RealGM

All right, so in an attempt to get a broad view of how people rank these guys, I'm going to post this on several basketball discussion boards. After that I'll tally up the results, so I can get a real sense of the consensus.

So listed below are all 24 possible rankings for these 4 players. Pick a letter that corresponds with your ranking and leave an explanation.

The more parctipation the better.

A) Dirk>Malone>KG>Barkley
B) Dirk>Malone>Barkley>KG
C) Dirk>KG>Barkley>Malone
D)Dirk>KG>Malone>Barkley
E) Dirk>Barkley>KG>Malone
F) Dirk>Barkley>Malone>KG

G)Malone>Dirk>KG>Barkley
H)Malone>Dirk>Barkley>KG
I) Malone>Barkley>Dirk>KG
J) Malone>Barkley>KG>Dirk
K) Malone>KG>Dirk>Barkley
L) Malone>KG>Barkley>Dirk

M)KG>Malone>Dirk>Barkley
N) KG>Malone>Barkley>Dirk
O) KG>Barkley>Dirk>Malone
P) KG>Barkley>Malone>Dirk
Q) KG>Dirk>Malone>Barkley
R) KG>Dirk>Barkley>Malone

S) Barkley>Malone>Dirk>KG
T) Barkley>Malone>KG>Dirk
U) Barkley>Dirk>Malone>KG
V) Barkley>Dirk>KG>Malone
W)Barkley>KG>Dirk>Malone
X) Barkley>KG>Malone>Dirk

I'm going with Q) KG > Dirk > Malone > Barkley.

I've got KG first because I think he comfortably has the best peak between these guys, his longevity is also great, he just didn't get enough opportunities in the post-season to really establish himself as a top 10 guy. I am a bit more critical of how he performed when he did get to the play-offs than most so I don't think he has a top 10 case as is or that he definitely would've been on better teams but I still see him as the second best PF ever behind Duncan.

Dirk is one of those guys I fluctuate on where I rank him. He is so all over the place in the play-offs with some legendary performances mixed with some of the worst chokes. Still more consistent than Malone and also with a higher peak and not much of a gap in longevity either. The comparison with KG can get a bit difficult because they seem to have their best years and down years at mostly opposite times. KG's higher peak and slightly better consistency gives him the edge for me though but I might have to revisit it more in depth sometime.

Karl Malone gets in 3rd thanks to his incredible longevity. I think he peaked the lowest of the 4 and his play-off resume just isn't up to par for a player at that level imo. Despite Barkley being the better player for most of their careers, I do think Malone was comparable enough in the 80s and early-mid 90s for the MVP level seasons in the late 90s to make the difference.

So yeah Barkley ends up at the end mostly because the other guys just had significantly more longevity, while Barkley doesn't really stand out in terms of peak/prime.

L

Garnett slightly better than Barkley but Barkley will always be better known alltime as he was a star during the golden era among many of the top 20 players alltime and was on the Dream Team.

Q

Garnett is the strongest defensively and very strong offensively, also the best passer. I have him first.

Karl Malone is the second strongest defensively which, historically, is extremely important for bigs even though non of them are really rim protectors. He is also the most consistent and the least likely to miss games or seasons with his strong work and workout ethic. On the down side, he never really stepped up as big in the playoffs as Dirk and Chuck and could be a jerk. The ironman consistency puts him second for me.

I have Dirk over Barkley primarily for leadership/intangibles. Dirk was a solid guy and a good example; Barkley was a party queen and a chaos factor. Both were inconsistent and probably below average for their careers defensively; Barkley the more inconsistent but the stronger post defender. Barkley has a strong rebounding edge and is a better ballhandler but a worse decision maker. If you count playoff performance very strongly, he's the one who improved the most in the playoffs; possibly because he was the least focused during the regular season.

So, M

D

Very easy for me to rank these.

Dirk: revolutionary offensive weapon akin to Curry in terms of how his gravity could enable a team to build any kind of offense around him; great go-to weapon, as well, at all three levels (maybe greatest ever in the midrange); eleven straight 50+ win seasons with like three All-Star teammates (Nash twice, Josh Howard; maybe I missed someone), which is hard to do considering winning teams usually get more all-stars; franchise cornerstone of impeccable character and stability; 6th all-time in RS scoring; 8th all-time in RS win shares; the only player among these to be far and away the best player on a title team (a question of degree over Garnett), i.e., the only one who proved he could "carry" a team to a championship

