Charles Barkley Puts Rudy Gobert on Tough Spot Only to Be Humbled Moments Later

Being a nag gets you name rights. Or so Charles Barkley would like to think. With Rudy Gobert on Inside the NBA, his fourth DPOY win was secondary to becoming a new dad. He missed Game 2 on Monday when his son was born and Gobert was glad to announce on TNT he named his son Romeo. As much as the TNT dads were happy for him, Chuck very subtly asked if Rudy was considering a classic name. Something like ‘Charles.’

Sir Charles, a dad of one and granddad of two, very casually slipped in the question, “When you were picking out names and came up on Romeo, where did Charles come out on the list? Was I in the top five?”

Gobert’s agony and cringe were palpable. How do you let down the veteran who dishes tough love to you every week? He resorted to a little white lie that he told people and his girlfriend, Julia Bonilla, that he liked the name ‘Charles’ too. “It’s actually a French name too,” the French national team player said.

While Ernie Johnson summarized that Charles was never a top 5 name choice for the littlest Gobert, Rudy ultimately let him down easy. “You were on the list, but we wanted to name the baby with ‘R.’ So…”  Chuck did appreciate Gobert preserving his feelings and dignity with that response. Especially when Gobert softened the blow in the end with, “I still love you, Charles.”

The Chuckster can’t be too sore about it when the names in the Barkley fam have followed a theme. His only daughter, Christiana, has more syllables in common with Charles than her mother, Maureen. Christiana has a son, Henry, and a daughter, Charlie Eliza, named in honor of her lovable teddy bear, Big Pop Chuck. The TNT guys have testified before that Chuck is a sappy grandfather. A hypothetical Charles Gobert was not going to soften up Chuck.

Charles Barkley stands up for Rudy Gobert

A few weeks ago Barkley was extremely annoyed at Gobert for doing the money gesture at refs. He even said he should be suspended for it. Behavior aside, Chuck acknowledges that Gobert has the skills to back his merits.

Gobert won the Most Overrated Player moniker and the DPOY award back-to-back. Chuck called out the league for not respecting defensive players and not showcasing players like Gobert better on the court. Chuck said that game highlights omit the aggression displayed in defensive play and hence, defensive players like Gobert don’t get their due.

For being so protective about Rudy, maybe he’s made a good case for a future Charles Gobert. Unless Rudy annoys Chuck again.