Charles Barkley “I saw a guy get like 55 stitches in a hockey game and came back in the game. If a basketball player got 10 stitches, he would retire on the spot and take the check.”
Chuck wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t like basketball lmao
It’s honestly crazy. He’s made generational wealth because of basketball, yet really comes across as someone who hates the league in general. This is a big reason why Inside has lost all appeal to me, because only Ernie comes across as someone who actually respects the league and the players.
He said basketball wasn’t in his top 3 lmaoo. Genuinely hilarious
listen to him during march madness. he clearly loves watching college. I think his favorite sport to watch tho is college football.
In today’s era he was refering to. Basketball has changed a lot.
old heads hate everything new
Everything had changed a lot since. Are you gonna complain about all of it, or do you just have nostalgia for something that never was?
It also does us well to remember that while the NBA is the basketball we follow the NBA isn’t all of basketball.
Its influence and presence can’t be ignored, but it’s possible to love basketball and be displeased with the state of the NBA. Shit I bet most /r/nba users would say that.
As for Chuck’s comments, he’s just a curmudgeon, though.
Ya and it’s way better now. Have you watched a full game of the 90s and 80s rather than just watching the highlights? Those players look like they are moving in slow motion. It’s terrible.
I mean, when it’s your job it’s harder to enjoy as a fan. Watching Hockey is stress free fandom vs basketball he knows he’s going to have to answer questions about the game and is expected to have thoughts and criticisms.
One of those situations is more conducive to enjoyment.
I mean do you love your job?
This is who Chuck has always been even as a player. I was alive for his career and he’s a rabble rouser and complainer. That’s what I like about him. He’s entertaining and has no filter which is kind of refreshing.
He has genuine complaints. The game has gotten a lot softer, less “banging” in the post as Charles would say. Now you can’t touch anyone without them flopping over, even real big guys like Embiid. It used to be fun watching all the great bigs beat each other up in the post. Now you don’t even need a post game, you can just jack up 3s.
Just old heads that know negativity sells. If it was lovey-dovey that’s not getting any attention.
Also you can tell there’s some seething jealousy that their “era” didn’t give them the money these new players are getting on a yearly basis. While a Bill Russell was ecstatic of the legacy he created and saw the fruition of it being carried and reached places in his lifetime. Expanding and the players paying respect to the old guard.
Yet you have some that just hate there’s so much money being given out cause they have to.
He also has in insider viewpoint so he knows all the dirt and grime that goes on that we don’t see, may have made him a little jaded as well
So soft. Pointing out faults in what’s wrong in today’s game is considered hating.
I don’t respect the league these days either. Why would I when my team’s star player gets traded for a bag of chips overnight or an all-time great gets exposed for cheating the salary cap to get more money.
And yet viewership is up.. hmmmm.
Notice that I said it’s lost appeal TO ME.
Thank you again New York Knicks
Generational wealth because of basketball and himself. But I think it’s okay to criticize the league a bit. Every player is as dramatic as an NFL wide receiver. They all carry every dribble and are allowed 5 steps before a travel. All the while making more money than ever before. I can see how an old head would be frustrated by it.
There are lots of former players that don’t go out of their way to consistently shit on the league.
You summed it up with the last 2 sentences; pure jealousy.
Chuck is such a fucking loser tbh. This guy is just constantly stroking his ego even though he’s never won shit, yet he talks down on the younger generations like he actually did something. There are a lot of losers on this subreddit who like him just because they’re as miserable as he is and it’s pretty sad to see; never adding to any discussion unless it’s to talk bad about someone.
He needed Moses Malone to bully him into getting into shape and actually taking his job seriously. Then he took those lessons and cried his way to Phoenix and then ring chasing in Houston.
Barkley has just gotten a little too old and miserable for me lately. Would he have played with 50 stitches? No fucking way, but that’s what he’s implying here. Just old dude wanting to pretend he was tough as nails when he was younger. The same guy that tried to ring chase at the end of his career that now shits on guys doing the same thing.
He’s obviously exaggerating. Use your brain.
Says the person clearly not using theirs lol. Barkley has said shit like this forever now. It’s not some one off instance.
I really don’t anymore. The foul baiting, the flopping, the constant prima Donna bullshit is completely exhausting. The product is literally not as good as it was 10 years ago. I don’t watch anymore
Yet you have tons of posts on this subreddit.
Why are you on this sub then?
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That’s a lie PG, Shaun Livingston and TJ Ford all had real injuries and came back. Jamal Crawford almost cracked his melon in Chicago and played and got better after that.
