Who was better... Barkley or Kobe?

[AussieSteve]

This is not a troll thread

Career wise, sure Kobe wins hands down. Rings, longevity, career stats and accolades. I don't dispute this at all.

And of course Kobe had the crazy regular performances like 81 points, a 35ppg season etc. etc. Barkley can't match these achievements.

But who was better?




Well, let's look at each players' playoffs numbers over their best 10 years. Because the playoffs is what counts right. For Barkley this is 1986-1995. For Kobe its 2001-2010. Coincidentally, both these spans are age 22 - 31.

Stat - Kobe / Barkley
PPG - 28.8 / 25.9
REB - 5.7 / 13.6
AST - 5.4 / 4.5
STL - 1.5 / 1.7
BLK - 0.6 / 1.0
TOV - 3.2 / 3.1
eFG% - 48.6% / 53.9%
PER - 23.5 / 25.2
WS/48 - .178 / .201

Barkley has the decisive advantage here.

Also in terms of iconic playoff games. Does Kobe have any single playoff games that match Chucks 43 point triple double in Game 5 of the 93 WCF? Or his 44 / 24 game in game 7 of the same series to get the Suns into the finals? Or Barkley's 19 point final quarter to lift the Suns over DRob and the Spurs in game 5 and then his game / series winner in DRob's face the very next game?

Kobe scored 40 points once in 6 finals, and never more than 40. Barkley score >40 point once in 6 finals games. scoring 42.

Kobe scored at least 42 points once every 24.7 games. Barkley, every 24.6 games.

And of course Barkley did his scoring on such better efficiency and absolutely dominated the boards in the playoffs, meaning that he could be the most influential player on the court even if he wasn't scoring. Kobe...?


I don't know. Is Kobe only greater than Barkley because her had better teams and coaching?

[iamgine]

The flaw with Barkley is he's an awful defensive player and this doesn't show up on the stat sheet while Kobe's defense was all D level, although it becomes horrible when he got older.

[stalkerforlife]

This is not a troll thread

Career wise, sure Kobe wins hands down. Rings, longevity, career stats and accolades. I don't dispute this at all.

And of course Kobe had the crazy regular performances like 81 points, a 35ppg season etc. etc. Barkley can't match these achievements.

But who was better?




Well, let's look at each players' playoffs numbers over their best 10 years. Because the playoffs is what counts right. For Barkley this is 1986-1995. For Kobe its 2001-2010. Coincidentally, both these spans are age 22 - 31.

Stat - Kobe / Barkley
PPG - 28.8 / 25.9
REB - 5.7 / 13.6
AST - 5.4 / 4.5
STL - 1.5 / 1.7
BLK - 0.6 / 1.0
TOV - 3.2 / 3.1
eFG% - 48.6% / 53.9%
PER - 23.5 / 25.2
WS/48 - .178 / .201

Barkley has the decisive advantage here.

Also in terms of iconic playoff games. Does Kobe have any single playoff games that match Chucks 43 point triple double in Game 5 of the 93 WCF? Or his 44 / 24 game in game 7 of the same series to get the Suns into the finals? Or Barkley's 19 point final quarter to lift the Suns over DRob and the Spurs in game 5 and then his game / series winner in DRob's face the very next game?

Kobe scored 40 points once in 6 finals, and never more than 40. Barkley score >40 point once in 6 finals games. scoring 42.

Kobe scored at least 42 points once every 24.7 games. Barkley, every 24.6 games.

And of course Barkley did his scoring on such better efficiency and absolutely dominated the boards in the playoffs, meaning that he could be the most influential player on the court even if he wasn't scoring. Kobe...?


I don't know. Is Kobe only greater than Barkley because her had better teams and coaching?

When you have to start with that, it most definitely is a troll thread.

[90sgoat]

I have Kobe ranked 2nd all time.

