- Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, Dirk Nowitzki, and Karl Malone are four of the greatest power forwards ever
- They all made their mark on the league in spectacular fashion
- NBA fans on Reddit debated who was the best among them at their peak
There isn’t much debate on who is the greatest power forward ever, as Tim Duncan is head and shoulders above everyone else. Who’d be second on that all-time list, though has been hotly contested over the years.
Four names that have regularly popped up in those debates are Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, Dirk Nowitzki, and Karl Malone, and NBA fans on Reddit debated who was the best among them at their peak.
Kevin Garnett vs Karl Malone vs Charles Barkley vs Dirk Nowitzki?: Who was the best at their peak?
by u/Wolver8ne in nba
A fan went with Barkley from the 1992-93 season, “I’ll take 93 Chuck. Jordan just happened to be at his peak and no one on this list would’ve equaled that.”
A Mavericks fan with Dirk, as he is the only one here to carry a team to a title, “Dirk. Carried the Mavs to a ring. Yes, I’m biased.”
One fan went chose Garnett from his 2003-04 MVP season, “MVP season KG.”
Another fan went with Barkley for his rebounding and scoring, “It’s Barkley for me. His rebounding was just incredible, and he was a very good scorer and good decision-maker”
A fan pointed to Garnett’s dominance on both ends of the court as the reason for picking him, “KG because he could be a difference maker at both ends of the court. The other three all had more offensive upside, and Barkley may have been a better rebounder, but Garnett was the best all-around defender, by a lot imho, which I feel gives him the advantage.”
This is really not at all easy to pick, as they were just so great, which explains why fans were so split here.
Just Who Was The Best At Their Peak?
There are strong cases to be made for all four men here, but I’d have to go with Garnett.
His peak might well be that 2003-04 season, where he averaged 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game. He led the league in rebounds and made NBA All-Defensive First Team as well.
Garnett led the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals, but they lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. There is no shame in losing to those two. His offensive game is probably the worst among these four, but defensively, he was well clear of them, which gets him the edge.
He is the only one of these four to win Defensive Player of the Year and did so in 2008, which happened to be when he won his first and only championship. He didn’t lead a team to a title in spectacular fashion like Dirk but was still a very big reason why the Boston Celtics came out on top.
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