“I had always been an outdoor adventurer, from my youth as a whitewater guide to my many wilderness expeditions on mountain bikes and sea kayaks in midlife, to skateboarding and surfing and flying experimental planes into my fifties,” the bestselling author and former firefighter said in an interview released by her publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing. “But I looked around and there really were hardly any women my age out there with me.”
While she saw plenty of men her age and older, she realized that her peers were dialing back their adventure. “So I began to look at the research and also to talk to women who were still doing things outside. And what I found was surprising even to me.”
Photo courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing
Paul takes readers around the country to meet women ages 50 to 90 who are still getting outside to challenge themselves, learn new things, take risks, and chase awe. These women include 80-year-old scuba diver Louise Wholey, who braves the chilly waters of Monterey, California; Kittie Weston-Knauer, a 74-year-old BMX racer and instructor in Des Moine, Iowa; and the Wave Chasers, a group of boogie boarding senior women in San Diego. “Tough Broad” shares Paul’s interviews, research about aging, and experiences joining these women — her role models — in their chosen outdoor adventures.
“We need templates in our life,” Paul writes. “We need to see our possible selves in someone else’s grand exploits.”
Caroline Paul riding her one wheel. / Photo courtesy of Caroline Paul
My favorite chapter was about wing-walking. Seventy-one-year-old Cynthia Hicks likes to Google “something fun to do here” when she travels. That’s how she discovered Mason Wing Walking Academy in Sequim, Washington. In the 1920s, when there were lots of surplus planes left over from World War I, this daredevil activity became popular as part of aerial shows. Today, people can still learn how to climb out of their seats in a red biplane, attach themselves to a cable on the wing, and stay there while the plane does loop-de-loops.
The author beautifully describes the day that Marilyn Mason taught her to wing walk. “The plane rockets skyward. As it climbs, my mind shuffles around in a state of bewilderment. It ransacks neurons and old memories for a pattern to latch on to. Too late. The horizon curdles, falls away. Spinning earth, buffeting air, iceberg clouds flashing by.”
In the wing walking chapter, Paul talks about how research on the state of awe has exploded recently. “I recognize how perfectly wing walking primes us for awe: there is the majestic view at thirty-five hundred feet that feels almost religious; there is the total disequilibrium of doing something so antithetical to every survival instinct; there is the exhilaration of twirling and ricocheting and falling in a vast sky.”
While less active people often see adventure activities as thrill-seeking, Paul wonders at her underlying drivers, especially as she ages. “Could this be what has really been motivating my outdoor quests these past few years? Instead of adrenaline, have I unwittingly been seeking awe?”
Virginia Rose, avid birdwatcher and one of the women interviewed in Paul’s book. / Photo courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing
“Tough Broad” is an entertaining read. It’s sure to inspire women to continue to enjoy the outdoors, create new neural pathways as they try new things, and enjoy the camaraderie of their sisters in adventure into their later years.
Writer received a free advance copy of the book for review.
On the surface, “Alfie & Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe“is about a Long Island couple’s experiences trying to help an abandoned baby screech owl during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s really an exhaustively researched book about the myriad ways philosophers and religious folks have looked at humans’ relationships with the rest of nature over millennia.
Author Carl Safina and his wife Patricia named the abandoned owlet Alfie. They guessed Alfie was a she, but only time and behavior would tell. They expected to care for her only briefly. But complications such as failing to develop crucial flight feathers kept Alfie around longer than anticipated. She grew attached to her human family. Even when she could fly and live a normal owl life, she continued hanging around the Safinas’ three-quarter-acre property. This allowed Carl Safina to view her behavior — including courting, mating, and mothering — much more closely than most owl-loving humans could ever dream of.
Photo courtesy of W.W. Norton
The text alternates between Alfie updates and ponderous looks at humans. Carl Safina obviously spent a lot of time researching and thinking about how humans view nature. Some of the conclusions aren’t surprising. The book discusses Indigenous people considering themselves part of nature. Meanwhile, Christianity brings in ideas of a division between the spiritual and corporeal, disgust with the body, and a belief in having rightful dominion over the earth. This is a great read for people who like to contemplate these topics. Those with shorter attention spans may find themselves skipping ahead to see what happens with the owl.
