Charles Barkley on 'Inside the NBA,' Streaming & More

All right.

Joining me now, always a blast when he comes on.

Don't even need to give him a major introduction.

He is the GOAT in sports media, Charles Barkley.

Charles, how are you?

Thank you, brother.

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm good, man.

I'm excited.

Um, looking forward.

We got obviously game one, Knicks Cavs, uh, should be an interesting series, um.

You know, I picked Cleveland coming in.

They make me nervous, man, cause they, you talk about Doctor Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde.

They are the ultimate Jekyll and Hyde team, uh, but it should be, but you know what, worst case scenario, I'm not gonna lie, I don't think it'd be the worst thing in the world for the Knicks to get to the finals.

I think it'd be great for the NBA.

Um, I do.

I think it'd be great for the NBA because, you know, Jimmy, I hadn't.

Last year we did the East, the East at TNT, but then this year at ESPN we got the East, and we all played every year.

Being back in New York.

I have forgotten how amazing the garden is when the Knicks are doing good.

It was incredible.

It was incredible.

Yeah, the fans have been.

Out of control.

I mean, those, those videos you see outside of Madison Square Garden.

If they get, I mean, hey Jimmy, hold on, let me, let me tell you something.

Let me tell you how crazy, let me tell you how crazy New York fans are.

So we're in Atlanta.

And so, after they lose game 3, People are walking around, around the hotel.

I can't believe we got rid of Thibs .

We got to fire Mike Brown.

We got to find a way to get Giannis.

This was after game 3 when they were down 2-1.

They win the next game.

Then obviously they close it.

We're going to the championship.

I said, well, y'all got another series in between, but New Yorker, man, you're right, they're different.

Yeah.

Oh, and I, and I also feel like, and this is, I, I'm not trying to diminish the New York fan.

I'm a Knicks fan.

I, I, this, you know, I'm in the city, but I do think, and this is all sports fans, all sports fans do this.

I don't think the Knick fan understands.

I mean, maybe after last night they do, how good.

Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Like that's another level than they've seen here with the Hawks, the Sixers, and the Cavaliers, in my opinion.

I don't know what you think, but I, I don't, you know, sometimes the Knicks fan likes to act like a championship has been won.

Be careful.

Yeah, uh, actually, I, I, I 100% agree with you.

Actually, I think the Cavaliers series for the Knicks is gonna be a step up because, you know, Atlanta's got a bright future, but they're not ready yet.

The Knicks, uh, then obviously the Sixers are, you know, Joel's not healthy, and that's a tough, but the Cavs are gonna be a tough test.

But man, let me tell you something , I was so excited to watch that game last night.

That game.

Let me ask you one thing on the Knicks, and then we'll go, one last thing on the Knicks.

I'm just curious.

Now we're, we're taping on Tuesday, so the game one is Tuesday, pod will be out Thursday.

I'm just curious, do you think the long layoff affects the Knicks, not just game one, but for the series, or if they are affected by the long layoff, is it just one game?

Then they'll get back in the groove because they haven't played in 9 days, the Knicks.

Yeah, I don't believe in Russ resting because I, you know, I've been, I've been, I've been BSing for a long time going back in my 40 years.

If the team wins the first game, they said the rest did them good.

If they lose, they said that they would they.

Or rusty, so I don't believe in the BS that goes with that.

Listen, the, the only thing you lose is a little bit of competitive edge.

The rest is always gonna do you good from a physical standpoint, but you do lose a little competitive edge.

But I think, yo man, you in the conference finals, you should be ready to go, period.

And speaking of ready to go, we had a classic on Monday night.

Funny thing is you ended up.

Become a little bit part of, a little part of the story because Wemby with the 41, 24 points, first guy to do 35-20 in a conference final game since 1993 and the gentleman who did it was Charles Barkley.

Yeah, that was a, uh, what I saw, uh, that was a really nice thing, uh, bring back some great memories, uh, great, great memories.

Hey, you know, I was talking to Mike Tirico the other day.

And I said, yo, man, I'm so, that's, this is a big boy heavyweight slug fest.

And I think after watching that game last night, double overtime and Wemy doing what he did.

I could go for 7 more of those.

I could, Jimmy, I could go for 7 more of those.

We knew it was gonna be a heavyweight slugfest, and it was a heavyweight slug fest right out of the chute.

So I can't wait.

But like I say, but I'm not gonna sleep because every series is different.

Like, people assume that is for the championship.

I say, Yo man, you can't sleep on the Knicks or the Cavs because Uh, every series is different.

I mean, you, you assume like, yeah, I heard some people saying, that's for the championship.

I says, you know, hey, don't sleep on that, man, cause anything can happen.

But man, I'm, I was excited to watch that game last night.

I'm excited for our game tonight because the conference finals are special.

Because you were, it's kind of like the Final Four in college basketball.

You put all that time and effort into it, and you're this close to the finals, and for one of the, for two of these teams, it's gonna be heartbreaking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I, I, I had said before the playoffs started in talking about sort of the themes and where, where we would be with this, that I felt this was gonna be, this playoff was gonna be the Victor Wambayama coming out party.

I wasn't expecting this.

I mean, that performance on Monday night.

You, uh, I mean, that's an all-timer right there.

That is histo historical performance, what he did on Monday night.

Oh, it was definitely historic.

Number one, his first like, and, and you, you, you factor in because I was part, I wasn't part of it, but I remember the night that, uh, David Robinson got MVP and Hakeem went crazy because he thought he should have won MVP.

