Former NBA superstar and current TNT analyst Charles Barkley said he hopes LeBron James will decide to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers when the three-time NBA champion enters unrestricted free agency this summer. James is heavily linked to the Houston Rockets at the moment, where he can potentially join forces with former Team USA teammates Chris Paul and James Harden.
In an episode of ESPN’s First Take , Barkley said that he would “ quit watching the NBA ” if James opts to move to Houston in free agency. With the Cavaliers seemingly unfit to dethrone the Golden State Warriors, rumors abound that he could leave Cleveland once again to join a team more capable of beating the defending champions.
“I don’t want a two-team league,” Barkley said. “I want the talent spread out. Number one, I hope he (James) stays in Cleveland.”
Players forming their own super teams have been the trend in the NBA these days, with the Warriors boasting four All-Stars, the Rockets having Paul and Harden, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony tying up with Russell Westbrook in OKC, and Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward moving to Boston last offseason.
Barkley has been openly critical of this “super team” trend, along with other NBA legends such as Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller.
In a recent interview with USA Today , Barkley said that he is “concerned” about the NBA’s current parity problem . He said that the league could come down to a one- or two-team competition and that fans may be forced to skip watching games that will feature mediocre squads.
“I mean, we could be down to basically a one- or two-team league, and at some point the fans are going to say, ‘Enough is enough. Why am I watching, or buying tickets, if we’ve only got three or four good teams in the NBA?’ That concerns me.”
Barkley said that he wants “competitive balance,” and that he believes it would be better for the NBA if most teams would be “worth watching” with star players shared across the league.
The 11-time NBA All-Star then repeated his desire for LeBron to remain in Cleveland, saying that “it would be a great way to end his career.”
“I don’t have any idea how he thinks. He left there one time. It shocked me, but like I say, he wrote that great letter, talking about how much Ohio meant to him, I hope he finishes his career in Cleveland.”
LeBron is also being linked to the Los Angeles Lakers. There are rumors that the Hollywood squad is set to target James, along with the Thunder’s George, this summer as the team was able to create enough salary cap space to accommodate both of their contracts after a successful NBA trade deadline deal.
