During his NBA career, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley had an opportunity to play against some of the basketball’s greats including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. But when recently asked about the best player he ever faced, Barkley made a surprising pick.
During a recent on a charity event in Tennessee, Barkley said that the toughest matchup for him was fellow Hall of Famer and Boston Celtics’ legend Kevin McHale.
“He’s one of the greatest basketball players ever, and I actually work with him now on television,” – said Barkley. “He’s the best player I ever played against and had to guard.”
With both being power forwards, Barkley and McHale were pitted against each other a lot of times during their careers. This was especially the case during Barkley’s time with Philadelphia 76ers, who were one of Celtics’ biggest rivals during the 1980s.
Charles Barkley also added that he enjoyed playing against another Celtics’ legend Larry Bird as well as Utah Jazz’s Karl Malone.
“I enjoyed playing against players like Larry Bird and Karl Malone because they were great,” – he shared. “When you’re at this level, you’re better than 99% of the people in the world, so there’s a few guys you look at it and go, ‘That guy is just as good as me.’ So whenever you meet someone like that, it’s a big deal.”
