Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 2:44 pm Post subject: Charles Barkley was almost traded to the Lakers
But the Sixers backed out. I wonder what Laker players were involved.
Quote:
Going back to his final seasons with Philadelphia, Barkley shared that he thought he got traded to the Lakers before the 76ers ultimately backed out of the deal, via NBA on TNT:
Quote:
“There’s one trade, I got traded to the Lakers. True story, I get a call one morning from my agent. ‘Hey, the Sixers finally pulled the trigger. I got traded to the Lakers.’ I’m like, ‘Damn, thank you. About time, I can’t wait.’ So, I get my friends together. We go to Friday’s on City Line Avenue, we get blasted. We get blasted, Ernie. I say, ‘Let’s meet at 12. I’m out of hell, I’m out purgatory.’ About 3 o’clock, my agent calls me, ‘The Sixers pulled out the deal.’ We got a game that night, I don’t remember the game. I can’t remember, I could fake it and come up with some number. I run home, take a quick power nap and I don’t even know what happened in the game. I was so mad, number one. But, that’s the weirdest trade situation I’ve ever been involved in. It’s a good one.”
LINK _________________ Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 2:48 pm Post subject: Re: Charles Barkley was almost traded to the Lakers
32 wrote:
But the Sixers backed out. I wonder what Laker players were involved.
Quote:
Going back to his final seasons with Philadelphia, Barkley shared that he thought he got traded to the Lakers before the 76ers ultimately backed out of the deal, via NBA on TNT:
Quote:
“There’s one trade, I got traded to the Lakers. True story, I get a call one morning from my agent. ‘Hey, the Sixers finally pulled the trigger. I got traded to the Lakers.’ I’m like, ‘Damn, thank you. About time, I can’t wait.’ So, I get my friends together. We go to Friday’s on City Line Avenue, we get blasted. We get blasted, Ernie. I say, ‘Let’s meet at 12. I’m out of hell, I’m out purgatory.’ About 3 o’clock, my agent calls me, ‘The Sixers pulled out the deal.’ We got a game that night, I don’t remember the game. I can’t remember, I could fake it and come up with some number. I run home, take a quick power nap and I don’t even know what happened in the game. I was so mad, number one. But, that’s the weirdest trade situation I’ve ever been involved in. It’s a good one.”
Barkley is to bitter towards the Lakers like a GF dumping you out of spite, maybe that’s why he holds a grudge towards the Lakers, seems like he knows that had he been traded here he probably ends up with a few titles
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 25407 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 2:49 pm Post subject:
I remember rumors in 1989, so I think Worthy would have been involved. Could not have been 92 when he was eventually traded to Phoenix, by then, Worthy didn't have much value. Same 1989 year, I heard rumors of Olajuwon. Now keep in mind, back in day, you read these rumors in print in the LA Times. LOL! _________________ "The game is MORE than just one player. Without Luka, DFS would have been more than enough to replace him based on what we've seen," LakersFever714, the greatest casual of all time.
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 25407 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 5:45 pm Post subject:
1995Lakers wrote:
This was trade deadline of 1992. The Lakers players going would have been James Worthy and Elden Campbell.
No wonder they pulled out. The Phoenix package wasn't much better accept for Jeff Hornacek. Maybe the other pieces had upside? I never understood why Barkley went for so little. _________________ "The game is MORE than just one player. Without Luka, DFS would have been more than enough to replace him based on what we've seen," LakersFever714, the greatest casual of all time.
This was trade deadline of 1992. The Lakers players going would have been James Worthy and Elden Campbell.
Man, props to West for almost getting that done. Iirc, he also had a trade lined up for Jason Kidd in exchange for Nick the Quick. Del Harris nixed that one because Kidd couldn’t shoot. I remember being happy as hell that fell through because Nicky V was my favorite Laker at the time. I loved that clutch mfer. But we would have been amazing with Kidd and Shaq and Kobe. He also almost nabbed Chris Webber for Eddie Jones because Webber didn’t want to play for Sac. Too bad Chris’ dad talked him out of demanding out by reminding him he was a professional with a contract.
But then he also almost traded Eddie for Tom Gugliotta, which would have been a disaster, until Minny pulled out (iirc). Proving even Jerry West had some swings that would have missed and that the Lakers were blessed. He encouraged the Clippers to pull the trigger on the PG trade to land Kawhi; Clippers didn’t have the same protection.
