ESPN's Richard Jefferson Makes Wild Claim About Ex-Rockets Star

Former Houston Rockets star forward Charles Barkley has always been authentic to who he is. This has especially been evident during his post-playing career, as he's unafraid to speak his mind.

It's what's made him so effective as a TV analyst. Regardless of whether it's ruined friendships (like in the case of Michael Jordan), Barkley calls it like he sees it. Oftentimes, he says what others may be thinking but are afraid to say.

For example, when he said that he isn't a role model, you can only imagine other athletes feel the same way. They'd much rather be evaluated for their production on the playing surface. It's how we know them in the first place.

Besides, if you're expecting young millionaire athletes who you don't know personally to be an example and/or guide for your kids, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Especially in the cell phone era, where virtually everything is captured on camera and posted on social media.

On the court, Barkley was one of the game's greatest players, despite being undersized for his position as a 6-foot-6 big man. Nowadays, there are 6-foot-6 point guards. He had career averages of 22.1 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists and made 11 All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams, and won the 1993 MVP. 

Which made ESPN analyst and 17-year vet Richard Jefferson's recent comments towards Barkley quite perplexing. Jefferson was on the Road Trippin' Podcast and began comparing Barkley and Karl Malone:

"The reason why I would pick Karl Malone over Charles is because of the level of professionalism that Karl Malone always approached.

So when I look at Karl Malone versus Charles — when Charles was in Philly, he was in and out of shape, and then he would — some of his off-the-court partying that we knew about…I'm saying Charles was a rebel.

He's not a role model. So I'm not taking shots at him. But I'm saying, when you look at a guy like Karl Malone who trained for eight hours a day, he played for 19 years.

He was second in scoring. And if his body would have held up, he probably would have been the all-time leading scorer."

Malone played his entire career with a legendary table-setter in John Stockton, who is regarded is many circles as the greatest point guard in league history. That made life much easier for Malone on the court. He was getting set up for looks in his most efficient spots on the floor. 

As to the conditioning, he certainly stayed in peak shape for nearly two decades, but he only played three more seasons than Barkley, so that's not quite a big enough difference to make that the deciding factor.

He was also much more physically imposing than Barkley, and it helps to have a 6-foot-9 and 250 pound frame. 

Like Barkley, however, he still was unable to win a championship, which is what many use to debate players' greatness (although that's not a good litmus either).

However you choose to rank them is likely a matter of preference. But there's little doubt Barkley earned his status as one of the league's best players.