Charles Barkley Reveals His List of the Five Most Difficult Players He Faced in His Career
Charles Barkley played basketball in the NBA for 16 seasons. He is one of the sport’s top players.
Barkley was chosen as an All-Star 11 times and was the most valuable player in 1993. He was really good in most of his games, but there were some players who gave him a hard time. In a recent interview with House of Highlights, Barkley shared the names of the five toughest players he played against.
Charles Barkley names toughest players he faced
“Kevin McHale is the best player I ever played against. Popeye Jones gave me nightmares. (Larry) Bird was amazing. Karl Malone. I didn’t get a chance to play a lot because I was past my prime, Tim Duncan. That would have been a great challenge,” Barkley said.
Barkley considers Kevin McHale the best player he faced. McHale was a great post player in the 1980s, while Larry Bird, his Celtics teammate, is also a legendary player. Karl Malone was another strong contender for the best power forward in the 1990s.
Tim Duncan is seen as the best power forward ever. Duncan had good numbers in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. He won two MVPs and was an All-Star 15 times. Barkley chose Popeye Jones as one of his toughest opponents, even though Jones had lower career stats compared to other great players.
Barkley revealed his all-time starting five
In the interview, Barkley named his all-time starting five. He picked Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain. It’s not common to have three centers in an all-time starting five but Barkley used it anyway.
Barkley surprised everyone yet again by not selecting LeBron James for his starting lineup. He has previously stated that he believes LeBron is the eighth best player in history.
