Charles Barkley wishes Suns never traded him to Rockets

Houston, we had a problem.

Charles Barkley, who spent the final four seasons of his Hall of Fame NBA career in Houston, never wanted to be a Rocket.

On Monday, he told Dan Patrick he’d hoped to finish his career as a Phoenix Sun, where he won the 1993 Most Valuable Player award.

“I wish the Suns had never traded me to Houston,” Barkley said on The Dan Patrick Show.

Sir Charles told Patrick that a friend in the Rockets organization called to ask him if he would ask for a new contract if Houston traded for him. Barkley thought the question was absurd because he was happy in Phoenix and there was no way (in his mind) the Suns would deal their best player.

As Barkley tells it, days after the Suns told Barkley they weren’t considering trading him to Houston, he was, in fact, sent to Houston.

In exchange for Barkley, the Suns received Sam Cassell, Robert Horry, Chucky Brown and Mark Bryant.

It was a mega deal for both teams, but one that Barkley wishes never came to fruition.

“I wanted to finish my career in Phoenix,” said Barkley. “All I wanted was a chance to win. I had four years (in Phoenix). We lost to the Bulls (in the NBA Finals). Then we lost to the Rockets in seven games.

“One of our teams was gonna win a championship. We were the best two teams. We lost to (the Rockets) in seven games both times. I was happy with my career. I wanted to just finish it out (in Phoenix) ’cause I knew my body was starting to give out.”

Instead, he finished his NBA journey with a couple productive seasons in Houston, some disappointment and, eventually, a ruptured quad that essentially ended his playing career.

“I played good my first two years. My last two years I sucked as a player,” Barkley recalled.

Despite perceiving himself as a player that “sucked,” Barkley still averaged double-doubles in all four of his seasons with Houston. It was seemingly the rest of his Rockets teammates that never quite took off.