Charles Barkley said Tuesday he likes the confidence Derrick Rose showed when the Chicago Bulls star recently said he considers himself the best player in the NBA.

"I've got no problem with that," Barkley said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN Chicago 1000. "First of all, if you don't think you're the best player you shouldn't be playing. I'll be honest with you, when I was playing in the NBA I thought I was better than Michael Jordan, and I think Karl Malone thought he was better than Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing thought he was better than Michael Jordan. ... We think he just got more help than I got, he ain't no damn better player than me.

"... You give me (Kevin) McHale and (Robert) Parish I'm going to win championships too. Same thing with Magic Johnson. You give me Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and Michael Cooper and James Worthy, as an individual player I'm better than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson."

When asked by CNN last week who is the best player in the NBA, Rose, who missed all of last season recovering from knee surgery, answered "Derrick Rose."