Who do you rank higher all-time, Kevin Durant or Charles Barkley?

[JustCame]

Barkley was the better player, but Durant will probably end up with more accomplished career.

How was Barkley the better player? Durant is just as good offensively and leagues above him defensively.

Barkley's rebounding >>>> Durant's defense though.

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

[Sark]

How was Barkley the better player? Durant is just as good offensively and leagues above him defensively.

Barkley's rebounding >>>> Durant's defense though.

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

Barkley was no slouch at other things. I bring up his rebounding though, because he is all time level elite at it. Like top 10, if not top 5. For what I've seen, he was the best box out rebounder of all time. This was a guy that could keep prime Shaq out of the way. His rebouding is way better than any secondary thing that Durant is good at.

[Odinn21]

'The players who are unlucky to play in the same era with Michael Jordan'
Barkley is the only player I find accurate to say this about him. Barkley was the 2nd best player in the league for like 5-6 seasons, behind MJ.

I know there's more to it but;
Chuck got the most 1st place votes in 1990 MVP race. He's the only player that got the most 1st place votes and didn't win the award. It was against peak MJ and prime Magic.
And then he won the MVP in 1993 against peak Hakeem and prime MJ.

I don't think many player can match this and I have my doubts KD being one of them. KD can surpass Barkley with longevity tho. I'd pick peak Chuck over peak KD. But peak is not the only thing that matters. KD has been so good for so long. And he doesn't look like he'll slow down any time soon.

[70sFan]

How was Barkley the better player? Durant is just as good offensively and leagues above him defensively.

Barkley's rebounding >>>> Durant's defense though.

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

Barkley is clearly better passer than Durant.

[Hal14]

Barkley was the better player, but Durant will probably end up with more accomplished career.

How was Barkley the better player? Durant is just as good offensively and leagues above him defensively.

Barkley's rebounding >>>> Durant's defense though.

Agreed! Barkley's rebounding is waaaaayyy better than Durant's...despite Durant's career assists per game being barely ahead of Barkley I actually think Barkley was a slightly better passer.

Scoring wise they're about even..although Barkley went up against much tougher defenses.

Durant might be better defensively, but it's a very small edge..about as small as the edge Barkley has in passing.

In terms of getting the most out of the physical abilities you were given, Barkley wins in a landslide. The dude was a rugged and stocky 6'4"...yet spent his career going against guys who were 6'8" - 6'10"...in the most physical era ever. Barkley was one of the top 5 greatest rebounders ever....at 6-foot-4!!!

Barkley got voted MVP for the 92-93 season...yes he was better than Michael Jordan in his prime!!

Barkley led the Dream Team in scoring and was the best player on the Dream Team..yes that's a team with Jordan in his prime, plus Bird, Magic, Pippen, Ewing, Robinson, etc.

As far as longevity goes..

Durant 11 full seasons...31,305 mins..
Barkley 15 full seasons...39,330 mins...

I'll take Barkley..in terms of toughness..Barkley is 8.5/10, Durant is 4.5/10

[Mrakar]

Durant is a better player.
Barkley could have been better player but his lazy ass wouldn't allow him....
Right know i have Durant slightly above Barkley but in same tier, but when he finishes hi career he will probably end up clearly above him.

[clyde21]

by the end of KD's career there isn't gonna be much of an argument Barkley

[udfa]

No question in my mind. KD.

[Ooduwa]

Barkley's rebounding >>>> Durant's defense though.

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

Barkley is clearly better passer than Durant.

Durant has stronger career averages and a higher ast%, on top being asked to adopt ball handling duties more frequently than Chuck, so on what basis are you making this statement?

[Winsome Gerbil]

Basically a question of is Durant a Top 20 player all time yet? And will he be?

Right now I still go with Barkley. And any time I wanted a true alpha, I will always go with Barkley. But KD is such a comer that with any health he's going to be hard to deny.

On a more apples to apples comparison -- KD to Dirk? Both guys excelled at largely the same thing. Neither guy excelled in any other area but that one thing. KD is both a more prolific and more efficient scorer than even Dirk. An iso master himself. Same MVPs. More titles obviously, and just as obviously not really his own.

You can still play games with KD where he is sitting right now at age 30. And hey, who knows. He's missed games in recent years, still has a bad beat-him-up-for-lunch-money body, is the anti-tough guy mentally. He could start deteriorating early, decline in his mid 30s, and have a manageable level career where you still play Top 20 or not games with him. But KD's sitting at career averages of 27.0pts and an absurd 25.2 CAREER PER. In a healthy year he breaks 2000pts. By age 35 he is likely to have crossed the 30,000pt barrier, and with good health he could easily be the #3-#4 scorer of all time at that point Throw in some declining seasons he's got an outside shot at Kareem. Now we have a tendency to underrate the incredible nature of Mailman's career, but KD has a shot at something similar as a SF version. That would put him arguably in the Top 15 (Dr. J was far more culturally significant and charismatic, but what would his basketball argument be at that point?).

[Hal14]

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

Barkley is clearly better passer than Durant.

Durant has stronger career averages and a higher ast%, on top being asked to adopt ball handling duties more frequently than Chuck, so on what basis are you making this statement?

