Charles Barkley, just like players like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Kawhi Leonard, had some things to say about the upcoming 2021 NBA All-Star Game set to take place in Atlanta next March 7. Ever since the league announced they were changing their plans and carrying out the game, everybody talked against it.
Now Chuck has joined the players, delivering a very controversial explanation on why the league is doing this regardless of what players think or say. During a recent edition of TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Barkley went off and didn’t care to talk about his employers, saying the league having the All-Star Game this season is trying to take care of the Turner Sports.
“They’re not worried about the players. They’re worried about Turner Sports. I’m just saying, they’re making it convenient for Turner Sports. They don’t have to travel all those cameras and stuff to another city. We got everything here. They don’t wanna have all these guys travel around the country, man,” Barkley said.
That is a very interesting way to see it. Turner Sports’ headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly where the ASG will be played this campaign. This could have been the first time somebody said this and probably only Chuck had thought about it.
This year the game was initially planned to be hosted by Indianapolis but the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible for the league. Now they found a solution but as Chuck said, they might have hidden motives behind this decision.
Well, he can’t say the league isn’t thinking about the players or the general public, as Adam Silver made it clear that they won’t be holding any ticketed event, they will prevent any party that anybody wants to throw and more.
Adam Silver on the 2021 NBA All-Star weekend;
“There will be absolutely no social functions in Atlanta. No ticketed events, no parties."
(h/t @gifdsports) pic.twitter.com/OItRLqRjTn
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 18, 2021
The league is taking this very seriously. If somehow something goes wrong and we see players or fans getting infected during the All-Star Weekend, it’ll be a problem for the association.
