The road to the NBA is not black and white as projected by many throughout the years. There were many superstars who were destined for greatness, but couldn’t achieve that because they didn’t have the right guidance and opportunities. Whereas there are players who had great mentors, friends, and competitors who pushed them to their limits, the reason behind their ultimate success in the game. Charles Barkley was a similar player, who was destined for greatness, but had a few chinks in his armor that he needed to be hammered out.

As shown in the documentary Sir Charles from the 90s on Barkley’s road to greatness, recently reposted on the Internet, the 76ers team agreed that Barkley was special from the get-go, but he needed to pull up his socks to aim for greatness. Meanwhile, his then-teammate and inspiration had quite the advice for a rookie Charles Barkley.

Moses Malone once pointed out exactly what Charles Barkley was lacking

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Barkley as a first-round pick in the 1984 NBA draft. Since then, they knew Chuck was special. According to the words of the-then 76ers head coach Bill Cunningham, he was astonished by Barkley’s agility while weighing “around 240 pounds“. 

There were obvious signs of greatness from the budding star, but teammate and NBA legend Moses Malone saw one shortcoming that was concerning. In the documentary Sir Charles, Moses Malone circled out the exact problems with the rookie Barkley.

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“You could see that Charles wanted to be great, but he didn’t want to work at it,” said Malone. He further added, ” So I said ‘Charles the things that you gotta do, it’s not gonna come easy because right now you at the pro-ball level, you got a lot of great athletes. So what you gotta do is get mean, get aggressive, and compete every night“

Barkley, who was a hot-headed and lazy but talented player, took Malone’s advice to heart. He further mentioned how Malone “taught” him to work hard. 

ALSO READ: Deeply Troubled in High School, “Crying” Charles Barkley Saw Support in 2 Women Working at Houses and Meat Factory

Chuck made the most of Malone’s advice as he remembered the days when all his friends went out for partying while he used to practice. Hence, years later, he’s one of the most revered NBA players and a Hall Of Famer in his own right.

Charles Barkley’s career in the NBA

Barkley went from a hot-headed, talented rookie to a legend for the Philadelphia 76ers by the end of his career. The legendary NBA superstar was an 11-time All-Star and also an NBA MVP during the Michael Jordan era.

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Chuck was a player that everyone respected, as he was a dominant force whenever he came on-court. To be mentioned in the same breath as the great players from the 90s, without winning a title, is not an easy feat, and Charles Barkley achieved that through years of hard work.