NBA FINALS : COMMENTARY : Destiny Denied, as Is Retirement for Barkley

As if in a dream, The Voice came to him like thunder over the desert.

Actually, Charles Barkley couldn’t remember later if The Voice came from a burning cactus or the bartender at Majerle’s but It said:

“Charles!”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking of a problem. It’s not the civil war in Yugoslavia or famine in Somalia, but the situation in Phoenix. It’s a nice place, especially if you’re a Gila monster, but it’s grown recently and hungers for validation, however illusory. It thought getting a major event would do it until the city-slickers arrived and started mentioning sand or cactus or heat or retirees in every paragraph. So, I’m thinking of tossing it an NBA championship.

“Now here’s what you have to do. When My Archangel Michael comes off that screen. . . .”

The Voice went on to describe some X-and-0 stuff that Charles forgot.

Later, Charles tried to remember what Coach Paul Westphal had said to do on that play, but the last words he could remember from Westphal were, “Welcome to Phoenix. Anything you want, just tell me” last summer.

Never one to sell a story short, Barkley confided to NBC’s Hannah Storm after Game 5 that God had assured him the Suns were a team of destiny.

By the time they made the three-hour flight and arrived home at 2:30 a.m., there were several thousand fans at Sky Harbor Airport, many bearing “Team of Destiny” signs. That’s how long it takes to start a folk movement in the TV age.

“Anybody out at 2:30 in the morning ain’t got no sense,” Barkley said before Sunday’s game.

Maybe everyone came straight from the clubs?

“The bars close here at 1 o’clock,” Barkley said. “The only negative about my city.”

Outside, an arena full of delirious Suns fans waited, waving signs like “Respect, We Want It! We Deserve It!” and “And G-d Said Let There Be Suns. And G-d Said That They Were Good.”

The Bulls were in their dressing room, so tight they almost squeaked. Arrangements had been made so they could bring their wives, but at the last moment General Manager Jerry Krause canceled them.

Said Krause, in case anyone had missed the point: “This is a business trip.”

Barkley walked by the Bulls’ dressing room on his way in.

“I heard something over there,” he said grinning, “whether it was heartbeats, tight sneakers or what.”

The Bulls came out smoking. Michael Jordan hit three three-pointers in the first quarter and assisted on two more.

They led by 11 points by the second quarter.

The Suns caught them before halftime.

The Bulls went up by 10 in the third quarter.

The Suns hauled them down again in the fourth.

The boulder was beginning to roll. Jordan was tiring and his teammates were choking.

America West was bedlam. Rush Limbaugh, the pudgy, conservatively dressed conservative commentator and friend of Westphal, played air guitar during one break to “That’s What I Like About You.” The Bulls committed three 24-second violations in the fourth quarter. Coach Phil Jackson said it was so loud, he had to draw plays on his chalkboard and then yell in each player’s ear.

With 39 seconds left, the Suns led, 98-94, and the Bulls’ dynasty teetered.

Chicago TV stations had been replaying that community service video-from-hell, re-advising everyone not to riot. If it got to Game 7, Chicago might have been willing to trade a small disturbance for the long-sought three-peat.

Barkley was getting his retirement speech ready.

He said later if the Suns had won Game 6, he was sure they would have won Game 7 and if they had, he was out of here. Olympic gold medal, NBA MVP, NBA title, see you later.

It didn’t happen.

Jordan hit a layup. Two Suns short-armed late shots. The Bulls got the ball back with 14 seconds left. Jordan surprised everyone by giving it up in the backcourt. Scottie Pippen found Horace Grant under the basket. Horace was so excited, he threw it out to John Paxson who drilled a three-pointer.

End of story.

“I’ve put so much into this season,” said a subdued Barkley. “I don’t know if I can reach that level of intensity again ‘cause I feel like basically I put all my eggs in one basket this year.”

What would he do in retirement?

“Drive my daughter to school. Pick her up from school. Work on my golf game.”

This sounds like a great life, assuming one likes the drive between home and school.

Barkley is locked into a long-term contract at the bargain price of $2.5 million a year. Look for the Suns to bump him up where he belongs and Christiana to ride with someone else.

Sunday night, The Voice came to Barkley again.

“Charles!”

“Yes?”

“Gotcha!”