On this day in Alabama history: Charles Barkley suffered career-ending injury

December 8, 1999

Leeds native Charles Barkley had intended to retire from the Houston Rockets at the end of the 1999 basketball season. Instead, his 16-year career ended abruptly when Barkley moved in to block a shot during the Rockets-Sixers game on Dec. 8, 1999, which was still early in the basketball season. Barkley ruptured his quadriceps tendon – the connective tissue from the thigh to the kneecap – in his left knee. Doctors told Barkley that he’d need surgery and at least six months of rehabilitation to recover. He was carried off the court and put in an immobilizing brace that extended up his thigh. Barkley was upset to hear that he’d played his last NBA game. He’d intended to make the game the first big stop of his extended farewell tour. Though Barkley never won an NBA championship, he joined Wilt Chamberlain in achieving 23,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Barkley’s mother and grandmother had been flown in from Alabama to see the game. Both were escorted into the locker room after Barkley was injured, as he absorbed the unfortunate news about his knee. After a few minutes, Barkley hobbled back to the Rockets bench to watch the rest of the game. The crowd gave Barkley an enormous ovation as the final seconds ticked off the clock, with the Sixers beating Rockets, 83-73.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Charles Barkley attended Auburn University in the early 1980s, playing for the basketball team and earning the Southeastern Conference’s Player of the Year in 1984. Although he played only three seasons for the Tigers, he is the school’s seventh leading rebounder and is listed among Auburn’s top 20 scorers with 1,183 points. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Auburn University)

Charles Barkley was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Decade for the 1980s by the Birmingham Post-Herald. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Auburn University)

Charles Barkley (1963- ) gained fame in the 1980s and 1990s as an NBA basketball player and continues to contribute to the game through analysis and commentary. He played three seasons for the Auburn University Tigers before entering the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984. Barkley’s NBA career spanned 16 seasons and included numerous All-Star appearances, league Most Valuable Player honors for the 1992-93 season and an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996. Barkley’s number 34 was retired by Auburn University during a ceremony on March 3, 2001. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Auburn University)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.