Charles Barkley spoke to Mike Greenberg about edging out Michael Jordan for the 1993 MVP after the Bulls legend was seemingly upset that he lost out on the award. Chuck explained why he deserved the award over MJ, who had already won three MVPs by that point in his career.
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Barkley stressed that the MVP award is always given to the player who had the best regular season. And that year, it was Barkley himself. Chuck also had the team success to match one of the most dominant individual campaigns of his career. The Suns finished 62-20, winning the Western Conference and boasting the best record in the entire league.
Barkley knows Jordan was a better player than him, but in a season where the Bulls failed to snag the top seed in the East, it was a well-deserved nomination for the Hall of Fame forward. “That year, during the regular season, I played better than [Jordan] did,” Chuck added.
Barkley and Jordan were once known to have a close friendship off the court. Chuck has even insisted MJ is the GOAT on multiple occasions, but until the pair met in the NBA Finals that postseason, Barkley was having the stronger campaign.
Charles Barkley dominated MVP voting in 1992-93
Jordan’s insatiable desire to win everything he competes in may have convinced him that he deserved the 1993 MVP, but in retrospect, the race wasn’t even close. Barkley ran away with it, leaving no doubt that he was the best player in the association that year.
Chuck ended with 59 of 100 possible first-place votes. Meanwhile, Jordan finished with just 13, trailing both the Suns star and Hakeem Olajuwon’s 22 first-place votes. Jordan did put together another MVP-worthy season, pacing the NBA in points and steals per game, but Barkley’s marvelous season had many aspects which tipped the scales in his favor.
Firstly, the Bulls won 10 fewer games than their 67-win campaign the year prior, opening up the race for stars on more winning teams. Jordan’s efficiency also took a dip compared to the past few seasons, even though he was still putting up over 32 points per game.
Barkley’s season simply stuck out more because he was doing it all for the Suns. Phoenix had a solid cast around their star, but Chuck’s 25.6/12.2/5.1 stat line alongside his versatile defense made it hard to look past his all-around greatness.
There’s an argument that can be made that this wasn’t even Barkley’s best individual campaign. None of his numbers from the 1992-93 season are career highs, but the Suns’ winning ways proved to be enough to catapult the 11-time All-Star into MVP contention.
