On this day in Alabama history: Charles Barkley was born in Leeds
Charles Barkley, right, appears with fellow "Inside the NBA" team members, from left, Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith in Las Vegas last month. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
February 20, 1963
Basketball superstar Charles Barkley was born in Leeds. Known as “Sir Charles” and “the Round Mound of Rebound,” Barkley won the SEC Player of the Year in 1984 as he led Auburn University to its first NCAA Tournament appearance. Barkley earned 11 NBA All-Star Game appearances in his 16-year career as a power forward, earned the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1993, and won two Olympic gold medals (both as the team’s top scorer). Often at the center of controversy, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 and now works as an NBA analyst for TNT.
Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Charles Barkley, 1991. (Wikimedia, Steve Lipofsky, Baseketballphoto.com)
For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.
