Charles Barkley is among the biggest personalities to have ever stepped onto an NBA court. The 1996 NBA MVP might be a basketball analyst with Inside the NBA now, but he made a lot of money over the course of his NBA career, something he might as well have lost completely on gambling.
Barkley is one of the most entertaining people on television. While he can be serious when he needs to be, like when he discussed how racial differences make children aspire for different jobs, he can also be an incredibly irresponsible person, especially with his money. He revealed to Graham Bensinger that he had lost over $1 million in a day multiple times in his life.
“At least 10 to 15, somewhere in there. I probably won a million about 5 or 6 times but I have lost a million somewhere about 10 to 20 times, I can’t get an exact number because it’s going back to the ’80s.”
“Yeah no question it got out of hand. I quit for almost like 2 years. They told me that gambling wasn’t my problem, I am just an idiot.”
Barkley went on to explain that he could have had multiple paydays between $500,000 to $700,000, but he would insist on keep playing until he could walk away with a million. Thankfully, Barkley slowed it down before the damage had to get much worse for him. This led to him being more responsible with his money and signing some big contracts as a television host.
Gambling In The Modern NBA
Gambling is nothing new in the NBA. Players love gambling over card games and small bets when they’re on the road. It is an issue when it’s crooked officials like Tim Donaghy doing it, but playing a game of cards or a game of golf with big stakes is completely alright. Especially given the size of the contracts nowadays.
Barkley’s old best friend, Michael Jordan, was a gambling savant and indulged in it quite often himself. It’s natural for NBA players to explore this side, but it is a problem if it affects their performance on the court and opens the sport up to bad influences.
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