It was kind of like that last night with Victor and Shay.

I mean, you couldn't have scripted it any better.

I mean, you think about that.

It was the exact same situation with uh David and Hakeem and O'Shea and Victor.

You're like, oh, that, and I remember Hakeem, Hakeem had said, he says, they're giving that man my trophy.

And uh, hey, which is one of the great lines of all time.

He says, I can't believe they're giving that man my trophy.

And Victor, and, and, and the thing I love about Victor, number one, he's humble.

But he speaks the truth.

When a reporter asked him last night, You know, when Shay was getting the MVP, were you thinking that should have been my trophy?

He says, he just says, yes.

And like I love that.

Yeah, I love that too, uh, but man, listen, I, I was surprised how big a margin Shay won the MVP by cause I thought there were 4 guys should have gotten votes that obviously, uh, Victor and Wimby and the Joker and Jalen Brown.

I thought those 4 guys, if you voted for one of those 4 guys, you would have had a compelling argument, but I was really surprised Shay won as easily as he did, and Victor came in 3rd.

He didn't even come in 2nd.

What, what did you make because it ended up becoming a little bit of a controversy.

What do you make of Shams breaking the MVP on Sunday morning when it was supposed to be announced Sunday night?

He got some flak for that, which I don't know.

I think he's a reporter.

He's supposed to do his job.

What do you, what do you make of that whole thing?

Uh, you know, I like him a lot, but I, I didn't like that leaking.

That network paid $2.5 billion for the, for the next 11 years.

Uh, 2.5, which is the reason we lost the NBA cause we couldn't come up with 2.5 billion for for 11 years.

I think they deserved an exclusive.

Uh, I think the NBA should be, uh, embarrassed that that got out.

You know, you, you know, I mean, you can't charge these networks.

That much money.

And then don't give them some exclusive on some things.

I mean, I, I, I just think that's unfair.

Yeah, you know, speaking of the, the TV deal, so you guys, you know, we're in this, I, I still don't know if fans fully understand the inside the NBA deal where you air on ESPN, but the show is still being produced by Turner and it's out of Atlanta with, with, with Turner and Warner Brothers, Discovery, whatever you wanna call it.

Uh, I'll, I'm always gonna say Turner, it could be, it could be Paramount.

You never know, Jimmy, uh, right.

Oh right, right, it's Paramount.

Yes, I forgot about that.

True, um.

There's been, there was, there's been two themes.

One, sort of like the disjointed schedule and whether the show is still the same, etc.

etc.

How would Charles Barkley assess the first year of this arrangement with Inside the NBA airing on ESPN ?

It's been perfect.

Um, and I don't throw that word around lightly.

They have been amazing to work with.

I don't, I, I thought, I wish we could work, you know, we only worked one time in December 1 time in January.

You know, I think that Adam Sil has got to get a hold of this thing.

I think the games are too.

Just join it right now.

Like NBC Peacock.

Uh, Amazon, we've got, I think we, we have disrespected the fans.

They don't know when the games are on.

Um, Uh, I, I just think that's really unfair to the fans, and I understand Adam, Adam, I love Adam.

Adam's a great guy, but he, he took the most money.

But man, it, it, it's hard for like for me, like I'm, uh, when we weren't having games, I had to go, I had to go to my app and see where the game was at.

I was like, is it on NBC?

Is it on Peacock?

Is it on Amazon?

The nights we haven't been working.

Uh, so it's been frustrating for me.

I can't imagine how frustrating it is for the regular fan, and I think we, I'm not sure what the solution is cause we've, they've taken all the money now.

But they've got to do something because I think we've done a disservice to the fans.

Yeah, early in the playoffs, it's a mess.

I mean, now we're in a good spot because you guys, ESPN slash ABC has the East.

We know NBC has the West, so you don't have to, so let me ask you a question.

So I don't even know this.

I'm just saying, do, do NBC has exclusive, or do they have to share it with Amazon?

They, no, they, they are, if I'm not mistaken, they, they will be rotating every next year.

Prime Video will have a conference final.

NBC will not.

OK, OK.

I see, I, I, it's hard to keep up with it, man.

I didn't even know the answer to that question.

At least that's a little bit better.

Now, are they gonna show all the games on NBC?

I believe yeah they they won't do a Peacock exclusive for the Western Conference Final and they should not.

It should be on NBC correct, absolutely, um, yeah, this guy, you know, I fight this battle constantly, but You either get told you're old or everyone has Amazon, so what difference does it make?

But that's not sort of the point, but I don't want to rope you into that discussion.

But let me ask you this.

So, the schedule has been one thing with inside the NBA and I think even ESPN, I think Burke Magnus has even said they wanna have more of a flow next year for you guys and not, not have happened what happened this year and, and maybe switch it up and make it more frequent next year.

There's also been, I've seen a couple of things out there saying like, the show's not the same, meaning the content of the show.

How would you respond to that?

I, I, I don't know about that.

I mean, I, I think when you don't see us enough, it's hard to get, to assume what's happening is happening, to be honest with you.

I don't think we changed anything.

You know, it's interesting.

Um, I, for what it's worth, I've had a great time with ESPN.

I think all the guys have.

You know, they come and watch the show.

I ask them, hey, y'all happy with everything?

Cause we're in a relationship.

I want it to work for everybody.

You know, I've called Burke, you know, I've called Tim Corrigan.

I said, hey, is there anything y'all unhappy with or want us to change?

