Charles Barkley on Moses Malone: 'I called him 'Dad'
Hall of Famer Charles Barkley issued a statement about the death of Moses Malone.
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Charles Barkley issued a statement about the death of fellow NBA Hall of Famer Moses Malone on Sunday. The two of them were teammates with the Philadelphia 76ers for the first two years of Barkley's career, and the current TNT analyst had this to say about the man who mentored him:
"The man I called 'Dad' passed today. Words can't explain my sadness. I will never know why a Hall of Famer took a fat, lazy kid from Auburn and treated him like a son and got him in shape and made him a player.
Every time I saw him I called him 'Dad.' I hope he knew how much I appreciated and loved him."
When Barkley was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he chose Malone and longtime Phoenix Suns owner and executive Jerry Colangelo to present him. With Malone standing onstage, Barkley raved about how the legend helped him as a young player:
"I always tell people the most influential person in my career is Moses because he got me in shape and taught me how to work hard. I asked him early in my rookie year, 'Why am I not getting to play?' After I got over the fat-and-lazy thing -- it took me a little bit to get over that -- he got me in shape. And I always give him great credit for that."
Before and after his playing days, Barkley made no secret of how much Malone meant to him. He was under no obligation to say anything publicly about this yet, but he clearly wanted the world to know where his mind is as the NBA community mourns Malone's death and remembers his career.
