Jun 4, 2023; Denver, CO, USA: TNT sports analyst Charles Barkley speaks before game two between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 NBA Finals at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Charles Barkley Doesn’t Hold Back Regarding Lakers’ LeBron James’ Impact on New Rules

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Sep 7, 2025 12:30 PM ET

Hall of Fame former power forward Charles Barkley has recently weighed in on how 21-time All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James' career has affected the league's new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The 6-foot-9 superstar, who will be the league's oldest active player for the third straight season at age 40, popularized the so-called "Player Empowerment Era" (the epic 2000 free agencies of Tracy McGrady and Tim Duncan may have been the true start of that movement) when he first jumped ship from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat as a 26-year-old free agent in 2010. Four years and two titles later, he returned to Cleveland.

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After another four seasons and a third championship, James inked a maximum deal to join the Lakers, with whom he would win his fourth title in 2020.

Now, the NBA has enacted such a punitive luxury tax structure that it has effectively created an unofficial hard cap with its second tax apron, which has so dissuaded teams that it has already prompted the Boston Celtics to break up their 2024 title team just one year later.

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Speaking on The Ringer's "The Bill Simmons Podcast," Barkley essentially blamed the free agency movement of superstars like James and 15-time All-Star Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant for this brutal new setup.

“Why did they have to come up with [expletive] rules, Bill?" Barkley asked rhetorically, before he proceeded to riff. "Because all these guys want to play together and not compete. How many great players do we need in one team? They made up these rules, these young people, well if I had a dollar for every time I heard the second apron, why did Adam Silver have to put the second apron in? Because LeBron wanted to get all his guys together. KD wanted to go play with the Warriors."

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"Wait — y’all don’t want to win the championship and compete against each other? [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver had to do something," Barkley said. "We can’t let one team hoard all the good players. They had Klay [Thompson], Steph (Stephen Curry) and Draymond Green and they didn’t need KD [Kevin Durant]. Don’t get mad at Adam Silver because y’all wanted to play together and dominate the league because ya’ll don’t want to compete.”