Barkley
A Biography
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
*A Good Morning America Buzz Book*
*A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2022*
The definitive biography of Charles Barkley, exploring his early childhood, his storied NBA career, and his enduring legacy as a provocative voice in American pop culture
He’s one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large.
Yet few people know the real Charles. Raised by his mother and grandmother in Leeds, Alabama, he struggled in his early years to fit in until he found a sense of community and purpose in basketball. In the NBA he went toe-to-toe with the biggest legends in the game, from Magic to Michael to Hakeem to Shaq. But in the years since, he has become a bold agitator for social change, unafraid to grapple, often brashly, with even the thorniest of cultural issues facing our nation today.
Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella’s Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked-about icons in the world of sports.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bella, a Washington Post staff writer and editor, debuts with an brawny look at basketball star Charles Barkley, who "helped change not just how fans watched the game but also how they talked about it." Barkley was raised by his mother and grandmother in 1960s Leeds, Ala., and as a student athlete at Auburn University, he elevated the basketball team to national prominence. In 1984, he was drafted by the Sixers and earned the moniker "Sir Charles," upstaging veteran teammates like Julius "Dr. J" Erving. In 1992, he was traded to the Suns and in his first season there, led the team to the 1993 NBA Finals. Though the Suns lost to the Chicago Bulls in an explosive six-game series, Barkley met his match in Michael Jordan, who became a rival and friend. In 1996, the Suns traded Barkley to the Rockets, where the All-Star forward's dreams of winning an NBA championship were dashed. Barkley's flamboyant personality attracted fans, but at the same time, his anger issues sometimes led to altercations with opponents and spectators. Though Bella didn't interview Barkley, he judiciously assembles a wealth of material, including 372 interviews with Barkley's childhood friends, coaches, teammates, and even cops who've arrested him. This is a must-read for basketball devotees, but even casual sports fans will be fascinated.