And as long as they're happy, uh, listen, uh, we ain't going to, I don't think we've changed anything.

Uh, uh, uh, but listen, even that, man, the most, the, the most, the, the, the Jimmy, the number one thing should always be the game.

Uh, our job, number one, we want people to have fun, you know, we're trying to entertain people.

I think that people don't understand, we're on television from 7 o'clock to 2 in the damn morning.

What, how much basketball, first of all, how many people actually know a damn thing, enough about basketball for us to X and O them from 7 to 2 in the morning, so.

We try to split it up.

Number one, we hope we have a great game, but we have an obligation to entertain people too.

I mean, do, do people really want to see, see us 4 dummies sit there from 7 o'clock to 2 in the morning and talk about picks and roll, blitzes, over under, uh, elbow wings and things like that.

I mean, so, so, so listen, man, I, I, I, I want people to have fun watching basketball.

Period.

It's different strokes for different folks.

I mean, I, I much prefer the entertainment.

I listen.

Anytime you call Shaq a fool, I laugh.

So I'll take that over a pick and roll.

The, the, the word fool is not used enough as an insult, and it is a great insult, you know, it's not too nasty, but it's when you, yeah, but it's a perfect shot to get at someone, and I love getting a shot.

I love calling Kenny that too.

But like I said, Jimmy, you just hit the nail on the head, man.

We're trying to entertain people.

Well, I, I listen, cause there's two different audiences.

I've always said this.

There's two different audiences in my opinion.

There's a regular basketball fan, which they're there.

But if you're sitting with somebody, if you're sitting with a wife, a girlfriend, or your kids who don't know anything, like, I don't want to leave my daughter.

In the other room in her childhood.

I want her watching basketball with me.

I'm trying to entertain that kid.

Uh, or somebody like that.

Uh, you got a son and a, uh, you're like, yo, make sure your son laugh and have fun watching basketball.

Cause they don't understand all the intricacies of the X's and O's and things like that.

It's like, what do, you know, they're blitzing this pick and roll.

Dad, what does that mean?

00, that, that means they're gonna double the pick and roll, or they're going under.

They're going over or they're heads and we could sit there for five hours and talk like that, but nobody understands that.

We want people to have fun watching basketball because you know what, it's stupid basketball.

We're not saving the world.

Right, of course, that's what people, so many people forget sports is entertainment.

So many people forget that, um.

Well, uh, but, you know, listen, you guys, you still have that ability to cause a stir because obviously, the whole thing with Draymond Green got massive, massive attention.

Before I ask you a question about that, my, I said this before and I've said it after.

Maybe you'll tell me it's too much work, but I'm just curious about one thing.

Forget Draymond.

Take Draymond out of it.

If one of you guys is out, why do we need 1/4?

Like if Shaq's not there, the show's fine with Ernie, Kenny, and Charles.

If Charles isn't there, that's fine, the show's fine with Ernie , Kenny, and Shaq.

Like, the, the mentality that there has to be a fill-in, I don't understand when it's, You guys that everybody wants to see anyway, yeah, you know, uh, I, I don't have any control over that, to be honest with you, uh, but I don't mind guys coming in, uh, because, number one, it gives them visibility to get other jobs, uh, you know, when Jalen comes in, Jalen does our college basketball, so, uh, that gives him exposure, and he does an amazing job with his academy back in Detroit and things like that.

I mean, so, and then with Draymond, obviously he wants to go into television when his career is over, uh, so I don't mind, I don't, it doesn't bother me, uh, to be honest with you, I, I, I, I had to get a kick out of Draymond.

So when he made the, he said the line about he didn't want to be you with the Rockets, which everyone sort of, you know, said, well, look at Charles with the Rockets.

His numbers were as good as Draymond's, um, with the Warriors.

What I found interesting was afterwards, I guess after all the blowback, Draymond on his podcast said, Kenny didn't hear the line.

That's why he didn't respond, which I thought was really weak of Draymond to say that.

I don't know, you know, how you feel about it, but Kenny heard the line.

Let's not play that because you guys didn't sell, you know, if he wants to say it was a joke, you, you know, in wrestling terms, WWE you have to sell for your opponent.

There was no selling there.

So I guess, I don't know if he took that as like, you guys weren't good teammates there, but what's been the fallout from that whole situation?

Well, I was surprised how many people came to my defense, to be honest with you.

Um, you know, I'm not sensitive.

You know, uh, I say stuff about players all the time.

I hope they don't take it personally.

I know they have at certain times because I've gotten a call from them or their agent, or they've taken a shot at me on Twitter or something like that, but I don't overreact when guys get mad.

So I didn't get mad when he took a shot at me.

And I've said this before too, Jimmy.

I was Embarrassed my last two years in Houston because I was shocked.

Uh, I did not play well at all.

Uh, I, you know, people were pointing out those two years I felt like I was shot.

They were better than uh, Dre's career numbers.

I'm like, I like, but I said, but no, man, I didn't take it personally.

Um, like I say, I don't get sensitive.

You know, I can't get on TV, radio, your podcast, and say things about people.

And, and, and like if they get mad or say something bad about me, act like a little, uh, a little witchy.

Uh, so I didn't take it personally.

I'll take, and I, but I will admit this, I was Really appreciate all the people who went after Draymond, uh, for, for, for, for saying that.

I, I really appreciated that because I tell people this, and we can, you can bring up anything I've ever said in the past.

I've never taken personal shots at guys.

