Charles Barkley played his first nine seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers. Shortly after Barkley’s retirement, the 76ers even retired his No. 34 jersey. However, he was not eager to be drafted by the 76ers in the 1984 NBA draft.
Charles Barkley Shares What He Did When the 76ers Wanted To Draft Him
Nine-time NBA All-Star Paul George signed a four-year, $212,000,000 contract with the 76ers in July 2024. A month after George signed the deal, Barkley appeared on “Podcast P with Paul George.”
Since George had recently signed with the 76ers, he wanted to know Barkley’s reaction when they drafted him in the first round with the fifth pick. The 76ers had won the 1983 NBA title and had veterans like Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Maurice Cheeks on the roster. However, Barkley didn’t want to play there.
“I was like, ‘No, f**k no, hell no,'” Barkley said. “I didn’t, because, you know, back then we had a hard salary cap. And so the owner of the Sixers, I was about 300 lbs in college. I was big-boned, ball, a big-boned. And so about six weeks before the draft, they bring me up, and the Sixers owner says, ‘Hey, you know, a lot of people are concerned about your weight.'”
Barkley weighed 295 pounds then, but the manager wanted him to weigh 285. With strict discipline, he cut his weight down to 285. Unfortunately, his agent gave him bad news two days before the 1984 draft. The 76ers were over the salary cap and could only give him a one-year contract worth $75,000.
“I’m like, ‘Yo, man, I didn’t leave college for $75,000. That’s crazy,'” Barkley said. “He says, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ I said, ‘Let’s make sure the Sixers don’t draft me.’ Man, I went on an eating spree. I went to Denny’s for two straight days, got two or three Grand Slams. We went to the best steakhouse in Texas. I fly into Philly, man, I’m like 299.”
Barkley claimed Harold Katz, the 76ers’ owner at the time, called him every bad word in the dictionary when he saw him overweight. The future NBA MVP was happy that he upset Katz, hoping he would be picked seventh or eighth, and thus make better money.
Unfortunately for Barkley, the 76ers still picked him fifth. Katz possibly knew about Barkley’s dissatisfaction and, as such, made a suggestion. He urged Barkley to showcase his potential at the Summer League. If he impressed, the 76ers would trade some players away and make way for Barkley to sign a bigger contract.
The 11x NBA All-Star shared that the suggestion motivated him to play like a madman in the Summer League. Katz kept his word and sent a couple of players away, paving the way for Barkley to sign a $2,000,000 contract.
