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Growing up Bad boy became elder statesman in 16 years in NBA
Posted: Thursday December 09, 1999 08:14 PM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Charles Barkley said he grew up during his 16 years in the NBA. And in many ways, he did. The bad boy became the elder statesman, railing against the behavior of young players -- behavior he had perfected himself. In the end, Barkley was still outrageous when he wanted to be, still said what was on his mind. There sure was a lot. All the pounding finally caused his left knee to give out Wednesday night, ending his career in the city where it began. Still, Barkley was able to smile. As always, he had something outlandish to say. "Just what America needs," Barkley said as he rode off in a golf cart with his knee in a brace. "One more unemployed black man." Right up to the last lap on this amazing, incorrigible ride, he was still 100 percent Barkley. Barkley finished his career with the Houston Rockets, but he did it in the worst way imaginable for an athlete as proud and cocky as he is. Fewer than eight minutes into his farewell game in Philadelphia, where his career began with the 76ers in 1984, Barkley fell horribly to the court. A tendon was wrenched from his left kneecap, which sat grotesquely askew on his leg. The grim diagnosis followed, and it was confirmed Thursday by an MRI and X-rays. A ruptured quadriceps tendon in his knee ended the season that Barkley said would be his last. He went out with an 83-73 loss to his former team, failing to score a point. The last shot of his career was blocked, a few seconds after he pulled down the last of his 4,259 offensive rebounds. He spent his final moments on the court sitting down, staring in disbelief at his wrecked knee. He left the court for the last time to a standing ovation, hopping on his one good leg, hunched over like the old man he has admitted so often -- almost gleefully -- that he has become. Somehow, the 36-year-old Barkley accepted this cruel finale much more willingly than, say, a lousy call by a referee. It will go down as a footnote to Barkley's bizarre finish that Mike Mathis, the ref he disliked most, officiated his final game. "That was letting me know that it wasn't my night," Barkley said. But Barkley really made every night his. Even this one. "It was supposed to happen like this," Barkley said. "It was supposed to end in Philadelphia. I really believe that in my heart." His accomplishments, as he likes to say, speak for themselves. At only 6-foot-4 and seven-eighths inches, he was one of the most ferocious inside players ever. He won two Olympic gold medals and was the NBA's MVP with Phoenix in 1993. Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only players in history to amass 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. He never won a championship but said he doesn't need that to fulfill his career. "I don't begrudge people two things: I don't begrudge championships, and I don't begrudge guys that make a lot of money," Barkley said. Despite his talent -- pro scouts pegged him as Wes Unseld who could dribble -- Barkley never got the same recognition as contemporaries Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan. That is because he was known more for his mouth than for his game. "He wasn't as outspoken at Auburn, but that's only because he didn't get interviewed that much," said Sonny Smith, his college coach. All he needed was a chance. This is a man who wrote an autobiography that was appropriately titled "Outrageous." After his own book hit the shelves, he claimed he'd been misquoted. He once said after a loss, "This is a game that, if you lose, you go home and beat your wife and kids." After Barkley threw a man through a window at an Orlando night club in 1997 -- the most outlandish of many barroom encounters -- the judge asked Barkley if he regretted anything. "Yeah, I regret we were on the first floor," he said. Barkley arrived in Philadelphia Tuesday night, reveling in the idea of saying good-bye to the city where it all began. "I've done some good things, some bad things, some stupid things, some funny things, but so has everybody else," Barkley said. "Mine have just been in the limelight." Barkley hobbled through the lobby of the Rockets' hotel Thursday afternoon, headed for Boston and a celebration planned by the Celtics. Barkley put off surgery on his knee so he could be there. Unlike Wednesday night, when his mother, grandmother and countless friends saw him admit with good cheer that he was finished, Barkley's mood was decidedly somber. "Right now I'm going through a depression stage, realizing it is over," he said. What now? Barkley is looking into a TV job, so he can keep talking and get paid. He said he's still serious about running for governor of his native Alabama. He said he never wants to coach, but another basketball job might interest him. "I would love to be a GM if somebody offered that to me," Barkley said. Asked what her son would do in retirement, Charcey Glenn said, "Charles can probably do whatever he wants to do." So far, that's been true.
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