“What kind of blood was in the transfusion?” Charles Barkley‘s mother Charcey Glenn always wondered. Sir Charles currently boasts a net worth of $70 million, thanks to his earnings from his NBA and post-retirement analyst career on TNT. Other than his efforts and knowledge to build this massive business empire, Chuck’s mother credited another thing for his success. She always spoke about how she nearly lost her son to a severe health condition.

Barkley suffered severe anemia just days after his birth. As a result, he had a blood transfusion when he was just 3 days old. He was saved and Glenn believes that maybe he was also given a blessing from the gods. Standing at 6’6 tall and weighing somewhere around 290 lbs, Chuck is the tallest person in the Barkley family. After refining his skills, the Leeds, Alabama native, was able to dominate the basketball game as we know it. 

“I almost died as a baby. I was anemic, I had to get a lot of blood (transfusion)… Cause I am the only tall person in my family. And my mom used to joke, ‘I don’t know what kind of blood they gave you, but thank god they did because you’re the only tall person. You’re making a good living with that,’” Barkley revealed during his appearance in season 4 of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

The Phoenix Suns legend stated how his mother was grateful that he was tall and thanks to this quality, he was able to make a wonderful career in the NBA. “He had to have blood transfusion when he was about three days old. Sometimes I wonder what kind of blood was in the transfusion,” Glenn humorously suggested in Barkley’s documentary. But it was also the Philadelphia 76ers legend’s determination to give a better life to his mother and grandmother.

Charles Barkley worked harder for his mother and grandmother

Barkley shared that his mother worked as a maid while his grandmother worked at a meat factory. He further added how they both supported him to reach where he is now. He wasn’t quite athletic as a kid, however; he worked hard to change that. “I got to give these ladies the love and the respect they deserve,” the Philadelphia 76ers legend said in an interview with Shannon Sharpe.

This was quite an intriguing fact that Chuckster’s mother secretly had faith in. She passed away at the age of 73 on June 19, 2015. While the 11x NBA All-Star never won a ring, he definitely did more than that to make his family financially sound and, most importantly, proud.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.