Written by Austin Kent
There's a good chance Charles Barkley is the most underrated player in international basketball history. On arguably the greatest team ever assembled, it was Barkley who stood out as the 1992 U.S. Dream Team's leading scorer. Yet his legend pales in comparison to that of teammates Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. As the Americans pounded their way through the field of Olympic competition for their first of three extremely overwhelming gold medals spanning from 1992-2000, Sir Charles led the way with averages of 18.0 points per game and 71 percent from the field.
Barkley would follow up his impressive showing in 1992 with another stellar year in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Here, Barkley once again led another crop of the NBA's best in international competition in both scoring and field goal percentage. The latter of which, at a mind-numbing 81.6 percent, which is an Olympic record for Team USA. During his equally illustrious pro career Charles Barkley suited up for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, and Houston Rockets. In 1996 Charles Barkley was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players and in 2006 was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
These days Barkley can be seen making fun of Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith as a TNT basketball studio analyst.
