Charles Barkley said he believes NBA teams are “paying bums” too much money while the league deals with a “huge” load management problem.
The “Inside the NBA” co-host went off about the matter during a Monday appearance on ESPN’s “First Take,” and explained that the NBA is shoveling out millions to “everybody” like candy.
“It’s a huge issue,” Barkley told Stephen A. Smith while debating the topic of load management. “I love [NBA commissioner] Adam [Silver]. He’s a great guy, he’s a great commissioner. But I think what happened is, I think he kinda went overboard trying to take care of the players. …He’s trying to do everything possible to give these guys rest.
“Stephen A, I don’t think fans get mad if you’re making 30, 40, 50 million dollars if you play basketball every night. But you can’t make 30, 40, 50 million dollars and then sit out games. I think it’s disrespectful to the game, I think it’s disrespectful to the fans…These fans are paying their hard-earned money.
“What’s going to be crazy, in this next TV negotiating deal, we’re going to have guys making 70 or 80 million dollars a year! And [the fans] are going to say, ‘wait a minute, ‘you’re going to make 70 million dollars and you can’t play basketball three or four days a week?’… They fly private, they got the best medical stuff ever created.”
Barkley added that the NBA extended the All-Star break and reduced back-to-backs to accommodate players.
“It ain’t like we working in a steel mill, brother,” he said. “There are people working in a steel mill and I’m pretty sure they’re tired too. But they go to work every day. I think load management is a big deal… I don’t know the right or wrong answer, Stephen A.”
Barkley also took issue with Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s suggestion to reduce the 82-game schedule to 72 games to create more rest for players.
“Pretty nice of him to take money out of all these players’ pockets,” Barkley said, adding that “there are lesser players who don’t make all that money” and might not want to sacrifice game checks.
“We’re paying bums today Stephen A, and you know,” Barkley said, to which Smith replied: “Yeah, you got me there.”
Barkley continued, saying, “I don’t want to offend anybody, but we’re paying janitors. We’re paying plumbers. We’re just giving $200-$300 million out like candy, man.
“And listen, I’m not mad. I’m not mad. You get what you deserve, whatever they pay you. I just hope that you appreciate that ‘you know what, I’m the luckiest dude in the world. I was born at the right time.’ But man it has nothing to do with the money anymore. We’re paying everybody in the NBA.”
The topic of load management is nothing new for the NBA. Earlier this month, the NBA and NBPA were reportedly discussing a rule change as part of CBA negotiations that would tie the league’s postseason awards to how many games players appear in during a season.
Conversations are reportedly ongoing as the two sides continue their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations with a March 31 opt-out deadline for the agreement.
On Monday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the NBA and NBAPA were “progressing in talks” on reaching a new CBA.