Charles Barkley isn’t one to mince words.
The Hall of Famer and NBA analyst spoke at Southern Methodist University on Wednesday, and he was asked about the The Association’s new schedule, which lowers the amount of back-to-back games for each team. Barkley, as you might expect, didn’t hold back.
“You know, these poor babies can’t play back-to-back games,” Barkley said. “They’re making $20, 30, $40 million a year. But we want to make it convenient for them. They’re making $40 million a year, we can’t stress ’em out. So we’re just going to make it more comfortable for them. The private jets and four-star hotels aren’t enough.
” …Â I think it’s a travesty that the NBA didn’t just tell these guys to play basketball two days in a row. Moving the season up, it’s just a joke to me.”
Watch Barkley go into the topic at length in the video below:
Never change, Charles.
Whether you agree with Barkley or not, the reality is that, given today’s crop of NBA players, the scheduling change is best for everyone involved. If players truly are going to sit out back-to-back games to rest, then something had to be done to protect the fans, who sometimes pay large amounts of money to see one product only to be given another.
Still, it’s good to have someone like Barkley, who isn’t afraid to say what many people are thinking.
Thumbnail photo via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports Images
