Charles Barkley Shades Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Other NBA Stars Just to Go Gaga Over LeBron James: “The Only One Who Had…”

NBA fans love to listen to Charles Barkley’s analysis of the game as much as they loved watching him play. As an analyst, the former MVP entices fans with his unabashed takes on players, teams, and everything related to basketball. Barkley is both famous and notorious in the basketball community for his takes on some major NBA stars. Recently, the Hall of Famer gave his two cents on one of the greatest players of all time, LeBron James. As usual, Barkley’s latest take on LeBron is likely to elicit a myriad of reactions from the NBA fandom.

In this day and age, the most popular question among NBA fans is whether LeBron James is the greatest of all time. Though Charles Barkley has not ended the debate with his latest take, he seems to be a great admirer of King James. However, Barkley’s take might not sit well with some fans of other great players like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

Charles Barkley praised LeBron James’ career while putting other stars in a dubious light

For the NBA fandom, LBJ is the epitome of longevity and consistency. Moreover, the Lakers star is also popular for having a clean record on and off the court. As it turns out, Sir Charles seems to admire these qualities of the four-time NBA champion. Emphasizing his admiration for King James, Barkley has opined that LeBron’s story is the greatest in the history of sport. However, in order to establish his point on LeBron’s greatness, Barkley has highlighted the shortcomings in the careers of Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

“You look at other great players who went directly from high school to the pros. Kobe Bryant struggled, Kevin Garnett struggled, Tracy McGrady struggled, Dwight Howard struggled. LeBron is the only one who had success from Day One. He was really good Day One. He’s obviously up here now. But the most amazing thing about him, in this 24-hour news cycle, cellphones, internet, he’s never gotten in trouble,” Charles Barkley told Sports Illustrated in an interview.

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Both Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant did not achieve early stardom like LeBron James. During their rookie seasons, both these legends usually came off the bench. However, both KG and Kobe had decent first years, as both of them were selected to their respective All-Rookie Second Teams. LeBron, on the other hand, was named the Rookie of the Year.

The King’s success from Day one

LeBron started his first regular season game with a record as he scored 25 points against the Sacramento Kings- the most points by a prep-to-pro player in his debut. Moreover, that season, King James became the first Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the Rookie of the Year award. LBJ has not looked back ever since.

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It is true that nobody can scrutinize LeBron’s consistency and longevity. Apparently, most NBA fans will agree with Barkley’s take on LBJ’s career. However, the fact that Sir Charles stressed the minor shortcomings of legendary players like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, just to shower praises for LeBron, might not be taken to the chin by many fans.