One of the perks of being a top-class professional athlete in any major sport in the States is minting money. In a sport like basketball, even if one could manage to get veteran minimum deals in the NBA for a few years, it would make them a millionaire. However, back in the day, only the superstars of the league would have that privilege. Take Charles Barkley, for example. One of the best players of the NBA was quite proud of making $3.2 million in 1992 while sitting among other All-Stars like Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, and Patrick Ewing, during the All-Star game. Take a look at the great’s overall thoughts on All-Star weekend in the YouTube clip by ‘Jordan Era‘ below.
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Barkley was then tied to a 5 year, $18.9 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. However, he was also making a lot through the endorsements he had at the time. He made a total of $40.6 million in his 16-year NBA career. Moreover, since his retirement, The Chuckster has made many millions more through his investments and by sharing his knowledge of the league on Inside the NBA.
Charles Barkley was once proud to be among the “15 black millionaires” in the United States
31 years ago, people of African descent were not doing as great as they currently are. And so, Charles Barkley, who had made around $8 million by 1992, was proud of himself for being among half of the “15 black millionaires” during the All-Star game.
“Hell, there ain’t but 15 black millionaires in the whole country, and half of ’em are right here in this room,” said Barkley, when talking about the 1992 NBA All-Star roster, as per his book, ‘Sir Charles: Wit and Wisdom of Charles Barkley’.
Through his wits and some knowledge of basketball, Barkley is currently making 100s of millions from Turner Sports. However, he doesn’t want the youth, especially from his community, to blindly follow superstars like him.
The man believes kids from his race are brainwashed to only play sports or become entertainers. As he knows the ins and out of being a professional athlete, Barkley wants the youth of African American descent to understand what they excel at and pursue that.
Barkley never cared about the money he was making
Sir Charles might have missed out on the chance to win an NBA championship, but he enjoyed his playing career through and through, doing what he wanted rather than what game plans suggested.
“I’ve enjoyed my eight years in Philadelphia but where I play basketball isn’t even one of the 10 most important things in my life. Now that will probably get some people upset. I’ve got people telling me all the time, ‘If you would just go along with the game plan, you could be making a couple of million dollars more than you are already.’ But what the hell do I need another couple of million for? I’d rather be myself,” another Barkley quote from Sir Charles.
The man is indeed an inspiration for people who want to live life with their rules. Often, he might come off as a silly man who does not understand much of what he is saying. However, that might just be a character Chuck plays, to keep us entertained.
