Analogy (from Greek αναλογία – analogia, "proportion"^[1][2]) is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. In a narrower sense, analogy is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as opposed to deduction, induction, and abduction, where at least one of the premises or the conclusion is general. The word analogy can also refer to the relation between the source and the target themselves, which is often, though not necessarily, a similarity, as in the biological notion of analogy.

Niels Bohr's model of the atom made an analogy between the atom and the solar system.

Analogy plays a significant role in problem solving, decision making, perception, memory, creativity, emotion, explanation and communication. It lies behind basic tasks such as the identification of places, objects and people, for example, in face perception and facial recognition systems. It has been argued that analogy is "the core of cognition".^[3] Specific analogical language comprises exemplification, comparisons, metaphors, similes, allegories, and parables, but not metonymy. Phrases like and so on, and the like, as if, and the very word like also rely on an analogical understanding by the receiver of a message including them. Analogy is important not only in ordinary language and common sense (where proverbs and idioms give many examples of its application) but also in science, philosophy and the humanities. The concepts of association, comparison, correspondence, mathematical and morphological homology, homomorphism, iconicity, isomorphism, metaphor, resemblance, and similarity are closely related to analogy. In cognitive linguistics, the notion of conceptual metaphor may be equivalent to that of analogy.

Analogy has been studied and discussed since classical antiquity by philosophers, scientists and lawyers. The last few decades have shown a renewed interest in analogy, most notably in cognitive science.

Usage of the terms "source" and "target"[link]

With respect to the terms source and target there are two distinct traditions of usage:

• The logical and cultures and economics tradition speaks of an arrow, homomorphism, mapping, or morphism from what is typically the more complex domain or source to what is typically the less complex codomain or target, using all of these words in the sense of mathematical category theory.

• The tradition that appears^{[original research?]} more common in cognitive psychology, in literary theory, and in specializations within philosophy outside of logic, speaks of a mapping from what is typically the more familiar area of experience, the source, to what is typically the more problematic area of experience, the target.

Models and theories[link]

Identity of relation[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July 2009)

In ancient Greek the word αναλογια (analogia) originally meant proportionality, in the mathematical sense, and it was indeed sometimes translated to Latin as proportio. From there analogy was understood as identity of relation between any two ordered pairs, whether of mathematical nature or not. Kant's Critique of Judgment held to this notion. Kant argued that there can be exactly the same relation between two completely different objects. The same notion of analogy was used in the US-based SAT tests, that included "analogy questions" in the form "A is to B as C is to what?" For example, "Hand is to palm as foot is to ____?" These questions were usually given in the Aristotelian format:

HAND : PALM : : FOOT : ____

While most competent English speakers will immediately give the right answer to the analogy question (sole), it is more difficult to identify and describe the exact relation that holds both between hand and palm, and between foot and sole^{[citation needed][original research?]}. This relation is not apparent in some lexical definitions of palm and sole, where the former is defined as the inner surface of the hand, and the latter as the underside of the foot. Analogy and abstraction are different cognitive processes, and analogy is often an easier one.

Recently a computer algorithm has achieved human-level performance on multiple-choice analogy questions from the SAT test.^[4] The algorithm measures the similarity of relations between pairs of words (e.g., the similarity between the pairs HAND:PALM and FOOT:SOLE) by statistical analysis of a large collection of text. It answers SAT questions by selecting the choice with the highest relational similarity.

Shared abstraction[link]

In several cultures, the sun is the source of an analogy to God.

Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle actually used a wider notion of analogy. They saw analogy as a shared abstraction.^[5] Analogous objects did not share necessarily a relation, but also an idea, a pattern, a regularity, an attribute, an effect or a function. These authors also accepted that comparisons, metaphors and "images" (allegories) could be used as arguments, and sometimes they called them analogies. Analogies should also make those abstractions easier to understand and give confidence to the ones using them.

The Middle Ages saw an increased use and theorization of analogy. Roman lawyers had already used analogical reasoning and the Greek word analogia. Medieval lawyers distinguished analogia legis and analogia iuris (see below). In Islamic logic, analogical reasoning was used for the process of Qiyas in Islamic sharia law and fiqh jurisprudence. In Christian theology, analogical arguments were accepted in order to explain the attributes of God. Aquinas made a distinction between equivocal, univocal and analogical terms, the latter being those like healthy that have different but related meanings. Not only a person can be "healthy", but also the food that is good for health (see the contemporary distinction between polysemy and homonymy). Thomas Cajetan wrote an influential treatise on analogy. In all of these cases, the wide Platonic and Aristotelian notion of analogy was preserved. James Francis Ross in Portraying Analogy (1982), the first substantive examination of the topic since Cajetan's De Nominum Analogia, demonstrated that analogy is a systematic and universal feature of natural languages, with identifiable and law-like characteristics which explain how the meanings of words in a sentence are interdependent.

Special case of induction[link]

On the contrary, Ibn Taymiyya,^[6][7][8] Francis Bacon and later John Stuart Mill argued that analogy is simply a special case of induction.^[5] In their view analogy is an inductive inference from common known attributes to another probable common attribute, which is known only about the source of the analogy, in the following form:

Premises

a is C, D, E, F, G

b is C, D, E, F

Conclusion

b is probably G.

Alternative conclusion

every C, D, E, F is probably G.

This view does not accept analogy as an autonomous mode of thought or inference, reducing it to induction. However, autonomous analogical arguments are still useful in science, philosophy and the humanities (see below), which makes this reduction philosophically uninteresting. Moreover, induction tries to achieve general conclusions, while analogy looks for particular ones.

Hidden deduction[link]

The opposite move could also be tried, reducing analogy to deduction. It is argued that every analogical argument is partially superfluous and can be rendered as a deduction stating as a premise a (previously hidden) universal proposition which applied both to the source and the target. In this view, instead of an argument with the form:

Premises

a is analogous to b.

b is F.

Conclusion

a is plausibly F.

We should have:

Hidden universal premise

all Gs are plausibly Fs.

Hidden singular premise

a is G.

Conclusion

a is plausibly F.

This would mean that premises referring the source and the analogical relation are themselves superfluous. However, it is not always possible to find a plausibly true universal premise to replace the analogical premises.^[9] And analogy is not only an argument, but also a distinct cognitive process.

Shared structure[link]

According to Shelley (2003), the study of the coelacanth drew heavily on analogies from other fish.

Contemporary cognitive scientists use a wide notion of analogy, extensionally close to that of Plato and Aristotle, but framed by Gentner's (1983) structure mapping theory.^[10] The same idea of mapping between source and target is used by conceptual metaphor and conceptual blending theorists. Structure mapping theory concerns both psychology and computer science. According to this view, analogy depends on the mapping or alignment of the elements of source and target. The mapping takes place not only between objects, but also between relations of objects and between relations of relations. The whole mapping yields the assignment of a predicate or a relation to the target. Structure mapping theory has been applied and has found considerable confirmation in psychology. It has had reasonable success in computer science and artificial intelligence (see below). Some studies extended the approach to specific subjects, such as metaphor and similarity.^[11]

Keith Holyoak and Paul Thagard (1997) developed their multiconstraint theory within structure mapping theory. They defend that the "coherence" of an analogy depends on structural consistency, semantic similarity and purpose. Structural consistency is maximal when the analogy is an isomorphism, although lower levels are admitted. Similarity demands that the mapping connects similar elements and relations of source and target, at any level of abstraction. It is maximal when there are identical relations and when connected elements have many identical attributes. An analogy achieves its purpose insofar as it helps solve the problem at hand. The multiconstraint theory faces some difficulties when there are multiple sources, but these can be overcome.^[5] Hummel and Holyoak (2005) recast the multiconstraint theory within a neural network architecture. A problem for the multiconstraint theory arises from its concept of similarity, which, in this respect, is not obviously different from analogy itself. Computer applications demand that there are some identical attributes or relations at some level of abstraction. The model was extended (Doumas, Hummel, & Sandhofer, 2008) to learn relations from unstructured examples (providing the only current account of how symbolic representations can be learned from examples).

