Charles Barkley vs. Klay Thompson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Klay Thompson and Charles Barkley, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Charles Barkley played 16 years in the NBA, 4 more than Klay Thompson, who played 12. Charles Barkley had the first of his seasons in 1984-85, while Klay Thompson had his rookie season in 2011-12. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1984-85	2011-12
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	82	28.6	14.0	3.2	5.3	8.6	1.9	1.2	1.0	2.5	3.7	5.2	9.5	.545	0.0	0.1	.167	3.6	4.9	.733
difference:	+16	+4.2	+1.5	+2.8	+3.2	+6.2	+0.1	+0.5	+0.7	-0.9	-1.4	+0.4	+1.4	+.102	+1.7	+4.0	+.247	+2.4	+3.5	+.135
Klay Thompson	66	24.4	12.5	0.4	2.1	2.4	2.0	0.7	0.3	1.6	2.3	4.8	10.9	.443	1.7	4.1	.414	1.2	1.4	.868
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	13	31.4	14.9	4.0	7.1	11.1	2.0	1.8	1.2	2.7	3.8	5.8	10.7	.540	0.3	0.5	.667	3.1	4.8	.635
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1985-86	2012-13
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	80	36.9	20.0	4.4	8.4	12.8	3.9	2.2	1.6	4.4	4.2	7.4	13.0	.572	0.2	0.9	.227	5.0	7.2	.685
difference:	+2	+1.1	+3.4	+4.0	+5.1	+9.1	+1.7	+1.2	+1.1	-2.5	-1.3	+1.2	+1.7	+.150	+2.4	+5.5	+.174	+3.4	+5.3	+.156
Klay Thompson	82	35.8	16.6	0.4	3.3	3.7	2.2	1.0	0.5	1.9	2.9	6.2	14.7	.422	2.6	6.4	.401	1.6	1.9	.841
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	12	41.4	25.0	5.0	10.8	15.8	5.6	2.3	1.3	5.4	4.3	8.7	15.0	.578	0.1	1.3	.067	7.6	10.9	.695
difference:		+0.1	+9.8	+4.2	+7.0	+11.2	+3.8	+1.3	+0.7	-3.4	-0.6	+2.4	+0.5	+.141	+2.0	+3.6	+.357	+7.2	+10.4	+.138
Klay Thompson	12	41.3	15.2	0.8	3.8	4.6	1.8	1.0	0.6	2.0	3.7	6.3	14.5	.437	2.1	4.9	.424	0.4	0.5	.833

Season 3
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1986-87	2013-14
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Rebounds Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	68	40.3	23.0	5.7	8.9	14.6	4.9	1.8	1.5	4.7	3.7	8.2	13.8	.594	0.3	1.5	.202	6.3	8.3	.761
difference:	+13	+4.9	+4.6	+5.2	+6.3	+11.5	+2.7	+0.9	+1.0	-3.0	-0.8	+1.3	+1.7	+.150	+2.5	+5.1	+.215	+4.5	+6.0	+.034
Klay Thompson	81	35.4	18.4	0.5	2.6	3.1	2.2	0.9	0.5	1.7	2.9	6.9	15.5	.444	2.8	6.6	.417	1.8	2.3	.795
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	5	42.0	24.6	5.4	7.2	12.6	2.4	0.8	1.6	4.4	4.2	8.6	15.0	.573	0.2	1.6	.125	7.2	9.0	.800
difference:	+2	+5.3	+8.2	+4.8	+4.3	+9.2	+1.2	+0.2	+0.9	-2.3	-0.8	+2.9	+1.0	+.165	+2.1	+4.7	+.239	+4.5	+5.6	+.008
Klay Thompson	7	36.7	16.4	0.6	2.9	3.4	3.6	1.0	0.7	2.1	3.4	5.7	14.0	.408	2.3	6.3	.364	2.7	3.4	.792

Season 4
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1987-88	2014-15
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	80	39.6	28.3	4.8	7.1	11.9	3.2	1.3	1.3	3.8	3.5	9.4	16.0	.587	0.6	2.0	.280	8.9	11.9	.751
difference:	+3	+7.7	+6.6	+4.4	+4.2	+8.7	+0.3	+0.2	+0.5	-1.9	-1.9	+1.6	+0.9	+.124	+2.5	+5.1	+.159	+6.0	+8.6	+.128
Klay Thompson	77	31.9	21.7	0.4	2.9	3.2	2.9	1.1	0.8	1.9	1.6	7.8	16.9	.463	3.1	7.1	.439	2.9	3.3	.879
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Klay Thompson	21	36.2	18.6	0.4	3.4	3.9	2.6	0.8	0.9	2.0	3.0	7.1	15.9	.446	2.7	7.0	.390	1.7	2.1	.800

