Charles Barkley is soooooo relieved that the NBA has found it in its heart to be kinder and gentler on today’s players by making them play fewer back-to-backs.
In case you couldn't tell, he was being sarcastic.
"I want to commend the NBA," Barkley said Wednesday at the SMU Athletic Forum, via the Dallas Morning News. "You know, these poor babies can't play back-to-back games. They're making $20-, $30-, $40 million a year. But we want to make it convenient for them. At $40 million a year, we can't stress 'em out.
"The private jets and four-star hotels aren't enough."
Over the last few seasons, the NBA has scaled back the number of times teams are scheduled to play games on consecutive days. For the upcoming season, back-to-backs have been reduced to 14.4 per team, down from 16.3 last season, per USA Today. Also, teams will no longer play four games in five nights, thanks to the NBA’s decision to start the season a week earlier. Part of the motivation is to discourage teams from resting star players.
Removing tongue from cheek, Barkley said none of these tweaks were necessary.
"I'm so angry at the NBA for telling these guys, 'Wait a minute, we're paying you guys $30-, $40 million and you can't play basketball two days in a row?'" said the TNT studio analyst. "I think it's a travesty that the NBA can't just tell these guys to play basketball two days in a row. It's just a joke to me.
"We flew commercial and we were able to play back-to-back. I've sat with older guys who took trains and played three days in a row. The NBA caved in."
