6 ms·

My Dad's Friendship with Charles Barkley

467 points by weitingliu 8y ago

muhneesh 8y ago
I watch Inside the NBA almost religiously - it's such a perfect show sometimes. It's not your typical ESPN or Fox Sports commentary show where an anchor talks about a player's "tenacious tenacity". It's a show that presents itself as a place where four friends talk about a shared interest. To accomplish this, they need to be comfortable talking to each other without being confined to the sports equivalent of political correctness - to have unconstrained degrees of freedom in criticism, humor and general skylarking. This happens oftentimes to the point of controversy, with Charles usually being involved at the center of any such controversy. This story is beautiful, but to anyone that is a fan of Charles Barkley, it is unsurprising. He's always been a beacon of genuineness through his time as a player, as a commentator and this article simply extends that same light to his personal life.
- duxup 8y ago
  Actual chemistry between the folks on screen that produces results that seem like ... actual chemistry seems really undervalued / rare these days. I love reading / watching sports.... sports shows that aren't the sports them-self are almost always so bad and wonky. Inside the NBA is a noteworthy example of what it should be.
  - galeaspablo 8y ago
    It’s a jewel. One of my favorite moments and a sample of that chemistry for the interested.. https://youtu.be/uVcAazaigiQ https://youtu.be/uVcAazaigiQ
    - mobilemidget 8y ago
      SNL bits jewels too https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snl+charles+barkley https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snl+charles+bar...
  - cmstoken 8y ago
    ESPN FC crew is also great for those who watch soccer/football.
  - dmix 8y ago
    > actual chemistry seems really undervalued / rare these days. It's because they are almost always forced board-room designed politically correct arrangements of hosts: the old white guy with plenty of industry experience, the sassy girl who keeps the guys in check, and third is usually an ex-athlete (usually black) guy OR (more often on radio) the "wild and crazy" guy who says wacky stuff. They aren't chosen for their chemistry together, existing friendships, or w/e else makes people gel... but instead for fitting some Hollywood-esque pre-existing model that checks off all the checkboxes. NBA inside works because they have a couple of rare personalities you wouldnt normally find in the usual talking-head talent pools with Shaq and Barkley plus a really great "old industry experienced guy" Ernie Johnson... (and honourable mention neutral guy Kenny Smith).
    - mav3rick 8y ago
      I like Skip and Shannon.
- joshmn 8y ago
  Rings Erneh
billforsternz 8y ago
This is a lovely and charming story...but. The whole premise is that the relationship between the suburban dad and the celebrity was somehow weird and unbelievable. I see that, but it's a shame we can't turn the world on its head somehow so that it would be just everyday normality. Celebrity culture has elevated some people to a kind of otherness. But they're just people.
- ronyeh 8y ago
  In the end it's a story of a dude who ran into another dude and they hit it off over drinks and dinner. Then over the years they'd catch up and share stories of their lives and their children. But the difference here is one guy is a celebrity and probably had a very very busy day to day schedule. Even then, he'd make time to meet up with Mr. Wang when they were in the same town. I think the story is interesting because the two men came from very different backgrounds, yet discovered lots of common ground (minority skin color, achieved success despite modest upbringing, pride in their children). It's a story of a good friendship, one where you'd deliver a glowing eulogy at the other's funeral, if it ever came to that. I mean, I'm not sure how many folks I have outside of my own family that I'd have enough to say to deliver a eulogy. Maybe I need to make more friends?
  - king_phil 8y ago
    I think the "very very very busy schedule" misses the point. Everbody has stuff to do, and things that are hard or (almost) impossible to reschedule. But everybody has a personal life, and can and will take time for it. One thing I sometimes say (not sure if it's from somewhere else, and I certainly failt to live up to it myself, sometimes): "You don't have time, you take it". Things just need to be more important than what's on your calendar.
    - ronyeh 8y ago
      Well said. I think what I was trying to say was, despite our common perception of a celebrity's busy life (full of parties, speaking engagements, sponsor events), Sir Charles is just a normal person like us. He made time to hang out with his friends.
