Today, Charles Barkley is known as a jovial prankster. As a member of the Inside the NBA crew, Chuck’s been dropping comedy gold and getting on his cohosts’ nerves for over two decades, causing many to forget the hotheaded Hall of Fame talent he was in the NBA. Despite his current laid-back demeanor, Barkley wasn’t afraid to get physical — or even violent — if he thought the situation called for it in his playing days, even taking on an opposing fan who challenged him in the streets of Milwaukee.
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With tensions already high near the end of Chuck’s tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1991, he likely wasn’t in the mood for an altercation following several drinks and a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. But he couldn’t stop three men from approaching him while walking to the car alongside his former teammate’s wife.
After several warnings from the former forward, two of the men stepped away, but one refused. Chuck laid out the man with a broken nose, gaining notoriety as an emotional wrecking ball as a result. Barkley proved his status as a hothead once again as a member of the Houston Rockets in 1997. This time, though, it was even more violent — and public.
Joe Rogan, Shane Gillis and Ari Shaffir reminisced on the incident during a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “Barkley threw a guy through a window at a bar,” Shaffir interjected while the crew discussed what 1980s hoopers could get away with. “But there’s no video. He could just do it. ‘The guy was being too close to me.'”
Rogan and Gillis were actually unaware of this particular altercation and were shocked upon hearing the 28-year-old news from Shaffir. “Threw a guy through a window is dangerous, bro,” Gillis replied. “That’s how people die … I mean the way you die is talking s**t to f***ing Charles Barkley.”
Rogan had to look up the incident for himself while imagining the pain of getting flattened by a professional athlete. “If that guy f***ing punches you, oh my God, you get punched by an NBA player … ‘If you bother me, I’m gonna whip your a**: the night Charles Barkley threw a man through a glass window,'” Rogan read the headline aloud.
Even after reading the proof, the longtime comedian still couldn’t imagine being dumb enough to challenge an NBA athlete to a fight. “Imagine, you’re just some dummy who just thinks you can talk s**t to a guy forever, and then this 300-pound, giant man just grabs you and throws you over,” he said with a laugh. “Like you’re a cushion on a couch.”
The JRE crew then shared their current affinity for Barkley, who has become one of the most likeable names in sports media over the years. Gillis pointed out how funny it would be to be the man who was thrown by Barkley and see what the legendary forward has become. Even after facing an assault like that, it’d be difficult to hate the jokester that Chuck is today.
