Charles Barkley: "I'm 100 Percent Sure" the NBA will Return this Summer
There's been a lot of talk about resuming the NBA season lately, though there's still no official word on when, where or how it will happen. That said, the rumored plan to start things back up in Orlando has been confirmed by just about everybody but Adam Silver.
We can now add Charles Barkley to that list.
The Hall of Fame forward and TV personality appeared on the latest episode of "The Paul Finebaum Show"(h/t Yahoo Sports) and discussed the latest with the NBA.
"We're gonna make a decision in the next week," Barkley said. "I'm 100% sure we're going to play."
Given his status, we can assume that Barkley is a pretty connected guy and that he's telling the truth. However, he doubled down later in the conversation and included his source.
"I do know this, talking to my bosses at Turner," he said. "We're going to play basketball."
At this point, the only thing that seems uncertain about the league's return is the postseason format. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported over the weekend that the league's general managers are considering several options, including expanding the playoffs to include a group stage and re-seeding teams 1-16 rather than having a traditional East and West format.
It's unclear how much support each idea has at this point, and it's also possible that a standard postseason is held, but there's never been a better time to eliminate the East vs. West format.
Travel has long been the main concern with that scenario, but since all teams are expected to play at the same venue, there's no need to worry about it.
Regardless of the decision that's made, NBA fans can expect play to resume to some degree this summer.
