In a chat on the ‘Dan Patrick Show,’ Suns legend Charles Barkley went off on the modern state of NBA basketball. He explained how the product has dipped on the court and how the new style of playing has been to the detriment of the fan experience.
Charles Barkley: “I think we have to do something,” said Barkley. “I watched the Warriors play the Mavericks and it was one of the worst games I’ve seen. I think it was 140-130. They just went up and down the court and shot threes. And I was like, man, this is awful to watch if you’re just gonna have a three-point shooting contest every night. I think we have to figure out something because the most important part of the game is the fans. If they’re not watching, you can’t keep your head in the sand — you gotta say, ‘What are we doing wrong?’ It’s frustrating for me because all the games are now a three-point shooting contest and a free-throw contest and I don’t like it. They can get mad but I don’t want to see a three-point shooting contest every night. That ain’t no fun.”
Dan Patrick: What if we capped the number of threes that you can take? Each team gets 25 attempts.
Charles Barkley: You know, I’m open for any suggestion. We have to do something. Ratings are down, down, down. If fans are the most important aspects of the game, we need fans to be successful. It’s like the All-Star game. With throwing stuff on the wall, we got a new model this year.
Dan Patrick: What do you think about that model?
Charles Barkley: I wanna do anything to help the game, Dan. I saw Kevin Durant ripped the new format. What we have done in the last x amount of years is not working, it’s not fun. I’ve always suggested we do the United States against the World. I think that would be fantastic. I don’t know how this thing gonna turn this year, but let’s be honest – what we’ve done the last few years is not working, play in simple.
The NBA is on track for the most three-pointers ever and it’s a trend that has been years in the making. After the rise of Stephen Curry and the Warriors’ dynasty, the three-pointer has completely taken over the game and today’s “meta” strategy is to simply shoot as many shots as you can from beyond the arc.
On Sunday, the game between the Mavericks and Warriors was the perfect example of modern NBA trends. The Warriors made 27 three-pointers and still somehow lost to the Mavericks, who went a ridiculous 21-41 from beyond the arc. The final score was 143-133 in favor of the Mavericks but it was a weird game that even coach Steve Kerr was baffled by.
Overall, the three-point revolution has changed the NBA in many ways and not all of them are good. For Barkley, though, there are still things the league can do to help increase its viewership, like shifting the schedule.
“I think we need to seriously consider starting on Christmas because listen you’re wasting your time going up against the NFL and College Football, they own the weekends now,” said Barkley. “We’d have the entire calendar to ourselves.”
It’s no secret that the NBA has a ratings problem and while limiting the volume of threes might help, moving away from the NFL spotlight could be another way to drive up interest from the fans.
Either way, it seems that everyone (between the players, coaches, and fans) can agree that the NBA needs to make some changes in order to maximize their fanbase. Over the year, we will likely see those changes in the form of new rules, schedule adjustments, and events like the NBA Emirates Cup.
Most of all, the style of the game has to change so that each match and every team feels unique from each other. If the NBA does this, and perhaps shifts the schedule so that it doesn’t coincide with football, it could go a long way toward fixing the biggest problems.
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