The NBA Cup final between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs is set for Tuesday night, but don’t expect Charles Barkley to care.
Commissioner Adam Silver created the NBA Cup and put it in Las Vegas to create a destination event that could boost interest in the regular season for fans and players. Now in its third season, the NBA Cup is generating interest from fans and players, but it doesn’t seem to be winning over Charles Barkley.
Barkley recently joined former NBA player and longtime media personality Tom Tolbert on his YouTube show where they discussed the in-season tournament. And predictably, Barkley hates the fact that the tournament leans on prize money to entice players into prioritizing regular season games, which they’re already paid for.
“I think the cup thing is somewhat embarrassing,” Barkley told Tolbert. “I’m disappointed that we have to make an in-season tournament to make these guys more money so they won’t do load management.”
“But to have to pay these guys extra money to make them play other games – they should play basketball because they’re well-compensated to play basketball,” Barkley continued. “To do an in-season tournament to make them extra money, come on, man. That’s a little bit ridiculous.”
Barkley’s disdain for the NBA’s in-season tournament isn’t new. Nor is his willingness to avoid promoting or hyping something in the NBA that he doesn’t love or agree with. Last season, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal joked they should rig the in-season tournament. Barkley is one of the most beloved NBA personalities, but he’s not always a great ambassador for the modern NBA.
Prime Video is the home of the NBA Cup quarterfinals, semifinals and championship this season after ESPN held it the last two years. History says Barkley probably would have made the same or similar comments if the game was airing on ESPN. But you can bet ESPN wouldn’t have loved Barkley calling an event airing on their network “embarrassing.”
It’s easy to mock the NBA Cup because it’s still new and lacks the meaning or respect that Silver and the league hopes it eventually generates. But these quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games in Vegas undoubtedly generate more interest and competition than a regular season game in December typically does. Whether it’s the potential $500,000 payout or the title of “NBA Cup champion” that has players playing a little harder doesn’t really matter. When players and fans care about games in December, that’s a good thing for the NBA.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com