BARKLEY ISN'T JUST THINKING TITLES.

Byline: Chris Sheridan Associated Press 

Two more years of basketball will be followed by a job at NBC. After that, he'll run for governor of Alabama in 2002.

Charles Barkley now has a life plan. And the newest superstar of the Houston Rockets says it doesn't necessarily include winning an NBA championship.

``Everybody tries to tell me what I'm thinking, but I'm not thinking about winning a championship,'' Barkley said. ``It would be great to win it, don't get me wrong. But I look at things differently than everybody else.''

For 12 years, it has been painfully obvious that Barkley indeed does not look at things - or comment on them - like anyone else.

Easily the most outspoken of the league's high-profile players, Barkley is currently crusading against young players who don't work as hard or treat the game with as much respect as he.

He says today's NBA shamelessly glorifies and overpays young players who haven't shown much more than the ability to sell sneakers.

``The NBA made all these guys stars so they can sell jerseys and shoes, but most of these guys can't play,'' Barkley said. ``It's sad. We might laugh it off, but seriously it's a shame.''

Barkley, acknowledging that his skills have deteriorated, was almost forced into retirement in recent years by a painful back injury. Now he says his back hasn't bothered by in more than a year, and his plan is to play two more years, move to the broadcast booth and then enter politics.

And he's not kidding about running for governor.

``I'm very serious about it,'' Barkley said, calling current Alabama Gov. Fob James ``a clown.''

``Politics is on the back burner, but it's something I look forward to,'' Barkley said. ``There's an election two years from now, but I'm not going to be in that one. They'll have to wait six years for me.''

It has been almost two months since Barkley got his wish and was traded from the Phoenix Suns. His personality clashed with that of owner Jerry Colangelo, and Barkley eventually defined the dispute in terms of respect.

``Everybody thinks I got traded because I wanted to win a championship, but that's not necessarily true,'' he said. ``I wanted to stand up to the system - and I got what I wanted.''

He felt the Suns disrespected him last year, when they started listening to trade offers without first talking to him. When the season ended, Barkley demanded a trade.

``My thinking about getting out of Phoenix was standing up to the man,'' he said. ``They want you to make them a lot of money, and then they want to treat you however they want to.

``Well I think I've earned a certain amount of respect. And I proved my point.''

Houston traded Robert Horry, Sam Cassell, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown to Phoenix in the deal for Barkley, giving the Rockets a team heavy on superstars but short on depth.

A 99-87 loss to the Knicks on Tuesday night dropped Houston's preseason record to 2-1. Starters Brent Price, Kevin Willis and Clyde Drexler missed the game due to injuries.

Barkley will play alongside two other superstars in Hakeem Olajuwon and Drexler on a team that won the championship in 1994 and 1995 but has been overhauled since. Olajuwon is the only remaining member of the 1994 team.

``It's unfortunate that I had to wait this long to get players like this around me,'' said Barkley, who has never won a championship in his 12 years in the league. ``Obviously with me Clyde and Hakeem, people expect us to have a good team and I expect that.

``But a championship is not the most important thing to me. Even if I win one, it won't mean as much to me as coming from where I was in Alabama to where I am today. I've got a great life.''

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Photo: After he retires, Charles Barkley may turn to broadc asting and then politics.

Associated Press