Mark T. Keane and Brayshaw (1988) developed their Incremental Analogy Machine (IAM) to include working memory constraints as well as structural, semantic and pragmatic constraints, so that a subset of the base analog is selected and mapping from base to target occurs in a serial manner.^[12][13] Empirical evidence shows that human analogical mapping performance is influenced by information presentation order.^[14]

High-level perception[link]

Douglas Hofstadter and his team^[15] challenged the shared structure theory and mostly its applications in computer science. They argue that there is no line between perception, including high-level perception, and analogical thought. In fact, analogy occurs not only after, but also before and at the same time as high-level perception. In high-level perception, humans make representations by selecting relevant information from low-level stimuli. Perception is necessary for analogy, but analogy is also necessary for high-level perception. Chalmers et al. conclude that analogy is high-level perception. Forbus et al. (1998) claim that this is only a metaphor. It has been argued (Morrison and Dietrich 1995) that Hofstadter's and Gentner's groups do not defend opposite views, but are instead dealing with different aspects of analogy.

Analogy and Complexity[link]

Antoine Cornuéjols^[16] has presented analogy as a principle of economy and computational complexity.

Reasoning by analogy is a process of, from a given pair (x,f(x)), extrapolating the function f. In the standard modeling, analogical reasoning involves two "objects": the source and the target. The target is supposed to be incomplete and in need for a complete description using the source. The target has an existing part S_t and a missing part R_t. We assume that we can isolate a situation of the source S_s, which corresponds to a situation of target S_t, and the result of the source R_s, which correspond to the result of the target R_t. With B_s, the relation between S_s and R_s, we want B_t, the relation between S_t and R_t.

If the source and target are completely known:

Using Kolmogorov complexity K(x), defined as the size of the smallest description of x and Solomonoff's approach to induction, Rissanen (89),^[17] Wallace & Boulton (68) proposed the principle of Minimum description length. This principle leads to minimize the complexity K(target| Source) of producing the target from the source.

This is unattractive in Artificial Intelligence, as it requires a computation over abstract Turing machines. Suppose that M_s and M_t are local theories of the source and the target, available to the observer. The best analogy between a source case a and target case is the analogy that minimizes:

K(M_s) + K(S_s|M_s) + K(B_s|M_s) + K(M_t|M_s) + K(S_t|M_t) + K(B_t|M_t) (1).

If the target is completely unknown:

All models and descriptions M_s, M_t, B_s, S_s, and S_t leading to the minimization of:

K(M_s) + K(S_s|M_s) + K(B_s|M_s) + K(M_t|M_s) + K(S_t|M_t) (2)

are also those who allow to obtain the relationship B_t, and thus the most satisfactory R_t for formula (1).

The analogical hypothesis, which solves an analogy between a source case and a target case, has two parts:

• Analogy, like induction, is a principle of economy. The best analogy between two cases is the one which minimizes the amount of information necessary for the derivation of the source from the target (1). Its most fundamental measure is the computational complexity theory.
• When solving or completing a target case with a source case, the parameters which minimize (2) are postulated to minimize (1), and thus, produce the best response.

However, a cognitive agent may simply reduce the amount of information necessary for the interpretation of the source and the target, without taking into account the cost of data replication. So, it may prefer to the minimization of (2) the minimization of the following simplified formula:

K(M_s) + K(B_s|M_s) + K(M_t|M_s) (3).

Applications and types[link]

In language[link]

Logic[link]

Logicians analyze how analogical reasoning is used in arguments from analogy.

Rhetoric[link]

• An analogy can be a spoken or textual comparison between two words (or sets of words) to highlight some form of semantic similarity between them. Such analogies can be used to strengthen political and philosophical arguments, even when the semantic similarity is weak or non-existent (if crafted carefully for the audience). Analogies are sometimes used to persuade those that cannot detect the flawed or non-existent arguments.

Linguistics[link]

• An analogy can be the linguistic process that reduces word forms perceived as irregular by remaking them in the shape of more common forms that are governed by rules. For example, the English verb help once had the preterite holp and the past participle holpen. These obsolete forms have been discarded and replaced by helped by the power of analogy (or by widened application of the productive Verb-ed rule.) This is called leveling. However, irregular forms can sometimes be created by analogy; one example is the American English past tense form of dive: dove, formed on analogy with words such as drive: drove.
• Neologisms can also be formed by analogy with existing words. A good example is software, formed by analogy with hardware; other analogous neologisms such as firmware and vaporware have followed. Another example is the humorous term underwhelm, formed by analogy with overwhelm.
• Analogy is often presented as an alternative mechanism to generative rules for explaining productive formation of structures such as words. Others argue that in fact they are the same mechanism, that rules are analogies that have become entrenched as standard parts of the linguistic system, whereas clearer cases of analogy have simply not (yet) done so (e.g. Langacker 1987.445–447). This view has obvious resonances with the current views of analogy in cognitive science which are discussed above.

In science[link]

Analogues are often used in theoretical and applied sciences in the form of models or simulations which can be considered as strong analogies. Other much weaker analogies assist in understanding and describing functional behaviours of similar systems. For instance, an analogy commonly used in electronics textbooks compares electrical circuits to hydraulics. Another example is the analog ear based on electrical, electronic or mechanical devices.

Mathematics[link]

Some types of analogies can have a precise mathematical formulation through the concept of isomorphism. In detail, this means that given two mathematical structures of the same type, an analogy between them can be thought of as a bijection between them which preserves some or all of the relevant structure. For example, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \Bbb{R}^2

and Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.):  \Bbb{C} 
are isomorphic as vector spaces, but the complex numbers, Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.):  \Bbb{C} 

, have more structure than Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \Bbb{R}^2

does: Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.):  \Bbb{C} 
is a field as well as a vector space.

Category theory takes the idea of mathematical analogy much further with the concept of functors. Given two categories C and D, a functor F from C to D can be thought of as an analogy between C and D, because F has to map objects of C to objects of D and arrows of C to arrows of D in such a way that the compositional structure of the two categories is preserved. This is similar to the structure mapping theory of analogy of Dedre Gentner, in that it formalizes the idea of analogy as a function which satisfies certain conditions.

Artificial intelligence[link]

Steven Phillips1 and William H. Wilson ^[18][19] uses category theory to mathematically demonstrate how the analogical reasoning in the human mind, that is free of the spurious inferences that plague conventional artificial intelligence models, (called systematicity), could arise naturally from the use of relationships between the internal arrows that keep the internal structures of the categories rather than the mere relationships between the objects. (called "representational states"). Thus, the mind may use analogies between domains whose internal structures fit according with a natural transformation and reject those that don´t.

see also Structure mapping engine.

