Top 30 Memorable Philadelphia 76ers Moments Of All Time
By Josh Wilson
Drafting of Charles Barkley
“The round mound of rebound… He is one of the most exciting players to come out of college!”
Look at him in that video. I mean LOOK AT HIM. (I’ll give you a second…)
You could tell by his gait that the guy had confidence oozing out of him the moment the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him. He knew he was good and he knew that YOU knew that he was good. Belying what power forwards in the NBA should be, Sir Charles was undersized vertically and oversized horizontally (coming out of Auburn, he was listed at 6’6” and 270 pounds which are not good measurements for the position), but it was his unreal athleticism that made him a historically good player.
He came to the perfect situation for a brash player when arriving in Philadelphia. The team still had the core who won the championship in 1983, which exposed Sir Charles to early playoff success, while also giving him a father figure in Moses Malone, who took the young Barkley under his wing. Barkley thrived with his teammates and found a spot on the All-Rookie team his first year, and was given the starting spot his second year where he made the All-NBA Second Team.
As his older teammates moved on from the team, Barkley took on more responsibility and was given more personal accolades as a result. During his time with the Sixers, he was a six time All Star, he won the All Star game MVP in 1991, MVP runner-up in the 1989-90 season (despite accumulating more first-place votes), four-time All-NBA First Team, three-time All-NBA Second Team, and NBA rebound leader in the ‘86-87 season in addition to his All-Rookie honors.
Despite the awards he still stirred controversy in the headlines. The most notorious is when he spit on a young girl when trying to aim at a fan who was racially heckling him. He did realize the error in his ways after that incident and befriended the young girl and her family. What he did was not right, but he did try to rectify his errors.
In the offseason before the ‘92-93 season he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
Sir Charles accomplished a lot in his eight years in Philly, who recognized his efforts by retiring his #34 on March 30, 2001. The highlight of that night come from Barkley himself:
“I really can’t tell you what tonight means to me, ‘cause words do not do it justice and if I’m fortunate and blessed enough to go in the Hall of Fame it will be as a Sixer.”
Next: Charles Barkley locker room fight