Charles Barkley is perhaps one of the most popular stars from the 1984 draft class of the NBA. After Michael Jordan, ‘the Round Mound of Rebound’ had made a name for himself, thanks to his illustrious career and versatile ability as a player. Being a big celebrity, he was no stranger to other star names in the United States, such as Mike Tyson. The two even lived in the same neighborhood for over four or five years, often running into each other at high-profile events. Speaking to the NFL’s Kelce Brothers on the ‘New Heights‘ Podcast, Chuck recalled an incident where he had to humble Tyson at an embarrassing New Year’s Eve party.
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Tyson was not much of a patient personality, often known for his eccentric behavior on and off the ring. Being one of the biggest sporting stars in the 1980s, one would imagine Mike Tyson would be on good terms with his NBA counterpart Michael Jordan. However, that was not the case.
Jordan was scared out of his wits for dating Tyson’s ex-girlfriend Robin Gibbs. After having a few drinks at Richard Dent’s birthday party, Tyson confronted Jordan for “messing with his ex.”
In the podcast, several years after Tyson’s prime, Chuck was still afraid to get on his wrong side. Hence, he trod with caution when speaking about him.
Charles Barkley once hilariously humbled Mike Tyson at his New Year’s Eve party
In a recent appearance at the ‘New Heights’ Podcast, Charles Barkley revealed to NFL stars Travis and Jason Kelce a hilarious incident involving Mike Tyson. As Chuck hosted his New Year’s Eve party, Tyson arrived with a bullhorn and announced, “The Champ is here.” To this, Barkley responded, “We are all famous here,” to correct Mike’s behavior at his social gathering.
This was not the end of all of Mike’s shenanigans that night. Chuck had corrected the legendary boxer three times already. A few guests of Barkley complained about Mike ‘grabbing their wives in that party by their a**.’ Charles now had to be careful while confronting Tyson. Speaking on the podcast, Chuck recalled this incident and said:
“Let me get this straight. The guy who bit a guy’s ear off, y’all want me to go and confront him? So I walk up to Mike and I say, Hey Mike, there’s only a couple women here who are single. Not that you should be grabbing their a** either. And he’s like ‘Okay Charles, you are right. I’ll stop doing that Charles.”
Around 30 minutes after the incident, some other guests at the party noticed Mike blazing away in front of the restaurant. When others wanted to confront him, Chuck restrained himself and told others, “Leave that guy alone.”
Charles Barkley once missed a Mike Tyson knockout while fetching Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan drinks
The aforementioned tale is not just Chuck’s only story featuring Mike Tyson. In one such instance, Chuck had missed out on one of Mike’s epic knockouts while getting Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan drinks. Recalling this incident, Chuck said,
“Oh, I’ll tell you a funny story about boxing. I’m with Magic, Michael, and Patrick Ewing, early in my career. I’m a young buck on the totem pole and they make me get drinks. And, I come back and Tyson already done knocked this motherf***er out.”
“I was like, ‘Are you f**king serious right now?’. Everybody is laughing at me. I’m walking in there with two buckets of popcorn and some drinks and they just f**king laughing at me!”
Charles Barkley was unlucky not to be able to witness Mike Tyson’s famous knockouts in person. When he reached the arena with drinks and popcorn, he became the subject of mockery for the other NBA legends present there, including Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.