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 25407 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:14 pm Post subject:
mhan00 wrote:
1995Lakers wrote:
This was trade deadline of 1992. The Lakers players going would have been James Worthy and Elden Campbell.
Man, props to West for almost getting that done. Iirc, he also had a trade lined up for Jason Kidd in exchange for Nick the Quick. Del Harris nixed that one because Kidd couldn’t shoot. I remember being happy as hell that fell through because Nicky V was my favorite Laker at the time. I loved that clutch mfer. But we would have been amazing with Kidd and Shaq and Kobe. He also almost nabbed Chris Webber for Eddie Jones because Webber didn’t want to play for Sac. Too bad Chris’ dad talked him out of demanding out by reminding him he was a professional with a contract.
But then he also almost traded Eddie for Tom Gugliotta, which would have been a disaster, until Minny pulled out (iirc). Proving even Jerry West had some swings that would have missed and that the Lakers were blessed. He encouraged the Clippers to pull the trigger on the PG trade to land Kawhi; Clippers didn’t have the same protection.
I vaguely remember all these scenarios. How about getting T-Mac on draft night? The one I felt Jerry West was extremely lucky to get right was Worthy for Mark Aguirre and Roy Tarpley. He was wrong in terms of basketball because Aquirre wasn't chop liver and had been averaging even more points than Worthy. The prize of the package was Roy Tarpley, a do it all 7 footer who was already a monster, and was on the rise. West only got this right accidentally because Tarpley got a drug problem, and his career went south. Acquire, meanwhile, was traded to Detroit for Adrian Dantley and proved his worth in Detroit. Worthy was out of his prime in just a couple of seasons. Had Tarpley not had a drug problem, West would have regretted not making that deal cause Tarp would have gone on to do great things in the 90's.
Anyway, this just goes to show Twillter would have been the same back then as it is now. LOL! You hear all these things, most of them don't come true, just like today. Except, we hear rumors in real time now. It was a slow burn back then. _________________ "The game is MORE than just one player. Without Luka, DFS would have been more than enough to replace him based on what we've seen," LakersFever714, the greatest casual of all time.
Last edited by Runway8 on Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
At that time, Van Exel was a better player and fit than Kidd and Kidd was one half of the Oakland boys that got continuously torched by Van Exel. Gary Payton being Nicky's favorite whipping boy. That 1995 1st round series is one of the underrated upsets of all time. A 61-win team vs 40-win team by expected wins and Van Exel lit Payton and McMillan's asses on fire when those two WERE the best guard defenders in the game.
Trading Eddie for any of the rumored targets other than Webber would have been a disaster: Richmond, Kemp, McDyess, Gugliotta. But had the trade happened for any of these 4, Laker fans would have been ecstatic. I mean Richmond was the one SG who always went toe to toe with Jordan. No one could predict Kemp would get fat and Gugliotta/McDyess would run into injury problems.
Last edited by 1995Lakers on Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 25407 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:17 pm Post subject:
1995Lakers wrote:
At that time, Van Exel was a better player and fit than Kidd and Kidd was one half of the Oakland boys that got continuously torched by Van Exel. Gary Payton being Nicky's favorite whipping boy.
Trading Eddie for any of the rumored targets other than Webber would have been a disaster: Richmond, Kemp, McDyess, Gugliotta. But had the trade happened for any of these 4, Laker fans would have been ecstatic. I mean Richmond was the one SG who always went toe to toe with Jordan. No one could predict Kemp would get fat and Gugliotta/McDyess would run into injury problems.
But ultimately, it wasn't that great, right? Eddie and Elden for Rice? He didn't live up to his shooting and was already 33 yrs old looking for a big deal, which we were never going to give. Essentially a salary dump one year rental. We got a chip, but we would have gotten it with Eddie and Elden. _________________ "The game is MORE than just one player. Without Luka, DFS would have been more than enough to replace him based on what we've seen," LakersFever714, the greatest casual of all time.
At that time, Van Exel was a better player and fit than Kidd and Kidd was one half of the Oakland boys that got continuously torched by Van Exel. Gary Payton being Nicky's favorite whipping boy.
