| | NEW YORK -- His left leg immobilized in a full-length brace, his NBA
career suddenly over due to a ruptured tendon in his left knee, Charles
Barkley was left to sum up his 16 NBA years late Wednesday night in
Philadelphia.
Of course, he wasn't left speechless. Not him. If they had let him,
Barkley could have talked long into the morning in what amounted to his
farewell address.
|  | | Barkley always seemed to be in the middle of something. |
"You have seen me go from a boy to a man," he said. "You saw me do some
good things, some great things, some stupid things. And everybody does
those things. I'm proud that I was a great player in the NBA for a long
time. I think I helped the league grow. And now it's time for the young
guys to grow and mature and step up."
Just don't expect anyone to fill Barkley's shoes. Talk about a virtual
impossibility.
There might be better players to come along. But it will be a long time
before we see another 6-5 power forward grab a defensive rebound,
plunder his way up the court, explode off the floor, dunk the ball and
leave five opponents cowering, then hit a feathery jumper on the next
trip down. In his prime, Barkley was about as unique a talent as there
was in the history of the NBA.
Charisma? With Michael Jordan gone, nobody in the NBA had more than Sir
Charles. He once called himself the "ninth wonder of the world" and
also claimed that he had been misquoted -- in his own autobiography. He
didn't mind ruffling feathers with outrageous comments. In fact, he
seemed to enjoy it. He was never politically correct, and he wouldn't
have been caught dead trying to say things that pleased everyone.
"Charles says a lot of things," Rudy Tomjanovich said the other night.
"But he's a great guy with a big heart."
He was a reporter's best friend, offering the kind of wit and commentary
that will undoubtedly take him from the All-Interview team right into in
an analyst's chair. As long as he remembers to keep his language clean
for the folks at home.
In some cases, the next generation of players shouldn't try some of the
things that Barkley did. Like the time he spat at a fan at the
Meadowlands. Or the time he threw a bar patron threw a plate-glass
window in Orlando. Those were the "stupid things" Barkley talked about.
But he managed to grow up, finally understanding what Moses Malone,
Julius Erving and other mentors were talking about when he was a raw
rookie. It's the same lessons Barkley has been trying to get across to the
Rockets' first-year sensation, Steve Francis.
"My number one intent is for the integrity of the game," Barkley said.
"We are caretakers of the game. We want the game to get better. We want
the players to get better."
Sixteen years ago, very few knew that Barkley would be able to do such
great things, especially after showing up at 292 pounds when the Sixers
made him their No. 1 draft pick. He was anything but a lock for the No.
5 pick overall, getting equal consideration with Melvin Turpin and Alvin
Robertson. Despite his alarming weight, the Sixers took him, "for better
or worse," former GM Pat Williams recently recalled.
If you got to watch him, especially in his Philly and Phoenix years, it
was all for the better. Which is why he was voted one of the Greatest 50
Players ever. Why he won the MVP Award, in 1993. Why that same year he
got the Suns to the Finals against his friend Jordan. And why, no
questions asked, he will one day be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of
Fame. Sure, he didn't win a title, but that doesn't lessen his stature.
"No player of his size has ever achieved what he has at his position,"
said Barkley's first pro coach, Billy Cunningham. "I don't know if he
ever lifted a weight. But his strength was so great, he was so explosive
from a standing position."
Williams recently called Barkley one of the "five most important forwards in history in terms of talent and crowd appeal."
He could rebound ferociously -- that's what he considered himself,
first and foremost. A board man. In his prime, few could match him on
the glass. In 1986-87, he became the shortest player in modern history
to win a rebounding title. Of course, lately, he hasn't been the same
player. Age and wear and tear reduced him to a good player who could
have the occasional dominant night. But that's to be expected for
someone two months shy of his 37th birthday.
He went down trying to block a shot in the city where it all started, on
a night when Philly fans came out to honor one of their greatest
players.
"I have exceeded all of my expectations," he said afterward. "As
confident and as a cocky as you have to be to be great at something, I
still never expected to accomplish or do the things I did the last 16
years. I expected to have success, but never to the level I achieved."
It's a level very few players will ever reach.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com. | |
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Charles Barkley ruptures a tendon in his knee.
avi: 1055 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Charles Barkley talks about his career-ending injury.
RealVideo: 56.6
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