Season 5
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1988-89	2015-16
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	79	39.1	25.8	5.1	7.4	12.5	4.1	1.6	0.8	3.2	3.3	8.9	15.3	.579	0.4	2.1	.216	7.6	10.1	.753
difference:	+1	+5.8	+3.7	+4.7	+4.0	+8.7	+2.0	+0.8	+0.2	-1.5	-1.4	+0.8	+2.0	+.109	+3.1	+6.0	+.209	+5.2	+7.3	+.120
Klay Thompson	80	33.3	22.1	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.1	0.8	0.6	1.7	1.9	8.1	17.3	.470	3.5	8.1	.425	2.4	2.8	.873
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	3	45.0	27.0	2.7	9.0	11.7	5.3	1.7	0.7	3.7	3.0	9.7	15.0	.644	0.3	1.7	.200	7.3	10.3	.710
difference:	+21	+9.6	+2.7	+2.1	+6.0	+8.0	+3.0	+0.6	+0.3	-1.7	-0.8	+1.3	+3.9	+.200	+3.8	+7.9	+.224	+3.9	+6.3	+.144
Klay Thompson	24	35.4	24.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.3	1.1	0.4	2.0	2.2	8.4	18.9	.444	4.1	9.6	.424	3.4	4.0	.854

Season 6
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1989-90	2016-17
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	79	39.1	25.2	4.6	6.9	11.5	3.9	1.9	0.6	3.1	3.2	8.9	14.9	.600	0.3	1.2	.217	7.1	9.4	.749
difference:	+1	+5.1	+2.9	+4.0	+3.9	+7.8	+1.8	+1.1	+0.1	-1.5	-1.4	+0.6	+2.7	+.132	+3.1	+7.1	+.197	+4.7	+6.6	+.104
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	22.3	0.6	3.0	3.7	2.1	0.8	0.5	1.6	1.8	8.3	17.6	.468	3.4	8.3	.414	2.4	2.8	.853
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	10	41.9	24.7	6.6	8.9	15.5	4.3	0.8	0.7	3.0	3.6	8.8	16.2	.543	0.6	1.8	.333	6.5	10.8	.602
difference:	+7	+6.8	+9.7	+6.0	+5.7	+11.6	+2.2		+0.4	-1.6	-1.0	+3.3	+2.3	+.146	+1.8	+4.4	+.054	+5.0	+8.9	+.186
Klay Thompson	17	35.1	15.0	0.6	3.2	3.9	2.1	0.8	0.3	1.4	2.6	5.5	13.9	.397	2.4	6.2	.387	1.5	1.9	.788

Season 7
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1990-91	2017-18
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	67	37.3	27.6	3.9	6.3	10.1	4.2	1.6	0.5	3.1	2.6	9.9	17.4	.570	0.7	2.3	.284	7.1	9.8	.722
difference:	+6	+3.0	+7.6	+3.5	+2.9	+6.3	+1.7	+0.8		-1.3	-1.0	+2.0	+1.2	+.082	+2.4	+4.8	+.156	+6.0	+8.5	+.115
Klay Thompson	73	34.3	20.0	0.4	3.4	3.8	2.5	0.8	0.5	1.8	1.6	7.9	16.2	.488	3.1	7.1	.440	1.1	1.3	.837
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	8	40.8	24.9	3.9	6.6	10.5	6.0	1.9	0.4	3.1	2.9	9.3	15.6	.592	0.3	2.5	.100	6.1	9.4	.653
difference:	+13	+3.0	+5.3	+3.4	+3.0	+6.4	+4.2	+1.1	+0.1	-1.6	-0.6	+1.7	+0.7	+.127	+2.9	+5.0	+.327	+4.8	+7.9	+.218
Klay Thompson	21	37.8	19.6	0.5	3.6	4.1	1.8	0.8	0.3	1.5	2.3	7.6	16.3	.465	3.2	7.5	.427	1.3	1.5	.871

Season 8
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1991-92	2018-19
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost NBA Finals

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	75	38.4	23.1	3.6	7.5	11.1	4.1	1.8	0.6	3.1	2.6	8.3	15.0	.552	0.4	1.8	.234	6.1	8.7	.695
difference:	+3	+4.4	+1.6	+3.1	+4.1	+7.3	+1.7	+0.7		-1.6	-0.6	+0.1	+3.0	+.085	+2.7	+5.9	+.168	+4.4	+6.7	+.121
Klay Thompson	78	34.0	21.5	0.5	3.4	3.8	2.4	1.1	0.6	1.5	2.0	8.4	18.0	.467	3.1	7.7	.402	1.7	2.0	.816
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Klay Thompson	21	39.0	20.7	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.1	1.3	0.7	1.8	2.8	7.8	17.1	.456	3.3	7.5	.443	1.8	2.0	.902

Note: Klay Thompson didn't play in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

