“It Would Be a Catastrophic Mistake Not To Play”: Charles Barkley on Kyrie Irving’s Recent Statements on NBA Restart

After Kyrie Irving said “I don’t support going into Orlando,” he drew support from a few veterans, but at the same time, he also drew a lot of flak from a lot of other players in the league. The latest to criticize him is the 1993 NBA MVP, Charles Barkley.

“I think it would be stupid to not play for two reasons,” Barkley told Mike Greenberg while speaking on ESPN’s Get Up. “Number one, if they don’t play they’re going to be out of sight, out of mind for the rest of the year. There will be no cameras following [them]. LeBron [James] is probably the most famous athlete in the United States. He won’t be visible anywhere. So, out of sight, out of mind.” 

Charles Barkley

The NBA legend also talked about how the money players get from the league can be used to do good in the community.

“Also, these guys got to realize this money is going to come back, and they’re going to lose billions of dollars that the players could use to go into their own communities and do some great stuff. So it’s not good on any front. I have no idea what Kyrie and Dwight are talking about. But it would be a catastrophic mistake not to play.” 

Irving has had the support of veterans like Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley and a few others. This coalition issued a statement to ESPN saying, “This is not about individual players, athletes, or entertainers. This is about our group of strong men and women uniting for change. We have our respective fields, however, we will not just shut up and play to distract us from what this whole system has been about: Use and Abuse.”

The NBPA could potentially be called into action again. Despite the last vote going unanimous 28-0 just over a week ago, Irving and his coalition’s comments have spread uncertainty. The NBA had already allowed players to not participate, saying it wasn’t mandatory. They were willing to pay players who would be forced to miss due to health reasons (confirmed by the league).