"When Michael Jordan played, he stepped on floor 80+ games" - Jason Whitlock exonerates Charles Barkley from NBA ratings fall
Jason Whitlock defended Charles Barkley for his take on the dip in NBA ratings. The former Phoenix Suns star raised a few eyebrows when he shared his two cents by asking league commissioner Adam Silver to "seriously consider starting on Christmas" as the immense competition from the NFL and college football see the latter duo winning the weekend viewership contest.
Whitlock, on X (formerly Twitter) said Barkley and 'Inside the NBA' were not at fault. He referenced Michael Jordan's ability to be the league's Iron Man by playing the maximum number of games per season and cited the absence of key players as one of the main reasons behind the viewership decline.
"There’s a lack of competition in the NBA, and it’s a problem. People are trying to blame Charles Barkley and “Inside the NBA," but they aren’t at fault. When Michael Jordan played, he stepped on the floor 80+ games for 11 years. Players don’t even play anymore. They’ve made rules based around players sitting out of games. You can’t blame the state of the NBA on Barkley."
