Its almost sad because Clyde Drexler is a Hall of Famer, went to the the Finals 3 times and won one title. Was a member of the Dream Team. Not to mention one of the strongest and toughest shooting guards to guard and was an explosive leaper and glided to the basket when he needed to. Yet because he played in the same era as Jordan, people sometimes forget how great a player he really was. Jordan had that kind of ability. With Kobe, he was comparable to Tmac early in the decade, and now its an even closer comparison with Dwade and Lebron...with a lot of people (including myself) who think Lebron is better (never had the kind of help Kobe had and has right now). I know Lebron and Dwade maybe better than Drexler as scorers (same level at worst IMO), but still to be a greatest of all time type of player, you had to separate yourself from the competition. Magic and Bird were clearly the best poing guard and small forward of the 80's. Kareem was the best center for about 14 years. (Moses Malone had a few great years to give him a run for his money though). Although Russell usually won the war, Wilt easily won the battle in the 60's. Shaq was clearly the best center of the late 90's and 2000's, Hakeem was clearly the best center and NBA player in basketball when MJ went into retirement. Drob was the best center until 1992. Theres a reason why Ewing and Mourning is never mentioned in the greatest of all time talks... Barkley was a much better power forward than Malone in the 80's to early 90's while Malone took over from the mid to late 90's. Tim Duncan then came in and became the best power forward of all time. Pippen was the best small forward of the 90's by a mile until Grant Hill became a true star in the late 90's. John Stockton took over Magic as the best point guard in the 90's (although this is much closer with Penny and Payton in the mid to late 90's. However, neither played great long enough to really challenge Stockton. I don't think Kobe has really separated himself enough yet from the other star wing players. Luckily for him and unlucky for us, Tmac had injury issues after 2005, but until then it was a real close debate as to who was better. Since 2005, Wade and Lebron have played just as good as Kobe, if not better at times. If you can't even separate yourself in what is supposed to be "YOUR ERA" then how can anybody make an argument for him being the Greatest of All Time. Jordan made people almost forget about guys like Drexler, Dumars, Richmond, Reggie Miller, Glen Rice, Penny Hardaway, etc. Those guys were really good players, yet nobody remembers them as they should all because of Michael Jordan.
Outstanding post...5+++++++ I think you put the landscape in perfect perspective. Though I disagreed with Barkley being the more dominant power forward in the late 80s over Malone. As much as I dislike Malone and the Jazz (most of their history/fans/players), Karl Malone was a slightly bigger beast than Charles Barkley especially in the early 90s and late 80s, and the Jazz made the playoffs every single year with him (and Stockton, during the Layden/Sloan years). The year (89-90) where the voters had Lakers fever and almost had every starting position (except center and pg, hehe)...Malone decided to sit out the all-star game. People really didn't like Malone for that, but he had legitimate beef, though. That year, his numbers were outstanding...31.0 ppg, 11.0 rebounds, .562% FG. To not start in an All-Star game. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/barklch01.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonka01.html
I never saw either of them play all that much in the late 80's early 90's. From what I hear people say, Barkley at his peak was a more skilled, well rounded player than Malone. Howerver Malone turned out to be better in historical terms because of his longevity. Thats what I was going by. Barkley in the late 80's to 1993 was an MVP candidate year in and year out and got his MVP in 1993 when he finally went to a decent team. He almost took away an MVP from MJ in 90 I believe as well, but just fell short. He didn't have a great point guard to set him up, and he had to compete in a tougher Eastern Conference back then. Those are the reasons why I would say Barkley was better individually early on in their careers. Barkley was also a better rebounder than Malone throughout their entire careers. Malone put up the stats but it was A LOT easier to score with John Stockton as your point guard rather than Johnny Dawkins. But in all honesty, it could be a wash and Malone could be the better PF throughout their entire careers. I didn't really get to watch them, so I really don't know. I also heard about that All-Star Game thing when Malone was on TNT studio for a game. I would be pissed too, lol.
From 84 to 93, Charles Barkley's CAREER Field Goal % was 57%! That is crazy for a 6'4 to 6'6 power forward without much help and no great point guard. From 1985 to 1993 Karl Malone's CAREER Field Goal % was 53 %. He was 6'9, and built like a rock, he had John Stockton, Mark Eaton, and Thurl Baily there to help him out. Because of his shooting %, Barkley needed less shots than Malone to get his points. He didn't average 18 Shots per game until he got to the Suns in 93. That was also the most shots per game he took in his career. He was always around 16-17 shots per game. Malone was averaging closer to 19-20 shots per game from his 2nd year all the way to the 99-2000 season. For their entire Career's Barkley RPG was 11.7 to Karl Malone's 10.1, so at 3-5 inches shorter, Barkley was a better rebounder too, even though he had MUCH more pressure on him to score. Just another couple of reasons to the Barkley>Karl Malone in the late 80's to early 90's.
