Barkley: Morale in Philly is 'off the charts'
Charles Barkley joins Dan Patrick to discuss the reverberations of LeBron's signing with Philadelphia, why he has an issue with James "stacking" teams over the years, and more around The Association.
Video Transcript
Charles Barkley, Hall of Famer, inside the NBA.
How's your summer going?
I play golf every day.
I have a great damn summer.
I don't do anything.
I try to stay off TV.
I'm only doing this because of you.
I try to stay off TV.
I play golf every day.
I don't want people to get sick of me, so I do, like, one thing every two or th- two or three weeks.
But the rest of the time I'm playing golf every day.
I'm taking the day off 'cause it's raining, so I'ma go get a mani-pedi and a massage- because it's raining like hell here in Philadelphia all day.
That's my day today, Dan.
No, that's not a bad day.
No, I'm going, as soon as I hang up with you, I'ma go get a mani-pedi.
I'ma go get a massage, and then I'm gonna chill, and then I'm back on the golf course tomorrow.
But it rained like hell yesterday and today, so I'm back on the golf course tomorrow.
All right.
Well, maybe you should've stayed in Arizona where you could've been able to play.
Or is it too hot out there for you?
Too hot out there.
It's, like, 120 degrees every day right now.
It's brutal.
Uh- Yeah so how's the morale in Philadelphia here?
Oh, it's off the charts right now, Dan.
It's, The people are going crazy.
They should be excited.
You know, getting LeBron is a, is a coup.
So they're gonna be favorites probably in the East on paper.
But man, it, it is going crazy here.
I mean, and I 'Cause I think it caught everybody by surprise, to be honest with you, even myself.
You know, I, I, I was hoping he went back to Cleveland.
But man, it, it is on fire here right now.
You 24/7 LeBron right now, ever since the story broke last week.
Feels like you had a problem with it.
I didn't have a problem with it.
I wanted him to go to Cleveland.
He has no affiliation to Philly.
What, what's really funny, I guess the story broke yesterday that he's not even gonna live in Philly.
He's gonna live in New York and helicopter back in, back here for practice and games.
So the city's kind of pissed right now.
I was like- "I, I, I told y'all he didn't have no affiliation with Philly."
"That's why I was shocked he came here."
Yeah, I was You know, it was so funny.
I was playing golf yesterday early, and my phone starts going crazy.
They're like, "Can you believe this?"
I'm like, "What?
Y'all just got LeBron.
Be happy."
"He's not even gonna live here."
"He's gonna live in New York and take a helicopter in for practice and games."
I like I just started laughing, 'cause you can't make this stuff up.
Why didn't you, let him stay at your place?
It's a condo, Dan.
I, you know, I'm a firm believer in the Herm Edwards rule.
One house, one car.
You don't need more than one house.
That's a waste of money.
Don't waste your money on jewelry.
I, I, I drive a Kia and an Explorer.
That's all you need, brother.
Don't waste your money on cars, you young dummies.
You were on with Stephen A. Smith.
That's why I thought you had a problem that LeBron's always stacking his teams.
Yeah, that's been one of my criti- well, most people criticize him for that.
He always stacks his team.
Uh- But what's wrong with wanting to build a team that can win a championship, or going to win?
He, first of all, let's see.
There you go.
He didn't build a team.
He manufactured- He built a team in Los Angeles.
They were bad before he got there.
And he f- the, and his agents had forced them to trade for Anthony Davis, who was ran by his group.
Okay, but he didn't, he didn't go to a team that was stacked.
Yeah, no, no, he did.
He's, Listen, Anthony Davis, e- everybody in the league would've wanted Anthony Davis.
Klutch specifically said he has to go to the Lakers.
That, that, that's, that's, that's a fact, Dan.
Everybody- But you still had to pull off the trade to get him.
They didn't say, "Oh, here you go."
No, that, he wa- he said he would only go to the Lakers.
He said he would like, everybody wanted Anthony Davis.
But he s- Klutch said, no, he can only go to the Lakers.
So it is what it is.
It's j- it's a fair criticism.
Yeah.
Everybody wanted Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis specifically said, because of Klutch, "I will only go to the Lakers."
So you think that's naturally organic?
No, that is stacking your team.
But that's LeBron's power.
O- okay.
