The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Charles Barkley on Conference Finals, Players vs. Criticism, and His Future

Episode Date: May 19, 2022

Russillo shares his thoughts on the Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Mavericks in the Western Conference finals (0:31) before talking with Charles Barkley about ‘Inside the NBA,’ endorsement deals, conference finals matchups, how NBA players deal with criticism, comparisons of David Stern and Adam Silver, the ceilings for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic, and more (12:32). Finally Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (49:57). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Charles Barkley Producer: Kyle Crichton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

what is up Charles Barkley today we spend a good good amount of time with him covering a bunch of different topics today's generation the Embiid situation who was Luca can Giannis be better than Shaq get some stories in there as, including the difference in commissioners and how things are handled. So, you know Charles Barkley, we're going to talk to him for a while. I'll talk about game one. We've got life advice. We're going to spend a good chunk of the game one between the Warriors and Mavs

with Barkley. So, I have a few thoughts on an open here and just kind of covering what I think I saw last night and what it means and what could happen moving forward. Alright, pace, pace, pace. Right out of the chute, Golden State is trying to play as fast as they possibly can. They're playing fast and kind of under control.

Now with Golden State, as we talked about with the turnover thing, which I still think is kind of surprising whenever I hear somebody talking about the Warriors, you're like, I don't know, maybe they turn the ball over too much. Yes, they do turn the ball over too much. They do it all the time. We're on year seven of this. We went over their turnover rankings. They're among the worst in the league for like seven

straight years and it's not just the turnovers because of pay sometimes they're just really really uh i think lazy and stupid with some of their passes you know no one can be perfect right not one team can be perfect across the board but every now and then it'll be talked about like it's some new phenomenon and it just isn't all right right. So the great part about it, even though there were some spells later, I think when the game was sort of in closeout mode, I thought the pace that Golden State played with to start this game was on purpose. It was it's like, look, it can be horrifying against this Warriors team, even though we're still not talking about the prime version of this that we've seen in years past. The only team slower than Dallas pace-wise in the playoffs

so far, Utah, Toronto, Philadelphia. The final pace number for this game I don't believe was some absurd number because this really wasn't much of a fourth quarter. Steph played 31 minutes, didn't even play in the fourth, didn't even need him. And right when you think, okay, the fourth quarter, Dallas, to start the

fourth quarter, Dallas couldn't score, and Golden State was terrific. All right, let's talk about shooting, because this is the worst three-point shooting contest for Dallas in the playoffs. They started 3-19. They finished 11-48, 23%. Their only other game that's even close to that,

that's as bad, the Game 5 loss in Phoenix, when they went down three two they were 25 honestly the final number of 23 is better than you would have thought it was going to be considering how bad the start was so when you're trying to hang with golden state and you're not hitting your shots and luca isn't going superman mode which we'll talk about the defense uh here in a little bit um you know those are the moments where you're like, okay, we got to figure out how to stay with them. And Dallas, I went through every one of their box scores

for the playoffs so far. And this is not like we know how well they're shooting it, but to go through every box score being like, oh, that was another 47% game. That was a 44% game. Oh, 41. And you're just like, this is ridiculous how well they shot the basketball.

And that did not happen. And it was brutal from the start. So the final number I actually think looks better, because as I was looking at it, I'm like, they're actually hitting a couple now. So the final number I don't think is good of an indicator of how bad this is. So do you just go shooting variants? Dallas didn't make their threes, Golden State made theirs. Well, the weird thing about this time where it felt like Golden State was in control of the basketball game, but certainly not out of reach score-wise, Steph and Clay sucked

in the first half. They were combined 1-11, 0-7 for three. They had four points total between the two guys, and they were all Steph's points. Clay hadn't even hit a shot. Steph's missing his free throws, and he was missing them against Denver. He fixed that against Memphis a little bit, but this has been like five minutes to go in the first half, and we're talking about Steph and Klay at 1 of 11. So that kind of takes away the argument of, well, Dallas just didn't make their three, so don't worry about it. They'll fix it, and they're right in this thing.

It's like, yeah, but the Splash Brothers, I imagine people probably call them the Trash Brothers when it happens. It's not going to happen on this podcast. But it was really bad. So then you're like, okay, well, how are they ever up? Well, when you get a Wiggins game, that's free money. It just is. I'm never going to be convinced he's maybe as good as he is at his best.

be convinced he's maybe as good as he is at his best. He is probably better than I allow myself to believe because I still think there's some late moments where I'm like, yeah, probably kind of wanted somebody else to run that offensive set or at least be the go-to guy. But when you get Wiggins stuff, man, and that's what you got in the first half. And I don't know if Dallas is purposely trying to run the Warriors off the three-point line, which is kind of a default for almost every team in the NBA. Not so much every specific game, but you get the point. The Warriors mid-range the hell out of them. That's where you're like, okay, well now what are we supposed to do?

Because Dallas wants to go small, but I think the real lesson in this series, and I'm not just going, hey, game one, now Warriors are going to roll and Dallas is a fluke. I'm not doing that. But this is the first team that actually wants to go as small as Dallas wants to play. They may want to be smaller than Dallas, which has not been the case the previous two series. Utah wants nothing to do with going small. They can't play it. We've seen this now. Fact documented. Phoenix doesn't want to go small. What I liked about them was perhaps they had a big that could stay on the floor

when it didn't really matter. And again, I don't really think that Phoenix got destroyed because Dallas went small. Utah did. But against Golden State, the thing Dallas most likely wants to do and most likely wants to close with is something that Golden State's best five players are totally okay with

because they're going to do it as well. And that could be the warning of what we've learned off of game one. Defensively, I thought the Warriors were terrific with their second defender, especially on the Luka stuff. Their primary defender stuff, Looney can hang in there, man, against some perimeter players. He does not get enough credit for that. They also did a really good job of preparing for Brunson.

You can't go for the up fakes. You can't get crazy trying to close out to him as if he's going to dribble into his own three-pointer. He's more of a guy off the catch, I believe. He's going to dribble into his own three-pointer. He's more of a guy off the catch, I believe. And I also think 70% of Brunson fouls aren't fouls. So I'm trying to do my job here. Trying to just get awareness out on that one. The best part about what Golden State did defensively, though,

is it really felt like, you know how when a team's kind of falling apart and they're just out of sorts and they're chasing all over the place and then there's these unbelievable driving lanes on the weak side with a quick skip pass because you're still like you're over chasing or you're over helping on the ball penetration. And then all of a sudden it's just this chain that's connected and things are either in sync or they're totally out of sorts.

And Dallas is really good with Luka because there's just not much you're going to do at the point of attack. But Wiggins held up better at the point of attack than I think McHale did. And so Wiggins deserves credit for that. And if Luka did have some kind of driving angle advantage, the second defender was always really well positioned. So it wasn't some clear lane.

