Charles Barkley has done a lot of unforgettable stuff as an NBA analyst and player. Playing drunk in an NBA game is one of those things.
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The Chuckster is one of the most famous NBA personalities across the globe. He was one of the greatest players in basketball during his heyday, winning 2 Olympic Gold medals for Team USA in addition to an NBA MVP trophy.
Unfortunately for him, he never had a chance to win the NBA championship as a player. He made the NBA Finals in 1993 with the Phoenix Suns, but they had the misfortune of facing possibly the greatest NBA Finals performance of all time.
There is little doubt that Barkley could’ve won a championship if he played in the superteam culture prevalent today. However, trades were the best route for a superstar to team up with worthy running mates back then.
Charles Barkley played drunk for the Sixers after a trade to the Lakers fell through
Barkley was stuck in an unenviable situation with the Philadelphia 76ers during his prime. He was a top-5 player in the NBA quite easily, but the team’s front office was inept at surrounding him with the requisite talent for a title hunt.
Over the years, playoff eliminations at the hands of Michael Jordan, among others, served to make him disgruntled in Philly. He began plotting a move away using his agent, but without much success.
There was one time that he thought he’d be going to Los Angeles on the Lakers. But as he describes on Jimmy Kimmel Live, that move fell through, and so did Chuck’s championship aspirations with it:
“I got traded to the Lakers. So I get a call from my agent one morning, and he says ‘I think we got a deal. We’re going to the Lakers.'”
“So me and two of my boys went drinking – this is about 11:30 during the day. We went out to celebrate and started drinking in the middle of the day. I was so excited.”
“My agent called me back about 3 hours later. He said the Sixers pulled out of the deal, and there was a game that night. I don’t remember anything about that game!”
“First off, I was so pi**ed, but I was so drunk too. I have no idea what happened that game, I do not even remember the game actually. Like I can remember a lot of games that I’ve played, but that day I was so excited I was getting out of Philadelphia. And I was blasted. We were doing shots and everything.”
