Charles Barkley Claims He Played a Game Drunk After He Thought He Was Traded to the Lakers
By Michael Luciano
Charles Barkley was playing games with a poorly-conditioned 280 pound frame, and he was still almost unstoppable. Even when he was inebriated, he was still able to at least make some plays on the court.
After Barkley demanded a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, he thought he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers at the 1992 deadline, which prompted an afternoon of celebrating. Unfortunately, the trade fell through, and Barkley had to play a game that night while drunk.
Charles Barkley says he played drunk in a game after finding out that the Sixers’ deal to trade him to the Lakers had fallen through. https://t.co/LubkTMlqxj pic.twitter.com/tDkv21mK2a
— Silver Screen & Roll (@LakersSBN) May 22, 2020
The best guess for which game this was has to be Feb. 12 against the Nets, as it was before the trade deadline. Barkley put up just six points with seven assists and nine rebounds while allowing 43 points on defense.
Barkley left Philadelphia after the organization refused to get him players better than Mike Gminski and Hershey Hawkins. With the Phoenix Suns, Barkley won an MVP and made it to an NBA Finals after landing on a team with Kevin Johnson at point guard and Dan Majerle on the wing.
Charles Barkley won the MVP during Michael Jordan’s prime: “First of all, I deserved it.”
— The Lefkoe Show (@LefkoeShow) May 21, 2020
Legendary. pic.twitter.com/SbyTAm78m3
Barkley completely wasted was still better than a good chunk of power forwards in the league sober. Only Sir Charles could actually get away with something like this.