You saw my videos with former Rockets Robert Horry and Sam Cassell from earlier today in the post before this. Great, great stuff from those guys and always surreal hearing them talk about those glory days. I remember being an 11 year old kid and having my world shattered when that ’96 team got swept by the Sonics to end the title run. I still hate Gary Payton.
Horry and Cassell’s disbelief regarding the move is natural and to be expected. But to this day, I still think the Barkley trade was the right move. It did what it was designed to do – it got us past Seattle. Without Barkley, we don’t get past Seattle. Charles was a man possessed in that series. And my contention has always been that after Brent Price went down, had Houston picked up either Kevin Johnson or Tim Hardaway–guys alleged to have been waiting by their phones–they would have advanced to the Finals. Neither KJ nor Hardaway were defensive stoppers. But either legend would have been wily enough to at least not be completely torched by John Stockton in the 4th quarter of Game 6, as Matt Maloney was.
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