Tag Archives: Phoenix Suns

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Charles Barkley

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Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley

Gregarious, opinionated, and larger-than-life, Charles Barkley has been one of the NBA’s most dominant media personalities since he retired from playing in 2000.  This isn’t surprising given that during his playing days, Sir Charles was also one of the NBA’s most dominant personalities.

Oh, and he was a hell of a basketball player too.

Generously listed at 6’6″, the rotund Barkley in actuality barely edged 6’4″ in height. What he lacked in vertical stature, he made up with boundless energy and strength. He’s the shortest player to ever lead the NBA in rebounds per game for a season. He could sky high for spectacular blocked shots. His tremendous power in the post allowed him to mercilessly back-down defenders. The dexterous Barkley was also a remarkable passer able to whip wrap-around and behind-the-back passes with ease.

Most excitingly, Barkley was an  absolute freight train on the break. Not a soul alive would plant their feet firmly in the paint to take a charge from the Barkley locomotive.

Best known for his days in Phoenix where captured the 1993 MVP award and led the Suns to the NBA Finals, but Barkley’s beginning was in Philadelphia. He broke into the league alongside sage veterans like Andrew Toney, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Julius Erving, and most importantly for Barkley, Moses Malone. A ferocious rebounder himself, Moses helped show Barkley the ropes of being a big man in the NBA.

Unfortunately for Charles, he caught these sage vets toward the end of their careers. Erving and Jones retired soon after his arrival. Toney succumbed to injuries. Moses was prematurely traded to the Washington Bullets. Philly went from the Eastern Conference Finals in 1985 (Barkley’s rookie year) to the Eastern Semis in ’86 to the 1st Round in ’87 to out of the playoffs in ’88.

The slide reversed in 1989 as Charles loaded the Sixers on his back and carried them to three-straight postseasons, but ultimately the effort proved fruitless. By 1992, Charles successfully demanded a trade from Philly to Phoenix.

While in the Valley of the Sun, Charles submitted some truly amazing games. Just in the 1993 postseason, he tortured San Antonio with a 28-point, 21-rebound effort including a series-winning jumper in Game 6. Against the Seattle SuperSonics, he had a 43/15/10 performance in Game 5 and 44 points and 24 rebounds in the decisive Game 7 to send Phoenix to the Finals. The next year, Barkley eviscerated the Golden State Warriors with 56 points in Game 3 of their opening round series.

However, the good times in Phoenix slowly crumbled too. In back-to-back seasons the Suns lost tough 7-game series against the Houston Rockets in the Western Semis. After a trade to the Rockets, Barkley again enjoyed immediate team success, a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 1997. Thereafter, the Rockets slowly succumbed to age and injury as Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler trudged to the end of their careers.

Unlike Olajuwon and Drexler, Barkley may never have won a title, but his 16-year career was still a tremendous success by any reasonable measure. 11 times an all-star, an MVP, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and a never-ending stream of monstrous rebounding and scoring games.

Simply put, Charles Barkley has always been and always will be irrepressible.

Seasons Played: 1985 – 2000

Accolades

NBA -
MVP (1993)
5x All-NBA 1st Team (1988-’91, 1993)
5x All-NBA 2nd Team (1986-’87, 1992, 1994-’95)
All-NBA 3rd Team (1996)
All-Rookie 1st Team (1983)
11x All-Star (1987-’97), All-Star Game MVP (1991)

Statistics

NBA - 1073 Games
22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 54.1% FG, 73.5% FT
RPG Leader (1987)
12th All-Time in Free Throws Made, 18th All-Time in Rebounds, 21st All-Time in Steals, 23rd All-Time in Points
19th All-Time in RPG, 21st All-Time in FG%, 26th All-Time in PPG

The Lowdown: Alvan Adams

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Years Active: 1976 – 1988
Regular Season Stats: 988 games, 27.5 mpg
14.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.1 apg, 0.8 bpg, 1.3 spg, 49.8% FG, 78.8% FT
Postseason Stats: 78 games, 29.3 mpg
13.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 0.9 bpg, 1.1 spg, 47.3% FG, 76.6% FT
Accolades: Rookie of the Year (1976), All-Rookie 1st Team (1976), All-Star (1976)

“I remember looking around at the old guys in the locker room—guys like Pat Riley—and feeling sorry for them because they only had a year or two left. I thought I’d have lots of chances to win the championship, but in 12 years with Phoenix I never got back to the Finals.”

