Charles Barkley says he ‘wouldn’t have counted’ a title with Rockets

“I wouldn’t even have counted that as a championship,” Barkley says now about his time in Houston alongside other star players.

Former Houston Rockets forward Charles Barkley has made it clear over the years that he’s not a fan of so-called “super teams” in the NBA, and he applies that logic to his own career history, too.

Barkley helped facilitate his trade to Houston in August 1996, which led to him teaming up with Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler for two seasons. In 1999, Barkley took a paycut so that the Rockets could bring in Scottie Pippen to replace the retired Drexler.

Ultimately, none of those star-studded teams won it all. But in comments to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on a new podcast, Barkley — who never won a title during his storied 16-year career — says a championship with the Rockets wouldn’t have been as significant to him, even had they won one.

I wouldn’t even have counted that as a championship. I’m not going to lie. Me and Karl Malone — if he had won a championship with the Lakers, that doesn’t count. That doesn’t count.

While those Rockets’ teams had big names, Barkley is exaggerating the extent of their talent advantage. All four future Hall of Famers (Barkley, Olajuwon, Drexler, and Pippen) to play in Houston over those three years were at least 33 years old, putting them squarely on the wrong side of the sport’s traditional aging curve. Pippen was coming off back surgery.

In two of those three seasons, Barkley’s Rockets were eliminated in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

It was a far different situation than what Barkley has decried in recent years, such as Kevin Durant joining the Warriors in 2016 when Durant and each of Golden State’s established All-Stars (Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green) were all 28 years old or younger.

But Barkley ⁠— who remains one of the NBA’s most visible television analysts ⁠— clearly wants to make a point, and citing an example from his own career might help him appear unbiased on this issue.

The facts, however, tell a slightly different story. For example, here’s what Barkley said at the time of his August 1996 trade to Houston:

At this stage of my career, I’m not a great player. I’m a good player.

Moreover, because the Rockets didn’t win a championship in any of those seasons, it’s all the more convenient for Barkley to use that example in hindsight. It doesn’t hurt Barkley’s legacy, since his point is a hypothetical, and it gives him additional credibility (at least superficially) for a debate that he’s become very passionate about in today’s game.

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