Charles Barkley has spoken again, this time on Steph Curry throwing his mouthpiece into the stands and inadvertently hitting a fan with it after being ejected from Game 6 of the NBA Finals.
“If you are a fan sitting that close, you’re eventually going to have something like that happen," Barkley told USA TODAY Sports. “Reminds me a little of the old Western movies where just before a gunfight people run across to the other side of the street. It’s a wonder no one gets shot."
Typical Barkley. Charles Barkley Jr., that is.
Charles Barkley Jr. lives in Mesa, Ariz., 30 miles from the Scottsdale home of the ultra-opinionated, former NBA star who works for Turner Sports. He has fielded more than a few phone calls meant for the more famous Barkley.
The two Barkleys met in 1988, and there’s proof — a photo of Charles Barkley Jr. and his father, Charles Barkley Sr., standing on either side of the “Round Mound of Rebound,’’ then wearing his Philadelphia 76ers uniform before a game between the 76ers and the Phoenix Suns.
The meeting took place after Charles Barkley Jr. wrote a letter to the basketball star because he thought it’d be cool to meet someone who shared the same name. Little did he know what would happen next.
Barkley was traded to the Suns four years later. The two Barkleys were living only 30 miles apart, and Charles Barkley Jr. started getting phone calls from people looking for the basketball star.
“One time my wife got a call from somebody over in Europe and he wanted her to send him my shoes," said Charles Barkley Jr., who said he wears a size 10 1/2, while the other Barkley wears size 16s. “So it was after that that we unlisted our number."
In person, it’d be hard to confuse the two Barkleys even though they’re both 53. Charles Barkley Jr., is white and 6 feet — six inches shorter than the Barkley who was an 11-time NBA All-Star. Charles Barkley Jr., who works for the transportation department in Mesa, said he never played basketball.
“The closest I got to sports was being a water boy in high school," he said.
A Turner Sports spokesman said their Barkley is on vacation and he could not reached for comment about Curry’s mini-meltdown, Game 7 of the NBA Finals or Charles Barkley Jr., who was left to field the obvious question: Who’s going to win Game 7?
“Who’s playing?" he asked.
