Barkley: Most Overrated NBA Player Ever

[vince56]

To hell with this article. I strongly disagree. He was a force in Philadelphia in the late 80s / early 90s. His time in Phoenix was fantastic start to finish. Dude played hurt and always gave it his all.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3882560?GT1=7409

Charles Barkley

The Round Mound of Rebound was never in acceptable game shape. But reporting to one Houston training camp 20 pounds overweight didn't prevent him from chastising his teammates for not being serious about challenging for the championship. Also, he only played defense when the spirit moved him — which was very seldom. These days, he complains about not having played with top-flight teammates — left unsaid, however, is the fact that Barkley's self-involved style of play did nothing to compliment whatever talents his teammates did have. Over the course of his career, Barkley's selfishness and total lack of discipline made him a chronic underachiever.

 

[HooverDam]

Yikes, seems this writer is anti Suns, he hates the Hawk to:

Connie Hawkins

He could finish in spectacular ways, and he could make both plain and simple passes. Otherwise, he couldn't shoot, rebound, run, or play defense. How bad was the Hawk's defense? The first time he played in Madison Square Garden, the Suns tried to hide Hawkins' atrocious defense by matching him up with Dick Barnett. Too bad Barnett was so insulted by the ploy that he lit up Hawkins for 35 points. Also, nobody ever accused Hawkins of having a passion to play basketball: He once told the Suns that he couldn't play that night because he had a fever. A doctor was summoned, and Hawkins' temperature registered at 98.9. As a result, Hawkins felt justified to sit on the bench in his civvies. Hawkins was all flash and very little substance.

Dunno about all that. The Hawk was around before I was even born but both my Dad and Step dad saw him play and always raved about him. I have also heard lots of NBA greats say he couldve been one of the best all time if he wasnt screwed out of playing in the NBA

 

[boondockdrunk]

I wonder how many seasons this writer played in the NBA.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Barkley had an amazing amount of talent and ability but. . . .

He came into every training camp fat and out of shape.

He had a tendency to coast once his team had double digit leads, letting the opposition back into the game. He just seemed to get bored, and it would bite him. He was tremendously competitive when the game was on the line or there was some sort of personal competition going on.

He was absolutely unwilling to discipline himself off the court so that he team could be better on the court. All night parties, 36 holes of golf with a bad back, etc. If Barkley would have simply committed himself wholely to basketball during the playoffs (rest between games etc) instead of the other stuff, the Suns would have 2 championship banners today.

Who knows what Barkley would have accomplished if he had Amare's work ethic (on and off the court).

In Suns history, he is one of the brightest spots, and one of the biggest disappointments.

I generally agree with the article, though its probably extreme--and I like Barkley. Michael Jordan said the same thing about Chuck, and they're buddies.

 

[zett]

To hell with this article. I strongly disagree. He was a force in Philadelphia in the late 80s / early 90s. His time in Phoenix was fantastic start to finish. Dude played hurt and always gave it his all.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/3882560?GT1=7409

Charles Barkley

The Round Mound of Rebound was never in acceptable game shape. But reporting to one Houston training camp 20 pounds overweight didn't prevent him from chastising his teammates for not being serious about challenging for the championship. Also, he only played defense when the spirit moved him — which was very seldom. These days, he complains about not having played with top-flight teammates — left unsaid, however, is the fact that Barkley's self-involved style of play did nothing to compliment whatever talents his teammates did have. Over the course of his career, Barkley's selfishness and total lack of discipline made him a chronic underachiever.

I would have to agree with every thing he said about Barkley. great talent just not enough ambition to work hard enough to win it all. as he admitted last night he didn't play D.

 

[JCSunsfan]

And the comment about not playing with enough talent around him is bogus.

He played with

Kevin Johnson
Dan Majerle
Tom Chambers
Danny Manning
Clyde Drexler
Hakeem
Scottie Pippen

and many others.

 

[scotsman13]

i just wonder where this guy gets his information. he states that connie hawkins didnt rebound http://www.basketballreference.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HAWKICO01

 

[greensborohill]

Rosen is an idiot

Charles Rosen knows nothing about basketball. .

He did a preason piece last season on the Mavs and said something like. ."Finley is just a jump shooter on his last legs"

And this season in his preview he states "The loss of Michael Finley will be huge."

