Pancakes, shakes and KFC: when Charles Barkley tried to eat his way out of the 76ers

In an extract from his new book, Timothy Bella charts the Hall of Famer's eventful entry into the NBA in one of the greatest draft classes of all time

For a 48-hour period in 1984, Charles engaged in an eating binge in hopes of dissuading the Philadelphia 76ers from selecting him in the draft. He began with two Denny's Grand Slam breakfasts - six pancakes and bacon totaling around 1,660 calories, and a vanilla milkshake to wash it down. The lunch offerings, which have varied in the decades' worth of repeat tellings, included either Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw; half of the menu at Red Lobster; two McDonald's fish fillets, a large fries, and a Diet Coke; or two Texas-sized barbecue sandwiches. The dinner menu at a steakhouse included a T-bone, baked potato, and, of course, three desserts.

Charles repeated it all the next day, gorging, as he described, everything I could get to my face, everything that wasn't nailed down or poison." During a night of heavy drinking with his agent, the sight of Charles crushing beers might have made people think that Prohibition was about to be reinstated, he said.