8 untold Charles Barkley stories reveal why he's the NBA's smartest trash talker (SN Archive - 1990)

This article, 'Sixers MVP Has Bark and Bite' by Jan Hubbard, originally appeared as the cover story in the March 26, 1990 issue of The Sporting News.

PHILADELPHIA—Charles Barkley chases a ball that is bouncing away from him, but he stops abruptly when he sees there is no way he can keep it from going out of bounds.

A referee retrieves the ball as Barkley prepares to play defense on the in-bounds pass. A youngster, who appears to be about 10, is sitting in the front row at the Spectrum. Seconds before play resumes, he yells, “Charles.”

Barkley looks at him; winks; shoves his opponent; swats at the ball, which he misses; curses himself, and then prepares to do what he does best — rebound.

It's all in a night's work for Barkley, who is in the first year of a nine-year, $29 million contract, yet still understands what basketball, in its purest form, is supposed to be — serious, but fun; important, but entertaining; a business, but a game.

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“If you're having fun, it makes you play better,” Barkley said. “When you're happy, it makes it more enjoyable and you get a little bit of extra energy. You work hard, you play hard. That's my motto in life.”

And nobody practices what he preaches more zealously than Barkley, who, perhaps, is the hardest-working player in the National Basketball Association and, arguably, the most accomplished rebounder in recent NBA history. But also, while on the court, he seems to enjoy himself as much, if not more, than anyone in the NBA.

Barkley is constantly talking to fans, offering advice to referees, joking with opponents and entertaining himself in any way that pleases him. “The thing about Charles is that he's his biggest fan,” said Sixers forward Derek Smith. “Charles Barkley is a bigger fan of Charles Barkley than any other person in the world.”

But he has a lot of other fans, including his opponents. Barkley's talent and work ethic are among the most respected in the NBA.

Charles Barkley is a bigger fan of Charles Barkley than any other person in the world.

- Sixers forward Derek Smith

“The thing about Charles is his determination,” said Boston center Robert Parish. “He's 6-4, maybe 6-5 on a good day. But Charles does a very good job of positioning for rebounds, and he does a great job of anticipating where the rebound is coming. Plus, he establishes himself around the boards, and he's tough to move. He's a great talent, but the one thing about Charles is that he comes to play every night, and you can't say that about a lot of players in this league. As long as Charles has that mentality, he's going to be a force.”

And as long as he has that focus, he will be a force.

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: MARCH 26, 1990

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• Will Europe's NBA invasion continue?
• Here comes UConn basketball
• Is baseball dying? A future nightmare from the year 2010
• Inside the NFL's new $3.6 billion TV deal

One part of the happy-go-lucky Barkley that bothers Sixers officials is that he sometimes is preoccupied by his interplay with fans, officials or opponents. “When he gets in a real emotional turmoil, whether it's a fan or a referee, he can get distracted,” said Sixers Coach Jim Lynam. “Sometimes, that affects his game. But that casual banter, he can do that and still keep his mind on business.”

And Barkley will tell anyone without much prompting that he has kept his mind on business as well as anyone since he entered the league six years ago.

Despite being 6-4 and 3/4, which he is fond of rounding off to 6-4, Barkley has been one of the most prolific rebounders in the league.

“I think what I have accomplished at 6-4 will never be accomplished again,” Barkley said. “There will never be another 6-4 player that can play inside like myself. I'll bet in the last six years that no player in the world has more rebounds than me. And I think if you add up points in the last six years, I'm in the top five or six.”

Fortunately for Barkley, no one accepted his offer to bet, because he would have lost. But not by much.

Since Barkley entered the NBA in the 1984-85 season — one year ahead of Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone — only one player has more rebounds (Houston's Akeem Olajuwon), and only six have more points (Chicago's Michael Jordan, Atlanta's Dominique Wilkins, Denver's Alex English, Olajuwon, Boston's Larry Bird and Portland's Clyde Drexler).

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But it can be argued that each of those players has succeeded in a conventional way. Jordan has been a prolific 6-6 guard. Bird has been a prolific 6-9 forward. Olajuwon has been a prolific 6-10 center.

Barkley has been a dominating 6-4 “tall” man who, despite weighing anywhere from 250 to 280 pounds (he currently weighs 250 after a vigorous off-season program that included weight lifting for the first time), is almost as fast and quick as a guard and can jump and dunk like a svelte leaper who is 50 pounds lighter.  

“He's unique,” said Lakers Coach Pat Riley. “Just like Magic (Johnson) is unique at 6-9 and unorthodox (at point guard). Charles Barkley is unique with his body frame, with his structure, with his jumping ability. The whole thing is unique, and that's why he is truly great. He's not a norm, the prototype player. He has some special things that allow him to be better than everyone else.”

This season, Barkley has been scoring less than he did in the previous two seasons, but in the process he has become a legitimate Most Valuable Player candidate. The reasons are simple: The Sixers, who were in first place in the Atlantic Division until losing three consecutive games from March 9-13, are winning more, and Barkley continues to dominate games.

He gets on you about everything — your clothes, your shoes, your wife, your kid. It doesn't matter.

- Sixers guard Hersey Hawkins

Through March 15, he led the Sixers with a 24.7-point scoring average, ranked fourth in the NBA with an 11.4 rebounding average and second in the league in field-goal shooting with 60.1 percent accuracy. In midseason, the Sixers won 12 consecutive games and Barkley was awesome, averaging 27.4 points and 14.3 rebounds.

