“There’s a Kid Dying”: Weeping Charles Barkley Grew Fearful After Startling Realization Drove Him to Give Up on Noble Practice

Charles Barkley is one of the best storytellers among NBA royalty. Perhaps, it is his stories that have helped him emerge as one of America’s favorite analysts. Although the 1993 MVP is known for his humorous tales, some of his stories have epiphanies as a recurring motif. In fact, most of his stories from his playing days are characterized by moments of stark realization. In his memoir, Sir Charles has reminisced about one such touching story.

During his days on the court, Charles Barkley, at times, failed to concentrate on the game. For he went to certain games with a heavy heart, for which the NBA icon gave up on a noble practice, as sorrow kept him from playing well.

Charles Barkley once wept all the way to an NBA game

In his 2002 memoir, I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It, Charles Barkley recounted a sorrowful yet eye-opening moment that happened during his NBA days. As the Round Mound of Rebound puts it, he might really be in a bad mood prior to many games. During those times, he got calls from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There would be people, mostly children, who wished to see the 76ers icon before they died.

“The Foundation would call me on a game day and say, “There is a kid dying here whose last wish is to see you. Can you just come and see him?” I’d get there and sometimes the kid would be comatose,” Barkley wrote in his memoir. Then, he revealed an experience that broke his heart.

“One day, a kid woke up for a split second and smiled at me. I was told he’d been hanging on. The mom and dad called me later and said, “I don’t know what you did to him, but those few moments were wonderful.” And I cried all the way to the game, just cried my eyes out,” Barkley added.

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As the painful moment took a heavy toll on Barkley, he could not concentrate on the game and eventually had to give up on the noble practice. In his memoir, Charles Barkley added that the terminal illness the little children battled was way too scary. “It’s very scary, uplifting too, but so scary. Terminal illness is just…man,” he wrote. Barkley stressed that he got a new perspective on life after seeing the pain of those kids and stopped helping with the foundation on game days.

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As Barkley puts it, the overwhelming experience of bringing a smile to a dying kid’s face has forced him to rethink life. For Sir Charles, who lost his cool because his breakfast was cold, the Make-A-Wish Foundation experience was indeed an eye-opener.