During the 1980s and 1990s, Charles Barkley was one of the most dominant players in the NBA. He began his professional career with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he played for nearly a decade before moving on to the Phoenix Suns. However, his story could have taken a very different turn, as he revealed that he came very close to joining the Los Angeles Lakers.
“I got traded to the Lakers — true story,” Barkley shared during a conversation with Ernie Johnson on The Steam Room podcast. “I get a call one morning from my agent, ‘Hey, the Sixers finally pulled the trigger — you got traded to the Lakers.’ And I’m like, ‘(Expletive), thank you. About time. I can’t wait.’”
Barkley then explained what he did after receiving the news that he was going to Los Angeles. “So, I get my friends together, we go to Fridays on City Line Avenue, and we get blasted. We get blasted, Ernie,” the former power forward recounted. But something unexpected happened: “He (the agent) says, ‘Let’s meet at 12.’ I’m out of hell. I’m out of purgatory. Around 3:00, my agent calls me again—‘The Sixers pulled out of the deal.’”
The disappointment didn’t sit well with Barkley. “We got a game that night. I don’t remember the game. I could fake it and come up with some numbers. I run home, take a quick power nap, and I don’t even know what happened in the game. I was so mad,” he admitted. “But that’s the weirdest trade situation I’ve ever been involved in.”
Charles Barkley playing with the Philadelphia 76ers against the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1988-89 NBA season.
Some don’t believe Barkley’s story
The clip from The Steam Room podcast in which Barkley shares this anecdote was later replayed on Inside the NBA, where Charles is an analyst alongside other league icons such as Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
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After hearing the story, both O’Neal and Smith expressed doubts about the veracity of Barkley’s alleged trade to the Lakers. “We don’t believe him,” Kenny said, while Shaquille O’Neal, with a grimace on his face, assured: “Black people know what that face means.”
Smith repeated his skepticism, this time looking directly at Barkley and joking: “We don’t believe you.” But Barkley, undaunted, held his ground. “100%,” he responded. “I got no reason to lie. I told that story before.”
Barkley’s career could have been very different
Charles Barkley played with the Philadelphia 76ers from 1984 to 1992, so this story must have occurred during that time. Considering that the Showtime Lakers, with their legendary lineup of Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, lasted until the end of the 1980s, it’s unlikely this trade talk happened during that era.
It’s more plausible that the Lakers sought Barkley during their rebuild in the early 1990s, shortly before the forward left the Philadelphia 76ers to join the Phoenix Suns in 1992. While Chuck would go on to shine with the Suns, winning NBA MVP honors in 1993, it’s impossible not to wonder how things might have unfolded if he had joined the Lakers instead.