That's my number one rule.

Uh, I, I, I, like, you can say a guy sucked at basketball, you can say a guy didn't play well and blah, blah, blah.

But when you're in the media, it's such a powerful thing.

It's a powerful thing because people are idiots.

What I mean by that is, Jimmy, they believe, they believe if they see it on television, somebody said it.

Uh, that it must be true.

And I said that's not true.

Uh, some of the guys, some of the stuff these guys, they're just playing, especially the politicians, they're just playing characters on television, uh, for whatever party, and both parties are awful.

Let's get that out of the way.

But they're just playing a character for a party on television.

So I take my job really serious.

When I criticize a guy, that doesn't mean I'm right.

I wanna be factual and I wanna be fair.

I think what rubbed people the wrong way is that he did that on your show.

Like, I, I'm thinking, let's say he's sitting at his locker on a stool and he makes that comment.

It's a big deal, but I don't think it rubs people as badly as it did of him doing that on your show.

I think that was a lot of the underlying, yeah , and, and, and, and I think so too, but like I say, I really appreciate it because people were sending me clips.

Of people going in hard on Dre and uh it, it, it, I really appreciated that because, you know, Jimmy, we've gotten to this thing.

You would think that I'm the only guy in the world who's never won a championship.

You, you, uh, well, I wouldn't think that because I'm here in New York and my guy Patrick Ewing, if, if you say, but, but nobody ever mentions it all the time on television.

It's, you would think, no, and like I say, I can laugh about it and joke about it, but sometimes I sit back when I'm watching and watching things.

You would think I'm the only guy.

In the history of sports who hadn't won the championship, and I, it's like, I was like, well, Charles Barkley never won a championship .

I'm like, am I the only person who ever won a championship, you know, and, and you just, and that's the, the reaction you just did.

That's my reaction because I'm like, man, I'm just sitting at home catching strays.

You think I'm the only guy that has never won the championship, right, right.

I know, and people don't, I think a lot of people are maybe younger don't understand that era too.

Like, I know Ewing, he got blocked so many times by Jordan, and then, you know, there's so many circumstances that go into winning a title.

It's not an easy thing.

There are so many things that can go into what you, you could have the best season of all time, you get an injury in the playoffs, boom, your team is done.

I mean, it's a lot of uncontrollable factors go into that.

Well, let me tell you some controllable factors.

Yeah.

The, it's gonna be difficult for anybody between OKC and San Antonio.

It's gonna be difficult for anybody to win the championship in the next 5.

You know what's, uh, I saw a crazy stat.

That this, the guy was talking about uh the Spurs yesterday about uh how young they are and blah blah blah blah blah.

And the other guy comes on, I forgot who it was.

He says, you know what's crazy about the statue just grave, how young the Spurs are?

OKC is younger by average if you average out everything, and I said, I said, whoa, that's a crazy stat right there.

When you average out the, the, the guys on the teams, OKC is actually younger cause everybody talks about Victor and Castle and, and Harper.

They're the three young guys.

But they got some older guys from Fox and Barnes on the end of the thing down there.

I said, but if you actually look at it from a statistical standpoint, OKC's got a younger team.

I'm like, man, it's gonna be rough for the next 5 years for anybody in the West or anybody in the East to win a championship.

Oh, speaking of age in the West, you, you, you made the comment a couple of minutes ago.

You said you were shot in Houston.

Now, LeBron is not shot by any stretch of the imagination, but, uh, me as a LeBron fan, I don't want to see him hanging on to where he's, you know, a 10-point, 2 rebound guy at night.

How much longer do you think, uh, you know, it, it's all speculation, but how much longer do you think he plays LeBron?

That's a great question.

Number one, I hope he goes back to Cleveland.

I think that'll be a great way for him to finish his career.

He stays in LA.

They're not gonna be competitive, uh, because it's, well, and also at some point they got to turn the team over to Luca and see, let it, let it be his team.

And You're not gonna get better as you get older.

Uh, you're not gonna get better.

Your, your, your numbers are gonna continue to decline every year.

But the main thing, the Lakers got to start the Luke Aancy era at some point.

I think Cleveland would be a perfect fit for him.

Uh, because that team is too inconsistent, and he's such a great worker.

He'll stop some of the inconsistencies.

And if he were to go to Cleveland, Jimmy, honestly, I think they'd be the favorite in the East next year.

Now, obviously, New York, Boston gonna have something to say about that, probably Detroit also.

But if you were to put LeBron on that Cavs team right now, they'd probably be the favorite in the East.

So, I hope he goes back to Cleveland, uh, to be honest with you, I think that'll just be a perfect way for him to end his career.

Mhm.

Yeah, I, I think that makes a lot of sense.

I just, he, um, Uh, yeah , I, I, I almost thought it didn't really happen to the playoffs, but I thought during the regular season he wasn't even getting, I don't think he was getting credit for the way he was playing at his age.

It was insane what he did this year at that age.

Yeah, he, uh, listen, he takes amazing care of his body.

You know, I've heard he spent a million dollars on his body.

I think, also, I think So, you know, the NBA today.

It's different than when I played.

Like, we were getting off-road.

We used to describe it, we were getting like off-road mileage on our body.

LeBron has highway miles on his body that's just smooth sailing.

There's no physicality in the game.

And, and, and that's not a knock, that's just a fact.

There's no physicality in the game.

So he don't have, he's never had any major injuries and things like that.

So, but like I say, if you keep talking to Father Time, at some point he's gonna talk back to you.

