BARKLEY’S BARK : Big and Brash, 76ers’ Young Star Isn’t Afraid to Take Shots--Even at Teammates

Charles Barkley loves to talk.

Barkley, the brash star forward of the Philadelphia 76ers, isn’t reluctant to speak out on any subject.

Modesty also isn’t part of Barkley’s image.

“I think I should win the MVP,” Barkley said at the start of the season, after he had signed an eight-year contract for $13 million.

Barkley, who celebrated his 24th birthday Friday, said he wants to win at least three MVP trophies. “At the age of 30, I’m going to retire and never get out of bed before noon again,” he told reporter Mike Bruton of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Some regard him as one of the biggest jerks in the National Basketball Assn. Barkley’s mouth is running constantly during games as he banters with fans, officials, reporters, himself.

He can be rude and crude to those he doesn’t like or trust.

Yet, those close to Barkley say he is completely different among family and friends back home in Leeds, Ala., where he teaches Sunday school.

“Charles is a complex individual,” said Bruton, who covers the 76ers and recently spent time talking to Barkley’s family and friends in Leeds. “He’s a bully and a hotdog on the court. But the person off the court is just a teddy bear.”

Bruton, one of the few reporters to whom Barkley opens up, said that Barkley’s outward toughness is the result of a turbulent childhood. His father left when he was 1, and Barkley was raised by his mother, who worked as a maid, and his grandmother.

Barkley may be young, rich and famous, but he still remembers what it was like to be poor. Yet, money doesn’t seem to motivate Barkley.

Although he owns a Mercedes-Benz, he prefers to drive his Ford Bronco.

And Barkley, who has a $300,000 endorsement contract with Nike, wears sweat suits off the court.

“I try to keep a lid on my endorsements,” he told Bruton. “The only reason I do endorsements is to make money. I feel like basically I have enough money for me and my family.

“There’s no sense in being greedy. I don’t want more money than I can spend. My family has everything they need--my mom, my grandmother and my two brothers, my girlfriend and my future kids.

“I don’t need no more money. I don’t want to die and have $50 million. That’s just greedy.

“I don’t care if people like me,” Barkley continued. “They don’t know nothing, just like the media. They can’t bother me. I’m getting paid for the next 80 years.

“I have one basic rule, I treat the person how they treat me, whether it’s good or bad. I’m a nice guy but I don’t mind being a jerk.

“I can get along with anybody, but I’m not going to take nothing off nobody. When I was growing up, we didn’t have anything. There are so many snobby people in the world. They don’t have time for people who don’t have anything. I’ve always felt if I had a lot of money, I wouldn’t treat people like I was treated because they didn’t have anything.

“I don’t think I’m better than anybody unless I’m on the court. I don’t think anybody can play basketball like me.

“That’s one of the screwed-up things about our society. If you have something, everybody treats you good. If you don’t, everybody treats you bad. It’s very unfortunate, and I’ve been on both sides of it. Most people I know who have money are jerks. They think they’re better than everybody else.”

Barkley, selected to the All-Star game for the first time in three seasons, is having an all-star season.

He was not picked by the fans but by the coaches.

“I don’t feel the fans and media know anything about the game,” Barkley said. “When you get picked to the team by the players and coaches it means more.”

He’s the NBA’s leading rebounder this season and is third in field goal percentage. He is averaging 23.1 points, 13th in the NBA, going into today’s game against the Lakers at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The game will be televised by CBS at 9 a.m. PST.

Although he sat out the recent NBA dunking contest, Barkley is one of the league’s best power dunkers.

For all of his success, though, there is little about the NBA that he considers sacred. He has criticized Celtic announcer Johnny Most, calling him an old man who doesn’t know anything about basketball.

He has compared the 76ers to a Mercedes and the rival Washington Bullets to a Volkswagen. “Tell Moses (Malone) to get out of that VW. You can’t catch a Mercedes in a VW.” That, even though the Sixers have yet to beat Malone and the Bullets this season.

Said a fan at the All-Star game to Barkley: “Hey Charles, I’ve got a message for you. It’s Volkswagen three, the Mercedes nothing.”

The 76ers, themselves, are Barkley’s latest target.

Earlier this week, he called his teammates “wimps and complainers,” who won’t play with nagging injuries.

“We’ve got guys who have complained, complained and complained,” Barkley said. “That’s why we haven’t moved ahead.

“We have so many wimps and complainers on this team, that’s one of the problems. If the guys we have played every night, we can beat anybody.”

Asked to name the wimps and complainers, Barkley said: “They know who they are. I don’t have to say anything. Guys just have to start busting their tails.”

