Review of "Barkley"

As one who has always admired Charles Barkley, whether on or off the basketball court, I was very excited to pick up this book.  It was quite good.  Here is my review of Timothy Bella's biography of Barkley.

Title/Author:

“Barkley: A Biography” by Tim Bella

Rating: 

4 of 5 stars (very good)

Review:

Whether one is familiar with Charles Barkley as a basketball player or as a broadcaster for TNT’s coverage of the NBA, he is sure to be entertaining and possibly controversial, but always refreshingly honest.  Those traits are on full display in this very good biography of Barkley by Tim Bella.

The amount of material on Barkley, even without the direct participation by the subject, that was obtained by Bella through research and interviews was amazing. The sections on Barkley’s childhood and youth was especially impressive given these limitations.  From those beginnings, a reader will see why Barkley became the person he did, given the strength and guidance he received from his mother and grandmother.  Like many other biographies of Black athletes, sadly Barkley had to grow up in Leeds, Alabama without a father figure in his life, but he was able to discover basketball to not only avoid crime, but also to eventually earn a college scholarship to Auburn University.

While at Auburn, not only did Barkley become a superstar college player and make the War Eagles noticed in the basketball world as well as football, but it was also here when his weight was as big a story as his scoring or rebounding. His appetite for fast food seemed to be as big as his thunderous dunks and it was always a source of contention for coaches and the press, from high school to the NBA.  Some of the anecdotes about this aspect of Barkley’s personality are hilarious, some are dead serious, but all are important to understanding the type of person Bella is portraying. 

The same goes for Barkley’s many controversial statements and incidents.  The most famous, and the one that Bella explores in depth, is the Nike commercial in which Barkley declares that he is not a role model.  Bella does an excellent job of covering all aspects of this topic, as both supporters and detractors of this statement are interviewed. The same type of balanced writing is present in Barkley’s other issues, such as when he meant to spit at a heckler while playing for the 76ers, but instead it landed on an 8-year-old girl.  That incident, and Barkley’s reaction and treatment of the young girl well into adulthood for her, showed the gentler side of Barkley, which Bella also portrays well.

Of course, there is Barkley’s time on the basketball court and his time with three teams.  It was in Philadelphia where his NBA fame started and grew with the 76ers.  When he wanted out of the City of Brotherly Love, he won even more accolades, including being named the MVP of the NBA while leading the Phoenix Suns into the NBA Finals in 1993. The Suns fell short of winning a championship and while they were still a formidable team, they never reached the Finals again during Barkley’s time there, which ended in 1996 when he was traded to the Houston Rockets for one last shot at a title, that didn’t happen.  He was forced to retire due to injuries, playing his last game in 2000. This is the heart of Bella’s writing and there is a great deal of detail on Barkley’s time with all three teams as well as his college career with Auburn and both Olympic teams Barkley was a part of while a professional player.  The Dream Team of 1992 is covered as well as the 1996 team that also won a gold medal.  Whatever portion of Barkley’s basketball career a reader wants to know about, he or she is sure to find new material in this book.

While I generally enjoy this level of detail about the sport in any type of book, here it was so detailed that it made the story of Barkley’s life slow down and at times I wasn’t sure which season was being described, especially during his time with the Suns and Rockets.  It is still the most complete book on Charles Barkley that one can read right now, even more than his two memoirs.  This is recommended for all Barkley fans.

I wish to thank Hanover Square Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Link: Barkley: A Biography: Bella, Timothy: 9781335484970: Amazon.com: Books