Yeah, absolutely.

Uh, yeah, one more year in Cleveland.

That could be fun.

The NBA would like that.

They'd get a lot of mileage out of that too.

I think it would be better to get him out of the West so that maybe you could have him in the finals against one of the West teams because like you said, listen, if, if he could win a championship in Cleveland one more time, that would be the perfect drop the mic moment.

Uh, because, listen, let's be honest, there's no way that a Laker team gonna get through the Spurs and, and OKC.

Uh, I'm not even sure they get past Minnesota going forward.

Uh, so, like I said, he's just gonna get older, so the notion that he's gonna keep playing at that level is just not gonna happen.

All right, let me, let me ask you some just random questions here just to pick the brain of Charles Barkley and get your take on some things cause you have takes.

Um, you work the tournament every year.

They're expanding.

A lot of people pissed off.

I, I, I think what people have to understand is when the tournament actually starts on that Thursday afternoon at noon, when you're in studio there .

Um, with the fellas, that part of the tournament's gonna be the same.

So I don't, you know, keep that in mind, but what, what would, what do you make of the NCAA expanding all the, the field for the tournament?

Well, one thing I know about people who got money, you know what they want more money?

More money, Jimmy.

People with money want more money.

Yep, yep.

Listen, not as bad as college sports are right now, nothing can screw up March Madness.

It's, I feel that way.

It's other than the Olympics, it's the 2nd greatest sporting thing I've been involved with in my life.

The Olympics are the coolest experience of my life.

March Madness is the 2nd coolest thing.

There's nothing can screw up March Madness.

Now, man, clearly it's about money.

Uh, and listen.

Uh, This thing is so out of freaking whack right now with paying these players.

I'm not opposed to players getting money.

I don't wanna act like I'm a hater, but this thing is so out of control and out of whack right now.

The NCAA got to find a way to make more money cause they're gonna, you know, cause they got, they transport all these teams, hotels and things like that.

But, man, we're gonna have to have some grown folks come in the room at some point.

We can't be paying guys tens of millions of dollars a year.

We can't have total unrestricted free agency every single year.

I mean, I think me and you would like a job where we could go to the highest bidder every single year.

Like, that is crazy and insane.

You know, some stat, I don't, I don't know the number, but I remember like the day after the tournament ended, there were like, you know, 8 million kids in the portal.

Like it was something ridiculous.

Well, you know what's crazy, and, uh, we had Dustin May on me and Ernie's podcast, and I, and I was doing some research, getting ready for the podcast about, because I want to know more about the college system.

They've said that there's 2000 kids a year average going in the portal.

But only 1000 of them are getting picked up.

And so there's 1000 kids are still sitting at home at the end of the year on their grandmother's couch, which is a dirty little dark secret that nobody talks about.

So , and I worry about these kids, uh, Jimmy, because most of them are black, number one, and to put an uneducated kid in society and think they're gonna be successful.

Because my biggest whole problem, we changed the whole college landscape for 1% of the people.

Probably 1% of these kids gonna go on and play pro in all sports, in all sports.

And Probably were getting screwed by not getting making money when they're in college.

But that don't mean we should have screwed up the whole college landscape for the 1% is what we did.

And now it is so out of control.

Like I say, these kids literally can transfer for more money every single year.

Some of these kids are going to 4 different schools in 4 years.

That's crazy.

That makes zero sense whatsoever.

Yeah, I agree.

I agree.

Uh, it'll be interesting to see what that opening round is there with the tournament with all these teams in it.

Well, how are they gonna do it because, you know, we start that thing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Right.

So now, How are they I think they're just, they might, they're gonna have to have games all day long and they're gonna have to have them, you know, going against it.

It can't just be, you know, like they do it now Tuesday night at 7 and 6 and 9 or whatever it is, um, and then Wednesday night at 6 o'clock at night .

Now they're gonna have to have them all.

It's gonna be like the tournament.

They're gonna have to have games all day.

It's, I mean, it's gonna, and it's gonna be a logistical nightmare.

Trying to get these teams here, here, here, here.

If they're, like, if they're playing Tuesday and Wednesday, Like they're gonna, man, it's gonna be interesting how it's gonna be a logistical nightmare for the, for the committee and all the people who do all the flying around, yep, yep.

Um, you'll be good though.

You'll just be there Thursday.

You'll be ready to go at 120.

I actually enjoyed doing the Tuesday with Dick Vitale.

I enjoyed dating .

That was great.

That was great.

That was great.

You know, that guy, that guy's an amazing dude , man.

It was an honor and a privilege.

You know, I have been trying to do that for 13 years.

And they finally let us do it in November in Kentucky, not Kentucky, yeah, Kentucky, Indiana, which was awesome.

And then they're like, hey, would you do a 1st 4 games?

I said, Dick gonna do it, I would love to do it.

And we had a blast, man.

And they, they know how it was a fun city.

They sold out both nights.

Uh, it was pretty cool.

It worked out well because poor Brian Anderson didn't have a voice, so you and Dick got to do all the talking for the game.

Oh man, he's so good.

He's so good.

You know, we're so lucky between him.

Uh, BA between BA Kevin, you know who's great, who don't get a lot of, a lot of credit?

Sean McDonald, who Sean McDonald's great.

Uh, you know, I, I always admire those three guys because the ability to go from sport to sport.

Like I've been watching a lot of hockey lately .

Oh man, shout out.

