NBA on TNT commentator Charles Barkley’s weight has long been a topic of discussion, leading to his “Round Mound Of Rebound” nickname, and he’s mentioned before that his favorite pregame meal during his playing days was McDonald’s. This week, former teammate Jayson Williams (who spent the first two years of his NBA career playing with Barkley on the Philadelphia 76ers) gave Vice’s “Cookies” podcast a fantastic accounting of just how much Barkley loved his McDonald’s, and even incorporated McDonald’s breakfast into his workout routine. Here’s the transcription, via Andrew Joseph of For The Win:
“He was the worst person to play with as a rookie because when you went in you got all the bad habits from him. You stayed out all night and then you couldn’t figure out why you didn’t have it in the game. It’s because when Charles came to practice he didn’t practice.”
“I’ll never forget this story. My second day of practice we’re out there running up and down. Charles Barkley comes in about 5-minutes late. He comes in and he has a big McDonald’s bag. And he goes and he sits down on the bike. And like a chemist. You know, a guy over there cutting up lines or something. You know? He’s just making – he’s got his back towards us and he’s doing stuff — I’m like, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ So, he takes the eggs, and he takes the pancakes, the sausage, maple syrup and butter, puts it all in one, wraps it up with the pancake and gets some extra syrup. And the butter’s oozing out. And I’m going, ‘Wow, you going to eat that then and come run with us?’ Hell no. He’s going to eat that while he’s on the stationary bike. Peddling one mile an hour going … ‘Run the floor!’ … ‘That’s why we ain’t never going to win the game!’ And pancake is spitting out his mouth.”
That’s quite the story, and it explains some of the weight issues Barkley had during his playing days. But who can blame him for chowing down on some delicious McDonald’s breakfast? It’s probably a good thing that he wasn’t playing during today’s era of all-day breakfast at McDonald’s…