It was a lane, but hey, there's somebody else over there. And then when you're not hitting threes, there you go. And one final thing I think that's really important with Golden State, what I really love about them, and there's a couple things that we're aware of here at this point, but just because you get put into a bad switch, which is going to happen more than you want it to happen in any basketball game, it doesn't mean stop playing, right?

It doesn't mean abandon everything. So even if you're hunting Steph, which they were doing at times, and then I think they got away from it because it really doesn't work. And that's why I always, you know, there's a million reasons why I stick up for Steph, but he does not get nearly enough credit for even against switches where he has no chance physically, or you feel like athletically he can't hold up when it's somebody driving on him. or you feel like athletically he can't hold up when it's somebody driving on him, he tries.

He still positions himself. He'll still drive it towards help. And that to me is far more valuable than just being big enough to match somebody's body size without any concept of what you're supposed to do when you're switched into a disadvantage. And Golden State does a great job with that. One final thought here. Well, two quick ones. Great job on the replay when they showed Steph coming out of the corner and Dorian Finney-Smith kind of just was like, well, Steph's probably done with

the play here. Another one of those reminders that you're never done chasing these guys. You can never stop chasing them. And Steph came out. He had those two threes in the third quarter. Clay started 4-4. So everybody kind of had a moment of the top guys for Golden State, and you didn't get that from the Mavs. Game one lessons can be really weird. They can be completely misleading. Maybe we saw the same thing with Boston, because part of me feels like the carryover,

missing a couple players doesn't help either in game one against Miami where the Heat were terrific. Do we see an entirely different thing, or does Boston have some real problems here? Or do we look at Dallas saying, hey, you know what? Like I said, this could be the first team that actually wants to play a small. Like this is not, oh, no, Dallas is going small. They're like, all right, cool.

We've been doing this for a really long time. We're fine with it. That could be the lesson, or it could just be one of those game one deals where one team is coming off something that was a lot harder than what the other team did, and we saw some of that hangover. I'm never convinced that it's an absolute either way. I've heard it argued all the time that coming off that game one, that's like the most brutal spot.

I'm not dismissive of it. I just think sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. But that small thing, I think, is the biggest takeaway that I wonder how much that carries over the rest of the series. The playoffs are heating up, and you can make every game feel like Game 7 on FanDuel Sportsbook, an official partner of the NBA. Throughout the playoffs, all customers can place a no-sweat same-game parlay each week. You get up to $20 in free bets if you don't win.

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That was minus 40. Now it's plus 100. So that's part of it. Player rebounds. Let's check in here. Bam is eight and a half over under. Let's jump on that without any. We don't know what's going to happen with the rest of the lineup there for Boston.

That's the other thing, too, is that now the series, the beginning of it here without Horford and Smart and Derek White missing time, too. It's going to add to the minutes and shot attempts from other players. You're like, yeah, I'm not sure these are the minutes and shot attempts I want from certain guys in the Eastern Conference Finals. So let's go home third quarter total 53, or it's the entire game here, excuse me, third quarter at Miami. We'll go 53 and a half over. All right, so there's thoughts there.

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Charles Barkley's with us. What's up, man? I'm good, my brother. Good to see you. I like the little facial hair you got going. Well, you know, we're on the road. we're not on the road a lot for this podcast so we're trying so uh you know i've been thinking about growing a goatee myself i mean i got the worst beard action in the world it grows like your spots

so i you know i've looked the same way for 100 years i was like i saw a guy on tv the other day i said man he's a good looking man with a goatee. So I know I can't grow a great beard. So I think this summer I might grow me a nice little goatee

and see what happens. Did you ever go any facial hair when you played? I'm trying to remember. No, I had a crappy mustache. I didn't know it was crappy until I got older.

So that's the only thing. Yeah, that one doesn't even, that one doesn't even count. I remember I actually loved that early Chuck mustache. Yeah. As you came in. I don't know. Go ahead.

No, I mean, I go back. You know, it's so funny going back and looking at old stuff because I'm so old now. I go back and look at clothes I was wearing, and I'm like, oh, my God, what was I thinking at the time? You know, but you know what hey man it's fun to go back but no I had the awful mustache and then I realized like man you need to be clean shaven well I imagine I don't know do you say no to any endorsement deals now because maybe that's your money maker well I think I did too much this year I did right right 100% I did

too much this year so So I have a grandson. I got a grandson. So I'm a grandpa. So I'm officially old. So I was looking for some extra money to start him a college fund. And my daughter got married. So I got three other family members to take care of right now. So, but you know what?

You're 100% correct. I'm starting to be like Shaq. Because Shaq can do any commercial, every commercial. And I told my agent, we're going to take a step back next year. I'm not mad about it, but I want to know, is there anything you've said no to? That's a good question. You have to talk to my agent about that. Because my number starts at a big number

for me to even take your phone call as far as commercial. So I don't know everything he said no to, but if I'm going to be in your commercial, it's going to be a pretty big, pretty number for me to do it. Okay. All right. That's fair. So last night they were giving it to you

pretty good after the game. This goes back to when I think 2015, we all know the history with you and golden state uh what what's going on with you and the warriors why are we why are we still here seven years later where it feels like you can't buy into this team oh i can buy into the team i hate their fans and i we have a lot a lot of give and take and that doesn't bother me as long long as they, you know, right, as long as people react to your opinion, you're doing what you're supposed to do on television. I mean, your job is to make sure people enjoy the sport. Hopefully you have good games.

But when you're an announcer, you want an analyst, whatever I am, I'm not sure what the hell I am, to be honest with you. You want people to respond to what you say. So whether they boo me or cheer me, as long as they, I'm like Roman Reigns, as long as they acknowledge me, I'm doing my job. I can't imagine, you know, there are many, like, I know you still care about Philadelphia, because it's kind of where, you know, we've talked about this, your basketball birth in a way, because it's kind of where, you know, we've talked about this,

your basketball birth in a way, professionally. Clearly, you still root for the Suns. Do you care? Are there outcomes that you emotionally are still attached to for a team or for a player? Well, that's a great, great question. You know, I root for the Sixers and I root for the Suns. I really never care who wins. But to answer your question, honestly, I want to see the Sixers and the Sun for the signs. I really never care who wins. But to answer your question, honestly,

I want to see the sectors that are signed do well. And this year was, whoo, this was ugly, ugly ending for both of them. So, but I normally don't care. Like this Golden State, Dallas, I don't care who wins. Boston against Miami, I don't care who wins. You know what I care about, Rod? I'm ready for this to be over so I can go play golf and

fish every day. Once the Western Conference finals is over, I'm going to play golf and fish for the next four months. My life is great, but the last two to three months, it gets really crazy because I go from All-Star weekend,

which is a lot, then I go to March Madness, which is even more, then I go to the NBA playoffs, which is even more. It's a hectic basically three months. You go from working one day a week to working every single day

and it sucks. I am ready for vacation. Yeah. You know, this is something else because there's a ton of basketball I want to get to, but I like this.

