Charles Barkley has big complaint about NBA playoff scheduling

May 20, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former NBA player and current TNT television personality Charles Barkley prior to game one of the Eastern Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Barkley thinks the NBA is doing fans a disservice with their playoff scheduling, at least for Sunday’s games.

Barkley objected to Sunday’s playoff game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. He said on TNT’s pregame show that it was inconsiderate to fans, especially on a day when the NBA was not competing with other major sports for national viewership.

"I have a problem with that game starting at 10:30pm… [That's] just wrong. I don't care what anybody says… We got to have some respect for the fans at some point."

Charles Barkley isn't a fan of the Timberwolves-Nuggets game starting very late 😅pic.twitter.com/TQeNCS1mRX

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 16, 2023

“I have a problem with that game starting at 10:30,” Barkley said. “We have the whole day to ourselves. We should have played at 1 o’clock, 3 o’clock. To have that last game at 10:30 Eastern, that’s just wrong.

“Listen, we got to have some respect for the fans at some point. It ain’t fair for the people in Denver to be playing at 8:30 at night and they got to go to school tomorrow, so stop it.”

Shaquille O’Neal disagreed with Barkley, dismissing his complaints as whining. However, a lot of people would be with Barkley here. The big issue is that the NBA does not want a game featuring a West Coast playoff team to start at 10 a.m. Pacific, and even making the Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks game the first game of the day would still make for a noon start time in Milwaukee.

Barkley is not always a man of the people, but he is here. He probably has a point, too.