See also case-based reasoning.

Anatomy[link]

In anatomy, two anatomical structures are considered to be analogous when they serve similar functions but are not evolutionarily related, such as the legs of vertebrates and the legs of insects. Analogous structures are the result of convergent evolution and should be contrasted with homologous structures.

Engineering[link]

Often a physical prototype is built to model and represent some other physical object. For example, wind tunnels are used to test scale models of wings and aircraft, which act as an analog to full-size wings and aircraft.

For example, the MONIAC (an analog computer) used the flow of water in its pipes as an analog to the flow of money in an economy.

Cybernetics[link]

Where there is dependence and hence interaction between a pair or more of biological or physical participants communication occurs and the stresses produced describe internal models inside the participants. Pask in his Conversation Theory asserts there exists an analogy exhibiting both similarities and differences between any pair of the participants' internal models or concepts.

In normative matters[link]

Morality[link]

Analogical reasoning plays a very important part in morality. This may be in part because morality is supposed to be impartial and fair. If it is wrong to do something in a situation A, and situation B is analogous to A in all relevant features, then it is also wrong to perform that action in situation B. Moral particularism accepts analogical moral reasoning, rejecting both deduction and induction, since only the former can do without moral principles.

Law[link]

In law, analogy is used to resolve issues on which there is no previous authority. A distinction has to be made between analogous reasoning from written law and analogy to precedent case law.

Analogies from codes and statutes[link]

In civil law systems, where the preeminent source of law is legal codes and statutes, a lacuna (a gap) arises when a specific issue is not explicitly dealt with in written law. Judges will try to identify a provision whose purpose applies to the case at hand. That process can reach a high degree of sophistication, as judges sometimes not only look at a specific provision to fill lacunae (gaps), but at several provisions (from which an underlying purpose can be inferred) or at general principles of the law to identify the legislator's value judgement from which the analogy is drawn. Besides the not very frequent filling of lacunae, analogy is very commonly used between different provisions in order to achieve substantial coherence. Analogy from previous judicial decisions is also common, although these decisions are not binding authorities.

Analogies from precedent case law[link]

By contrast, in common law systems, where precedent cases are the primary source of law, analogies to codes and statutes are rare (since those are not seen as a coherent system, but as incursions into the common law). Analogies are thus usually drawn from precedent cases: The judge finds that the facts of another case are similar to the one at hand to an extent that the analogous application of the rule established in the previous case is justified.

In teaching strategies[link]

Teaching the process of thinking by analogy is one of the main themes of The Private Eye Project.

See also[link]

Thinking portal

• List of thinking-related topics
• Conceptual metaphor
• Conceptual blending
• Argument from analogy
• False analogy
• Portal: thinking
• Metaphor
• Simile
• Hypocatastasis
• Allegory
• Argumentum e contrario
• Parable

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Cajetan, Tommaso De Vio, (1498), De Nominum Analogia, P.N. Zammit (ed.), 1934, The Analogy of Names, Koren, Henry J. and Bushinski, Edward A (trans.), 1953, Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
• Chalmers, D.J. et al. (1991). Chalmers, D.J., French, R.M., Hofstadter, D., High-Level Perception, Representation, and Analogy.
• Coelho, Ivo (2010). "Analogy." ACPI Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Johnson J. Puthenpurackal. Bangalore: ATC. 1:64-68.
• Cornuéjols, A. (1996). Analogie, principe d’économie et complexité algorithmique. In Actes des 11èmes Journées Françaises de l’Apprentissage. Sète.
• Doumas, L. A. A., Hummel, J.E., and Sandhofer, C. (2008). A Theory of the Discovery and Predication of Relational Concepts. Psychological Review, 115, 1-43.
• Gentner, D. (1983). Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cognitive Science, 7, 155–170. (Reprinted in A. Collins & E. E. Smith (Eds.), Readings in cognitive science: A perspective from psychology and artificial intelligence. Palo Alto, CA: Kaufmann).
• Forbus, K. et al. (1998). Analogy just looks like high-level perception.
• Gentner, D., Holyoak, K.J., Kokinov, B. (Eds.) (2001). The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-57139-0
• Hofstadter, D. (2001). Analogy as the Core of Cognition, in Dedre Gentner, Keith Holyoak, and Boicho Kokinov (eds.) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press/Bradford Book, 2001, pp. 499–538.
• Holland, J.H., Holyoak, K.J., Nisbett, R.E., and Thagard, P. (1986). Induction: Processes of Inference, Learning, and Discovery. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-58096-9.
• Holyoak, K.J., and Thagard, P. (1995). Mental Leaps: Analogy in Creative Thought. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-58144-2.
• Holyoak, K.J., and Thagard, P. (1997). The Analogical Mind.
• Hummel, J.E., and Holyoak, K.J. (2005). Relational Reasoning in a Neurally Plausible Cognitive Architecture
• Itkonen, E. (2005). Analogy as Structure and Process. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Juthe, A. (2005). "Argument by Analogy", in Argumentation (2005) 19: 1–27.
• Keane, M.T. Ledgeway; Duff, S (1994). "Constraints on analogical mapping: a comparison of three models". Cognitive Science 18: 287–334. 
• Keane, M.T. (1997). "What makes an analogy difficult? The effects of order and causal structure in analogical mapping". Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 123: 946–967. 
• Kokinov, B. (1994). "A hybrid model of reasoning by analogy."
• Kokinov, B. and Petrov, A. (2001). "Integration of Memory and Reasoning in Analogy-Making."
• Lamond, G. (2006). Precedent and Analogy in Legal Reasoning, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Langacker, Ronald W. (1987). Foundations of Cognitive grammar. Vol. I, Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Little, J. (2000). Analogy in Science: Where Do We Go From Here? Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 30, 69–92.
• Little, J. (2008). The Role of Analogy in George Gamow's Derivation of Drop Energy. Technical Communication Quarterly, 17, 1–19.
• Morrison, C., and Dietrich, E. (1995). Structure-Mapping vs. High-level Perception.
• Ross, J.F., (1982), Portraying Analogy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Ross, J.F. (October 1970). "Analogy and The Resolution of Some Cognitivity Problems". The Journal of Philosophy 67 (20): 725–746. DOI:10.2307/2024008. JSTOR 2024008. 
• Ross, J.F. (September 1961). "Analogy as a Rule of Meaning for Religious Language". International Philosophical Quarterly 1 (3): 468–502. 
• Ross, J.F., (1958), A Critical Analysis of the Theory of Analogy of St Thomas Aquinas, (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms Inc).
• Shelley, C. (2003). Multiple analogies in Science and Philosophy. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
• Turney, P.D., and Littman, M.L. (2005). Corpus-based learning of analogies and semantic relations. Machine Learning, 60 (1–3), 251–278.
• Turney, P.D. (2006). Similarity of semantic relations. Computational Linguistics, 32 (3), 379–416.
• Cornuéjols, A. (1996). Analogy, principle of economy and computational complexity.