Alfie in pitiful condition when first rescued. / Photo courtesy of W.W. Norton
Carl Safina is a very accomplished writer. Readers can picture tiny Alfie through descriptions like, “From where Alfie’s feet rested on a perch, she stood only about five inches tall. Adding perhaps three inches for her tail, she was roughly the length and color of a sweet potato, but in shape so oval as to be almost cylindrical, a bit like a beverage can.”
Like the pandemic, the book moves slowly. Spliced between philosophical passages, readers get the story of how Alfie begins to explore the world. She meets a male owl, whom Carl Safina dubs Plus One. The author is such a close observer of nature that the book can occasionally veer into owl porn, with a dose of critiquing how Alfie should be having sex. “Alfie was not moving her tail aside to accomplish the good, firm touch that’s necessary,” he writes. But like many of us, Alfie improves with practice. She becomes a mother.
Photo courtesy of W.W. Norton
“Alfie & Me” continues in the same vein. Deep dives into spirituality and philosophy supplement updates about Alfie and her family. Fans of Carl Safina’s books (“Becoming Wild” and “Beyond Words“) and his articles in Time, the Guardian, and the New York Times will savor this new 300+ page work.
Writer received a free copy of the book for review.
The evocative title of Chris Bertish’s books says a lot. When I read the title “All In!: The Atlantic Standup Paddle Crossing – 93 Days Alone at Sea,” I got an inkling of what I was in for. There would be weather, loneliness, waves, problems, and probably sharks. And, since Bertish obviously survived to write the book, inspiration. I was right! But it’s still worth reading the book for the stories and motivational tidbits.
The journey Bertish chronicles in “All In!” took place from December 2016 to March 2017, when he paddled more than 4,000 miles alone from Morocco to Antigua. He became the first person to ever stand-up paddleboard across an ocean. But Bertish was no stranger to firsts and awards. He was already a big wave surfing champ with multiple world records. When he’s not in the water, Bertish is addressing giant companies like Google, Coke, and Salesforce as a motivational speaker.
Photo by Brian Overfeld
While Bertish clearly has superhuman strength and a need to embrace challenges most of us would pay everything to avoid, he’s also driven by philanthropy. His grueling 93-day paddle raised over half a million dollars for Operation Smile. This global nonprofit provides free cleft palate surgery for children. Bertish also raised money to support ocean conservation initiatives.
Of course, the first question a reader probably has is, “How does a person cross an ocean on a SUP?” I can barely paddle my inflatable SUP across a small lake on a slightly windy day. But Bertish’s 20-foot craft, the Impifish, was named for Zulu warriors called Impis. This extra-long SUP had a tiny cabin that Bertish could curl up in to escape the elements. The SUP was tricked out with a ton of high-tech communication gear, including GPS, VHF radio, Echomax, an emergency position indicating radio beacon, and a satellite phone, to name just a few. Gearheads will love this book for the tech alone.
Photo by Alan van Gysen
While the book is full of exciting tales, it’s also a bit repetitive — just like 93 days of paddling would be. There’s a pattern of disaster followed by motivational insight, and repeat. Storm! Ah, survived. Great white shark! Ah, survived it. Crucial equipment malfunction! Survived again. You can see why all the big companies want Bertish to speak to them. The man doesn’t give up or take no for an answer.
As he says at one point early in the book, “People will make up every possible excuse not to do something, or give you a whole laundry list of the reasons why they ‘can’t.’ You can always find plenty of reasons if you look for them, but instead you should be finding reasons why you ‘can.’ Focus on that and then find a way to accomplish it. If you believe you can’t you won’t, but if you believe you can, and you want it badly enough, you will always find a way. It’s that simple, period.”
The thing that irked me most about the book was an unsolved mystery. Before Bertish set out on the Impifish, some unidentified entity tried to prevent his SUP journey. Somebody sabotaged his car, messed with arrangements for his gear and food, and, most horribly of all, killed his cat. This still makes me sick to contemplate, especially since the mystery angle of the story was dropped. The reader never finds out who did these horrible things or why.
The paperback version of “All In” debuted in July. In line with Bertish’s conservation ideals, the book is printed on Forest Steward Certified paper. He also released a super limited edition eco series of only 13 copies. These 100% sustainable books are printed on 40% post-consumer recycled paper with soy and water-based inks. The binding features eco-cotton thread and non-toxic water-based glues. The book’s cover is, fittingly, made using recycled ocean plastics.
