"Barkley has no rings he has no right to talk" - NBA fans abuzz over Charles Barkley's bold league ratings fix
Charles Barkley has made a living off giving suggestions to improve the NBA. However, his track record as a player has led some fans to question what he's saying as an analyst.
On Wednesday's episode of "The Dan Patrick Show," the "Inside the NBA" panelist chimed in on boosting the NBA's ratings.
“The best ratings we've ever had was the year we went on strike and started on Christmas. I think we need to seriously consider starting at Christmas because you are wasting your time going up against the NFL and college football. They own the weekends now,” Barkley said.
Barkley is referring to the 2011-2012 season, when a lockout led to Opening Day being held on December 25, 2011.
Some fans questioned Barkley's credibility to offer inputs like this, given that his playing career lacks some important accolades:
"Barkley has no rings he has no right to talk," said one netizen.
"Nobody is listening to a guy who has no rings and builds super teams," commented another.
Other online users expressed support for the one-time NBA MVP's proposal:
"Completely agree with this take. End the season in August. Summer basketball would be so sick," said one online user.
"From a TV ratings and business perspective, that was the smartest thing sir Charles Barkley ever said," said another netizen on X.
Yet another online user recommended a start date that was in neither October nor December.
"Make it a 52 game season and start after the superbowl," said this online user.
Charles Barkley draws support from longtime NBA columnist
Though Charles Barkley has a well-documented history of getting into heated debates, one columnist came to his defense after he made his Christmas Day comments.
Jason Whitlock, host of the Blaze Media program "Fearless With Jason Whitlock," defended Barkley amidst the backlash from fans, saying that it's the players who need to do their part to improve the ratings.
"There’s a lack of competition in the NBA, and it’s a problem," Whitlock said. "People are trying to blame Charles Barkley and “Inside the NBA," but they aren’t at fault.
"When Michael Jordan played, he stepped on the floor 80+ games for 11 years. Players don’t even play anymore. They’ve made rules based around players sitting out of games. You can’t blame the state of the NBA on Barkley."
With so many different inputs within the global NBA community, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver & Co. have plenty to work with as they work on the metric of TV viewership.