Charles Barkley Gaining 19 Pounds In The 48 Hours Before The 1984 Draft Has Given Me New Hope

SI – On trying to avoid being drafted by the Sixers in 1984 by gaining 20 pounds in 48 hours prior to a pre-draft workout in Philadelphia

Back in my day we had a hard salary cap so you could not go over the salary cap like you can today and the Sixers had the No. 5 pick in the draft. I left college after three years and in fairness, I was fat in college. I played at 300 pounds. 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.” 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 barbeque 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. So when you look at my face when commissioner [David] Stern says ‘With the fifth pick in the draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Charles Barkley,’ I was like, ‘Oh, sh–.’ When people go back and look at me walking, and they see that awful burgundy suit, everybody else is happy and Charles isn’t happy. But it worked out great. The most important person in my basketball career was Moses Malone and he got me down to under 250 pounds and the rest is history.

I’m going to be honest, before reading this story I had been giving some serious thought about giving up on my bet with Feitelberg about being 200 pounds by Memorial day. As of this morning I was weighing in at 184 pounds which is basically what I’ve been at for the past 3 weeks despite the fact that I’ve been eating more and working out more than I ever have in my life. I’ve just plateaued like a motherfucker. I also started trying to do the gallon of milk a day thing which is not only expensive as shit but has also all gone straight to my gut which is not ideal with beach season around the corner. So basically I was thinking about giving up on the bet and mixing in some cardio and abs into my workouts so I can have the hardest body east of the Mississippi come summertime. Thanks to this story from Chuck though I am officially back on the road to 200. Just gunna hit up Denny’s every morning, eat 2 lunches and 2 dinners and I should be all set. If Chuck can gain 20 pounds in 48 hours why can’t I gain 16 in 40 days? mmmpow.