Basketball
BASKETBALL LEGEND, CHARLES BARKLEY TO SELL 1996 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL
BY DUNCAN MACKAY.
Charles Barkley, one of the most recognisable names in basketball, has announced he plans to sell the Olympic gold medal he won at Atlanta 1996 as part of a major sale of memorabilia from his career to help pay for new houses for the disadvantaged in the town he grew up in.
But the American revealed he will not be selling the gold medal he won at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as part of the revered United States “Dream Team” because his daughter asked him not to.
“Because of how sentimental it is for the world,” Barkley, who is now 57 and a television analyst, said during a radio interview in Alabama.
“But all of that other stuff, man, is just an eyesore.
“I
don’t think I have to walk around with my gold medal or my MVP (most valuable
player) trophy for people to know I’m Charles Barkley, so I’m going to sell all
that crap.
“That just clutters my house.
“I used to keep it at my grandmother’s house, but they all passed away, and I don’t want that stuff crapping up my house.”
Barkley claimed that he has been told by one expert that the MVP trophy he won during the 1993 National Basketball Association season when, playing for the Phoenix Suns, he averaged 25.6 points on .520 shooting, 12.2 rebounds and a career high 5.1 assists per game as they reached finals, could fetch between $300,000 (£230,000/€265,000) and $400,000 (£310,000/€350,000).
He did not reveal how much he had been advised the Olympic gold medal, won by the US when they beat the FR Yugoslavia 95-69 in the final, could fetch.
In 1992, Barkley led the “Dream Team” in scoring 18 points per game on 71 percent shooting, despite starting just half of the eight games.
A US flag signed by the original Dream Team at Barcelona 1992 is also among the items that Barkley plans to auction.
Barkley promised during one interview that all the money he raised from the sale of the items would be used to build new houses in Leeds in Alabama.
Barkley claimed he was the first black baby born in a segregated town hospital in Leeds and was among the first black students at his elementary school.
“We probably got 30 eyesores, as I call them, where houses used to be when I was growing up,” he said during an interview.
“Either a rotted-out house or there’s just weeds that have overgrown.
“So, what I’m trying to do – I want to work with the city of Leeds, I want them to give me the spaces, number one.
“I want them to give me the houses, and I’m going to use my own money selling my memorabilia.
“I want to do something really nice for Leeds.
“And if I could build 10 to 20 affordable houses – I want to do green housing too
[and]
if I could sell all that stuff, it would just be a really cool thing for me.”
Earlier this month, an Olympic gold medal won by the US basketball captain Bill Wheatley at Berlin in 1936 was put up for auction.
The medal has been placed with Heritage Auctions’ Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction and it is estimated it could raise as much as $60,000 (£46,000/€55,000).
In 2015, the gold medal awarded to Wheatley’s team-mate Carl Shy was sold at auction for $66,000 (£51,000/€61,000).
-insidethegames
By Ugo Okeiyi, Enugu
The end-of-year Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational Tournament, tagged “Championing the Youth Through Sports, Education and Opportunity,” has taken off and will be concluded on Friday. The three-day event is taking place at the Indoor Sports Multipurpose Gymnasium, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu.
The grassroots basketball competition is designed to serve as a platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian basketball talent.
A total of 14 teams — eight male and six female sides drawn from across the country — are competing for honours in what promises to be an exciting three-day basketball spectacle.
The tournament is powered by the Anthony Ozubuekwe Foundation, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry for Youth and Sports Development and the Enugu State Basketball Association.
Organisers say fans should expect high-quality action, with displays of skill, athleticism and tactical awareness from some of the most promising young players in the country.
According to the organisers, the initiative is structured to positively engage young people, steering them away from social vices and criminal tendencies, while using sports as a tool for education, personal development and opportunity creation.
They added that the tournament will also give coaches and team officials a valuable opportunity to assess the mental readiness, discipline and competitive mindset of the players, while providing a conducive environment for athletes to interact, bond and learn from one another.
The competition will be played in a round-robin format, with attractive prize money on offer. In the men’s category, the champions will receive ₦2 million and a giant trophy, while the runners-up will earn ₦1.5 million.
In the women’s category, the winning team will go home with ₦1.5 million, while the second-placed team will receive ₦750,000.
With its blend of competition, youth empowerment and community development, the Ozobz Elite Basketball Invitational is expected to be one of the standout grassroots sports events of the year in Enugu State.
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Former head coach of Nigeria’s men’s basketball team, Alex Nwora, will join family, friends and well-wishers on December 28, 2025, to celebrate the 90th birthday of his father, Chief Charles Okwudi Nworah, in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The milestone celebration, according to Evelyn Childs, Public Relations Officer of the US-based Imo Women Elite Club (IWEC), will take place at the expansive Onitsha compound of the nonagenarian, who is highly regarded in his community.
Born on April 17, 1936, to Akudo and Agnes Nwora of the Okakwu family in Ogbedogwu Village, Onitsha, Chief Nworah’s early years reflected strong family values rooted in education and public service. He attended St. Mary’s Catholic School before moving on to Prince Commercial College, and later completed his secondary education at Baptist High School, Osogbo, in Osun State.
Chief Nworah began his career in the civil service at a young age with the Post and Telecommunications Service (P&T), where his father also served and retired as a senior manager. His professional journey continued seamlessly into Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) following the merger of P&T with the Nigerian External Telecommunications.
Alex Nwora, who led D’Tigers through notable periods of growth and international competition, is expected to play a central role in the celebration, which will bring together members of the extended Nwora family and the Onitsha community to honour the life and legacy of the elder statesman.
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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred national honours on all members of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, in recognition of their historic victory at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Côte d’Ivoire.
Each member of the team was decorated with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) title at a special reception held on Monday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Representing the president at the event was Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced a series of generous rewards for the champions.
In addition to the national honours, each player will receive $100,000, while each member of the technical crew will be given $50,000. The government also pledged a flat in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to every player and official on the squad.
The rewards follow D’Tigress’s emphatic 78-64 win over Mali in Sunday’s AfroBasket final, played at the Palais des Sports de Treichville in Abidjan. The victory marked Nigeria’s fifth consecutive AfroBasket title, a feat unmatched in the tournament’s history. With the triumph, D’Tigress also secured an automatic berth to the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
President Tinubu, in his remarks delivered by Vice President Shettima, hailed the team’s resilience, determination, and consistency, describing their dominance on the continental stage as a symbol of national pride and inspiration to the youth.
Present at the reception were First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, Garba Maidoki, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, and Kabiru Amadou, Chairman of the House Committee on Sports.
The honours and incentives underscore the government’s renewed commitment to recognising excellence in sports and motivating future champions.
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