The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the biggest franchises in the NBA. Over the years, many superstars have donned the iconic Purple & Gold jersey of the franchise. Be it Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James, playing for the Lakers is a dream for most NBA superstars.
While almost every player in the NBA would love to play for the Lakers, not everyone’s dream of doing so gets fulfilled.
But NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley’s dream briefly came true back in 1992. Yes, Chuck was an L.A. Lakers player for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers pulled the plug on that deal and backed out of that trade at the very last moment.
Barkley discussed his feelings during the incident back in 2018 on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. He revealed he and his friends had already started celebrating the trade, which broke down in a matter of hours.
(Starts at 2:58)
“Yes, I actually got traded to the Lakers. So I get a call from my agent one morning and he says, ‘I think we got a deal. You’re going to the Lakers.’ And I was so excited. So me and my boys went to celebrate, started getting drunk in the middle of the day. I was so excited. My agent called me back about 3 hours later. He said the Sixers pulled out of the deal, and there was a game that night. I don’t remember anything about that game! First off, I was so pi**ed, but I was so drunk too. I have no idea what happened that game, I do not even remember the game actually. Like I can remember a lot of games that I’ve played, but that day I was so excited I was getting out of Philadelphia. And I was blasted. We were doing shots and everything.”
At that point in his career, Chuck was 28-years-old and was actively looking to start the next chapter.
Well, he did get out of Philadelphia, but not as a player for the L.A. Lakers. Instead, he later joined the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, Chuck failed to win an NBA Championship in his career, despite trying desperately over the course of his lengthy career in the league.