Don’t forget Brandon Roy
Jerami Grant got cracked in the eyebrow from Karl Malone. Got stitched up and came back to play out of position to guard Malone.
Edit: I was totally thinking of Brian Grant. I don’t think Jerami ever played with Malone, LOL. My bad.
Isaiah Stewart got cracked in the eyebrow from Lebron. It was more of a karate chop. And then he ran around the arena howling like a mad man trying to get at him. I’m sure he would have probably played again, but he was mostly focused on killing LeBron.
Yeah, then the Trout of Shaqdale ate his punch like it was a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, ruining Beef Stew’s tough-guy image.
Hell, Mike Dunleavy of all people had a wild game after getting busted open when he was on the Bulls.
I can’t reference any specific moments but I have the lasting impression that Mike Dunleavy was tough as hell
Barkley just be saying shit he act like he was the toughest man on the planet his ass retiring from commentating from obesity he needs to chill on mocking people’s toughness
Isiah Thomas Ankle Game
Steve Nash broke his nose and reset it during the play
Ve played hockey
Paul Pierce had to poop once. Left the floor on a wheelchair and everything.
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Kobe took free throws with a popped achilles
Weak. He was supposed to stick his hand inside and rip the Achilles out, then eat it for a protein boost before getting back on the court.
Well, you don’t shoot FTs with your achilles.
Many people actually do, including Kobe when he normally shot his FTs
No jumping, nobody contesting….big deal.
No other alumni of professional sports leagues anywhere act as disrespectful to the current game and its players as former NBA players do.
Fans and media are no different, to be honest.
That’s because they see how bastardized the sport has become since their playing days
They retire without having an injury. Why are we acting like this isn’t true lol
Is this comment suggesting NHL players only retire when they get injured?
Because it’s not?
They sit out games for “bone bruises” lmao. You’re just coping.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33380964/
Also, NHL players have sat out with bone bruises…..so I’m not sure what you’re trying to prove here.
Yeah, and NBA players don’t get stitches and go back into games lmao. If you don’t see the difference, you’re coping.
I mean have you seen the basketball money. One super max and you can pull a Ben Simmons
Except that’s not always what happens…
I get this is the manly take-du-jour that is trying to romanticize the brutality of hockey, as sports like football and basketball contend with making changes to their sports in the name of player safety but I think it’s a stupid fucking opinion.
As someone that played hockey for over 20 years, who suffered numerous concussions in my teens and 20s, returning to games after having to hold onto the bench to get the rink to stop spinning, I think that glorifying this is insanely dangerous.
The lawless “frontier justice” aspect of hockey is incredibly seductive. In a world of sports where fans can find themselves feeling like they care more about the success of their favorite team because a player refuses to “play through something” a sport that immortalizes players playing through injury certainly has an opportunity to grow.
As with so many things today, the gains of that growth will be felt by the few and the painful and lifelong losses socialized among the thousands of players trying to play the sport “the right way.”
Trying to litigate a case to the masses that a sport would be way cooler if the players you love get to live functional lives after they are done with it feels like it should be easy, but nonsense like this being so commonplace makes it clear its not.
I used to work as a sports news camera operator and has the misfortune of being on scene when Wade Belak’s body was taken from the building he lived in and out in an ambulance. I also helped work on a big feature about CTE, and got to hear stories from guys like Keith Primeau about how it impacted their quality of life. This was around 2011, and it was so eye opening.
I also used to work with a guy that played university hockey, and he had to quit due to multiple concussions. To this day he still deals with bad bouts of depression and struggles with his mental health.
This culture of hockey players feeling like they’re letting their teammates down because they may look weak otherwise has literally killed so many people already, and it’s crazy to me that so few people are pushing for real change.
I mean their head of Department of Player Safety is George Parros, who was an enforcer and owns a clothing company called Violent Gentlemen.
But he’s Ivy League educated, so clearly he’s the perfect fit!
If you’re a fan of both sports your response to this is: “ya, I know”, and then you’ll still watch Ball.
If you hear this and get bent out of shape like somehow basketball players go hard, and go searching for a bunch to BS outliers in ball and think that invalidates this statement you’re lost.
Hockey culture would not, in any way shape or form, tolerate the soft stuff that goes on in basketball.
Outliers in both sports exist. That’s normal. It absolutely does not make it the norm.
Despite that. I’ll be watching all 82 Raptors games - and it’s still my preferred sport.