“He has incredible talent,” said Sixers General Manager John Nash. “He has incredibly strong hands, he catches everything near him and he's an exceptional dribbler. He could play point guard in this league if he wanted. He can jump off the floor quicker than anyone I've ever seen. He can run with anybody and rebound with anybody.”

And, as everyone connected with the NBA knows, he also can outtalk anybody. In fact, there are a lot of “outs” connected with Barkley — outstanding, outspoken, outrageous. And nothing is off limits.

“He gets on you about everything — your clothes, your shoes, your wife, your kid,” said Sixers guard Hersey Hawkins. “It doesn't matter.”

The humor can be crude, particularly when Barkley and Rick Mahorn describe each other's personal habits, looks or family trees. But it also can be sophisticated. It is at its best, and to the point, when it is spontaneous.

A few examples, with the expletives deleted:

• Complaining to referee Tommy Nunez that the other two referees were not doing their job: “Tommy, you've got to make that call. You know Moe and Larry won't.” 
• After being ejected from a game by referee Steve Javie: “He said I spit on him when I said bull—"
• On the lack of sellouts in Philadelphia: “I love Philadelphia. I love playing in front of 8,000 fans every game.” 
• On taking up karate: “I want to be registered as a lethal weapon.”
• While being interviewed by approximately 50 reporters at an All-Star news conference: “I never realized you could get so many ugly guys together at the same time.” 
• On whom reporters should vote for in MVP balloting: “It just depends on what you guys have been drinking.” 
• On whether the Hornets' Rex Chapman, who is white, should have been invited to the slam-dunk contest: “Rex Chapman has got black legs. He jumps like a brother.” 
• On the value of referees: “We don't need refs, but I guess white guys need something to do. All the players are black.”

“Life's got to be funny,” Barkley said. “If you're not enjoying it, you might as well be dead.”

Obviously, Barkley enjoys himself. So do his audiences, who sometimes are so busy laughing at his one-liners that they fail to notice that Barkley has a quick, interpretive mind. In each of the cases listed above, Barkley not only said something funny, but he said something substantial.

He complained about the quality of the officiating and made fun of the three-referee system, commented on the absurdity of being able to curse a referee as long as spit is not involved, ridiculed the Sixers' soft home support, chided reporters for dressing casually and spending time at bars and acknowledged the issue of race in the NBA but minimized its importance by joking about it.

Humor, in short, is a platform Barkley uses to showcase his intellect. But often, that talkative, carefree approach is misinterpreted. Barkley is bothered by one criticism he says is common — that he is not smart.

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It is understandable that he would be annoyed because Barkley is hardly a simple-minded person. On a serious level, Barkley has thoughtful opinions on such pertinent issues as drugs, family, social obligations and poverty. Almost always, however, he expresses them in the context of how the serious issues relate to sports.

Barkley believes that, publicly, athletes should spend most of their time discussing athletics. He is not pretentious. When he does complain about not being given credit for being smart, he talks about intellect as it relates to basketball.

“I try to keep up with everything, but I concentrate mostly on sport,” Barkley said. “I know that I couldn't be where I am today if I wasn't smart. I know I'm a smart, smart basketball player. You can't rebound and score the way I have over the last six years and not be intelligent. Not at 6-4.”

That's probably true. There are a couple of areas in which Barkley does not always demonstrate intelligence, however. One is technical fouls, and the other is three-point shooting.

Barkley is not the No. 1 rebounder or scorer in the last six years, but he does lead the league in technical fouls during that span with 117. He had 21 through March 13 this season, and Nash says that sometimes Barkley “will drive you crazy.” It can happen in the first quarter, when Barkley loses his temper and incurs a technical foul for arguing with a referee. That means if there is an altercation under the basket at any time during the remainder of the game — a flagrant foul or a wayward elbow — Barkley is in danger of being ejected, which means it is unlikely that the Sixers will win.

It also can happen in the fourth quarter, when Barkley indulges in one of his favorite activities — three-point shooting. Barkley hit only 10 of his first 67 three-point field-goal attempts. No one has tried that many and made so few.

“But that's not bad,” he said. “Some guys haven't made any.”

Those irritants are minor, however. “Ninety-nine percent of Charles Barkley is good,” Nash said. “The other one percent, you might want to change. But if you did, who knows how it would affect the 99 percent? What we have come to say in Philadelphia is that when you get Charles Barkley, you get the whole package.”

And no one can argue that package is effective and entertaining. Barkley played on the same team with Moses Malone for two years and Julius Erving for three. But despite Erving's retirement and the disastrous trade of Malone, the Sixers had only one year when they did not have at least a .500 record. After seasons of 36 and 46 victories, they are on a pace to win about 50 games this season, and their rebirth is a tribute to Barkley.

Critics have wondered if Barkley was the elite sort of player who could carry a team to greatness. Obviously, he is. And he's having more fun than ever.

Barkley had enjoyed himself even before the Sixers became legitimate contenders for a championship. Now that they are winning big, it has been one big party.

“Charles generates a greater degree of emotion than most people do,” Nash said. “He makes you laugh, makes you angry, makes you glad and, at times, makes you sad. He can stir the soup.”