NBA: Charles Barkley Snubs LeBron James, Kobe Bryant In Top Five Players List

LeBron James and Kobe Bryant failed to meet the standards set by Charles Barkley in his top-five basketball players list. Citing the significant evolution of the game, the ex-NBA star turned TV analyst boldly asserted that the earlier eras would simply overwhelm the modern greats as he went for older legends in his first five run down.

“I do think the way they play the game today, (James) didn’t want any part of those 'Bad Boy' Pistons,” Barkley told Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari in his Facebook show "Coffee with Cal.”

The 57-year-old former MVP placed James at the seventh spot while putting the late Bryant at sixth. His top five, meanwhile, include Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

“Those guys were out there trying to hurt people. I used to always tell people that when you play the Pistons, you gotta call your family and tell them you love them just in case you never saw them again,” Barkley added.

Of course, discussions circling the best players are inevitable with the hype brought by “The Last Dance” – the docuseries chronicling the last season of Jordan with the Bulls.

Barkley played his best years in the NBA at the time the Chicago superstar was bossing around the league. In 1993, the two greats faced each other in the NBA Finals, which Jordan and the Bulls finished in six games to win their first three-peat.

Recalling the series, Barkley, who was then the star for the Phoenix Suns, admitted that he still regrets failing to beat Jordan.

“I’ve thought about it a million times. I’ve always been pissed at myself … It’s always good to make the proper basketball play, unless it don’t (expletive) work out,” Barkley said in a phone interview per USA Today.

Barkley was selected fifth overall in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played in the league for 16 years where he was named an MVP once (1993) and was selected to an All-Star team 11 times. He, however, headed to the exits in 2000 without winning a single championship.

But the ringless tally would not spoil Barkley’s legendary career. He was a 22.1 scorer and a double-double machine as he averaged 11.7 rebounds per game. An Olympic Gold Medalist twice, Barkley left an imprint in the sport as he was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2006.