- Via Alvan Adams, Phoenix Suns Center

As it turned out, Adams would not only never return to the Finals, but he’d never match the dramatic output of is rookie season, which was the one of the better and surprising ones in league history. Despite winning the Big 8 player of the year award three times at the University of Oklahoma, pro scouts had their doubts about Adams’ ability to play in the NBA. Most concerning was his body: 6’9″, 210 lbs. That’s not the size of your prototypical NBA center and there was fear he was too slow to convert to forward.

One man who had no doubts about Adams was John MacLeod. MacLeod was the man who recruited Adams to Oklahoma, but the coach left the Sooners after one year of Adams’ college career to coach the Phoenix Suns. MacLeod now jumped at the chance to draft his former college recruit and utilized Adams as one of the main cogs in his free-flowing Suns offense. Alvan indeed was too frail to play in the lowpost all the time, but his best skill was passing not scoring. This led MacLeod to station Adams in the highpost where he proved to be a devastating force.

That rookie year (1976) he averaged 5.6 assists per game. Before him only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell passed that mark. Since then, only Sam Lacey has.

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The Lowdown: Kevin Johnson

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Years Active: 1988 – 2000
Regular Season Stats: 735 games, 34.1 mpg
17.9 ppg, 9.1 apg, 3.3 rpg, 1.5 spg, 49.3% FG, 84.1% FT
Playoff Stats: 105 games, 36.9 mpg
19.3 ppg, 8.9 apg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 spg, 46.9% FG, 83.3% FT
Accolades: 3x All-Star (1990-’91, ’94), 4x All-NBA 2nd Team (1989-’91, ’94), All-NBA 3rd Team (1992), Most Improved Player (1989)

Photo by Hogue News

Whom does KJ remind you of? He can penetrate like Magic. He’s as quick with the ball as Stockton. He’s as good with his left hand from close-in as Larry Bird. His attitude is part Mailman Malone, part pit bull. He has dunked over a pair of All-Star centers—7’4″ Mark Eaton of Utah and 7-foot Kevin Duckworth of the Portland Trail Blazers…Beyond that, says teammate Tom Chambers, KJ “has the quickest first step I’ve ever seen.”

Via KJ!

Over the past decade it’s become fairly commonplace to see a diminutive point guard rise up amongst the lowpost trees to deliver a slam. Derrick Rose, Steve Francis and Russell Westbrook are some prime examples, but they’re exploits don’t hold the revelatory power that Kevin Johnson’s assaults had in the late 1980s.

Short players had certainly been dunking for a while. Buffalo Brave Randy Smith in the 70s and Johnson’s contemporary Spud Webb come to mind, but Johnson’s frequency of slams was at a then-unparalleled  level. But don’t let the dunks fool you. KJ was a superb point guard. He could dish the ball with expertise and run an offense like a floor general should.

Prior to Steve Nash’s run in the desert, Kevin Johnson held the mantle as most recognized and lovable Suns player. Rightfully earned too, considering he played 11 seasons and almost 700 games with the club. However, Kevin Johnson’s NBA sojourn began as a Cleveland Cavalier.

