Charles Barkley Explains How Ben Simmons and James Harden Asking for Trades Will Change the Future of the NBA

With the NBA marking its 75th anniversary, they put out a list of the 75 greatest players. One of the players to feature on the list was Charles Barkley. In his time, Barkley was a dominant power forward. Some would even say he was better than Karl Malone as they went head to head in scrimmages during the Dream Team. He is also a vocal person as an analyst. Hence, he spoke his piece on the whole Ben Simmons situation.

Barkley is a legend in the NBA. While he may not have won a championship, he proved to be as effective as anyone could be. He was rivaling Michael Jordan in conversation to be the best player at the time. However, after retiring, he joined the NBA on TNT show and became an analyst. Hence, he speaks about most of the ongoing things in the league.

Jun 8, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) hangs on the rim after dunking against the Atlanta Hawks during the first quarter in game two of the second round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

One of them is the whole situation with Simmons and Philadelphia as he refuses to play and also takes money. Looking at this, Barkley believes the NBA will make major changes to put the organisation in a power position in such situations.

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Charles Barkley speaks on Ben Simmons

With the current situation, the only reason Simmons showed up was to avoid fines. The All-Star made sure that he does anything to leave and now he may be taking it a step ahead. However, this all started with James Harden and his way of forcing the Rockets to trade him. Barkley spoke about how it is unfair for the owners to be in such situations.

Barkley spoke about how Harden took money from Houston and still went to his destined organisation. Now, Simmons is doing the same thing with Philly. Barkley believes it is messed up because the organisation is at the mercy of the layers in such a situation. He also said that the owners will not take it and the collective bargaining agreement will have some major changes after this.

Charles said: “The owners are not going to take this s**t lying down. I think the next collective bargaining agreement is going to be very contentious. There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to have a strike or a lockout.”

The collective bargaining agreement gives out the terms for the players, along with their rights and obligations to their organizations. In the current scenario, Ben Simmons can freely take money while not playing without any drawbacks. Hence, the owners will surely make a point to see change in this front to allow them to have the control in such circumstances. That is the only way to make it a fair for the organisation so they don’t lose blind money over a player who doesn’t wish to play.

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What would this change mean?

If the NBA does change the agreement, it will allow the organisation to govern the situation. Currently, it has been payers who are at an advantage as them appearing is enough to avoid fines. But if there are changes made pertaining to no playing games, it will put the owners in the driving seat.

The two situations have been unfair to the respective organisation. Hence, a change is surely in order. It is necessary for the organizations to have the upper hand in such situations because it is a players job and responsibility to play for the team. So this change would prevent a similar situation to come up again.

Do you think the NBA will bring changes to the collective bargaining agreement? Let us know your views in the comments below.

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