“A lot of laughing and a lot of drinking going on.” Charles Barkley’s confession of his time at TNT’s The Game (2024) revealed he has not completely given up on the habit he was once himself concerned about. But it seems the drinking wasn’t just limited to his time at the 10th edition of the Golf showdown broadcasted by TNT. Yep, a recently shared video by an X user showed Barkley praising Billy Sushi, seemingly a bit tipsy.

For those unaware, Billy Sushi is a popular outlet in Minnesota. “… I never lie when I’m on television… I don’t do a lot of sushi. Because there’s no lakes in the hood, there’s no fish in the hood. But my friends tell me, Billy Sushi is amazing. I want to wish you continued success. Keep doing your thing…” Barkley said in the video.

More than what he said, however, it was his expressions, way of speaking, and the empty glasses in the video that pointed toward Charles Barkley being inebriated. But how do we know this is a recently taken video, you ask? Well, his outfit during his recent appearance on Inside the NBA and the video coming out the same day speaks volumes.

While it’s completely fine and a call for Chuck to take, we only show concern because of his past issues with alcohol that he himself admitted to. “I’ve got to stop drinking. I drink way too much and it has been affecting my game… I haven’t played as well as I would have liked to this season, and obviously drinking has something to do with it,” he told the LA Times in 1998.

The Philadelphia 76ers star also admitted back then that continuous drinking had been taking its toll on his body. But now that Chuck no longer has to shed the sweat on the court, it’s probably fine for him to enjoy a drink now and then. Especially when he’s pairing it with sushi. A popular belief is that sushi goes great with wine and sake (saki). But then there have been instances when we cannot help but be concerned for Chuck.

Charles Barkley once passed out while drinking

Chuck never disappoints when it comes to unforgettable stories. And his night at Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura’s retirement party? It’s an instant classic. Sharing the hilarious tale in The Steam Room, Barkley recalled how a seemingly innocent night of gin-drinking with Navy SEALs left him questioning his life choices.

Picture this: the party’s winding down, and Barkley finds himself in a suite with Ventura—who, by the way, is a former Navy SEAL—and a group of his equally tough buddies. The gin starts flowing, and Chuck asks, “Where’s the mixer?”

What he got was a response straight out of a war movie. One of Ventura’s friends fired back, “Son, we were in Vietnam. What do you think we had time to get mixers?” From there, it was game over for Charles Barkley. By morning, he woke up with a pounding hangover and a newfound respect for Navy SEAL drinking stamina. There is rarely a possibility that even drinking now and then, the former NBA star would want to reach a level of experiencing similar instances once again.