Before the 1999 season began, Barkley announced his retirement after the season was over. I think he realized it was his time. His friends had left- Michael, Larry, Magic. He was playing for a team that was going to feature mostly rookies. I don't think Sir Charles wanted to suffer for more than one year.

He may not have won a championship, probably the only accolade he cared about. But the rest of his accomplishments are impressive: 22.2 points per game lifetime average, 11.7 rebounds, 1993 MVP award, 11-time All-Star and winner of two Olympic gold medals.

I think people like Charles Barkley for the same reasons they like Jesse Ventura or Howard Stern: those guys appear to tell it "like it is", to be honest with their feelings, to hold nothing back. Barkley never held anything back.

I like him now because I realize that he accomplished everything as a misfit. He was from Alabama when most players were from the cities. His size made him too short to be a power forward and too fat to be a small forward. But he learned to shoot the jumper, to take the ball down low in the post, and to make the steal or the block.

On that last fateful play where Sir Charles hurt his knee, he was jumping up in the hopes of blocking a much bigger player from making a layup. Barkley got knocked down but the shot never got off.

That's how Charles Barkley played the game of basketball. He didn't care if he was going down, as long as the other guy was, too.