In this series, we explore the careers of sports legends through the lens of the journalists who covered them. While the interviews, reports, and columns are public information, there are countless moments between reporters and players that never see the light of day. We’re here for those moments. In this installment, former Arizona Republic journalist Bob Young discusses his time covering Charles Barkley as a Phoenix Sun.

[This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.]

BET: Before Charles Barkley got to Phoenix, how much had you interacted with him?

Bob Young: Virtually not at all. I actually started covering the [Suns] full time during the playoffs the year before he arrived—so the ‘92 playoffs. Prior to that … I had interviewed him briefly after a game when he was still in Philadelphia [playing for the 76ers].

The Suns had beaten them in the old Veterans Coliseum.  I still remember that interview because Dan Majerle had done a really good job on him defensively, and so I asked about that after the game. [Barkley] said, [and I’m] paraphrasing, “Dan Majerle can’t guard me. This was the sixth game of a six-game road trip. I’m gonna get a six pack of beer and get on the plane and I’m gonna be asleep.”

BET: Charles had a rough time with the media at the end of his time playing in Philadelphia. What was he like when he first got to Phoenix?

BY: The thing about Charles is even when he had difficulties with the media, including those [reporters] in Philadelphia, he never stopped talking to them. That was one of the things about Charles that was great about covering him. You might write something that pissed him off, but he was not gonna just shut you out. He might not talk to you for a couple of days or something, but it was almost like he couldn’t help himself.

I remember Phil Jasner and Bob Ford were on the [Philadelphia 76ers] beat back then. They obviously had to report what was going on at the time, the trade rumors and all of those kinds of things. But when [Charles] arrived in Phoenix they were among the reporters that came to cover his first press conference and his first games, and he talked to them just like he always had.

In fact, I remember hearing years ago that Phil had ended up in the hospital. He’s passed since [2010]. He was in the hospital seriously ill, and Charles showed up at the hospital to visit him. He did not hold grudges and there were times that I wrote stuff that he didn’t like, but he would always answer your questions. He was always available and that’s just how it was.

BET: The Suns were considered championship contenders when Barkley was traded there. What do you remember about him early on?

BY: I still remember his very first training camp.  One of the first times down the floor in practice he just clobbered Cedric Ceballos. [Barkley] really hit him hard and really got everybody riled up. He would say later that he just wanted to find out if these guys were going to defend their guy. It was an interesting strategy. Cedric ended up being one of his closest friends on the team during his time there. That’s kind of how Charles was, and he wanted to kind of test the locker room and test his new teammates and that’s how he did it.

BET: You say Charles doesn’t take anything personally—was he a little grumpier in his final season with the Suns?

BY: I would say he doesn’t take things personally from the media—I wouldn’t say that he doesn’t take things personally. I think he definitely does especially from management and things that are said by owners, general managers, teammates. I think with the media he considered it part of his job and let stuff roll off of his back. 

It was funny, Danny Ainge actually pulled me aside one day and said, “I noticed that you don’t hang around the media scrum around Charles as much when we’re in Indiana or if we’re in Milwaukee.”

I said “Yeah, because Charles never says anything when we’re in Indiana or we’re in Milwaukee. He saves his “A” material for New York and Los Angeles and Chicago.”

Charles still had his “A” game when they were playing not necessarily a big opponent but in a big media market. He would pick his spots to really go off on something if he had something to say.

BET: From that general media savvy and his personality, did you foresee this second career in media?

BY: I don’t know that I ever gave it that much thought about what he would do later, but he absolutely had it in him. The guy would literally just hold court. That was in the days when you had access before games. Not every player was willing to talk before games. Charles not only was willing to talk, he would sit there and take every question and literally hold court and loved it.

I used to get calls from the news side and it would drive me crazy. Something would happen in the world or in politics or wherever [and they would ask] “Can you get a comment from Charles Barkley about this?”

I can’t remember which year it was. It might have been his first year or his second year [in Phoenix]. Kevin Johnson and Charles were flying to the All Star Game. Charles was in the row ahead of Kevin across the aisle. He could see what Charles was doing during the flight. I remember Kevin saying that Charles had this stack of newspapers, and was watching as Charles was reading the newspapers. He was not spending any time reading about sports. He had the New York Times, he had USA Today, he had the local papers. He was reading all the news and Kevin said this lightbulb went off and he was like “Oh my God—he’s studying. He’s getting caught up on everything because he knows he’s gonna get questions about everything that’s going on in the world.”

It turned out to be, kind of, you foresaw what Charles would become in a way. He’s gonna weigh in on just about anything but he’s usually prepared to weigh in on just about anything. He has the personality. He’s hilarious. You see those wheels start turning and you know something funny is about to come out of his mouth or something controversial. Those wheels are always turning, so that’s I think what makes [him] such an interesting guy for television.

BET: In your career have you ever covered anyone like Charles?

BY: No, [although] there were guys that were great. The thing about Charles—I’ve told people through the years—I felt like he wrote more stories than I wrote. A lot of times, especially in those first couple years, [the Suns were so dominant] you felt like you were writing the same story all of the time. Then Charles would say something after the game or do something and you would have a story, maybe two.

Sometimes it was a headache like the time they were playing the Knicks and he runs and jumps over the scoreboard and chases the ref [Jimmy Clark] down the hallway. Then you end up on the phone with the league trying to find out if he’s gonna get suspended or fined. But for those occasional headaches there would be 20 times where I had nothing to write and you went into the locker room and talked to Charles and now you have plenty to write. I enjoyed it.I thought it was a blast covering him. 

I’ll tell you something else I thought was interesting—and he had this in common with Shaq—when he first came to Phoenix I’m guessing he had gone through the media guide because back in those days they’d have the pictures of the local media. He knew everybody’s name having never met them. He would address you by your name having never met you. He had done that research and showed enough respect for the reporters that he was dealing with to go to the trouble to figure out who you were.

BET: You spoke about occasionally having to react quickly to something that Charles did….

BY: Well, that’s the thing. Even before he got here. Right before he came to Phoenix, he had the incident in Milwaukee where he allegedly punched the guy.

There were some headaches along the way. A lot of times you were working with the police reporter and beat guys to try to track stuff down, and a lot of times there were rumors about things that happened that didn’t that you still had to track down. There were those kinds of headaches. [But] there were far more times that I appreciated covering him than I regretted it.

BET: When he got in trouble, like when he threw the guy through a glass window in Orlando, did he always speak as freely as he normally did afterwards?

BY: That’s Charles. It’s like those wheels start turning and something is gonna come out, it may benefit him, and it may not.  He has to do some damage control from time to time with the media relations people. He did with the Suns. He just says what’s on his mind. I think that’s who Charles is and has always been. He was like that from the time he was in college as far as I know. The funny thing about Charles is he’s kind of a quiet guy in some ways. If you talk to him on the phone sometimes you feel like you’re talking to the wrong person because he’s so subdued and quiet and polite. But again, he can flip that switch and he’s just a funny guy and he can’t help himself sometimes I think. Something pops into his head and if it’s a good line he’s gonna use it.

And by the way, his wife of many years, Maureen, is really a funny person too. I am convinced that sometimes she may have been giving Charles material.

Anyway, that’s just how Charles is. He’s rarely gonna filter himself.