Twenty-two years later, Charles Barkley would like to clear his name of an infraction that even some of his teammates have thought he committed for all these many years. No, he didn't hang out with Michael Jordan too much during the 1993 playoffs, when Barkley's Suns lost to the Bulls in the only NBA Finals appearance of his Hall of Fame career.Asked about it on Thursday, Barkley revealed that the perception of his chummine s with Jordan during
Julius Erving Jersey that series has always been false, rooted in a case of mistaken identity.MORE: | Michael and I laughed about that 10 years, 20 years later, said Barkley, whose final NBA game came 15 years ago Sunday. They say we played golf together everyday, and we never played golf. They said we had dinner together every night, and we never had dinner. So we always found it funny that people said we spent every night together. We never saw each other during the Finals.Recently, I asked former Suns reserve Tim Kempton
Allen Iverson Jersey (now the teams radio broadcaster) about the 1993 NBA Finals, and he said that his recollection had Barkley and Jordan together, a lot. And since Barkley was the teams leader, there was no one in the locker room to tell him he should cool his friendship with Jordan.The relationship with Charles and Michael, we thought it was a little bit covered up, Kempton told Sporting News. The relationship between Charles and Michael and as much time as they spent together at the , playing golf, going out at night it wasnt broadcast much. I dont know if that was because it was Michael and the people covering it at that time did not want to talk about that relationship or what.To this day, really, it has not been talked about as much, what Michael and Chuck were about and their relationship.The problem, Barkley said, was that none of that actually happened.Barkley can remember distinctly, he said, where the rumors about his time spent with Jordan began. He was sitting at home, watching television, when a broadcast from a news helicopter shoed Michael Jordan at a Phoenix-area golf course, playing a round. With him, the broadcast reported, was Barkley. The fact that he was golfing with Jordan, Barkley said, came as a surprise to him as he sat in his living room.I gue s Michael was playing golf somewhere and was playing with somebody who looked similar to me, Barkley said,and a helicopter flew over and said thats Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley playing golf. And to this day, every time I think about it, I just die laughing. They couldnt get too low, but they had Michael Jordan and they said we were playing golf.MORE: | Another teammate from those Suns, big man Mark West, shrugged off the suggestion that Barkleys friendship with Jordan was a problem, especially because it would be difficult to
Joel Embiid Jersey complain about Barkleys play that NBA MVP-winningseason. But he did say that when push came to shove, Barkley might have been a little more reluctant to push and shove Jordan.Charles was the kind of guy he was a people person, West told Sporting News. He was a competitor when he stepped on the floor, at least for us. We won 62 games and couldnt have gotten to the Finals without him. ...I would say, his friendship probably kept him from hitting Michael as much as he might have someone else. Because Charles would knock somebody else on their a s coming to the bucket like that. If he hit Michael, I don
Justin Anderson Jersey t think he hit him as hard as he hit somebody else. But thatswe have to live with that.But Barkley insists that facing a renowned trash-talking friend such as Jordan (though theyve since had a falling out) only made him more competitive.This notion that we were too friendly, I have always laughed because, first of all, it has never been true, Barkley said. Never been true. I just laugh every time I hear that. And anybody who knows Michael Jordan, there is no person you want to beat more than anybody in the world. He is going to let you know about it every day of your life, you are going to hear about it till the day you die. We never hung out at all in the Finals.Yet the perception has been there. If you saw a Phoenix news broadcast showing Barkley and Jordan enjoying a round of golf, you might have spent the last 22 years thinking they spent too much time together in the Finals. Barkley said he is accustomed to such misunderstandings.Man, listen, one thing about me, I made some mistakes and I did some things in my life, but I never did half
Moses Malone Jersey the stuff they said I did, he said. Theres so much stuff out there I always laugh, I never respond to it, I always laugh because I havent done half the stuff they said I did in my life.
