During CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage on Friday, Charles Barkley entertained Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, and Kenny Smith with an amusing anecdote about his early NBA days.
Barkley began by acknowledging the hard work of equipment managers and uniform cleaners, and then threw in a bone for them.
Barkley revealed that he used to wash his own NBA uniform in the shower, which sparked disbelief and mockery from his co-hosts.
Kenny Smith quickly called out Barkley, insisting that there was no era where players washed their own uniforms.
Barkley defended himself and explained that when he first joined the NBA, players flew commercially, and there was no time for uniform cleaning before the next game.
Therefore, he had to shower in his uniform, dry it, and drop it on the plane the next day.
Clark Kellogg suggested that Barkley could have cleaned his uniform without showering in it, but Barkley argued that showering in it was easier.
Despite his co-hosts’ skepticism, Barkley maintained that he wasn’t making up the story.
It’s astonishing to recall a time when NBA players traveled on commercial flights and were responsible for cleaning their own uniforms. However, Barkley’s account indicates that this wasn’t so long ago.