I mean, it’s invalidated by the fact that NBA players play hurt all the time and value their long term health.
Meanwhile people want to glorify the toughness of NHL players, as if Wade Belak, Claude Lemieux and Chris Simon just never existed.
This is a funny quote - especially because Barkley played while Bird was in the league.
Larry Bird very famous cracked his check bone diving for a ball, went into the locker room, and then came back out and into the game to help the Celtics get the win.
There’s tough basketball players.
Examples of players popping back dislocated fingers to go back in the game
Playing through broken fingers
Walking off the court unassisted with a completely torn Achilles
Some players take elbow shivers to the chin trying to stop fights and being unfazed
Tons of players have broken bones or torn ligaments in the knees or ankles in ways that are way worse than any cut. And come back to try again
Those are exceptions not the standard. Players constantly sit out for “bone bruises”
He’s talking about today’s game. I’m not saying he’s right but using Bird as your example doesn’t work. I do think modern players protect themselves more, and I don’t see anything wrong with it. This exists all over think Ronnie Lott getting his finger partially amputated to not miss any regular season games.
Not sure how anyone can watch Brandon Roy go through what he did, or even watch Kyle Lowry drawing charges in an all-star game, and conclude that NBA players are soft.
Ever been hit by a 210 pound guy coming at you at 25 mph? Hit by a 100 mph snapshot…. the former happens 50 times.
Basketball players even wear Armour these days.
Do you struggle with reading comprehension? Because at no point did I imply that hockey players aren’t tough, or that basketball players are tougher.
What if they watched sga flopping all over the place? There’s examples of both sides of this.
That has absolutely nothing to do with the topic being discussed.
You don’t think flopping is soft?
Sounds like nba players are smarter the the cte guys in the nhl
They wear equipment in the NHL. Highest concussion rate is in soccer, figures.
The suicide rates would agree with this.
wasn’t there a hockey player who literally died and had to be resuscitated and then asked to be put back in the game
You’re thinking of Jesus
Honest mistake
Spent 3 days in the box. Did it for the whole team. Respect.
Back from the dead. Technically walking on water. Yeah, easy mistake to make
That guy had grit.
Real salt of the earth type
He was a hockey player, Jesus?
“Gretzky shoots, Jesus saves!”
-Famous hockey announcer
NOOOOOOOO, are you listening to me
Baseball
He was known for getting nailed to the boards after all
Too soon
Technically, both walked on water.
Jesus was basically playing a video game. He knew his body will just respawn.
They say he walked on water but he was really the first hockey player
What does Bobby Orr have to do with this?
(there’s a famous line about Orr ‘walking on water, it just happens to be frozen’)
He was such an underrated center
Baseball players are tougher than people think.
I didn’t realise hockey was big in the latino community
You’re thinking on my friend Jesús
Worst I’ve heard of is Buck Shelford: in rugby
Buck Shelford - Wikipedia
Had his testicle ripped open and hanging down.
Had his scrotum stitched up on the sideline (18 stitches), and went back on the pitch and kept playing.
Oh dear God both teams should have laid their jerseys down for that guy’s rudys
Wow I wish I didn’t read that testicle sentence. 🤣☠️
holy fuck. Rugby is just something else.
I came here to post this, glad someone beat me to it!
Blake Wheeler on the wpg jets a few years ago blocked a shot and his testicle ruptured. He finished the rest of the game and found out after how bad it was.
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/jets-blake-wheeler-ruptured-a-testicle-last-month-vs-predators-222806472.html?guccounter=1
Brock Faber just took a puck to the head the other day in a PRESEASON game and ended up finishing the game. Absolutely fucking malpractice on behalf of the training staff though as it turned out he has a FRACTURED SKULL
Rich Peverley.
Although I have to say, the whole discourse around injuries is dumb and baffling at points.
Minnesota had a player who had two separated shoulders and tried to play through it and obviously sucked (although he sucked before.) and at that point it’s just bad coaching. A replacement level player is better than a guy with no fucking arms.
Also it’s easier to play through injuries in hockey. It’s actually a very low impact sport mechanically if you can avoid getting checked. Running and jumping is a lot harder on the body. I had patellar tendinitis and was able to play hockey with it but basketball was agonizing.
Yeah, when you’re a hockey fan and you’ve seen players do that and also know about some of the long term issues some of those said players have after, you don’t feel as rah rah.
Also, pretty sure KAT’s leakage needed 10 stitches or more last yr.
