'I had one pair of shoes': Auburn basketball's Charles Barkley talks youth on '60 Minutes'

Former Auburn basketball star Charles Barkley was selected No. 5 overall in the 1984 NBA Draft, enjoyed a 16-year professional career and is now a television analyst on TNT.

But before all that, he had to share his shoes.

"We had to pool our money, so I had one pair of shoes," Barkley said in an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday. "My mom brought them to the game and right after the game she knocked on the door and took them home. I could only wear them during the season."

Barkley, who said it was a "weird" and "embarrassing" thing to go through, said he couldn't believe Nike would send him shoes weekly after he signed with the company: "I said, 'This is the greatest job in the world.' "

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Barkley grew up in Leeds, Alabama, about 110 miles northwest of Auburn. In the "60 Minutes" interview, Barkley and his friends from high school playfully argue about who used to be better.

"Every time we get together, we ride each other about who had the best high school team, and it never gets old," Barkley said. "Never gets old."

After spending three seasons with the Tigers, Barkley was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. He spent eight years with the organization before getting traded to the Phoenix Suns. He finished his career with a four-year stint with the Houston Rockets.

Barkley, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds over 1,073 games. He won the NBA's MVP award in 1993.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball's Charles Barkley talks beginnings on '60 Minutes'