#1. He was not a mercenary, we traded Horry/Cassell for him. not 2nd round draft picks. #2. Did you watch Yao's first season? He didn't look very good at the beginning. #3. Charles thinks Les owes him some money This is how the Clutchfans felt about him: http://clutchfans.net/feature.cfm?FeatureID=55 A Tribute to Sir Charles THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2000 6:36 AM CT By Michael Fulton Copyright 2000 ClutchFans.net Round Mound walks away Honorable, and sometimes dishonorable, Charles Barkley was always fun Today is a sad day. As I wake up this morning, I come to realize that something is missing. That something is the honorable (and sometimes dishonorable, but always fun) Sir Charles Barkley. This season started with such promise for the Rockets. The cancer was gone. We finally had a point guard. Hakeem Olajuwon was in good shape. And the Round Mound of Rebound was on a mission to bring home a championship in his final season. But it was not to be and this season of hope ended on that cold (they were playing in Philly, not Texas) December night when Charles went down with a ruptured quadriceps tendon. Or so we thought. The despair for this Rockets team eventually turned back into hope as we found Charles' successor, a brash young trash-talking rookie with the game to back it up, a guy by the name of Stevie Franchise. And we began to see Sir Charles' influence on this team as the cockiness shown thru, but they worked hard and had fun, even when they were losing. And now the future looks bright for the Rockets. And last night we found out it wasn't over for Sir Charles either. He wouldn't let that freak accident end his career. He would walk off the court on his terms... and walk off he did to a standing ovation from the Houston crowd who loved him so much. I have had a love hate relationship with Charles Barkley during his time here in Houston. Until this past year, I thought he hurt this team more than he helped them with his style of play and his controversial attitude. But this year, as the rebuilding process began, I saw that Charles was the one person I wanted these young players to learn from, even more than Hakeem. His numbers are indisputable. One of only three players with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists, Barkley has career averages of 22.3 points and 11.7 rebounds. He ranks 13th on the all time scoring list with 23,757 points and 15th on the all time rebounding list with 12,546. All this from a man who was many times 6 inches shorter than the man he was guarding. The knock on Charles the last couple of years has been that he never won a championship. To that I say, neither has Ernie Banks or Karl Malone or Dan Marino or Ken Griffey, Jr. And Steve Kerr has more than one. Championships never has been and never will be a way to measure a player. Rudy said it best last night when he said Charles Barkley had the "heart of a champion" and it was only fitting that he end his career on the team that has come to epitomize the phrase. I have long been a fan of Hakeem Olajuwon. He is what brought me to the Rockets oh so many years ago. And although I rooted for him because he was on my team, I can honestly say I was never a fan of Sir Charles Barkley. But today, as I wake up with a heavy heart, I come to realize one thing. I am a fan, a fan of the best little man to ever play this game. Charles, thanks for the memories. You will be missed.
The problem with this thread is nobody can get the definition of mercenary correct. A mercenary is a role player that is acquired via free agency or trade and stays briefly for that team James Posey is the perfect example Anyone who's a major part of the team's offense and gets paid the highest salaries are not mercenaries. people that we draft like Dickerson, are not mercenaries because we drafted them Scottie Pippen, Barkley , those guys were there as main options Eddie Johnson was a mercenary
Tinman, do you love every ex-Rocket?? I agree with you about Charles as a player but his career as a commentator is less than stellar. I have never heard anyone so biased, specifically against the Rockets. If Les owes him money, then take it up with him like a man. Don't stab the backs an entire fan base, who showed him nothing but love despite him being over the hill and lacking the mental will to say no to crispy creme.
I think if you signed a multi-year contract with the Rockets, or were acquired with multiple years left on your deal, you are not a mercenary. So even if you stayed one season or less, you still might not be a mercenary. Kevin Willis signed for multiple years, and actually played here multiple years, so he wouldn't qualify. Don't remember the details around Eddie Johnson's acquisition.
well I think scottie and barkley are excellent definitions of my idea of a mercenary. they were highly paid. true. but they were never going to be rockets. barkley would never have walked into the hall as a rocket. nor would scottie. and at this point, I don't think artest would either. in my view there are several types of rockets: 1. the scrubs. chilly pete. luther head. bullard. the amigo. antoine carr. tree rollins. roderick rhodes. These are all guys that we really didn't expect much of. no matter how we acquired them or when they were always cogs in the system. 2. the major rockets. maxwell. dream. francis. even an ot. These were guys that were getting major minutes as a rocket, and to me were always defined as rockets. hakeem in another uni was weird. he would always be defined as a rocket. francis was honestly nothing other than a rocket to me. like him or hate him he is always going to be a rocket. Tmac defined himself in orlando, and we always refer to his orlando days, but he replaced the "franchise" and with a long term deal so he could be the franchise. he's a rocket, love it or hate it i think. 3. This is the mercenary category. pippen is the epitome. I just choose to forget he exists. he was a hired gun. what was supposed to be a big gun at that. barkley was never going to stay long. he was a hired assasin doing his last hurrah. he is not a rocket. james was a mercenary. he came for the money. that's it. rice. I'd put posey in here. bonzi was just trying to find any place to play as I recall. and artest is still in here.
check the ratings on TNT with Charles and without Charles. Charles has been correct about the Rockets in the playoffs every year. You can hate him for that or you can acknowledge he was right. Why does Charles have to be a homer? he rags on Phoenix too and he lives there. You think Phoenix fans are as 'sensitive' as Clutchfans?
you are absolutely wrong. you are defining him as a Mercenary because he only lasted one year, we signed him for a MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT. Let's say he doesn't demand a trade and plays out his contract, he would be here as long as Tmac. So what is Clyde Drexler? He played most of his career as a Blazer. is he a Mercenary too? In the real world, you hire mercenaries to do small jobs, you send in the Marines if you want to take over a country.
