"I understood"- Charles Barkley narrates a story which shows how vicious the Sixers fans are
For the first eight years of his NBA career, Charles Barkley played for the Philadelphia 76ers. During his time in the City of Brotherly Love, the legendary man participated in 610 regular-season games. During those games, Barkley averaged 23.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting 61.4% from two-point range.
During a June 8 episode of 92%ers, Barkley discussed his time with the Sixers and what it was like playing in such a rabid sporting city.
"I understood it," Barkley said. "As long as you play hard, they're cool. I never had an issue in Philadelphia because they know I was going to give you everything I got every single night. Our teams were not great, because we screwed up, trading the number one pick in the draft, for some unknown stupid a-- reason."
Following his time with the Philadelphia 76ers, Barkley went on to play for the Phoenix Suns before seeing out the final years of his career with the Houston Rockets. In total, Barkley amassed 1073 regular-season NBA games during his time in the league - averaging 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists on 54.1% shooting from the field.
Unfortunately, despite being one of the best forwards in the history of the game, Barkley's career ended without him having won an NBA Championship. Since retiring, 'Chuck' has become a prominent member of the NBA media and can be seen on TNT during their pre and post-game shows alongside Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson.
Shaquille O'Neal speaks glowingly of Charles Barkley
On June 4, during TNT's coverage of the NBA Finals, Shaquille O'Neal discussed his relationship with Charles Barkley.
@NBATV Chuck and @SHAQ have a special bond ❤️
🎥 @NBATV
https://t.co/MqF6DPsqfv
"Chuck is the older brother that I never had," O'Neal said. "“I used to hate Charles. We were getting ready to get into a fight, and before I could get to the locker room and put my clothes on to go down to the locker room and see him, I get a call from his mother who said ‘don’t you hit my boy’ and I was like ‘who is this?’
"He's like the big brother I never had. I love him. I respect him. We fight. We argue. I have a little brother, I have teammates. Grant's seen me choke one of my teammates out. It's part of love."
After having a fierce rivalry during their playing days, the duo has become good friends in their second careers as media members. However, during their time as NBA players, there was no greater rivalry, as both Shaq and Barkley played with a genuine distaste for one another.
Fortunately, the duo has since buried the hatchet, and now, they're two of the most entertaining personalities covering the NBA. Interestingly, Shaq's kind words about Barkley were said to have been the nicest thing he had ever said about his formal rival, with Twitter users showing their happiness at the pair sharing such a legitimate bond.