NBA legend Charles Barkley is famous for giving straight answers and sharing his thoughts openly. During an interview won Back On The Record with Bob Costas, the former NBA MVP was asked who his pick is between LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

“Jordan,” Barkley responded. “LeBron is amazing. What he’s done in the community is amazing. The reason I give Jordan the edge and I’m never gonna say in it.. actually, in fairness I haven’t even put LeBron past Kobe, let’s get that out of the way. I want to be fair.

“The reason I put Michael up there before those other guys LeBron has stacked his teams. Let’s be realistic.. What Giannis and Dirk Nowitzki, guys like that, especially Giannis, is the perfect example. They go through the grind and to lose which Michael did. When I was watching that documentary [The Last Dance] I was like ‘Damn, I forgot how bad the Pistons beat him up.’

“But what he going through that struggle that’s what separates sports, like, winning all the time, like, we all want to win. But the struggle is part of your legacy and what Giannis did this year, what Michael was doing when the Pistons beat the hell out of him for three or four straight years and he’s, like, ‘No, I’m gonna keep getting better, I’m gonna keep getting better.’ That’s the difference in my opinion.”