External links[link]

Look up analogy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Analogy in Early Greek Thought.
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Analogy in Patristic and Medieval Thought.
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Medieval Theories of Analogy.
• Dedre Gentner's publications page, most of them on analogy and available for download.
• Shawn Glynn’s publications page, all on teaching with analogies and some available for download.
• Keith Holyoak's publications page, many on analogy and available for download.
• Boicho Kokinov's publications page, most of them on analogy and available for download.
• The Private Eye Project's publications page, all on teaching with analogies (and thinking by analogy) and some available for download.
• jMapper – Java Library for Analogy/Metaphor Generation
• Analogy games: Analogy used as the basis for a cultural game

Charles Barkley

Barkley in 2010
No. 34, 32, 14, 4
Personal information
Nickname(s)	Sir Charles, The Round Mound of Rebound
Born	(1963-02-20) February 20, 1963 (age 49) Leeds, Alabama
High school	Leeds HS (Leeds, Alabama)
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	252 lb (114 kg)
Career information
College	Auburn (1981–1984)
NBA Draft	1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Pro career	1984–2000
Career history
1984–1992	Philadelphia 76ers
1992–1996	Phoenix Suns
1996–2000	Houston Rockets
Career highlights and awards
NBA Most Valuable Player (1993) 11× NBA All-Star (1987–1997) 5× All-NBA First Team (1988–1991, 1993) 5× All-NBA Second Team (1986–1987, 1992, 1994–1995) All-NBA Third Team (1996) NBA All-Rookie First Team (1985) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1991) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team #34 Retired by Philadelphia 76ers / Phoenix Suns SEC Player of the Year (1984)
Career statistics
Points	23,757 (22.1 ppg)
Rebounds	12,546 (11.7 rpg)
Assists	4,215 (3.9 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.^[1]

Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league.^[2] He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, as in March 1991 when he mistakenly spat on a young girl, and as in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.^[3]

Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a successful career as a television NBA analyst. He works with Turner Network Television (TNT) as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games.^[4] In addition, Barkley has written several books and has shown an interest in politics; in October 2008, he announced that he would run for Governor of Alabama in 2014,^[5] but he changed his mind in 2010.^[6]

Early life[link]

Barkley was born and raised in suburban Leeds, Alabama, ten miles (16 km) outside of Birmingham, and attended Leeds High School. As a junior, Barkley stood 5'10" (1.78 m) and weighed 220 pounds (99.8 kg). He failed to make the varsity team and was named as a reserve. However, during the summer Barkley grew to 6'4" and earned a starting position on the varsity team in his senior year. He averaged 19.1 points and 17.9 rebounds per game and led his team to a 26–3 record en route to the state semifinals.^[7] Despite his improvement, Barkley garnered no attention from college scouts until the state high school semifinals, where he scored 26 points against Alabama's most highly recruited player, Bobby Lee Hurt.^[7] An assistant to Auburn University's head coach, Sonny Smith, was at the game and reported seeing, "a fat guy... who can play like the wind".^[8] Barkley was soon recruited by Smith and majored in business management while attending Auburn University.^[7]

College[link]

Barkley played collegiate basketball at Auburn University for three years. Although he struggled to control his weight, he excelled as a player and led the SEC in rebounding each year.^[2] He became a popular crowd-pleaser, exciting the fans with dunks and blocked shots that belied his lack of height and overweight frame. It was not uncommon to see the hefty Barkley grab a defensive rebound and, instead of passing, dribble the entire length of the court and finish at the opposite end with a two-handed dunk. His physical size and skills ultimately earned him the nickname "The Round Mound of Rebound."^[4]

During his college career, Barkley played the center position, despite being shorter than the average center. His height, officially listed as 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), is stated as 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) in his book, I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It. He became a member of Auburn's All-Century team and still holds the Auburn record for career field goal percentage with 62.6%.^[9] He received numerous awards, including Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year (1984), three All-SEC selections and one Second Team All-American selection.^[10] Later, Barkley was named the SEC Player of the Decade for the 1980s by the Birmingham Post-Herald.^[9]

In Barkley's three-year college career, he averaged 14.8 points on 68.2% field goal shooting, 9.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.^[9] In 1984, he made his only appearance in the NCAA Tournament and finished with 23 points on 80% field goal shooting, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.^[11] Auburn retired Barkley's No. 34 jersey on March 3, 2001.^[9]

Barkley later admitted to receiving money from an agent during his years at Auburn.^[12]

NBA career[link]

Philadelphia 76ers[link]

Barkley with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1991

Barkley left before his final year at Auburn and made himself eligible for the 1984 NBA Draft. He was selected with the fifth pick in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers, two slots after the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan. He joined a veteran team that included Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Maurice Cheeks, players who took Philadelphia to the 1983 NBA championship. Under the tutelage of Malone, Barkley was able to manage his weight and learned to prepare and condition himself properly for a game. He averaged 14.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during the regular season and earned a berth on the All-Rookie Team.^[3] In the postseason, the Sixers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals but were defeated in five games by the Boston Celtics.^[13] As a rookie in the postseason, Barkley averaged 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.^[2]

During his second year, Barkley became the team's leading rebounder and number two scorer, averaging 20.0 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.^[3] He became the Sixers' starting power forward and helped lead his team into the playoffs, averaging 25.0 points on .578 shooting from the field and 15.8 rebounds per game.^[3] Despite his efforts, Philadelphia was defeated 4–3 by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team.^[2]

Before the 1986–87 season, Moses Malone was traded to the Washington Bullets and Barkley began to assume control as the team leader. He earned his first rebounding title, averaging 14.6 rebounds per game and also led the league in offensive rebounds with 5.7 per game.^[3] He averaged 23.0 points on .594 shooting,^[3] earning his first trip to an NBA All-Star game and All-NBA Second Team honors for the second straight season. In the playoffs, Barkley averaged 24.6 points and 12.6 rebounds in a losing effort,^[14] for the second straight year, to the Bucks in a five-game first round playoff series.^[15]

The following season, Julius Erving announced his retirement and Barkley became the Sixers' franchise player.^[2] Playing in 80 games and getting 300 more minutes than his nearest teammate, Barkley had his most productive season, averaging 28.3 points on .587 shooting and 11.9 rebounds per game.^[3] He appeared in his second All-Star Game and was named to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career. His celebrity status as the Sixers' franchise player led to his first appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.^[2] For the first time since the 1974–75 season, however, the 76ers failed to make the playoffs.^[2] In the 1988–89 season, Barkley continued to play well, averaging 25.8 points on .579 shooting and 12.5 rebounds per game.^[3] He earned his third straight All-Star Game appearance and was named to the All-NBA First team for the second straight season.^[4] Despite Barkley contributing 27.0 points on .644 shooting, 11.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game,^[14] the 76ers were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the New York Knicks.^[16]