He's probably basing it on watching game film.When you watch the film, you see that both Barkley and Durant are guys who clearly look for their own shot most of the time and while neither is a great passer, Barkley did show slightly better passing ability...despite playing against much tougher defenses. Not to mention Durant had the benefit of playing on a super team for the past 3 years so it's a lot easier to not only get open shots but also make good passes when you're on a team with 4 other all-stars. Yes, Barkley was also on a super team but the Rockets had 3 all-stars who were all past their prime..the Warriors have 5 all-stars who are all in their prime..plus the league the Rockets played in was much more competitive in the late 90s.

[Hal14]

Durant is a better player.
Barkley could have been better player but his lazy ass wouldn't allow him....
Right know i have Durant slightly above Barkley but in same tier, but when he finishes hi career he will probably end up clearly above him.

I agree that Barkley could have been better if he didn't get lazy and out of shape for the last few seasons of his career. But if Barkley stayed in shape all that would mean is that he'd be a lock for top 20 all-time, possibly top 15 all-time.

Either way, he's better than Durant IMO.

I've got Barkley at #21 and Durant a few spots behind.

Sure, if Durant keeps going and keeps producing, he's got a shot to surpass Barkley eventually.

But that's not what this thread is about.

Which is why it makes me laugh all these people posting stuff like, "Oh, um, well Durant will be better by the end of his career" and that's all they're saying..LOL

We shouldn't be talking about what if's and guessing what MIGHT happen in the future like we've got crystal balls.

We should only be talking about what HAS happened....which is why I generally like to keep my all-time player rankings only to players who have retired.

Barkley led his Suns team through a grueling western conference en route to the finals in 93...beating a Spurs and Sonics team that were both REALLY good..Durant never won anything until he joined a super team.

Watch on YouTube

[Ooduwa]

Barkley is clearly better passer than Durant.

Durant has stronger career averages and a higher ast%, on top being asked to adopt ball handling duties more frequently than Chuck, so on what basis are you making this statement?

He's probably basing it on watching game film.When you watch the film, you see that both Barkley and Durant are guys who clearly look for their own shot most of the time and while neither is a great passer, Barkley did show slightly better passing ability...despite playing against much tougher defenses. Not to mention Durant had the benefit of playing on a super team for the past 3 years so it's a lot easier to not only get open shots but also make good passes when you're on a team with 4 other all-stars. Yes, Barkley was also on a super team but the Rockets had 3 all-stars who were all past their prime..the Warriors have 5 all-stars who are all in their prime..plus the league the Rockets played in was much more competitive in the late 90s.

- I doubt it. That he's extensively reviewed 90's game film, that is.

- Durant averaged 5.5 asp back in 12-13 with an OKC team that lacked shooters. Sounds pretty good to me.

- Playing with good teammates doesn't detract from a players ability.

[70sFan]

And off the top of my head, KD has a playmaking, shooting (flirts with 50/40/90 every year), and playing off the ball edge. If I were drafting one of them, I'd definitely pick KD. He's not bad at anything, and he can slot into any lineup on any team.

Barkley is clearly better passer than Durant.

Durant has stronger career averages and a higher ast%, on top being asked to adopt ball handling duties more frequently than Chuck, so on what basis are you making this statement?

He has higher career averages because of having more ball-handling duties, not despite. Assists numbers doesn't always corelate with passing abilities (more about the role on a team than anything else) and it's not like this assists stats are in clear favour to Durant.

Barkley wasn't willing passer but he was excellent in transition and great at finding open man in halfcourt. He showed flashes of brilliance I've never seen in Durant. So yes, I base it on my eye-test and you can laugh at it. I've watched tons of NBA games from all eras, so it's not like I'm uneducated in this aspect and I'm not Barkley/Jordan/1980s/1990s stan either.

[hyoyatika23]

Barkley was the man and the way he carried the 93 Suns will be better than anything Durant has achieved so far.

[Brofessor24]

I would rather have the guy who has won two Finals MVPs.

[JN61]

I have to say Durant. I feel like he have had longer time when he was on the very top of the NBA (top 3 guy). But it's close.

[Sublime187]

Durant was consistently a dud in the playoffs before GS. He didn't just get so much better in one season. Imagine Barkley on those Warriors teams, I doubt he wouldn't do just as good if not better.

Durant really was able to gloss over his issues by joining GS. Let's see what he does in Brooklyn.

[Colbinii]

I would rather have the guy who has won two Finals MVPs.

I prefer one finals MVP like Andre Iguodala over Charles Barkley myself.

1 > 0

[penbeast0]

I rank Durant over Barkley. I am lower than many here on Barkley's defense, he was the James Harden of PFs (at both ends). Durant's outstanding 3 pt shooting also provides a spacing effect that I feel is stronger than than gravity provided by Barkley's truly spectacular post play. Personality wise, Barkley was more of an alpha personality than Durant (generally good) but his drinking and partying until all hours (mainly in Philly) plus his (to be polite) outspoken personality caused more problems in the locker room and off the field so I give Durant an advantage in intangibles as well.