I'll never forget when I first got to ESPN, that was 2006. All right. And then management, they do it with guys like me. They don't have to do it with guys like you,

but they would always do this kind of dangling the carrot. Like, oh, you never know what's going to happen with cow herd. Oh, you never know what's going to happen with Mike and Mike, right? All these things.

And I remember hearing about Mike Golick Sr. This was in To The Door. Like, he's going to do one more deal and then he's probably going to happen with cowherd oh you never know what's going to happen mike and mike right all these things and i remember hearing about mike oleg senior this was into the door like he's going to do one more deal and then he's probably going to leave and move to arizona and i think he was there like 15 more years and you have talked about like all right i don't want to do this forever i don't want to do it forever you guys are the gold standard of the studio show um i think the shack part of it brought something in the beginning i didn't quite. So I thought that added to it when usually adding to something that's already going to work and can be a little dangerous, but you keep saying you don't want to keep doing this. And I know that this business, everybody says, I want to keep doing it.

And the checks get bigger and bigger. Are you really going to be somebody who like at the top of his profession says, I just don't want to work this much? Well, right. It's a little different for me than guys like yourself, because this is your guy's career. Like all these other guys, like basketball is my career. This is just something I do for fun and I love it. And it's been amazing.

But like, I think that why I say that I have to count my basketball years. why I say that, I have to count my basketball years. So 16 years in the NBA, 21 years on television, that's a lot of work. And so that's the difference when people talk about, of course, if I'm in your shoes, I want to keep working. You know, because this is like what you do, this is your career.

This is not my career. My career was basketball. This is just a great job I happened to get. But, you know, I just turned 59. I have two years left on my deal. I'll be 61. I don't mean to be more of whatever. I know I'm on the back nine of life.

Do I keep working until I drop dead? Or do I enjoy what I've accomplished? Because I feel really good. I mean, you know, growing up in the projects of a small town in Leach, Alabama, to grow up to be Charles Barkley, played 16 years in the NBA, been on television 21 years. So I've never had a real job. So, but like I say, I'm not morbid. I'm not worried about death. I've had a great, great life. If it's the end tomorrow, I'll be like, yo, man,

this has been incredible. But how long do you work is the question. Like, dude, I'll be sick. I can't believe I'm 60 years old. I mean, you know, I used to think like, man, 40 is old. Man, 50 is real old. Now I'm 60. And to think like, man, 40 is old. Man, 50 is really old.

Now I'm 60. And I'm like, okay, you know the big fella going to come get you at some point. Do I work until I can't do anything? Or do I work like, just like, yo, I've had a good run. Thank y'all for everything. Y'all have given me the best life a person could have. And I'm just going to play golf, visit and travel the world on the back nine.

So to answer your question, my goal, what I'm thinking now is I'm going to try to live out to work the last two years of my contract. And 61's a good number. All right. Does Draymond ask you if you're going to leave TNT? No, we've never talked about it.

But, you know, Dray, he's going to be a good addition to the team whenever he comes here. But, like, hey, man, ain't nothing like playing basketball. You play basketball as long as you're in a sport. In a sport. You know, I understand. Like, I'm not comparing myself to Tom Brady. He's the greatest football player ever. And he's in a conversation of the greatest athletes ever. But like,

yeah, no, I don't want to retire. I can still do this. I want to keep it going. I understand that 100%. Ain't nothing like playing. I don't care what you do on television. I don't care what you get for Christmas. I don't care what gifts anybody gave.

Ain't nothing like playing a pro sport, man. It is such fun and amazing. It's crazy how exhilarating it is. Like, being in that building last night, I'm like, damn. Being in a big game, everybody in the world is watching you. Because when you get to this point, all basketball fans are watching the Final Four. So ain't nothing like that. So I told Draymond, you play on today's show.

Smash that jersey away from you. See, this is where I think there's a disconnect too where the show can be seen as it's these old guys and they're just dumping on the new guys, which is something that happens. But this generation, there's so many players that seem miserable with the job and the star player arguably has never had it better, the money, they have more power. And so sometimes I think it can be, well, no, it's not just older guys

dumping on the newer guys, which I think sometimes the older generation can be unfair, but the newer generation seems to be like, why are these guys giving us a hard time? And based on what you just said, it's like, look, it's still the best thing ever to come out of that tunnel and compete for a living and get to be a superstar and to get paid this money. And even if we had our issues from my generation, you had your issues with different franchises. I wasn't miserable the entire time. And that's what I feel like we're getting from some of the top names in the game. And like, do you even like doing this? And I think it's a fair question of why there's so much disconnect between maybe sometimes you guys on the show and current stars. Well, the only disconnect because these guys are wussies, right? We've all gotten criticized.

I got criticized. Dr. J got criticized. Matty Johnson got criticized. You know, every great player gets criticized. We're just not as sensitive as these dudes today. I mean, Ron, I can't wait. It always annoys me and makes me laugh. These guys act like they're the first group of players who ever got criticized. You know, go back to Michael Jordan. He can't win.

He's just an individual scorer. You know, Charles Barkley, great player, never won a championship. That's a criticism. I have to deal with Carmelon, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing. The reason LeBron left Cleveland, you know, he can't win. No, I'm not going to, I can't win. I'm going to go the same thing with Kevin Durant. He couldn't get over the hump. He's like, no, I got to go win.

So the notion that every player has gotten criticized, the only difference is they whine, whine more about it today. I mean, dude, everybody has gotten criticized. I mean, so I always just laugh. They act like they're the first group of people who ever gotten criticized. I mean, so I always just laugh. They act like they're the first group of people who ever got criticized. And it drives me and guys like me crazy. And first of all, Dr. J said something to me one time to change my whole perspective about when I was first becoming a star, like my third year in the NBA, I was becoming a star.

And I pulled him aside. I said, yo, man, this guy said this, this guy said that. He said, young fella, this goes with the territory. But let me ask you one question. Always ask yourself this one thing first. Did I deserve the criticism? And I said, what? He says, you always have to ask yourself, and it's a hard question to ask yourself, was the criticism fair? And you look at some guys now, listen, I love Russell Westbrook, but it's fair to criticize him because he did not play well. It's fair to criticize Emerson Davis because he can't stay happy.

Same thing with Zion. Kyrie being whatever the hell he is, I got a little problem with guys saying things about him. So this notion that nobody's ever gotten criticized, it's just total BS. Which player, which current player, do you think has been the most upset with you? I think Kevin Durant's gotten upset at some things I've said.