KG: I won't go through the full slate, but his career statistical profile is on par with Dirk and not far behind Malone; what puts him below Dirk are questions of personality and the fact that he never showed peak "carry-ability" (something I attribute to personality, actually - but on-court personality, as opposed to the previously referenced off-court personality); what puts him above Malone is that he has probably at least three seasons better than Malone's best and that he was actually the clear best player on a championship team

Malone: Maybe the best of these in the regular season, taking into account his durability and longevity; but his level fell in the playoffs and he never won the ultimate prize; also probably peaked the lowest of the four

Barkley: the other three are far enough past him in longevity that, without a championship to make a conversation of it, I just can't consider him on their level career-wise; his peak is, in my opinion, probably third behind Dirk and KG, and not nearly far enough ahead of Malone to make up the difference in longevity

KG, Malone, Barkley, Dirk.

K

scrabbarista wrote:D

Very easy for me to rank these.

Dirk: revolutionary offensive weapon akin to Curry in terms of how his gravity could enable a team to build any kind of offense around him; great go-to weapon, as well, at all three levels (maybe greatest ever in the midrange); eleven straight 50+ win seasons with like three All-Star teammates (Nash twice, Josh Howard; maybe I missed someone), which is hard to do considering winning teams usually get more all-stars; franchise cornerstone of impeccable character and stability; 6th all-time in RS scoring; 8th all-time in RS win shares; the only player among these to be far and away the best player on a title team (a question of degree over Garnett), i.e., the only one who proved he could "carry" a team to a championship

KG: I won't go through the full slate, but his career statistical profile is on par with Dirk and not far behind Malone; what puts him below Dirk are questions of personality and the fact that he never showed peak "carry-ability" (something I attribute to personality, actually - but on-court personality, as opposed to the previously referenced off-court personality); what puts him above Malone is that he has probably at least three seasons better than Malone's best and that he was actually the clear best player on a championship team

Malone: Maybe the best of these in the regular season, taking into account his durability and longevity; but his level fell in the playoffs and he never won the ultimate prize; also probably peaked the lowest of the four

Barkley: the other three are far enough past him in longevity that, without a championship to make a conversation of it, I just can't consider him on their level career-wise; his peak is, in my opinion, probably third behind Dirk and KG, and not nearly far enough ahead of Malone to make up the difference in longevity

I tend to agree with this placement. Dirk seems like one of those guys that no matter who you put around him you get a top 5 offense(if not #1) and 50+ wins(as high as 67) even in a tough conference. Then on top of that you get great length of prime where he is mvp level or close to it and overall consistency in the playoffs. So I think he's the best choice to build around and accomplished the most as a lead player. KG is very close but I do question his leadership ability up until his Boston days and just his maturity level on top of the near endless string of 1st rd exits. I would place all 4 fairly close together though.

I'll go with M or Q. I think KG has the best peak and prime here by a very clear margin with great longevity

Dirk has the second best peak and prime by a smaller, but somewhat clear margin for me, while also having great longevity so he definitely is in the conversation for 2nd/3rd

Karl and Chuck seem like similar-ish level players(Chuck might be better but i'm not sure), and Karl has arguably the best longevity out of everyone here so that kinda leaves Chuck last by default

So all I feel comfortable with is KG 1st and Chuck probably 4th

i'll go KG > Dirk ~ Karl > Barkley

M) KG>Malone>Dirk>Barkley

K) Malone>KG>Dirk>Barkley

or

M) KG>Malone>Dirk>Barkley

I think Tim Duncan, Karl Malone and Kevin Garnett should be in a tier together on the All-Time list, as there's very little separating them and each has their own pluses and minuses. Then Dirk next up, then Barkley.

KG > Malone > Dirk > Barkley

So "M", I guess.

trex_8063 wrote:KG > Malone > Dirk > Barkley

So "M", I guess.

Same here.

Don't see Nowitzki as better than Barkley. He had an outside shot yea, but his rebounding was weak and his defense was no better than Barkley. Barkley, with the teams Nowitzki had would've won championships in the 2000s. He had alltime great post game and created for others in light of that. Was top 5 in the most talented era in nba history.

D

migya wrote:Don't see Nowitzki as better than Barkley. He had an outside shot yea, but his rebounding was weak and his defense was no better than Barkley. Barkley, with the teams Nowitzki had would've won championships in the 2000s. He had alltime great post game and created for others in light of that. Was top 5 in the most talented era in nba history.

I'm curious. What Mavs teams do you think you through Barkkey on that wins them a title?

Career wise D: Dirk>KG>Malone>Barkley

Peak Wise O: KG>Barkley>Dirk>Malone

N - I believe garnett is overrated on this board but I have him narrowly ahead of malone. All 4 are close though

H