During the 1989–90 season, despite receiving more first-place votes,^[17] Barkley finished second in MVP voting behind the Los Angeles Lakers' Magic Johnson.^[18] He was named Player of the Year by The Sporting News and Basketball Weekly.^[2] He averaged 25.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and a career high .600 shooting.^[3] He was named to the All-NBA First Team for the third consecutive year and earned his fourth All-Star selection.^[4] He helped Philadelphia win 53 regular season games, only to lose to the Chicago Bulls in a five-game Eastern Conference Semifinals series.^[19] Barkley averaged 24.7 points and 15.5 rebounds in another postseason loss.^[14] His exceptional play continued into his seventh season, where he averaged 27.6 points on .570 shooting and 10.1 rebounds per game.^[3] His fifth straight All-Star Game appearance proved to be his best yet. He led the East to a 116–114 win over the West with 17 points and 22 rebounds, the most rebounds in an All-Star Game since Wilt Chamberlain recorded 22 in 1967.^[2] Barkley was presented with Most Valuable Player honors at the All-Star Game and, at the end of the season, named to the All-NBA First Team for the fourth straight year.^[2] In the postseason, Philadelphia lost again to Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with Barkley contributing 24.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.^[14]

The 1991–92 season was Barkley's final year in Philadelphia. In his last season, he wore number 32 instead of his 34 to honor Magic Johnson,^[20] who had announced prior to the start of the season that he was HIV-positive. Although the 76ers initially retired the number 32 in honor of Billy Cunningham, it was unretired for Barkley to wear. Following Johnson's announcement, Barkley also apologized for having made light of his condition. Responding to concerns that players may contract HIV by contact with Johnson, Barkley stated, "We're just playing basketball. It's not like we're going out to have unprotected sex with Magic."^[21]

In his final season with the Sixers, averaging 23.1 points on .552 shooting and 11.1 rebounds per game,^[3] Barkley earned his sixth straight All-Star appearance and was named to the All-NBA Second Team, his seventh straight appearance on either the first or second team. He ended his 76ers career ranked fourth in team history in total points (14,184), third in scoring average (23.3 ppg), third in rebounds (7,079), eighth in assists (2,276) and second in field-goal percentage (.576).^[2] He led Philadelphia in rebounding and field-goal percentage for seven consecutive seasons and in scoring for six straight years.^[3] However, Barkley demanded a trade out of Philadelphia after the Sixers failed to make the postseason with a 35–47 record.^[4][22] On July 17, 1992, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang.^[4]

During Barkley's eight seasons in Philadelphia, he became a household name and was one of the few NBA players to have a figure published by Kenner's Starting Lineup toy line. He also had his own signature shoe line with Nike. His outspoken and aggressive play, however, also caused a few scandals; notoriously a fight with Detroit Pistons center Bill Laimbeer in 1990, an event which drew a record total $162,500 fine,^[23] and the infamous spitting incident.

Spitting incident[link]

In March 1991, during an overtime game in New Jersey, a courtside heckler had been yelling racial epithets throughout the game at Barkley.^[24] Upset by the heckler's remarks, Barkley turned to spit at him, but, as he later described, did not "get enough foam", missed and mistakenly spat on a young girl.^[24] Rod Thorn, the NBA's president of operations at the time, suspended Barkley without pay and fined him $10,000 for spitting and using abusive language at the fan.^[25] It became a national story and Barkley was vilified for it.^[24] Barkley, however, eventually developed a friendship with the girl and her family.^[4] He apologized and, among other things, provided tickets to future games.^[26]

Upon retirement, Barkley was later quoted as stating, "I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning."^[27]

Phoenix Suns[link]

The trade to Phoenix in the 1992–93 season went well for both Barkley and the Suns. He averaged 25.6 points on .520 shooting, 12.2 rebounds and a career high 5.1 assists per game,^[3] leading the Suns to an NBA best 62–20 record.^[28] For his efforts, Barkley won the league's Most Valuable Player Award,^[29] and was selected to play in his seventh straight All-Star Game. He became the third player ever to win league MVP honors in the season immediately after being traded, established multiple career highs and led Phoenix to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1976.^[2] Despite Barkley's proclamation to Jordan, that it was "destiny" for the Suns to win the title, they were defeated in six games by the Bulls.^[30] He averaged 26.6 points and 13.6 rebounds per game during the whole postseason,^[14] including 27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game throughout the championship series.^[31] In the fourth game of the Finals, Barkley recorded a triple-double after collecting 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.^[32]

As a result of severe back pains, Barkley began to speculate his last year in Phoenix during the 1993–94 season.^[2] Playing through the worst injury problems of his career, Barkley managed 21.6 points on .495 shooting and 11.2 rebounds per game.^[3] He was selected to his eighth consecutive All-Star Game, but did not play because of a torn right quadriceps tendon,^[2] and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. With Barkley fighting injuries, the Suns still managed a 56–26 record and made it to the Western Conference Semifinals. Despite holding a 2–0 lead in the series,^[33] however, the Suns lost in seven games to the eventual champion Houston Rockets.^[33] Despite his injuries, in Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, Barkley hit 23 of 31 field-goal attempts and finished with 56 points, the then-third-highest total ever in a playoff game.^[2][14] After contemplating retirement in the offseason,^[2] Barkley returned for his eleventh season and continued to battle injuries.^[4] He struggled during the first half of the season,^[2] but managed to gradually improve, earning his ninth consecutive appearance in the All-Star Game. He averaged 23 points on .486 shooting and 11.1 rebounds per game,^[3] while leading the Suns to a 59–23 record.^[34] In the postseason, despite having a 3–1 lead in the series,^[34] the Suns once again lost to the defending champion Rockets in seven games.^[34] Barkley averaged 25.7 points on .500 shooting and 13.4 rebounds per game in the postseason,^[14] but was limited in Game 7 of the semifinals by a leg injury.^[2]

The 1995–96 season was Barkley's last on the Phoenix Suns. He led the team in scoring, rebounds and steals, averaging 23.3 points on .500 shooting, 11.6 rebounds and a career high .777 free throw shooting.^[3] He earned his tenth appearance in an All-Star Game as the top vote-getter among Western Conference players and posted his 18th career triple-double on November 22.^[14] He also became just the tenth player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in their career.^[2][3] In the postseason, Barkley averaged 25.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in a four-game first round playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs.^[14][35] After the Suns closed out the season with a 41–41 record and a first-round playoff loss, Barkley was traded to Houston in exchange for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown.^[36]

During his career with the Suns, Barkley excelled as a player, earning All-NBA and All-Star honors in each of his four seasons. The always outspoken Barkley, however, continued to stir up controversy during the 1993 season, when he claimed that sports figures should not be role models.^[37]

Role model controversy[link]

Throughout his career, Barkley had been arguing that athletes should not be considered role models.^[4] He stated, "A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should they be role models?" In 1993, his argument prompted national news when he wrote the text for his "I am not a role model" Nike commercial. Dan Quayle, the former Vice President of the United States, called it a "family-values message" for Barkley's oft-ignored call for parents and teachers to quit looking to him to "raise your kids" and instead be role models themselves.^[37]

Barkley's message sparked a great public debate about the nature of role models. He argued,

I think the media demands that athletes be role models because there's some jealousy involved. It's as if they say, this is a young black kid playing a game for a living and making all this money, so we're going to make it tough on him. And what they're really doing is telling kids to look up to someone they can't become, because not many people can be like we are. Kids can't be like Michael Jordan.^[36]

Houston Rockets[link]

