BOSTON — A chance meeting in a hotel lobby sparked an unlikely friendship between former NBA star Charles Barkley and a cat litter scientist in Iowa.
The story has been shared widely since it was told last week by the scientist’s daughter on “Only A Game,” an NPR sports show produced by Boston-based WBUR.
Lin Wang, who immigrated from China, approached Barkley when they both happened to be staying at the same Sacramento, California, hotel. The two began talking, got dinner and exchanged numbers.
Over the next couple of years, they would meet up to watch basketball games or hang out on the set of Barkley’s TV show “Inside the NBA,” Shirley Wang said.