Quite similar to his stint as an analyst, Charles Barkley would always talk his heart out. Unafraid of the consequences of his actions, Barkley would say some of the most outrageous things. Not thinking twice before cursing or throwing out punches, Sir Charles would often land in trouble. However, despite his eccentric behavior, the Round Mound of Rebound managed to rack up $40,000,000 in career earnings over 16 years. As surprising as it sounds, the 6-foot-6 forward could’ve added a couple of more million dollars to this figure, but prioritized choosing to “be himself”.
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More often than you could imagine, the Chuckster would be slapped with hefty fines for some or other questionable comment or action. Despite losing out on a huge amount of money in the form of fines, the NBA legend would not stop portraying his true image.
As fitting as it was, Barkley was even part of a Nike advertisement in which he expressed his not wanting to be a role model or have a parent-like relationship with any consumer of the brand.
Barkley would not even mend his behavior for millions of dollars.
Charles Barkley didn’t care about more money
During his final campaign with the Philadelphia 76ers, the undersized Power Forward would comment about his future in the league. Even though he revealed enjoying the eight years he spent in Pennsylvania, Charles would go on to claim that he didn’t care where he played next.
The Auburn product was not in favor of following the “game plan” that could reward him with millions of dollars. Rather, he gave it up to “be himself”. Have a look at Chuck’s quote from his book Sir Charles:
“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.”
Had he complied with the suggestions given to him by these people that he’s mentioned in the quotes, Barkley could’ve added much more to his $60 million net worth.
Following retirement, Barkley landed a perfect job
Immediately after his retirement, Charles was offered a job by TNT as a pundit on the Inside the NBA show.
For a man who loves giving his honest opinion, this was the perfect job for the Phoenix Suns legend. As reports suggest, Barkley could earn as much as $200 million over 10 years thanks to his new contract with NBA on TNT.
Sacrificing a few million dollars nearly three decades ago is not a decision that he regrets.
