Charles Barkley played with an elbow injury in the 1993 NBA Finals against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls

Seeing LeBron James play through a right elbow injury for the Cleveland Cavaliers reminds me of a former NBA superstar who tried to win a championship with a bum bow: Charles Barkley.

When he led the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals, Barkley played through a painfully inflammed right elbow against the then two-time defending champion Chicago Bulls lead by Michael Jordan.

Barkley had a great series, but looking back on it, he wore this bulky wrap, didn’t play as good as he could have and the Bulls won the series in six games by winning Game 6 in Phoenix.

Want to talk parallels between Barkley and James in this situation.

1). James will win his second league MVP award this season and Barkley was the NBA MVP in 1993.

 2). The Suns had home-court advantage throughout the playoffs and the Cavaliers have it in this season’s playoffs.

 3). That was Phoenix’s best chance to win a title with Barkley and this may be Cleveland’s last chance to win one if James decides to sign with another team after this season.