Dallas Mavericks star point guard Luka Doncic recently joined co-hosts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson on the latest episode of Inside the NBA. As Doncic made an appearance, the Slovenian basketball star could not help but bicker with Charles Barkley about his height.
It wasn’t long before Kenny Smith pointed out how Charles Barkley was a power forward despite looking tiny next to Doncic. This immediately cracked up Sir Charles as he went on to say, “Hey, I can’t guard you out there(the perimeter) and you can’t guard me in the post.”
This prompted an immediate response from Doncic as he said, “I don’t know, I’m a good post defender though.”
During his playing days, Charles Barkley was listed at 6’6 and played the power forward position. However, Barkley was actually 6’4 and quite undersized for the position that he used to play back in the league. Despite that, Barkley dominated at the power forward position, winning MVP, leading his team to an NBA Finals appearance, and making several All-Star and All-NBA Team selections as well.
Even his co-panelist Shaquille O’Neal gave Barkley props on being a menace despite being undersized at the power forward position. As per Shaq, size did not matter for someone like Charles Barkley.
Coming back to what Barkley said, he may not be wrong when he told Doncic that he could not guard him in the post. Charles Barkley was a relentless workhorse in the post. Against defenders who were weaker than him, he relished using his brute force to go up and get a bucket. That said, when his defender was bigger than him, Barkley had no trouble using his agility and quickness to embarrass them. In ever sense of the word, Barkley was a matchup nightmare in the NBA.
As good of a player as Luka Doncic is, he is more popular for his offensive magic on the floor. As much as Doncic may disagree, Barkley may end up having an upper hand on him in the post after all.
Could Luka Doncic stop Charles Barkley in the post?
Charles Barkley may not have displayed his views on his height over the years but there was a time when his height was becoming a hurdle in his life. Barkley once addressed being undersized on an episode of 60 Minutes.
Barkley narrated a story of how he got a letter from a major university during his high school days. He shared that the narrative around him at the time was too short, not being able to play with bigger players and such. That was the time Barkley decided to play bigger than his size and went on to have a very successful NBA career.
Listed at 6’6 when in fact he was 6’4, Charles Barkley was a man among giants. He played against the likes of Manute Bol, George Muhresan, Shawn Bradley, and Ralph Sampson to name a few, all of whom were absolute behemoths. Not only did Barkley play among them but he dominated the game instead.
Concluding the back and forth between Luka Doncic and Charles Barkley, who do you think would still come out on top in the post? Will it be the Round Mound of Rebound or Luka Magic? We’ll let you ponder over this for a while. Personally, we’re with Charles Barkley on this one.
