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Forty years ago, the NBA had its greatest draft ever.

The 1984 draft is best-known for the Portland Trail Blazers bypassing North Carolina guard Michael Jordan for Kentucky seven-foot center Sam Bowie with the second overall pick. Jordan developed into a legend with the Chicago Bulls and Bowie became a bust.

Outside of Jordan, Auburn forward Charles Barkley was the second-biggest story in the NBA Draft. Barkley was picked fifth overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite being only 6-foot-6 Barkley was a terrorizing rebounding machine during his entire career. Barkley always played with heart and desire against taller competition.

As a teenager, I went to Auburn-Alabama basketball games with friends and saw Barkley, known affectionately as “the round mound of rebound” in those days. The Crimson Tide and Tigers each had NCAA Tournament teams. Barkley was 1984 SEC player of the year and SEC Tournament MVP. He left Auburn after three years and declared fof the NBA Draft.

To this day, I’m still dumbfounded why Indiana coach Bobby Knight cut Barkley from the 1984 Olympic basketball team that won a gold medal. Knight told the Chicago Tribune in 1984 that Barkley’s defensive shortcomings kept him off the squad. Barkley said Knight wasn’t a fan of his.

“Bobby Knight had a hidden agenda against me,” Barkley told The Basketball Network in 2021. “Because I was the second-best player there, I kinda felt like he didn’t want me there… He didn’t want me on the team. It was a joke.”

Barkley, however, got the last laugh and won a gold medal with the 1992 Olympic team.

A native of Leeds, Barkley eventually became one of the 50 greatest players in NBA History and was named MVP in 1993. 

Barkley later became an award-winning NBA commentator, which current players criticize him for never winning a NBA title. To me, that criticism is unfair. It was hard to win an NBA title in Jordan’s era.

We all know what Jordan did, winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. Jordan remains the greatest player in NBA history, regardless of what anyone says about LeBron James.

Barkley’s impact on basketball was as big as Jordan’s. He will always be remembered.

James Jones is the managing editor of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at james.jones@selmatimesjournal.com.