The Oklahoma City Thunder has been the best team in the entire league. With a 23-1 record, they are atop the NBA‘s power rankings. With the Thunder’s dominance, however, former star Charles Barkley believes the league has become “boring.” Barkley gave his hot take about the defending champions when he appeared as a guest on the “Tom Tolbert Show.”
The Thunder has dominated the league, proving why they are the reigning champions. OKC has the fifth-best offense in the NBA, while anchoring the best defense. Opposing teams tend to struggle to score over them, while also dealing with the difficulties of stopping them on the offensive end.
But because they’ve racked up 23 wins within the first 25 games of the 2025-26 NBA season, Barkley believes they’ve turned the NBA boring.
“The NBA is pretty, pretty boring right now. I mean, Oklahoma City looks like they just kicking a— and taking names,”Barkley said. “And can Houston and Denver gain on them? That’s the only question.”
Charles Barkley believes it’s a given that the Thunder could remain dominant and be at the top of the West.
“But the West, man—like I say, can anybody catch OKC? I don’t know if they can catch them, but are they going to be competitive? Can they put fear in them? So that’s going to be interesting,”
Interestingly, the 11-time All-Star believes the Eastern Conference is a different situation. Barkley thinks he has no idea who will come out victorious in the conference.
“Now the East — man, I got zero idea who gonna win the East,” Chuck added. “I think obviously the Pistons — I’m not sure the Pistons are for real, even though they playing great. Can Cleveland and the Knicks be there at the end? I mean, the injuries killed Philadelphia and Indiana, and nobody else has really stepped up.”
Charles Barkley said NBA players simply want to make more money
The NBA during Charles Barkley’s time was different. Players were paid differently, and some stars were underpaid. In the modern league, however, most stars are well paid. Barkley has a bit of an issue with it and criticized them for wanting more money.
“The one thing about people making money… You know what they want more of? More money! And I’ve learned that in my life, no matter how much money people make, they just want more of it. So, the NBA players make a lot of money, the NBA owners make a lot of money, and the one thing they will want more of, is more money,” the former Phoenix Suns star said.
He also called out the NBA’s current TV deal as the reason why players are getting more money.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
