Charles Barkley has different accounts of what season the deal was allegedly made. He has three years (Plus stories!) to account for.
In the grand scheme of things, there will never be enough details to pinpoint the game in question. One reason that we have to determine is actually when the trade was supposed to go through. Even though Barkley’s story of the trade is confirmed, the year is definitely in question.
A few years back, Barkley told a similar tale with varying details to SI’s Richard Deitsch. Let’s show the conversation here.
"Richard Deitsch: Was there any other team than Phoenix that was close to getting you? Charles Barkley: I got traded to the Lakers one day [in 1992] and they retracted the deal. Richard Deitsch: No way. Charles Barkley: Yeah. The Sixers backed out. It was going crazy for two weeks so I knew it would come down to Portland, [the] Lakers or Phoenix. So I get a call from my agent one morning and he said, “Philly has traded you to the Lakers.” So I went to lunch and started drinking. I’m f—ing so excited that I am going to the Lakers. Three hours later I get a f—ing phone call from my agent saying that the Sixers backed out of the deal. I said, “Oh, s–t, I’m feeling pretty good right now.” So I went out and played that night. Richard Deitsch: How did you play? Charles Barkley: I played pretty well. I wasn’t blasted, just a couple of drinks at lunch. I mean, I was excited to get the hell out of Philly."
Also Charles Barkley was on ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption, but he mentioned being traded to the Lakers in the late 80’s when the Detroit Pistons were the champions being excited to play with Magic Johnson (The breakdown starts at the 4-minute mark.)
Barkley also talked about it on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2018. He stated the deal went down in the late 80’s as well. But here’s what we are looking at here.
- Charles Barkley did want out of Philadelphia. The Bulls were starting to ascend and his relationship with the organization was deteriorating.
- It would have been really interesting to know the asking price for Charles Barkley based on the assets the Lakers were to give up. Remember that team was going for a three-peat at the time when the Pistons won their first title according to Charles.
- If it was in 1992, it was after Magic Johnson retired and the post-Showtime Lakers needed another star besides James Worthy.
As we now know Charles Barkley was traded to the Phoenix Suns for these players.
Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang.
After the deal was done. These turn of events happened the next year.
- Phoenix GM, Jerry Colangelo won the executive of the year award for committing highway robbery in the deal.
- Barkley won the MVP award the next season averaging 25.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and a career-high 5.1 assists per game.
- The team set a franchise record with 62 wins (since matched).
- The Suns reached the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history (Eventually losing in six games to the Chicago Bulls).
Sidebar: These turn of events could look similar for the Los Angeles Lakers if the team makes a deep run into the playoffs thanks to a deal for a certain power forward this offseason named Anthony Davis.