Charles Barkley - Sir Charles

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles," for his aggressive and outspoken demeanor, and "The Round Mound of Rebound," for his unusual build and talent as a player, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's most dominating power forwards. He was selected to both the All-NBA First Team and All-NBA Second Team five times and once named to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Barkley was popular with the fans and media, and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for each of his last 13 seasons in the league.

Short for a power forward, he used tenacity and strength to become a dominant rebounder. He was a versatile player who could score, defend, rebound, and assist. In 2002, he retired as one of only four players in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

Barkley primarily played the power forward position. He was known for his unusual build as a basketball player, stockier than most small forwards, yet shorter than even most of the league's shooting guards. Barkley was, however, still capable of outplaying bigger players and overpowering smaller opponents. He was fluid on the fast break, a powerful jumper, an accurate shooter and one of the NBA's premier clutch players. He was a prolific scorer who averaged 22.1 points per game for his career, with the ability to score on the perimeter or finish inside with a powerful dunk. He scored with great efficiency and averaged 54.1% field goal accuracy for his career, including a career high 60% during the 1989-90 NBA season.

Frequently listed as 6 feet 6 inches, but measuring slightly under 6 feet 5 inches, Barkley was the shortest player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding and averaged a career high 14.6 rebounds per game during the 1986-87 season. His tenacious and aggressive play helped cement his legacy as one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history, as he averaged 11.7 rebounds per game and totaled 12,546 rebounds for his career. He topped the NBA in offensive rebounding for three straight years and was capable of controlling a defensive rebound, dribbling the length of the court and finishing at the rim with a powerful dunk. He also possessed considerable defensive talents. He concluded his career as the second All-Time leader in steals for the power forward position and, despite being undersized, also finished among the All-Time leaders in blocked shots.

In a SLAM magazine issue ranking NBA greats, Barkley was ranked among the top 20 players of All-Time. In the magazine, NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton commented on Barkley's ability. Walton stated, "Barkley is like Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] in that they don't really play a position. He plays everything; he plays basketball. There is nobody who does what Barkley does. He's a dominant rebounder, a dominant defensive player, a three-point shooter, a dribbler, a playmaker."

As a player, Barkley was a perennial All-Star who earned league MVP honors in 1993. He employed a physical style of play that earned him the nicknames "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound." He was named to the All-NBA team eleven times and earned two gold medals as a member of the United States Olympic Basketball team. He led both teams in scoring and was instrumental in helping the 1992 "Dream Team" and 1996 Men's Basketball team compile a perfect 16--0 record. He retired as one of only four players in NBA history to record at least 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists in their career.

In 2001, the Philadelphia 76ers officially retired Barkley's jersey. Several years later, the Phoenix Suns honored Barkley as well by retiring his jersey and including him within the "Suns Ring of Honor." He joined Alvan Adams, Connie Hawkins, Tom Chambers, Dan Majerle, Walter Davis, Dick Van Arsdale, Paul Westphal and Kevin Johnson as the only players included in the "Suns Ring of Honor."

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• basketball

[steve47mopar]

Best forwards- Barkley and Karl malone

[jbljbljbl1995]

this guy was very exciting to watch:) bad that he doesn`t win a ring here you see all hate lebron because he hasn`t won a ring but sir charles hasn`t won a ring too:) charles barkley is cool:) lebron too:)

[theoriginalTeej]

If you played against Charles

You better hope you've got a 20 point lead cause in those last three minutes, charles becomes a freak and will eat up your lead!

[misterinside]

i love this

[4045404540454045]

What's the name of this song?

[maniac1075]

Charles hates rap. So do I.

[petar1shuwack]

@butterybeefslinguh Fuck that THE MOST DOMINANT PLAYER shit. He is dominant today because the competition is complete shit. If Howard played Shaq in his prime he would be a stain on the floor. Not to mention guys like Ewing, Kemp, Mutombo, Olajuwon, Rodman. He would have firm 2 rebounds average against them. Most dominant my ass.

[petar1shuwack]

@skipper00718 Round mound of rebound-Best PF of all time and most entertaining basketball player that ever lived.

[petar1shuwack]

Looking at these old videos you can`t help yourself but feel nostalgic.NBA used to be so fun. It had guys like Barkley, Kemp, Jordan, Magic, Drexler, Rodman, Miller, Ewing, Peyton, Mutombo, Malone, Olajuwon.... Look at what the league has come to now Bosh, James, Parker, Gasol, Howard, Garnett, Billups, Ginobili,Duncan, Anthony...Who the fuck in his right mind would pay to see them?Only true superstars today are Kobe and D-Wade and even them have the charisma of raw potato.

[SLee48001]

@VeoShock what is the name of the song??