Suns Basketball » Charles Barkley

Suns-Bulls 1993 NBA Finals Game 6 live blog

Michael Schwartz — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:36:02 +0000

Observations Paxson drilled a jumper to beat the first quarter buzzer as well. The Suns did not score in the final 2:23 and they had so, so, sooooo many chances to do so. Barkley missed a shot at...

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Charles Barkley reflects on a list he wants no part of

Michael Schwartz — Sun, 29 May 2011 04:31:26 +0000

Every time Charles Barkley turns on a championship matchup — be it the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Finals — he knows it’s coming. He calls it “the s— list,”...

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Assessing the NBA’s gay future

Tyler Lockman — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:30:05 +0000

For those not interested in thinking about the growing relationship between sports and social issues, this is your warning to stop reading. Whether you like it or not, as a basketball fan, there are...

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Arizona Wildcats basketball elite again after six-year fall

Michael Schwartz — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 21:35:47 +0000

PHOENIX — Six years ago today Arizona suffered its worst collapse in program history in a game wildely known as one of the best of the last decade, blowing a 15-point lead with four minutes...

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Charles Barkley: I Did Not Give Cam Newton Lakers-Suns Tickets

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 06:48:25 +0000

by Milton Kent

Filed under: Lakers, Suns, NBA Media Watch

Sometimes you get the feeling that if Charles Barkley didn't exist, someone would have to invent him.

Barkley, the irrepressible Hall of Famer and NBA television analyst, denied Thursday night a Twitter posting from a Birmingham, Ala., media personality that he had given tickets to Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton for Wednesday's Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Lakers game in Phoenix.

Newton attended the game along with other members of the Auburn team as well as players from Oregon, their opponent in Monday's BCS title game in nearby Glendale, Ariz.

Jim Dunaway, who appears on Birmingham television and radio, sent a Tweet that read, "Hanging at Lakers-Suns ... Pugh and most Auburn players in upper deck ... Cam in lower bowl. Thanks Barkley for the tix."

Dunaway claimed in a subsequent tweet that he was thanking the former Suns forward who lives in Phoenix for his tickets, not claiming that Barkley had given them to Newton. However, his posting made the rounds on the Internet, and Barkley took to the airwaves at halftime of the Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma City Thunder game to issue his denial.

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Artest to Play Game 6 Despite Amnesia

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Sun, 30 May 2010 02:02:18 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Lakers, Suns, NBA Playoffs

PHOENIX -- Lakers forward Ron Artest will play in Saturday night's Game 6 against Phoenix despite a case of amnesia.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Artest, a day after hitting the game-winning putback shot at the buzzer in Thursday's 103-101 Game 5 Western Conference finals win over the Suns, was 30 minutes late for practice Friday morning and was fined an undisclosed amount. Jackson's revelation came after Artest already had left the Lakers practice facility Friday.

Asked by FanHouse before Saturday's game against the Suns if he was late for practice, Artest said, "I don't remember."

Asked if he was fined by the Lakers, Artest said, "I'm not sure."

Pressed on the subject, Artest, whose layup after a Kobe Bryant airball gave the Lakers a 3-2 series lead, said, "I'm just worried about Game 6 right now."

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Steve Nash Makes His Finals Push

Fanhouse NBA Blog - suns — Mon, 17 May 2010 22:15:52 +0000

by Chris Tomasson

Filed under: Lakers, Suns, NBA Awards, NBA Playoffs

LOS ANGELES -- Is it not the ultimate in irony?

This side of Bill Russell and Magic Johnson, there might historically not be another NBA Most Valuable Player who epitomizes team play more than Steve Nash. But while Russell, with 11, and Johnson, with five, have rings strewn all over their homes, Nash has none.

In fact, the Phoenix point guard, who won MVPs in 2004-05 and 2005-06, never even has been to the NBA Finals. Of the 28 men who have won MVP awards, Nash is the only one in that category.

Five other MVP winners -- Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Allen Iverson, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James -- have no championships on their resume. But all at least went to one Finals.

But not Nash, who has come up empty in three previous trips to the conference finals. But, at 36, Nash at least has one more chance to get there. His Suns open play Monday night at the Staples Center in Game 1 of the West final against the Lakers.

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Amare and Spade: Episode 4

Michael Schwartz — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:20:55 +0000

Amare Stoudemire’s All-Star self-promotion campaign finished up today with his fourth and final video, “Baby Powder.” You all know by now that Amare leads Andrew Bynum by about a...

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Play Like A ButterFly, Get Stung By A Hornet

Adam Brennan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:56:01 +0000

With the revitalized way the Phoenix Suns have been playing this season, a match-up with a Hornets team without Chris Paul seemed like a sure victory. However, the Suns decided to leave their intensity at home and were defeated 110-103. This is relatively disheartening considering the fact the Phoenix Suns blew out the New Orleans Hornets just over a week ago by 20 points with a healthy Chris Paul.

