Charles Barkley really is one of a kind.
On the latest episode of his “Steam Room” podcast with Ernie Johnson, the “Inside the NBA” host revealed that he named his daughter Christiana after a mall in Delaware.
“There’s a Christiana Mall in Delaware that I always used to go by. That’s how she got her name, Christiana,” Barkley said, laughing.
Johnson, meanwhile, couldn’t believe it.
“Hold on — stop,” he said while raising both hands. When Johnson asked why Barkley chose the name, he replied, “I don’t know, I just liked the mall.”
Johnson laughed and said, “You’re a mess, man.”
Fittingly, the podcast episode was titled, “Shopping Mall Namesake.”
The Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, is less than an hour away from Philadelphia, where Barkley played eight seasons with the Sixers, the team that selected him fifth overall in the 1984 NBA Draft.
Barkley and his wife, Maureen Blumhardt, welcomed their daughter Christiana, now 32, in 1989, when he was five years into his NBA career.