Charles Barkley on NCAA allowing athletes to train: 'I don't think it's safe'
NBA legend Charles Barkley appeared on Anderson Cooper 360 Wednesday night where he reacted to the announcement earlier in the day that the NCAA would allow football and basketball teams to hold voluntary athletic activities from June 1 through June 30, while excluding other fall sports. Barkley not only doesn’t think it’s safe due to the coronavirus, but, because only football and basketball players are included, he believes it’s clearly about money.
Video Transcript
CHARLES BARKLEY: I don't think it's safe, number one, but those are the two moneymaking sports. I don't think it matters as much for basketball because basketball doesn't start until November. But obviously football, you know, starts in August.
- NBA legend Charles Barkley appeared on "Anderson Cooper 360" Wednesday night where he reacted to the news that the NCAA would allow football and basketball players to begin voluntary athletic activities on June 1 while excluding all other fall sports. To Barkley, it's clearly all about money.
CHARLES BARKLEY: There's a lot of money at stake, but I do not think it's safe. I would not want my kid, until we know more about what can happen-- we need to wait until we're closer to a treatment or a vaccine. But listen, money is going to run this thing, and that's really unfortunate.
- There has been a lot of talk across multiple sports of playing games without fans due to the coronavirus, which Barkley is clearly not a fan of.
CHARLES BARKLEY: I think it would suck playing a sport without the fans.
They work two ways. Sometimes they give you energy that you never knew you had, and sometimes somebody-- some of the fans on the road are riding you so hard. That makes you rise up. So I would never want to play a sport, an event without fans, personally.
- Barkley also weighed in on the idea of starting the Major League Baseball season with every player in quarantine.
CHARLES BARKLEY: They said they're going to keep the players in a bubble, but what about the maids? The maids are not going to be stuck in a bubble. They're going to go home. You've got the people who work-- who work in room service. They're going to go home. That's why I'm really concerned about the season starting again.
- But despite his trepidation, Barkley said he's learned the importance of sports.
CHARLES BARKLEY: I've learned something through this pandemic. Man, we need sports. Are they the most important thing in the world? Not even close. But the one thing they do, they take your mind off of all the other crap that's going on in the world, and you just need a break.