Friday, September 08, 2006
Sayson: The Round Mound gets just reward
By Homer Sayson
Secondovertime
CHICAGO - He was endowed with a rare gift, a prowess that blended brute force with athletic grace. And despite standing just a shade under 6-foot-5, the pride of Leeds, Alabama was an 11-time All-Star, who won the MVP award in 1993.
Sadly though, he belonged in the tyrannical Michael Jordan era. And like those miserable souls such as Patrick Ewing and Dominique Wilkins, to name a few, playing against the ruthless, rampaging Bulls meant no ring, that prized jewel so desired in a material NBA world.
But tomorrow in Springfield, Massachusetts, the “Round Mound of Rebound” gets his just reward. He will receive the highest honor his sport affords, enter a place so exclusive it has a long history of denying countless past champions and ring bearers.
Charles Barkley will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And love him or hate him, you can’t argue against his place in basketball’s most exclusive club.
An NBA ring is given to a player as a reward for his team’s championship triumph in a specific year. The Hall-of-Fame venerates a select few for their entire body of work in years. An NBA ring glitters with gold and drips with diamonds, but a bust in the Hall-of-Fame promises immortality.
In other words, getting a call to the Hall-of-Fame is a greater accomplishment than winning a ring. Look, Chuck Nevitt wears two rings as a Detroit Piston, while Dickey Simpkins owns three as an ex-Bull.
See what I mean? Every Tom, Dick and Harry can join a good team, ride the coattails of All-Star teammates, and then kiss the Larry O’Brian trophy, even without playing. But to be invited to the Hall-of-Fame, you’d have to be a rare Bird, a spellbinding Magic, and now a Barkley.
Picked fifth overall by the Sixers in the talent-rich 1984 draft, Barkley played eight years for Philadelphia, where he threw his weight around as a bruising 252-pound power forward who could score, pass, rebound and play defense with unmitigated toughness.
He was traded to Phoenix on June 17, 1992. The following year, he was named MVP and led the Suns to the NBA Finals, losing to the Bulls in six games.
On Aug. 19, 1996, Barkley was moved to Houston, where he eventually retired after rupturing the quadriceps tendon in his left knee on Dec. 8, 1999.
Whether decked in a Sixers’, a Suns’ or Rockets’ uniform, Barkley played with the same unbridled passion and enthusiasm.
He used muscle to overpower bigger men under the boards, relied on his soft hands to maneuver around the basket, and he summoned his touch to punish defenders with a jump shot that was lethal beyond the arc.
All told, he appeared in 1,073 regular season games, averaging 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and .83 blocks per. He also normed 23 points and 12.9 rebounds in 123 playoffs games.
Barkley amassed 23,757 points, 12,546 rebounds and 4,215 assists in 16 seasons. He joins Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone as the only NBA players to finish their careers with over 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Barkley also has two Olympic gold medals (’92 and ’96).
He isn’t as dominant as Bill Russell, not as smooth as Jerry West, and clearly not as inspiring as Michael Jordan. But Sir Charles is basketball royalty, one of the greatest to ever play the game, and therefore, a deserving Hall-of-Fame honoree.
(homsay@hotmail.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 8, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
