Charles Barkley, over the years, has become one of the most entertaining, wholesome, and hilarious faces on basketball TV. However, he certainly has had his moments of anger and rage, especially during his playing career. Back in 1987, during the 4th year of his career, Barkley had kicked a chair at fans during a game against Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics.
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Barkley played for the Philadelphia 76ers back then. The Boston Garden was hell for almost every team in the NBA at the time and Sir Charles’ 76ers was no exception.
When his Philadelphia 76ers were playing the Celtics at the Garden on December 20, 1987, Barkley lost his calm during the game while trailing by 49 points against Larry Bird and Co. Riled up by the result, he ended up kicking a chair toward the fans. Afterward, when an elderly lady told him that it wasn’t very nice of him to do so, the Philly star had a brutal response. Timothy Bella’s Barkley recounts what happened.
“Down by as many as 49 to Bird’s Celtics, Charles, endlessly frustrated, kicked a folding chair that slid toward a row of fans. When an elderly female fan told him that it wasn’t very nice to kick the chair their way or curse at his teammates, Charles replied, “Shut up, you b**ch.” “She’ll get over it,” he said afterward,” the book claimed.
Chuck was seemingly out on a mission to prove that he was just as good as some of the other greats in the league, including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. That was part of the reason behind his frustration.
“In his [Barkley’s] mind, he could dunk like Jordan, score in the clutch like Bird, and dazzle in the open floor like Johnson. In fact, he could do it as well, if not better. ‘I’m definitely as good as those guys,’ he said in 1988. ‘I don’t think anybody could say who’s better, but I know for a fact that I’m as good as they are,'” Bella’s book noted.
Not only did Chuck cross a line with his reaction, he also had the opportunity to apologize for his behavior. However, he ended up insulting the fan instead and did not apologize ever afterwards.
Barkley’s angry outbursts on court were a regular occurrence during the early days of his career. The NBA star had racked up thousands of dollars in fines and penalties for failing to contain his anger. This also earned him a reputation of being hot-heated and short-tempered. However, Barkley’s current personality is diametrically opposite to the angry young man he was back then. Not even persistent taunting from Shaquille O’Neal during the NBA on TNT broadcasts can rile up the Chuckster anymore. It’s certainly refreshing to see how much Barkley has evolved and matured over the years.
Charles Barkley used to play angry back during NBA days
There is little doubt that Barkley had a lot of anger and arrogance in the way he played the game. Chuck’s father had left the family back when he was just 1, which led to his grandmother and mother taking care of him. Therefore, the Hall-of-Famer grew up in a tough environment.
“And I was even angrier cause he [his father] kept sayin’ he was gonna send us money, and he didn’t do it. ‘Cause like, you know, my mom and grandma were workin’ their behinds off,” Barkley said, during an appearance on 60 Minutes.
A young Chuck would habitually check the mailbox to see if the checks his father promised had arrived. “And the thing that was really bad about it, I was standin’ by the mailbox (waiting for the checks), like, once every three or four months,”
Hence, the TNT analyst embraced the grief, which resulted in him using basketball as a means of escape. Barkley’s difficult childhood explained a range of aspects about his behavior, including the kind of anger that he showed during his playing days.