The victorious finish! / Photo by Brian Overfeld
Writer received a free copy of the book for review.
Scott Williams might not be a name that immediately resonates with younger fans, despite his 15-year career in the NBA. However, he won three rings with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. Williams recently authored a memoir, titled Through the …
Scott Williams might not be a name that immediately resonates with younger fans, despite his 15-year career in the NBA. However, he won three rings with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
Williams recently authored a memoir, titled Through the Fire, detailing his life and career. His journey wasn’t devoid of tragic experiences. Amidst the highs of being a decorated athlete, he faced a devastating blow during his sophomore year at the University of North Carolina as his father shot and killed his mother, then turned the gun on himself.
Williams recently spoke with HoopsHype about his trials and tribulations, playing with one of the greatest players ever, and more.
I grew up in cities, and even though I now consider myself an outdoorsy person, I’m well aware that the wilderness is not my home. Predators lurk out there, and I could be just the tasty meal they’re looking for.
In my outdoor adventures, I’ve encountered a wide array of attitudes about predators. Some people religiously carry bear spray on hikes, while others claim the power to shoo bears away like naughty dogs. With these experiences in mind, I read Adam Hart’s new book, “The Deadly Balance: Predators and People in a Crowded World.”
Hart is the University of Gloucestershire’s professor of science communicationand a BBC broadcaster. Trained as an entomologist (he’s even vice president of the Royal Entomological Society), he considers himself an ecologist, studying creatures from the top to the bottom of the food chain.
Photo courtesy of Bloomsbury USA
Researching the book
“The Deadly Balance” focuses on animals that prey on humans around the world. The balance in the title refers to humanity’s desire for conservation versus our urge to stay alive. Hart makes a clear distinction between people like me who choose to go outdoors for recreation and those in less-developed nations who risk animal encounters while accessing water to drink or bathe.
“Over the past decade or so I’ve spent a fair amount of time in southern Africa working on various ecological projects,” Hart told Outdoors Wire. “As I became more involved it became very apparent that people’s relationships with predators are very different.”
“Tourists for example flock to lion sightings, and in some cases they are the only species they really want to see. But at the same time, sometimes even in the same places, people lose their livestock and even their lives to lion attacks. Far too many people that love animals and care deeply about the planet simply don’t realise that conservation must account for the needs of people that live in what we, in the comfort of our homes far away, often rather arrogantly call habitat.”
Hart’s new book is divided up by animal species, with lions, tigers, crocodilians, bears, and hyenas getting lots of real estate. He based it on a mix of his own experiences, academic literature, and testimony from people who live and work alongside predators. His BBC radio series “Tooth and Claw” enlisted two experts per episode to focus on a particular predator.
“This was a great way to get information, and to tap into a world of contacts that were very generous with their time and expertise,” Hart said.
Earth’s scariest predators
After all Hart’s research, which predator most frightens him?
“A difficult question because I am lucky not to be living alongside predators, and when I am in places where predators are present I usually have the luxury of being safely in a vehicle, or on foot with others more experienced than me at keeping safe,” he said. “However, all that being said, when I see a wild lion, especially one that is relatively close, I definitely feel the hairs onthe back of [my] neck standing up!”
Crocodilians and big cats like lions and tigers are the top people predators, Hart said. “But across the world there is much variation, depending on what species are present, cultural links and traditions, and your likelihood of being attacked. Studies in Tanzania have shown that a large proportion of people living in lion country do so with the fear of being attacked, even if the chances of it happening are very low. There is something viscerally terrifying about the thought of being taken, and eaten, by a predator, and that fear cannot be easy to live with.”
While humans fear predator attacks, livestock are often more at risk. Losing livestock can be devastating for people whose existence depends upon their animals.
Safe outdoor recreation
So, should people like me stay in a city, where the biggest predators are other humans? I asked Hart for outdoor recreation advice to help keep wildlife and humans safe. He gave me three tips.
“The first, is to approach being in places where predators are, or might, be present, with due caution and respect. The fact is, you will probably be quite lucky to even see a predator, but that doesn’t mean that aren’t there, and possibly looking at you. Don’t get complacent.” That’s for sure. I’ve never seen a mountain lion, but I bet they’ve seen me.