Stay cla sy, (some) Raptors fans.In sports, one of the most cla sle s things a fan can do is cheer an opposing player's injury, and that's an unfortunate occurrence that happened during Game 5 of
Rob Ramage Jersey the NBA Finals on Monday night.Early in the second quarter of Game 5, Kevin Durant appeared to that caused him to mi s significant time during the 2019 NBA playoffs.Durant was down for a bit, favoring his lower right
Nathan MacKinnon Jersey leg before being helped off the court and to the locker room by Warriors personnel and teammates.(UPDATE:The Warriors believe Durant's scheduled MRI will confirm a torn right Achilles tendon, according to.)MORE: But as Durant was limping off the court, some cluele s fans decided to cheer and
Joe Sakic Jersey wave away the Warriors' superstar. In a (legitimately) cla sy move, Raptors players urged fans to pipe down.You can see Pascal Siakam, Danny Green, Kyle Lowry and others tell fans to knock it offin the video below.Both Warriors and
Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Raptors players trying to tell the Toronto fans to stop cheering after KD's injury... Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) After initially cheering the injury, those in attendance started chanting for Durant and applauded him as he cro sed the sideline and headed for the locker room.Mi sion accomplished, Raptors players.Come back stronger, KD. theScore (@theScore)
Rene Bourque Jersey Durantmi sed over a month of playoff basketball nursing a calf injury .
Ty Lawson's tenure in Houston is over.TheRocketsreached a buyout settlement with the point guard on Tuesday pending approval from the NBA,league sources .MORE: Houston, $524,000 under the hard salary cap,is expected to use the savings from the buyout to clear salarycap space
Chris Copeland Jersey and potentially sign another guard.The Rockets acquired Lawson from the Nuggets in an offseason trade last year with the expectation that he wouldtake some ofthe ballhandling dutiesfrom leading scorerJames Harden. Instead, Lawson was benched after 11 games and failed to make an impre sion.Lawson
OJ Mayo Jersey was arrested in California in July after he was pulled over for speeding. He later failed a field sobriety test. He received a
Jason Terry Jersey three-game suspension from the NBA for theDUI arrest.The suspension was the second for Lawson, who was also benched for two games without pay in December after he pleaded guilty to another DUI chargestemming from his arrest last January.After finishing third in the NBA in a sists with
Thon Maker Jersey 9.6 per game last season, Lawson has averaged just 3.4 this year, which is his lowest since his rookie season in 2009-10. He has also set career lows in field goal percentage (38.7), points per game (5.8) and offensive rating per 100 po se sions (
Khris Middleton Jersey 98).Lawson, 28, iseligible to play in the postseason, so he could be of interest to a playoff contender.
Bulls guard Derrick Rose is expected to
Jansen Harkins Jersey return in two weeks after he underwent surgery for an orbital fracture on Wednesday.The Bulls confirmed the procedure was a succe s and added the three-time NBA All-Star will be able to resume basketball activities around mid-October.MORE: Rose, 26, suffered a left orbital fracture Tuesday when he
Keith Tkachuk Jersey was struck in the face by an elbow during the team'
Shawn Matthias Jersey s first training camp practice."He's still in great spirits, and again, it's not a structural injury," said Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg."When he comes back ready to go he should be able to go right back into it 100 percent which, if you have something going on with one of your other body parts, it's going
Winnipeg Jets Jersey to be you gradually get back."Fred Hoiberg said today that once Rose starts basketball activities
Bryan Little Jersey again he'll be able to play. So: highly likely he plays opening night. Sean Highkin (@highkin)
The Rockets' support of the Santa Fe High School community reached another level Saturday.The the team
Kobe Bryant Jersey will donate $100,000 to the Houston-area school's Santa Fe Strong Memorial Fund, collected from admi sions to the team's watch party at Toyota Center for Game 6 of the Western Conference finals (10,000 fans paying
Jordan Clarkson Jersey $10 apiece).. watch party sold out. Respect Houston Daryl Morey (@dmorey) A gunman killed
Brandon Ingram Jersey 10 people and wounded 13 others at the school on May 18. The Rockets honored victims, survivors and first responders in prior
Nick Young Jersey to Game 5 of the series.MORE:In addition, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta invited the school's senior cla s and local law enforcement officers to attend the game free.The Rockets organization will have another opportunity to support
Jerry West Jersey Santa Fe on Monday night after the team's Game 6 lo s evened the series 3-3.
