“Don’t Want To Die With $50,000,000”: Charles Barkley, Who Bickered Shaquille O’Neal for $10,000, Once Claimed To Want To Splurge Before Death

Charles Barkley asserted himself as one of the NBA’s fiercest players after making it to the league in 1984 as the 5th pick. After earning a couple of million through his rookie contract, he signed a 5-year $18,985,000 extension with the Sixers. The man went on to say he was happy with what he was earning and didn’t need more money than he could spend. But over the years, he would spend a lot more than he would make on gambling and his luxurious lifestyle. Having friends and work partners like Shaquille O’Neal who bet $10,000 on him for spelling ‘spectacular’ correctly and then not paying up, also helped.

The $50,000,000-worth Barkley didn’t develop his love for the microphone after his retirement. The TNT analyst was an entertaining speaker from the very beginning. The Chuckster was never fearful of speaking his mind.

When Charles Barkley spoke of spending all his money before he dies

In an interview with LA Times back in 1987, Charles Barkley, who was making around $400,000/year at the time, said something which would determine how he’d live his life over the years. He said he’ll spend all his money himself and on his family from whatever he would be making for the rest of his career.

“There’s no sense in being greedy. I don’t want more money than I can spend. My family has everything they need—my mom, my grandmother and my two brothers, my girlfriend and my future kids. I don’t need more money. I don’t want to die and have $50 million. That’s just greedy,” said Charles Barkley to LA Times.

While the 6ft 6′ power forward of the 76ers was putting up a center’s number, he wasn’t getting paid as much. Throughout his 16-year legendary career, which would get him into NBA’s 50th and 75th-anniversary teams, he made just over $40.6 million in salary.

Little did he know that he’ll earn 100s of millions more in his second career.

Charles Barkley’s secondary career made him much more money than basketball

Joining TNT Sports just after his retirement proved to be crucial for Sir Charles like choosing basketball over football did years before that.

Having been a part of the NBA on TNT for close to a quarter of a century, recently got Inside the NBA analyst a contract that’s worth somewhere between $100-200 million for the next 10 years.

So, whether he plans to or not, he will probably leave a chunk of his $50,000,000 worth, for the Barkley generations to come after him.