Why is Charles Barkley called the 'Round Mound of Rebound?

Few in NBA history broke the mold of a prototypical player like Charles Barkley did in his illustrious career. Despite being undersized and rotund for the power forward spot, he went on to revolutionize the position with his incredible rebounding skills.

The way he dominated the boards earned him many monikers, among which was the popular "Round Mound of Rebound,' which was given to him while in college at Auburn University.

Before settling with the nickname, Charles Barkley shared on the All the Smoke podcast that he was given many monikers prior, as the school, traditionally a football powerhouse, was drumming up support for its basketball program.

The monikers included 'The Crisco Kid', 'The Wide Load from Leeds' and 'The Good Time Blimp'. "The Round Mound of Rebound', he said, stuck when by the end of his sophomore year he led the league in rebounding again.

Charles Barkley played three years with the Tigers and ended his collegiate career with averages of 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds.

He was then selected fifth overall in the 1984 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, where he continued to showcase his impressive rebounding skills despite standing all of six-foot-four.

The Leeds, Alabamam native ended his first year with the Sixers with 14 ppg and 8.6 rpg to earn a spot in the NBA All-Rookie Team. He played in the NBA for 15 more years, with stops with Phoenix, where he was named the NBA MVP in 1993, and Houston.

Charles Barkley is an 11-time NBA All-Star, an 11-time member of the All-NBA Team (five First Teams) and a two-time Olympic gold medallist, including being part of the original Dream Team in 1992.

However, throughout his NBA run, rebounding remained one of his biggest attributes, averaging double-digit rebounds in 15 of his 16 years in the league. He ended his career with a rebounding average of 11.7 boards, to go along with 22.1 points and 3.9 assists.

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Charles Barkley says rebounding among the toughest aspects of basketball

Charles Barkley is widely recognized as one of the best rebounders the NBA has seen. He takes special pride in it, believing that rebounding is one of the toughest aspects of the sport of basketball.

'Sir Charles' shared in an interview on The Dan Patrick Show last year, highlighting that to be a great rebounder one has to work hard for it, which he did throughout his career. Barkley said:

"Defense and rebounding are probably the two hardest aspects of basketball. They take a lot of work. Scoring is easy. All you gotta do is shoot the ball a lot. But if you gonna play defense, you got to really get down and dirty."

He added:

"And same thing with rebounding, you gotta get in there and start beating up people. The ball is the most valuable thing out there, so if you gonna be a great rebounder, you gonna have to take some beatings."

Barkley is one of only seven players in league history with 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and LeBron James.