Charles Barkley

What was Charles Barkley known for? Charles Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player. At present he works as an analyst on Inside the NBA.

Who raised Charles Barkley?

Charles Barkley was born on the 20th of February, 1963 to Charcey Glenn and Frank Barkley. He was 1 of 4 sons born to this young family in their 20s although his brother Rennie died during infancy. Unfortunately, Frank Barkley left his family when Charles was young and started a new life, refusing to be involved financially or emotionally with Charcey and his boys. Charles was raised by a single mom and grew up in poverty. Charles’s father didn’t become involved in his son’s life again until he had already begun making his climb into the spotlight. Although resistant at first, he did eventually reconcile with his father and has a good relationship with him to this day.

Basketball career

Charles was raised in Leeds, Alabama and as a junior was not allowed to join the varsity team and was only named as a reserve. However, over the summer his humble 5-feet 1o inch frame gained 6 inches and he made the team the following year. He led his team to an impressive 26-3 record on their way to the state semi-finals. He received little to no attention from the college basketball scouts until he scored 26 points against Alabama’s mostly highly sought-after High School player.

After being recruited by Auburn University Charles played 3 seasons with the school while majoring in Business Management and was known for his prowess in rebounds despite his size. Despite being shorter than the average center, Charles played center during his college basketball years.

Charles was recruited by the NBA and went on to play for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984. He played alongside Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks. The three star players that led the 76ers to the 1983 NBA championships. Moses Malone worked with Charles and helped him better manage his weight. With Malone’s help Charles averaged 14.0 point and 8.6 rebounds per game and earned his place on the All-Rookie team.

In his second year with the 76ers Charles continued to improve his skill with off season work outs under the training of Moses Malone and became the team’s best rebounder and number two scorer. The following season (86-87) Malone was traded and Charles moved into the role of the team’s leader. In the 89-90 season Charles received the most votes for MVP but lost the honor to Magic Johnson.

The 1991-1992 season was Barkley’s final year with the 76ers, during this season he wore the number 32 in honor of Magic Johnson who had recently announced he’d been diagnosed as HIV positive. In his final season with Philadelphia Barkley averaged 23.1 and 11.1 rebounds per game, earning his 6th consecutive appearance on the NBA All start team.

Barkley’s time in the NBA thrust him into the professional sports spotlight and he became a household name. His aggressive and direct style of play and handling was likely the cause for this at times. One such incident involved a fan in the crowd heckling and shouting racial slurs to the point that Charles attempted to spit on him. Unfortunately, he spit on a little girl in the crowd instead. This of course became a national story that cast many dispersions on the player. He did his best to handle the situation gracefully, however, apologizing to the family and providing them free tickets to his games.

Unsurprisingly, Charles was one of the players that took the lead in a Nike ad campaign that proclaimed, “I am not a role model”. His viewpoint was that many inmates in prison can slam dunk a basketball, this doesn’t make them worthy of adoration. He instead encouraged parents to be the role models and examples their children needed.