- Charles Barkley’s affinity for gambling has been well-known for some time
- The Hall of Famer divulged new details of his habit to Shannon Sharpe
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Charles Barkley has revealed he lost $25million cumulatively gambling, with the basketball Hall of Famer left feeling ‘depressed’ at times by his massive losses.
Barkley, who made over $40million in the NBA and has been an analyst on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ since 2000, is known to have a strong affinity for gambling.
And speaking on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast, Barkley divulged just how high-stakes some of his bets have been throughout the years.
‘There’s probably been seven times when I won a million dollars,’ he said.
‘But there’s probably been 25 times when I’ve lost a million.’
He continued, ‘I got such a elation [when I won], but when I lost a million, I was so depressed. Because of the money, but because of the losing.
‘I’d be depressed for a week [thinking], ‘Damn, I lost a million dollars?’
‘I was getting out hand. No matter how good it feels winning, when you lose, it just f*****g sucks.’
Speaking to Sharpe, Barkley revealed that he quit gambling for two years, and explained how he couldn’t bring himself to leave the casino at times.
‘We’ll be sitting there, I’ll be up, and my friends would be like, ‘Chuck, let’s go for the night’.
‘And in my head I’m saying, ‘Nah, we’re not leaving this motherf***** until I win a million dollars.’
Previously, Barkley told Phil Mickelson during The Match in 2021 that he wanted to be ‘dead broke’ when he dies.
‘Listen, everybody knows I like to gamble. I wanna be dead broke when I keel over, Phil. I don’t want to leave all that money for my free-loading family. I’ve been taking care of them my whole life. I wanna be dead broke at my last breath.’
He also said in a biography of his life – authored by Timothy Bella – that his family ran an underground casino when he was growing up.
‘The house was like a casino on the weekend,’ he said. ‘Guys would come on Friday and drink and gamble until Sunday.’
Nonetheless, despite Barkley’s admitted gambling problems, he seems to be doing just fine financially.
The former power forward is worth a reported $60million today, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
He also has endorsement deals with Nike, Coca-Cola, Right Guard, McDonald’s, and T-Mobile.