Any list of elite trash-talkers in the league would be incomplete without Charles Barkley‘s name on it. The Round Mound of Rebound, as he was affectionately called, was a menace on and off the court for more reasons than one. Recently, former NBA star Mark Jackson revealed on his podcast The Mark Jackson Show, how Sir Charles didn’t switch off the trash talk even when he was off the court, and how that almost cost Jackson his career.
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During the podcast episode, Jackson’s son asked the NBA veteran about the best trash talkers in the league, in his estimation. After a few notable mentions, Barkley’s name came up. The 58-year-old said that Barkley is a “trash-talking extraordinaire”, as he went on to detail a short story about the two facing betting allegations back in the day.
Jackson said that it happened during his second year in the league. Even though he wasn’t a very good scorer, he had a great game. But to his surprise, after the game the media rushed to the locker room informing Jackson of the serious allegations against him. The then Knicks player was told by the media that Barkley has put out the word that they were both involved in betting on the game they had just played.
After the news spread like wildfire, both the players were summoned by the then NBA commissioner, David Stern. Now, these were serious allegations and things could’ve gone very wrong at the time. Jackson recalled being reprimanded by Stern, “There’s no betting in basketball. It will not be tolerated, I’ll throw you guys out of the league.”
But Barkley was built different. After the scolding, the two gentlemen were asked by the commissioner to wait for his final word about their future in the league. As they were waiting for the decision on their betting allegation, Barkley said to Jackson, “I bet you he won’t throw us out the league.” Jackson’s son Bluu burst into laughter immediately after his father recounted the story.
Mark Jackson had his moments too at trash talking
After naming Gary Payton, Charles Barkley, and Larry Bird as the trash talking greats in his book, Jackson revealed that he used to have a go at it as well. According to the 1989 All-Star, he used to get picked on a lot in the league because his playing style provided results, but looked extremely simple from a distance. When pressed by his son about his own trash talking, Jackson confessed that he enjoyed doing it too.
Jackson said that a friend of his from Detroit used to pick on him a lot while comparing their game. After tolerating the heat for months, Jackson decided that he needs to put an end to it and challenged him for a one-on-one game. The bet was that if his friend wins, he will get $10k and if Jackson wins, he will have to leave the gym in nothing but his underwear. The 58-year-old then said, “Make a long story short, we played one-on-one, I beat him. His sneakers are still hanging up on the telephone pole and his clothes in the trash.” Not only did Jackson put an immediate end to the trash talk, but he also gave his friend and everyone around him a reason to not mess with him.
