In addition to putting up his best effort on the field, Charles Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star, is a dedicated professional who doesn’t hold back when praising others who share his qualities. He has recently disclosed the names of his two favorite players.
As a player, Barkley was possibly the most remarkable outlier in the annals of basketball history who is ranked 18th on Nick Wright’s list of the Best 50 NBA Players of the Last 50 Years.
This star is one of only four players in NBA history to have recorded more than 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 4,000 assists in a single season, they also excelled at power forward, regularly outplaying opponents who were half a foot taller.
Why do these two players represent the top choices of Charles Barkley?
Charles has always been a reliable player, which is why he really admires Westbrook and Giannis because they almost never miss games in the first place. Yet, with injuries, athletes are unable to control whether they miss a game.
Giannis and Westbrook have that old-school attitude, according to Barkley, and they play incredibly hard while battling against whatever is in front of them. Charles mentioned this as a rare quality in today’s NBA, also claiming that Giannis and Westbrook are fierce competitors.
“I really love that boy Giannis. Him and Russell Westbrook I’ve never seen NBA players play harder than those two guys. Does Russell Westbrook has flaws? Yes, but I am never going to say anything bad about a man that plays that hard every single night and plays almost every game. Giannis is the same way. He plays 100 percent effort every single night, and you have to admire that,” Charley stated.
Greek-Nigerian professional basketball player Giannis has played 10 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and has appeared in 708 regular-season games, averaging 22.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists.
In 2019 and 2020, Antetokounmpo received back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Awards. He was one of just three players in NBA history to win two MVP awards before turning 26. The others were LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Russell Westbrook, another of Barkley’s favorite players, has played for five different teams over the course of 15 seasons, including the Thunder, and the Wizards while also being picked to play in nine All-Star games and has won one MVP award. In 1,081 regular-season games, he averaged 22.4 points, 8.4 assists, and 7.3 rebounds.
You’ll agree that Chuck’s favorite cannot be disregarded after seeing these two’s respective career records.
