Charles Barkley made time for an outdoor workout while on his work trip to San Antonio for the 2026 NBA Finals.
During “NBA Tip-Off” on ESPN, Barkley explained that the now-viral video of him doing chairlifts on the San Antonio River Walk was all part of his workout before Wednesday’s Game 1 win for the Knicks over the Spurs.
“I took my walk today, everybody was fantastic,” Barkley said as an image of him lifting a chair over his head was showed on the broadcast.
“Somebody took a picture of me doing my exercises. I’m picking up a chair, I do sets of 25. I was down on the river walk. I’m sorry I was down on the creek walk. That’s a creek, that’s not a river.”
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz, who appeared on “NBA Tip-Off,” disagreed, telling Barkley that she is proud of the river walk, which is the top tourist spot in the state.
Ortiz also chided Barkley over his previous remarks — when he said that San Antonio is the home of “some big ol’ women” while on-air in 2014.
“I learned a long time ago, you can’t teach courage. You can’t teach class,” Ortiz said. “And Mr. Barkley reminds us of that.”
Barkley laughed and added that he’s “just joking around.”
Barkley is open about his weight loss journey.
In April 2025, he became an ambassador for Ro, a GLP-1 weight-loss medication promoted by Serena Williams.
“I started at 355 [pounds] and I’m 270 now,” Barkley said on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” last month. “It’s been a long journey… this drug Zepbound has changed my life and I feel better now than I have in 20 years.”