Well, that's what it's so funny because I was gonna ask the two things I was gonna ask you was.

In watching all these other networks now, who has, who do you like to listen to, who's stood out to you?

And I'm glad you mentioned Sean because Sean is awesome.

I, I think he's the best college football announcer there is today, and I know, um, you know, he has the NHL as well.

And I was gonna ask you, I know you're a big NHL guy.

How have you enjoyed the playoffs?

So if you want to combine that, and man, the, the playoffs been crazy.

I, man, I was rooting for Buffalo last night.

That was heartbreaking.

That was heartbreaking, uh.

But the Avs are gonna be tough to beat, man.

The Avs look like they are a juggernaut.

It looks like Carolina is the team to beat in the East, you know.

But I did notice something interesting, uh, when I was looking at some stuff this morning, uh, the Canadians were 3-0 against Carolina this year.

There you go.

Even though Carolina had the best record in the Eastern Conference, Montreal beat them all 3 times, which is a crazy stat, I might add.

But that's gonna be a heck of a series.

But Vegas against Colorado, I don't see anybody just watching Colorado.

They're just steamboat.

They're just steam racing people right now.

But man, I, I love the Stanley Cup playoffs so much.

I mean, it is just so awesome, uh, but, but I, I can't, what do you like?

What do you like about McDonagh?

Like the ability to go from sport to sport, like and no names, situations, like obviously the cotton football, that's like that's his expertise, but to switch to hockey, which is so fast like that, I mean that that is like he doesn't miss a beat when he does hockey and I'm like wow, that's incredible.

Uh, that's like when I was watching the, uh, the Olympics.

Kenny Albert, man, he was so sens sensational, and, and Kevin Harlan does that too, him and BA, how they go from baseball to football to basket like it's incredible, man.

Yeah Ion too.

Ion's another one who's across, yeah, Ion's great.

I like to give him a hard time because his, his, his name's supposed to be Ian.

He just said it differently.

I, I, I, uh, he, he, uh, he's another one.

I mean, they do all these sports.

It's, it's, it's those are guys, those are guys who are impressive to me.

Like I said, to be good at one sport is another thing, but to have that seamless transition, uh, and be able to do it and like, cause, cause if you didn't know what you were talking about , the fans would know right away.

Right, yeah, they would know right away, but the way all of them do it so seamless is incredible.

Tell me about, I, I heard you on with Chris Mad Dog Russo a few weeks ago and you mentioned that you had spoken to Michael Jordan, you guys were gonna play golf in the offseason.

Dog had a great reaction.

He was like blown away, which is funny.

And then I heard you.

That, that, that this sort of coming together happened because of Vince Coleman, which me as a guy who grew up in the 80s.

I, I remember that how Vince Coleman, it's, it's so sad baseball today doesn't have players like that.

He would steal like 130 bases in a season.

Like those guys, sadly are no more in baseball.

But how did it become where like you and Jordan became good friends with Vince Coleman?

I'm fascinated by that.

Oh, Vince has been in our inner circle for 40 years.

Yeah, Vince, Vince has been a great, great.

Vince was actually a neighbor of mine in Scottsdale, and I played golf and Michael played with us all the time, but Vince has been a great friend for 40, gotta be 40 years, and, uh, just a great, great friend.

Like I say, he was a neighbor of mine for probably 20 years.

And how the thing came about, he called me on the phone, and, uh, I just saw his name and I said, and this is how, this is the way we talk to each other.

Hey, mother, what's up, Mother Efre, what's up, Bobby?

He said, and he said, hey, no man, it's me, it's MJ.

I said, hey man, what's happening?

How you doing ?

Like, cause I ain't got no animosity toward that dude.

I love him like a brother.

He's always been there for me.

And then Vince, like, Yo man, you two guys need to cut the bullshit.

Y'all know y'all love each other.

You know y'all miss each other.

And then we're like, Yo man, I ain't got nothing against Michael.

Michael, like, I ain't got nothing against Chuck.

And he said, Man, it's about time we let this bull bullshit go.

You know, you're my boy .

I love you.

I miss you.

I, I miss you a lot too.

And he says, Hey man, when basketball is over, come down to my golf course and, uh, let's get together and play some golf.

And I'm really excited and looking forward to it.

Now do you, now, can you, can you pick up right where you left off and then bust Michael's balls about his little fake NBC correspondent?

He was on for like, you know, one episode and then we, he disappeared for the rest of and NBC pumping that up.

It was like one interview, such a terrible look.

You, you know, uh, yeah, you know, it was really, that was a terrible look.

You know, those are my guys at NBC.

Uh, Margo Lazarus and Greg Hughes, but that was a terrible look.

First of all, we need Michael Jordan back in the NBA.

I, I think that They should do that.

Like, OK, he can sit down with them for an hour once a month to talk about relative stuff that's happening in the NBA, you know, because we, I mean, come on, man, we, anytime we can get Magic, cause the three most important figures in NBA history are Michael, Magic, and Larry Bird.

There's a lot of great, great players, but those are the three most prominent players in NBA history cause Magic and Michael, excuse me, Magic and Larry saved the NBA.

Uh, cause, you know, people, you know, it's interesting.

Everybody look at how great the NBA is today.

They don't realize when the NBA came along before David Stern, the average salary was only $250,000.

That's the average of all the players, and we all, it was only on on Sunday on CBS.

And it's and how about this, can you imagine the finals being tape delayed?