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The Lowdown: Don Buse

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Years Active: 1973 – 1985
Regular Season Stats: 966 games, 27.1 mpg
7.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.7 rpg, 2.0 spg, 44% FG, 33% 3PT, 77.7% FT
Playoff Stats: 84 games, 25.6 mpg
5.7 ppg, 3.4 apg, 1.7 spg, 40% FG, 28.7% 3PT, 65.8% FT
ABA Accolades: All-Star (1976), 2x All-Defensive 1st Team (1975-’76), All-ABA 2nd Team (1976), ABA Champion (1973); APG leader (1976), SPG leader (1976)
NBA Accolades: All-Star (1977) 4x All-Defensive 1st Team (1977-’80); APG leader (1977), SPG leader (1977)

Photo via Indiana Pacers

“Me being named to the team was something unusual. Most of the guys in here are averaging at least 15 points a game. And here’s me, averaging 8 or 9. It’s a switch for people to recognize my style.”

- Don Buse, via the Milwaukee Journal, 1977

Don Buse making the 1977 all-star team was a bit of a fluke. If it weren’t for Bill Walton going down injured, he wouldn’t have had a spot. But there was Buse suiting up in one of the more classic all-star games. His stat line wasn’t impressive: 4 points and 5 assists in 19 minutes.

Nonetheless, Boo worked his magic and sparked the West squad to victory along with Paul Westphal. Entering the game with 5:31 left in the 3rd quarter and the West down 83 – 75, Don instantly opened up ball movement on offense and terrorized the East on defense, ultimately ending the game with 4 steals. At the end of the 3rd, the West had swung the game around to a 97-89 lead and would go on to win 125 – 124.

That would be Buse’s 2nd and final all-star game, but the Hoosier State legend had already accomplished much and would continue to do so.

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The Lowdown: Paul Silas

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Years Active: 1965 – 1980
Regular Season Stats: 1254 games, 27.9 mpg
9.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.1 apg, 43.2% FG, 67.3% FT
Postseason Stats: 163 games, 28.3 mpg
6.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.1 apg, 39.7% FG, 69.2% FT
Accolades: 2x All-Star (1972, ’75), 2x All-Defensive 1st Team (1975-’76), 3x All-Defensive 2nd Team (1971-’73), 3x NBA Champion (1974, ’76, ’79)

Photo via Sports Illustrated

While Havlicek is a quiet, gentlemanly sort, Silas is a cordial, beaming man who could teach smiling at a stewardess school. And while Havlicek is exacting of himself and his teammates, Silas may be doubly so.

- They’re Replaying The Sixth Man Theme

In 1972, Paul Silas was traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Boston Celtics. The 6’7″ forward wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of moving from sunny Arizona to Massachusetts. It wasn’t just the weather that he was wary of, however. Already an 8-year veteran, he had heard tall tales of the Celtic mystique all his career. His skepticism soon dissipated:

“To be truthful, I thought it was a lot of nonsense. But when I arrived it was amazing. It’s almost like a collegiate atmosphere in a pro world—an atmosphere of total sacrifice for the good of the team, on and off the court. It’s a way of life. You just fall into it.”

Those Celtics of John Havlicek, Jo Jo White and Dave Cowens fell into Silas at the right moment. Just a year earlier in 1971, Silas had shed a commendable 30 pounds to drop his weight from 240 to 210. Before, during his days with the St. Louis Hawks, Silas was known as one of the NBA’s premier tough guys. A mountain of a man patrolling the lane and dominating the boards. It was an era overly focused on beefing up frontlines to thwart Wilt Chamberlain. After the weight loss, Silas stunned opponents with a new-found ability to gracefully run the court and beat his man for easy buckets. And in the halfcourt set, his lighter frame allowed better lift on his jumper. His defense remained almost as stout as it was before, but he did concede his lost weight allowed opponents to sometimes get him out of rebounding position.

Watching Silas’s transformation was Red Auerbach who exchanged Charlie Scott’s draft rights for Paul. Red correctly surmised that Silas was just what the Celtics needed. Already a 56-win team the season before, the Celtics had arisen from the short slumber following Bill Russell’s retirement in 1969. They needed a veteran ready to contribute immediately alongside center Cowens. The addition of Silas catapulted the Celtics to 68 wins.

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