Charles Barkley was never a knockdown shooter throughout his Hall-of-Fame career, but the former Sixer proved he could knock down a magical deep-range shot every now and then in the waning seconds of a matchup with the Houston Rockets. Unknown to everyone at the time, Barkley revealed it was actually Larry Bird who coaxed him into hoisting the 40-foot jumper.
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On a 1990 episode of Late Night with David Letterman, Chuck told Dave that he wasn’t originally going to take the ill-advised three, but the Celtics legend told him to. With the game already in hand, Chuck had no reason to try to score again, especially from that range, but Bird’s encouragement made him feel as if he could hit one from Stephen Curry’s range — and he did.
When Letterman questioned whether that was a typical shot for the Round Mound of Rebound, Barkley knew he couldn’t lie. He admitted he wasn’t the best three-point marksman and instead made it his mission to dominate inside. Only certain situations could force him into an odd play like that, he revealed.
“Nah, I try to dunk everything,” Chuck said after Letterman asked if he’s usually shooting from the perimeter. “Cause I’m not a good long-distance shooter… I get lucky every once in a while.” When the longtime talk show host asked if Barkley ever felt like chucking up a shot as soon as he crossed half-court, Chuck shared the times when he wanted to play off-script.
“Only when the coaches really getting on my nerves,” the legendary big man answered during the 1990 television appearance. “Just do something to just drive them crazy… Every time [coach Jim Lyman] start screaming at me I just wanna do something that make him go crazy.”
This wasn’t one of those cases, though, as Barkley was just listening to the motivating words of a fellow NBA legend. Chuck openly considers Larry Bird one of the best players in league history.
Charles Barkley has praised Larry Bird’s impact on the game
Barkley once explained how Larry Bird, alongside Magic Johnson, was able to save the NBA after the league was nearly forced into bankruptcy in the 1970s. The two had already established a rivalry in their college days. Bird ending up in Boston and Magic in LA may have been the best thing to happen to the NBA.
“Obviously, Michael Jordan took it to another level, but I’m old enough to remember before Magic and Larry got into the NBA, the league was too black, too many drugs, it wasn’t making any money,” Barkley said during his 2021 appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
“So when these guys talk about who made the league, it was Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and I wanted to do something special for Magic because what he and Larry did we can’t put to words,” Chuck continued, knowing he may have not received the opportunities that he did if it weren’t for the pair of greats.
Nowadays, Charles Barkley is mostly known for his humorous antics with the Inside the NBA crew. But the former MVP has proven on occasion that food and jokes aren’t the only thing on his mind.
