33 Years Ago, Charles Barkley Displayed Rare Instance of Eloquence While Describing Gigantic Rival-Turned-Teammate

Charles Barkley has always been outspoken from his days as an NBA player. While his comments about the current crop of athletes come through his position as a TNT analyst, he was never one to rely on a platform to make his feelings known. 33 years ago, a particularly tall teammate of Barkley’s experienced this first-hand. The massive 7’7″ center was introduced to the Philadelphia 76ers legend in the early 1990s.

Chuck hailed his former Golden State Warriors competitor who became a teammate as “very smart” and “not one of those just-basketball guys.” He also stated that the famous lanky baller was well-versed in a variety of areas. Yet, his comments were not without criticism.

During their time together, Barkley and Bol became close

Charles Barkley stated that many felt sorry for Manute Bol because he was so tall and ungainly. Of course, Chuck felt differently. The 1993 NBA MVP expressed that he would rather live in a world where everyone was a Manute Bol.

He acknowledged the Sudanese star for being quite intelligent and reading The New York Times. He also shared a humorous exchange between himself and his gigantic teammate.

“You know what he was talking about the other day? Milk. He was saying that he grew up on milk straight from the cow. Squeezed it himself. Milk. He says, ‘Charlie, what’s this lo-fat milk, this two percent milk, all of this other milk? Cows don’t give lo-fat milk, two percent milk. We shouldn’t drink it.’ I don’t know. Maybe he’s got something.”

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Somehow, Barkley’s recollection of this milk incident does paint a compelling picture of his off-court dynamic with Manute. Unfortunately, on-court the duo did not find similar levels of success.

Even though the Philadelphia 76ers signed Manute Bol to enhance the prospects of winning a championship, Chuck was harshly critical of his game.

Charles Barkley called Manute Bol “one-dimensional”

Despite Barkley’s fondness for Bol’s mentality, he did pick apart the 7’7 center’s game, particularly his ‘one-dimensional’ approach. Charles made an extremely harsh remark about Bol in his book ‘Sir Charles: Wit and Wisdom of Charles Barkley.”

?He?s a one-dimensional player who doesn?t give you anything except blocked shots ? we traded a first-round draft choice for a 28-year-old flyswatter who could score only 1.9 points a game. Hell, my grandmother could score two points a game, as long as she wasn?t double-teamed.?

In his final season with the Sixers, Chuck averaged 23.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. Despite such figures, the Sixers finished 10th in the Eastern Conference and failed to make the playoffs.

The Sudanese player, who is 7’7″, had a disappointing season with the Sixers, averaging 3.0 points and 1.8 blocks per game. Chuck was correct about his game, as Bol’s height could not provide many advantages to the Sixers’ championship hopes.

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