Also, in this season preview he stated that Tariq Abdul-Wahad was our best defender. . . . how would he know. . TAW has not played for us in three seasons!!

A week later after I emailed him about his column he deleted the TAW part.

He has no credability at all.

 

[kaesile]

Rosen is an annoying writer because although most of his material is factually accurate (I suppose), practically everything he writes concerning the Suns has anti-Suns spin all over it.

Rosen's Stoudemire analysis last year basically said that Amare was overrated and only emphasized the negatives in his game. Yeah, maybe Amare is a weak defender, but to ignore every other facet of his game and write him off is just dumb. I get that sort of vibe from most of Rosen's writing.

Concerning Barkley, I have to agree with most of what's already been said. The one year that he came into camp in shape was the '92-'93 MVP season, and that was because he had to play on the Dream Team in the Olympics that summer before.

 

[nowagimp]

Barkley was in shape

Concerning Barkley, I have to agree with most of what's already been said. The one year that he came into camp in shape was the '92-'93 MVP season, and that was because he had to play on the Dream Team in the Olympics that summer before.

As someone who followed Barkley as a sixer and as a sun I can tell you that Rosen is an uninformed Idiot. About his 3 through 6th seasons as a pro, Barkley was physically quite impressive. Sixers fans from 1986-90 will remember him as about 245 lbs with an impressive set of abs(a 12 pack at least). I even saw him block a Jordan dunk attempt at full height in the 4th quarter of a hotly contested game. Talk about a highlight reel the NBA will never show! Barkley always had motivational problems on defense, but when you are a 25pts 15 rebound guy, I dont know how much energy is left for defense at 6'4". His physical shape faded as the years passed until he became overweight, slow, and couldn't jump. Barkley would have had his championship(and the recognition he so craved) if the refs had called the bulls for grabbing(in the name of hand checking) KJ every time he drove to the hoop in '93.
Rosen is a NY knick and Celtics fan with an unabashed bias. He calls Larry Bird and John Havlicek among the 3 greatest small forwards of all time and the Hawk is over-rated. I like Bird alot as a cerebral player and perimeter shooter, but he was a defensive liability as would Havlicek be in todays game. Havlicek couldn't guard the Richard Dumas of 1993 on his best day. Imagine Rosen bashes the Hawk and Barkley as being poor defensively, but rates "all time greats" that also were poor defensively. Can you say disconnect?

 

[SactownSunsFan]

Charlie Rosen is just like Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith. Their careers are based around a negative style and will say things to "stir the pot". None of these types of guys have any type of credibility, and they'll write or say anything to further their careers.

Hell, we're helping to sign their paychecks just by talking about them.

 

[RichDawg]

I remember many great Barkley moments, during his tenure in Phoenix. Among them:

The series ending 20 footer over Robinson (I still have the McDonald's cup!).
His 44/24 WCF game 7 performance against Seattle.
Recording a triple double in the 93 Finals.
56 against Sprewell & Webber's Warriors.
Numerous game winning shots during the regular season.
Etc, etc.

Not bad for an overrated underachiever.

Curiously, Rosen fails to include Scottie Pippen on his list, whose most memorable moment (admit it, the first thing you think of...) is of him sitting out the final play against the Knicks, while Kukoc hits the winning shot.

Whatever.

 

[nowagimp]

Rosen includes scottie as one of the top 3 small forwards of all time(with Havlicek and Bird). That is why he is not on the over rated list. I like scottie as a player, but he was rarely the focus of the other teams best swing defender for obvious reasons. I think that "the greatest" players should have to carry a team for more than 5-10 minutes a game.

 

[phillycard]

Charles Rosen knows nothing about basketball. .

He did a preason piece last season on the Mavs and said something like. ."Finley is just a jump shooter on his last legs"

And this season in his preview he states "The loss of Michael Finley will be huge."

Also, in this season preview he stated that Tariq Abdul-Wahad was our best defender. . . . how would he know. . TAW has not played for us in three seasons!!

A week later after I emailed him about his column he deleted the TAW part.

He has no credability at all.

That's awesome that you called him on the carpet like that. Sometimes these writers think they can just trot anything out there and people will accept it just because.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Personally, I would not use the word "overrated" to describe Barkley. My preference would be "disappointment." He was everything he was advertised to be--that was the problem. Less (in the party dept) would have been more.