But we're cool. I think LeBron has said some things, thereacted to some things I said about him. But, you know, I have to do my job, right? I mean, I can tell you this. There ain't never been no NBA player to say I said something about him from a personal standpoint. And I get calls from players and agents all the time, and I explain to them why I said something. But this notion that I can tell any players,

and there's players I don't like. Of course, there's players I don't like. But I ain't never said something personal about a player just because I didn't like him. And like I say, the first thing they should ask themselves is the criticism fair. I think when Stern was in power, there was no bullshit, right?

And he looked at his role, I think, differently than Adam Silver. And there were times with Stern, especially when there was contract disputes, where I was like, man, he clearly makes the players the enemy. And I didn't like that. Because I even thought some of it was excessive to have the owner's position, right? Because negotiation becomes

public negotiation. You're trying to get public opinion in your side of things. So I think Silver, one of the things that he did that's very specific to a counter to Stern's era is that he's been very pro player, which again is a little weird for the commissioner because you still work for the owners, but I think it's more popular on social media to be pro player. But there's definitely people going like, hey, we need to rein this back in.

I know, and I don't have the number exact, but I was looking at like the top 25 scores in the league this year. I think there's almost 500 missed games of the top 25 leading scores. And you go back to other areas, it's just not even the same. Do you think, like if you were commissioner, how would you handle the disconnect and trying to maybe figure out a way to get players to just say, hey, look, I know you think the season's long here, but we can't have every player missing 20 games. Well, first of all, the league was actually pretty good

when Davis Turner was running it, right? So, no players to have any complaint. David Stern is the best commissioner in probably sports history. I mean, you know, people don't understand when David Stern, my first year in the NBA, the average salary was $250,000, the average

salary. Now the average salary is almost $10 million. That's because of David Stern. And he because of David Serr. He ran with an iron fist. First of all, that's the way you should run a business. It ain't like David did anything to the players. We're the richest players in the entire world. NBA players. By far,

we're the richest players in the world. Guys sitting on the bench are making $10 million a year. Guys on the last guys on the team are making $10 million a year. I mean, I think, you know, guys on the last guys on the team making a couple million. You know, I found out when I was talking to a couple of my friends about the NFL contract, like 50% of their roster make the minimum. So let's don't act like what David Stern did was all that bad. But I think that Adam is a great commissioner,

but I think he's giving the players too much power. And I think it's going to come back to vitamin S. And I think you will see, you know, he's like, these guys don't want to play two basketball games in a row. They don't want to play back-to-back. Dude, we played four games in five nights in Chuck Taylor's and flew commercial. These guys got the best medical staff. And he said, okay, we're're gonna make the season long so you guys

don't have to play back to back and now guys still don't want to play and let's be honest the reason they're doing it they're trying to extend their careers to make more money they're already making more money than anybody in the history of the world but now they're like no if i only if i only play 50 games or 60 games i can play another two years and make another $40, $50 million. So Adam has got to find a way. And I think, let me tell you something, I think in that next CBA, these guys are going to be sitting there as a home because we all know them owners ain't going to have it. And I think there's, I've always said there's going to be a pandemic tax at some point because we are the only job in the world that got paid

during the pandemic. We didn't miss a paycheck. We were sitting at home doing nothing. We got paid. These owners have held up their end of the bargain. Like I say, I think they're going to get these guys back in the next CBA. Especially a couple things. Guys not

playing, they're going to get them back. And secondly, this notion where guys are taking money from a team and then after one or two years saying, screw it, I don't want to be here anymore. They know they can get the max in that city. And then they don't want to play there. So they're kind of getting their cake and eat it too.

And I think in the next CBA, these owners are going to kick their ass good. I want to get back to not only the dynamic of the player, but like Embiid. You go last year, it was almost like, why would you say that about Ben Simmons? And I get to the point where it's like, wait,

if we want guys to be leaders and we want them to be honest, I'm not going to be offended when Embiid is worried about Simmons. And then the same thing, you know, different, but same that happens with Harden, where it's like, you know, we maybe need to be a little bit more aggressive. And then people are wondering, like, why would you say this about a guy you brought in? You took two shots, James. So how did you feel about Embiid as the face of that franchise being honest about something we could all see?

Well, that's a great question, because I think Joel has to be careful. Like, I don't think you want to develop a reputation like it's always somebody else's fault. You know, he did. First of all, it was Ben Simmons' fault last year, but he didn't have to say that. And then he comes back this year and he says the same thing about James. And first of all, he didn't play that great either. So I think he's developed a reputation that's like, wait, it's always the other guy's fault.

Now, if he played great, all he had to do was say, you know what, I got to play better. We all got to play better because we just lost. But you don't have to say, because last year it was Simmons' fault. And let's say, okay, and it was. But now it's James' fault. So we saw what both of them, I don't think as a player you have to throw your teammate on the bus.

We gave him a hard pass last year because what Ben Simmons did was awful. But now he throws James on the bus. When you're the leader of a team, you don't throw the other players on the bus. Like I said, we gave you a hard pass last year, but you don't come back and do that again this year. Was there a player that you wanted to criticize more that you just knew you couldn't? A teammate?

Yes. Because it makes a very uncomfortable locker room. So you have to keep your grudges to yourself. There's guys you play with, you don't like the way they play. They don't care as much as you do. Because, you know, Brian, I'm in a very unique situation. I'm the guy who's going to get the blame.

You know, nobody ever says Zavalo didn't win the championship. They didn't say Mark West didn't win the championship. God, like that. So, yeah, if you're not busting your ass for me, and I'm going to get the blame, yeah, I'm going to resent you. So the answer to your question is, hell, yeah,

those players are pissing me off because I'm the guy going to get the blame when the team doesn't win. You know, you're right about that. You're on the list. You've talked with Simmons about it. It's a list that I hate that you're on. And somebody that I've defended a lot because I just think he's the kind of player

you'd want on your team is Chris Paul. I don't know what happened after game two. It's the worst game seven I think I've seen from a team that I had expectations for. Other teams have sucked in a game seven, but here was Phoenix, basically the best team all year. Do you feel something when you see somebody like Chris Paul play the way he plays Hall of Fame career,

but then have this list of things that so many people can throw in his face, detractors, and say, like, you actually aren't the guy that your resume says you are? Well, first of all, his resume is the guy he says it. The guy's won everywhere he's been. He's won everywhere he's been. And, you know, he took a mediocre franchise.

We were mediocre until he got to Phoenix. But we didn't make the playoffs. And the only addition we made to the team is him, and they get all the way to the finals. And unfortunately, he ran up against Giannis. And this year, they had the best record in the NBA. But as I said on the air, same thing with LeBron. LeBron's one of the greatest, greatest ever.