Trading Eddie for any of the rumored targets other than Webber would have been a disaster: Richmond, Kemp, McDyess, Gugliotta. But had the trade happened for any of these 4, Laker fans would have been ecstatic. I mean Richmond was the one SG who always went toe to toe with Jordan. No one could predict Kemp would get fat and Gugliotta/McDyess would run into injury problems.
But ultimately, it wasn't that great, right? Eddie and Elden for Rice? He didn't live up to his shooting and was already 33 yrs old looking for a big deal, which we were never going to give. Essentially a salary dump one year rental. We got a chip, but we would have gotten it with Eddie and Elden.
If Jerry Buss wasnt a cheap owner, we would have 4-peated with Elden, Nick and Eddie. The missing ingredients on the 2003 squad were exactly these 3
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 25407 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 6:28 pm Post subject:
1995Lakers wrote:
Runway8 wrote:
1995Lakers wrote:
At that time, Van Exel was a better player and fit than Kidd and Kidd was one half of the Oakland boys that got continuously torched by Van Exel. Gary Payton being Nicky's favorite whipping boy.
Trading Eddie for any of the rumored targets other than Webber would have been a disaster: Richmond, Kemp, McDyess, Gugliotta. But had the trade happened for any of these 4, Laker fans would have been ecstatic. I mean Richmond was the one SG who always went toe to toe with Jordan. No one could predict Kemp would get fat and Gugliotta/McDyess would run into injury problems.
But ultimately, it wasn't that great, right? Eddie and Elden for Rice? He didn't live up to his shooting and was already 33 yrs old looking for a big deal, which we were never going to give. Essentially a salary dump one year rental. We got a chip, but we would have gotten it with Eddie and Elden.
If Jerry Buss wasnt a cheap owner, we would have 4-peated with Elden, Nick and Eddie. The missing ingredients on the 2003 squad were exactly these 3
I don't hear fellow fans admit this, but you're absolutely right. I don't remember the cap rules back then, but I've always felt they did the bare minimum for Kobe and Shaq. Ron Harper, B. Shaw, etc. Guys we look back with fondness due to nostalgia, but honestly, they sucked. LOL! Kobe, Shaq and the merry men of minimum as Mark Cuban put it. The fact that they won three in a row is a testament to Shaq and Kobe's greatness. If not for luck, they only have the 2001 chip to show for it. Luck played major roll in the game 7 comeback against Portland in 2000, and luck played a major role in Vlade tipping ball out to Horry in 2002. I've always thought, things didn't have to be that close with a better supporting cast. Horry, Fish, Shaw, etc... they get to hit clutch shots, well, they were part of the reasons why the games were close in the first place. Which drives me nuts when some fans say these guys are greater Lakers than Lebron or AD. LOL! _________________ "The game is MORE than just one player. Without Luka, DFS would have been more than enough to replace him based on what we've seen," LakersFever714, the greatest casual of all time.
This was trade deadline of 1992. The Lakers players going would have been James Worthy and Elden Campbell.
Man, props to West for almost getting that done. Iirc, he also had a trade lined up for Jason Kidd in exchange for Nick the Quick. Del Harris nixed that one because Kidd couldn’t shoot. I remember being happy as hell that fell through because Nicky V was my favorite Laker at the time. I loved that clutch mfer. But we would have been amazing with Kidd and Shaq and Kobe. He also almost nabbed Chris Webber for Eddie Jones because Webber didn’t want to play for Sac. Too bad Chris’ dad talked him out of demanding out by reminding him he was a professional with a contract.
But then he also almost traded Eddie for Tom Gugliotta, which would have been a disaster, until Minny pulled out (iirc). Proving even Jerry West had some swings that would have missed and that the Lakers were blessed. He encouraged the Clippers to pull the trigger on the PG trade to land Kawhi; Clippers didn’t have the same protection.
I vaguely remember all these scenarios. How about getting T-Mac on draft night? The one I felt Jerry West was extremely lucky to get right was Worthy for Mark Aguirre and Roy Tarpley. He was wrong in terms of basketball because Aquirre wasn't chop liver and had been averaging even more points than Worthy. The prize of the package was Roy Tarpley, a do it all 7 footer who was already a monster, and was on the rise. West only got this right accidentally because Tarpley got a drug problem, and his career went south. Acquire, meanwhile, was traded to Detroit for Adrian Dantley and proved his worth in Detroit. Worthy was out of his prime in just a couple of seasons. Had Tarpley not had a drug problem, West would have regretted not making that deal cause Tarp would have gone on to do great things in the 90's.