His what?
Fun side thing about the Peverly game is that because of it, Nathan Horton became the only player to score a goal in a game he did not play in.
Because Peverly’s heart attack happened early in the game, after they called it on the ice, the league decided to replay the game from the start. Because Horton had scored prior to the heart attack, the league started the game 1-0, with a goal credited to Horton, but with no other stats. Except Horton had gotten injured between the original game and the replay and was on IR at the time. It also turned out that his injury was so bad, it ended his career and he never played again. So not only did he score in a game he didn’t play, he also scored after he was effectively forced to retire.
Hell, just Kyle Palmieri’s ACL injury last year: As he’s coasting on one leg to the bench he ended up with the puck. One nifty little back pass as he left the ice later and then his teammates put it in. Hockey is great for this kind of story… Play of the Year according to the NHL, iirc.
Great stories until they’re 70 years old (if they even live that long), and can barely bend over to tie their shoes. This gladiator mentality is just stupid.
Plenty of dudes who spent their lives in a trade with those same issues, but don’t have millions in the bank to ease that struggle.
Yeah I think for some reason a lot of people don’t realize how much easier hockey is to play with some injuries because of it’s pace and intensity.
Personally have been dealing with lower body injuries for 3 years and hockey is the only sport I could/can play through them really
Karl Alzner (former defenseman for Washington and Montreal) had so many broken hands and fingers from blocking shots, that he has difficulty opening cans and jars. He needs his family to help him do it now.
Rich Peverley, aka Raptor Jesus! Thrashers legend! Went from the ECHL to a real NHL career.
I don’t know about asking to be put back in the game, but Chris Pronger’s heart stopped when he took a slapshot to the chest. He was revived and returned to action 2 days later.
Yeah, but he kinda Sucked after. He should have just retired at that point
He was a fourth line player before the injury. I imagine literally dying has to be crazy bad for your mental when your entire career is built around bringing physicality and energy.
literally dying has to be crazy bad for your mental
print the tshirts
Yea he got his throat slashes or something. Dude was tough as nails
This is two different guys actually. Rich Peverley had a heart attack on the bench and flatlined and had to be revived. He asked the team doctor what period it was when he was brought back from the dead.
Richard Zednik had his throat slashed on the ice, including his carotid artery. The amount of blood is truly shocking. Amazingly, he gets up under his own power and skates over to the dressing room while literally bleeding out. Don’t watch the video
yeah the throat slash thing, wasn’t the dude saved by one of the team trainers being a former medic in Vietnam or something intense like that?
That was when it happened to Clint malarchuk (a goalie).
That was a different time it happened.
Both happened in Buffalo as well
I believe it lol
You might be thinking of Paul Kariya who was leveled by Scott Stevens and was uncouncious at center ice for like 5 mins or more. Had to retire young and has major injury issues still to this day.
Hockey is the most socially accepted “Fuck up your body for entertainment and money” sport. I wouldn’t want to do anything like they do when it comes to injuries.
Professional wrestling is right up there in the “fucking up your body for other people’s entertainment” stakes, but they do it for a lot less money.
Hulk Hogan’s finishing move was essentially just him falling on his ass and it ruined him lol
Yeah, that came to mind, but that’s not a very widely socially accepted “sport.”
That’s football
Boxing would also like a word lol, although that’s more brain than body
Nah, Hockey is top of the list, then football imo.
55 stitches, 55 fries, 55 tacos, 55 pies…
50 chicken minis. Not 51. Not 49. 50.
Ah, shit! Look what you did, you rich little fuck!
“I probably had around 140-150 stitches around my face” - Bob Pettit (RIP)
Oh how I love those American thighs
Afro picks, Afro chicks
doesn’t matter new york in 5
Has a hockey player ever shit his pants and won a ring?
Nah but there was a guy who blew a coach for play time
Can’t believe Kobe didn’t even blow a guy his rookie season, can that even be called Mamba Mentality?
Second biggest knock on his career
The first is from the 03-04 season
When he lost in the finals
Who?
Some scrub. He played for the BlackHawk Tuahs
if you think about it hockey is one of the few sports where you can get a good smooth toothless blow job.
Chuck is an elite panderer lol
He’s the master of creating discussion among nobodies about nothing.
