Basketball Hall-of-Famer and popular TNT analyst Charles Barkley claimed recently that he was actually traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1990s. That is until he wasn’t.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the biggest brands in professional sports. Many NBA legends have worn the purple and gold and helped the franchise win their 17 championships. While quite a few of the team’s greatest players were home grown talents, many others were stars before they even landed in Lala Land.
Men like Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the greatest examples of Lakers legends that were stars in other cities before they were lured away to play for LA. The club is hoping they have another example of that in former Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. After completing a shocking trade for the superstar in February.
However, it seems there is another NBA legend who almost joined the Lakers fraternity a few decades ago. None other than 11-time All-Star Charles Barkley.
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Charles Barkley claims he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 1990s
charles barkley
Credit: RVR Photos-Imagn Images
One of the biggest NBA trades of the 1990s was the deal that saw the Philadelphia 76ers trade Charles Barkley to the Phoenix Suns. However, “Sir Charles” claimed this week he was supposed to go to the Lakers first.
“I got traded to the Lakers. True story,” Barkley began by saying on a recent edition of his Steam Room podcast. “I get a call one morning from my agent. ‘Hey, the Sixers finally pulled the trigger.’ I got traded to the Lakers. And I’m like, ‘Damn, thank you. Bout time. I can’t wait.’ I get my friends together. We go to Friday’s on City Line Avenue and we get blasted. I told them, ‘Let’s meet at 12. I’m out of hell and purgatory.’
Charles Barkley stats (Career): 22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.5 SPG
“About 3 o’clock [the next day], my agent calls me and says the Sixers pulled out of the deal. We had a game that night. I run home, take a quick power nap and I don’t even remember what happened in the game,” he said. “I was so mad. But that’s the weirdest trade situation I’ve ever been involved in.”
After eight seasons and six All-Star appearances, Barkley wanted out of Philadelphia when he was one of the best players in the game. He was a game changer for Phoenix and brought them to a level of relevancy they never had before.
Around that time the Lakers did not have players like stars Dan Majerle or Kevin Johnson. So for the player that wanted to compete for a championship, he ended up in the right place.
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