Being Charles Barkley is no lightweight job.
Day shifts, night shifts, weekends, holidays - the Phoenix Suns' forward puts in some serious overtime to support his persona.And why not? Hard work has made Barkley an only-in-America icon.
He can rebound with the best of them, shoot with the best of them, quip with the best of them. And if you mess with him, Barkley will go into a combat zone of his own.
Just ask Rodney Rogers. The Denver rookie was on the receiving end of one of Barkley's ever-errant elbows a few weeks ago in Phoenix.
"You don't know what might happen with him," Nuggets forward Reggie Williams said. "He might push you, elbow you . . .
"He gets extra fuel, extra energy by acting like he does. If Barkley was quiet and didn't do anything, I don't think he'd be the great player he is today."
Last season, Barkley led the NBA in flagrant fouls, technical fouls and ejections - and that didn't even count bar brawls. He was whistled for 32 technicals and was ejected four times but his dirty digressions didn't damage the Suns too badly.
Counting four flagrant fouls, Barkley finished with 38 points in the "Thug Ratings" compared to 26 for runners-up Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley.
Even though Barkley went on a personal riot in those 30 games, the Suns were 24-6.
"It helps on the foul line," Nuggets forward Brian Williams said of Barkley's outbursts. "I think players have seen enough of Charles' act not to be intimidated. It seems people in bars - and referees - are the most intimidated by it."
Rogers insists he won't let Barkley rattle him.
"He isn't going to intimidate me. Nobody's going to intimidate me."
Barkley's elbow prodded Rogers into one of his best games.
"He was just really mad I blocked his shot," Rogers said. "That's just Charles Barkley. He's going to be upset, and if that means throwing an elbow and starting a fight, he'll do it."
The way the Nuggets figure it, Barkley's larger-than-life hype accounts for the fact he has received more attention than Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon this season.
"If you look in any category - assists, rebounds, scoring, blocked shots - to me, Olajuwon is the best," guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf said.
Added Williams: "It's an advertising game as much as a basketball game, and Charles has got that won. Barkley is selling himself, as much as his game is selling himself.
"You look at Hakeem's commercials and Charles' commercials, and there's just a different made-for-TV, made-for-the-media personality."
Williams doesn't mind Barkley's bombast - or even the comic book he is marketing.
"Both Charls and Dennis Rodman keep the league exciting and entertaining," Williams said. "Without those two, it might be like PGA golf."