Anyway, this just goes to show Twillter would have been the same back then as it is now. LOL! You hear all these things, most of them don't come true, just like today. Except, we hear rumors in real time now. It was a slow burn back then.
Actually it was Dr. Buss that set up the Worthy for Aquirre & Tarpley trade, then the story was West threaten to quit if he had to make the deal.
If Jerry Buss wasnt a cheap owner, we would have 4-peated with Elden, Nick and Eddie. The missing ingredients on the 2003 squad were exactly these 3
I don't hear fellow fans admit this, but you're absolutely right. I don't remember the cap rules back then, but I've always felt they did the bare minimum for Kobe and Shaq. Ron Harper, B. Shaw, etc. Guys we look back with fondness due to nostalgia, but honestly, they sucked. LOL! Kobe, Shaq and the merry men of minimum as Mark Cuban put it. The fact that they won three in a row is a testament to Shaq and Kobe's greatness. If not for luck, they only have the 2001 chip to show for it. Luck played major roll in the game 7 comeback against Portland in 2000, and luck played a major role in Vlade tipping ball out to Horry in 2002. I've always thought, things didn't have to be that close with a better supporting cast. Horry, Fish, Shaw, etc... they get to hit clutch shots, well, they were part of the reasons why the games were close in the first place. Which drives me nuts when some fans say these guys are greater Lakers than Lebron or AD. LOL![/quote]
I agree with that. But the problem was after the Cancun thing, I think they felt like they needed to trade Nick. They didn't get great value for him considering he was an all-star. I also like Elden, I know he got a lot of heat from Lakers fans, but he was a solid defender and rebounder, who could also manufacture points.
The main thing I really hate that we didn't get to see though was a prime Kobe paired with Nick. That backcourt would have been tall, athletic, and including two of the best defenders in the league.
Crazy thing is Tarpley would have been equal to Worthy by himself and you add Aguirre who was a 8.5 if Worthy was a 9???? West was lucky indeed. Roy Tarpley would have been a top 5 PF in his prime just behind Barkley and Malone and in the caliber of guys like Kemp and Coleman and ahead of Oakley and Horace Grant.
AC Green was a very good power forward but the difference between him and Tarpley was like night and day. Smaller gap between Tarpley and Malone/Barkley than between Tarpley and Green
Last edited by 1995Lakers on Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:25 pm; edited 1 time in total
This was trade deadline of 1992. The Lakers players going would have been James Worthy and Elden Campbell.
Man, props to West for almost getting that done. Iirc, he also had a trade lined up for Jason Kidd in exchange for Nick the Quick. Del Harris nixed that one because Kidd couldn’t shoot. I remember being happy as hell that fell through because Nicky V was my favorite Laker at the time. I loved that clutch mfer. But we would have been amazing with Kidd and Shaq and Kobe. He also almost nabbed Chris Webber for Eddie Jones because Webber didn’t want to play for Sac. Too bad Chris’ dad talked him out of demanding out by reminding him he was a professional with a contract.
But then he also almost traded Eddie for Tom Gugliotta, which would have been a disaster, until Minny pulled out (iirc). Proving even Jerry West had some swings that would have missed and that the Lakers were blessed. He encouraged the Clippers to pull the trigger on the PG trade to land Kawhi; Clippers didn’t have the same protection.
He (West) also had one lined up for Tracy McGrady which would have moved Eddie Jones as West wanted to pair McGrady with Shaq and Kobe. Del Harris nixed that one too. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Took 27 years to get a real talented PG if you count NVE or 34 years to replace the void of Magic.
Love me Big Game but damn Prime Barkley in the fold would've been lit but off course no Shaq if Chuck is on the roster in '96.
Actually thats one of the big what ifs because with Barkley's salary and what Shaq came for, Shaq absolutely would have fit in the 1996 cap structure with Barkley. The problem is the Lakers would have been too good to draft Eddie Jones in the 1994 draft. Van Exel, they might have taken with a late first rounder. We likely would not have gotten Peeler either in the 1992 draft since our draft pick would have come later.....but if we were lucky we would have drafted Sprewell instead.
Last edited by 1995Lakers on Tue Mar 04, 2025 11:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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