That's how that, that, I know, I mean, and, and, and fans think like there's always been games on 5 days a week like it is now, but that's all because of David Stern, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and obviously we caught a once-in a-lifetime guy, Michael.

So, um, yeah, man, I'm really looking forward to that.

And yeah, NBC, they, that, that, that was not a good look for them at all.

Yeah, yeah.

I knew what it, I said at the time, whenever someone's a special contributor, that's not a real job.

That's what people need to understand about the sports media business.

Um, I, let me go back to Inside the NBA.

I'm just, you know, I should have mentioned this before when we were talking about.

Now, this is gonna be the first year ever where this crew will be part of the NBA Finals.

I think, you know, what, I know people have, like I said, there were complaints, oh, the show hasn't been on enough.

But now for the first time ever, we're getting Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, and Chuck during the finals.

Uh, and I would assume you're gonna travel to the finals and, you know, you won't be in Atlanta.

You'll probably be on location, I would assume.

For the finals.

Yeah, hey, Jimmy, I am, I am so excited about that.

My, it'll be my first, uh, I think we, we were actually talking about it last week.

It's gonna be awesome.

The first time we've ever did the finals.

It's gonna be exciting.

Um, I, I, I'm really looking forward to it.

I, I'm not gonna lie, I'm excited for it.

It's gonna be awesome.

Uh, uh, like you say, we're, we're really excited about that.

I can't wait.

I'm excited.

I gotta, I got to admit as a, as a huge fan of the show and yourself, when I was researching and I saw they're doing the finals and we got San Antonio, I was like, you know, Charles is gonna be back in San Antonio.

I mean, are we gonna hear about the women of San Antonio?

That's what I'm, that's what I'm looking forward to.

You know, Tom James, who used to be the great PR guy for the, uh, Spurs, been tremendous to me all these years.

He sent me some videos from San Antonio.

If, if they, if they win that series, I cannot wait to get back down there.

Uh, it's gonna be fun.

That's a great city.

Uh, that's, it's a great city.

And you know what, the NBA is better.

The, the NBA is better when the Spurs are doing good.

The Knicks are doing good.

The Bulls are doing good.

The Celtics.

There's certain teams that just, we need them to do well.

It's better when the Pistons are doing good.

So, uh, I'm glad and listen, the Spurs are gonna be great for the foreseeable future, and, uh, I'm looking forward to going down there.

Did he, but hey, it's not, it's not over yet because you think, you know what's interesting about that game.

As great as Victor played.

Man, they had to go to double overtime to win that game.

And you know, and you know you've been around long enough, you can't overreact to one game.

I mean, because if he, if he misses that 3 to tie the game.

OKC wins that game and he said, man, he had a great game, but they lost.

But man, that was a heck of a game and people can't overreact like they can't assume we're going to San Antonio.

They can't assume that because, man, that, that was a hell of a game.

I just want you in San Antonio here if you start talking about the churros and the women and all that.

Oh, I want, I want all the smoke too.

I love the, the video where you set it up where you were going to apologize and then you were like, oh hell no, that's not happening.

That was, you know, I'm old enough to be able to take a joke.

I know we live in a crazy society now where you, you can't joke, which is stupid.

Well, I, I, I'm not even sure I want to live in a world where you can't even tell jokes anymore.

Like, come on, man.

Now, if I walked up to a woman and called her fat, that would be Rude and disrespectful, but when you're having fun and, and like, and you, and like that goes back to our earlier said, I would never be personal against somebody like that.

But man, we live in a world now where everybody's offended by everything and it's crazy.

Well, you, I, I feel like too, even recently when you were talking about the passing of Jason Collins and you brought up, it's a, we, we still live in a homophobic society.

I saw people, you know.

Responding to that and You know, I don't even know how that can be denied.

Like you think that's a simple fact.

It, you know, that one hurt me.

Um, that one hurt me because him having the courage to do that.

It was a, meant a lot to a lot of, that's a lot to my gay friends.

It meant a lot.

Because you know you're gonna get hate, vitriol, and things like that.

We needed him to live a long life in the spotlight.

Because these, these kids have to hide in the shadows.

Uh, and it, it, it's really sad.

And the one thing I'm always do, Jimmy.

There's not gonna be any, any type of racism or homophobic, uh, BS on my watch.

I'm gonna call it out anytime I see it.

If I see any anti-Semitism, if I see any racism against black people, any, any Hispanic hate, I'm gonna call it out because you can't call it, you can't be selective.

Uh, if you, like, I'm against all forms of discrimination.

I'm not gonna have any of that BS on my watch with my platform.

Uh, that's not gonna happen, period.

I, I, I saw, I think I, I saw an article that was pushing back on you where they were trying to make the argument that they're not homo people , people aren't homophobic.

They're just tired of, quote, like the LGBTQ community shoving things down their throat.

And like, The fact that they can't get the irony of you think it's being shoved down your throat, yet as you made the point, there are gay people in every sport, and they all have to stay in the closet.

So how's it being, how's it being shoved down your throat?

It makes it like you, like you, how do you argue with people like that when it's, you know, you, you, you don't argue with people.

You, you're like, hey, we agree to disagree, and, and, and, and listen, it's kind of like.

We've had this argument, uh , in pro sports about gays in the locker room.

I said, well, first of all, it's disrespectful to think a gay guy in the locker room is gonna be ogling all the guys.

I said, he ain't thinking about us.

I, I said, yeah, I said, what do you think?

