Word: barkleys
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...have been anticipating all season, the collision of immovable force and irresistible object will be more reverberant than ever before. For despite the presence of two dozen redwoods in uniforms, the cameras, our eyes and endorsement makers will be focused on a clash of shaven- headed close friends: Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. On paper, the league's Most Valuable Player this season vs. the greatest player in the sport. In practice, a bowling ball of a man who hurtles downcourt at top speed, knocking down everything in his path, against the coolest bird around, who has a part-time...
...postcard-perfect contrast extends far beyond the court, however. Barkley, as he solemnly intones in a controversial new television commercial (he wears controversy like a second skin), is "not a role model." He is "paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court." And off. Barkley's charm -- and his curse -- is to be as free and spontaneous with his mind as with his body, and to throw off wisecracks and elbows in a barrage of no-nonsense, forward-driven bursts of speed that threaten always to whirl out of control. At the Olympic Games last year, one of the most...
...amount the star says is "preposterous." As a result of such publicity, Jordan is a man who is guarded everywhere except on court. He has to shop in stores when they are closed, to stay away from streets, to talk only with the trusted likes of people such as Barkley. His checks written to a convicted criminal, and his no-show at a White House reception, are regarded with more wonder than his grace. Only on court, it sometimes seems, is he able to be himself: relaxed, free and utterly open...
...Barkley's burden, then, is that he cannot be other than himself ("That's Charles just being Charles" is the rueful and affectionate comment of those around him), Jordan's is that he cannot be other than immortal. Barkley reminds us again and again that he is not sufficiently recognized; Jordan doubtless feels that he is recognized too much. Barkley, in fact, seems not so different from the laughing and imprudent rest of us. The new Sun, you could say, is a hero because he is so human -- overweight, gregarious, hotheaded, a 6-ft. 5-in. man who, through willpower...
...championship series is, of course, more than just a clash of titans. Barkley, for example, is attended by his equally spherical protege, Oliver Miller, an eager rookie who might have been deemed too fat for the league before Barkley redefined the limits of flesh; Jordan's constant partner is the silken Scottie Pippen, who might have been regarded as one of the kings of the game were he not in the company of royalty. The Suns' coach, Paul Westphal, is a serious, articulate Christian, a poster boy for Sun Belt conservatism; his opposite number on the Bulls, Phil Jackson...