Charles Barkley Calls for NBA Season to be Cancelled

11-time NBA All-Star Charles Barkley believes that the NBA season should be canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, his call coming as commissioner Adam Silver sets about getting the current campaign back on track.

The 57-year-old former Philadelphia 76er, Phoenix Suns and Houston Rockets player, who retired from the game in 2000, had previously been open to the possibility of starting the season back up again but is now against such a move.

The Turner Sports analyst believes that a return to action at this point could prove dangerous, stating;

“It’s too dangerous, it’s not safe, I don’t know how they can make it safe,”

Barkley then expanded to discuss the procedures needed to run the remainder of the season, which appear to be most likely played in neutral venues, the 1993 NBA MVP adding;

“You can’t put the hotel workers in a bubble,” he explained. “You can’t put people who work room service in a bubble and I’m not sure players want to stay in a hotel for two straight months because you can’t leave the hotel to get something to eat as you have got to worry about the virus. They should cancel the season.”

The current season was suspended two months ago and there are still a large number of regular season matches to complete before the postseason action can get underway.

One wonders whether a restart is still some way in the future given that the US has been hit very hard during the coronavirus pandemic, suffering more fatalities than any other nation.