‘We used to shower in our uniforms’: NBA legend Charles Barkley leaves analysts baffled with hilarious story from his playing days
Charles Barkley has stunned his fellow basketball analysts by sensationally claiming that he used to wash his own NBA uniform in the shower between road games.
The NBA legend brought up the amusing anecdote in the presence of Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg and Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith on CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA March Madness Tournament on Friday.
The 60-year-old, who also appears on TNT’s twice-weekly NBA game show, played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets during his 16 years in the league between 1984 and 2000, an era entirely different from basketball, according to the man himself.
“Shout out to all the coaches and to the guys who make all the uniforms,” Barkley said. ‘To clean these uniforms and everything, I’m so old we used to take showers in our uniforms.’
Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith chimed in: ‘Time out. There is no time when you have done this. You are making this up.
Charles Barkley, 60, claimed that he washed his uniforms after games during his playing days.
‘Chuck’ played for the 76ers, Suns & Rockets between 1984 and 2000, winning an MVP award
‘There was no way you were supposed to wash your uniform. You are making this up. No one in their right mind has ever done that.
‘Sir Charles’, however, insisted that his story was true.
“When I first went to the NBA, we flew commercials,” said Barkley, who was drafted by the 76ers with the fifth overall pick in the 1984 draft.
‘So when you played the game the night before and flew out the next morning, when exactly were you going to clean your uniform? You had to wash your uniform yourself.
“So after the game, when you got to your room, you showered in your uniform and dried it off and left it on the commercial plane the next day.”
Clark Kellogg interrupted, pointing out to ‘Chuck’ that ‘you can clean your uniform without showering in it’.
Smith agreed with his broadcasting colleague, telling Barkley that “you don’t have to have it on” to wash it.
However, the latter, also known as ‘the Round Rebounding Mound’, persevered with its story.
‘No, but it’s easier to do it that way,’ he explained.
In today’s NBA, there are usually multiple jerseys in a team’s locker room in case it gets torn or given away by a player, but all jerseys are washed.
There are even blank jerseys in case of a last-minute signing, usually on the day of the league’s trade deadline.