In the wake of at the relationship between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, fans have been allowed to have their imaginations run wild with what could have been.In the piece, James says Anthony could have joined him and Dwyane Wade in Miami in place of
Boyd Gordon Jersey Chris Bosh. LeBronalso brought up Chris Paul, who is involved in this "brotherhood" of friends, and said,"I really hope that, before our career is over, we can all play together."PHOTO FLASHBACKS: | A team of James, Anthony, Paul and Wade? That'd sure be
Mark Fayne Jersey nice. Anthony said he's up for the idea, but only
Grant Fuhr Jersey if the weather is "warm."Carmelo says he's all for playing with LeBron, Chris Paul & Wade one say but it would have to be some place "warm." So there's that. Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) Carmelo on playing with LeBron, Dwyane Wade & Chris Paul: "Ill take a pay cut if it happens. I think we all would have to take
Jonas Gustavsson Jersey a pay cut. Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) Does Melo relocate or does the Brotherhood come to NY? Nah. I think by that time you want to go somewhere warm. Thats later...retirement. Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) Hmmm, Miami is pretty warm. In all seriousne s, it seems unlikely that this dream team will ever come together in the
Wayne Gretzky Jersey NBA. It's a cool thing to ponder, though.
Ish Smith Jersey No LeBron James-led team has ever started a season 10-1.His Cavaliers will have a chance to become the first Wednesday after matching thebest 10-game start in franchise history Tuesday with a 121-117 win over the Raptors, a game that lived up to its billing as a slugfest between two of the Eastern Conference's top teams.Cleveland trailed 110-103 with 4:24 to play, but that's around the time Kyrie Irving got hot and scored eight of his 24 points in a two-minute flurry to help the Cavs pull away.PREDICTIONS: James did his part, finishing a rebound shy of a triple
Terry Mills Jersey -double (28-14-9). He and Irving combined for 13 of Cleveland's final 18 points down the stretch.Channing Frye chipped in 21 points off the bench, and double-doubles by Kevin Love and (19 points, 13 rebounds) andTristan Thompson (15 points, 11 rebounds) overmatched the Raptors. Two of Toronto's three lo ses this season have come at the hands of its Eastern Conference finals conqueror from a year ago.MORE: Cleveland is clicking, showing no signs of a championship hangover. Through all the super teams in which James has taken part, it's hard to fathom this might be his best yet.Stud of the NightIt has been an all-around forgettable start to
Caron Butler Jersey the season for the Heat (2-8), who seem to mi s DwyaneWade and Chris Bosh more than anticipated, but Ha san Whiteside has been a bright spot. The 7-footer collected a whopping 25 rebounds and tied for the team lead with 19 points in a 93-90 lo s to the Hawks. Hehas a double-double in all but one game this season, with averages of18.2points and 15.9 rebounds.MORE: Duds of the NightDamian Lillard and C.J. McCollum can
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Jersey 't do it all for the Trail Blazers, but the duo combined for 14-for-39 shooting in a 113-88 drubbing by the Bulls on their home court. Then again, Allen Crabbe was the only one of their teammates to reach double figures in the lo s.Highlight of the NightSomething about the Nets puts D'Angelo Ru sell in a shooting mood. The young Lakersguard put on a 3-point clinic in a 125-118 victory, hitting 7 of 11 from beyond the arc for a team-high 32 points. Ru sell sunk a career-high eight treys March 1 against the Nets; he hadn't made more than four in a game since then.Take another look at connecting from deep 5 times in the first half Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) MORE: Looking aheadWarriors (8-2) at Raptors (7-3), 8 p.m. ET (ESPN) The Raptors find themselves in the unenviable position of drawing both of last year's NBA finalists
Allen Iverson Jersey on back-to-back nights. Coming off a hard-fought lo s to Cleveland, how much will Toronto have left forStephen Curry and Co. at home?
