NBA legend Charles Barkley, now a TNT analyst, is renowned for his humorous moments on air, often making outlandish comments and sharing wild stories that surprise both his co-hosts and fans.
During a March Madness broadcast, Barkley claimed that in his playing days, he used to shower in his basketball uniform after games due to a lack of luxuries provided to modern-day players.
While trying to express his appreciation for sports team staff, including trainers and uniform handlers, Barkley's story took an unexpected turn.
“Shoutout to all of the trainers also and the guys who do all of the uniforms, to get these uniforms cleaned up and everything,” Barkley said.
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He stated that back in his era, players had to wash their uniforms themselves while showering after games.
“I mean, I’m so old, we used to take a shower in our uniform,” Barkley said.
Barkley was then cut off by his co-host Kenny Smith, who wasn’t buying Barkley’s story:
“Wait, timeout. There’s no era where you did that,” Smith said.
The two co-hosts then went back and forth, having a playful argument about the validity of Barkley’s story:
“Yes, there is,” Barkley said.
“Stop, you’re making this up,” Smith said.
“No, I’m not,” Barkley said.
“There’s no way that you were supposed to wash your uniform with it on,” Smith said.
“You’re making this up.”
Charles Barkley questions how other players used to wash their uniforms
Later in his argument with Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley broke down the step-by-step process of how he used to clean his uniform while showering:
“So, after the game, when you got to our room, you took a shower in your uniform and dried it and dropped it on the commercial airline the next day,” Barkley said.
The NBA legend then questioned how other players used to wash their uniforms or if they did at all:
“Well, how are y’all cleaning your uniforms?” Barkley asked.
“Y’all playing in funky uniforms?”
Smith, in disbelief, then told Barkley that he used his wash and dry his uniforms somewhere other than the shower:
“Wash it or dry it or somewhere else,” Smith said.
However, Barkley was still confused:
“When you’re flying the next morning?” Barkley asked.
Co-host Clark Kellogg then butted in to confirm what Smith had said:
“You can clean your uniform without showering in it,” Kellogg said.
However, the defiant Barkley then doubled down and said that his way was still easier before the crew burst out into a fit of laughter:
“No, but it’s easier to do it that way,” Barkley said.