And it, it, we can't- He deserves that credit that- And we, and we can't, and, and- guys wanna play with him and we can't criticize it if we think it's unfair?
What's unfair about wanting to go better your life?
Like he- No, no, no, no.
No, no.
Y- y- d- you sh- you're not, you shouldn't be guaranteed a championship.
One of the reasons Michael Jordan is the GOAT, he got beat in the head.
He kept going, "Oh, you know what?
I'm gonna get bigger, stronger."
That, to me, is the way I would like to see it done.
That's why I admire Dirk Nowitzki, who's like, "You know what?
I'm not going anywhere.
We just gonna keep getting better."
That's why Steph Curry, same thing.
They never He's like, "You know what?
We got a team."
They were not any good in the beginning, then Klay got good, Draymond got good, Iguodala, everybody.
So listen, we can disagree.
I'm not mad at LeBron.
But I can You know, w- I'm not gonna do the Stepper wife thing like all LeBron and his friends do.
Like, these guys on television now, like- "I don't wanna, I don't wanna upset LeBron, 'cause I wanted him to talk to me, and I wanted him to do interviews."
Like, if you don't Like, that's the o- Don't let You know, LeBron's a great dude, too.
But the people around him, and now guys on television, they're like Stepper wives.
It's like you have to say LeBron's the greatest ever, or, like, he not gonna talk to you, and you'd, you're, you're committing treason.
Like, like I said, LeBron is the third best basketball, greatest basketball player I ever seen.
But when you're around them Stepper wives that are around LeBron- and some people on television are like that, they wanna be friends with him.
Like, I think me and L- me and LeBron, I, I think we're cool.
But I don't have to say he's the greatest basketball player ever.
I don't I mean, I'm, I don't think I'm committing treason.
I just didn't a- I don't have a problem if he wanted to go to Philly.
I think it's a big risk, but it's his best chance to win a championship.
I don't agree with that.
I actually think if he went to the Cavs, they would've had the best team in the East.
They got James Harden.
No, but- I don't think he wanted to play with James Harden.
James Harden not even on the team right now.
Well, but they're, they're, they're talking to him about a contract Let me, let me tell you something.
And we can disagree.
I mean, this is all, that's, w- we all have an opinion.
I thought if LeBron went to the Cavs, they would have the best team in the East.
That's just my personal opinion.
If Darius Garland was there, I would say yes, not, not James Harden.
Well, well you don't have to play James that much if LeBron is there.
And also, think about this.
There are a lot of questions about this 76ers team.
Can LeBron and Joel Embiid stay healthy?
That's a big question.
LeBron hasn't played a full season in five years.
Joel Embiid ain't never played a full season.
Those are fair questions.
And what's scary, man, one of the dark secrets nobody's talking about, the Eastern Conference might be better than the Western Conference right now.
The Eastern Conference, like I say, can LeBron stay healthy, which he hasn't done in five years.
Can Joel stay healthy, which he hasn't done ever.
The Eastern Conference has quietly become the better conference.
I'm, I'm trying to think.
There's no team in the East that's bad.
There's not one single team in the East you can say is bad.
I mean, and can Joel and LeBron stay healthy?
Man, I'm telling you, Dan.
People aren't even talking about it 'cause they look at OKC and the Spurs, rightfully so, they are head and shoulders.
But the Knicks, Boston, Atlanta, Indiana, Orlando, the Wizards.
Man, the East, the only bad team is probably the Brooklyn Nets.
They are bad.
They're probably.
Yeah.
The, the, the- Yeah.
Oh, and let me tell you something.
I think the Chica- I said this.
Uh-oh.
I think the Chicago Bulls got the best rookie in the NBA.
When I was talking to coaches and general managers, which I do, and I always keep our conversations private, 'cause w- it's a private conversation.
They're like, "Who would you take with the number one pick?"
I said, "Caleb Wilson."
They're like, "What do you mean?"
I says, "Hey, I like DeBosta, I like Peterson, but the one guy who I think," and like I said, we're all kind of thinking about the future.
There's no player I would have taken before Caleb Wilson, not one.
Because the way he, his athletic ability.
Now, like, Peterson and DeBosta, they're probably better scorers at this stage, but he can learn how to shoot.
