People remember how absorbing Sir Charles was as a player, both for his controversial antics on and off the court,  his short stature and his versatility, he had game.  For the 1992-93 season Barkley was traded from Philadelphia 76ers to the Phoenix Suns and immediately turned his new team into a title contender, he averaged 25.6 points, 5.1 assists and 12.2 rebounds per game on his way his first and only MVP award, so I became a big fan of Sir Charles that year.  It was hard not to become a Suns fan though, the team doned the new “streaking sun” logo on the uniform which has become a classic throwback jersey item today.  It was the first time I had seen a deep 3-point shooter in Thunder Dan Majerle, a very quick have no fear attitude drive to the hole Kevin Johnson, the feisty veteran Danny Ainge and a young Cedric Ceballos.  This team for me was exciting to watch, especially Barkley.  As a power forward he was a dominant force in the paint with his rebounding and defence but he also had a 3-point shot and could handle the ball.  I was all in for the Suns as if I lived in the state of Arizona, like Auckland and Blues rugby the Suns were my team.  The Suns held the best record in the regular season, I watched them go through the western conference playoffs sending the Lakers, Spurs and Seattle Supersonics to their summer holidays early and so by tipoff in game one of the NBA Finals... I was a believer.  Michael Jordan would say otherwise, Chuck may have the MVP award but it's the championship ring that matters and so the Bulls went on to win the series culminating in the game winning 3-point shot by John Paxton in game six. (only one of two players in the Bulls to score in that entire 4th quarter, Jordan was the other)  That loss hurt, it hurts like a New South Welshman amongst Queensland's 8 year State of Origin dominance (12 if you include NSWs win in 2014) as an Auckland Rugby supporter the Chicago Bulls became my Canterbury Crusaders.  The following 1993-94 NBA season Jordan retired and the Bulls were eliminated by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.  The Phoenix Suns were also removed from the playoffs in the Western Conference Semifinals by the Houston Rockets so after that, I Thought there was no reason to watch the rest of the playoffs, but the best was yet to come, and that best was the 1994 Eastern Conference Final between the Indiana Pacers vs the New York Knickerbockers.