Barkley: Steph Curry 'not more than a shooter'
Charles Barkley has never been afraid of propagating unpopular opinions.
An old-schooler through and through, the Hall-of-Fame forward turned Emmy-winning studio analyst has been particularly slow to embrace the evolving tenets of the modern NBA - be it the analytics movement or the notion that jump-shooting teams can indeed win championships.
Barkley, it seems, still isn't quite sold on Steph Curry's all-around game, despite the reigning MVP carrying the defending champion Golden State Warriors to the best-ever pre-All-Star break record (48-4).
On Thursday, Barkley was asked to compare Curry's dominance to that of low-post bullies like Shaquille O'Neal that defined the league during Barkley's playing days, in an interview with Jack Winter and Spencer Lund of Dime Magazine.
"He's just a great shooter," Barkley said. "It's a totally different animal."
Here's a paraphrased breakdown of the ensuing exchange:
Dime: But he's more than a shooter, right? Because he's -
Barkley: No. He's not more than a shooter. He's just a great shooter.
Dime: So, he's not an incredible playmaker? Doesn't make the game easier on his teammates? Stuff like that?
Barkley: I wouldn't say that. But he's not a great playmaker. He's just a great shooter. ... What Shaq did, you can't…I never played against Wilt Chamberlain, but we've never had a player like Shaq. ... He was just unstoppable.
Dime: Do you think some people feel that way about Steph now, though?
Barkley: No, they don't. 'Cause he played last week against John Wall and scored 51 and gave up 41. And most people think that John Wall had a better game, because Steph had 10 turnovers and John Wall had 41 and 15 assists.
For what it's worth, Curry had only seven turnovers in that game against Wall and the Washington Wizards. Wall had 10 assists, not 15. And the Warriors won by 13 anyway.
Not that Barkley would care, but Curry also currently owns a player efficiency rating (32.2) that would rank as the best of all time over a full season.