This guy just like, I, I, I, I, I heard football players, like, they're like, I guess there's 53 players on the NFL team and a couple of guys came out, so they said they don't, they wouldn't wanna play with a gay guy.

He'd be looking around, looking at his teammates.

I just, That's disrespectful to gay people.

Like they're just out here looking for other men or other women.

I, so it just bothers me.

And like I say, man, if I feel like there's discrimination, I'm gonna stand up because, and, and, and the reason I do that, to be honest with you, I'm hoping somebody stands up for me, uh, like with all this redistricting going on and, uh, gerrymandering going on around the country, I'm hoping.

It shouldn't just be black people standing up saying, hey man, that ain't right, that ain't fair.

You know, that's the thing that I would like to get to a point, I'm like, no, I won't, like, uh, obviously my son-in-law is Jewish.

If I see anybody out here being anti-Semitic, I'm gonna say something.

You know, I'm gonna say something.

Uh, uh, I, I'm not gonna sit back and let, let it happen on my watch.

Good.

That's, and that's, you know, that honesty, that's what we, that's, God, we, we need so much more of that in sports media.

Let me ask you, we talked about.

You're gonna have the finals for the first time ever.

So that means the Charles Barkley sort of summer vacation gets started a couple of weeks later this year.

But when the finals is over, what, what, what are you gonna do?

What's, what's the plan for Charles Barkley?

I don't do, uh, I'm not a traveler.

I just wanna play golf, and that's it.

I am, I love being outside.

You know, The, the , the weight loss thing has freed me up why I feel great walking around now, you know, uh, shout out to my girl Molly at row.

co.

And if anybody out there struggling with their weight, uh, the drug I use is called Zipbound.

Uh, I started at, I actually take it every day.

No, I don't, I don't, I don't do the pill.

I take a shot once a week.

I started at 3355, Jimmy, and I'm 270 now.

Um, it's been a long journey, uh, cause like I said, I gained like 100 pounds when I got my hips, cause I played at 250, but I wanted to get to 270 and this drug Zepbound has changed my life.

I feel better than I have in 20 years, you know, and I tell people this who are fat.

You don't realize how bad you feel until you start feeling better.

Yep, that's true, yeah, I got used to just feeling awful.

Uh, I, I did.

I was like, yeah, you're like, what, everything's gonna hurt all the time.

Everything, I just get used to that.

And then when you lose like the 1st 2030 pounds, you're like, wow.

And then, and, and, and, and I couldn't lose, I couldn't eat enough bird food and work out enough to lose to get from 355 to 270.

And they got these drugs out here at your disposal because man, you wanna be healthy when you get older.

I mean, I just turned 63.

I'm not getting any younger and like I say, I, I wanna eat and I definitely don't wanna work out all the time.

So I, I shout out to Ro Doo and my girl Molly who takes care of me.

So with the, with the shot, it's, your appetite is much less, correct?

You know, that is a great question.

I have no idea.

You know, Jimmy, I've been, seriously, I've been asked that question 5,975 times.

And I, in the beginning, I said, you know, I should come up with a good lie.

And then I said, you know what, just tell the truth cause you won't, if, if people are gonna, I will tell you this, this is the only endorsement I ever had that cost me money, Jimmy.

I'm not gonna lie.

This is the only endorsement I've ever, I've got 20 of my friends on this program that I'm paying for.

This is the only endorsement I've ever done that I'm losing money.

I'm make it 21.

I, I could use it.

I'm telling you, I'm telling you, this is, this is the only endorsement.

The reason I asked about if it, if it changes your appetite, I was gonna ask if there's something you miss eating.

If there's something, I mean, first of all, I, I have to eat, uh, I, I have to eat.

Am I eating better?

100%.

Am I working out 100%.

But I have zero idea.

You'd have, I'd have to talk to a doctor , honestly.

I have zero idea what this drug does for me.

I just know it works.

Like I say, I went from 355, I'm at 270 now, but I have zero idea.

I take that shot, like I say, I, you, you gotta eat.

I mean, I'm a big old dude.

I need to eat.

But I, I, I wish somebody would explain to me exactly what it does to your body.

Right.

Well, I'll ask them.

They'll tell you.

They'll tell you.

All right.

Before I let you go, just, give me an NBA Finals prediction and we'll, and I'll let you get out of here.

Well, I'm not gonna live in the moment.

I'm gonna stick with OKC.

And the Cavs That's, uh, I, I had the Cavs the whole time.

I listen, I told you, you talk about they drive Doctor Phil crazy with all them damn personalities on that team because I never know.

Like, I'm, I was like, I know the Cavs are gonna wrap up in Game 6.

This is over once they won Game 5.

Then they come out and play like absolute trash in Game 6, and I'm like, Detroit is going to the finals.

Then the Cavs come out and play like the best team in the world in Game 7.

And I'm like, yo man, I can't figure this team out.

But I did pick them before the playoffs start to come out of the east.

But I will say this, I never root for teams.

I think it'd be great for the NBA if the Knicks make it to the finals.

But I'm gonna go OK I'm gonna go OKC and um Cleveland and Cleveland.

All right.

We'll see how it plays out.

I'm sure the New Yorkers will love that.

Charles, appreciate it as always.

And again, what people need to understand is first time ever Inside the NBA will be on every night during the NBA Eastern Conference Finals always, but now the NBA Finals.

So we're looking forward to that, Chuck.

Thanks a lot for doing this.

I appreciate it.

I know you're busy.

Anytime, brother.

Hey, you keep up the great work and thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

Be well.