Now that Charles Barkley has reconciled with one Bulls legend, he’s ensuring balance by picking on another one. Though he rarely says something nice when talking about Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors. This time it’s not about the team being ‘old’ and ‘cooked.’ He didn’t even concern himself about the state of flux in Golden State amid contract negotiations. Even though the Warriors’ injury-ridden season ended at the Play-In Tournament, Sir Charles is reigniting the debate about the NBA’s grueling 82-game schedule by specifically calling out Steve Kerr.
He opened his appearance on on ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy immediately addressing Steve Kerr’s recent campaign to shorten the season by 10 games. To the uninitiated, Chuck is against the idea, often citing Michael Jordan’s example for players going through 80+ games without rest.
The 1993 MVP who played 16 seasons in a more physical era, dismissed the proposal as financial hypocrisy, arguing that Kerr’s stance has conveniently shifted only as his dynastic core has entered their mid-to-late thirties. “I hate the fact that he’s complaining now because he’s got an old geezer team,” Barkley said, bringing back his old argument since Stephen Curry and Draymond Green were on the other side of 35, after their fourth championship.
“He didn’t say that when they were winning championships. You didn’t say that when you won four championships and went to the Finals all those years. Now he’s got all those old-a– dudes on his team and now they’re in the play-in.” Note, this interview was apparently recorded before the Warriors were eliminated from the Play-In Tournament (or Chuck didn’t know that becausethe Inside Guys don’t watch the games).
He goes on to say, “Y’all screwed up the draft… they actually should still be winning now.” That of course refers to the failures of James Wiseman (the No. 2 pick in 2020) and Jonathan Kuminga (No. 7 in 2021), two players he put a lot of faith in. The Warriors’ veteran core now expanded to include Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis. By those examples, Barkley argues that the Warriors’ current struggles are a self-inflicted result of poor roster management.
Charles Barkley’s critiques comes at an opportune time. Steve Kerr’s contract is officially up and chances are he’s either retiring or the team doesn’t give him an extension. The possibility of him returning is also there but not many are holding their breaths for it.
Simultaneously, Dub Nation is criticizing the team’s owner, Joe Lacob for interfering in basketball operations. Under Lacob, the team embarked on its ‘two-timelines’ strategy before the 2022 title. That longterm security plan, which saw the selections of Kuminga, Buddy Hield, and other younger players Barkley was hinging his hopes on, ended this season.
At the same time, Curry remains one of the highest paid players in the league and Kerr is the highest paid coach. That led to Chuck questioning Kerr’s economic logic of cutting games without cutting pay. “I don’t like when rich people tell poor people they should cut $10 million, $20 million off their salary,” Barkley noted, referencing the impact on the league’s rank-and-file players. “Let’s play less games—you’re going to lose five, 10, 15, 20 million dollars. Like, no, no, no. I want the same amount of money, I just want to play less games. That’s the stupidest crap.”
Former players like even Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter brought up the same argument against Kerr. Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), basketball-related income (BRI) is split roughly 50/50 between owners and players. The $72 billion media rights deal is predicated on a certain volume of ‘inventory.’ A 12% reduction in games would theoretically trigger a massive drop in salary caps and individual contracts.
Chuck claims that Kerr’s success is a combination of him being a “hell of a coach” and having really good players. But he does not agree on his take about shortening the season.
As the Warriors currently sit in the lower tier of the Western Conference standings in 2026, Barkley’s comments serve as a blunt reminder that in the NBA, the 82-game grind remains the ultimate equalizer regardless of how many “geezers” are on the bench.