'You're cheating' - Charles Barkley takes a strong stand against super-teams

It was about beating your rivals

Barkley finished his 16-year NBA career without a single championship ring. Charles said that if he had known that a chip would be a prerequisite for judging all-time greats, he might have considered joining forces with Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, or Magic Johnson and won at least one NBA title.

But Chuck said that even if he entertained that idea, his contemporaries would have wanted no part of it. During their era, Barkley says it was all about defeating your rivals, not joining forces with them, to win NBA titles.

"Bird and Magic, their legacy is against each other," added Barkley. "Michael, I got my shot against Michael. Patrick got his shot against Michael. Karl Malone got his shot at Michael. Ain't no shame in losing to the greatest player ever. We got our shot. And it was a hell of a game."

MJ said he would never have done what LeBron did

Like Barkley, Jordan also made it known that he is against super-teams. Shortly after James announced the "Decision" to take his talents to South Beach in 2010, the GOAT said he would have never done that during his playing days.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,'" Michael said. "But that's... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

The super-team era continued with Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and James Harden teaming up in L.A., but that experiment failed. Currently, Damian Lillard is with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee, Kyrie Irving is paired with Luka Doncic in Dallas, while KD has Devin Booker and Bradley Beal in Phoenix. However, it remains to be seen if the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, and Phoenix Suns can win a title with their current super-teams.