Former basketball player and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is one of Alabama’s most recognizable sports stars. Nicknamed “the Round Mound of Rebound” and “Sir Charles,” the Leeds native had a remarkable basketball career with the Auburn University Tigers before embarking on a career in the NBA. Barkley also played for the U.S. Olympic basketball team in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Games. Since his retirement in 2000, Barkley has carved out a niche as a basketball analyst, author, and commentator on political and social issues. Since 2001, Auburn University, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Phoenix Suns have retired Barkley’s number 34 jersey. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Photos courtesy of: Alamy, Getty Images