What was the difference in this game? The thing most Suns fans were skeptical about coming into this season; the ability and willingness to rebound the basketball. The Suns were pounded on the glass, giving up 25 offensive rebounds amounting to 38 second chance points for the Hornets. Overall, the disparity of total rebounds was 56-38 in the favor of the Hornets. Amar’e Stoudemire following two consecutive solid games offensively and defensively, completely regressed only mustering 5 rebounds in 43 minutes. For a player who is expecting to receive a maximum contract this upcoming off-season, this is completely and utterly atrocious. I am thoroughly convinced that it is a mental and not a physical issue when Amar’e has these “off-games” rebounding. It is almost as if that he decides before games that he doesn’t feel like banging with the big men in the interior on that night and the result is typically a loss for the Suns. The Suns have actually out-rebounded opponents this season by a narrow margin this season (42.9-42.5) and this will continue to be a primary factor in their success as the season progresses. Plain and simple, if the Suns don’t play tough and rebound they lose.

Cursed On TNT?

A friend of mine pointed out last night that including last night’s game the Phoenix Suns are 0-12 on TNT televised games. Can this be called the curse of Charles Barkley? This is actually somewhat a cause for concern as the playoffs are televised on TNT. The Suns will have 2 more opportunities to break this trend this season, the first on Dec 17th: Phoenix Suns @ Portland Trail Blazers (10:30pm) and the second on January 18th: Phoenix Suns @ Memphis Grizzlies (5:30pm)

The Suns look to get back on track on Sunday versus a beleaguered Detroit Pistons team. The Pistons are only averaging 92.23 ppg despite off-season addition of Ben Gordon a (18.5 ppg career average) and Charlie Villanueva (13.5 ppg career average). The Suns have been giving up 106.6 ppg this season which is 5th worst in the NBA, however they still lead the league in scoring by a slight margin over the Golden State Warriors with 109.8 ppg.

94 Feet and Rising: Playing With Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley

Matt Watson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Filed under: 76ers, Lakers, Suns

Greg Grant was a short player who overcame long odds: standing just 5-foot-7 and playing college ball in Division III, he was drafted in the second round by the Phoenix Suns in 1989, lasting seven years in the NBA.

Earlier today, FanHouse featured the first chapter of Greg's autobiography, 94 Feet and Rising, written with the help of Martin Sumners and released in July. In the following excerpts, Greg recalls what it was like to play against Magic Johnson and share a locker room with Charles Barkley, two of the brightest stars the NBA has ever seen.

*****

1989 - Phoenix Suns

[One] of the funniest things to happen on the court occurred the next time we played the Lakers and Magic [Johnson]. In early December, we played them at the Forum, and I got my Magic moment. As a backup, I was usually matched up with the other team's backup point guard, which at the time for the Lakers was Larry Drew. But sometimes the rotations of benches don't match up precisely or due to quick foul trouble on one of the starters, the backup could be matched up with the number one guy.

Somehow this happened, and I ended up guarding Magic. I was all up under the greatest point guard ever as he was over a foot taller than me. But I used that to my advantage and stripped him from underneath. Magic went ballistic at the ref, screaming that I fouled him. We converted on the other end for a basket, and a time out was called. As we crossed paths going back to our respective benches, Magic leaned over and said, "Good play Greg."

This was one of the best players in the world acknowledging me out on the court. But that's what makes a player who is very good rise to greatness. Magic knew everybody on the opposing team and how they played, all the way down to the twelfth man.

*****

1992-94 - Philadelphia 76ers

One time before a Bulls game, Coach Jim Lynam was doing a pregame chalk talk in the locker room while Charles [Barkley] was taking a dump in the nearby bathroom stall.

Jimmy starts yelling instructions to Charles saying, "Chuck you got Horace [Grant]."

Charles yells back, "Alright."

Manute [Bol] was a playful guy, but he took his basketball seriously and would often try to unite the team. So he spoke up about Charles getting special treatment.

He said in his thick Sudanese accent, "Jimmy, I think that's messed up that he take a sheeeet while we sit here."

Jimmy response was to try to let it slide and say, "Aw Manute, come on."

Manute was still upset and said, "No way. That's bullsheeeet. He does this all the time. He takes a sheeeet and we have to listen to him in there. How we going to win a game when out best player takes a sheeeet every game."

Then we all hear the toilet flush and the water running. Charles comes out and walks over to the board and erases everything. While he's doing that he's saying, "Forget all that stuff, Jimmy. Just give me the ball."

Jimmy just said, "That's right Chuck; none of that matters. Just go play hard."

We couldn't believe it. But you know what, we actually won that game. We beat the defending champs, which was one of the just the thirty-five we won that season.

*****

94 Feet and Rising was released on July 17, 2009 and is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

94 Feet and Rising: Playing With Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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