One of my favorite dialogues ever was between Cotton and Barkley.

Cotton: What are you thinking about doing?
Chuck: I am thinking about retiring as a rich, black, basketball player.
Cotton: Once you retire, you' just be a rich black man. If you divorce Maureen, you'll just be black.

 

[Yuma]

Most overrated player goes to Darko right now. They guy doesn't even have to search the history books to look that up! Andrew Bogut had a better first game as a pro then Darko has EVER had and he got half the fanfare that Darko got!

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Most overrated player goes to Darko right now. They guy doesn't even have to search the history books to look that up! Andrew Bogut had a better first game as a pro then Darko has EVER had and he got half the fanfare that Darko got!

That doesn't make any sense Yuma. If anything, Darko is underrated at this point because everyone has labeled him as a bust.

Now if you are talking about predraft then maybe (but probably not even then)

 

[Yuma]

That doesn't make any sense Yuma. If anything, Darko is underrated at this point because everyone has labeled him as a bust.

Now if you are talking about predraft then maybe (but probably not even then)

Yep, predraft. He was supposed to be the next great big man. I read all those glowing prognostications. I didn't believe them then and was roasted for saying he wasn't all that. Now apparently noone remembers those predraft analysis. Also, I bet everyone that Melo would be a better player than Darko. Everyone said I was nuts. Now, noone remembers that. Everyone says they always knew Melo would be better.

 

[nowagimp]

"Personally, I would not use the word "overrated" to describe Barkley. My preference would be "disappointment." He was everything he was advertised to be--that was the problem. Less (in the party dept) would have been more."



The suns got Barkley at or just past his prime in the Jordan/Bulls era. His physical skills had begun to fade by the time the suns got him. The suns had a great team in '93. In the '93 playoffs, Barkley played with loose bone chips in his shooting elbow, but he still shot ~60% from the floor, got 12-15 rebounds every night and destroyed Horace Grant, an all star in the NBA finals. He also regularly destroyed the "great defender" Rodman on the low block. Check Grants stats in the NBA finals, they were nonexistent and becoming worse game by game. In that series, KJ was being grabbed on every drive by Jordan or Pippen and it wasn't called. At the end, Ainge decided to double Horace Grant and leave Paxon, the best pure shooter in the NBA, wide open on the series clinching shot in game six, otherwise a game 7 would have been played. No I'm not disappointed in Charles, he played outstanding with an injury that probably would have sidelined or rendered other players ineffective. He never even once sat out a game with a turf toe. Charles biggest problem was his own mouth, though alot of good players have this problem today. If he just had the class to keep his trap shut more often like Jordan, or Duncan he would have had more recognition and appreciation around the league. The problem was that he was always told he was too short or too ... something ... to be what he wanted to be( a great basketball player), so he blew his own horn in rebellion and never learned to shut up.

I love Amare, but lets face it, he is similar to Charles in several ways: Unstoppable in the lane, decent 15 foot shot, generally poor defense(though for different reasons). Charles was a much better rebounder and passer. Dr. J called charles "relentless" on the backboards (Kind of like amare on offense). Even in preseason and practice Charles worked hard in the early years. Maurice Lucas(power forward all star) said charles was tearing the league apart with his physical aggressiveness. Charles was very hard working as a 76er(I was there), but this degraded as a Sun and certainly as a rocket. At some point the fire faded, as it usually does. Where Charles fell short was in learning to pass out of the double team before his physical skills faded. Because Amare has developed this quickly(3yrs), it is tantalizing to contemplate his future. It took Charles a long time to learn what Amare already has. Amare has the fire and is rapidly gaining the knowledge of a seasoned NBA player. He has much greater potential than Charles did as a defender. Amare has almost no limits to his capability, except maybe injury.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Yep, predraft. He was supposed to be the next great big man. I read all those glowing prognostications. I didn't believe them then and was roasted for saying he wasn't all that. Now apparently noone remembers those predraft analysis. Also, I bet everyone that Melo would be a better player than Darko. Everyone said I was nuts. Now, noone remembers that. Everyone says they always knew Melo would be better.

I dont think anyone on here is saying that. In fact, I have been saying that I think that Darko will be better than Melo when all is said and done.

He looks like he might actually get a chance to play this year. If Melo was on the Pistons he wouldn't have gotten much time either.