The Knicks have their eye
Jason Zucker Jersey on a backup for Mitchell Robinson.According to , New York has targeted former Bulls center Robin Lopez in free agency.The 31-year-old big man averaged 9.5 points and 3.9 rebounds for the Bulls last season.New York has its eyes set high in free agency as it is targeting big names
Chris Stewart Jersey such as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving.It has meetings set up already with Durant and Leonard who reportedly want to team up and play together.As for Irving
Matt Dumba Jersey , it appears the former Celtics guard has his eyes set on playing for the Nets next season.However,
Ryan Suter Jersey heis also being pursued by the Lakers.Free agency kicks off at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.Several players are likely to sign at that exact moment, but the big names such as Durant and Leonard could wait a little while before making
Charlie Coyle Jersey a decision. Related Articles
When the NCAA starts to look player-friendly
Brent Burns Jersey by comparison, you need to reconsider your position.The ma sively important rule changes approved Wednesday by college basketballs governing bodies rolled the ball back into the NBAs court. The draft eligibility rules no longer help players. That argument is out the window, where the age limit belongs.MORE: | NBA commi sioner Adam Silver wants to move the limit up, to effectively block teenagers from the NBA. The age limit protects players and teams, and hes right about half of that. Front offices have more opportunity to scout players now, and moving the age limit up to 20 would allow for another very important year.But the NCAA rule changes are an important moment in the push for player rights, and the NBA should not lag behind. College athletes now can go through the scouting combine and workouts before deciding whether they want to return to school. They can do that as many times as they want. They can get feedback from scouts and from the NBA itself.They can make the right decision for them and thats the key point. Finances are only the most obvious reason to declare for the NBA Draft. Some players simply dislike college the atmosphere, the schoolwork, the location while others struggle with academics. The system allbutforces elite high school stars to spend a year in school, even when it does little good. The ma sive majority of preps-to-pros first-rounders were succe sful in the NBA, and those who dropped out of the first round were not afforded the opportunity to reconsider after entering.This new system ends that. What we will see is players with greater understanding of what they need
David Schlemko Jersey to work on and when the NBA wants them. For the top tier, that means right away.MORE: LeBron James was significantly better in his second NBA season. That doesnt mean he wasnt ready right away. Same for Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, all of whom were solid contributors as rookies out of high school before turning into superstars. Even players such as Jermaine ONeal, Tracy McGrady and Andrew Bynum, who took several years to develop into All-Stars, were allowed to make millions of dollars and learn from NBA coaches and teammates in positive environments.Take away the NBAs age limit, and those clear-cut first-round talents would be learning in
San Jose Sharks Jersey the NBA again. Out would be players such as Rashard Lewis, C.J. Miles and Amir Johnson, who slipped to the second round on draft day and toiled before becoming good NBA players. Those players would be warned of their stock and have the chance to reconsider, and its easy to imagine a year or three in college helping their stock and their NBA readine s.These NCAA rules come as the NBA continues to take steps toward a 30-team Development League. That will prove to be e sential in the long term, regardle s of eligibility. But what the D-League expansion and single-team affiliations will help most with is teaching young players. ONeal, who was drafted 17th overall in 1996, spent four years barely playing for the Trail Blazers. In todays system, he could be sent to the D-League to gain on-court reps while still spending time with the top team to learn the ins and outs of NBA life.NBA DRAFT: | | Thirty players have been drafted in the first round directly out of high school. Five became future Hall of Famers and four others became All-Stars. Twelve never made All-Star teams but became valuable rotation players, ranging from near-All-Stars such as Al Jefferson and Josh Smith to solid bench contributors such as Travis Outlaw and Shaun Livingston. Even among busts, only Robert Swift and Ndudi Ebi failed to get second NBA contracts.Whats more, even Swift and Ebi got paid millions. Thats likely more than they would have earned had they pa sed up the chance to be first-round picks. College basketball and
Tomas Hertl Jersey the NBA can coexist, even though many argue (probably correctly) that the NBA is a better environment for players to learn the game. The key, though, isnt keeping the next Darius Miles out of the NBA for a year. Its ensuring players understand when they should and shouldnt be making the leap.Players such as Korleone Young, who entered the draft as a 19-year-old high-schooler, deserve the opportunity to hear out that they arent first-round material and should head to college. Players such as Kevin Durant shouldnt have to waste their time on campus if they dont want to.The NBA has become a better place for young players over the years. Teams are more patient. Executives and scouts are smarter. They dont need the protective quilt of the age limit. Neither do the top prospects. They need honest a se sments, the kind they readily can get after the scouting combine and workouts and interviews. They
Martin Jones Jersey also need the opportunity to make their own decisions, to be adults and use their immense talents.The NCAA recognized that. The NBA should follow.
