Charles Barkley shockingly opposes LeBron James allegedly assembling star-studded USA team: “It’s great for basketball when we lose”
NBA legend Charles Barkley had an interesting opinion regarding Team USA and LeBron James' alleged plans to form a star-studded squad to redeem the team from this year's 2023 FIBA World Cup finish. Following the fourth-place finish, rumors have started to spiral that the stars will assemble for next year's 2024 Paris Olympics.
Barkley is no stranger to competing internationally as he was part of the famous Dream Team that was assembled for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Interestingly, he said that Team USA losing isn't so bad in hindsight. Chuck had the chance to talk about it when he was the guest for Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B.
"Listen, I'm kind of in the minority." Barkley said. "I don't want to upset those guys, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world if we lose, I actually think it's great for basketball when we lose, I truly believe that.
"Because if we win, like, okay yeah, we know we're the best basketball playing country in the world. But can you imagine, I don't mean it's just going to come out bad, one of these little crappy countries win, how popular basketball would be over there. I mean like, that's how this whole, the Dream Team started when we got--Tony Parker talked about it, you know, Dirk Nowitzki talked about it."
He continued:
"So it's only going to make basketball more popular around the world, we ain't got to win the gold medal. First of all LeBron's going to be 102 in 2 years."
Looking at it, Chuck has a point in his argument that the USA doesn't have to win gold every time. However, many were upset with how it performed recently, especially when it lost its last two games of the tournament. Still, the former All-Star for the Phoenix Suns won't be able to stop the superstars from uniting next summer.
It's been rumored that LeBron James will suit up for the national squad, among many others, who are willing to win gold again.
Also read: Nike's most unusual 3-on-3 game featured Charles Barkley taking on sumo wrestlers with Michael Jordan refereeing
Charles Barkley calls out the stars who maximize load management
The 1992-93 MVP has consistently called out the top players of the league for how they exercise their rights. Charles Barkley isn't a fan of a lot of things, especially players who make use of the NBA's load management culture. With the recent spike of players not being available to play, the former star said:
"You gonna make $70 million and you can't play basketball, three or four days a week?"
It looks like the league heard the concerns of people like Chuck. The Board of Governors approved a new player participation policy, which states that teams can't rest two stars at the same game.
Charles Barkley's concerns have been heard and will likely affect how stars play next season.