The Phoenix Suns were down 2-0 in the 1993 NBA finals against the Chicago Bulls after losing Game 2 111-108. But things looked even worse after Charles Barkley, the reigning league MVP, found himself in danger of missing Game 3 in the Windy City after fluid filled the bursa sac in his swollen right elbow.
With their season on the line, Barkley went against his doctors’ advice and decided to play. The injury was severe, the risk was real, but he wasn’t about to watch his team fight for survival from the sidelines.
“I could barely walk that morning,” Barkley said, as reported by the Associated Press (H/T: Jeramie McPeek of Suns.com). “The doctors went in there, sewed my arm on. It was ripped off in a tractor-trailer accident. They sewed my arm on, I could barely lift it above my knee.”
“By game time, I was able to get those rebounds and score those points. I talked the doctor into letting me play. He wasn’t going to let me. He said, Charles, you can’t go, you just can’t go.’ I said, ‘But doctor, I’ve got to go. We’re down two-zip. Please, doc, please.’ But he said no until I started screaming and crying,” he added.
Even with his body failing him, Barkley toughed it out and looked to compete. After all, without his presence, the Suns had no chance of beating Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the rest of the Bulls roster.
The best basketball game Barkley ever played in
At his peak, Barkley was an unstoppable scorer who made offense look effortless. He played at a superstar level for years, where double-doubles were more the rule than the exception.
Just several days before the 1993 finals, Barkley dropped 44 points and grabbed 24 rebounds to eliminate the Seattle SuperSonics in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. He hit 12 of his 20 field goal attempts and swished 19 of his 22 free throw shots.
However, for Barkley, none of that compared to the Herculean effort he showed in Game 3 of the 1993 finals. His courageous stand resulted in the first Phoenix win of the series as he scored 24 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, in a game that required three extra sessions to get settled.
“The greatest basketball game I’ve ever played in,” he said after playing 53 minutes in the triple-overtime classic.
It was just the second triple-overtime game in NBA finals history, and Barkley and the gang were privileged to emerge as the victors. Suns point guard Kevin Johnson played 62 of the possible 63 minutes, while Dan Majerle paced Phoenix with 28, hitting 6-of-8 from deep.
Barkley made history in Game 4
Still nursing a painful elbow injury, Barkley was forced to change his approach for Game 4. He vowed not to swing a golf club and shoot a basketball for a couple of days to rest his already heavily-wrapped joint.
True enough, Game 4 turned out to be another classic for the Suns superstar. He gave his team a chance to avoid a 3-1 hole, scoring four points in the final minutes of the fourth period to inch closer to the Bulls, 106-104.
A botched fastbreak attempt and a tough Jordan 3-point play ultimately dashed the Suns’ hopes. There was plenty of blame to go around, but nobody could fault Barkley’s efforts — he mustered a 32-point triple-double.
Even though Barkley and the Suns lost the series, his decision to play in Game 3 and the rest of the series remains one of the defining moments of his career. He risked suffering permanent damage to his elbow, but played anyway. The fact that he suited up when the odds said he shouldn’t says a lot about his character.