Charles Barkley may have delivered the worst take of 2021 and we’re not even a month into the new year.
After the Warriors-Nuggets game, TNT’s Inside The NBA crew discussed the ongoing NBA season and how many players have been missing multiple games due to COVID-19 and contact tracing. Barkley chimed in and suggested that athletes in the NBA and NFL should jump the line and get the vaccine, because they pay a lot more in taxes than normal people.
Charles Barkley: We need 300 million shots, give a thousand to some NBA players, NFL players, hockey players. As much taxes as these players pay, they deserve some preferential treatment.
Kenny Smith: For life and death?
Barkley: Yes.
Luckily for society, Charles Barkley has no power to make that decision.
According to ESPN, a memo sent from NBA headquarters makes clear that the league stands firm on adhering to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and public health guidelines for vaccine prioritization.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver feels that it would be unethical if the league’s generally healthy personnel were vaccinated before people in the general public who are more vulnerable to being killed by the virus.
