Charles Barkley had a rough childhood, to say the least. His family didn’t have a lot of money, and his father had left them when Barkley was just a year old.
That meant his mother and grandmother had to find ways to support everyone else, and the latter resorted to selling alcohol at their home in order to make ends meet.
“So we were really poor,” Barkley said during an interview on 60 Minutes (starts at the 4:50 mark). “We didn’t know it at the time. So, to make ends meet, she sold alcohol in the house. So, people would come over (on) Friday and Saturday and play cards. Everybody starts drinking, once somebody lose their mind, it’s gonna be a fight. So my grandma is this little old lady, she’s walking around with a six-shooter and she’s keeping the peace. I didn’t even know any better, Jon. I thought this was normal stuff.”
You just have to resort to such measures in times of need. They didn’t want Barkley to know about their situation and for the longest time, he thought everything that was going on was normal. He would later realize the lengths his grandmother and mother had to go to, in order to support him.
Charles Barkley Only Had One Pair Of Shoes For An Entire High School Season
During this interview, Barkley also revealed that his family could only afford one pair of shoes for him in his high school days. His mother only allowed him to wear them during the game, as she would bring them to him before it started and would later take them away after he was done playing. They would have been in a difficult situation if he damaged them in any way, so such measures had to be taken.
Fortunately for Barkley, he wouldn’t be in that situation for much longer. He made it to the NBA a few years later and was eventually signed by Nike. They gave him a pair of shoes on a weekly basis, and it was a sea change for him, from his high school days.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