Hart’s next suggestion is to seek local advice. “Do your homework and take heed of what people more knowledgeable about the local situation are telling you.” If it’s 100 degrees out and nobody is jumping in that enticing swimming hole, there could be a good reason.
“And finally,” Hart added, maintain “a respectful distance” from the animals. “Close interactions between people and predators often end poorly for both parties. Remember, binoculars and camera zooms exist for a reason!”
Camping requires a lot of gear, and it’s taken time to refine the systems that keep campers and the environment happy. In the United States’ roughly 150 years of camping history, there have been many well-intentioned missteps and some unbelievably dangerous traditions. Discover the stories behind all of these moments in author and architect Martin Hogue’s new book, “Making Camp: A Visual History of Camping’s Most Essential Items & Activities.”
Described as an exploration of one of America’s favorite pastimes, “Making Camp” uses photos, illustrations, and fascinating narratives to explain various facets of camping. Hogue’s book focuses on eight camping components: water, campfires, campsites, maps, picnic tables, tents, sleeping bags, and trash.
A Yosemite National Park campfire program at Camp 15. / Photo via “Making Camp”
Each chapter offers gripping stories about these elements. In the campfire chapter, Hogue discusses the now-defunct tradition of summer firefall ceremonies at Yosemite. Photos in the campsite section share how camping set-ups have evolved. Even the trash chapter provides captivating (if gross) tales of how campers have and haven’t managed to keep the outdoors clean.
Get a preview of what “Making Camp” has in store with the excerpt on firefall below. Released on May 9, 2023, “Making Camp” can be found here and on Amazon.
The history of firefall at Yosemite National Park
Firefall at Yosemite National Park is a stunning phenomenon. Under the right conditions, sunlight illuminates the waters of Horsetail Fall. The result is a photo-worthy spectacle, with the waterfall lit up a fiery orange color.
Today, Yosemite’s firefall is a natural occurrence. But from 1872 to 1968, summer firefall ceremonies involved actual fire. Until the National Park Service ended the tradition in 1968, Yosemite would host firefall events wherein people would push hot embers off Glacier Point.
In “Making Camp,” Hogue describes the tradition, saying:
James McCauley (1841–1911), an early pioneer of Yosemite Valley who ran a small hotel with his wife, Barbara, first conceived of the dramatic Firefall in 1872, a nightly summer event that emulated a waterfall by dropping burning embers down 3,200 feet from the top of Glacier Point. The Firefall proved so successful that it ran for nearly a century.
The Firefall, Glacier Point. / Photo courtesy of the California Historical Society
Barkley: A Biography by Timothy Bella. Hanover Square Press; Original edition (November 1, 2022). The end sounded like a sharp crack. On a bitter cold night in 1999, Charles was introduced to the crowd in Philadelphia for the final time as a player. …
Barkley: A Biography by Timothy Bella. Hanover Square Press; Original edition (November 1, 2022).
The end sounded like a sharp crack.
On a bitter cold night in 1999, Charles was introduced to the crowd in Philadelphia for the final time as a player. A full-circle moment that seemed to lack glory.
“When he came back, it was almost like a Charles we didn’t recognize,” said friend Mike Missanelli, the Philadelphia sports radio personality.
Eighteen games into the season, the thirty-six-year-old was firmly looking ahead to life after basketball. He was beginning to temper his expectations and channel gratitude.
“I don’t think a championship would do that much for me,” said a reflective Charles. “It won’t make me feel like, well, now my life is complete. Trust me, my life is pretty damn complete. And I always tell people, I don’t think that anybody could have had a better life than me. I really don’t.”
Stepping onto the floor on December 8, 1999, the Philadelphia fans who adored him then spurned him were now greeting Charles with an extended standing ovation. The harsh feelings that came with his unceremonious exit seven years earlier had subsided. The Sixers flew in Charcey and Johnnie Mae for what was to be a celebration of the franchise’s finest player of recent times.
That changed seven minutes and fifty-one seconds into the first quarter.
(TOM MIHALEK/AFP via Getty Images)
With both teams struggling to break 20 for the quarter, Charles grabbed an offensive rebound and thought he could post up Todd MacCulloch, the Sixers’ seven-foot rookie. Though he was still getting 10 rebounds a game, Charles’s offense had taken a sharp turn due to his health. “I was pump-faking so much I had to go see the chiropractor like three days a week,” Charles said years later about that period in his career.
