Charles Barkley and Phil Mickelson's friendship goes way back.
Ahead of Friday's The Match III, which will feature Mickelson and Barkley facing off against Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning, Mickelson and Barkley shared some amusing insight into their personal history together.
Standing alongside Mickelson as the golfer expressed thankfulness for his wife, Amy, Chuck revealed that he first met Phil through his now-wife, who was a dancer for the Phoenix Suns when Barkley starred for the team in the early 1990s.
According to Charles Barkley, Amy repeatedly tried to get Chuck to hit the links with her boyfriend … without mentioning that he was a professional golfer:
“Amy used to dance for the Suns, and she was the greatest lady, got to know her really well,” Barkley recounted. “She says to me, ‘Hey, will you play golf with my boyfriend Phil?' I was like, ‘Yea, OK.' … Finally, like three months in … I'm like ‘Ok, Amy, I like you, what's the deal, what's his name?' She says ‘Phil Mickelson.'
“I'm like, ‘What?' … I said Amy, in the future, you start out with, ‘My boyfriend, Phil Mickelson. I thought you were going out with Phil the bartender.' I would have canceled everything that I was doing to go play golf with the great Phil Mickelson.”
You can check out Charles Barkley tell the story via Phil Mickelson's Twitter:
After 24 years of marriage, I love when Charles calls Amy my girlfriend. On Thanksgiving, she’s by far what I’m most thankful for in my life. pic.twitter.com/vdKXulKUi9
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) November 27, 2020
Mickelson and Barkley, who both live in the Phoenix area, have become golfing buddies over the years.
The Match: Champions for Charity will tee off at 3 p.m. ET on Friday at Stone Canyon in Arizona. The proceeds will benefit historically Black colleges and universities.
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