Charles Barkley Explains Why He Doesn't Rank LeBron James Higher Than Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan

At this very moment, Charles Barkley believes Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant should still be ranked higher than LeBron James.

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Even after LeBron James's extraordinary NBA Finals performance to capture his third ring and help lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first title in franchise history, Charles Barkley told Bill Simmons on his show, Any Given Wednesday, in June that James still isn't a top five all-time player. Barkley doubled down on those comments this week in a new interview with Sports Illustrated.

At the moment, Barkley would also rank Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant higher than LeBron, but that is still subject to change. However, according to Chuck, there's no way James will even crack his top five of Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain. "First of all, my top five are never going to change," Barkley said. "He can move past Kobe, and Tim Duncan, but my top five are never going to change." 

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Four months later, Barkley is still standing by James's placement on his list, adding that more rings will ultimately determine if he surpasses Bryant and/or Duncan. “Then LeBron is right there. I don’t understand why y'all are in such a hurry to move him past Tim Duncan and Kobe," he told Sports Illustrated. "Now if he wins a couple of more championships, I might move him past Kobe and Tim Duncan. You guys always talk about championships. Kobe and Tim have five. LeBron has three.”

While Robertson's 1961-62 season where he averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game is arguably one of the greatest feats in NBA history, The Big O only won one title in 1971. If Barkley is really going to make rings the crux of his argument, he may want to take a long look at Oscar before knocking LeBron's resume. 

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