When Charles Barkley shared crazy story of him getting into a bar fight: "I took all my clothes off..."
Charles Barkley was one of the most dominant NBA players of his era. Despite the lack of size, the power forward dominated his opponents with ease, scoring points and grabbing rebounds over them.
While Barkley is very likable now, that wasn't always the case. During his illustrious professional career, the basketball legend had trouble with the law. In 1991, the player was arrested for getting into a bar fight in Milwaukee.
“I took all my clothes off because I had these three guys who were trying to beat me up,” Barkley recalled. “I wanted them to think I was crazy."
Chuck shared this story during the "Inside the NBA" show in May 2019. The segment took place before Game 1 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.
Charles Barkley took his clothes off during the fight
The basketball legend joked about the Milwaukee bar fight, saying that he was doing his "Karate Kid" impersonation. When asked if he took his shirt off during the fight, Barkley admitted that he took all of his clothes off.
The fight took place in December 1991, shortly after the Philadelphia 76ers played against the Bucks in Milwaukee.
By taking his clothes off, Charles Barkley hoped that the men who attacked him would think he's crazy and leave him alone. However, one of them kept standing right in front of him and ended up fighting the basketball player.
"I broke his nose," Barkley said. "No shirt, no shoes, no problem."
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As a result of the fight, the Philadelphia 76ers forward was arrested at the Hyatt Regency, the team's hotel, a few hours after the fight. He was kept in the lockup before paying $500 bail, which caused him to miss the team's flight back to Philadelphia.
Barkley, who was 28 at the time, may have been frustrated with his performance against the Bucks. In a 13-point loss against Milwaukee, he scored a season-low 10 points on 4-for-10 shooting.
The 6-foot-5 forward was also careless with the ball, turning it over four times, and he missed four out of six free throw attempts.
Barkley vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Barkley's December 1991 performance against the Milwaukee Bucks was definitely an anomaly. He averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds in his career, which is very impressive considering his size.
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During his 16-year NBA career, the Hall of Famer played in 44 games against the Bucks, starting in 42 of them. It's interesting that his stats against this team are nearly identical to his career stats.
In these 44 games, the 6-foot-5 forward averaged 22.2 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. He converted 55.4% of his shots against the Bucks and 73.3% of shots from the charity stripe.