Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith have brought the magic of Inside The NBA to Turner’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament. All throughout March Madness, the duo will join the CBS studio show as it navigates the onslaught of games, and it only took two days of games for Barkley to unveil a story about himself that no one really needed to know.
Prior to the matchup between Pitt and Iowa State, Barkley complimented the support staff that takes care of all the little things for teams during the tournament. This is partly because in Barkley’s college years, he did not have this kind of support, which is why the Hall of Fame inductee revealed that he showered in his jersey after road games to keep his jersey clean.
Charles Barkley had an, uh, interesting way of washing his jersey back in the day.
pic.twitter.com/AbmQSydRPs
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 17, 2023
Clark Kellogg did not seem to enjoy this story. Barkley was an efficient player in his time, but this level of laundry efficiency may be a step too far. The method begs a few questions: Were Barkley’s Auburn teammates also using the shower laundry method? Could a shower get a stain out? And where on a commercial airplane can you dry a basketball jersey?
Hopefully someone at Auburn University gave Barkley a few laundry tips — washers and dryers did exist in the 1980s. Whether it’s true or not, this story would have ended up on the all-time Inside The NBA list if he told it on the show.