Said Philadelphia General Manager John Nash of Barkley’s comments: “It shows he cares. I find him refreshing. He thinks he’s as good a player as anyone and I wouldn’t argue with that.”

Said 76er Coach Matt Guokas: “I don’t like criticism of any kind unless it’s constructive, but if this brings us closer together, then it’s good.”

Said retiring 76er star Julius Erving, who is out with a finger injury: “It’s for (Barkley) to say. I watched practice and thought Charles was a little hyper after being out for a few days (with an elbow injury). There are times when he was cursing himself after he’d thrown some silly shots up, then he’d be surprised that they didn’t go in.”

Barkley has been hit hard by injuries this season.

He missed the exhibition season after he cut his right heel in a locker room accident. Then he sat out nine games at the start of the season after hospitalization for a bruised spleen.

Barkley protested when doctors told him that he had to stay in the hospital. And he refused to return for a follow-up exam after he was released.

Barkley’s weight has been the subject of more jokes than the Clippers.

He’s been called the Round Mound of Rebound, Boy Gorge, the Crisco Kid, the Leaning Tower of Pizza, the Bread Truck, the Human Refrigerator, the Wide Load from Leeds, and the Flying Safe.

And yet Barkley, 6 feet 6 inches, has slimmed down to 253 pounds from a high of 280. Raised largely on a diet of Orange Crush and honey buns, he has cut down on junk food.

But with his bald, round head, he still looks bulky.

Said Erving of Barkley: “When he first came here, his body proportions were a lot different. He’s like a statue now. He’s like (Michelangelo’s) David, and before he was like Dom DeLuise.

“The only thing that’s fat now is his head.”

Interviewers are forever asking Barkley about his weight and he loves to play along. He once joked that he ate one meal a day--from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“He’s so fat his bathtub has stretch marks,” said Pat Williams, then the 76ers’ general manager, after picking Barkley as their No. 1 choice in the 1984 draft.

Barkley was immense at Auburn, and when he showed up for the 1984 Olympic trials, another player said: “Oh my God, he’s huge! I haven’t seen him eat yet, but I’d just keep my hands away from his plate.”

And that was after Barkley had tried to lose weight. Before the trials, he ate nothing but apples and drank fruit juices. That diet landed him in the hospital.

A pizza deliveryman once handed Barkley an empty pizza box as a joke while he was warming up during a college game.

Asked once what his playing weight was, Barkley answered: “Whatever I am when it’s time to play, that’s my playing weight.”

He once posed for Sports Illustrated eating a slice of pizza, with two pizzas in front of him.

His first contract with the 76ers reportedly contained a clause that required Barkley to keep his weight down or be fined.

Yet, Barkley is one of the quickest and strongest big men in the NBA. Just ask the players who have to go against him.

Said Boston Celtic star Larry Bird: “I think he has talent and ability. He plays hard every night. That’s the key in this league. He’s talented. That’s the bottom line. He’s big and strong and has got a lot of talent.”

Said Chicago Bull star guard Michael Jordan: “Barkley’s a great player and a great motivator on the court. He’s done a lot of things people don’t expect him to do. He’s great for the game.’

Detroit Piston point guard Isiah Thomas: “He plays one way, and that’s hard. It’s the only way he knows how to play.”

Celtic Coach K.C. Jones: “He’s very emotional and he shows it through the work ethic. To me, he’s a total player.”

76er guard Maurice Cheeks: “The boy’s crazy. There’s got to be a reason why he’s acting like he does. He’s crazy off the court, too.”

Dr. J: “He’s kind of subdued today. He’s a good rebounder night in and night out. He has a desire to excel and he’s filled a void. After we traded Moses (Malone), it forced him to do more. He’s broadened his skills and his confidence. He can go right to the top.”

Celtic center Robert Parish: “He’s very emotional. He talks a lot and he has to come to play because he has to back up what he says in the paper. He’s having a great year.”

Bullet star Malone, his former teammate: “He’s playing great. I could see that he was going to be good when I was there. You can’t say he’s got a big head. His head’s already big. I didn’t think he was too fat. He wants to be the best at what he does.”

Celtic forward Kevin McHale: “It’s fun to play with guys like that. I like his strength and quickness. That’s a unique blend--250 pounds and quickness. You don’t see that too often.”

BARKLEY ON HIS PERSONALITY:

‘I’m a nice guy but I don’t mind being a jerk. I can get along with anybody, but I’m not going to take nothing off nobody. . . . I don’t think I’m better than anybody unless I’m on the court. I don’t think anybody can play basketball like me.’

BARKLEY ON BEING GREEDY:

‘I feel like basically I have enough money for me and my family. There’s no sense in being greedy. I don’t want more money than I can spend. . . . I don’t want to die and have $50 million. That’s just greedy.’