Hall of Famer Charles Barkley can come across as a bit too harsh when he’s critiquing today’s players, but the man has always had a heart of gold. Barkley tries to help those less fortunate than him, and during an appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast, he revealed he has been donating $1 million a year for over a decade.
“I don’t talk about this a lot, and I’m not trying to get praised because I keep it very quiet,” Barkley said, via Katsu. “So for the last 15 years, I’ve been given a million dollars a year away to charity. And I don’t even tell anybody, I’m sharing this because I’m going to tell you why I’m proud of you.
“So I started out in my high school, my college,” Barkley continued. “Wounded Warriors, ALS, Parkinson’s, but the last eight years, the point I’m getting to, I’ve did HBCUs. It means a great deal to me to be able to do that, and you being a product, when I watch you and Stephen A. [Smith] when y’all go back to y’all HBCUs, I just think it’s really important what y’all do for the HBCUs.
“And it really makes me feel good when I write that check ’cause we got a couple of them here in Atlanta,” Barkley added. “I think three of them are here in Atlanta: Clark, Morehouse, and Spelman. But man, I just want to use my platform to keep doing good stuff.”
Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith attended Savannah State and Winston-Salem State University, respectively. Seeing them give back to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) inspired Barkley to donate to them as well.
As for Barkley, he attended Auburn University, but did not graduate. We have seen a lot of players go back and finish their education, but the 63-year-old wasn’t interested in doing so.
Despite lacking a degree, Barkley has done well for himself. There were some bumps along the way, though, like when his agent stole $100 million from him.
Barkley also spent extravagantly in his early years in the NBA. Fortunately, he had Julius Erving as his teammate to guide him and set him on the right path.
Today, Barkley is one of the most successful sports analysts in the world. He signed a massive 10-year, $210 million extension with TNT in 2022 and has hilariously stated he now wants to get fired by ESPN so that he can get paid for doing nothing.
