Charles Barkley had quite a year in 1993, the same season he was hailed as the regular-season Most Valuable Player. However, that time didn't come with controversies; one involved pop star Madonna.
Sir Charles was being romantically linked to Madonna back then, something that the Phoenix Suns star denied. In fact, he revealed that he met the pop music star only once, when they had dinner . Other than that, there was nothing more.
Barkley was likely referring to the dinner at which Madonna was spotted at courtside alongside comedian Arsenio Hall and Rosie O'Donnell. The Suns were playing the Los Angeles Lakers at the time.
Hall explained that it was sort of an unannounced double date. His date was O'Donnell, while Barkley was Madonna's date per GQ .
Unwanted distraction
This was happening as the Suns were preparing to face the Chicago Bulls in the 1993 Finals. Media people still pestered Barkley with Madonna questions, which was already getting annoying. Finally, the Auburn product spoke up and tried to tilt things in his favor.
"There's nothing going on between me and Madonna. But, hey, I'm going to be getting more publicity than she's going to get. I'm going to be on NBC at least four times in the next two weeks," the 5th overall pick of the 1984 Draft stated via UPI.
Barkley was already married to Maureen Blumhardt. The rumors put their relationship to the test, although they also affected family members. One of them was Charles' mother-in-law, who suffered a heart attack from the allegations.
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Staying focused
Despite these unfortunate distractions, Barkley managed to maintain his focus. He was the main man for the Suns against the Bulls, averaging 27.3 points and 13.0 rebounds in that series.
The effort was simply not enough, especially with Michael Jordan scorching offensively and Scottie Pippen providing help. The closest the Chuckster had to getting help were Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle. But their production was not enough to help Charles and the Suns, who lost in six games to the Bulls.
Regardless, the All-Star forward lauded his teammates for their effort in that game. He pointed out that the outcome could have been different had it not been for John Paxson's clutch shot.
That 1993 Finals was Barkley's closest attempt at winning an NBA title. He almost had another chance with the Houston Rockets in the 1997 playoffs.
However, despite the presence of Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, Houston would lose to the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference final. Barkley would fade through the years as injuries mounted. By 1999, he would call it a career – sadly without an NBA ring to show.
Related: "When I finally decide to retire, I'm retired for good" - When Charles Barkley revealed the hard truth about when his NBA career would end
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