Charles Barkley Snubs LeBron James For Top-5 in His All-time NBA List

Interestingly, Barkley has never put LeBron in his top five in more than one ranking. His respect for famous people from the past comes from deep personal gratitude.

Barkley gives extra weight to his evaluations of players like Robertson, Abdul-Jabbar, and Russell because they created financial opportunities that changed his family’s life.

This has nothing to do with personal grudges, either. Barkley and Michael Jordan had a huge fight over how he ran the Washington Wizards.

Jordan literally cursed him out, and they didn’t talk for years. Barkley still thinks Jordan is the best player, though. If that doesn’t bring Jordan down, nothing will bring LeBron up.

Barkley’s ranking of Kobe Bryant at six, ahead of both LeBron James and Magic Johnson, is especially surprising. Jordan’s six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, ten scoring titles, and a career scoring average of 30.1 make him the best player of all time.

Barkley’s traditional basketball values clearly favor the eras that came before today’s game. This is why Stephen Curry didn’t even make it into his top ten.

LeBron James keeps proving his case with historic milestones

Barkley is refusing to move, but LeBron keeps giving him reasons to question his seventh-place ranking. The Jordan debate won’t go away, and James keeps adding to it with his historic accomplishments.

This latest milestone is more than just points or assists. He just passed Jordan in the most important area: pure basketball instinct.

The game against Houston on Monday night was a perfect example. LeBron scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds, gave out five assists, and stole the ball twice in the Lakers’ 100-92 win.

Those two steals were huge. They brought his career total to 2,892, which put him ahead of Jordan’s 2,890 on the all-time steals list.

The top three are all famous point guards, which is what makes this so crazy. John Stockton is in first place with 3,603 points, followed by Chris Paul with 3,015 points and Jason Kidd with 2,986 points.

LeBron is fourth as a forward, which shows that he has been able to read passing lanes like the best guards his whole career.

No other forward in NBA history has ever been as statistically dominant as LeBron. At 41, he’s breaking records for points, assists, and steals.

Barkley can keep his rankings the same, but these milestones make it clear that the Jordan debate isn’t going away. And with each success, it becomes harder to ignore LeBron’s case for being in the top five.