Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley, “The Round Mound of Rebound,” was an 11-time NBA All-Star and the league's 1993 MVP over a 16-year career with the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Houston Rockets. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, he became equally famous in his second career as a lead analyst on TNT's “Inside the NBA,” known for a candor few broadcasters match.

Barkley has directed significant personal wealth toward education and community causes, particularly in his home state of Alabama, through the Charles Barkley Foundation, which he started in 1995. He has made seven-figure gifts to several institutions, including a $1 million donation to Miles College — the largest single gift in that HBCU's history — along with major gifts to Jackson State University, Bethune-Cookman University, and a $5 million pledge to his alma mater, Auburn University. He has also regularly contributed to pediatric cancer research and local hospital causes, including Children's of Alabama.

In 2021, Westcoast Sports Associates presented Charles Barkley with the Roy Firestone Award, recognizing both his Hall of Fame career and a sustained commitment to expanding access to higher education, particularly at historically Black colleges and universities.