Los Angeles - NBA hall of famer Charles Barkley was a free man Monday, after serving 36 hours in jail at for a drunken driving conviction, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona said.

Barkley was not required to wear a jail uniform upon entering the facility Saturday morning. He was given a private tent but no other special treatment, Sheriff Joe Arpaio told the Arizona Republic. The county houses some jail inmates, who are serving sentences of no more than 12 months, in what the sheriff calls Tent City.

Barkley was given a work release on Sunday from 8 am to 8 pm, then spent one final night in Tent City before being released.

Barkley, the outspoken NBA TV studio analyst for Turner Sports, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol, resulting from a New Year's Eve arrest after being stopped coming out of a night club near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

He failed a sobriety test with a blood-alcohol content of 0.149 per cent - nearly twice the state's legal limit of 0.08 per cent - and was arrested on two misdemeanour counts.

Barkley was originally given a 10-day jail sentence, but a judge reviewed the case and reduced the incarceration to three days, if the 46-year-old completed an alcohol treatment programme. He must still pay a 2,000-dollar fines.

"I have to give him credit for at least being honest and taking responsibility in what he did," Arpaio told the newspaper. "He doesn't have any excuses. I hope he learns a lesson."