Charles Barkley was one of the best basketball players of his era, an 11-time All-Star who even today ranks 19th in the league all-time in total rebounds. He’s also celebrated as the most important voice in basketball media for the the work he’s done on Inside the NBA over the years. Barkley is a national treasure at this point, but for all his accolades, he says that nothing is better than being a grandparent.
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Barkley was recording his Steam Room podcast with his Inside the NBA cohost Ernie Johnson when he got to listen to a message from his daughter, Christiana. Christiana is Barkley’s only child and she has two kids of her own, Henry and Charlie Eliza.
It was amazing to see Barkley’s face light up when Henry and Charlie Eliza spoke, and it’s obvious that they’ve spent a lot of time around him as they talked about how he “needs his diet Coke.”
After the kids said they want to have fun in New York with him on Friday, Barkley laughed and spoke about what a blessing it was to be a grandpa. “I was excited, but I didn’t know how great it was gonna be … It is the greatest thing ever, man.”
Barkley’s grandkids call him “Big Pop,” a fact which Barkley credits Johnson for helping bring about.
“You were getting an award, so I went there with you, and we were at the reception before the event, and this cute little teenage girl comes up to me and says, ‘Hey Mr. Barkley, can I take a picture with you?’ I said, ‘Of course I’ll take a picture with you.’ So I said, ‘Who’s gonna take the picture, and he says, ‘My Big Pop.'”
Barkley loved the name right away and told the girl, “I’m gonna steal that.”
Who needs rings when you’re a grandpa to two beautiful grandkids?
People give Barkley a hard time for never winning an NBA championship, though for some reason other players of his era don’t often receive the same criticism. It’s unfortunate that the only stars to lead a team to a title in the 90s were Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Sir Charles did win two Olympic gold medals, but regardless of what he’s accomplished professionally, it all washes away when he talks about being a grandpa.
Charles and Ernie ended the show by trying to settle a funny debate: do white men or black men talk about their kids more? Barkley said that the answer is clearly white men, because not only do they talk about their kids and grandkids, they show and send pictures of them all the time.
Barkley loves talking about his grandkids, but says, “I only send pictures when people ask for them,” a statement which Ernie dismissed immediately by calling him a liar.
The news that Inside the NBA will live on beginning next season on ESPN was great news from a basketball perspective, but these kinds of interactions between Chuck and Ernie are what make the show so special.
