Charles Barkley: Canceling the NCAA Tournament Is 'The Right Thing to Do'

The NBA put its season on hold last night after Rudy Gobert tested positive for coronavirus. It's a monumental decision, and they may very well be the first domino to fall when it comes to how professional sports leagues are dealing with the pandemic.
Charles Barkley called into Get Up today to argue that the NCAA should follow suit and cancel the NCAA tournament, set to kick off in only five days.
"I think we're going to have to shut down March Madness until we know more." —Charles Barkley pic.twitter.com/hfogDJlYNl
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 12, 2020
As Barkley states, he's an employee of CBS/Turner and they'll be losing a whole lot of money should the NCAA decide to cancel the tournament outright, so he's going out on a limb with his thoughts. But it's tough to disagree with him. It would obviously be immensely disappointing from a fan perspective, but it's impossible to be too careful right now.
The NCAA announced yesterday that the tournament would be played with no fans. That could only be the beginning. All sports leagues will be closely examining the state of affairs in the wake of the NBA postponing their season. Canceling the tournament outright would be a drastic measure, but certainly not an unjustified one.