[imdaman99]

The flaw with Barkley is he's an awful defensive player and this doesn't show up on the stat sheet while Kobe's defense was all D level, although it becomes horrible when he got older.

This. People may not remember but Paxson got wide open for 3 because of Barkley's poor defense.

[Phoenix]

You already know where this thread is gonna go, but I'll say this. Barkley had an incredible offensive peak. Now, if the conversation is going to be restricted to just raw scoring ppg or highest scoring nights, well this isn't going to get off the ground. But to consider that he was able to put up 28ppg at his peak, on like 16 shots and making less than a 3 a game, when most great scorers are having to put up 20 or more shots to get those kinds of numbers, and guys today are jacking up 8 3's a game to hit 30? It just shows you how incredible his 2 point shot-making ability was. His shot attempts were WELL below what a player of his offensive ability should have been getting up.

[Elosha]

This. People may not remember but Paxson got wide open for 3 because of Barkley's poor defense.

You're right. Barkley did slip up and made a bad gamble on Pippen which ultimately led to Paxon being wide open. See video below. On the other hand, it was absolutely great ball movement from the Bulls too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b21gAhukchE

[StrongLurk]

Kobe.

[90sgoat]

For real though, if Barkley had the mindset and work ethic of Kobe, then Barkley would be an easy top 10 GOAT.

Barkley had the unique athletic ability of the GOATs, but he didn't have the work ethic of Kobe, who only had "top tier" athletic ability but had GOAT work ethic, intelligence and mindset.

[Proctor]

Kobe

[Round Mound]

Aesthetics go to Kobe but Dominance goes to Sir Charles. Kobe was more elegant, polished and better work ethics. Charles was a mix of power and skill. I'd take prime and peak Sir Charles over Kobe though. From 89 to 93 Sir Charles was one of the most dominant and efficient players ever.

[Manny98]

Kobe because his playoff play was superior

[superduper]

I would say Barkley's prime was more dominant but he only played half the game (only offense).

Kobe >>

[Round Mound]

This is not a troll thread

Career wise, sure Kobe wins hands down. Rings, longevity, career stats and accolades. I don't dispute this at all.

And of course Kobe had the crazy regular performances like 81 points, a 35ppg season etc. etc. Barkley can't match these achievements.

But who was better?




Well, let's look at each players' playoffs numbers over their best 10 years. Because the playoffs is what counts right. For Barkley this is 1986-1995. For Kobe its 2001-2010. Coincidentally, both these spans are age 22 - 31.

Stat - Kobe / Barkley
PPG - 28.8 / 25.9
REB - 5.7 / 13.6
AST - 5.4 / 4.5
STL - 1.5 / 1.7
BLK - 0.6 / 1.0
TOV - 3.2 / 3.1
eFG% - 48.6% / 53.9%
PER - 23.5 / 25.2
WS/48 - .178 / .201

Barkley has the decisive advantage here.

Also in terms of iconic playoff games. Does Kobe have any single playoff games that match Chucks 43 point triple double in Game 5 of the 93 WCF? Or his 44 / 24 game in game 7 of the same series to get the Suns into the finals? Or Barkley's 19 point final quarter to lift the Suns over DRob and the Spurs in game 5 and then his game / series winner in DRob's face the very next game?

Kobe scored 40 points once in 6 finals, and never more than 40. Barkley score >40 point once in 6 finals games. scoring 42.

Kobe scored at least 42 points once every 24.7 games. Barkley, every 24.6 games.

And of course Barkley did his scoring on such better efficiency and absolutely dominated the boards in the playoffs, meaning that he could be the most influential player on the court even if he wasn't scoring. Kobe...?


I don't know. Is Kobe only greater than Barkley because her had better teams and coaching?

Don't forget the 56 point game vs the warriors in game 3 of 1994 1st round. That was pretty much a collage on how to score efficiently.

[sammichoffate]

Kobe is 3rd all time scoring, Barkley is 26th. Stop posting OP