And with that, after hearing himself praised by his coach as the bearer of a "heart of a champion," after being presented with a recliner by his teammates large enough to accommodate the girth of a rear end that his wife, Maureen, calls "the size of New Jersey," Barkley retired at age 37. Over the years, he'd transcended sports in a way few others have; part raconteur, part provocateur, the bigness of his persona often overshadowing just how singular a talent he was on the court. There, he was a perennial All-Star, a former league MVP, one of only four players (Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone are the others) to have amassed more than 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

What's so startling about the numbers is another number: his height of 6-foot-4. Though nearly a foot shorter than the bruising behemoths he battled under the boards, Barkley often dominated thanks to effort and will. Always a braggart in the showy style of his hero, Muhammad Ali, it was the incongruity between his style of play and his height that once led Barkley to declare himself "the ninth wonder of the world."

Off the court, where he spun quotes and welcomed controversy, Barkley was arguably the most interesting and influential athlete of his time -- maybe since Ali. While others packaged themselves as though they were just another product to be hawked in America's ever-burgeoning commodity culture, Barkley eschewed marketing for authenticity, giving rise to a whole generation of athletes -- the hip-hoppers -- for whom the ethic of "keeping it real" has become a mantra.

In recent years, Barkley has ruminated publicly about one day running for governor of his home state of Alabama. Yet, when I saw him last year, such grandiose plans were far from his mind. He was typically candid when asked what he was going to do when that April night finally arrived and his career came to a close. "I want to learn to play the piano, finish college and get really, really, really fat," he'd said.

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