a-wu 8y ago
Listen to the narrated version of the article. It’s much more powerful hearing the author and Barkley talk about Lin, especially when Barkley talks about how he and Lin would talk about their kids.
- antibland 8y ago
  Complete opposite experience for me. I found Lin's daughter's voice quite grating and reverted to reading the text. The part that did me in was when she gleefully enunciated "exclamation point exclamation point."
  - happytoexplain 8y ago
    I don't follow what you're trying to say about her "gleeful enunciation".
    - sizzle 8y ago
      Possibly regarding the intonation/inflection and pitch?
bigtones 8y ago
This was such a lovely story it made me tear up. Barkley does come across as a really nice guy on television and his friendship with Shaq is legendary, so it's great to hear confirmation that that is really the case. And Charles words at the funeral were brief but genuine and warm. Great afternoon read.
- pmart123 8y ago
  This happened to me too, but at work haha. One thing that I always appreciated about Barkley growing up was his ability to be sincere and relatable; he speaks from the heart.
RickJWagner 8y ago
Great article. Charles Barkley is one of the few celebrities I respect. He believes in diversity of thought.
gwern 8y ago
I was hoping to hear more about his cat litter work. What did he do? Did he ever talk about it with Barkley? etc
- sndean 8y ago
  > I was hoping to hear more about his cat litter work Of course it could be a different Lin Wang working in this area, but it looks like he has a few patents for new absorbent materials and related things [0, 1]. [0] https://patents.google.com/patent/US5849405A/en?inventor=Lin+Wang https://patents.google.com/patent/US5849405A/en?inventor=Lin... [1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US7757638B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US7757638B2/en
  - Rebelgecko 8y ago
    The hometown on the second link seems to match up. First one might be iffy, but maybe he moved around a bit.
  - nl 8y ago
    Cat Litter (and other absorbency products like diapers) are one of the most competitive areas of consumer material science. I read a great article about how there is continual pressure the shrink the shelf space they take from super markets, and that has led to some pretty interesting breakthroughs in science. I can't find the article now of course.
    - gwern 8y ago
      If you ever refind that article, please send it to me.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
>"Listen: As an adult — and you’re too young to understand this now — all you want is your kids to be happy. That’s what you work for. To give your kids everything in life." This sentiment is common to all parents across race, culture, and religion. It is one of the things that makes us human. So uplifting to hear how these two very different people connected over that.
mattzito 8y ago
I had a very similar one-time experience with Charles Barkley. I was a regular at the bar at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South in NYC, and was introduced to Barkley by the bartender, who often connected solo diners/imbibers with each other for conversation. We had a nice conversation about NYC, vegas, gambling, friendship, etc. along with a number of tequila shots. He was extremely down to earth while not pretending like he was anything other than a world famous former basketball player.
dvasdekis 8y ago
We should also never forget the classic gaming inspired by Charles Barkley - Barkley, Shut Up and Jam![1], or the spin-off RPG, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Shut_Up_and_Jam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Shut_Up_and_Jam! [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley,_Shut_Up_and_Jam:_Gaiden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley,_Shut_Up_and_Jam:_Gaid...
- thedailymail 8y ago
  The plot of Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden sounds awesome: "The game starts off in 2041, twelve years prior to the main part of the game, in "post-cyberpocalyptic Neo New York". Charles Barkley performed a powerful dunk called a Chaos Dunk at a basketball game, inadvertently killing most of the people in attendance. As a result, basketball was outlawed and many basketball players were hunted down and killed. In 2053, another Chaos Dunk is performed in Manhattan, killing millions. Barkley is blamed for the Chaos Dunk and is hunted by the B-Ball Removal Department, led by Michael Jordan." (It just gets weirder from there)
hiei 8y ago
I met him a few times, his daughter went to my high school in Scottsdale. Always such a nice guy, even though freshman were always collectively losing their minds.