The trade to the Houston Rockets in the 1996–97 season was Barkley's last chance at capturing an NBA championship title. He joined a veteran team that included two of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. To begin the season, Barkley was suspended for the season opener and fined $5,000 for fighting Charles Oakley during an October 25, 1996 preseason game. After Oakley committed a flagrant foul on Barkley, Barkley responded by shoving Oakley.^[38] In his first game with the Houston Rockets, Charles Barkley had a career-high thirty-three rebounds.^[39] He continued to battle injuries throughout the season and played only 53 games, missing fourteen because of a laceration and bruise on his left pelvis, eleven because of a sprained right ankle and four due to suspensions.^[2] He became the team's second leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points on .484 shooting;^[3] the first time since his rookie year that he averaged below 20 points per game. With Olajuwon taking most of the shots, Barkley focused primarily on rebounding, averaging 13.5 per game, the second best in his career.^[3] The Rockets ended the regular season with a 57–25 record and advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they were defeated in six games by the Utah Jazz.^[2] Barkley averaged 17.9 points and 12.0 rebounds per game in another postseason loss.^[40]

The 1997–98 season was another injury-plagued year for Barkley. He averaged 15.2 points on .485 shooting and 11.7 rebounds per game.^[3] The Rockets ended the season with a 41–41 record and were eliminated in five games by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. Limited by injuries, Barkley played four games and averaged career lows of 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game.^[14] During the league-lockout-shortened season, Barkley played 42 regular-season games and managed 16.1 points on .478 shooting and 12.3 rebounds per game.^[3] He became the second player in NBA history, following Wilt Chamberlain, to accumulate 23,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists in his career.^[2] The Rockets concluded the shortened season with a 31–19 record and advanced to the playoffs.^[41] In his last postseason appearance, Barkley averaged 23.5 points on .529 shooting and 13.8 rebounds per game in a first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.^[14] He concluded his postseason career averaging 23 points on .513 shooting, 12.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 123 games.^[42]

The 1999–2000 season would be Barkley's final year in the NBA. Initially, Barkley averaged 14.5 points on .477 shooting and 10.5 rebounds per game.^[3] Along with Shaquille O'Neal, Barkley was ejected from the November 10, 1999 game against the Los Angeles Lakers. After O'Neal blocked a layup by Barkley, O'Neal shoved Barkley, who then threw the ball at O'Neal.^[43] Barkley's season and career seemingly ended prematurely at the age of 36 after rupturing his left quadriceps tendon on December 8, 1999 in Philadelphia, where his career began.^[44] Refusing to allow his injury to be the last image of his career, Barkley returned after four months for one final game. On April 19, 2000, in a home game against the Vancouver Grizzlies, Barkley scored a memorable basket on an offensive rebound and putback, a common trademark during his career. He accomplished what he set out to do after being activated from the injured list, and walked off the court to a standing ovation.^[45] He stated, "I can't explain what tonight meant. I did it for me. I've won and lost a lot of games, but the last memory I had was being carried off the court. I couldn't get over the mental block of being carried off the court. It was important psychologically to walk off the court on my own."^[45] After the basket, Barkley immediately retired and concluded his sixteen-year NBA Hall of Fame career.

Olympics[link]

Medal record
Member of  United States
men's national basketball team
Olympic Games
Gold	1992 Barcelona	men's basketball
Gold	1996 Atlanta	men's basketball
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold	1992 Portland	men's basketball

Barkley competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States men's basketball team. International rules which had previously prevented NBA players from playing in the Olympics were changed in 1992, allowing Barkley and fellow NBA players to compete in the Olympics for the first time. The result was the legendary Dream Team, which went 6–0 in the Olympic qualifying tournament and 8–0 against Olympic opponents. The team averaged an Olympic record 117.3 points a game and won games by an average of 43.8 points.^[46] Barkley led the team with 18.0 points on 71.1% field goal shooting and set a then-Olympic single game scoring record with 30 points in a 127–83 victory over Brazil.^[46] He also set a U.S. Men's Olympic record for highest three point field goal percentage with 87.5% and added 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game.^[47] Barkley was also part of an ugly moment in the 1992 Olympics when he intentionally elbowed Angola player Herlander Coimbra in the chest during a 116–48 rout of that team.^[48]

At the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, Barkley led the team in scoring, rebounds, and field goal percentage. He averaged 12.4 points on 81.6% field goal shooting, setting a U.S. Men's Olympic record.^[47] In addition, he also contributed 6.6 rebounds per game. Under Barkley's leadership, the team once again compiled a perfect 8–0 record and captured gold medal honors.^[49]

Player profile[link]

Barkley played the power forward position but on some occasions he would play the small forward and center positions. He was known for his unusual build as a basketball player, stockier than most small forwards, yet shorter than most power forwards he faced. However, Barkley was still capable of outplaying both taller and quicker opponents because of his strength and agility.^[2]

Barkley was a prolific scorer who averaged 22.1 points-per-game for his season career and 23.0 points-per-game for his playoff career.^[14] He was one of the NBA's most versatile players and accurate scorers capable of scoring from anywhere on the court and established himself as one of the NBA's premier clutch players.^[2] During his NBA career, Barkley was a constant mismatch because he possessed a set of very uncommon skills and could play in a variety of positions. He would use all facets of his game in a single play; as a scorer, he had the ability to score from the perimeter and the post, using an array of spin moves and fadeaways, or finishing a fast break with a powerful dunk. He was one of the most efficient scorers of all-time, scoring at 54.13% total field goal percentage for his season career and 51.34% total field goal shooting for his playoff career (including a career-high season average of 60% during the 1989–90 NBA season).^[14]

Frequently listed as 6 feet 6 inches, but measuring slightly under 6 feet 5 inches (1.95 mt),^[50][51] Barkley is the shortest player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding when he averaged a career high 14.6 rebounds per game during the 1986–87 season.^[52] His tenacious and aggressive form of play built into an undersized frame that fluctuated between 284 pounds (129 kg) and 252 pounds (114 kg) helped cement his legacy as one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history, averaging 11.7 rebounds per game in the regular season for his career and 12.9 rebounds per game in his playoff career and totaling 12,546 rebounds for his season career.^[14] Barkley topped the NBA in offensive rebounding for three straight years^[4] and was most famous among very few power forwards who could control a defensive rebound, dribble the length of the court and finish at the rim with a powerful dunk.^[52]

Barkley also possessed considerable defensive talents led by an aggressive demeanor, foot speed and his capacity to read the floor to anticipate for steals, a reason why he established his career as the second All-Time leader in steals for the power forward position^[53] and leader of the highest all-time steal per game average for the power forward position.^[53] Despite being undersized for both the small forward and power forward positions, he also finished among the all-time leaders in blocked shots.^[54] His speed and leaping ability made him one of the few power forwards capable of running down court to block a faster player with a chase-down block.^[52]

In a SLAM magazine issue ranking NBA greats, Barkley was ranked among the top 20 players of All-Time. In the magazine, NBA Hall-of-Famer Bill Walton commented on Barkley's ability. Walton stated, "Barkley is like Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] in that they don't really play a position. He plays everything; he plays basketball. There is nobody who does what Barkley does. He's a dominant rebounder, a dominant defensive player, a three-point shooter, a dribbler, a playmaker."^[4]

Legacy[link]

During his 16-year NBA career, Barkley was regarded as one of the most controversial, outspoken and dominating players in the history of basketball. His impact on the sport went beyond his rebounding titles, assists, scoring and physical play.^[26] His larger than life persona and confrontational mannerisms often led to technical fouls and fines and sometimes gave rise to national controversy, such as when he was featured in ads that rejected pro athletes as role models and declared, "I am not a role model."^[55] Although his words often led to controversy, according to Barkley his mouth was never the cause because it always spoke the truth.^[26] He stated, "I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention."^[4]

Besides his on-court fights with other players, he has exhibited confrontational behavior off-court. He was arrested for breaking a man's nose during a fight after a game with the Milwaukee Bucks^[56] and also for throwing a man through a plate-glass window after being struck with a glass of ice.^[57] Notwithstanding these occurrences, Barkley continued to remain popular with the fans and media because of his sense of humor and honesty.

