Pre 10+ godina, kada sam se i ja bavio sportom koliko god sam ozbiljno to mogao, i kada su igrali ljude koje i dan danas smatram sportskim uzorima, vecina mojih vrsnjaka je imala razne vrste memorabilija svojih idola… Ja nisam… Para nije bilo, a kada bi ih i bilo, postojali su prioriteti i ovakve stvari nisu mogle doci na red… Zato danas, kada pogledam fioke i ormare, sem par knjiga i svesaka nemam bas mnogo stvari koje bi me podsecale na taj period… Mozda i najlepsi u mom zivotu, uprkos silnim problemima…
Kako mogu da zapevam onu Bulatovu “Krenulo mi u zivotu, ja sam dete srece, a rekli su da od mene nista biti nece…” doslo je vreme da se prisetim nekih stvari i ljudi… Vremena ocigledno nemam, jer poslednjih post u ovoj kategoriji.. poslednji post koji je uopste i dosao iz moje glave, napisan je mnooogo davno… Ipak… Eto… 2007. se zavrsava, vreme je podvuci crte… Radilo se mnogo, ali to je valjda i ocekivano… Zaradilo se lepo… Ispravljene su neke nepravde i danas zahvaljujuci podnaslovu ovog pasusa ja imam neke stvarcice koje su mi bile uskracene kad je za njih bilo vreme. Prvo je dosao Ericov dres iz 1994-1995, a nedugo zatim i Charlesov iz poslednje godine u Sunsima…

Za neupucene… Charles Barkley je igrao profesionalnu kosarku (NBA) od 1984. do 2000. i to igrajuci za Filadelfiju (era koju su obelezila zivotinjska zakucavanja), Finiks (najbolje partije karijere, rivalitet sa Jordanom, titula MVP uprkos porazu u finalu playoff-a), Hjuston (poslednje cetiri sezone u kojima nas je zabavljao svojim cudima).
Bio je mali, celav, debeo i smesan, ali to uopste nije bilo bitno, pored onakvog srca u grudima. Legenda kaze da su ga u srednjoj skoli zvali Fatsy, da, uprkos neverovatnim brojkama u srednjoskolskim godinama, niko nije hteo da mu da stipendiju, dok u polufinalu drzavnog prvenstva nije razorio jednog od najperspektivnijih igraca lige. Tada je Sonny Smith, u to vreme asistent u Auburn-u svom glavnom treneru rekao “a fat guy… who can play like the wind“, i istorija je pocela da se pise…
I moze sad da se pise u njegovim kosarkaskim majstorijama… ali onda me ne bi okrpila ni slobodna nedelja a kamoli par sati koje sada imam… Ovakvi tekstovi su i do sada bili samo teaseri da pogledate sami ili se prisetite ako ste voleli slicne ljude…

Iako je bio nizak, nije hteo da se pomiri sa tim… Uvek je sebi dodavao 5-6 cm kada je govorio o svojoj visini. Uprkos tome, on je godinama bio jedan od najboljih igraca lige. Jedan od najboljih skakaca… Kako to Bill Walton rece jednom prilikom: Barkley is like Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] in that they don’t really play a position. He plays everything; he plays basketball. There is nobody who does what Barkley does. He’s a dominant rebounder, a dominant defensive player, a three-point shooter, a dribbler, a playmaker. E … to je bio merak gledati… Kako naizgled mali covek zverski uzima skokove, kako neverovatno sutira, asistira… kako igra odbranu koja i najvece igrace razoruzava… I jel to sve? Naravno da nije… Charles je isti ko Chuck (Chuck Norris will not take shit from anyone)… Uostalom, sto kaze Gojko u Munjama… Lepo kaze Charles Barkley - “Sto ulazis u frku kad si slabiji“… Nikada necu zaboraviti on i off court tuce u kojima je ucestvovao… Koliko prokleto lud treba da budes da se pobijes sa Shaq-om?!
Neverovatan igrac, neverovatan covek… Beskompromisan… Nekad nepromisljen ali uglavnom iskren…

Samo nekoliko citata za kraj…

I don’t use numbers, I use logic.
People always ask me if I had any regrets in my career, remember when I threw that guy out the window, I regret I was on the first floor
I voice my opinion, if people don’t like it they know what they can kiss.
I don’t care what people think. People are stupid.
I figure if I kill the first one, word will get out. (on how he plans to handle his daughter being old enough to date)
Do I have a gambling problem? I do have a gambling problem, but it’s not really a problem because I can afford to gamble.
All I know is, as long as I led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, my grades would be fine. (regarding maintaining his GPA while at Auburn)
This is my schedule: I wake up in the morning, decide where to play golf and drink beer all day
Bunch of high school kids with $70 million contracts. Damn! I hate my mother for having me too soon! (on the influx of high-schoolers into the NBA)
I’m still trying to get my grandmother off her old behind and into the Olympics. Why not? She can dust. (on the sport of curling)
I heard Tonya Harding is calling herself the Charles Barkley of figure skating. I was going to sue her for defamation of character, but then I realized I have no character.
These are my new shoes. They’re good shoes. They won’t make you rich like me, they won’t make you rebound like me, they definitely won’t make you handsome like me. They’ll only make you have shoes like me. That’s it.
(Charles in response to Kenny Smith’s jokes about his weight) I am not fat, it’s the camera, it puts on 10 pounds. (Kenny Smith) Well, there must be a whole lot of cameras!