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Charles Barkley gets a lot of flack for his choice of draft attire in the 1984 NBA Draft. It was burgundy, it was form fitting and he had a burgundy tie to go with it.
So…what was the rhyme or reason behind the suit?
“Well when you’re poor, you get that one suit and that was it,” Barkley told me candidly on Scoop B Radio.
“You know, first of all I don’t mind growing up poor it just made me a better person, but man burgundy was my favorite color. I wanted to have a nice suit for the draft and we went out and got it.”
People have teased Barkley about his attire at the draft. I actually dug the suit so much, I attempted to recreate my own version of it in our interview.
“Listen let me tell you something, that bring back some good memories,” said Barkley.
“You know the draft was a start of my amazing journey through life, and I’ve had an amazing life and it all started that night.”
In our interview, Barkley also discussed his relationship with Michael Jordan.
Apparently Barkley and Jordan’s feud began when Barkley was critical of Jordan on TNT’s Inside The NBA. Barkley criticized how Jordan was running the then-Charlotte Bobcats. The team is now the Charlotte Hornets.
A couple of years ago, Barkley said on TNT that Jordan needed to stop hiring his friends for top jobs with the then-Charlotte Bobcats. It was an obvious criticism, but Jordan, like many athletes, is sensitive, despite all his accomplishments.
So, that was it. Jordan was livid. They became former best friends. And there has been no turning back.
Jordan didn’t like it and the two have gone radio silent.
Additionally, during Barkley’s playing days, he and New York Knicks legend and fellow power forward Charles Oakley weren’t the best of friends.
“We got along, he just hates me and I don’t know why,” Barkley told Scoop B Radio.
“But it is what it is, no big deal we don’t live together but he was a good player, but he hates me and I think it was unfortunate what happened with him and the Knicks because it made the Knicks look bad, it made Charles Oakley look bad, but more importantly it made the NBA look bad.”
From all accounts, Barkley and Oakley’s feud began when the two threw punches at each other in a preseason NBA game in 1996.
Is there a snowball’s chance in hell that we could get Barkley, Oakley and Michael Jordan in the same room?
Sir Charles held court: “Aye listen, I love Michael Jordan like a brother,” said Barkley.
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Charles Barkley Says Wearing Awful Draft Outfit Made Him a ‘Better Person’