If it weren’t for Charles Barkley’s mother’s firm stance, we might be hearing “Travis Barkley” on Inside The NBA. On the latest episode of TNT Sports’ The Steam Room podcast, Barkley and co-host Ernie Johnson had a conversation with Jason Kelce. He disclosed that he and his brother Travis were huge fans of Barkley growing up—so much so that Travis considered changing his name to Charles. Barkley then shared his own amusing story about a potential name change.
“You did NOT say that to your mother” @TurnerSportsEJ & @JasonKelce couldn’t believe Chuck’s story about wanting to change his name 🤣 pic.twitter.com/zMWnGTGcfq
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 24, 2025
Barkley confirmed on the podcast that it’s “A hundred percent” true he contemplated changing his name to Travis after local basketball star Travis Abernathy, who eventually played alongside Barkley at Leeds High School in Alabama. He recounted, “I remember telling my mom, I said ‘Mom, I want to change,’ because Travis was like the stud in town. I want to change my name to Travis because he’s the best athlete in our city. I’ll be a much better player.”
His mother wasn’t having it. “You’re the biggest damn idiot in the world. You’re named after your grandfather. I’m not changing your name,” she retorted. Barkley responded, “Yeah, that’s a perfect example. He’s a nobody.” This led to disbelief from Johnson and Kelce, with Johnson exclaiming, “You didn’t say that to your mom.” Barkley insisted he did, clarifying, “It was her dad.” Johnson added, “You can’t say that about her dad!” while Barkley justified, “No disrespect, he was a nobody.” Johnson responded incredulously, “What do you mean, no disrespect?!”
This anecdote is fascinating, especially considering that Abernathy, whom Barkley idolized, has reminisced about their time together, often highlighting how Barkley was never short on words. In a 2014 interview with USA Today Sports’ Josh Peter, Abernathy reflected on Barkley’s outspoken nature:
Long before he earned the nickname of “Round Mound of Rebound,” Charles Barkley was the “Round Mound of Sound.”
“He used to talk so much, we used to call him Ali,” said Travis Abernathy, a former teammate of Barkley at Leeds (Ala.) High School. “He would tell us when he was 8, 9 years old, ‘I’m going to play pro ball, I’m going to play pro ball.’ We used to laugh at him because he was a chubby little kid.
“If something came up, he was honest about it. He would tell us when we needed a bath, anything. Somebody else would be thinking that person needed a bath. He would actually tell them.”
This aligns amusingly with Barkley’s candid comments about his grandfather. It’s also quite comical that just as Jason Kelce shared his brother Travis’s story of wanting to adopt the name Charles after Barkley, neither athlete followed through with such a name change.
