washingtonpost.com: Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley

"Sir" Charles Barkley, one of the NBA's most colorful personalities, is a perfect fit for the 1996 Dream Team. One of the league's most dominating inside forces, Barkley has almost single-handily defined his "small" forward position.

Adding longevity to his long list of accomplishments, Barkley, who will have played in just under 900 regular season games in his 12 seasons, in 1995-96 became just the ninth player in NBA history to surpass 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. A 10-time NBA All-Star, who earned MVP honors at the 1991 All-Star game, among his many accolades, he was chosen the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 1993, and has collected All-NBA first or second team honors every year (10 years) since 1986. He was a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1985.

Following an outstanding collegiate career at Auburn University, where he was selected the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (1983-84) and later chosen as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Decade (1980s), Barkley was selected in the 1984 NBA Draft following his junior season by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, pick number five. Following eight seasons with the 76ers, he was traded on June 17, 1992, to Phoenix for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang.

Since entering the NBA in 1984-85, Barkley has made an impact that revolutionized the power forward position. Despite standing maybe 6'6", Barkley has averaged over 20 ppg. in all but two seasons, and has recorded double-digit rebounding average in all but his rookie campaign. Showing no signs of slowing down, heading into the final weeks of the NBA 1995-96 regular season, Barkley was averaging 23.2 ppg. and 11.6 rpg. and ranked among the NBA's top eight in both categories.

Barkley boasts of a wealth of USA Basketball experience. Averaging 11.8 ppg. and 5.5 rpg. during the 1982 U.S. Olympic Festival, the following year he was a key contributor to USA Basketball's World University Games team that captured a bronze medal. Failing to make the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, Barkley's Olympic dream was realized eight years later when he was named to USA Basketball 1992 Olympic Team. As a member of the Dream Team, all Barkley did was lead the collection of legends in scoring, averaging 18.0 ppg., the second-highest scoring average ever by a U.S. Olympian. Barkley's repeat appearance in 1996 places this future Hall of Famer in elite company--just seven players have previously appeared in two Olympics.

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