NBA
Charles Barkley Goes Off On Load Management In Today’s NBA, Insisting That Team Are ‘Paying Bums’ $300 Million
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated28 Feb 2023
The league has had a real problem in recent years with “load management” and it’s become a highly controversial topic. Players have came out and said that others in the league are absolutely not playing as much as they should and it’s because the NBA has become lackadaisical with their polices around the issue. NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley went on ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith and expressed his displeasure with how the league handles “load management” in today’s NBA.
Barkley said that teams are “paying bums” $300 million and he’s got a point in certain aspect. Players salaries have drastically increased and even rotation players are earning multi-million dollar checks. He went on to say how “load management” is a huge issue for the NBA and he thinks that the league has went overboard trying to take care of players.
Charles Barkley sounds off on today's player salaries 😳
"We're paying bums today … We're just giving $200-300 million out like candy." pic.twitter.com/SXQKNAoUez
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 27, 2023
Charles Barkley thinks certain NBA players are being payed far too much for the output they give each night
Stephen A. Smith and Barkley had a discussion on load management and what it’s doing to the league. Chuck went on to explain how it’s perfectly find for players to make $30, $40, or even $50 million a year as long as they are playing every night. That is where the issue lies.
Players in today’s NBA are signing massive contracts and then they sit out for “load management”. It’s one thing to miss time because of an injury, but Barkley says it’s disrespectful to the game and to the fans that pay to see the players each night.
He also went on to share his frustrations with how much players are getting paid. He said that teams are “paying bums” $200-$300 million like it’s candy. He’s not wrong. However, he says the deep-rooted issue is in the load management aspect. Everyone around the league is getting paid, but players missing time when they’re not seriously injured is a big issue the NBA needs to fix.
