These days, there are many fans of the NBA who love the high-scoring content of games and how players have become so talented at scoring from all over the court. However, NBA great
Charles Barkley is not one of those people.
Speaking on his CNN show, Barkley told his co-host Gayle King and guest Bob Costas the problems that he has with the modern NBA.
"It’s the three-pointer, first and foremost. But also, these millennials have ruined my game. It’s become a 3-point shooting contest, you can’t play defense," Barkley said.
He went on and compared today's NBA to the NFL.
"It’s kind of similar to what’s happened in the NFL. You are just gonna throw the ball 34-50 times a game, you cannot play on defense on the wide receivers," he said.
Barkley might be in the minority with this complaint because millions of NBA fans are very happy with how the league has transformed recently.
For years, the amount of points during a game decreased. Then, around 2015, the trend in scoring started to go up, partly because of the expert three-point shooting of
Golden State Warriors star
Stephen Curry.
Since then, dozens of players throughout the league have put a strong emphasis on scoring, including the three-pointer. It has created a very entertaining, fast-paced tempo. And some people have complained, like Barkley, that the league has changed for the worst.
But it's not really that different from the NBA that Barkley played in. The scoring average has only changed a bit. Most importantly, viewers seem to really enjoy today's league and its brand of scoring.