Looks like Charles Barkley is out again this year

Chuck recently reiterated his stance that he won't appear in NBA 2K unless 2K donates money to the Retired Players Association. It seems they're still not taking him up on the offer.

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Barkley has been pretty adamant about his brethren in the Retired Players Association being fairly compensated.

“My job is to take care of the older players and we’ve been having this argument with NBA 2K for 20 years now,” he said.

“Unless they give the retired players x-amount of money they cannot use my likeness. And, I think I’m not even going to think about that anymore. They’re gonna give some money to the retired players, or they’ll never be able to use my likeness, period.”

Added Barkley:

“Listen, that game makes hundreds of millions of dollars. They can use the write-off. Listen, my phone is always open.”

Unfortunate as it is for us, his stance is certainly understandable, and very admirable. He raises an excellent point. With all the "recurrent revenue" and record-setting sales, you'd think 2K would take him up on the offer. Not only would it get him into the game, but it would be an appropriate gesture given how the historical content in NBA 2K has been such a strong selling point for the series since 2010.

Take Two are some cheap bastards to be honest. Really frustrating.

It's sad, especially since Barkley is possibly the most requested feature in next installments for each 2K game. Instead, the money goes into funding the 2K League (which is incredibly monotonous to watch); something that really wasn't asked for by the fans.

2K has basically stabbed their fans in the back, and now only cater to the people who mindlessly buy the game no matter the flaws, just to get exposure. I hope EA surprises us and gets Barkley in Live 19.

Edit: I like how the thumbnail of the video has screenshots from the UBR. Always nice to see more exposure of the mod.

Well they make money with shit like haircut, so they can pay retirer players for real content.

IMO, DLC with extra teams packs or entire seasons (big dream) will be a good move. But it probably wont happen.

Take Two are some cheap bastards to be honest. Really frustrating.

The fact that they boast retro content to increase sales, but won't give back to the retired players association... is really lame. We will call it what it is, greed.

Between the VC insanity, charging $99.99 for early access, etc, they certainly have the funds to give back to the retired players. Not only that, having Chuck (And maybe other retired legends if they were to give back) be included would help sales anyway. I have always liked Barkley, so what if he is a loudmouth on tv? He speaks his mind and is honest at all times. I've read stories on Reddit of people who have run into Chuck in various places, and I guess he's just like he is on tv in person. I guess he was in a bathroom at a restaurant, and somebody saw him and was like "Hey! You are Charles Barkley!" and he asked the guy if you wanted to have a drink with him. I guess both of them just sat at a bar and drank and talked. Always liked Charles.

I also believe he truly cares more about the retired players association being treated fairly, than lining his own pockets. He seems pretty genuine here.

If EA had the money, it would be pretty awesome if they were the ones who gave back to the retired players association, and got Barkley in the game. That would be a step in the right direction. With the success of the Madden franchise, and the improvements in Live, It would be pretty cool if EA jumped on this opportunity and included Barkley in the game.

I have lost a ton of respect for 2K over the last couple years.

The NBA 2K series earns twice as much from VC and microtransactions compared to the actual game itself. There's literally no excuse, other than the fact that they don't feel like giving the money because they're cheap. Why should we, the customers, be forced to pay up for basic crap like haircuts and attribute upgrades, but something like including one of the best Power Forwards ever is a no-go?

If EA can get the rights to Barkley, it will absolutely increase profit for them. You know how much some people will spend just to get him in LUT? Not to mention, occasionally if a player is called for a 5 second back-in, Van Gundy explicitly refers to it as "the old Mark Jackson-Charles Barkley rule."

I'm not sure whoever buys VC give a shit about Charles and other retired players.
But it should be the same pepole who ask why Lebron hasnt 99.

As Barkley has always been my favorite NBA player, I have really missed his presence in NBA 2k and Live, particularly the team-building modes (not even going to count his incredibly difficult to obtain 2k17 Dream Team card).

Seems like another area where EA Sports could throw a little money towards the problem and benefit from getting Barkley's likeness in NBA Live as well as garnering support from all the fans that have been making this such a highly requested feature year after year.

