Phoenix jeopardized its nice-guy image and gave up three starters to acquire outspoken Charles Barkley from Philadelphia.
"I quit too early," said former Suns coach Cotton Fitzsimmons on Wednesday at a news conference to announce the trade of Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry and Andrew Lang to the 76ers for Barkley."Charles is just an exceptional player, and he's a fun guy," added Fitzsimmons, who quit coaching April 23 to join the front office. "He says his piece and then goes on with his life. He is a take-charge kind of guy."
Phoenix won over 50 games in each of Fitzsimmons' last four seasons but was eliminated in the Western Conference playoff finals in 1989 and 1990, in the first round in 1991 and in the second round this year.
The knock each time was that the Suns weren't tough enough for the playoffs. Bring on Barkley.
"He'll bring toughness and a higher level of competition to our team, things that we've kind of wished we had in the past," coach Paul Westphal said.
Owner Jerry Colangelo said the Suns have never had a player of Barkley's caliber, making the trade the biggest in the team's 24-season history.
At a news conference in Philadelphia, new 76ers general manager Jim Lynam said Hornacek, Perry and Lang will suit the no-nonsense style of coach Doug Moe.
"We are extremely happy to acquire these three players. We feel they will mesh tremendously in the Doug Moe system," Lynam said.
The Sixers reportedly planned to keep Barkley if they won one of this year's top three lottery picks. They finished ninth.
The trade came together Tuesday night, Colangelo said.
He said the Suns squeezed Barkley, who makes $3.2 million a year, under the $14 million salary cap by releasing guard Steve Burtt and forward Ian Lockhart.
The announcement was made within hours of Barkley being acquitted of battery and disorderly conduct charges in Milwaukee stemming from a fight in December outside a bar.
The 6-foot-6, 252-pound power forward also won notoriety last year when he spit at a heckler and missed, hitting an 8-year-old girl. He was fined $10,000 and suspended for one game - one more incident in a career which has seen him accumulate nearly $100,000 in fines.
Nevertheless, Westphal didn't think Barkley would cost the Suns their image as solid citizens.
"I don't know what you mean by image," Westphal said. "I mean, I think basketball players like to have fun. If I was a player, I'd want to play with Charles. I don't think there's a hard-working player in the game, other than Dan Majerle. When a player gives everything he's got, what else can you ask?"
Barkley, 29, learned of the transaction at the Milwaukee airport.
"I'm a little nervous. I'm not sure, I've got to sit back and see how it goes," Barkley said. "In shock? I just don't know how I feel. I don't know if I'm happy or sad. I have to pick up my family and move them across the country."
Earlier this spring, Barkley said he wanted to play for a team with championship potential. He listed Phoenix among his top five choices.
The trade returns Perry, a star at Temple University, to his college town.
Hornacek, 29, led the Suns in scoring (20.1 points) and steals (1.9) in 81 games this season. The 6-4 guard ranked third in the NBA in 3-point shooting (43 percent), hitting 83 of 189.
Perry, 27, averaged 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds, and Lang, 25, averaged 7.7 points and 6.7 rebounds.
Barkley averaged 23.1 points and 11.1 rebounds a game. He also was chosen to the All-Star team for the sixth time in eight seasons and will play on the U.S. Olympic Team this summer.
But Philadelphia went 35-47 and missed the playoffs, and Barkley's talk-first-and-worry-later attitude kept him in the eye of the storm.
He accused the Sixers of racism in roster decisions early in the season. In December, he was charged after the fight in Milwaukee.
He ripped his teammates in a book, and in April he called general manager Gene Shue a "clown" and a "caddy" for owner Harold Katz.
AP-DS-06-18-92 0047EDT