Charles Barkley Reveals a 50-Pound Weight Loss After Hitting 355 Pounds
The Hall of Famer told PEOPLE he dropped 50 pounds with the help of a GLP-1 after his weight reached 355, and the reveal sent his name to the top of the U.S. search board overnight.
Charles Barkley is the most-searched name in the United States overnight, and the driver is not a game. The 63-year-old Hall of Famer revealed in an interview with PEOPLE, carried by Parade on Thursday, that he has lost 50 pounds with the help of a GLP-1 medication after his weight climbed to 355 pounds.
Barkley said he gained around 100 pounds after undergoing a hip replacement, and that his doctor told him he needed to make a change. "I said, 'Let's do it. I'll try anything. I wanna be here,'" he told PEOPLE, explaining that his doctor introduced him to a GLP-1. He said he first tried Mounjaro and then switched to Zepbound, and he is now appearing in commercials as a spokesperson for Ro, the same company Serena Williams also represents.
"Next thing I know, I'm down 50 pounds, but I know I've actually lost more than that," Barkley said. The broadcaster, who played 16 seasons in the NBA, made clear in the interview that weight was never something he had to worry about during his playing career - the gain came afterward, and the hip replacement accelerated it.
The reveal landed on a busy Barkley week: the longtime analyst has also been in the basketball conversation for his SiriusXM NBA Radio comments calling out Nikola Jokic over the Denver star's criticism of booing fans. But it is the health story - a famous athlete describing, in his own words, deciding he wanted to be here - that put his name at No. 1 on the search board.
