During his playing days, Charles Barkley had a specific pregame carb-loading ritual. He ate two fish fillet sandwiches and large fries along with a Coke. His teammate, center Mike Gminski, who shared a locker room with the former NBA MVP during his three seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, was tired of Barkley’s eating habits. He was a connoisseur of fine dining but was forced to eat at Friday’s and Chili’s due to his superstar teammate.
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Gminski wanted a change, and he made it happen. In the book, Barkley: A Biography, written by author Timothy Bella, he revealed the 76ers superstar tried eating some continental food, and it yielded disastrous results. The center pushed Barkley to eat pasta and a bagel before a game. He went for it and faced gastronomical issues, and his hunger wasn’t satiated either. Gminski told Bella:
“We’re warming up and [Barkley]’s like, ‘Goddammit, I’m so hungry. That pasta went right through me. That’s the last time I do that. The fried food laid in his stomach and that was the end of the pasta experiment.”
Barkley returned to his usual eating habits after only one attempt at trying something new. Apparently, the feeling of how fried food sat in his stomach during practice was something he just couldn’t let go of. While most athletes do prefer an empty stomach, perhaps this was just too much of a change for the NBA legend. The Hall of Famer loves junk food, to the point that he has always consumed eye-watering amounts of it, something he even did to avoid getting drafted by the 76ers.
In 1984, the league sanctioned teams over the salary cap. They could only offer a one-year, $75,000 contract to their first-round draft picks. The 76ers were among the teams imposed with this sanction and were Barkley in the draft. To avoid getting drafted, Barkley ate unbelievable amounts of junk food and gained 30 pounds in only three days.
The 76ers were shocked by his weight gain but decided to draft him regardless. Barkley spent eight years in Philadelphia before joining the Phoenix Suns in 1992.
When Charles Barkley told Mike Gminski to hit the bench
Charles Barkley’s eating habits may not have resembled what other elite athletes ate. However, on the court, he was a dominant force and among the best players in the NBA. He was a perennial All-Star from 1987, his third year in the league, to 1997. Barkley not only played well but also expected his teammates to follow suit. Anyone who slacked heard it from the man himself. And Mike Gminski found this out the hard way.
In one game, Barkley wasn’t pleased with Gminski’s effort on the court. Instead of letting head coach Jimmy Lynam know, he told the center to sit on the bench, and he had no choice but to oblige. Barkley was asked about the incident during an interview with Sports Illustrated. He explained he wasn’t hard on any teammate that didn’t deserve it. He said:
“I don’t curse them out after the first mistake. Second mistake I might let go. Once they go to three and four, and I don’t think they’re playing hard, hey, we have an obligation to each other.”
When asked why he pointed at Gminski and signaled him to go to the bench, he replied that he wasn’t happy with his effort. To his credit, the center defended Barkley and admitted he wasn’t playing well, and the superstar was correct in calling him out.
Gminski defending Barkley’s actions justifies his claim that he wasn’t hard on his teammates without reason. The center knew his superstar teammate wouldn’t demand more effort if he wasn’t putting it in himself. Barkley’s mentality rubbed off on his teammates, and it is evident why they did not bother getting criticized.
Barkley’s demand for accountability from his teammates showcases he held them to a standard and had no problem calling them out when they did not meet it. In addition to being physically dominant, the Hall of Famer was forged with an elite mentality, too.
