Charles Barkley: ‘Travesty’ if March Madness is played before empty arenas

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said this week it “would be a travesty” if the NCAA doesn’t allow fans to attend its upcoming March Madness tournament over coronavirus fears.

“Other than the Olympics, March Madness is the greatest thing I have ever experienced,” said Barkley, who played for the U.S. in two Olympics. “The last few years we have been covering March Madness. It would be a travesty if the fans weren’t there.”

Barkley, an in-studio basketball commentator for Turner Sports, made the remarks Tuesday during an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” on CBS.

“You will be covering March Madness,” Colbert said to Barkley. “It starts one week from today. Are we going to see March Madness with no fans? That’s just March. That’s just March sadness, man.”

“It would be sad,” said Barkley, who played for Auburn University in the early ’80s. “It would be really unfortunate. Like I say, ‘If you feel bad, don’t come.’ But it’s such a great event.”

Barkley’s Auburn Tigers played in the 1984 NCAA Tournament, marking the first time the school won a March Madness bid.

The NCAA has said it is preparing for the possibility of playing the annual tournament in empty arenas. March Madness is broadcast by CBS and Turner Sports over four channels: CBS, TNT, TBS and truTV.

“Let’s say that we discover that COVID-19 is an illness where the public health is really threatened,” NCAA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brian Hainline told CNN on Wednesday before the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. “The only people that are in the building are the players and the referees and the necessary personnel. The fans aren’t there, and we know that the risk mitigation is superb and that the people there are without risk of transmission … We painted all of those scenarios and so we’re prepared for that.”

Professional sports leagues in the U.S. — NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS — announced Monday that they will temporarily prohibit all nonessential personnel, including reporters, from entering locker rooms and clubhouses.

The leagues said in a joint statement that the decision was made “after consulting with infectious disease and public health experts.”

The NBA informed its teams last week to prepare for the possibility of playing games without allowing fans to attend, something Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said he does not want to do.

Some cities with NBA teams have already banned or discouraged large gatherings.