Sir, this is a reddit.
a guy went on the court with half a hamstring and a dream in the WCSF not less than 2 years ago while his teammate was playing in a sling while in the same years Finals a player went into the game knowing fully well he could blow his achilles (which he did) and ruin the trajectory of his entire career but go off I guess
This is the shit I hate from oldheads, making fun of guys for being injured like the fuck? Should they play through it, perform worse because of said injury and take longer to recover later while still being blamed for everything or be called every name in the book for sitting out because they can’t physically go? Such a toxic culture
It’s really bad in the NFL, players are just kinda expected to play through injury. Bunch of people were saying Jayden Daniels was fine to play/should have been playing with a dislocated elbow (when the last time he tried he got pushed on it and missed the rest of the game, was also straight ass in the part he played)
“yeah I did played on a dislocated elbow back in my day, just ignore the fact that I was a far less mobile QB and also can barely use that arm anymore, Jayden needs to be out there playing”
Yeah I know a former nfl defensive tackle. He’s told me about how you get injured, then you have coaches in your ear all week talking about how you’ve got to play through it, using shame, peer pressure, threats, whatever it takes to get you on the field. He told me when you’re in the nfl, you feel and are treated like property.
Baseball too. I’m a Brewers fan, and you cannot imagine how eye rolling it was to see people talk about an impending TJ whenever I see something about Jacob Misiorowski. Like it could happen, but you’re practically wishing for it to happen just so you can be proven right, not because you actually think he would go down with TJ.
What is the rate at these days? It feels like starting pitchers especially are expected to have 1-2 over the course of their career.
I think that’s because the surgical replacement tends to last about 7 seasons.
I definitely think the surgery has gotten a lot better. Guys seem to come back more often these days.
Chuck is such a miserable fuck. Idk why he’s even implying he’d play with 10 or 55 stitches when he knows his bitch ass would probably throw a tantrum on the court. This whole act where old guys get on podcasts and talk about how tough they are is getting so old.
Agreed, and also, I say this as someone who loves the NHL and loves hockey - hockey players are soft as fuck in their own ways.
A huge narrative among NHL players is wanting to avoid fan pressure by playing in markets like Florida and Vegas, with many even demanding trades to these teams. Also, they also won’t stop choosing teams based solely on income tax rates. At the end of the day, I think pro athletes are pro athletes and many of them are going to be spoiled babies regardless.
Remember the game where rondo had one working arm?
Yeah, I remember the game a few years ago, where Chris Paul was playing with one working arm as well… Such a dumb take from Barkley, but at this point, who is surprised… But hey, he’s funny for some people, I guess….
That’s incredible but we’re not doing this. I remember LT being clowned on for sitting because of a partially torn Mcl (grade 2 which would take more than a month to recover from normally) while Phillip Rivers chose to play with a torn acl like a lunatic. We’re not bringing the dumbass fake tough culture of measuring guys against one another to force them to play through injury that’ll cripple the rest of their careers/potential lives
We were robbed of a whole career of Kevin McHale because he played injured
Dude could have been (and to some, already is) one of the greatest PFs to ever play the game. His peak was unreal
And they put Jordan’s flu game on a pedestal.
Harden also played with a grade 2 hammy strain in playoffs in Brooklyn and never had the same type of explosiveness/quickness. Trying to play on a grade 2 hammy strain is crazy and pretty hardcore and it definitely negatively impacted the future of his career
Giannis dropped a 50 bomb on the Finals after a knee hyperextension a few weeks prior
Crazy shit
Also hockey and basketball are like … not at all similar sports?
I like guys who don’t blow their Achilles
Ant played through a bone bruise in the playoffs last year
literally ended up injuring his other knee and still returned for the spurs series
at first i thought that first sentence was about og anunoby but that was the ECSF. thibs had that man on the floor when he couldn’t bend his knees bro
Let’s not act like getting 55 stiches and playing on a sore/tight achilles is the same shit lol, that’s ridiculous.
It seems like you’re leaning towards arguing basketball players are historically tough. Maybe back in the day, but these days they’re prima donnas and it’d be hard to argue otherwise, especially compared to hockey players.
im arguing playing with 55 stitches is nothing you aren’t running on your face
That’s a fucking insane argument.
NBA players are soft as hell compared to NHL players. Cry more.
Playing through injuries is dumb whether or not you want to call someone ‘soft’ for not doing it.
Especially when players flop so hard they hurt themselves ;-)
Not even sure what that has to do with the present conversation.
Let me guess NHL players play the game the right way as well right?
They at least care about the regular season, but way to put words in my mouth
KAT came back into a game last season with 16 stitches after he got his eyebrow busted open.