467 points by weitingliu 8y ago

I watch Inside the NBA almost religiously - it's such a perfect show sometimes. It's not your typical ESPN or Fox Sports commentary show where an anchor talks about a player's "tenacious tenacity". It's a show that presents itself as a place where four friends talk about a shared interest. To accomplish this, they need to be comfortable talking to each other without being confined to the sports equivalent of political correctness - to have unconstrained degrees of freedom in criticism, humor and general skylarking. This happens oftentimes to the point of controversy, with Charles usually being involved at the center of any such controversy. This story is beautiful, but to anyone that is a fan of Charles Barkley, it is unsurprising. He's always been a beacon of genuineness through his time as a player, as a commentator and this article simply extends that same light to his personal life.

duxup 8y ago
Actual chemistry between the folks on screen that produces results that seem like ... actual chemistry seems really undervalued / rare these days. I love reading / watching sports.... sports shows that aren't the sports them-self are almost always so bad and wonky. Inside the NBA is a noteworthy example of what it should be.
- galeaspablo 8y ago
  It’s a jewel. One of my favorite moments and a sample of that chemistry for the interested.. https://youtu.be/uVcAazaigiQ https://youtu.be/uVcAazaigiQ
  - mobilemidget 8y ago
    SNL bits jewels too https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snl+charles+barkley https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=snl+charles+bar...
- cmstoken 8y ago
  ESPN FC crew is also great for those who watch soccer/football.
- dmix 8y ago
  > actual chemistry seems really undervalued / rare these days. It's because they are almost always forced board-room designed politically correct arrangements of hosts: the old white guy with plenty of industry experience, the sassy girl who keeps the guys in check, and third is usually an ex-athlete (usually black) guy OR (more often on radio) the "wild and crazy" guy who says wacky stuff. They aren't chosen for their chemistry together, existing friendships, or w/e else makes people gel... but instead for fitting some Hollywood-esque pre-existing model that checks off all the checkboxes. NBA inside works because they have a couple of rare personalities you wouldnt normally find in the usual talking-head talent pools with Shaq and Barkley plus a really great "old industry experienced guy" Ernie Johnson... (and honourable mention neutral guy Kenny Smith).
  - mav3rick 8y ago
    I like Skip and Shannon.
joshmn 8y ago
Rings Erneh

billforsternz 8y ago

This is a lovely and charming story...but. The whole premise is that the relationship between the suburban dad and the celebrity was somehow weird and unbelievable. I see that, but it's a shame we can't turn the world on its head somehow so that it would be just everyday normality. Celebrity culture has elevated some people to a kind of otherness. But they're just people.

ronyeh 8y ago
In the end it's a story of a dude who ran into another dude and they hit it off over drinks and dinner. Then over the years they'd catch up and share stories of their lives and their children. But the difference here is one guy is a celebrity and probably had a very very busy day to day schedule. Even then, he'd make time to meet up with Mr. Wang when they were in the same town. I think the story is interesting because the two men came from very different backgrounds, yet discovered lots of common ground (minority skin color, achieved success despite modest upbringing, pride in their children). It's a story of a good friendship, one where you'd deliver a glowing eulogy at the other's funeral, if it ever came to that. I mean, I'm not sure how many folks I have outside of my own family that I'd have enough to say to deliver a eulogy. Maybe I need to make more friends?
- king_phil 8y ago
  I think the "very very very busy schedule" misses the point. Everbody has stuff to do, and things that are hard or (almost) impossible to reschedule. But everybody has a personal life, and can and will take time for it. One thing I sometimes say (not sure if it's from somewhere else, and I certainly failt to live up to it myself, sometimes): "You don't have time, you take it". Things just need to be more important than what's on your calendar.
  - ronyeh 8y ago
    Well said. I think what I was trying to say was, despite our common perception of a celebrity's busy life (full of parties, speaking engagements, sponsor events), Sir Charles is just a normal person like us. He made time to hang out with his friends.

