Barkley jest wściekły na właścicieli

Charles Barkley udzielił wywiadu dla ESPN Radio Chicago, w którym bardzo dużo mówił o lockoucie i stwierdził między innymi, że jest wściekły na właścicieli za obecną sytuację.

If he were advising both sides in the lockout, what would he say:

“Well I’m kind of mad at the owners right not to be honest with you, because I think the owners are just trying to crush the guys. The players have made so many concessions, and it’s like, is that not enough? I try to explain to a normal person, okay, so the players went from 57 [percent] to 50, and that might not sound like a lot to a normal person, but you’ve got to understand — each one of those points is worth $300 million dollars; each one of those points is worth $300 million dollars. So it’s not like the players aren’t trying to make…it’s not like they’re not sacrificing anything….and I think the owners want even more, and I think they’re just trying to beat them to death right now.”

On Michael Jordan’s role in the negotiations and the heat he’s taking for his tough role in the negotiations

“Well first of all, don’t believe everything you hear. But Michael is an owner now. He can’t sacrifice his franchise. Listen, he’s the reason that all us players are making the money that we are today. But with that being said, he’s an owner now, he’s got to do what’s best for his franchise. I think it’s silly for players to think MJ should sacrifice the whole NBA for the rights of the players. He’s not a player anymore. When he played, he spoke for the players, he made sure every player got paid an enormous amount of money, but right now he’s an owner. That being said, I’ve been very disappointed with some of the owners as far as — look, this is a partnership, and it’s not like a regular business. I don’t think the players should never go lower than 50-50. I think they should take 50-50, but the owners I think want even more. And that’s what disappoints me, because the players are clearly trying to make a deal. But I think the union wants to break the union for good and get a ten-year deal where they make all the profits.”

Does he think the entire NBA season will be canceled?

“I don’t think there’s going to be, but that’s just my personal opinion, I don’t have any inside. But I knew it was going to be ugly, I think actually it’s become really personal. I think those owners got so upset at LeBron and Chris Bosh and guys like that that they’d rather burn down the house instead of doing any remodeling. We need great players on small market teams. And they drew a line in the sand and said ‘okay, okay, the inmates are running afoul and we’re going to put and end to this right now.’ That’s what I truly believe. Like I said, even if that means burning down the house, they were going to. It was like ‘okay, I’m sick of these guys.’ And remember, it’s already started for next year with where’s Chris Paul going and where’s Dwight Howard going? So these owners are steaming. Same with Carmelo. So the owners are like ‘these guys all want to play in major markets and screw the small towns, we’re going to put an end to this.’ And this is the point we’re at right now.”

Which player is going to come back most overweight and out of shape when the lockout ends:

“That’s a great question. I will promise you this — it’s probably going to be a big guy, because big guys…like guards like to go shoot around and play, guards love that. But big guys, they’ll go lift some weights and do stuff like that, but they’re not going to go run up and down the court. So it’s going to be a big guy. That’s a great question. I tell you what — I want to see Big Baby Davis when he comes back. I want to see Big Baby Davis. I love that kid, he works his behind off, but playing basketball everyday, that’s going to be interesting.”

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