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Former NBA star Charles Barkley thinks Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are the two most important people in the history of the league. During a sneak peek of the new episode of "All The Smoke," Barkley detailed the impact of the two stars in the 1980's.
Chuck is forever appreciative of how the iconic duo has affected the outcome of the league.
"Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are the two most important figures in NBA history.
"When I came in, David Stern's first year, the average salary was $200,000. Magic and Bird, those guys changed the entire trajectory of the NBA and made it what is it today.
"I remember the first time Magic, when he made a million dollars, we were going around high-fiving each other. We couldn't believe an NBA player made a million dollars."
The impact of Magic and Bird is still felt across the league up till now. Salaries of players in the NBA right now have skyrocketed since the days of the two icons. Not only do stars earn multi-million dollar deals, role players have benefitted from it as well. An average player could earn up to $7 million, even though they aren't franchise stars.
Barkley also had a chance to experience the influence of Magic and Bird. Throughout his career, he earned $40 million in salaries alone. During his final season, he earned up to $9 million with the Houston Rockets. After that, NBA stars started to earn a lot more.
Charles Barkley isn't fond of load management
One of the key differences of today's players from the past ones is how they take care of their body. Load management has become a trend since the start of the 2010's. The first team to practice load management was the San Antonio Spurs and the whole league followed along after that.
Players from the past aren't huge fans of load management. One of those past players is Charles Barkley, who boldly shared his opinion on the practice of resting players despite being healthy.
"It's embarassing for the NBA. I cannot wait for these owners to put their foot in their a**es in this next CBA."
"These dudes gonna do something to these players. They gonna be like wait a minute you can't make $50 million and not play half the season, okay? Because now you're really just slapping me in my face and taking my check twice a month."
