Former NBA star Charles Barkley was pleasantly surprised to receive an expensive watch from Tom Brady, a moment he enthusiastically recounted during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated. When the same interviewer spoke with TB12 this week, who is transitioning from gridiron to the commentary box, the heartfelt gift was once again brought up. As it turns out, the gift had quite the emotion behind it.
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In his interview with ‘SI Media With Jimmy Traina,’ Brady made it very clear that Charles has been a great friend and supporter. Thus, it only felt right for him to do this nice thing, which he often tries to do for people he holds close to his heart.
“I love Charles. He’s been a great friend and a supporter,” Brady said. “So, I don’t know man, if I could do nice things for people then I try to do it.”
So, how did this whole story unfold? During his interview with Jimmy Traina, Barkley refrained from answering whether Brady had reached out to him for broadcasting tips recently. Instead, the NBA legend shared a story that highlighted why he admires Brady.
Barkley started by mentioning that the watch he was wearing on the podcast, which has a whopping price tag of $250,000, was apparently a gift from the seven-time Champ himself. When Brady took part in a charity golf event called “The Match,” Barkley, in his commentary, couldn’t help but admire the timepiece he was wearing.
However, what he didn’t expect was for one of Brady’s team members to approach him later on with the watch. Confused but intrigued, Barkley went to see Brady, who offered the watch as a gift. At first, Barkley was hesitant and insisted that he had only meant to admire the watch, not ask for it.
Brady, however, was determined and wanted the NBA star to accept the special timepiece. Barkley wasn’t too keen at first and tried to turn down the gift, but he eventually gave in when Brady insisted. This act of kindness really stuck with Barkley because it made him see Brady not as a sports star, but as a genuinely nice guy.
“As a matter of fact, see this watch here? I’ve been offered $250,000 for this watch,” Barkley said during the interview. “So I’m broadcasting, probably four or five years ago, I make a nice comment about this watch and this watch is a pretty penny. I’m talking double-digit thousands. I said, ‘That’s a nice watch.’ [Brady] says, ‘Thanks, Chuck,’ blah blah blah. We do the broadcast for another two or three hours. One of Tom’s boys comes up to me and he says, ‘Hey Tom is looking for you.’”
In light of this, Barkley also mentioned that he had received offers of $250k from collectors for the watch. He did, however, turn them down because he valued the gesture and the memory more than the money.
That said, it’s worth mentioning that there are also times when the former Patriots man is on the receiving end of a gift.
Tom Brady Received a $40K Championship Ring Gift From Kevin Hart
During the live airing of Tom Brady’s Roast on Netflix, the former NFL QB became the butt of the joke, with comedians, roast masters, and even his former teammates taking ruthless jabs at him. However, the event turned out to be a success as Brady took every shot in stride, and in the end, he was surprised by host Kevin Hart with a custom championship ring valued at $40,000!
Crafted by celebrity jeweler Jason Arashaben, who also designed Brady’s Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, this blinged-out ring features 400 diamonds, rubies, and sapphires set in yellow gold. Weighing around 6 carats, it was truly a lavish creation.
The ring also had some incredible details, such as Brady’s jersey number “12” with the initials “LFG” (from his saying “Let’s Fu***** Go”) and a small goat — a symbol of Brady being the undisputed “GOAT”. Arashaben even joked that he was happy to make both Brady’s championship ring and his unique “GROAT” ring.
