The Round Mound of Rebound wasn't quite round enough to avoid the City of Brotherly Love.
Charles Barkley's Hall-of-Fame career began with eight seasons in Philadelphia after the 76ers drafted him fifth overall in 1984, but, as he tells it, he tried to binge eat himself away from Philly.
"The Sixers called me a month before the draft and said, 'We want you to get down to 285 pounds and come in before the draft,'" Barkley told Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch at last month's South By Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas.
So I get down to 283 and the night before we fly into Philly my agent said, 'You do know if the Sixers draft you they are going to give you $75,000, right?' I said, 'Dude, I didn't leave college for $75,000. We have a problem.' He said, 'You weigh about 283 now. What do you want to do? You beat their weight limit.' I said, 'Let’s go out.'
So we went to Dennys and I had like two Grand Slam breakfasts. We went to lunch and I had like two big barbecue sandwiches. That night we went to a big steakhouse. The next morning I had two more Grand Slam breakfasts and when we flew to Philly, I weighed 302. I was like, 'Thank goodness, the Sixers are not going to draft me.'
Of course, the Sixers did draft Barkley with the fifth pick, 300 pounds be damned, leading to a couple of awkward post-selection interview questions.
Barkley never advanced past the Eastern Conference final during his time with the Sixers, but he did make six All-Star teams and seven All-NBA teams while averaging more than 23 points and 11 rebounds over eight seasons in Philly.
Suffice to say, while he couldn't fatten himself up beyond the point of no return for the 76ers, things turned out alright for Sir Charles.