But I said, the team is going to suck unless Anthony Davis plays one of – if Anthony Davis is not one of the top five players in the NBA because at 38 years old, LeBron is not the same player he was. And forget the stats. He's just good numbers, but the team wasn't winning. So

I put it, I'm not comparing the two, but I'm comparing the two because expecting LeBron at 38 to be your best player, that's ridiculous. But as I criticized Devin Book and DeAndre Aydin, it's time for those guys

to take over and be the best players. To ask a 38-year-old Chris Paul to be your best player, he single-handedly won the New Orleans series for you. He got you up two zip. Probably ran out of gas, but Luka was beating the hell out of him.

But to ask a 38-year-old guy to carry you at this stage of his career, I mean, think about it. Magic took over for Kareem. You know, Tony Parker and J Genova took over for Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard also. As the guy gets older, it's unfair for us to ask him to still be the guy he was five, ten years ago.

And listen, like I say, playing point guard at Chris's size, he's the best leader I've seen in the NBA. Think about this. He's won every single place he's been. And if you can't appreciate that, you really don't know anything about basketball as a fan. I mean, winning follows Chris around. And think about it.

When Golden State had that, when they were pretty much unbeatable, who's the only team that had them down 3-2 and was ahead going into the fourth quarter until Chris blew out his hamstring? So, that's the... His resume is impeccable.

When... You talked about LeBron, and it's a great point because LeBron with the Lakers, you know, the numbers are still impressive. And it's funny because I can watch a full Lakers game and then look down. I'm like, man, we're going to the fourth quarter.

LeBron already has 28. Like, this is nuts. How much can you, Kenny Shaq, tell? And this isn't about being negative towards LeBron, but like the difference between getting your 25 and playing the full scope of basketball. Because I think people have a really hard time with that. They'll see some assists.

They'll see the points. And they don't pay attention to all the other shit that you actually have to do that isn't fun that nobody keeps track of like all the things for anybody that's ever played and you're like okay you can still get like I've never thought it was easier to score than this era for a bunch of different reasons but I feel like people have a hard time understanding the difference between like 25 and 7 and 25 and 7 and all of the other stuff you have to worry about. Well, listen, there's a lot of guys in the NBA who just get numbers and have zero impact on the game. So, unless you know basketball, you know, fans want you to tell them two things. My favorite player is great and my team is good.

That's the only thing fans care about. That's the only two things they care about. And I'm like, I remember we traded for a guy when I was in Philly. And I was like, why did you trade for that guy? He said, well, he's a 2010 guy. And I said, it's not a good 2010. He was on a bad team getting 2010 because he was going to get all the shots and he's a big dude.

He should get 10 rebounds a game. But I said, when guys on bad teams, they're the best player on a bad team. They're going to get a lot of shots. So their numbers are inflated. You can always tell how good a guy is when he goes to a team with other good players and the team wins because he's going to get less shots, but can he make a difference in the game?

That's when you should start judging players. Because guys on some of these bad teams, they just get another 10 shots, get another 10 points, and you're like, oh, they're averaging good numbers. But I'm like, Kevin McHale calls them empty calories. We got a lot of empty calorie players

in the NBA. I call them, I call them looters of the riot. This is big end stuff that don't belong to them and has zero impact on the game. So, you know,

but you, you know, players know who's legit and who's not. The fans, just like I say, they love their team. They love their favorite player. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I always tell people,

you don't have to win the championship, but your team can't suck all the time. And you tell me you're a good player. You just, I call him Jax. You're just a guy. Like your team got to win every now and then. But you can't lose all the time.

And if you're getting good numbers. You know, one of my stats that I'm proud of, I never got swept in a four-game series, right? I'm really proud of that stat. I'm like, hell no. I'm going to win a game. I don't, in a four-game series, I don't think I ever been down three zip in my entire career.

I never got swept in a four-game series, and I've never been down three zip. I'm like, uh-uh, no, no, no. We're not going to get swept. And that's a stat that I'm really proud of. Do you think Giannis can be better than Shaq? Wow, that's a great question. All right.

Shaq was so physically demanding because he's just so big and so strong. I think he can be just as good in a different way because his resume is really stacking up really good. Like what he's accomplished, I think he's 25, if that. I think what he's accomplished in the short order is incredible. And he's going to be a contender for the next 10 years at least. I mean, he's just got to get some guys off the street to stay healthy.

I mean, I think most people agree if Middleton's there, they'd probably win that series. But he's going to be great for the next 10 years. Who do you think Luka can be? I don't think there's a ceiling for Luka. I think that, man, he is just special. I think they got to give him some help. I think he got to learn to play off the ball a little bit more.

I think one of the reasons you saw this Dallas team get to the next level is because when Luka got hurt, other guys had to be more aggressive. And I think, you know, going back, you go back and think about Michael Jordan, you think about that last dance thing, they were talking about, we can't be the best we can be unless you give up the

ball more. And I know that sounds strange, but it turned out to be the greatest thing ever, why he's the GOAT. And I know that sounds strange, but it turned out to be the greatest thing ever. Why he's the GOAT. And Luka has done a much better job in the playoffs playing with Dr. Ball, but it's on Bronson and then with him. Because when they're

aggressive, instead of just waiting, like, hey, we don't have to wait around every time and get a ball to Luka. We're all good players. So I think when they started doing that, things really started looking up for the Mavs. But man, he is a special talent.

He's a tough kid. And he's got stuff he's doing right now at 22 is incredible. Do you think they're in trouble after game one? I know you picked everybody's giving you a hard time because of that. No.

Not at all. No, no, no. Ryan, let me tell you something. Think about what's happened in the NBA in the last week and a half. Milwaukee blew Boston out in game one. The Warriors lost by 55. My son beat the Mavericks by 100 the first two games in Phoenix.

You know, I mean, that's just two examples right there. I'm trying to think. No, you're right. Game ones can be like totally, they can be the most misleading game of a series. Well,

especially when a team's coming out of a seven game series, they're still emotionally fried from what, from what happened. I mean, cause seven games, man, this is so intense, especially game seven,

you are mentally and physically exhausted after game seven. But like I say, even if they don't win tomorrow, they were just down two zip last week. So you got to play the series out. You can't overreact after one game. A couple more things here. I haven't asked you about Miami, then Boston at all. Who did you pick in that series

and how do you feel about it now? Well, I picked Boston, but I didn't know I wasn't going to have Smart and Harford. So, and I don't think, I don't think Boston can beat Miami without Harford and Smart

because we got this argument last night on the set with Shaq talking about Jim and Bullock can get 40 on anybody. I said, well, I don't know if he would have 40 on Marcus Smart. So that was a really big deal. I mean, that would be his man. And he's the defensive player of the year. Jim and Bullock is a terrific player. But I don't know if he's going to get 40 a night on Marcus Smart,

if he's there. And secondly, Eric Sposer shrunk the field, shrunk the zone in the second half because without Harper, ain't no room for Jalen Brown and Tatum to move. That was a nice adjustment he made. And without Harper out there, they're missing a big guy who can spread the floor to free up Tatum and Brown. So they're missing two really big parts.

