Charles Barkley wasn’t always focused on basketball growing up in Leeds, Alabama. In fact, as a sophomore, he had missed out on making the Varsity Team. So, what changed? The Philadelphia 76ers legend opened up about a run-in with the police that made him focus on basketball.
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Barkley had appeared on In-Depth with Graham Bensinger where he narrated an incident from his teenage years.
“One day I was a 5’10 backup point guard. And the next year I’m a 6’5 power forward…I didn’t get to play a lot when I was younger.”
When asked why he started practicing for hours on end by himself, Barkley revealed how he got into some bad habits. He mentioned getting into the wrong crowd, going to stores, stealing candy, and other assortments.
Sir Charles would’ve continued to steal, had he not had a run-in with the cops.
“One night, the cops came outta nowhere. And we ran back into the woods and I could hear the cops say, ‘Freeze’…It scared the hell out of me to be honest with you. And I remember being terrified with the cops bearing down on me. And I made up my mind the next day, ‘I need to get myself together’.”
That incident with the police scared Barkley straight. Instead of hanging out with the crowd he did, the future Hall of Famer started investing that time in the gym which eventually led him to go to Auburn and then to the NBA.
Barkley’s other run-ins with the authorities
One would think that the run-in with the law during his teenage years was enough to scare Barkley. However, even as a player, Sir Charles had several run-ins with the law where the authorities had to get involved.
Barkley had once gotten into a severe bar fight with three men. As per the NYPost, two of the men backed down but one stood his ground. The NBA legend punched that man and left him with a broken nose.
In another incident, Barkley ended up running a stop sign and had to face the consequences. Sir Charles was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, and when asked why he ran the stop sign, he told the cop he was late for an appointment with a woman who would provide him with certain services.
