(RADIO.COM Sports) Move over, NBA GOAT debate. The MJ vs. LeBron argument is so 2020. We've evolved into the GOPOAT debate — though that doesn't have as nice a ring to it.
Forget defense. Let's worry about the greatest offensive player of all time, because that's what the question that Hall of Famer and commentator Charles Barkley entertained recently. There are obviously several candidates. How about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's all-time points leader? Is it one of Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain, the only two 30 point-per-game scorers in league history and the only players with seven consecutive scoring titles? Can Kevin Durant get a nod, seeing as he's a four-time scoring champion against more athletic opposition? Where does Allen Iverson land, with the sixth-highest scoring average of all time despite his size? Is Kobe Bryant the best pure scorer we've ever seen, especially in crunch time? Is LeBron James' all-around game enough to make him the best overall offensive player?
Needless to say, there are arguments for all of the above and others. Heck, one could even say that Barkley has some form of a case for the top 10, with the fifth-most offensive rebounds in league history, a top-30 points-per-game figure, the 10th-highest two-point field-goal percentage ever and the ability to feed teammates with nearly four assists per game. But Barkley is going in another direction with his pick, which he shared on ESPN on Wednesday morning.
"... He (James Harden) is the most awesome offensive player I've ever seen," Barkley said. "Listen, Michael and Kobe were better players from the guard standpoint, but as far as offensively, they couldn't shoot threes like him, they were not as great at dribbling the basketball, going to the basket, getting fouled. I mean this guy, every time he goes to the basket he's gonna hit somebody and get two free throws.
"We've got to give that guy credit, man. He's an offensive machine, plain and simple."
Barkley added that Harden might be the best basketball player in the world currently, with "no disrespect to LeBron or Giannis (Antetokounmpo)" or anybody else in the discussion.
This much is clear: You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who can free up more space for himself or create opportunities to score/draw fouls than Harden can with his dribbling wizardry, his filthy set of moves, his deadly long-range stroke and his willingness to penetrate the paint with reckless abandon.
His scoring total sits at 25.3 points per game to this point in the 2020-'21 campaign. Harden averaged 31.8 points per game over the span of the five previous seasons, and his career scoring average is 25.2 points. Jordan holds the all-time record of 30.1 points per game.
Harden also leads the NBA with 11.2 assists per game, tying his career high from when he paced the NBA back in the 2016-'17 season. He's not just a scorer on the offensive side — he does everything you could ask for.
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM Sports
Twitter | Facebook I Instagram