For the Lakers who , as , there is one inescapable fact: with almost no exceptions, Ru sell will be
Troy Tulowitzki Jersey a Laker for much longer than anyone else on the roster. Everyone likes a principled stand, but everyone likes No. 2 draft picks more.However you judge the actions of Ru sell, who teammate Nick Young discu sing dalliances with other women in a hotel-room gab se sion, the result is going to be the same. , and as a result, teammates have taken to giving Ru sell a collective cold shoulder. Maybe Ru sell broke some unspoken guy rule, maybe he is a no-conscience fink, maybe he is a young guy playing a prank that got out of hand.MORE: | "Nothing to talk about," Ru sell said () as he leftthe Lakers' practice facility without doing interviews. (UPDATE: He and Young beforeWednesday night's game.)And there may not be.Hes the franchise cornerstone, and the franchise is going to stick with him. There has been much hand-wringing over what Ru sells boneheadedne s might do to the Lakers locker room, but the Lakers dont have much locker room camaraderie as it is. Theyre 15-59, and they have (at most) only six players, other than Ru sell, under contract next season. Does anyone think Ru sells stunt will have any impact on the fabric of this team, which has pretty much been unraveled from the outset of the season?Certainly, . A repeat offense would be bad. But this scans as the error in judgment that one unnamed team source described to ESPN asa "
Jaime Garcia Jersey prank gone wrong."Young has been terrible this year, shooting 33.9 percent from the field and averaging a career-low 7.3 points. There was a chance, even without the Ru sell incident, he was going to be waived this summer, the Lakers eating the remaining $11 million on his ill-advised contract. He has the biggest beef against Ru sell, of course, but there could very well only be nine games left in the Ru sell-Young tandem, anyway.MORE: Forward Brandon Ba s has a player option worth $3.1 million, and could very well opt out and become a free agent this summer. That would leave Lou Williams as the only veteran on the roster.The other Lakers second-year playersJulius Randle and Jordan Clarkson (who likely will re-sign) and fellow rookiesLarry Nance Jr. andAnthony Brown have a distinct interest in letting the Young-Ru sell kerfuffle pa s. For one thing, if the Lakers are to pull themselves out of the last five years doldrums, guys like Ru sell, Randle and Clarkson figure to be a part of it. Also, its never wise for teammates to
Toronto Blue Jays Jersey hold grudges against their point guards. Hes the one deciding who gets the ball, after all. The only thing Im disappointed about is it got out,Lakers coach ByronScott said (), despite his frequent criticisms of Ru sell. Were a family and we try to keep everything in house. Thats the only thing Im disappointed.Ru sell might have seen his reputation take a hit in the past week with the news of the leaking of his Young video. But unle s he is a serial videographer, this
Devon Travis Jersey is not something that will stick with him. The bulk of the current Lakers roster will be gone by Summer League, and its probable the team will have a new coach then. On a different team, one that was just building up into a winner and featured a slew of long-term pieces, this might be an i sue going forward. Not with this team, though.Like Forrest Gump on the first day of school, D'Angelo Ru sell #1 is having a hard time fitting in with his teammates these days. MORE: LA Lakers guard Nick Young's infidelity is exposed. http://bit.ly/1M1kLH9Posted by on Wednesday, March 30, 2016MORE: Its not going to be a deterrent for potential free-agents looking to sign with the Lakers, either. One prominent agent was asked about players now
Kevin Pillar Jersey being scared off from playing with Ru sell. He laughed. No, he said. The Lakers have money and theyre in LA. Thats what players are interested in most.His fellow Lakers, then, can continue to shun Ru sell as much as they like. Its not hard to imagine how bad the guy feels about the entire situation, and maybe his teammates are justified in spending the seasons final three weeks hammering home his regrets.But it just doesnt matter. Ru sell is not going anywhere. His teammates might not like him, but he is going to get a whole new cropby next year, anyway.
