Lakers Rumors: How close Charles Barkley came to being a Laker

Let’s get the definition of a bad game for Charles Barkley.

Before we get into the speculation of the game Charles Barkley played in while being drunk, let’s look at this important quote again on Zach Lowe’s podcast. 

"The one thing that’s funny, I don’t even know how I played that night. I think I might have played so bad because I was so angry the Sixers didn’t pull the trigger, and then it’s just suffering the next two or three years.”"

In the days of analytics, statistics pretty much leads most NBA fans around. But Barkley’s definition of a bad game could be different from the analytics of today. Let’s get a proper definition from Charles Barkley that actually sparked a mini-feud with Draymond Green.

So having a “Triple-Single” in a game qualifies as a bad game for Sir Charles.

A special shout out goes to Silver Screen and Roll who actually came through with two games in 1992 which were both home games. Back in 1992, the trade deadline was on February 20th. If Charles Barkley were to be traded, the game was somewhere around this point.

According to Basketball-Reference, One of Barkley’s worst games was on the Feb. 12th game against the New Jersey Nets. This one might be the game he was talking about. Based on a player that is a Dream Teamer and Hall of Famer, these facts show he mailed one in.

• Barkley put up a performance of 6 points on 2-7 shooting, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in a 102-87 loss.
• It’s not about how badly Barkley shot, but in 38 minutes how infrequent he shot. Seven shots in 38 minutes? 
• Barkley didn’t play too much defense either. Sam Bowie finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Yes, the Sam Bowie drafted ahead of Michael Jordan! Derrick Coleman had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The only other possible game that fits under the Charles Barkley “Triple Single” criteria occurred a few weeks earlier, in  a Jan. 31, 112-88 win over the Orlando Magic.

• Barkley finished with 6 points on 3-5 shooting with 8 assists and 7 rebounds.
• But this was a Orlando Magic team that was waiting for the number pick in the draft. Shaquille O’Neal hadn’t left college yet.
• Sir Charles was the only Philly starter that didn’t hit double figures in scoring in the game.  

There may never be evidence in which game this happened after nearly 30 years and the constant changes of Barkley’s stories. It’s hard to believe that a Charles Barkley deal would have been made in the late ’80s. Who would the Lakers give up in the middle of a Finals run?

In the grand scheme of things, it worked out. Why?