But I guess everybody else saw something I was missing. Otherwise, why would they all clap for a man who's paid more money in the form of NBA fines than everybody except for Dennis Rodman?

The answer is that Barkley, more than anyone, revolutionized the power forward position and gave the NBA a fresh, honest and funny voice. He gave the fans somebody to laugh at, but he wasn't a goof-off. He was the anti-Jordan, a player who played with neither swagger nor grace.

When he came out of Auburn as a junior in the 1984 draft, he was called the "Round Mound of Rebound" for both his size (6'6, but a hefty 252 lbs.) and his ability to fight under the basket for boards. The 76ers picked him fifth, two spots behind Michael Jordan. Jordan would be both Barkley's best friend and his greatest opponent, the reason Charles could never win a championship.

After Julius Erving retired and Moses Malone was traded, the young Barkley was forced to accept both a leadership role and the fact that he was the only star on the team. He always made the All-Star team, but his Sixers teams never went far in the playoffs. In 1992 Barkley took his game and by then infamous outspoken comments to Phoenix.

It was there where he came the closest in his career to winning an NBA title. But in the 1993 finals his Suns ran smack into the dynasty that would be the Chicago Bulls, and Barkley could only look at his MVP trophy from that season for consolation. In 1996, after contemplating retirement due to an aching back, he decided to give it one more try, this time going to the Rockets where he hoped he could put it all together with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

In those last years with Houston, many of the negative aspects of Barkley's personality shined through. His growing frustration with his inability to win an NBA title, coupled with his decreasing skills, made him the type of player who was liable to burst at any minute.

And he did. In one season, he was suspended three different times. He stopped passing the ball to better teammates and got into loud arguments with both his coach and the referees. Even Scottie Pippen didn't want to play with him anymore and left the Rockets.