Charles Barkley just turned 60 years old last month, and on Sunday, he fed himself a little dose of reality regarding the remaining years of his life and what he enjoys doing outside the broadcast booth.
Barkley appeared on “60 Minutes” and spoke glowingly about being a grandparent. His daughter Christiana just had a son, and Barkley called it the “greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.”
While he spoke about his newfound love for being a grandparent, he said on the CBS program he understands he’s on the “back nine” of his life.
NBA Legend, Charles Barkley talks to Guy Fieri during the 71st NBA All-Star Game as part of 2022 NBA All Star Weekend on Feb. 20, 2022 at Wolstein Center in Cleveland. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
“It lives up to the hype,” the Basketball Hall of Famer said. “I want to spend time with him, because I’m not morbid, I’m not upset, I’m on the back nine. I hope I’m on hole 10 or 11, but you never know. I could be on 17 and 18. So I wanna spend as much time with him as possible. And then when he gets older, I want him to Google me.”
Barkley added that he hoped his grandson would eventually research him when he gets a little older.
“I hope he does some research on me,” he said. “I’ll be long gone, but I would like him to know that I accomplished some things in my life.”
Charles Barkley speaks to the crowd during the Class of 2022 Tip-Off Celebration and Awards Gala as part of the 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on Sept. 9, 2022 at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
KEVIN DURANT ‘PART OF THAT GENERATION WHO THINK HE CAN’T BE CRITICIZED,’ CHARLES BARKLEY SAYS
The Alabama native who won an MVP award with the Phoenix Suns also recalled learning the moment his daughter was not going to be a basketball player.
“That was brutal. She was 6 feet tall from, from birth,” he said with a laugh. “I’m gonna have the best female basketball player in the world. I can’t wait till she’s old enough. I’m gonna teach her everything. And then we start playin’ and I’m sittin’ in the stands, and I’m sayin’ to myself, ‘Oh, man. She is not aggressive at all.’
“So I ask her one day, I says, ‘you don’t like basketball, do you?’ She says, ‘Oh, Dad, I hate basketball.’ And I said, ‘Oh, OK.’ And it took me a little while to get over that. …”
Charles Barkley attends the HBO premiere for the four-part documentary “SHAQ” at Illuminarium on Nov. 14, 2022 in Atlanta. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images for HBO)
Barkley said he was happy that she got good grades in school.
