It’s close, the edge to Giannis though.
Scoring – Even. They score in different ways. Giannis is more of a brute force type scorer ala Shaq or David Robinson. He pummels his way to the basket like a freight train and good luck stopping him. He’s so fast, athletic and strong that few defenses can ever hope to limit him they just have to take the abuse. Barkley on the other hand, is a more skilled scorer. He has a polished array of post moves that he can use back to the basket and he can either dunk it or hook it or shoot a floater or lay it up. Barkley has more ways to score. In terms of how efficiently they can score, both are really good they just do it in different ways.
Rebounding – edge to Barkley. Giannis is a great rebounder of course. And he’s also a lot taller than Barkley is. Barkley however – is called the Round Mound of Rebound for a reason. He led the league in rebounding as a 6′6 PF! And the fact that he averages more RPG than Giannis despite being 5 inches shorter says a lot about him. Charles was an intense hustler when it came to rebounding and he was good at boxing guys out for the rebound partly due to his large girth and his deceptive strength and good positioning.
Passing – even. Giannis is a great passer out of the post, one of the best I’ve ever seen. In a half court setting he can even run some plays. Barkley is also a great passer out of the post, one of the best I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen Barkley bring the ball up full court too. Barkley can go end to end.
The person who answered this question previously – Future Arizonan – said that Giannis was a much better passer. Look at Charles passing below and let me know when Giannis does something like this a behind the back pass running up full court.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ9GMpWdelU
Yes, I give credit to Giannis for his great passing out of the post but don’t disrespect Charles’ passing abilities he was great.
Defense – Giannis. This one shouldn’t be close because Barkley was never known as a great defender. Giannis however is the better defender and that should be obvious. Giannis is one of the best defensive players in the game and a grade A rim protector.
Shooting – even. Neither of them can really shoot from deep and you’re not going to rely on either for taking any perimeter shots. However I will say that Barkley at least has a midrange jumper.
Awards – Giannis. Giannis has a title, 2 MVPs and a Finals MVP. Barkley only has 1 MVP. Yes, Giannis faced an injured KD Nets team and a 2021 Suns team that wasn’t the greatest Finals team. Barkley faced MJ. So yeah, competition is different. But a ring is a ring and I’ll give it to Giannis for this.
Overall I think Giannis has to be ahead of Barkley by a bit.
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