Being an NBA history nerd, I’ve always had a tertiary understanding of the late ‘80s, early ‘90s Sixers teams.
Their “Big Three” was the front court trifecta of Charles Barkley, Rick Mahorn and, the subject of today’s breakdown, Mike Gminski. They were also complemented by the linguistically pleasing Hawkins-Dawkins backcourt and peaked with two decently competitive second-round series against Jordan’s Bulls in 1990 and 1991.
Barkley was at the peak of his athletic powers and a devastating combo of strength, vertical explosion and ball skills (not to mention I will forever defend him as an underrated passing genius).