LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 28: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs complains to referee Scott Foster against the Los Angeles Clippers during Game Five of the Western Conference quarterfinals of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center on April 28, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
NBABy Alex Putterman on

Who’s the best basketball player in the world? Fair question. Some would say it’s Steph Curry, the reigning MVP and current NBA scoring leader. Others might vote for LeBron James, the four-time MVP who dominated last year’s NBA Finals.

Charles Barkley has another choice. Behold:

Kawhi Leonard is a great player, of course. He was Defensive Player of the Year last season and is averaging 20.2 points a game this year. He’s the best player on one of the league’s three best teams and at age 24 is only getting better.

But best player in the world? Not so sure about that.

No one else on the Inside the NBA set openly objected to Barkley’s peculiar assertion, but there seemed to be some degree of skepticism.

Barkley, a noted opponent of advanced stats, is probably relying on the eye test here, but for what it’s worth, here are Kawhi’s ranks in some notable categories:

PPG – 20th
Steals per game – 8th
PER – 5th
True-shooting percentage – 7th
Offensive rating – 8th
Defensive rating – 2nd
Offensive win shares – 4th
Defensive win shares – 1st
Win shares – 2nd
Real plus-minus – 3rd

Maaaaybe if you squint you can build a statistical argument to back up Charles’ argument… nahhhh.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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