Best Known As: Sports Figure

Gist:  Charles "Chuck" Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" for his aggressive and outspoken demeanor, and "The Round Mound of Rebound", for his unusual build and talent as a player, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to both the All-NBA First Team and All-NBA Second Team five times and once named 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.

Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for each of his last 13 seasons in the league. 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 one of only four players in NBA history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

Since retiring as a player, Barkley has had a successful career as an Emmy Award-winning color commentator on basketball. He works with Turner Network Television (TNT) as a studio pundit for its coverage of NBA games.

Life Facts:  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. 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". Barkley was soon recruited by Smith and majored in business management while attending Auburn University.

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On December 31, 2008, Barkley was pulled over in Scottsdale, Arizona, for initially running a stop sign. 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. Test results released by police showed that Barkley had a blood-alcohol level at .149, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Arizona. 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. The sentence was later reduced to three days after Barkley entered an alcohol treatment program.

As part of the fallout of his arrest, Barkley took a two-month hiatus from his commentating duties for TNT. 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." On February 19, 2009, Barkley returned to TNT and spent the first segment of the NBA pregame show discussing the incident and his experiences. Shortly after his return, T-Mobile once again began airing ads featuring Barkley.

Career Facts:  Throughout his career, Barkley had been arguing that athletes should not be considered role models. 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.

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.

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. Although his words often led to controversy, according to Barkley his mouth was never the cause because it always spoke the truth. He stated, "I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention."

Barkley was frequently fined for on-court fights with NBA players, such as Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Laimbeer, and Charles Oakley, among others. He was also equally confrontational off the court. He was arrested for breaking a man's nose during a fight after a game with the Milwaukee Bucks and also for throwing a man through a plate-glass window after being struck with a glass of ice. 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. 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. 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.

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. In recognition of his achievements as a player, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.