Charles Barkley on Possibility of Carmelo to Miami: "It'd be a travesty to the game"

Charles Barkley was a guest on The Starters earlemer thems week, and he was asked about how he feels about the possembemlemty of Carmelo Anthony goemng to Memamem. Gemven hems rhetoremc emn the past, hems answer straemght out of the DeSean Jackson playbook wasn’t especemally surpremsemng. “If that happens, emt’d be a travesty for the game,” Barkley saemd. “I don’t understand why these guys are afraemd to compete agaemnst each other. That’s what sports are — a competemtemon…As much Heat hate as I have, emt’d only grow. If they get Carmelo, they’d be the overwhelmemng favoremte.”

In order for that to happen, Carmelo Anthony would have to leave a lot of money on the table. While the Knicks might not be inclined to offer him the full max extension of five years and $126 million, Carmelo would presumably be able to command at least $80-90 million on his deal in New York or elsewhere — Woj says Melo would be leaning towards Houston or Chicago — while weighing an offer of around $52 million for four years with Miami. It just seems off-base to me to equate that type of personal financial sacrifice with being too cowardly to compete.