The fake tough guy stuff from older NBA guys is always hilarious when you go back and watch old regular season games.
No. His point still valid. There is no comparison in toughness between the two sports. Not even close.
We literally have an refutation of his exact example. At some point if you want to watch guys hit each other, skip the pretence and watch MMA.
Call me when the NBA playoffs are over and it gets reveled that players where playing thru ruptured spleens and collapsed lungs lol
Even so, why? It doesn’t make my viewing experience any better to know that the players are suffering.
An example means shit. I’m pretty sure you can find 2 or 3 more examples. That does does not change that hockey player are much tougher and play through injuries you can’t even imagine. This is actually not even a debate for someone familiar with the two sports.
And that is a good thing why? I want to watch basketball, not a blood sport.
This comparison is dog shit, mate. Don’t get me wrong, it takes a totally different type of person to want to get on the ice and play hockey. But you aren’t just automatically some fucking badass or tough as nails. Those guys are skating around in THE MOST AMOUNT OF PADDING AND ARMOR POSSIBLE. They’re wearing more than fucking football players who are literally tackling each other in mid-air at times.
These should not be compared because I think they’re just two totally different sports.
The example directly disproves Chuck’s point about the toughness of NBA players. He could still be right about NHL players being tougher, but he’s incorrect about the toughness of NBA players.
Actually true lmao
No one hates basketball like former NBA players
Which sucks when you just never really got into the game but people assume the worst.
I think it’s cause they’re all soft.
Maybe ask why that is such a particular thing to this sport
Genuinely asking, but why is that?
They’re RIGHT
That’s not hating basketball. God forbid someone praise the NHL.
KAT’s eyebrow was busted open last year, he got 16 stitches and came back into the game
Barkley was a great player but he needs to stfu sometimes, his shtick gets annoying
Yeah I get he is trolling and whatever but NBA players get stitches and check back into games regularly. NHL players are certainly tougher on average but its a funny/dumb example to use
As a hockey fan I think his point is that hockey players will try to play through injuries in a random game in the regular season. Competitors in any sport will force themselves to play through injuries if they think they can when there’s something to play for. Hockey players just have the reputation for doing it regardless of whether there is anything on the line. At least for individual games.
Realistically hockey players aren’t that different from any other athlete overall. They still will sit out with injuries they could theoretically try to play through when there’s nothing to play for. They just have a culture around never leaving a game if they can avoid it. Part of it is that the equipment they wear can mask a lot of injuries until they take it off. Things can’t swell up as much when they are trapped in tight equipment. And superficial injuries like cuts don’t really impact your ability to play much and the risk of making them worse is pretty low.
Hockey doesn’t have any unused roster spots as well. Everyone who dresses for a game is going to play in it. When a player gets injured that increases the workload for the rest of the team. For Defenders especially you’d rather have a guy playing at 70% ability than to play a man down in most cases. There’s 120 minutes of ice time your 6 defenders have to fill every game. They can usually play 25-27 minutes a game. So any injury to a defender starts creating a math problem for coaches. You can’t really move forwards to defense either since the skillset is so different. It would be like playing a Point Guard at Center.
Add in that games are 60 minutes of play with a stopping clock plus 2 18 minute intermissions it adds a lot more time to return to a game after being injured. In basketball by the time you could be stitched up and return to a game the game might already be over. It lowers the incentive to try and return.
Hockey players aren’t necessarily tougher than athletes in other sports. They just have a much greater incentive to try and finish every game than most other athletes.
how many games in an NHL season?
The comparison I have in Europe is rugby where players would play through hits and bumps. But they have a very low number of games played over the year and a lot less traveling compared to the NBA.
The same.number of games as NBA in the season. Similar playoff structure. Less minutes per game for each player in Hockey but its a different game.
Skating is WAY more exhausting than running up and down a court. You are basically doing lunges as fast as you can for 45 seconds.
Yeah thats what I was implying when I said it was a different game but maybe wasn’t clear.
84 as of this year. They’ve added two.
84 lmao
82
84 now.
84
55 stitches? Did he have his liver ripped out?
He’s talking about Morgan Barron. He got his face cut by a skate.
Idk maybe I’m a normie, but I had my thigh ripped open 7 inches and it took 17 stitches to close it up. Does the guy look like Frankenstein now?
Your face is a lot more complex than your leg. They used 75 micro stitches.
This is what it looks like.
Goddamn! Nah Charles is right on this one, no basketball player would be back in after that. Not a chance, himself included.
