The life of an athlete isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. To compete at the highest level, it requires significant sacrifice and hours of daily hard work. Yet, Charles Barkley still recognizes the position athletes find themselves in and believes they are privileged, something he reminded himself of after meeting George Kittle.
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Kittle, the San Francisco 49ers tight end, hosted Barkley on the first episode of his Kittle Things podcast, where the ‘Round Mound of Rebounds’ shared his love for the game. Barkley had met Kittle just a week before the segment was filmed and immediately connected with the joy Kittle experienced simply by playing football, a feeling that took him back to his own playing days.
Barkley understands how fortunate athletes like him and Kittle are to do something they love for a living. It is not life or death; they get paid millions to go out and play their favorite sport.
“You remind me of me when I played basketball,” Barkley said to Kittle. “When I watch you play football, I’m like, that dude loves to play football and the one thing that I wanted people to understand, man, I loved playing basketball.”
The Philadelphia 76ers legend considered himself lucky to be an NBA star, and went on to compare his daily job to the other important, ‘real world’ professions. “I was so blessed to do something so stupid for a living,” Barkley added.
“We’re not like teachers, we’re not like firemen, we’re not like policemen, we’re not somebody in the armed service… Dude, we hit the lottery of life. All you gotta do is go out there and bust your hump…”
When Barkley met Kittle, he felt that the 31-year-old shared his views on professional athletes. Kittle nodded throughout Barkley’s comments, so it’s possible that he agreed.
It’s also not the first time that Barkley has hinted that today’s players must show more gratitude to the game that’s made them so rich. He has criticized those calling for ‘load management’ or wider schedules.
“We’re not f*****g steel workers, we’re not teachers, we’re not nurses, we’re not somebody in the service. To make 30, 40, 50 million dollars to play basketball two days a week in a row, if that’s too much to ask, please tell me,” Chuck said in an interview with Jason Kelce.
Truly, Chuck is someone who played basketball and continues to spend months on the road analyzing it, purely out of love for the game.
What would Barkley’s ‘real world’ job look like?
Had Barkley not “busted his hump” shooting hoops, he would most certainly not be quoted by the media today. Thankfully for us, one of the most charismatic personalities in NBA history never took his foot off the gas pedal. But what would he have done had things not worked out?
“I probably would be like a regular worker, like in a factory somewhere. Nobody’s going to ever say I didn’t work hard. But I wasn’t going to be overly smart, I’m not going to tell that lie,” the former Phoenix Suns guard admitted honestly.
“I think I would have been successful at something. Probably better been factory-related,” Barkley added.
Fortunately, basketball worked out for Barkley, who played in the NBA for 16 seasons. He won the MVP, became an 11-time All-Star, and was selected to the 75th Anniversary Team in 2021. Now retired, he continues to stay relevant in the league through his work in the media.
