Barkley: 'Kawhi Leonard is the best basketball player in the world'
TNT analyst Charles Barkley loves Kawhi Leonard.
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2 min read
TNT analyst Charles Barkley thinks highly of San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard.
"Kawhi Leonard is the best basketball player in the world, in my opinion," Barkley said on Thursday, prompting Kenny Smith to interject and ask if Barkley really thinks Leonard is better than Stephen Curry and LeBron James.
"First of all, Steph is the best offensive player in the NBA," Barkley said. "LeBron was the best player for the last 10 years or more, but as his age, I would take Kawhi Leonard over any basketball player in the world right now."
That's when Shaquille O'Neal opined that Leonard is not the best player in the world, then totally undersold his game. "He plays good defense, does a few things on offense," O'Neal said.
"Steph Curry is the best offensive player in the world," Barkley repeated. "That’s not debatable. But if you’re looking at both ends of the floor, like I say, LeBron’s older, but if I needed one player today to start my franchise, I’m going with Kawhi Leonard."
All of this was said right before San Antonio beat Cleveland 99-95 at AT&T Center. Leonard had 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in 40 minutes, shooting 6-for-14 and guarding James as well as anyone can.
Three things:
1) There's a difference between "the best basketball player in the world" and the player you'd take to start a franchise. For the latter, you'd almost always favor a younger player. If you told me your first choice is Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, I wouldn't argue. And I certainly wouldn't argue if your choice is the same as Barkley's.
2) Leonard is the most dominant defensive force in the NBA. He's also leading the league in 3-point percentage (.507). Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in November that Leonard can be a two-way star like Michael Jordan, so he had him watch tape of Jordan and Barkley to see how they dealt with double-teams. Leonard is now one of the best post-up players in the game, and he almost never turns the ball over. If you think that he isn't at least up there with Curry and James, then you haven't been paying attention to how his game has evolved. Maybe he's not the absolute best, but he's a superstar.
3) Leonard's response, via CBS Sports' Ananth Pandian, was exactly what you'd expect: "I'm not focused on that, I'm just trying to go out there and win an NBA championship for my team."
