Charles Barkley Reveals How Big NBA Contracts Impact Players

TheSportster

By Rodrigo Lobato

Published Aug 23, 2018

Charles Barkley is an NBA legend, and he knows a thing or two about how big-time contracts mess with players' mental health.

The NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley spoke up about the uncomfortable situation in which the professional basketball players have to go through when they enter the NBA mainly due to money.

ESPN's Jackie MacMullan recently released a series of articles highlighting mental health throughout the NBA and the psychological, and social shock that the players experience when they reach the dream-job of millions of kids.

“Money ruins all your relationships,” Barkley said, “No matter what you do for your family, it’s never enough. All your friends think because you’re rich, you should bail them out of every situation. The only time I had any peace and quiet was on the basketball court.”

All of the NBA players are exposed to a certain type of pressure before entering the professional league during College or High School. But none of that prepares them for a mind-boggling league like the NBA. From one moment to the other, they turn into role models, media stars and start making large sums of money. They all know that their lives would change, but no one tells them how to overcome the multiple challenges that being a professional athlete entails. These 19 and 20-year-olds are almost always unprepared and as revealed by Barkley, families, and friends commonly put more pressure than they should on these players, which sometimes affects their performance on the court.

This year, DeAndre Ayton, the first selection of the 2018 Draft, could be paid as much as $8 million, whereas the minimum salary for the rookies this year is $582,180.

Aaron Goodwin an NBA agent spoke out on the topic as well, explaining how African-Americans—who constituted 74.2 percent of the NBA community last season—are expose to constant stress because many people rely on them.

“People don’t understand what these guys in the African-American community go through,” Goodwin told ESPN. “It’s so hard for them to separate themselves from the people they grew up with. It leads to withdrawal, anxiety. There’s guilt about turning their backs on people they care about but who aren’t good influences in their lives. There’s this pressure of, ‘I have to succeed because so many people are counting on me.’ And then there are all the people with their hands out because everyone wants money.”