Charles Barkley ends NBA GOAT debate with single reason why it can't be LeBron James

NBA legend Charles Barkley has weighed in on the age-old basketball GOAT debate. And he has an interesting take on why LeBron James can't be No.1.

Barkley was one of the most iconic players of the late 1980s and '90s. He was drafted in 1984, the same year at Michael Jordan, joining the Philadelphia 76ers.

Although he was never able to win a championship in his career, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player in 1993, when he led the Phoenix Suns to the NBA finals where they lost to Jordan's Bulls in seven games.

Since his retirement in 2000, Barkley has become one of the most loved and respected analysts in sports broadcasting, famous for his sense of humour and forthright opinions.

Shaquille O'Neal was exposed by Inside the NBA colleague Charles Barkley. Image: Getty

And he voiced one such forthright view when he was a guest on Jason Kelce's new talk show.

Asked who he believes should be considered the greatest NBA player of all time, Barkley was unequivocal.

"I've never seen a better basketball player than Michael Jordan," he told NFL legend Kelce on the They Call It Late Night show.

And while the NBA GOAT debate often centres around two players – Jordan and James – Barkley shared his thoughts on why he doesn't believe LeBron belongs in the conversation.

"I don't even put LeBron above Kobe," he said.

"The difference is LeBron is a nice guy. Nobody ever said that about Michael and Kobe. Michael and Kobe are mean guys, they're going kick your a** and tell you about it the whole time.

"LeBron ain't like that."

Nice guy or not, now in his 22nd NBA season and with four titles, four MVPs and the record as the league's all-time highest scorer under his belt, Barkley is in the minority when it comes to excluding games from the GOAT stakes.

Yet with his six championships, five MVPs and 10 scoring titles, few would dispute Barkley's claim that Jordan is the greatest of them all, even if he and the Chicago Bulls icon are no longer on speaking terms after the TNT studio analyst criticised the famous No.23's time as owner of the Charlotte Hornets.