Charles Barkley stayed in the MVP conversation constantly during his career despite winning it just once in 1993. And there's another season where Barkley thought he deserved the award that eventually went to Magic Johnson. Surprisingly, the former Suns forward still hasn't moved on from that incident.

Barkley had this experience in 1990, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers. The 63-year-old amassed remarkable numbers, averaging 25.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, and a career-best 60 % shooting from the field. In this season, he also made the All-Star selection for the fourth time this season, along with making it to the All-NBA squad for the third consecutive time.  

Barkley revisited being snubbed from the MVP award during his appearance on a recent episode of the SiriusXM NBA Radio podcast. He expressed his disregard for the decision, saying, “I should have been MVP that year. I came second to Magic Johnson. That was probably my best year. I’ve always been bitter about the MVP thing."

Barkley delved even deeper into the issue and tried to justify his opinion, highlighting the number of votes he had received.

He said, “I got the most first-place votes, and I didn’t get any votes anymore. I was like, ‘Wait a minute now. You’ve got to put me first or second,” the Philadelphia 76ers legend said. “That’s why I get mad at reports sometimes because you’ve got to take your personal feelings out of conversations.”

In the 1990’s MVP voting, Barkley received 38 first-place votes, 11 more than Johnson. Since 1980-81, the MVP voting was shifted from players to the media, instead of players. Barkley received 614 points out of 920, and Magic received 636 points.

Comparing Magic Johnson's and Charles Barkley’s 1989-90 season

Magic Johnson’s Showtime Lakers dominated most of the 1980s NBA basketball, winning five titles. Johnson took ‌the Lakers to a new height, marking himself as the best player in the world before Michael Jordan entered his prime. 

The 1989-90 MVP was Johnson’s third and the last MVP of his career. During that season, he averaged 22.3 points, 6.6 assists, 11.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 79 games. He also led the Lakers to the top of the Western Conference with the best winning record (63-19) in the league. 

During the same season, Barkley averaged 25.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. He led the NBA in offensive rebounding for the third time in his career. The Sixers finished third in the East. Both the Lakers and the Sixers exited ‌the playoffs in the second round. 

Do you think Charles Barkley deserved the award over Magic in 1990? Let us know in the comments.

Written by

Nandjee Ranjan

Edited by

Souvik Roy