And let me tell you something, from a athletic point, where you can guard one, two, three, four, ain't nobody more talented than Caleb Wilson period.
Talking to Charles Barkley, Hall of Famer.
I'm still trying to understand what the Celtics did and are doing.
Are the Celtics better now than they were a month ago?
Dan, let me tell you something.
Man, you can go out and get drunk all night long, and we can wake up the next day, and that still won't make no damn sense to me whatsoever.
And, and, and listen, West- okay, you don't like Jaylen Brown.
I get that.
They clearly didn't.
But I'm not trading him to a team I gotta play five times a year and got to beat in the playoffs.
S- the Celtics are not better.
And I, I, I don't understand.
Like I say, I, okay, you wanna trade a player.
I have no problem with that.
And Jaylen's a hell of a player.
I'm not trading him into my division.
I'm trading him out west more than anything.
So I, I have no idea what the Celtics are doing.
And then you hear people talk about the money.
Paul George making a lot of money.
So you can't say they didn't, 'cause th- about the, I heard, I hear guys talking about, "Well, they didn't wanna pay Jaylen Brown."
I'm like, Paul George making $50 million a year.
But only for one more year.
Two more.
Two more.
Well, he's, there's an option, but- Well, he gonna damn sure take the option.
Well, Jaylen, Jaylen is, you know, you're locked in for three more years, and Philly is going to extend him as well.
They're not trading for him and then letting him go.
Well, so, okay.
But at, at that point, they didn't know they were gonna get LeBron either.
So that trade, even though Jaylen Brown's a better player, you, you still bought back $100 million for the next couple years.
Yeah.
I think Jaylen makes a little bit more, but I didn't understand that trade whatsoever.
Your guy Shaq said he thinks Joel Embiid's gonna have a great year, and he's gonna be the best big man in the game.
Well, what, somebody gonna kill the Joker?
Somebody gonna kill the Joker by now.
Listen, no, I think the, the, the two winners in this trade are Maxi and Embiid.
In the trade, and LeBron, because, they a better team.
And Joel, he's got to be the fourth-best player, 'cause Maxi and Brown are the two best players.
They're the two best players on the team.
LeBron's the third-best player if he's healthy.
And he's probably the guy who can play without the ball the most.
It's gonna be some growing pains with this team, because they all need the ball to be successful.
But make no doubt about it, Brown and Maxi are the two best players on the team.
Joel just got to get healthy, and he can be the fourth-best player on the team.
Now, that's gonna be an adjustment for him, 'cause he just gonna have to play defense and rebound.
And he gonna have to sacri- he probably gonna have to sacrifice the most.
'Cause they're not gonna walk the, with them three thoroughbreds, they're not gonna walk the ball up and down the court and let him post up.
He's gonna have to concentrate on defense and rebounding.
So he's gonna have to sacrifice the most.
But the number one thing he's gotta do is get healthy.
Dan, he's never played, I mean, I, I, I, I'm not even sure.
I shouldn't talk, talk like that.
I mean, I'm pretty sure he hasn't played a full season in five or six years.
So the notion that he's going to be healthy, you're gonna have to wait and see.
And same thing with LeBron.
But man, it's not gonna be as easy to just put those four guys out there and think the Sixers are gonna win the championship.
Okay.
Let's match up the Knicks with the Sixers.
Who do you like?
You know, I, I think they're gonna miss Mitchell Robinson.
I do.
I think they're gonna miss Mitchell Robinson.
I think that's a pick 'em series.
I think that, that the, Now the, the Pistons got to figure out what to do.
I didn't even mention them when I mentioned them earlier.
They got to figure out the Jalen Duren situation.
Mm-hmm.
But the East is gonna be fun to watch, man.
Even though they got LeBron and Jalen, that don't, the Sixers are not gonna have a cakewalk.
It's gonna be a huge adjustment for those guys.
'Cause all four of those guys need the basketball to be successful.
And to ask guys like that, say, "Hey, I need you to just play defense a lot."
And like I said, it's gonna be the hardest for Joel, 'cause he, he, he gonna get the ball the least out of all those four guys.
He, c- can- does he have the mindset to be like, "You know what?
Let me just play defense and rebound, and some nights I'm gonna get big, a few nights I'm gonna get big numbers.
But I just gotta play defense and rebound."
And that is not going to be easy.