Yea, same thing as the other reply. I’m not surprised at the difference between body parts, just the scale of it. 1/3rd the size, 4x the stitches. Wild stuff for a locker room fixup.
17 stitches to close a 7 inch wound? I wanna see that scar lmao that’s gotta be pretty gnarly bc seems like way too few stitches to close a wound that big
It was a very clean tear. Dog got their teeth stuck in my skin and I jerked away. Pretty much the most clean, straight line tear you can get.
You be the judge. Look up Morgan Barron injury
Fair enough. Looks like a hell of a lot less than 55 stitches, but maybe facial injuries require much much much smaller and more detailed repairs.
dude got fucked up tho
How you manage to get your thigh ripped open?
Had a dog hanging off my leg, jerked away and rip. You’d be surprised how cleanly and evenly your skin will tear like a paper bag under the right pressure.
no just a razor sharp blade attached to a 200lb+ mans foot was dragged across half of his face in a circular motion.
Chuck knows puck
I’m a hockey fan (go sharks!) and I have really started to dislike this narrative that hockey players are different beasts and other athletes are babies etc. Plenty of athletes in other sports play through bad injuries. The older I get the less I think it’s cool or inspiring that players play through injuries. I just don’t really like seeing people get mangled for my entertainment.
No, they dont. In hockey a guy takes a puck in the face, losses a few chicklets, goes to the bench sticks some gauze in and misses one shift.
I have personally watched Derrick White and Isaiah thomas lose teeth in playoff games and keep playing and I only watch Celtics games. Jaylen Brown and Paul Pierce also lost teeth in regular season games and kept playing.
Thing is, these players are just kinda stupid rather than admirable. I have a high pain tolerance, i could deal with lots of stitches, but why would i for a game? In my country there was an athlete that popped his eyeball back in after it popped out. Another famously badly broke a thumb and bit it off to keep playing or something crazy. They make Hockey players look like bottom bitches, and you know what? They are all dumb as fuck.
I don’t understand how anyone hears those stories and thinks how driven they are, it’s gross and pure idiocy. If MJs eye popped out I’d want him to go to a fucking doctor.
so do you not watch sports anymore? because most sports are still very psychical
Maybe I should be more clear.The glorification of playing through injuries bothers me.
I feel gross seeing a guy like Tua get his brain turned into paste and keep playing. I understand it’s his decision but it makes me slightly uncomfortable. It’s not something id ever root for or talk about in a positive “he’s a tough dude!” way.
Joel Embiid played through multiple injuries and Bell’s Palsy but sure
Little different injuries going on haha.
playing through nagging injuries and neurological disorder
vs
getting kicked in the face with a knife in the middle of a game
Getting paid to shit on the game you are considered as a legend is crazy. So much bitterness lol
This man played with a dent in his face. https://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/westbrook_dent.png
Unless he is Steve nash
Although I see his point, this is just that toxic stuff blue collar guys do as well lol. “At my last shop, guys would work 18 hour shifts and go to the bar and come right back for more. You young kids are too soft now for wanting to be with your wife and not be divorced 3 times like me.” Lol
I know he’s just trying to hype up hockey but I’ve never seen someone hate on their own sport so much but actually get paid to cover that sport.
It’s gotta be boring to him at this point. He came from the action era, and has to watch boring millionaires Huck up 3s all game and free throws.
I don’t get why they hire him to talk about basketball when all he does is talk shit about it
Buck Shelford had his scrotum torn open during a rugby game and an entire testicle hanging out of it.
He got it stitched up on the sideline then went back in the game.
Excuse me?
Rugby players (especially in the 80s) are built different
Kinda true, but also basketball is a much more physically demanding sport on the bones and muscles whereas Hockey has more surface injuries. Like when was the last time a basketball player had to get stitches from a game? A few times a season. But basketball players are always injured because of knee or ankle injuries
and there’s also steve nash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzl4kWCGToo
I think you’re misinterpreting “basketball players miss more time with injuries” as “NBA players are more susceptible to those injuries” and overlooking the original point here, which is that hockey players won’t sit out, even if they’re injured.
MPJ plays with a literal foot splint for people with like MS and no mobility left in their extremities.
Fucking Kawhi has a hole where his knee used to be. All these dudes are playing through shit to be completely honest. It’s actually concerning for their long term health.
This broad stroke “hockey players are just tougher” doesn’t seem realistic when both sports have players playing for millions in the most competitive leagues on Earth
Big part is the optics of flopping tbh. It’s no surprise basketball players get associated with being “weaker” when we can all see them flopping and selling contact multiple times a game.
