Charles Barkley was one of the greatest players in NBA history. On the court, he used his brute force, strength, and athleticism to become of the one of the most tenacious rebounders the league has ever seen — all that despite being undersized at the power forward position.

Currently, Charles Barkley is an NBA TV analyst who always speaks his mind without any filter, just as he did as a player. Moreover, he has a comedic personality that often gets himself ridiculed by his colleagues at “Inside the NBA.”

The man, known as “The Round Mound of Rebound” during his playing days, also frequently gets into petty fights with co-host Shaquille O'Neal.

Most fans perceive Barkley as a notorious talker, as someone who says a lot of gibberish and comedic non-sense and, perhaps, as someone you would not take seriously. These are all things that Barkley is to us NBA fans.

But to one Lin Wang, he was a close friend.

Lin's daughter, Shirley Wang, recently shared about Barkley's close and personal friendship with her father.  This story about these two personalities, who seemingly came from the most opposite of worlds imaginable, will definitely soften your heart and leave you in tears.

According to the story shared by Shirley, Lin and Chuck randomly met around four years ago in Sacramento. They happened to be the only two people sitting at a bar that night, and just spent the whole time talking. The rest, as they say, is history.

The two would continue on with their friendship, as they'd constantly meet with each other whenever Lin happened to be within New York, Atlanta, or Phoenix. When Barkley's mother died in 2015, Lin made the trip to Leeds, Alabama to console and sympathize with his buddy. That gesture meant the world to the 11-time All-Star.

Unfortunately, three years later, Barkley would also lose his close friend, Lin, who succumbed to cancer earlier this year in June.

Here's the full story as narrated by Shirley Wang herself. It is definitely a must-read for everyone to see for yourself how this unlikely friendship developed.

It is definitely refreshing to hear a story about a world-famous personality like Barkley have a tight-knit and constant friendship with an ordinary man like Lin, whom most of us can probably relate to.