Charles Barkley Criticises The NBA’s “Disrespectful” Handling Of Its Load Management Issue

A little more than a week after the All-Star Break, Charles Barkley criticised the league’s position on the load management issue and called it a “huge issue.”

Charles Barkley Criticises The NBA’s “Disrespectful” Handling Of Its Load Management Issue

During ESPN’s First Take, the former NBA player and current TNT commentator discussed the subject that has gradually gained traction among a select group of league figures and players.

This NBA season, the topic of star players missing games has come up again and been a source of frustration.

After benching Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins in Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back on January 20, Steve Kerr bemoaned playing too many games. Jimmy Butler gained notoriety after meeting a fan who travelled 4,000 miles to see him play but was turned away. At the All-Star media availability, Anthony Edwards spoke extensively about the necessity for players to play more.

Now, Charles Barkley is weighing in. And he’s not happy.

“I don’t think fans get mad if you’re making 30, 40, 50 million dollars and playing 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.

“It ain’t like we working in a steel mill. 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 problem.”

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, was also given some blame by Barkley, who claimed that what had started as a well-intentioned initiative to aid players by limiting back-to-backs had now just gone too far.

The Hall of Famer mentioned a specific instance when he overheard Warriors coach Steve Kerr telling his players to “go down” in certain games so they can save some energy for more crucial ones later in the calendar year, despite the fact that he appears to be in favour of doing away with load management altogether.

A rule change that would reduce load management by correlating regular-season honours with the amount of regular-season games a player has participated in was allegedly under consideration by the NBA and NBPA earlier in February.

According to reports, discussions are still continuing on as the two sides work to reach a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with an opt-out deadline of March 31.

It’s a difficult situation with no obvious solution. But before fans start leaving in droves, it would be in everyone’s best interest to rectify this.

Reducing the amount of regular season games is the most frequently advocated remedy, as Kerr has done. Yet since money talks, good luck persuading players, owners, or the league itself to voluntarily forgo money out of altruism.

The NBA has implemented schedule anomalies like two-game mini-series with teams playing twice in a row to lessen travel, but those initiatives have obviously not been successful.

Whatever the case, Charles Barkley is correct: there is a load management issue in the NBA.

 

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