“Had to eat 100 Chicken Feet For One Decent Meal”: Charles Barkley, Who’s Worth $70 Million, Didn’t Know How Poor He Was as a Kid

It is safe to say that Charles Barkley has done well for himself. The man, fondly known as Chuck has done many a great thing over the course of his 60 years of life. From an NBA superstar to a respected sports analyst he has found tons of success.

Having earned close to $40 million as an NBA player, and even more from his endorsements and businesses, Sir Charles has managed to accumulate a net worth of $70 million. A true fairytale story of someone who dug themselves out of the trenches of poverty.

However, the funny thing is, the 1993 MVP never realized he was poor growing up. In fact, it wasn’t until he tasted success in the NBA that he realized just how much his mother and grandmother had worked to help him reach the pinnacle.

Charles Barkley didn’t know he was poor as a kid growing up in Alabama

On February 20th, 1963, Charles Wade Barkley was born to Frank Barkley and Charcey Glenn. Little did they know, that their son was destined to become one of the greatest players in NBA history. But, that was still 21 years away.

In order to get there, a young Charles had to endure the hardships of his surroundings. His father abandoned the family after divorcing his mother, and his stepfather died when he was just 11 years old. So, he had to grow up poor, all while relying on his mother and grandmother to provide.

But, the funny thing is, Chuck never really realized he was poor. As he explained on The Steam Room podcast, Barkley only realized his previous circumstances after he found true success in college and at the professional level.

“I didn’t realize I was poor until later in life. We were really poor. I remember my grandmother bringing those chicken feet home like once every two or three weeks. Because you have to eat like 100 chicken feet to get like one good solid meal out of it. And, I remember my mom, I asked her, “What do you do?”, she said, “I clean people’s houses”, and then I’m like, “Oh my mom…she cleans people’s houses!”. And then I’m like, “Man!”. Then I look at my life, I go to college and then I get back and I build my mom and grandmom a house. I agree with you Mr. Foreman, sometimes you need to pinch yourself to understand the level of success.”

It certainly was quite a late realization by Charles. But, one that left an impact on him. After all, he ended up giving his mother $50,000 a year after he came into some cash.

Sir Charles paid his mother $50,000 a year but it still wasn’t enough for her

Charles Barkley may have grown up in poverty. But, once he earned his first paycheck he made sure to take care of the people who raised him. Apart from buying his mother a new house and two new cars, the Round Mound of Rebound put his mother on a $ 50,000-a-year stipend. Quite a generous amount, but one that he revealed wasn’t enough for his mother’s expensive tastes.

https://youtu.be/WkINuP36jPU?t=1886

His mother’s demands left Chuck exasperated. But, at the end of the day, he is a “Mama’s boy” and gave in to his mother’s requests.