But like I say, I gotta see. I don't know how long Horford's gonna be out. I don't know what's going on with Smart. Because you need two good feet. You can't have no sprain, but you need two good feet to try to guard Jimmy Butler. So that's good.

But like I say, you got to play it out. Is Spoh your favorite coach? You know, that's a good question. I don't know if I have a favorite coach because, you know, Papa Biz is probably my favorite coach in the NBA for the last X amount of years because I love the fact that he talks about social issues. I love the fact that he served.

So any man who got the courage to serve will always be on my short list. I'll be supposed terrific. I like Taylor Jenkins. I like Taylor Jenkins down in Memphis. He does a great job. Monty Williams, he's in my neck of the woods. He's done a fabulous job out there in Phoenix.

So, but I love good coaching strategy because in a seven-game series, there's so many subtle adjustments from one game to two games, to game three and four.

So I love watching the strategy. You brought it up, so I'll, well, I guess you didn't really bring it up. But I don't know if you've talked about it recently as we finish up here here but after the last dance it felt like you had to talk about

jordan in every interview for six or eight months right like everybody was fascinated by this idea that there was this disconnect and it hadn't has anything changed since then two years removed from it you know it felt like every interview charles barkley was doing and i'm doing it now asking about the relationship with jordan has the relationship changed at all since people kind of became aware how strained it was oh nothing's just changed uh you know i i wish michael nothing but the best he's the greatest player i've ever seen and uh it's unfortunate that we're both stubborn. And so, but nothing's changed, brother. Okay. All right.

All right. Last thing we're going to do here, because you're going to be perfect for this. We do life advice at the end of every podcast, right? And it's usually a lot of guys asking about relationships, career stuff. But we had this group of young dudes. It appears their family may have been well off,

where they are in L.A. and they were neighbors with Carmelo Anthony. He's in the neighborhood. And they were trying to ask me the best way, because they said they were huge Lakers fans, to befriend Melo. And I'm like, look, you guys are younger. Melo's at the end of his career. It's likely he doesn't want to be friends with you. And I'm like, look, you guys are younger. Mello's at the end of his career.

It's likely he doesn't want to be friends with you. And if you guys are super Lakers fans, it's also going to be painfully obvious. Can you tell immediately, Charles, when you see somebody who's like, oh my God, it's Charles Barkley. And you're like, all right, this guy has all the greatest intentions, but I can just tell it's going to be annoying that they're not going to be able to just see me as a person. They're only going to be seen. Like, I can imagine how often you picked up on this of after decades of being a public figure, right? Like, I'm sure you notice it immediately. The difference between somebody who's going to be cool and somebody who's not going to be cool, right? A hundred percent. My advice to anybody, don't be annoying. Say hello.

The stars should be cordial to you. I think I'm always cordial to anybody who walks up to me, but don't want to have no 15-minute conversation. I don't know you. You're a random stranger. We're not going to probably be friends. I don't know who you

are. You don't know anything you are. You don't know anything about me. I don't know anything about you. And we're either at a grocery store, we're at the dry cleaner, we're somewhere. And I came to do what I came to do, and you came to do what you were going to do. But we're not probably going to be friends. And I don't mean that in a mean, negative, or nasty way. Just say hello. I'm going to say, hey, nice to meet you. Thanks for taking time to say hello to me. And then keep it moving.

That's the best way to handle it. Okay, so what, though, if you were in a neighborhood, let's say you're back with Philly, and you're 38, you're in the suburbs, and like four dudes, 25 yearsilly, and you're 38, you're in the suburbs, and like four dudes, 25 years old, huge Sixers fans, huge Charles Barkley fans, and they were just in your neighborhood, and they were trying to befriend you.

What would be their best chance? There's not going to be a good chance, Rob. I mean, I don't want to be friends with four. Like, not that I'm trying to be a jerk on ads. Like, you don't meet, like, if you're in my neighborhood, it's all right to say hello and all that other stuff. But, like, the notion that we're going to be friends and stuff like that, I just, I'm not feeling that. But I can say, just say hello and, hey, nice to meet you guys. And keep it moving. If I can say, just say hello and, hey, nice to meet you guys and keep it moving.

But, you know, there's no person, even yourself, Ryan, who when some random dude walks up to you, you don't say, hey, let's be friends. It doesn't work like that. You're right. I don't have it nearly as bad as you, I imagine. But I knew that was the answer. I knew that was the answer. That's kind of the answer that we gave those guys. They were trying to figure out some sort of gifts,

and all I could think of is like, especially later in your career, you're over it. And look, people, guys in general, have a hard time meeting new people like post-30, unless you're golfing with somebody all the time. All right, that's it, man. That's all I have for you today. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

You know how I feel about you. And if I can ever repay the favor, you let me know. All right? All right, my brother. You be safe and take care of yourself. You want details? Bye. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice. We know we did a little bit there with Barkley.

Lifeadvice.rr at gmail.com Shruti's not here, by the way. Bachelor Party guy this weekend. so we will get his extended thoughts more than a magic minute on the lottery so i know not great timing for him but that's it these magic fans never expect to win the lottery so it had been 18 years so there you go uh kyle how are you doing not as good as Saruti. And yeah, he actually wanted to come today, but he told me he was two drinks in, but let the guy have a day.

I think we all deserve a day sometimes. So good for you, man. Stay hydrated. No, I actually made it want to make it work, but there's some technical stuff going on here, so it's not going to happen. All right, so to the life advice, we know we can recap some.

The drug test response smashed any record that we've ever had responding to anything um the wine thief uh you know there's been there's been maybe five all-timers where we just had people couldn't stop talking about it uh here's here's the deal we we collectively did a bad job and i'm not going to blame anyone on the team there There may have been Kyle of thought that I wasn't going to be the guy to lean on here, but I went to the pharmacy recently and then dipped my toe into the drug testing area. You can do home tests so you can know where you're at. Then there's all these different weed law debates that we had on this stuff. But it appears that there is a vast number of options and resources out there for people, which clearly we could see with the response that we've gotten here that you've sent over.

So I don't know if you have anything else to add to this. I think it's just pretty obvious. Yeah. And the most obvious thing was going to be that this was going to be what people had the most advice on. So thank you guys, all you experts out there. I mean, I guess there's just, you know, there's more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. So I think a lot of you guys have figured it out your own way. So thanks for sharing.

