Charles Barkley: Sixers should lower ticket prices

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After describing what made playing in Philadelphia so tough, Shaquille O’Neal’s tumble on the TNT set and explaining why Cleveland will win the NBA Finals, Sixers Hall of Famer Charles Barkley got to his former team’s rebuilding process.

Believe it or not, Barkley said on Thursday’s edition of Breakfast on Broad on Comcast SportsNet that the Sixers’ tanking efforts have been pretty good.

“I don’t mind teams — quote, unquote — tanking. I think the Sixers have done a good job. They have to make sure (Joel) Embiid can play and Nerlens Noel has great potential. But at some point they have to put it into action. To be honest with you, I love the kid (D’Angelo) Russell. I think he’s going to be a terrific player in the NBA and I really root for the Sixers. I root for the Sixers and the Phoenix Suns, and Philadelphia is a great sports city.

“The only problem I have with the Sixers is they should stop raising ticket prices. When you’re tanking, or you’re rebuilding, you should lower ticket prices or keep them the same. I think the Sixers have done the fans a disservice by raising ticket prices the last three or four years because the product hasn’t been worth it. That’s my biggest problem.”

Otherwise, Barkley, who played for the Sixers’ division championship team in 1989-90 and made it as far as the conference finals just once in his eight seasons in Philadelphia, just wants to see the team give the fans a break.

“I have no problem with them rebuilding — that’s the way you have to rebuild now," he said. "But they should have lower ticket prices every year for the last few years because they haven’t been worth watching.

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