Charles Barkley believes he has a solution that would help end the tanking epidemic that has engulfed the NBA this season.

“Very simple,” Barkley said during an interview on the “Waddle and Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. “Everybody get one ping-pong ball. That’s it. There’s no other sport where if you lose, they give you more ping-pong balls or more chances of winning. Of course, teams are gonna tank. They want more opportunity. Just say, ‘Hey, everybody who don’t make the playoffs gonna get one ball.’ That’s it. One ball. And you’re lucky or not.”

During the course of a wide-ranging interview Wednesday, the NBA Hall of Famer said there are two big issues facing the league right now. The first is the tanking problem that has been discussed at length this season. The second is the change in television/streaming partners since the league started carrying games on Prime, NBC and Peacock, which Barkley says has led to confusion about where to find games.

The context of his initial thoughts came after he was asked about the gap between the level of play in the postseason and the level of play in the regular season.

“No. 1, I think the NBA’s gotta do something about this tanking situation,” Barkley said. “It’s not even fair for the fans, or for the game itself. All this tanking going on, you have teams that are trying to lose in January, and the season just started in late October. We had teams that were ahead in games and took all them players out the game. This is blatant tanking. Obviously, now this has become a three-point shooting contest, that’s neither here nor there, but the tanking is the biggest issue we have in the NBA.”

Barkley, like many others across the league, doesn’t believe NBA commissioner Adam Silver has figured out how to get the situation under control.

The NBA has changed the draft lottery four times since it was first implemented in 1985. The most recent change came in 2019, when the league flattened the odds for acquiring the highest picks in the draft.

Silver vowed to fix the problem while speaking to reporters in late March, promising more changes to the lottery system that will take effect for the 2027 NBA Draft.

“Adam Silver has been very quiet on that situation,” Barkley said. “Because I don’t think he knows what to do. He’s got to figure something out because, man, some of these games you’re like, ‘Man, these dudes ain’t trying to win.’ That’s probably our biggest issue. Number one, we got to figure out where the games are (on television), but the second biggest issue is tanking.”

Barkley was asked whether he felt cutting down the number of games in the regular season might help address the issue — a theory repeatedly brought up by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. Barkley does not believe that is the solution to the NBA’s problem.

“I don’t like when rich people tell poor people they should cut 10 million dollars, 20 million dollars off their salary,” Barkley said. “Hey, listen, I like Steve Kerr, he’s made a gazillion dollars, coaching, playing, blah, blah, blah, and these players are full of crap also. (Some say), ‘OK, let’s play less games.’ You’re gonna lose 5, 10, 15, 20 million dollars.”

Barkley started laughing as he continued his point.

“No, no, no, I want the same amount of money, I just want to play less games,” Barkley said. “That’s the stupidest crap. These players are always (talking) — first of all, we’ve always played 82 games. … They don’t play anyway. And it’s no physicality (in today’s game), so why are they complaining?”

As Barkley continued his thought, he took aim at Kerr, whom he used to work with at Turner Sports, and the Warriors.

“One thing about Steve Kerr, I’m gonna take a shot at Steve Kerr now, and I like Steve Kerr,” Barkley began. “He didn’t start complaining about the length of the season until all his guys got old after he had won four championships. Now, he got to go out there with all them damn geezers and seeing how the rest of the teams lose. The Warriors won four championships, and I think they probably went to another couple finals, if I remember correctly. He didn’t say nothing about the regular season then. Now, he got all those old-ass dudes on his team, and now, they in the Play-In. Now, the season’s too long.”

Part of Kerr’s reasoning, as he’s described throughout the season, is the rise in the amount of soft-tissue injuries the league has endured, especially to the game’s stars. Still, that didn’t stop Barkley from blaming the Warriors for not being able to keep their championship window open.

“You didn’t say that when you won four championships and went to the finals all those years,” Barkley said. “Your players got old. Y’all screwed up the draft. They were in a unique situation. They’re actually one of a few teams that could have (built through the draft). They screwed up on the (Jonathan) Kuminga thing and the (James) Wiseman thing. They got top-five picks in the middle of their dynasty, and neither one of them worked out.”