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- Charles Barkley recently shared his keys to a long and happy marriage.
- Barkley has been married to Maureen Blumhardt since 1989.
- Read more news about the NBA here.
Recently, on The Sessions With Renee Paquette podcast, NBA Hall of Famer and current NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley was asked what his secrets were to having such a long and successful marriage.
Barkley, who has been married to Maureen Blumhardt since 1989, told Paquette, “Well, number one, I’m gone a lot. That always helps,” eliciting a good laugh from Paquette.
“I think the main reason is she accepts me flaws and all,” he continued. “Like, this thing is so hard because the one thing about being in the limelight, people only look at the good stuff. There’s a lot of crap that goes on behind the scenes. And I used to take it home all the time. I don’t take it home anymore.
“Losing is very frustrating. Being a full time babysitter is very frustrating. Because that’s what it is when you’re on a team. Like, you’re plugging holes everywhere.
“I mean, you got jealousy… you know, it’s a lot of stuff that goes on, especially when you’re the best player on the team because you get too much credit, you damn sure get too much blame, so you’re plugging holes all the time.”
Charles Barkley shared why he believes he’s had a successful 30-plus year marriage
“So I think the main thing is, she doesn’t judge me,” Barkley continued. “She accepts me how I am, she’s a great mother. I have learned that I want to be a great father. I want to be a great father.
“My father passed away a couple of weeks ago and we did not have a great relationship my entire life. We reconciled later in life and became friends, but I really want to be a good father and I’ve really worked hard to do that. Because, listen, it’s hard to be gone all the time. It’s hard to be gone all the time.
“And I wouldn’t change things because it’s given me so much in my life, but it’s hard. But what can I say? She accepts me flaws and all which is … and the thing I always tell people, there ain’t no perfect people out here. You get judged a lot when you’re in the limelight, but, hey, ain’t no perfect people out here.
“I mean, we all got flaws, we all want to do some things differently.”
Related: Shaquille O’Neal Says He’s Going To Go ‘Will Smith’ On Charles Barkley In Funny Freestyle Rap
Barkley went on to discuss how he never wants to be someone who piles on people who know they have made mistakes and done things wrong.
“I want to be the guy, like, ‘You know you’re wrong, you admitted you were wrong, but I want to give you some grace … I never want to be that a–hole, like, ‘you’re down, let me kick you while you’re down.'”
Interesting stuff from Chuck, as usual.