Charles Barkley is a part of one of the most famous NBA Draft classes of all time. But if it was up to him, at least at the time, he wouldn’t have ended up in Philadelphia.
During a recent appearance on the New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce podcast, Barkley revealed that he tried to eat his way out of being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, 11-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer wanted no part of the City of Brotherly Love, though he ended up playing eight seasons with the Sixers.
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In 1984, the Sixers had brought in Barkley for a visit. It’s well-documented at the time, but the prospective first-round pick out of Auburn weighed around 300 pounds. Barkley recalled then-76ers owner Harold Katz telling him that everybody in the organization was concerned about his weight.
According to Barkley, Katz told him that they wanted to draft him, but they were obviously concerned about his weight. Philadelphia wanted him to come in for a visit the day prior to the 1984 NBA Draft, and weigh in at 285 pounds.
“I get down to 285, somewhere around there, and then my agent says to me, ‘Now Chuck, you know if the 76ers take you, they can only give you $75,000?’”
Barkley wasn’t exactly pleased to find out that the NBA had a hard cap, meaning that if Philadelphia selected him, he was going to have to play his first season in the league for $75k.
“Shit, I didn’t leave college for $75,000,” Barkley said. “I could have got that much in college.”
Barkley had three days before he had to go back to Philadelphia and he didn’t want the Sixers to draft him. With no other answers in sight, he went on an eating binge.
“We went to Denny’s in the morning, to get the Grand Slam breakfast and everything, all three days,” he recalled. “I stop in Philly, I weigh 298. I gained like all that weight. I told you, I was 283. I got like 299, right in there, and the owner called me every name in the book.”
Barkley said Katz had referred to him as a “fatass,” as the only people who knew his secret plan were himself and his agent. After being cursed up and down by the Sixers owner, Barkley thought that he had dodged a bullet. That was until the night of the draft.
Barkley told both Kelce brothers that if you go back and watch the tape of the 1984 NBA Draft, he had a look of bewilderment on his face. He did everything he could not to be drafted by the Sixers, who still ended up drafting him.
“I tried to eat my way out of Philadelphia,” Barkley said. “True story.
The 76ers ended up trading two players, which allowed Barkley to sign a four-year, $2 million contract with Philadelphia.
It all worked out in the end.
[New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce] Image from YouTube