50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 7. Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley was already a three-time All-Star and a four-time All-NBA performer for the Philadelphia 76ers entering the 1990s.
A new decade didn’t stop the parade of accolades.
Barkley was chosen for three more All-Star games, earning MVP honors in 1991, and receiving three more All-NBA nods for the 76ers in the 1990s, finishing second in the MVP voting in 1989-90 and fourth in 1990-91.
But he left Philadelphia in a blockbuster trade in June 1992, dealt to the Phoenix Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry.
In three seasons for the 76ers in the 1990s, Barkley averaged 25.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 38.3 minutes per game, shooting .574/.250/.723.
Barkley’s debut season with the Suns brought him the NBA MVP award and he was a four-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection with Phoenix.
He led the Suns to the NBA Finals in 1993, where they were defeated by the Chicago Bulls in six games. In that series, Barkley averaged 27.3 points, 13 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 46.2 minutes per game on .476/2-for-8/.750 shooting.
But Phoenix never returned to the Finals and in August 1996, Barkley was on the move again, this time to the Houston Rockets along with a second-round pick in 1999 in exchange for Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Chucky Brown and Mark Bryant.
In four seasons with the Suns, Barkley averaged 23.4 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 36.3 minutes per game, shooting .501/.301/.751.
Barkley made his last All-Star appearance in 1997 and in three seasons with the Rockets to close the decade averaged 16.7 points, 12.4 rebounds, four assists and 1.1 steals in 35.4 minutes per game on .483/.255/.719 shooting.
He remained with the Rockets, but a torn quadriceps tendon effectively ended his career, coincidentally enough in a December 1999 game in Philadelphia. He returned to play one more game and retired in April 2000.
In the 1990s, Barkley was ninth in the NBA with 14,852 points and an average of 22.4 points per game, sixth with 7,677 rebounds, 20th with 1,021 steals and fourth with an average of 11.6 rebounds per game.
He is 33rd in NBA history with 39,330 minutes played, 18th with 12,546 rebounds, 23rd with 1,648 steals, 24th with 23,757 points, 22nd with a field-goal percentage of .540, 32nd with an average of 36.7 minutes per game, 26th with an average of 22.1 points per game, 20th with an average of 11.7 rebounds per game and 38th with an average of 1.5 steals per game.
Selected fifth overall by the 76ers out of Auburn in the 1985 NBA Draft, Barkley was named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1997 was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.