Charles Barkley lost the only NBA Finals which he made, 4-2. The scoreline could’ve been 4-1, but Chuck wasn’t having it.
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The 1993 NBA Finals series was one of the closest contested series ever in the playoffs. Though the Chicago Bulls won the series in Game 6, the aggregate scores for both teams were tied.
Chicago won Games 1 and 2 before dropping Game 3 at home. They almost lost game 4 as Charles Barkley put up a monster 30-point triple-double. However, MJ outlasted his Suns with a whopping 55-point outing.
Jordan had 40+ points in 4 of the 6 games. He finished the series with the highest scoring average in a Finals series ever. At 41 points per game, he overtook Rick Barry’s 40.8 ppg in 1966-67.
It was perhaps the most talented era of NBA basketball till that time. The Suns had Dan Majerle, Tom Chambers, Cedric Ceballos, Kevin Johnson and Danny Ainge in addition to Barkley.
However, the mental toughness of MJ and his Bulls helped them outlast the regular season leaders and their superior talent.
Charles Barkley reveals his mindset going into Game 5 of the 1993 NBA Finals
The Chicago Bulls fans in the city were convinced that MJ would lead them to a threepeat in Game 5 of the series after a monster display in Game 4. He had the city racing its hearts in anticipation of their third title.
However, this overconfidence from the Chicago citizens bothered Chuck. The MVP of that season, Barkley was determined not to lose the series on the road. He revealed as much in a recent interview:
“I’m sitting there steaming, the whole day. By the time we got to the game, I said ‘Hey coach, let me speak.’. ‘We’re gonna play these motherf***ers 5 times. Ain’t no Xs and Os right now.'”
“I said ‘Guys, we cannot f***ing lose this game.’ That s**t they were doing on TV today was so f***ing disrespectful and pi**ed us off. And we won that game. And then, obviously, we lost the next game back home in Game 6 on that 3-pointer.”
“But man, when I got to game 5, I was like ‘Ain’t no f***ing way we lose this guys!’. Because we sit up there and they’re talking about boarding up the city.”
The game finished 108-98 to the Suns as 3 of their players notched up 20+ points. They held the lead from the start to the finish.
Is Chuck the greatest NBA player without a championship?
Charles Barkley is one of the most decorated players of all time. He earned 11 All-Star game selections during his career – a count that could arguably have been higher.
Barkley was also selected to 11 All-NBA teams, with 5 of them being First-Team selections. During his prime, he dominated Karl Malone for First Team selections. Most people acknowledged that he was the superior talent due to his do-it-all play.
Barkley was also the MVP of the Dream Team in Barcelona. He shone brightest in a team with 10 other Hall of Famers. It seems obvious that he is the greatest ring-less player of all time.
