There’s a lot of sides to the infamous ‘One and Done Rule’ for the NBA draft. Charles Barkley has remained on the side consistently opposed to it. Sir Charles has said several times in the past that players who haven’t developed their skills enough on the college level hurt the NBA. He had an additional viewpoint on the downside of it while on Netflix’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman. From the sound of it, he’s not seeing another LeBron James or Kobe Bryant in the new crop of players who do a token one-year of college to head to the draft.

David Letterman asked if the current NBA is saturated with superstars but Chuck said it’s the opposite. “It’s probably less. There’s less great players.” The reason, Barkley says, is that most players are skipping the learning curve before entering the NBA. “They don’t get to develop in college like they should. So you can leave college after one year now. We all had to stay in college three or four years,” Barkley said on the Netflix special.

Charles Barkley attended Auburn from 1981 to 1984 and played three seasons for the Tigers. He’s stated many times before that the NBA was not the ultimate goal. He was realistic and knew college would open up a lot more opportunities for him, even if he didn’t make it as a professional athlete. It’s a mindset he held on to and still advocates for aspiring athletes who view the NBA as a fast track to fame and fortune.

He still uses his own example. Referring to the live studio audience on the show, he said, “If they’d have gave me my job right after six months of college, I’m probably gonna fail or not be as effective.” And he reiterated his old belief, “Goin’ to college for three or four years is a huge advantage.” And Letterman agreed it ingrained mental and physical maturity in the athletes.

Charles Barkley is done with the system

The one-and-done rule was implemented in 2005 under the David Stern era and has been debated well into Adam Silver’s reign. Until 2006, players could be drafted straight out of high school but rarely did they hit the jackpot like Kobe and Bron. Others like Damian Lillard and Tim Duncan developed high basketball IQs playing all four collegiate seasons.

Chuck stated in 2018, “None of these one and done players have helped these teams in the last three years and it’s hurting our product.” Back then, the league was reeling from draft busts like Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball.

Losing Bill Walton made Barkley realize there’s not enough talent in the league as much as in the days past. Yet the rule remains and Chuck says, “Guys are only gonna go to college for one year now… and I don’t think that’s best system.” He also said he sympathizes with players who can’t adapt to the NBA and earn better but he blames the current system for it. Do you think Charles Barkley is right about the faulty system being disadvantageous to the players?

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.