to wash it.
However, the latter, also known as ‘the Round Mound of Rebound’, persevered with his story.
‘No, but it’s easier to do it that way,’ he explained.
In today’s NBA, there are usually a few jerseys in a team’s locker room in case they get torn or if a player gives them away, but all jerseys are washed.
There are even blank jerseys in case of a last-minute signing, usually on the day of the league’s trade deadline.
