Amar’e Stoudemire was a guest on Udonis Haslem and Mike Millers’ ‘OG’s Podcast’. The pair asked him for his Mount Rushmore of the greatest power forwards of all time. Stoudemire, who was a great power forward during his career, named Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Kevin Garnett, and Dirk Nowitzki as his four greatest power forwards of all time.
“Mount Rushmore of power forwards? Wow… I’m going with Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley… Kevin Garnett… Yeah, I would have to go with Dirk [Nowitzki], because Karl Malone was good but he wasn’t as good as Dirk in my opinion. Moses Malone was solid but he was also a center.”
Stoudemire’s list is certainly respectable. He made some strong arguments against Karl Malone, who never found championship success in his career, and Moses Malone, who mostly played at center during his time in his career. The four names mentioned are the four that are frequently placed on the list of the greatest power forwards ever.
No doubt that Malone is one of the greatest players of all time. But considering the names on the list, he doesn’t measure up, as he played a far more simple game compared to the more dynamic players that Stoudemire placed on this list.
Tim Duncan is considered to be the greatest power forward of all time. Across his near-decade-long career, Duncan won five NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, two MVPs, 15 All-Star and All-NBA nominations, along with eight All-Defensive nominations.
Charles Barkley is the only player on the list not to win the NBA championship. But he did win an MVP award in 1993 and earned 11 All-Star and All-NBA nominations.
Kevin Garnett won an NBA championship in 2008, along with an MVP trophy and a Defensive Player of the Year award, with 15 All-Star nominations, nine All-NBA nominations, and nine All-Defensive nominations.
As for Dirk Nowitzki, he won an NBA championship and Finals MVP in 2011, along with a regular season MVP, 14 All-Star nominations, and 12 All-NBA nominations.
Stoudemire Chooses Between Duncan And Garnett
In the same interview, Amar’e Stoudemire was asked to choose the tougher player to play against between Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. He noted that while Garnett was very loud when facing off against him, Tim Duncan was the tougher player because he would go under the radar, even when having a great game.
“I would say they both were great players. I think Tim Duncan was tougher to me because those numbers he put up were quiet and you never know until after the game… Garnett is a little louder. You’ll know if he’s having a good game. But Tim was quiet about his…”
Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett were polar opposites, not just as players, but as personalities as well. Duncan was a quiet, reserved player who relied very much on his skills and basketball IQ (not to say that Garnett didn’t have basketball IQ) to get whatever he wanted.
Whereas Kevin Garnett was a freak of nature from an athletic standpoint and used that athleticism and explosiveness to perform at a high level on both ends of the court.
Regardless of where you stand between the two players, there is no denying that they are two of the best to ever do it at their positions.
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