Back in 1984, Charles Barkley left college early to enter the NBA draft. The Philadelphia 76ers expressed a ton of interest in Chuck, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea of playing in the City of Brotherly Love after discovering that due to salary cap issues, he’d only be able to make a maximum of $75,000 his first season.
After meeting with the 76ers owner, Barkley found out that they were a bit concerned about his weight leading up to the draft. They instructed him to get from 298 pounds down to 285 by draft day, ensuring that they would then draft him. But since Barkley didn’t want to play there for a measly $75,000, he instead went on a 48-hour-long bender at Denny’s, where he basically tried to eat as many pancakes as he possibly could over a two-day period.
Come draft day, Chuck had actually packed on a few pounds, but the Sixers drafted him anyway. And now, his number 34 hangs in the rafters at the arena in Philadelphia. So it seems like it all worked out after all!
You can hear Charles tell the whole story by clicking here and listening to his interview with ESPN’s Ryan Russillo. The topic comes up around the 1:03:00 mark of the interview.
