latest update: dec 09 1999
Barkley's
Career Over
PHILADELPHIA -- Charles Barkley's career ended right
where it started, only not the way he wanted.
Playing in the city where his remarkable career began,
Barkley ruptured a tendon in his left knee Wednesday night
and said his 16-year career is over.
"I guess the big fella in the sky
wanted me to finish right where I
started," said Barkley, the Houston
Rockets forward who has already
announced that he is retiring after
this season. "There were a lot of
people here tonight who saw me
play my first game and saw me play
my last game."
Barkley broke down crying in the
locker room after going down in the
first quarter of what was to be his
final regular-season game in
Philadelphia. Barkley called his wife
and told her his career was over.
"I do think it was supposed to happen like this," Barkley
said. "It was supposed to end in Philadelphia."
Barkley was going up to block a shot by Tyrone Hill when
he lost his balance and hit the floor hard with 4:09 left in the
first. The tendon that attaches his thigh to his kneecap
ruptured. The injury, rare in basketball, requires surgery and
at least six months of rehabilitation.
Sixers team doctor Jack McPhilemy said it would be
career-threatening even for a young player. Barkley will be
37 in February.
"I knew it was over as soon as I saw it," Barkley said. "I
knew it was over when it first happened. I saw the way the
kneecap was buzzing through my leg and I said, 'Well, it's
been fun.' "
The Sixers honored Barkley before the game and flew his
mother, Charcey Glenn, and grandmother, Johnnie Mickens,
to the game. Glenn was in tears as Barkley talked about the
injury and his career at a news conference that capped a
tumultuous, outrageous, accomplished basketball career.
"God doesn't make mistakes," Mickens said. "He ended it
right where it started."
The crowd, which gave Barkley six standing ovations,
reacted with loud "Ohhhs" when Barkley's injury was
announced. They gave him a standing ovation when he
limped to the bench on crutches with 1:34 left in the second
quarter, and again when the game was over.
Sixers coach Larry Brown and assistant Maurice Cheeks --
Barkley's former teammate -- were among those who hugged
Barkley after the game. Barkley stayed around for a few
minutes and signed autographs before going to the locker
room for the last time.
"I knew the way my knee was that there was something
dead serious wrong with it and I wasn't going to play again,"
Barkley said.
let's go to the MAIN page:
