Charles Barkley may be a funny man now, but he was all business when he was playing.
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Today, Charles Barkley is known as the stand-up guy on TNT. But when he was playing, he was the one-man bruiser on his team. He grabbed those rebounds just as viciously as he ate his pizzas. The man was strong, yet his nickname was The Round Mound of Rebound.
When the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona rolled around, the US team assembled nothing short of an avengers level team. How the committee thought it was fair play to send in a team that had Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and 8 other future Hall of Famers is in doubt.
Jordan was the best, but it was debatable who was the second in the order. For a lot, it was an obvious fight between Magic and Bird, but the Chuckster had a strong case, and probably was the second-best in the team going in.
Charles Barkley said he was the 2nd best player on the 1992 Dream Team pic.twitter.com/fJhWJajbsR
— Shannon Sharpe Burner Account (@shannonsharpeee) May 10, 2022
Charles Barkley was a mean and green basketball machine – no wonder he was one of the Monstars on Space Jam
For a good part of 5 years, Charles Barkley was unstoppable. Yes, he played when MJ was still ruling the roost, but apart from him, not many were at that level. Not counting the people or the years before him, peak Barkley was somewhat of a phenomenon.
In 1992, Barkley had 4 consecutive All-NBA 1st Teams, was coming off multiple Top-5 MVP campaigns, including runner-up in 1990, & was entering his MVP season of 1992-93. He led the Dream Team in scoring. Bird & Magic were post-prime; Barkley in 1992 was unquestionably 2nd Best.
— JohnnyUofAngst (@TheRealestJMark) May 11, 2022
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson may have reigned in the 80s, but they were on the decline. Chuck was entering his prime. Kind of what happened with Kobe and LeBron James.
And if people want to bitch about voted honors, from 1987-1993 he ranged from 1st overall to top-5 in PER, BPM, VORP, & had seasons during Jordan’s prime where Barkley ranked 1st in Offensive Rating (89 & 90).
In his 6-year PEAK, he averaged 26 ppg, 12 RPG, 4.5 APG, and 2.5 S+BPG.
— JohnnyUofAngst (@TheRealestJMark) May 11, 2022
The Phoenix Suns need to thank Chuck for making them a relevant team during the Bull’s dominance. Without him, they would not be anywhere close to what they were in the 90s.
Entering the 1992 Olympics, Barkley had 4 seasons as top-3 in PER, 4 seasons as top-3 Win Shares, multiple seasons finishing 2nd in BPM & many more finishing top-5, 6 seasons top-5 VORP, 3 seasons top-2 Offensive Rating. Beyond Jordan, he was the single most dominating all-around player.
— JohnnyUofAngst (@TheRealestJMark) May 11, 2022
Also Read: “YES!!! CHUCK WON!”: LeBron James and Shaq root for Charles Barkley as he narrowly beats Kenny Smith
