

He entered the 1984 NBA Draft as a junior and was taken by the 76ers with the fifth overall pick. He was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year in 1984 but didn’t make the U.S. However, he also averaged 9.6 rebounds and thus was known for his heft and his hunger for caroms. In his three-year college career, Barkley averaged a not-so-spectacular 14.1 points per game. Who would have thought a chubby kid out of Auburn could accomplish so much? He’s a dominant rebounder, a dominant defensive player, a three-point shooter, a dribbler, a playmaker.” There is nobody who does what Barkley does. “He plays everything he plays basketball. “Barkley is like Magic and Larry in that they don’t really play a position,” Bill Walton said in a SLAM magazine issue ranking NBA greats. J for the first time and his early years with the Sixers.
#CHARLES BARKLEY FULL#
His awe-inspiring play demanded full respect and earned him a new nickname: Sir Charles.Ĭharles Barkley talks about meeting Dr. And on the defensive end, he would play the passing lane for a steal or block a center’s shot. In a half-court offense, he could fill it up from the paint or the perimeter. It was not rare to see the neophyte Barkley grab a rebound amongst a crowd, rumble downcourt with the ball and finish with a monster slam. Undeterred, Barkley quickly buried that reputation when he began playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. Nicknamed the “Round Mound of Rebound”, many considered Barkley an undersized power forward with rebounding as his only discernible basketball skill.
#CHARLES BARKLEY PROFESSIONAL#
Though Barkley brought vitality, attitude and a host of skills to professional basketball, he was viewed as an oddity coming out of college. Some never thought he’d ever get that far. Along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, Barkley is one of only six players in NBA history to have compiled at least 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.īut when the conversation turns to Barkley’s exploits, many people think first of the always entertaining, sometimes outrageous running commentary on basketball and life he provided throughout his celebrated 16-year NBA career. Listed at 6-6 but actually closer to 6-foot-4, he played power forward as well as anyone in the history of the NBA, often dominating players half a foot taller.


Charles Barkley left the game as a league MVP and 11-time All-Star.Īs a player, Charles Barkley was perhaps the greatest anomaly in basketball history.
