Why We Love Sir Charles

By Richard Diaz
Love of Sports Correspondent

It’s safe to say an athlete’s level of popularity typically diminishes when they retire from the game.

Of course there’s an exception when it comes to the all-time greats, as they practically possess a level of fame eclipsing the sport that made them stars. From Babe Ruth to Muhammad Ali to Michael Jordan, there’s no denying the fact some athletes eventually become icons the world over.

There’s one athlete in particular whose star power’s actually higher than it was during his tenure as an elite athlete. Mind you, this guy was one of the NBA’s most dominating power forwards, so it’s not like we’re talking about some scrub who flopped in the pros and hides in the booth to save face.

Amongst other names, he’s often referred to as “The Round Mound of Rebound.”

We’re giving it up for the one and only Charles Barkley, because there are so many reasons we love Sir Charles.

Right off the bat, we love the fact he was selected to both the All-NBA First Team and All-NBA Second Team five times each, not to mention one nomination to the All-NBA Third Team as well.

In addition to that, he was an 11-time All-Star and actually took home the All-Star MVP award in 1991. Then on top of that, his off-the-charts 1993 season was good enough to earn him league MVP honors.

Of course there are the two Olympic gold medals he won in 1992 and 1996, and I’d be remiss to leave out his selection as one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players.

Now, let’s see, am I missing anything? Oh, that’s right. He retired as one of four players in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Guess that’s not too shabby for a Hall of Famer, is it?

But wait, there’s so much more to love about Mr. Barkley.

Is there any doubt he’s the main reason for TNT’s pre and postgame shows being so popular? Aside from the actual games, many will agree the Emmy Award-winning broadcast’s the best thing going in sports, and that’s got a lot to do with Charles.

Not loving his unbiased commentary’s impossible. The man says what he feels, regardless of how he’ll be perceived by his peers in the industry. He tells it like it is, and if you’re not down with his opinion, that’s simply too bad.

We loved it when he referred to Nate Robinson’s dunk as, “Any time a little midget does something like this, you gotta give him a 10!”

We loved it when he said, “These are my new shoes. They’re good shoes. They won’t make you rich like me, they won’t make you rebound like me, they definitely won’t make you handsome like me. They’ll only make you have shoes like me. That’s it.”

Simply put, there’s just too many reasons to love the man who’s become more beloved than he ever was as a bad-to-the-bone NBA stud. And for the critics that’ll bring him down for gambling a bit too much, all I can ask is where your articles were when he decided to pay some random busboy’s college tuition?

So, while NBA fans either loved or hated him as a dominating power forward, it’s a safe bet that everyone’s got a good reason to flat-out LOVE Sir Charles the human being.