But the number one question with the Sixers is their health.
Can, can Embiid and LeBron, can they be healthy for 82 games?
Which right now the hard, it's probably a hard no.
And then what position are they gonna be in?
Because they're gonna have to, if, if those guys are unhealthy, they're gonna have to win three series on the road against really good teams.
Because, hey man, Indiana might be the sleeper in the East next year.
Yeah.
They get Zubac back.
You know, so but it's, the East is gonna be very interesting going forward.
We missed you in Tahoe.
We were out there, and you, you were really busy apparently.
Well, that's called winning money, Dan.
I was winning money.
So I was like, when you win money, you have, you have a choice between doubling down on 11 or doing interviews, and you get that face card on that 11, 'cause you always double down on 11.
And you always double down on 10 if the dealer don't have a face card showing.
Mm-hmm.
You know, Lake Tahoe was very profitable for Chuck this year, Dan.
Well, the scores on the course weren't that- I beat you.
I, I, you and Grant Hill.
I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, say that too loudly that, you know.
Yeah.
Like, like listen, as long as I beat you and Grant Hill, 'cause Dan- Grant Hill's a coward too.
He's a coward.
Why is Grant Hill a coward?
He won't play with me.
He could See, I want, Dan, I'm like a gunfighter.
I wanna look you in your eyes.
I wanna look you in your eyes.
Grant Hill won't play 'cause he know he can't beat me.
So I, I wanna look y'all in the eyes.
I'm like a old school gunfighter.
I wanna play with you.
Like Anthony Anderson, he came out there all blustery.
And then I got to look him in the eyes on the first tee, and he crumbled like a cookie.
You're, you're sounding like you're, you know, Young Tiger here.
Yeah.
You're right.
A, a guy who's gonna go get a mani-pedi a- acting like a big tough gunslinger.
The, I, I, I, I know who to go up against though.
I said you, Grant Hill, and Anthony Anderson.
I didn't go out there and grab the heavy guns fighter.
I went out there and grabbed the bottom of the barrel.
Of course you did.
Why don't you go after Dylan Dreyer and Rich Eisen next time?
You know, I think, Dylan, I love her, but I think I'm better than Rich Eisen.
I am.
I think I'm better than Rich.
I think he finished last.
Did he?
Yeah, I think.
Well, you know.
Hey, listen.
Long as I beat- You should be.
Long as you- Charles, you play golf all the time.
You're a former professional.
You make it sound like, you know, we should be surprised that you can play decent golf.
You play all the time.
Well, I've been Dan, listen, I've been to hell and back.
Shout out to my coach.
You have.
You have.
Hey, shout out to my coach, Dan Hurley.
Dan, Dan, I've been to hell and back.
I played one-handed, I played left-handed.
I have done it all.
I have done it all, man.
I, listen, there was a time when I quit, when I would have to yield for 20-some years, it was brutal.
I know.
And shout out to my boy Jackson Corvin.
Auburn, War Dam Eagle.
That was awesome to watch Sunday.
We so proud of that kid.
You know, Auburn won back-to-back national championship because of him.
He was the leader of the team.
But man, I spent my whole Sunday around watching him at the three.
That was beautiful to watch.
So War Dam Eagle to our nation, brother.
All right.
Well, good luck with your mani-pedi, tough guy.
And, we'll, I'll tell Fritzie to leave you alone for, the next, month or so.
Well, there's nothing happening in basketball now.
Okay, but this did, and that's why we're reaching out.
And I, hey, and I'm here.
Dan- I know.
I appreciate it.
I've never turned you down, Dan.
I know that.
I'm not doing any more interviews for like the next month probably, unless somebody in the NBA get traded.
Which is, which, I will tell, I will tell you this, Dan, the Jalen Duren thing is interesting.
Yeah.
Because- I don't want him at that price that's the key.
But some, you know, there, there could be a team that's de- desperate that might wanna pay him that price.
I know.
The salon is- That, that- The salon's waiting for you, okay?
You go.
Okay, brother.
All right.
But first of all, I, I don't do salons.
I, I don't have that type of money.
I go to a spa.
I mean, I just go to a regular nail place.
Come on, Dan.
Thank you, Charles.
All right, brother.
Appreciate y'all.
That's, that's Charles Barkley
