"You know how many free throws Michael Jordan would shoot today" - Charles Barkley believes it's unfair to compare eras, cites James Harden's free throws per game example
Draymond Green recently compared his Golden State Warriors to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, drawing criticism from many NBA fans and analysts.
The 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year watched the 1998 NBA Finals between the Bulls and the Utah Jazz, claiming that the Warriors would have beaten both of those teams.
Charles Barkley, who was one of the best players of the 1990s, disagrees with Draymond Green. He believes that Jordan would be even more dominant in today's NBA.
"You know how many free throws Michael Jordan would shoot today?" Barkley asked. "James Harden is a great player. He shoots 12 a game. But you just can't compare eras because of the physicality."
Jordan is one of the best offensive players in the history of the league. His rim attacks were relentless, and considering how easy NBA referees are on the whistle today, Barkley's comments make a lot of sense.
Michael Jordan was a very gifted scorer
During his 15-year career, Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game on 49.7% shooting. This average ranks him at the top of the leaderboard for the best career scorers, even above Wilt Chamberlain.
Jordan was a fantastic scorer who reletlessly attacked the rim. His midrange game was also great, and he averaged 8.2 trips to the charity stripe.
While Jordan's weakness was 3-point shooting, that was the only weakness he had. Everything else was great, which is why he is considered the greatest player in the history of the league.
Since becoming a starter, James Harden has averaged 10 free throw attempts per game, which is much higher than Jordan's average. While Harden is another talented scorer, referees sometimes give him too many friendly calls.
If Jordan got as many soft calls as Harden, his scoring average would have been higher. This shouldn't take away from Harden's game as he finds ways to help his team win. However, one has to wonder how amazing Jordan would be in 2022.
Charles Barkley had amazing battles against Michael Jordan
Barkley knows what it takes to play against Jordan as the two of them faced each other in 55 games. Jordan was much more successful than this rival and even beat him three times in the playoffs.
Jordan averaged almost 40 points against Barkley in the postseason and was simply unstoppable. In the games that counted the most, the Chicago Bulls legend took his game to a whole new level, and he even had some games with fantastic 3-point shooting.
Barkley had firsthand experience with facing Jordan, and most of the time, he failed to stop him.
Considering how competitive MJ was, it's easy to assume he would be a fantastic player in any era. He was truly special, and it will be difficult to dethrone him as the greatest player the league has ever seen.