a-wu 8y ago

Listen to the narrated version of the article. It’s much more powerful hearing the author and Barkley talk about Lin, especially when Barkley talks about how he and Lin would talk about their kids.

antibland 8y ago
Complete opposite experience for me. I found Lin's daughter's voice quite grating and reverted to reading the text. The part that did me in was when she gleefully enunciated "exclamation point exclamation point."
- happytoexplain 8y ago
  I don't follow what you're trying to say about her "gleeful enunciation".
  - sizzle 8y ago
    Possibly regarding the intonation/inflection and pitch?

bigtones 8y ago

This was such a lovely story it made me tear up. Barkley does come across as a really nice guy on television and his friendship with Shaq is legendary, so it's great to hear confirmation that that is really the case. And Charles words at the funeral were brief but genuine and warm. Great afternoon read.

pmart123 8y ago
This happened to me too, but at work haha. One thing that I always appreciated about Barkley growing up was his ability to be sincere and relatable; he speaks from the heart.

RickJWagner 8y ago

Great article. Charles Barkley is one of the few celebrities I respect. He believes in diversity of thought.

gwern 8y ago

I was hoping to hear more about his cat litter work. What did he do? Did he ever talk about it with Barkley? etc

sndean 8y ago
> I was hoping to hear more about his cat litter work Of course it could be a different Lin Wang working in this area, but it looks like he has a few patents for new absorbent materials and related things [0, 1]. [0] https://patents.google.com/patent/US5849405A/en?inventor=Lin+Wang https://patents.google.com/patent/US5849405A/en?inventor=Lin... [1] https://patents.google.com/patent/US7757638B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US7757638B2/en
- Rebelgecko 8y ago
  The hometown on the second link seems to match up. First one might be iffy, but maybe he moved around a bit.
- nl 8y ago
  Cat Litter (and other absorbency products like diapers) are one of the most competitive areas of consumer material science. I read a great article about how there is continual pressure the shrink the shelf space they take from super markets, and that has led to some pretty interesting breakthroughs in science. I can't find the article now of course.
  - gwern 8y ago
    If you ever refind that article, please send it to me.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago

>"Listen: As an adult — and you’re too young to understand this now — all you want is your kids to be happy. That’s what you work for. To give your kids everything in life." This sentiment is common to all parents across race, culture, and religion. It is one of the things that makes us human. So uplifting to hear how these two very different people connected over that.

mattzito 8y ago

I had a very similar one-time experience with Charles Barkley. I was a regular at the bar at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South in NYC, and was introduced to Barkley by the bartender, who often connected solo diners/imbibers with each other for conversation. We had a nice conversation about NYC, vegas, gambling, friendship, etc. along with a number of tequila shots. He was extremely down to earth while not pretending like he was anything other than a world famous former basketball player.

dvasdekis 8y ago

We should also never forget the classic gaming inspired by Charles Barkley - Barkley, Shut Up and Jam![1], or the spin-off RPG, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden[2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Shut_Up_and_Jam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Shut_Up_and_Jam! [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley,_Shut_Up_and_Jam:_Gaiden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley,_Shut_Up_and_Jam:_Gaid...

thedailymail 8y ago
The plot of Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden sounds awesome: "The game starts off in 2041, twelve years prior to the main part of the game, in "post-cyberpocalyptic Neo New York". Charles Barkley performed a powerful dunk called a Chaos Dunk at a basketball game, inadvertently killing most of the people in attendance. As a result, basketball was outlawed and many basketball players were hunted down and killed. In 2053, another Chaos Dunk is performed in Manhattan, killing millions. Barkley is blamed for the Chaos Dunk and is hunted by the B-Ball Removal Department, led by Michael Jordan." (It just gets weirder from there)

hiei 8y ago

I met him a few times, his daughter went to my high school in Scottsdale. Always such a nice guy, even though freshman were always collectively losing their minds.