Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT and CBS Sports.

Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

[3][a] Barkley is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, inducted in 2006 for his individual career and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 Olympic "Dream Team".

[7] He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, such as in March 1991 when he spat on a young girl while attempting to spit at a heckler,[8] and 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models.

It was not uncommon to see the hefty Barkley grab a defensive rebound and, instead of passing, dribble the entire length of the court and finish at the opposite end with a two-handed dunk.

[17] In 1984, he led the Tigers to their first NCAA tournament in school history and finished with 23 points on 80% field goal shooting, 17 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.

He joined a veteran team that included Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Maurice Cheeks, players who had taken Philadelphia to the 1983 NBA championship.

[7] Barkley was presented with Most Valuable Player honors at the All-Star Game and, at the end of the season, named to the All-NBA First Team for the fourth straight year.

"[35] In the playoffs, Philadelphia lost again to Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, with Barkley contributing 24.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

He ended his 76ers career ranked fourth in team history in total points (14,184), third in scoring average (23.3 ppg), third in rebounds (7,079), eighth in assists (2,276) and second in field-goal percentage (.576).

[10] During Barkley's eight seasons in Philadelphia, he became a household name and was one of the few NBA players to have an action figure produced by Kenner's Starting Lineup toy line.

His outspoken and aggressive play, however, resulted in some on-court incidents, notoriously a fight with Detroit Pistons center Bill Laimbeer in 1990, which drew a record total $162,500 fine.

[41][42] Rod Thorn, the NBA's president of operations at the time, suspended Barkley, without pay, for one game and fined him $10,000 for spitting and for verbally abusing the fan.

He became the third player ever to win league MVP honors in the season immediately after being traded, established multiple career highs and led Phoenix to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1976.

[3] He earned his tenth appearance in an All-Star Game as the top vote-getter among Western Conference players and posted his 18th career triple-double on November 22.

[29][54] After the Suns closed out the season with a 41–41 record and a first-round playoff loss, Barkley was traded to Houston in exchange for Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Mark Bryant, and Chucky Brown.

[59] He continued to battle injuries throughout the season and played only 53 games, missing 14 because of a laceration and bruise on his left pelvis, 11 because of a sprained right ankle, and four due to suspensions.

[61] In his last postseason appearance, Barkley averaged 23.5 points on .529 shooting and 13.8 rebounds per game in a first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

On April 19, 2000, in a home game against the Vancouver Grizzlies, Barkley scored a memorable basket on an offensive rebound and putback, a common trademark during his career.

He would use all facets of his game in a single play; as a scorer, he had the ability to score from the perimeter and the post, using an array of spin moves and fadeaways, or finishing a fast break with a powerful dunk.

During a trip to Las Vegas, he claims to have won $700,000 from playing blackjack and betting on the Indianapolis Colts to defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

"[112] In May 2008, the Wynn Las Vegas casino filed a civil complaint against Barkley, alleging that he failed to pay a $400,000 debt stemming from October 2007.

"[119] At a July 2006 meeting of the Southern Regional Conference of the National School Boards Association in Destin, Florida, Barkley lent credence to the idea of running for Governor of Alabama, stating: I'm serious.

[122] In September 2007, during a broadcast on Monday Night Football, Barkley announced that he bought a house in Alabama to satisfy residency requirements for a 2014 campaign for governor.

[137] In December 2017, Barkley mocked President Trump's tax bill, stating "Thank you Republicans, I knew I could always count on y'all to take care of us rich people, us one percenters.

"[138] In his response to the controversy generated by the removal of Confederate monuments as highlighted by the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Barkley stated: I've never thought about those statues a day in my life.

"[143] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Barkley said that "You'd have to be a fool to think your kids will be safe in school right now", but argued that keeping children at home would widen the gap between the rich and the poor.

[143] In an interview with Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson on the Scoop B Radio podcast, Barkley said if he ruled the world for one day, he would get rid of both Republicans and Democrats because "They're both awful", adding: "They fight all of the time like little kids.

[147] Three years later, Barkley released Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?, which is a collection of interviews with leading figures in entertainment, business, sports, and government.

In 2019, he appeared in "The Piña Colada Song" episode of The Goldbergs as a gym teacher and alien conspiracy theorist briefly trained as a prospective replacement for the departing Coach Mellor.