Basketball

“Michael Jordan can’t believe he lost the NBA MVP title to Charles Barkley”: When Chuck was at his scintillating best and beat out his Airness

Jeet Pukhrambam
|Published May 01, 2022

"Michael Jordan, I'm gonna remember that name": Charles Barkley reveals telling his former coach he was second-best

Charles Barkley was one of the most dominant players of his time, so dominant that he beat Michael Jordan to the 1993 MVP award.

Being dominant in an era of some of the greatest teams ever to play basketball is something only special players can do. Charles Barkley is one of them.

The round mound of rebound was at the peak of his powers in 1992-93 when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns. Finding his feet in Arizona Charles averaged a spectacular 25.6 points and 12 rebounds, fetching him the regular season MVP.

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The Suns also had a league-best 62-20 record. He felt that it was a team he could lead to an NBA championship.

That season, he also beat out the previous year’s MVP, Michael Jordan for the MVP.

Also read: “If anyone tells me LeBron James is as good as Michael Jordan, I’ll slap the h*ll of them!”: When Charles Barkley gave his clear opinion on the GOAT Debate

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Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley face off in the NBA Finals!

In the 1993 NBA Finals, it was natural for both the players to play against each other. They were both in scorching hot form.

Some of the feats they put up in the finals are unmatched to this day.

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Sadly, it was the first and last time Charles would make it to the NBA finals. He and the Suns would go on to lose the series 4-2. MJ would go on to complete his first threepeat.

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About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.