Charles Barkley, NBA legend, philanthropist, and TV host is also the doting dad to a beautiful grown-up daughter.
Their daughter Christiana hasn't followed in her dad's footsteps into sports, though she is an avid basketball fan, and frequently accompanies Barkley to events.
NBA legend Charles Barkley at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Nevada in 2019 | Source: Getty Images
MEET CHRISTIANA BARKLEY
Christiana was born the year their parents married, in 1989. The couple welcomed their only daughter that same year.
AN ACCIDENTAL LOVE
Maureen was working for legal aid, and modeling on the side, and the bubbly blonde beauty captured the NBA champ's heart. Marriage followed soon after, and since then, they have kept their relationship out of bounds for reporters.
A BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER
Christiana is biracial, of course, although Barkley revealed that a DNA assay had revealed that he had Native American and Caucasian ancestors, as well as African American.
The unique combination of Maureen and Barkley's genes have given Christiana a stunning beauty, with all of her mother's delicate femininity, although she favors her father's exotic looks.
NEW YORK GIRL
Though her mother is from Philadelphia and her father from Alabama, Christiana grew up in New York and attended high school there. However when it was time to go to college she headed back to Pennsylvania where she had been born.
She joined the University's Graduate School of Journalism, and even though her college days she emulated her parents and kept a low media profile, so low that Christiana doesn't even have social media accounts.
CHRISTIANA BARKLEY -- PHILANTHROPIST
Christiana is like her father in one respect other than her looks. She too is deeply committed to philanthropy and works with her mother in the Fresh Start Women’s Foundation.
This is an organization dedicated to helping vulnerable women acquire education, and provides them with resources and support to improve their lives. The organization has reached thousands of women in Arizona.
Maureen and Christiana hosted a charity event to raise funds for the organization, Fresh Start Fashion Gala and garnered contributions in the order of $2,5 million.
THE BARKLEY FAMILY -- A PASSION FOR EDUCATION
Christiana shares her passion for education with her father, who recently became the biggest supporter of Alabama's oldest HBCU, Miles College, by donating $1 million to the University.
Barkley attended Auburn University in Alabama where he played college basketball but he has always been an advocate and a generous supporter of the HBCUs.
Barkley has also invested in his hometown of Leeds Alabama, in an effort to improve the lives of his community. He has also invested in new businesses in the area to provide more jobs for the impoverished town.
CHARLES BARKLEY AND COVID-19
Barkley is currently quarantined in his home in Scottsdale Arizona with his wife and daughter.
Like her dad, Christiana likes to stay under the radar, despite the easy celebrity she could achieve from being Sir Charles Barkley's daughter.
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