Need an emotional palate cleanser? Try Shirley Wang’s story for NPR’s Only a Game about her dad’s friendship with Charles Barkley. Lin Wang met Barkley in a hotel bar four years ago. They got to talking, had dinner, then drank together in the bar afterward. A rapport was established, the two exchanged numbers. When Barkley’s mother died in June 2015, Wang flew out to be with his friend. “Everybody’s like, ‘Who’s the Asian dude over there?’ †Barkley said. “I just started laughing. I said, ‘That’s my boy, Lin.’â€
Lin Wang died of cancer earlier this year. Shirley recalls watching basketball with her father during his illness, specifically Barkley’s TNT show: “And while he rested and healed, my dad was laughing along with Barkley. He kept my dad company.†Barkley gave a eulogy at Wang’s funeral, the day after Lin Wang’s beloved Golden State Warriors won the NBA Finals. Barkley said he and Wang mostly bonded over each other’s children. “It gives me great memories and great joy to know that I was a friend of his,†Barkley said. “Just hearing about him at the funeral — what he had accomplished and what he was trying to help other people accomplish, just made me even — I wished he bragged more about himself.â€