As the Sixers sprinted down the floor in transition, Tyrone Hill, a journeyman power forward, drove the baseline. Never known as a shot blocker, Charles went up to redirect Hill’s shot. Then, he lost his balance.
When the admittedly out-of-shape Charles landed awkwardly, he felt that something was seriously wrong. Unable to move, he immediately grabbed his left knee.
“I thought he was gonna get right back up,” Hill said. “When he was down for a long period of time, I was hoping it was nothing really serious.”
By the time Rockets’ trainer Keith Jones came over, Charles’s knee was bloody and grossly distorted. The celebratory mood inside the old Spectrum, then called the First Union Center, had turned to gloom.
“We could see that quad muscle roll up on his leg in a horrible and frightening way,” said Rockets’ radio announcer Jim Foley. “It was like seeing someone break a leg.”
Rupturing his quadriceps tendon brought a new kind of pain – worse than any he’d experienced in the past.
“I knew it was over as soon as I saw it,” Barkley said. “I saw the way the kneecap was bulging through my leg and I said, ‘Well, it’s been fun .’” Barkley was grimacing, but silent. He lay immobile on the floor, talking quietly to Jones, his teammates, and coaches, with 19,109 people staring on in horror. “You didn’t hear a shriek of pain, but you saw the end of a career,” recalled Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News. “You knew, without question, that it was over.”
Barkley was helped off to the locker room, limping, with his head down and towel around his neck. He needed some time to compose himself before returning to a spot behind the Rockets’ bench on crutches, wearing a knee brace. Looking down the bench, Rudy Tomjanovich held out hope that Charles hadn’t played his last game, but said he was crushed knowing he likely would not call Barkley’s number again.
“You’re just not coming back from that,” the coach said.
Charles would sign about one hundred autographs and joked with teammates and coaches, trying to lighten the mood. When the final buzzer sounded on a forgettable 83–73 win for the Sixers, Charles received another thunderous ovation as he used crutches to leave the court one final time.
On a training table, his knee was wrapped in ice when he called Maureen. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he relayed the news he was just beginning to come to terms with.
“It’s over,” he said to his wife.
(GERARD BURKHART/AFP via Getty Images)
He limped and waddled to the podium for the postgame press conference. Wearing an all-black suit, as if he were attending his own funeral, Barkley had Johnnie Mae sitting to his right. The room was packed with local and national media, many of whom had covered Barkley throughout his sixteen-year career.
In true Charles fashion, he had a slight grin and a one-liner ready.
“I’m just what America needs – another unemployed Black man,” he said.
He limped back to his Philadelphia hotel room after going out with his teammates to Bridget Foy’s. He told Sixers star Allen Iverson, whom he had taken to task for treating the game like a birthright, that it was his league now and to cherish his time on top.
Sitting on the hotel bed, Barkley was no longer invincible. Yet fittingly, almost poetically, his career had all but ended in the city where it all began. He cried.
A red light flashed on the room phone. Barkley picked up the receiver and began to listen to the dozens of messages left for him. The first voice mail? It was Michael Jordan.
“I’m here if you need me,” his friend said.
(VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images)
He had scripted a much grander end. In fact, the end had begun before the season, when he had announced his sixteenth season would be his last. He had done it in grand fashion, returning to his native Alabama for a preseason game in October 1999.
That night, down a back hallway of the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, Charcey had reserved a meeting hall for family and friends who made the short twenty-one-minute drive from Leeds to celebrate their hero over ribs, chicken wings, pasta salad, and cornbread. The mayors from Leeds and Birmingham stood by the entrance with the Barkley brothers and Michael Glenn, a cousin, and Charcey, eagerly awaiting the guest of honor.
“It’s always special to see him play,” Charcey told friends lingering by the door after the October exhibition. “Just like the first time.”
Standing at half-court with his mom and grandmother, Barkley formally announced his retirement.
“It’s time for me to do something else,” Barkley said. “It’s time for me to have some fun now. I don’t think my life could get any better. But it’s time to do something else.”
In doing so, he also told the crowd of ten thousand that he had donated three $1 million gifts to each of his alma maters, Leeds High School and Auburn University, and to Cornerstone Schools of Alabama. In total, the donations accounted for a third of his salary that year.
Sonny Smith, his coach at Auburn, lauded his former player’s “generosity and love for the area.” The two had come a long way since Barkley nearly transferred out of the school.
