When I was 10 years old, I played a game called NBA Jam in the arcade at the indoor soccer arena where I played my weekly games. I had so much fun, and my favorite team was the Phoenix Suns. You were the best!

My friend Jeffrey received the Super Nintendo edition of NBA Jam for his birthday and we played it all the time. He was always the Orlando Magic, and I always played as the Phoenix Suns. You and Kevin Johnson were a great team. Your lack of quickness was balanced out by KJ's speed, and his lack of power was evened out with your supreme dunkability. "Boomshakalaka!" was often heard when you had a thunderous jam.

One day my friend Michael and I were watching the news when we heard NBA Jam was removing you from the game and replacing you with Dan Majerle. Apparently you had your own basketball game coming out and because of that, you could no longer be in NBA Jam. Michael nor I had an NBA Jam cartridge of our own, only Jeffrey had one. Not wanting to miss out on our favorite player in our favorite game, we each decided to ask our parents to buy us the game before the new Sir Charles-less version came out.

Our strategies greatly differed, and that made all the difference in which one of us would persuade our parents to purchase this game. Michael begged his mother, and when he received an immediate "No," he broke down. He was a mess. Tears everywhere. His mother remained persistent. Meanwhile, I had asked my parents the same, but when my request was at first denied, I decided to sweeten the deal for them. Not only would I pay them back by forgoing my weekly allowance, but I would volunteer to take on additional chores around the house. Impressed with my understanding of the concepts of debt and interest, they took me to Toys R Us to purchase the game for me.

When I got home, Michael and I excitedly opened the package and placed the valued Genesis cartridge in the console. When we reached the team select screen and I saw your face on the screen, it was a moment of pure bliss.

To this day I have never played your game Shut Up and Jam, Charles, but thank you for indirectly teaching me financial responsibility.

Charles Barkley was banned for "unbecoming conduct."

he believed in Magic too much.

Charles, we miss you. wherever you are...

What happened to that boy?

diabeetus

am i on mecca's block list? if so, he won't know that i was charles barkley and Carolina Vedder

i am not familiar with that poster

this must have happened early this morning right after i went to bed. which sucks.

is that what passing gas looks like?

that's me posting in the wrong thread.

that is a fucking hard pill to swallow. i'm taking the night off from the boards.

sorry guys.

-reid-

*dunks tsunami in butter*

wow. i read that and it sounded like a kyle post.

hence the irony.

great post, flavdave. i recall the barkley-majerle swap as if it were yesterday.

Robinson-Rodman
Kemp-Schrempf
Mourning-Johnson
Olajuwan-Thorpe

BOING