3/29/2024 0 Comments Lin wangs daughter charles barkley“They’re, like, ‘How do you know him?’ I said, ‘It’s a long story. I said, ‘That’s my boy, Lin,'” Barkley said. Barkley recounted to Shirley Wang on the WBUR show how her father stood out, and friends and family wondered who he was. When Barkley’s mother died in 2015, Lin Wang traveled to Leeds, Alabama, to be at the funeral. Lin was a cat litter scientist from Iowa and no one would believe him when he would tell people Barkley was his friend. Her dad’s co-workers didn’t believe he was actually friends with the basketball legend and would tease him, she said. I loved this story of Charles Barkley meeting and staying friends with a random suburban dad named Lin Wang at an airport bar. Over the next couple of years, they would meet up to watch basketball games or hang out on the set of Barkley’s TV show “Inside the NBA,” Shirley Wang said. The two began talking, got dinner and exchanged numbers. Lin Wang, who immigrated from China, approached Barkley when they both happened to be staying at the same Sacramento, California, hotel. The story has been shared widely since it was told last week by the scientist’s daughter on “Only A Game,” an NPR sports show produced by Boston-based WBUR. A world where someone like him could just say something cool, something charming, and befriend someone like Charles Barkley.Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuīOSTON - A chance meeting in a hotel lobby sparked an unlikely friendship between former NBA star Charles Barkley and a cat litter scientist in Iowa. It was not just a relationship with a celebrity - it shed light on the possibilities of this world. I know how much his friendship with Charles Barkley meant to my dad. “Just hearing about him at the funeral - what he had accomplished and what he was trying to help other people accomplish, just made me even - I wished he bragged more about himself.” “It gives me great memories and great joy to know that I was a friend of his,” Barkley said. Barkley knew so much about me and my life - even though this was the first time he and I had ever talked. The more Charles Barkley and I talked, I realized just how close he and my dad were. “For your dad to take the time to come to the funeral meant a great deal to me,” Barkley said. Afterward, he went to dinner with Barkley and his family. “I’m from a very small town.”Īnd my dad showed up for his friend. “It ain’t easy to get to those places,” Barkley said. When my dad heard the news, he looked up the funeral details and hopped on a plane to Leeds, Alabama. In June 2015, Barkley’s mother passed away. “My friends - Shaq, Ernie, Kenny - they enjoyed just meeting him.” “I mean, it was just a fun time,” Barkley said. Over the next few years, whenever my dad was in those cities, he would text Barkley, and they would hang out. If I’m in town, we’ll hang out and have a good time.’ “ He said, ‘Whenever you’re in Atlanta, New York City or Phoenix, check out with me. “He said the same thing to me, and he left the phone number. “Certainly, I told him I had a good time talking with him, hanging out with him,” my dad said. My dad and Barkley saw each other again in the bar the next night. And then we actually went back to the bar and just sit there and talked for another couple of hours. “He’s a super nice guy,” my dad said.”And, before we know it, we looked at each other, like, ‘Yo, man, I’m hungry. And we just sit down and started talking.” CNN Unexpected friendships usually turn out to be the best. For many years, he was the number two guy, right after Michael Jordan. He’s a top-50 player in the history of the NBA. You know, Barkley has a big personality, he told me. “And me and your dad were the only two people in there. My dad, Lin Wang, knew about Barkley long before he met him. “I was just sitting at the bar,” Barkley said. “So, I just went to say hi and take a picture with him,” my dad said. “I was in Sacramento speaking at a charity event,” Barkley said. I said, ‘That’s my boy, Lin.’ They’re, like, ‘How do you know him?’ I said, ‘It’s a long story.’ “ Everybody’s like, ‘Who’s the Asian dude over there?’ I just started laughing. “You know, it was obviously a very difficult time,” Barkley told me recently. Charles Barkley and Lin Wang (Courtesy Shirley Wang) In short, he was everyone’s suburban dad. He worked as a cat litter scientist in Muscatine, Iowa. Here’s what I can tell you about him: He wore striped, red polo shirts tucked into khaki shorts and got really excited about two-for-one deals. He wasn’t a basketball player, he wasn’t a sports figure, and he wasn’t from Barkley’s hometown. But there was also an unexpected guest.īarkley’s friends couldn’t quite place him. When Charles Barkley’s mother, Charcey Glenn, passed away in June 2015, Barkley’s hometown of Leeds, Alabama, came to the funeral to pay respects.
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