Charles Barkley NBA Basketball Biography
Teams: Philadelphia 76ers + Phoenix Suns - Houston Rockets
Who says you can't be all things to all people? Charles Barkley was charming, mean, funny, obnoxious, supportive, critical, generous, self centered, forgiving, confrontational, humble, or just plain himself. Charles Barkley could be his own best friend and his own worst enemy. Whatever happened, you can be absolutely sure of one thing.... Charles Barkley was an extraordinary basketball player in the NBA. Barkley could lead a fast break, bump and grind in the low post, fight for rebounds and shoot from the perimeter. Sir Charles may have "did his own thing", be he did it exceptionally well.
Normally when a player is traded, it is he who must adjust to a new situation. However, Charles Barkley is not what you call a normal player. So when the Phoenix Suns got him prior to the 1992 - 1993 season, they knew they would have to do most of the "getting used to." In a preseason practice, he slammed one of his new teammates to the floor and got in a shouting match with another. He was just testing their mental toughness.
Such behavior was not exactly new to Charles Barkley, and he proved that he was a very unique basketball player. Even in college he was considered unique. Charles Barkley became a campus legend at Auburn not for his rebounding skill, but for his love of pizza. He had a standing order for two large pizzas almost every night. Fellow students watched in amazement as his 6"6 frame ballooned to 300 pounds, and then marveled at his ability to launch is ever widening frame into the air. Students at rival schools hurled empty pizza boxes onto the floor when Auburn came to play. At LSU, one prankster actually had a pizza delivered to the bench for "The Round Mound of Rebound."
When Charles Barkley was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, he joined Julius Erving and Moses Malone on what many considered at that time as the best front line ever. A title seemed imminent, especially after Barkley shed 40 pounds and turned his game up a notch for the playoffs. Unfortunately a shaky backcourt and weak bench prevented the Philadelphia 76ers from making it to the finals and the team began to fall apart. Charles Barkley wasn't happy and he let everyone know it. By 1992, the Sixers had no choice but to trade him to the Phoenix Suns.
In Charles Barkley's first season with the Suns, the team wet a franchise record for wins and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly two decades. Sir Charles had found a place where he could be himself --- A winner.
Charles Barkley Timeline Biography - NBA Bio
- 1984 - Drafted in first round by the Philadelphia 76ers
- 1987 - Barkley averages 28.3 points per game
- 1991 - Selected All Star game MVP
- 1992 - Wins Olympic gold medal
- 1992 - Traded to the Phoenix Suns
- Age 1 - Father abandons family. Charles Barkley is raised by grandmother while mother works as a housekeeper.
- Age 6 - Mother enrolls him in the town's "white" school to get a better education.
- Age 7 - Believes he is Superman and jumps off roof and lands on head. Suffers only concussion.
- Age 8 - Mother pays $30 to enter him in basketball league to keep him out of trouble.
- Age 16 - Cut from high school basketball team twice, but practices all summer and makes the team in the fall.
- Age 17 - Grows more than 4 inches over the summer to 6'2" and becomes a star. Accepts scholarship to Auburn University.
- Age 18 - Grows to 6'6", 300 lbs. Nicknamed "The Round Mound of Rebound."
- Age 21 - Drafted #5 by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Charles Barkley Biography - Interesting Facts and Tid Bits
- Charles Barkley was a bright kid, but a lousy student. Barkley now says his biggest regret is that he cheated himself out of a good education.
- Charles Barkley hosted his own weekly TV show in Phoenix and wrote a daily feature in the Arizona Republic called "Barkley's Beat."
- Charles Barkley became a starter his junior year in high school when the boy playing in front of him had a fight with the coach. Barkley had been cut the previous two seasons because he wasn't big enough.
- In 1991, Barkley asked to skip the All Star game to rest a sprained ankle. However, the league insisted he show. He "showed" all right, collecting 17 points, 22 rebounds and the games MVP.