Everyone wanted a piece of Barkley that night. He didn’t have time to eat or drink. He took photos and signed balls. He never said no; it wasn’t in his nature. Hugging his grandmother on the way out, he was happier than he had been in a long time.
“It’s a great night for me,” Barkley said to his guests. “I feel great relief and am at peace with myself.”
(PAUL BUCK/AFP via Getty Images)
The four months following Barkley’s injury had him balancing a future in which he wanted to “learn to play the piano, finish college, and get really, really, really fat.” But he was also rehabbing as much as he could to achieve one last goal on the court: to play a few minutes and leave the sport with dignity.
“My objective is to play in the last game of the year,” he said. “I want to be able to walk off the court.”
With his left leg still in an immobilizer, trainer Tim Grover forbade him from taking to the court until he had the cast removed. Grover, who had trained the likes of Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Kobe Bryant, had continued working with Charles in Houston because, as he noted in his 2013 book Relentless, Charles was “probably the most athletically gifted individual I’ve ever seen.” Though he trusted his trainer, Charles rejected his suggestion.
“He looked at me with that death stare and demanded a ball,” Grover said. “Then he stood under the basket and dunked ten times off the healthy foot. Dunked. Ten times. One foot.” He added, “The boot never touched the ground.”
For the last game of the season, fans came ready with their Barkley bald caps and No. 4 jerseys for the Rockets’ match-up against the Vancouver Grizzlies.
For one night, Barkley was back.
“He’s done a lot for this organization and if he wants to walk off the court instead of being carried off, then I’m all for that,” Tomjanovich said. “It also gives the people a chance to pay one last tribute to him.”
His knee was maybe 70 percent. But nothing was going to stop him from playing in his last game on April 19, 2000.
Not everyone was going to make it easy on him. Lionel Hollins, his assistant in Phoenix who was the interim head coach for Vancouver, wanted to do whatever he could to prevent him from scoring on his team.
“I told the players, ‘I don’t care if it’s his last moment, we’re not going to let him have anything,’” Hollins recounted. “As much as I love Charles, we were not going to give him anything. He really shouldn’t have been in the game.”
Charles, for his part, was feeling nostalgic.
“This is a sad day for me,” Barkley said. “I’ve been playing basketball since I was nine years old and now, I’m not going to be playing anymore. That’s the only thing that makes me sad. I won’t miss the limelight.”
While the circumstances of his last game were not what he envisioned, Barkley was getting to enjoy himself. But first, he had to be good, at least for one more moment.
“It’s important for me from a mental standpoint to get out there,” he said before the game. “It’s a mindset thing. It’s been a grueling ordeal to get to this point. I just want to walk off under my own power.” He added: “It’s just something I have to do. I don’t have anything else to prove.”
(AFP via Getty Images)
Starting off on the bench, Charles was all smiles. His youthful vigor had returned. Almost four minutes into the second quarter, Tomjanovich got to call Charles’s number for the last time. He rose from the end of the bench, snapping off his warmup pants and red shirt. At the next substitution, the crowd jumped to its feet. He was nowhere close to a hundred percent, looking nervous as he checked in. He might have been only months removed from playing, but Charles was mostly stationary and looked almost out of place on the floor.
The contest between two sub- .500 teams took a back seat to the bigger question of the night: Could Charles produce one more glimpse of greatness?
Almost immediately, the power forward tried to do just that. Off a pick and roll with Cuttino Mobley at the 3-point line, Charles rolled toward the baseline, waiting for the pass. Mobley flung the ball to an open Charles. You could hear the crowd begging Barkley to shoot. He paused for one second before launching a baseline jumper. The ball bounced off the front iron and the crowd sighed.
In the second quarter, shortly after another shot clanged off the rim, Barkley’s body began to break down. A couple of possessions later, backup guard Moochie Norris got a screen from Matt Bullard at the left wing of the 3-point line. Norris slipped through two defenders and made a run at the hoop. In two dribbles, Norris got to the lane and floated a one-handed teardrop over the outstretched arm of Obinna Ekezie. Down low stood Barkley, boxing out Felipe Lopez, a guard with the same height but not nearly the same size. Charles hadn’t really tested out his capacity to rebound.
