Love him or hate him, Charles Barkley has proven to be an iconic force both on and off the basketball court. Much has been made over the years about Sir Charles' indulgence in many different things. ESPN and the rest of the mainstream media would have you believe that he is simply an overweight and outspoken Black man who wastes millions of dollars gambling. What you won't hear much of is Barkley's penchant for generosity to others.
In a story first reported by Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News, last summer Barkley agreed to help out Christian Abate, who is a waiter at one of Barkley's favorite restaurants. Abate was an education major at Temple, but was forced to drop out when he could not secure financial aid. When Barkley heard about Abate's situation, he gave the waiter the length of one meal to decide whether to accept his offer of tuition assistance. Abate accepted and he is line to graduate from Temple next May. People always want to talk about how many millions of dollars Barkley lost from gambling, but they never speak about the millions of dollars he has given back to his school and community.
The thing about this is that many athletes do this type of thing everyday and it never becomes news. Yet media outlets like ESPN would have people believe that athletes (and especially athletes of color) are only concerned with "making it rain" or otherwise blowing their money on material things. I have no problem with what an athlete does with his money. I just wish people would start realizing that there are many more athletes like Sir Charles than Adam "Don't Call Me Pacman" Jones.
Great story
good look thanks for bringing this to light
so he isn't broke?
The Chuck Wagon has always been that dude!