Charles Barkley Says NBA Would Have 'Mauled' Warriors 25 Years Ago

It's not possible for the players in today's NBA, but Charles Barkley knows how he would have defended the Golden State Warriors a quarter-century ago: He would have "mauled them."

Appearing on Fox Sports Radio's The Herd on Wednesday, the Hall of Famer and TNT analyst broke down how teams would have guarded the defending champs during his era:

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We would have just mauled them. You're not gonna let guys come off those picks. They changed the rules—it's kind of like the NFL where you can't touch the wide receiver. The defense is at a disadvantage, all these cornerbacks in the NFL are really at a disadvantage. And a guy like [Stephen Curry], who is amazing, you can't put your hands on him, you can't hand-check him. It's a totally different game.

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Barkley continued, saying he would "beat Steph up" coming off screens and take advantage of the Warriors' relative size in order to "pound these guys on the boards." He cited the Cleveland Cavaliers' near-victory from last year's NBA Finals as proof that this Warriors core is not infallible.

This is in keeping with Barkley's quotes from the past, which tend to show a preference for a more physical style of basketball. He drew headlines during last season's playoffs by categorizing the Warriors as a "jump-shooting team."

"I don't like jump-shooting teams," Barkley said last April, per Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle. "I don't think you can make enough jumpers to win four series in a row. I've said that for 25 years, not just now. I think you physically manhandle them inside."

Always a good sport, Barkley took it in stride when the Warriors turned that quote into a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt:

Many who played in his era share the rhetoric espoused by Barkley. They believe the NBA was a more physical product 20 to 25 years ago, and if you generally ask them which era they prefer, they gravitate toward their own. That's natural. Nearly all professional athletes are going to view their time as the "golden era" of whatever sport they played.

And perhaps Barkley is right. Maybe Curry wouldn't ascend to MVP heights if he had John Starks grabbing his jersey around every screen or Gary Payton hand-checking him on the perimeter. But what gets lost in that shuffle is the ways the NBA has changed that would make things a lot more difficult for Barkley-era players as well.

To wit: Curry hit 286 three-pointers last season. In 1990-91, only three teams hit 286 three-pointers. The Warriors hit 883 threes as a team in 2014-15. That's 542 more than any team 25 years ago and more than all but three teams even attempted.

Even if the Warriors are being "mauled," it's safe to say those 542 extra threes would come in handy somewhere along the way. But that's the beauty of these arguments: Barkley can say his piece, the Warriors can say theirs and no one will ever know who's right because time travel is a mythical concept.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.