Yeah, well, there you go. Yeah, thanks for sharing. Not disappointed by any of it, but it makes me think that the emailer, because I didn't have as much information, we were not the people to go to on that one. We let you down. That's on us. But you could have done more research on your own as well because it apparently couldn't be easier to figure out a timeline and handle this. We had one guy who was the head of hiring that was like, you should just ask the people hiring you. I don't know that that was great advice on some of the follow-up emails. Like, hey, what's the deal with your weed test? Like,

oh, 20 grand more. Okay. That's cool. Corner office. No problem. What's up with weed testing at this place? Just curious. I'm doing a poll. I don't know if that'd be a straw poll or not. Okay. Let's see. Let's get into a couple of life advices here. This one's a little different here. Uh, it's advice for somebody else who's a friend of the podcast. We don't normally do this, but we'll do it. I love the show. Life advice is the best. All right, here's the deal.

Totally fine to use the name and location here. This isn't a personal situation. I live in Tulsa, which is hosting the PGA championship this week. I volunteer to work it, which I would recommend to anyone. It's a great gig. Lots of perks. I work tea refreshments. So they told us our job directly impacted the scores on the course.

Look at that. Responsibility this weekend. If the players are thirsty, they don't score as well. Simple as that. That is science. I thought that was a little dramatic, but hey, anything to get the volunteers motivated, right? Oh, wait, so this is a guy that's telling you,

hey, they're not going to score as well if you can't keep them hydrated. As if, like, what is this, Book of Eli here? Everybody's looking for water. Although I watched that movie with Zac Efron, Gold. Water was an issue in that movie as well. All right. I was filling the coolers during the Tuesday morning practice round around the first and tenth tee box.

If you watch the tournament, you'll see they have holes one and ten using the same tee box. And there was a bunch of big-name golfers up there. Great description, by the way, on the tee box. It puts us right there. I saw Van Pelt talking with some other guys and ended up walking off with Homa, Cantley, and Gooch. At this point, anyone that listed your pod isn't surprised by Van Pelt's height. We all know he's pretty tall. He's really tall. He's not just tall. He's really tall. He was wearing the standard outfit for a golf tournament, tucked in polo with shorts and a

belt. The problem was his belt was somewhere in the range of 8 to 10 inches too long. This is a guy who's made a lot of money over the years and has definitely had people help him dress for his TV segments. But for some reason, he was wearing a belt that was 8 to 10 inches past the buckle and just hung down. No

clue if anyone talked to him about this. If this is just an old guy thing, can someone please help Van Pelt get a belt that fits? Thanks. And again, love the show. This actually, I wish we hadn't shared location because this felt like it got a lot more personal, Kyle. All right. The standard thing is if you're a waist 30,

you buy a 32, 34, 36, right? You're supposed to add two inches to the belt and you're supposed to be the third notch from the end. And that's pretty standard. Some are going to argue it. You're wrong. All right. I didn't know about that until my thirties because I just didn't know. Right. I didn't know. Hey, cool belt. And it's like, you're wearing the wrong belt all the time. I would say if you were of a certain age, meaning you would have to have been in high school in the eighties. I was not, I'm not that old. But maybe junior high, filter down into the 80s. There was a phase that then carried into the 90s of leather belts that you would kind of run this loop over the

belt and then it would sort of hang down and dangle as a leather genitalia deal. Odd. Yes, I know. I don't think that's coming back anytime soon. I don't know if that's the issue with Scott. He also may have lost weight. So again, this feels a little personal. I almost want to delete it out, but I feel like I'm sticking up for my guy a little bit more while also exposing the fact that maybe he just gets... Because look, I'll tell you right now, I know his clothing setup. I know his allowance. I know the companies that he works with. These are all high-end brands, high-end, high-end.

This is beyond Banana Republic monogram. No offense to Kevin Love and his cologne numbers. So, Kyle, did you know about the right belt size? Did you know about any of this stuff? I mean, I just figured it was, you know, what are your pants? Try to find close to that. I mean, the other thing I was going to say

is maybe it's a backup belt. I mean, you're afraid that your, you know, your recording stuff wasn't going to make it in time. And, you know, maybe it's a backup belt. Maybe he just had to get a last minute belt. So it could be that. Maybe it's a wardrobe deal for TV. Maybe it's not even his choice.

Maybe they're just like, all I got is, all we have is forties, man. So I don't, I don't know. Um, I think we don't know. Maybe something else happened. I mean,

it could be a wardrobe deal. That's my guess. Yep. No problem. Okay. I don't know that that helps going to help anybody here. We'll try to do one. All right.

Family based five, 10, one 60. Hope you guys are doing well. Kyle, congrats on getting hitched and Suri. Congrats on the kid. Big news all around.

Best of luck. Wow. Very exciting here. Very nice. Very positive. Great, great tone setter. I think we need to have a talk with my dad or I, well, not us. I need to have a talk with my dad about his recent behavior. I do not know how to approach the conversation. He does not help my mom out around the house whatsoever. He leaves messes. He constantly complains about bullshit that he has no intention of trying to fix. The most egregious example was at my daughter's second birthday last year, hosted by my parents at their home.

My wife, mother, sister, and I set up the entire party by ourselves, streamers, balloons, baking the cake, picking up the catering, while my dad did not lift a finger. Instead, he opted to chat us up while we were actually working. At one point, I was on the ladder trying to hang a banner, and he asked me why I wasn't fully engaged in our conversation about whether the Suns were for real this season. I guess we know the answer now.

To make matters worse, he bitched to my mom that we were all taking the party too seriously and needed to relax. This was especially frustrating because the setup actually went really well, minus his antics. It was a basic balloons, banners, streamers type deal. Nothing too strenuous. The final straw for me was when, at the actual party,

he insisted on giving a speech about my daughter. Wait, she's two? Who's giving speeches about two-year-olds? All right, whatever. I wanted to put my foot down and let my mom do it. Instead, she talked me out of it in order to keep the peace. The next day, we were supposed to help my mom move some things out of storage. Yet again, my dad did not help whatsoever, leaving it all to my wife, mom, sister, and I.

He asked my mom when we would be done and was generally irritable. This pattern of behavior has been continuing for the past five or so years, but was generally tolerable, albeit annoying until recently. Now we're at a tipping point. Prior to that, he was more pleasant and generally helpful. One possible change during this time is going to be playing the shift in the attitude as he started a small business and now employs seven people. I do not think that is a good enough excuse to not help your wife out around the house. My mom works full-time too and to be cranky all the time. But if there is an angle I'm not considering here, please let me know. My wife, my mom are also sick of his shit

and asked me to do something about it. Further context, he's not that old at 56. I know I need to say something, but do not know which approach to take. My dad and I do have a good communication apparatus for real shit. We only talk about, oh dad and I do have a good communication apparatus for real shit. We only talk about, uh, oh, they do not have a good communication apparatus for real shit. We only talk about sports and work. I know I was like that with my dad for a really long time. And then he finally called me out on it. He's like, you know, we don't really talk about anything. I was like, well, I don't really like talking about anything going on with me with anybody. So I don't know. And he was like, okay, but we just literally talk about the Red Sox. I was like, yeah, but we do it a lot. And it was a good little wake-up call as a reminder. Hey, you know what?

