Barkley critical of extended season: 'Poor babies can't play back-to-back'

Charles Barkley will forever be old school when it comes to the game of basketball.

He's demonstrated this viewpoint in the past by claiming jump-shooting teams are incapable of becoming champions - something the Golden State Warriors have disproved on multiple occasions, mind you.

The latest target of his disdain is the league itself and its decision to extend the regular season to cut down on the amount of back-to-back games for its players.

"I want to commend the NBA. You know, these poor babies can’t play back-to-back games," said Barkley, sarcastically, at an SMU athletic forum on Wednesday.

"Making $30-, $40-million a year. But we want to make it convenient for them. At $40 million a year, we can't stress 'em out. The private jets and the four-star hotels is not enough, so I just want to commend the NBA for just making it so convenient for these poor babies," Barkley said.

To reduce the stress level on players from travel, the NBA will begin the 2017-18 regular season on Oct. 17, therefore eliminating stretches of four games in five nights completely, as well as reducing the amount of back-to-back slates per team from 16.3 to 14.4.

Such changes will also aid in preventing teams from resting talent when they're healthy, either on the road where opposing fans can only see them a handful of times (if that), or for nationally-televised contests. New guidelines on the matter have been submitted to the Board of Governors from the NBA's Competition Committee, with a vote for approval coming on Sept. 28.