Season 9
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1992-93	2021-22
Team	Phoenix Suns	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	76	37.6	25.6	3.1	9.1	12.2	5.1	1.6	1.0	3.1	2.6	9.4	18.1	.520	0.9	2.9	.305	5.9	7.7	.765
difference:	+44	+8.2	+5.2	+2.6	+5.7	+8.3	+2.3	+1.1	+0.5	-1.8	-0.9	+1.7	+0.2	+.091	+2.7	+6.4	+.080	+4.5	+6.1	+.137
Klay Thompson	32	29.4	20.4	0.5	3.4	3.9	2.8	0.5	0.5	1.3	1.7	7.7	17.9	.429	3.6	9.3	.385	1.4	1.6	.902
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	24	42.8	26.6	3.9	9.7	13.6	4.3	1.6	1.0	2.1	3.0	9.6	20.1	.477	0.4	1.9	.222	7.0	9.1	.771
difference:	+2	+6.8	+7.6	+3.6	+6.1	+9.7	+2.0	+0.5	+0.3	-0.8	-0.9	+2.4	+3.4	+.048	+3.1	+7.2	+.163	+5.8	+7.7	+.096
Klay Thompson	22	36.0	19.0	0.3	3.6	3.9	2.3	1.1	0.7	1.3	2.1	7.2	16.7	.429	3.5	9.1	.385	1.2	1.4	.867

Season 10
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1993-94	2022-23
Team	Phoenix Suns	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	65	35.4	21.6	3.0	8.1	11.2	4.6	1.6	0.6	3.2	2.5	8.0	16.1	.495	0.7	2.7	.270	4.9	7.0	.704
difference:	+4	+2.4	+0.3	+2.4	+4.5	+7.1	+2.2	+0.9	+0.2	-1.4	-0.6	+0.1	+2.0	+.059	+3.7	+7.9	+.142	+3.2	+5.1	+.175
Klay Thompson	69	33.0	21.9	0.6	3.6	4.1	2.4	0.7	0.4	1.8	1.9	7.9	18.1	.436	4.4	10.6	.412	1.7	1.9	.879
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	10	42.5	27.6	3.4	9.6	13.0	4.8	2.5	0.9	2.7	2.6	11.0	21.6	.509	1.4	4.0	.350	4.2	5.5	.764
difference:	+3	+6.5	+9.1	+3.3	+5.5	+8.8	+2.6	+2.0	+0.6	-0.7	-0.4	+4.5	+4.8	+.121	+2.4	+6.5	+.018	+2.6	+3.7	+.111
Klay Thompson	13	36.0	18.5	0.1	4.1	4.2	2.2	0.5	0.3	2.0	2.2	6.5	16.8	.388	3.8	10.5	.368	1.6	1.8	.875

Season 11
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1994-95	2023-24
Team	Phoenix Suns	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	68	35.0	23.0	3.0	8.1	11.1	4.1	1.6	0.7	2.2	3.0	8.1	16.8	.486	1.1	3.2	.338	5.6	7.5	.748
difference:	+9	+5.3	+5.1	+2.5	+5.3	+7.8	+1.8	+1.0	+0.2	-0.7	-1.4	+1.7	+2.1	+.054	+2.4	+5.8	+.049	+4.0	+5.7	+.179
Klay Thompson	77	29.7	17.9	0.5	2.8	3.3	2.3	0.6	0.5	1.5	1.6	6.4	14.7	.432	3.5	9.0	.387	1.6	1.8	.927
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	10	39.0	25.7	3.9	9.5	13.4	3.2	1.3	1.1	2.5	2.8	9.1	18.2	.500	0.9	3.5	.257	6.6	9.0	.733
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Charles Barkley	Klay Thompson
Season	1995-96	2024-25
Team	Phoenix Suns	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	71	37.1	23.2	3.4	8.1	11.6	3.7	1.6	0.8	3.1	2.9	8.2	16.3	.500	0.7	2.5	.280	6.2	8.0	.777
difference:	+1	+9.8	+9.2	+2.8	+5.3	+8.2	+1.7	+0.9	+0.4	-1.9	-1.8	+3.2	+4.1	+.088	+2.3	+5.2	+.111	+5.3	+7.0	+.128
Klay Thompson	72	27.3	14.0	0.6	2.8	3.4	2.0	0.7	0.4	1.2	1.1	5.0	12.2	.412	3.0	7.7	.391	0.9	1.0	.905
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Charles Barkley	4	41.0	25.5	4.5	9.0	13.5	3.8	1.0	1.0	1.5	3.8	7.8	17.5	.443	0.8	3.0	.250	9.3	11.8	.787
Klay Thompson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Charles Barkley played 4 seasons more than Klay Thompson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 16, from 1997 to 2000—Charles Barkley played in 3 Playoffs. In those 4 extra years over Klay Thompson, Charles Barkley got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-Star Game