Luckily, he didn’t have to jump too much. The ball careened almost directly to him. With whatever spring he had left in his knees, he snared the ball from a jumping Lopez and pulled it to his hips. He wasn’t going to pass it. Not now.
“Charles! Charles!” yelled Rockets’ color man Calvin Murphy from the sidelines.
Barkley threw a wild pump-fake before laying it off the glass, drawing contact from Ekezie. Count the bucket. And the foul. The crowd hadn’t been that loud all season.
“Charles Barkley,” rumbled play-by-play man Bill Worrell, “gets a bucket in his final game!”
He was stone-faced in the seconds that followed, taking high-fives from an excited Bullard and rookie Steve Francis. When he walked toward Mobley, he offered the slightest nod, before finally letting out a smile.
“About time,” he told Mobley, hugging him at the free throw line. Barkley shrugged and smiled. What more could he have asked for?
Soon after he missed the free throw, Tomjanovich called Kenny Thomas’ number, telling the twenty-two-year-old rookie to check in for Barkley. He had played six minutes and seven seconds, scoring 2 points and grabbing a rebound. He laughed coming off the floor to a standing ovation, with Tomjanovich wrapping his arm around his neck and Rogers giving him a bear hug.
At halftime, Dawson presented Charles with the backboard that he just grabbed his last rebound from only minutes earlier. “You really own this one,” Dawson told him.
Charles then walked over to the baseline to give an interview to CraigSager, the TNT sideline reporter known for his warm demeanor and outlandish suits. Sager asked Charles if coming back for one night had been worth it.
“It was worth it. It was definitely worth it,” he said to Sager. “I put a lot of time and effort into my rehab. Hey, my last memory was scoring a basket, not being carried off the court. That was a bonus. I really just wanted to get a rebound, and it took me a long time to get a rebound. The doctor was nervous the whole time because my knee is only about 70 percent. And that rebound came to me, so I got lucky. I couldn’t have jumped to get it.”
Sager reminded him that he was about to finish his career in the top-15 all-time in points and rebounds.
“Well, the big fella up there gave me some stuff that a lot of people didn’t have,” Charles replied. “I can’t take credit for it. I want to, but I can’t. God just gave me a tremendous amount of ability. I can’t take credit for it though, Craig.”
The Rockets lost, but no one cared. It was Barkley’s night. He offered a few words to the team, saying it had a bright future with Francis and Mobley. “It’s unfortunate I didn’t come to Houston until I was on the downside,” he told the fans. “I wish I could have played my entire career here.”
His voice quavering, he gripped the microphone and pushed aside his regrets to convey his gratitude.
“Basketball doesn’t owe me anything, I owe everything in my life to basketball – everything,” he said. “I’m thirty-seven years old. I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams. I have great material things. I’ve been all over the world and it’s all because of basketball.”
(ROBERT SULLIVAN/AFP via Getty Images)
He retreated from the standing ovation to the locker room, where his teammates were waiting for him with beer and champagne, hoots and hollers. He never won an NBA title, but this champagne was a celebration of everything Charles had accomplished.
Soaked in sweat and alcohol, Barkley talked to reporters in the locker room one last time. The regularly loud Barkley grew quieter than usual, taking on the kind of reflective, humble tone he had shown to Sager earlier in the night. All he ever wanted, he said, was to make $1 million and play in the league for ten years. His only goal was to take care of his mother and grandmother.
As cocky and insufferable as he was at times, he never expected to be talking about his own Hall of Fame career, he said. The individual numbers speak for themselves. Career averages of 22 .1 points, 11 .7 rebounds, and 3 .9 assists in 1,073 games. He’s one of the most prolific offensive rebounders in the game’s history and the shortest player to ever lead the league in total rebounding. He made eleven All-Star teams and twelve All-NBA squads in sixteen seasons. Charles finished top-ten in MVP voting in nine years, including his first-place finish in 1993. As of publication, he is one of seven players in league history to record 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 4,000 assists – and by far the shortest to do so.
So, how did it happen? Even with his mistakes, and there were too many to count, his exhaustive charisma pulled him toward success and worldwide adoration.
“The difficult thing is that nothing I’ll do in my life from now on will come close to what I’ve accomplished in basketball in the last sixteen years,” he noted.
But he sure as hell had to try.
Barkley: A Biography by Timothy Bella. Hanover Square Press; Original edition (November 1, 2022).