We’ve been saying the same shit to Europeans about soccer for decades.
Also the “hockey players are tougher” thing doesn’t hold up when they’re actively scared to play in any market where hockey is popular and they might have expectations.
What does that have to do with playing thru ruptured spleens and all the crazy injuries that come out once the playoffs are over lol?
that wasn’t their point at all
Poor ragebait
Oh, wow no NHL player has ever missed a game due to injury? That’s crazy
Uhm…the NHL Injury Report
These are all the guys sitting out.
Ta-da!
This is such a tired, traditional tough-guy take. I’ve grown up with hockey players in my family and as friends, and they seem to take more pride in how tough it is over anything else. I watch basketball for the skill, and story lines. Not to reinforce my fragile manliness.
Chuck “Uncle Ruckus” Barkley at it again.
Being criticized by Chuck for lack of toughness is like being criticized by Trump for being dishonest.
Depends on the player. Paul Pierce would play all 82 games.
I was referring to when he got stabbed 11 times about a month before the season, then played 82 games.
I distinctly remember players playing under painkiller injections, just to play. Isiah Thomas playing with sprained ankle and scoring 25 in a quarter. Tyrese Haliburton playing with half a calf muscle tearing his Achilles. LeBron James playing through broken hand. Anthony Davis f-ing hobbling trying to play through the injury. Luka Dončić…. I could go on.
Nobody hates basketball more than the NBA so-called analysts. Just amazing.
A lot of people remember Isiah Thomas being given 40 stitches by a Karl Malone elbow. Many don’t realize dude went across town to the hospital then came back to finish the game, nearly stealing one back from the Jazz in the process.
https://youtu.be/y0McDoCXfec?si=yHAACBbqfBUZX-Ca
That being said, yeah, while many basketball players have played hurt at times, I have no problem acknowledging there’s a broad culture difference on that front between the two sports, and I say that as someone who likes both basketball and hockey.
And if we really wanted to get into the weeds on this, I think there’s a case to be made that the NBA has made positive progress on that front over the years, in terms of fewer players risking their long-term physical health for the sake of the game. Like, as a Pistons fan, I can appreciate that Isiah would play through just about any injury, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he just happened to reach the end of his rope in his early 30s as a result.
Either way, I don’t think Chuck was being quite as serious as some of us are taking it here. Yes, both leagues play through injuries, but I think NHL’s injury culture is broadly a bit more hardcore than the NBA’s, and that’s okay.
barkely is just saying stuff just flapping to flap?
Paul Pierce comes to mind.
Anyone else remember when Clint Malarchuk got his jugular vein ripped open, required 300 stitches and he was back on the ice a week later?
Bait from someone who has never skated on ice
You think chuck was joking?
Its a tongue in cheek comment mate. He probably thinks hockey players are tougher and he’d be right too
The Grogfather.
Use of the word mate.
Avatar with a cricket bat.
Straya!
Read me like a book mate! 😂🍻
Do you think he was serious when he said an NBA player would retire over ten stitches?
He doesn’t think NBA players are tough minded players
They aren’t compared to hockey players
Compared to hockey players? Obviously they aren’t comparable
lol cmon I’ve seen basketball players get stitches on like their eyebrows during games and come back
Hockey and rugby are the top sports with physical toughness!
If you get 55 stitches and go back into a game, you are not remotely cool, you are a fucking dumbass
Hockey actually punishes flopping (sometimes). Which is the main thing people think when they are calling the NBA soft. Because it is soft.
You guys are pathetic. It’s a bit to get a laugh during a hockey game. I fucking hate you all
Have you tried therapy?
Yeah the therapist said that most of the little idiots on r/NBA are unworthy of anything but hate and that it was actually healthy for me to express that.
Hey buddy, they’re comments on a subreddit. I think you’ll make it through this crisis.
Did your therapist also tell you that you aren’t obligated to be in this sub? Because if not then you’re wasting your money.
Did you not read? She said it was healthy!
To me, as an outsider (from eu), hockey just legit seems dangerous as fuck, and the culture that’s been created in that sport is incredibly toxic for allowing it to grow to a place where players want to (and seemingly are allowed to?) play through those crazy injuries.
Hockey players are generally programmed, from childhood, to believe that they’re letting their team down if they don’t play, which is part of what leads to this mentality of making such extreme physical sacrifices.
“Screw Charles Barkley”