06-09-2007, 06:03 PM
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#15 (permalink)
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Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,529
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Elvin Hayes vs. Charles Barkley
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Originally Posted by Diophantos
Personally, I find it hard to rank The Big E above Barkley. Barkley was just so much more dominant of an offensive force, as well as being a better rebounder. Hayes was clearly the better defender, but I'm not sure it's enough to bridge the gap.
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Elvin Hayes is sixth all-time in NBA history in points scored (27,313); Charles Barkley finished 16th (23,757).
The scoring averages are close (Barkley averaged 22.1 points per game for his career, compared to Hayes' 21.0) and Barkley has 11 seasons where he averaged at least 20 points per game, compared to Hayes' 10.
Hayes was clearly the better defender. The Big E has the higher career rebounding average (12.5 boards per game for his career vs. Barkley's 11.7 per game), but I'm inclined to say Barkley was a better offensive rebounder than Hayes.
Where Hayes also has the big edge is in durability and conditioning -- The Big E missed a total of nine games in 16 years. Hayes is 11th all-time in games played (1,303) and third all-time in minutes (50,000). In his last five seasons alone, Barkley missed 126 games. Sir Charles played 10,670 fewer minutes than Hayes despite also playing 16 seasons.
Had Barkley taken care of his body like Hayes and Karl Malone did, Barkley's unique talent, athleticism and dominance would have landed him higher on my list. But combined with that and Hayes' decided advantage in defense (and Barkley holding only arguable advantages in scoring and rebounding), I can't put Sir Charles ahead of The Big E.
Last edited by Najee : 06-09-2007 at 06:27 PM.
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