2K is all business, and has been for years. I used to love that it felt like they honestly cared about details and the quality product to the customer, but it's not like that anymore. I completely understand the business side. The business true mindset is ugly and 2K can do whatever they want because they know their consumer. We will complain until we're blue in the face, but will still buy the game at the end of the day. Why, because they have no real competition. As much as Live has improved, it's still so far behind in my opinion. When I heard Barkley put that out that he just wanted 2K to donate to the retired players association, I thought that would be easy for 2K to do, but I guess not.

2K is all business, and has been for years. I used to love that it felt like they honestly cared about details and the quality product to the customer, but it's not like that anymore. I completely understand the business side. The business true mindset is ugly and 2K can do whatever they want because they know their consumer. We will complain until we're blue in the face, but will still buy the game at the end of the day. Why, because they have no real competition. As much as Live has improved, it's still so far behind in my opinion. When I heard Barkley put that out that he just wanted 2K to donate to the retired players association, I thought that would be easy for 2K to do, but I guess not.

Having Barkley doesn't help the 2KLeague, or VC, or MyCareer, or MyPark, etc. If aquiring him did, they would have already done it.

At this rate, I'm not even planning on getting 2K19. Based on my experiences with 2K18 (calling it a simulation game, and how "realistic" it plays is absurd), and with the information we have for 2K19, it's going to be a hard pass. Plus, the UBR is alive and kicking, so yet another reason to pass on 2K19.

Good on Chuck for having principles. It would be amazing if he was in the game, but I completely understand why he wouldn't want to be a part of it.

Aside from being a decent thing to do, it'd be a good PR move for 2K - and we all know how much they need good publicity.

At this rate, I'm not even planning on getting 2K19. Based on my experiences with 2K18 (calling it a simulation game, and how "realistic" it plays is absurd), and with the information we have for 2K19, it's going to be a hard pass. Plus, the UBR is alive and kicking, so yet another reason to pass on 2K19.

I was actually planning on buying NBA 2K19 before the 20th-anniversary trailer, because I kind of missed the game and playing 2K PRO-AM with friends. But the lack of information has made me hesitant to do so as well.

Instead of Barkley
I wonder if they should move to another direction like post game with Skip and Shannon

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They already have EJ, Shaq, and Kenny for that. It's more about getting him in the game as an historical player, rather than a talking head in the presentation.

Also the fact that he is one of the best 5 PF's of modern era in the league.

When you have other 4 (Garnett, Duncan, Malone, Nowitzki), I think you should have Charles too. IMO the only top player missing.

He's definitely one of the biggest names that's perennially absent. His reasons are understandable and admirable, though. Again, it's a shame 2K hasn't taken him up on the offer.

what i don't understand is why other players of the association like oscar robertson are in 2k , they should take the side of charles and don't allow 2k to use them in the game

what i don't understand is why other players of the association like oscar robertson are in 2k , they should take the side of charles and don't allow 2k to use them in the game

As much as it would suck, I agree with this statement. Im surprised more players don't say no to being in the game.

With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if players like Rasheed Wallace, Reggie Miller, etc quietly stand with Charles in this regard, and that's the reason they are not in the game. Part of the reason 2K lacks so much licensing for the classic teams (Even recent teams only having 8-9 real players) is probably because of being cheap with the Retired Players Association.

I stand with the "Chuckster" also. What he's asking for is not unattainable. Like he says, 2K makes millions off of NBA2K. He's not even asking for money personally, just for the retired players who didn't make nearly as much money, as players do now. A lot of them can't afford the health care issues that has been cast upon them. Utterly ridiculous...

With the reveal that they signed on some significant names to portray characters in this year's MyCAREER story, it's even more bewildering. That money would be better spent on getting Barkley into the game, not to mention the good it would do for many of the retired players who have helped make 2K's retro content possible and as deep as it is by appearing in the game.

Charles Barkley > Michael Rappaport

Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Infinity War), Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense), Ricky Whittle (American Gods), and Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton) but no Chuck, no Reggie

It seems they could definitely afford that donation.

It seems they could definitely afford that donation.

They most definitely can and should, many of the old school guys did not make the money
todays players do and they could probably use the money, even if they only gave them $50K per year
it is still not a dent in the profit and its basically what the average American makes in a year?

Barkley said that he'd be satisfied with 1 million USD per year. Still, when you boast how microtransactions work so well to your shareholders... Plus damn, that would be great PR for them.