As a player, Barkley was a perennial All-Star who earned league MVP honors in 1993.^[4] He employed a physical style of play that earned him the nicknames "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound".^[58] He was named to the All-NBA team eleven times and earned two gold medals as a member of the United States Olympic Basketball team. He led both teams in scoring and was instrumental in helping the 1992 "Dream Team" and 1996 Men's Basketball team compile a perfect 16–0 record.^[46][49] He retired as one of only four players in NBA history to record at least 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists in their career,^[4] although a fifth player, Kevin Garnett, has since accomplished that feat.

In recognition of his collegiate and NBA achievements, Barkley's number 34 jersey was officially retired by Auburn University on March 3, 2001. In the same month, the Philadelphia 76ers also officially retired Barkley's jersey.^[50] On 20 March 2004, the Phoenix Suns honored Barkley as well by retiring his jersey and including him in the "Suns Ring of Honor".^[59] In recognition of his achievements as a player, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.^[1]

NBA career statistics[link]

Averages[link]

Career highs[link]

NBA records[link]

Regular season[link]

Three-point field goals made, none missed, game: 6—6, Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat, 01989-02-22February 22, 1989

• Broken by Terry Porter on 01992-11-14November 14, 1992

Offensive rebounds, half: 13, Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks, 01987-03-04March 4, 1987

Offensive rebounds, quarter: 11, Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks, 01987-03-04March 4, 1987

• tied with Larry Smith (Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets, 01986-03-23March 23, 1986)

Playoffs[link]

Free throws made, half: 19, Phoenix Suns vs. Seattle SuperSonics, 01993-06-05June 5, 1993

Free throw attempts, 7-game series: 100, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 1986 Eastern Conference Semifinals

Free throw attempts, half: 17, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls, 01990-05-11May 11, 1990

• Broken by Earvin "Magic" Johnson on 01991-05-08May 8, 1991
• Barkley later had a game with 20 free throw attempts in a half, on 01993-06-05June 5, 1993, but it was not a record at the time.

Free throw attempts, quarter: 13, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls, 01990-05-11May 11, 1990

• Broken by Michael Jordan on 01991-05-21May 21, 1991

Defensive rebounds, one postseason: 233, Phoenix Suns, 1993

• Broken by Shaquille O'Neal in 2000

Turnovers, 7-game series: 37, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 1986 Eastern Conference Semifinals

All-Star Game[link]

Defensive rebounds, game: 14 (1991)

• Broken by Dikembe Mutombo in 2001

Ranks 2nd in NBA history[link]

Regular season[link]

Defensive rebounds, quarter: 12, Houston Rockets at Philadelphia 76ers, 01997-01-10January 10, 1997

Turnovers, quarter: 6, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Sacramento Kings, 01988-03-11March 11, 1988

Playoffs[link]

Points, half: 38, first half, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Points, quarter: 27, first quarter, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Field goals made, game: 23, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Field goals made, half: 15, first half, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Field goals made, quarter: 11, first quarter, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Offensive rebounds, 5-game series: 35, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Chicago Bulls, 1990 Eastern Conference Semifinals

Turnovers, 5-game series: 28, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Washington Bullets, 1986 Eastern Conference First Round

All-Star[link]

Offensive rebounds, game: 8 (1991)

Ranks 3rd in NBA history[link]

Regular season[link]

Seasons leading the league in offensive rebounds: 3 (Philadelphia 76ers, 1986–87—1988–89)

• Trailing Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman

Consecutive seasons leading the league in offensive rebounds: 3 (Philadelphia 76ers, 1986–87—1988–89)

• Trailing Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman

Highest average, offensive rebounds per game, career: 4.0 (4,260/1,073)

• Trailing Moses Malone and Dennis Rodman

Steals by a forward, career: 1,648

• Trailing Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone

Playoffs[link]

Points, game: 56, Phoenix Suns at Golden State Warriors, 01994-05-04May 4, 1994

Steals, game: 7, Phoenix Suns vs. San Antonio Spurs, 01993-05-13May 13, 1993

Turnovers, game: 9, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, 01991-04-30April 30, 1991

Ranks 4th in NBA history[link]

Regular season[link]

Defensive rebounds, game: 25, Houston Rockets at Phoenix Suns, 01996-11-02November 2, 1996

Playoffs[link]

Highest average, offensive rebounds per game, career: 4.1 (510/123)

Offensive rebounds, 4-game series: 24, Philadelphia 76ers vs. Washington Bullets, 1985 Eastern Conference First Round

Steals, game: 6, Philadelphia 76ers at Milwaukee Bucks, 01986-04-29April 29, 1986

Barkley's career total (4,260) and career high (16) for offensive rebounds both rank fifth in NBA history
His career high for defensive rebounds (25) also ranks fifth in NBA history

Post-basketball life[link]

Television analyst[link]

Since 2000, Barkley has served as a studio analyst for Turner Network Television (TNT).^[4][60] He appears on the network's NBA coverage during pre-game and halftime shows, in addition to special NBA events. He also appears on an original program for the network entitled Inside the NBA, a post-game show during which Barkley, Ernie Johnson Jr. and Kenny Smith recap and comment on NBA games that have occurred during the day and also on general NBA affairs.^[60] During the broadcast of a game, in which Barkley was courtside with Marv Albert, Barkley poked fun at NBA official Dick Bavetta's age. Albert replied to Barkley, "I believe Dick would beat you in a footrace." In response to that remark, Barkley went on to challenge Bavetta to a race at the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend for $5,000. The winner was to choose a charity to which the money would be donated. The NBA agreed to pitch in an additional $50,000, and TNT threw in $25,000. The pair raced for three and a half lengths of the basketball court until Barkley ultimately won. After the event, the two embraced in a show of good sportsmanship.^[61]

In 2011, Barkley was a studio analyst for the joint coverage of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament between Turner Sports and CBS. He also served as a guest commentator for NBC's coverage of the NFL Wild Card playoffs on January 7, 2012; the same night he hosted Saturday Night Live, which is taped next door to the Football Night in America studio in Manhattan's GE Building.^[62]

Gambling[link]

Barkley is known for his compulsive gambling. In an interview with ESPN's Trey Wingo, Barkley revealed that he lost approximately $10 million through gambling.^[63] In addition, he also admitted to losing $2.5 million, "in a six-hour period", while playing blackjack.^[63] Although Barkley openly admits to his problem, he claims it is not serious since he can afford to support the habit.^[63] When approached by fellow TNT broadcaster Ernie Johnson about the issue, Barkley replied, "It's not a problem. If you're a drug addict or an alcoholic, those are problems. I gamble for too much money. As long as I can continue to do it I don't think it's a problem. Do I think it's a bad habit? Yes, I think it's a bad habit. Am I going to continue to do it? Yes, I'm going to continue to do it."^[64]

