Charles Barkley is one of the standout NBA stars from the ’90s, winning MVP and making an NBA Finals in the decade. He may have only been 6’5″, but he played as a genuine big man in that era, outmuscling and outrebounding taller and more physical players on pure heart alone.
A player of his archetype in the modern era needs to bring more stuff to the court to be usable, especially shooting. However, Barkley is not happy with how oversaturated shooting has become in the NBA and says he thinks modern basketball is awful.
“It’s awful basketball. I hate to be the old get off my lawn dude. No defense, and it’s becoming a three-point shooting contest. The only thing that bothers me is that people are like ‘oh, you just mad because you don’t play like that.’ No no, no. There’s strategy in basketball. To just go to the gym and jack up threes all night, and if we make them, we win, and if we miss them, we lose. The only thing that bothers me is that, all you motherf***ers can’t be good 3-point shooters. All y’all ain’t Steph and Klay. I don’t mind guys shooting threes but your big guys are shooting threes now? If y’all just going to have a three-point shooting contest, just say it. The big guys don’t post-up anymore.”
Barkley went on to say that Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic are the only 2 big guys that don’t mind posting up anymore. That comparison is funny because Embiid and Jokic are arguably two of the most skilled big men in NBA history by virtue of playing in the modern era.
Is The Modern NBA Not Fun To Watch?
Charles Barkley is paid to talk about the NBA and sell the product for league broadcasters TNT, so if he’s calling it awful, he must feel strongly about it. Many former players and coaches have criticized the modern NBA for this. However, this was a natural evolution of the game that was eventually bound to happen with a shot that generates more points.
While a 2-pointer may be more reliable, if teams and players can figure out a way to maximize their 3-point shooting ability, they are going to use it. We saw the Dallas Mavericks perfect a five-out offense last season and rode it to the Western Conference Finals despite having an inferior team on paper. These moments make the NBA extremely fun to watch, as it’s much harder to count teams out of games.
Teams that have fallen into the trap of ‘shoot three and repeat’ have hurt the product. However, it’s not egregious enough to be called awful, especially with the league growing in popularity every day due to 3-point shooting inspired by the likes of Stephen Curry.
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