Despite suffering big losses, Barkley also claims to have won on several occasions. During a trip to Las Vegas, he claims to have won $700,000 from playing blackjack and betting on the Indianapolis Colts to defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.^[63] He went on to state, however, "No matter how much I win it ain't a lot. It's only a lot when I lose. And you always lose. I think it's fun, I think it's exciting. I'm gonna continue to do it but I have to get to a point where I don't try to break the casino 'cause you never can."^[64]

In May 2008, the Wynn Las Vegas casino filed a civil complaint against Barkley, alleging that he had failed to pay a $400,000 debt stemming from October 2007. Barkley responded by taking blame for letting time lapse on the repayment of the debt and promptly paid the casino.^[65] After repaying his debt, Barkley stated during a pregame show on TNT, "I've got to stop gambling...I am not going to gamble anymore. For right now, the next year or two, I'm not going to gamble... Just because I can afford to lose money doesn't mean I should do it."^[66]

Politics[link]

Barkley spoke for many years of his Republican Party affiliation. In 1995, he considered running as a Republican candidate for Alabama's governorship in the 1998 election.^[67] However, in 2006, he altered his political stance.^[68] At a July 2006 meeting of the Southern Regional Conference of the National School Boards Association in Destin, Florida, Barkley lent credence to the idea of running for Governor of Alabama, stating:

I'm serious. I've got to get people to realize that the government is full of it. Republicans and Democrats want to argue over stuff that's not important, like gay marriage or the war in Iraq or illegal immigration... When I run — if I run — we're going to talk about real issues like improving our schools, cleaning up our neighborhoods of drugs and crime and making Alabama a better place for all people.^[69]

In September 2006, Barkley once again reiterated his desire to run for Governor. He noted, "I can't run until 2014 ... I have to live there for seven years, so I'm looking for a house there as we speak."^[70] In July 2007, he made a video declaring his support for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election.^[71] In September 2007, during a broadcast on Monday Night Football, Barkley announced that he bought a house in Alabama to satisfy residency requirements for a 2014 campaign for governor. In addition, Barkley declared himself an Independent and not a Democrat as previously reported. "The Republicans are full of it," Barkley said, "The Democrats are a little less full of it."^[70]

In February 2008, Barkley announced that he would be running for Governor of Alabama in 2014 as an Independent. On October 27, 2008, he officially announced his candidacy for Governor of Alabama in an interview with CNN, stating that he planned to run in the 2014 election cycle,^[5] but he began to back off the idea in a November 24, 2009 interview on The Jay Leno Show.^[72] In 2010, he confirmed that he was not running in 2014.^[6]

Barkley is an outspoken supporter of gay rights. In 2006, he told Fox Sports: "I'm a big advocate of gay marriage. If they want to get married, God bless them."^[73] Speaking to Wolf Blitzer on CNN two years later, he said: "Every time I hear the word 'conservative,' it makes me sick to my stomach, because they're really just fake Christians, as I call them. That's all they are. ... I think they want to be judge and jury. Like, I'm for gay marriage. It's none of my business if gay people want to get married. I'm pro-choice. And I think these Christians, first of all, they're not supposed to judge other people. But they're the most hypocritical judge of people we have in the country. And it bugs the hell out of me. They act like they're Christians. They're not forgiving at all."^[73] During a 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day double-header on TNT, Barkley responded to a statement by Dr. King's daughter Bernice by saying, "People try to make it about black and white. [But] he talked about equality for every man, every woman. We have a thing going on now, people discriminating against homosexuality in this country. I love the homosexuality people. God bless the gay people. They are great people."^[73]

Books[link]

In 2000, Barkley wrote the foreword for Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly's book The Life of Reilly. In it, Barkley quipped, "Of all the people in sports I'd like to throw through a plate glass window, Reilly's not one of them. It's a shame though, skinny white boys look real aerodynamic."^[74] In 2002, Barkley released the book I May Be Wrong, But I Doubt It, which included editing and commentary by close friend Michael Wilbon.^[75] Three years later, Barkley released Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?, which is a collection of interviews with leading figures in entertainment, business, sports, and government. Michael Wilbon also contributed to this book and was present at many of the interviews.^[75]

DUI conviction[link]

On December 31, 2008, Barkley was pulled over in Scottsdale, Arizona, for initially running a stop sign.^[76] Officers smelled alcohol on Barkley's breath and proceeded to administer field sobriety tests, which he failed. He was arrested on drunk driving charges and had his vehicle impounded. Barkley refused to submit a breath test and was given a blood test.^[77] He was then cited and released.^[76] Gilbert police noted Barkley was cooperative and respectful during the entire incident, adding that he was treated no differently than anyone arrested on DUI charges.^[77] The police report of the incident stated that Barkley told police he was in a hurry to receive oral sex from his female passenger when he ran through a stop sign early Wednesday.^[77] Test results released by police showed that Barkley had a blood-alcohol level at .149, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Arizona.^[78] Two months after his arrest, Barkley pleaded guilty to two DUI-related counts and one count of running a red light. He was sentenced to ten days in jail and fined $2,000.^[79] The sentence was later reduced to three days after Barkley entered an alcohol treatment program.^[80]

As part of the fallout of his arrest, Barkley took a two-month hiatus from his commentating duties for TNT.^[81] During his absence, T-Mobile elected not to air previously scheduled ads that featured Barkley, stating, "Given the recent developments, for the time being, we've replaced TV ads featuring Mr. Barkley with more general-market advertising."^[82] On February 19, 2009, Barkley returned to TNT and spent the first segment of the NBA pregame show discussing the incident and his experiences.^[83] Shortly after his return, T-Mobile once again began airing ads featuring Barkley.

The Haney Project[link]

Barkley is well known for his fondness of golf. However, his swing is often regarded as one of the most bizarre and broken swings in the sport.^[84] Barkley's swing unravels after he brings his club back. He starts to take it forward then jerks to a stop, throwing his body off balance, before wildly striking at the ball.^[85] Once a 10-handicap golfer who could break 80, Barkley can no longer break 100 and finished last at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in July 2008.^[85]

A reality series known as "The Haney Project" premiered on The Golf Channel starring Charles Barkley and Hank Haney, one of the world's top golf instructors.^[86] The show centers on Hank Haney attempting to use his renowned expertise and teaching methods to fix Barkley's swing.^[86] Haney believes he can help Barkley lower his handicap and notes that Barkley's short game is strong and that his putting is even stronger.^[85]

Weight Watchers[link]

In 2011, Barkley became a spokesman for Weight Watchers, promoting their "Lose Like a Man" program.^[87]

Personal life[link]

Barkley married Maureen Blumhardt in 1989. The couple have a daughter together, Christiana, born the same year.^[88]

See also[link]

• List of members of the Basketball Hall of Fame
• List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff rebounding leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff turnovers leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff free throw scoring leaders
• Barkley Shut Up and Jam!
• Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
• Godzilla vs. Charles Barkley
• Space Jam

References[link]