This is somebody who gave a life to you. Open up a bit. I'm not saying you have to do it here because it'd be nice if your father sounds like you want to do those things and your father's reciprocating. So basically, the guy's like, what do we need to do here? Well, it sounds like none of you actually call him out on the bullshit.

So even though it's his fault this is happening, it's going to be your fault if it it's his fault, this is happening. Uh, it's going to be your fault if it keeps happening without ever challenging him about it. Now, look, I think it's not a, it's not a male thing,

although maybe it leans that way. Man of the house provided for everybody. Um, but 56, this isn't like he's 75. I can totally see people male or female at 75 just going, Hey, fuck it.

Uh, I see it all the time. People cut in line you know get out of my way uh you know i i just i see it i see it at the gym i've always joked that i think there's some meeting that you you go to like once you turn 68 and if you belong to a public gym they're like hey hey congrats welcome to the club brother never respect anyone else's fucking machine don't do anything it's just it's our time now so i do notice things in society but you're like you said your dad isn't that old so there's an

age where i'm kind of like hey man sounds like you're just gonna have to deal with this because i think there are certain people when they get to a certain age you're like fuck everybody all right so um you haven't called them out on it right you haven't called them out on any of this stuff and that's probably where it starts and it doesn't need to be like an intervention on it, but I just can't fathom like not wanting to help out everybody else. And the latter conversation thing also makes me think like, has he always been like this? And it's almost a little flighty, you know, where sometimes people do stuff because they're oblivious, not because their intent is to be doing the wrong thing.

They can just be oblivious and not process. Like every now and then I'll notice something where I'm like, holy shit. Like when I'd be younger, I didn't like help clean up at a friend's house. Right. You know, it was always,

I think this is probably normal for a lot of guys in their twenties or whatever girls are having a party at their house. All the guys go over and then you're like, holy shit. And then one guy like starts cleaning up in his twenties and the rest guys go over and then you're like, holy shit. And then one guy like starts cleaning up in his 20s and the rest of you are looking at him being like, what's wrong with him? And you're like, oh, that's why he's actually going to get married sooner than the rest of us because he figured some of this stuff out.

So there can be times it sounds like with the latter part of this that he's completely oblivious. And the very easy answer is just call him out. Call him out on this shit and be relentless about it all the time. I guess you could also do something where you set up something specific that's also kind of like this party, although I guess we're going to have to wait a year on her birthday, but set up something specific where you ask everybody to handle chores, where it's a little bit more direct. You're like, hey, can you do this? Yes or no? Can you go pick up this stuff and can you set up this area of the

house? And if he says no, maybe that shakes something in him. And then also gives you a better entree into really battling instead of like having it come from nowhere. Sometimes the best tactic is to set it up so that it's like, all right, I want this person to fuck this up so I can call them out on it in the moment. And so that might be what you have to do here instead of just doing some sort of intervention thing here. He could just be at a stage a lot younger in his life where he thinks he's provided for the family. He has all these other stresses. He's being incredibly selfish about that. People can be really selfish and maybe that's what's going on here. But if you never call him on any of this stuff, if he's watching you hang banners

off of a ladder and then being annoyed that you're not paying more attention to his Phoenix Suns thing, he's either a dick, he's oblivious, and it also would be kind of your fault for not even pointing this out to him. So, Kyle. On this non-serious thing, I've been really into Wife Swap, and I think this guy would be perfect. But unfortunately, it's no longer around. But I've been running through all seven seasons, so I think this guy would have been perfect for W's it's no longer around but i've been i've been running through all seven seasons so i think this guy would have been perfect for wife swap probably would have came back with a great perspective maybe would have cried at the at the table there where they meet each other but um that's neither here nor there you still watching wife swap still i'm just watching wife swap i think it was on abc family when i was a

kid and i was i didn't totally get it now i'm like into it it's all on Hulu all seven seasons um if you guys wanted to go go check that out it's great um I I just think that would I think this guy is like the prime candidate for it um although they would always try to like be like all right these people are fiercely atheists and this guy's a pastor it's like all right did we have to go like complete opposites? But whatever, it doesn't matter. I think it sounds like this stuff hasn't been explicitly told to him. It sounds like, yeah, if you just were like, Dad, what the hell's wrong with you? Like he wouldn't really get what you're saying. So, yeah, I think a definitely try to do like a job thing is like, all right, there's five of us.

Can one of you guys do this and give him like a kind of an easy one? Maybe if he's a lazy dad, you know, kind of an easy one. Maybe if he's a lazy dad, then, uh, then yeah, give him an easy one, but also with parties and stuff. I wonder, you know, I wonder if this isn't his first party. And sometimes when you are helping, but you're not helping the way that the person who's running the party set up goes like it could, you, you couldn't end up getting like accosted. Like my mom throws great parties. She throws a bit, like at least one to two parties every summer, every one, every summer. I'm excited to come back for the one this year, but it can be a little stressful the day before it can be a very stressful the day of people are

hiding them from her. She's screaming at people, you know, you're helping, you're doing it wrong. So you wonder if it's like, I wonder if he's just thrown one or two parties before and was like, yeah, you know what? If I'm out of the way, at least I can't be doing's like, I wonder if he's just thrown one or two parties before and was like, yeah, you know what? If I'm out of the way, at least I can't be doing something wrong. I wonder if you're, if that's not the case, that's all right. I've just seen it and I love the party, but I'm always, I'm always a little nervous the day of and the day before, because we're just all going to be getting yelled at. If that's not the type of party planners you have over there.

Great. But I'm just saying, maybe you gotta, maybe you gotta wonder that. You did say something though. I can't imagine a 56, like this is the first party the guy's ever been involved with like house parties in a way that's like yeah what are we doing we streamers yeah he might just know the deal by now yeah no he should unless you know look i have noticed though there are men of the household it's usually men more than women that are kind of like yeah you know you know what? I can pay in the mortgage. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Sorry. My mom would have a thing where it's like, we're doing something. It's like the middle of the day. We're doing stuff. She's like,

just walking around with a beer. It's like, yeah, I mean, we're having a little bit of fun doing the party and she's just like getting red in the face. And it's like things that shouldn't be upset, but she's so stressed about other stuff. Maybe it's just a tough time and he's like separated himself. Or he could just be a lazy guy when it comes to doing extra stuff. Yeah, but if he was a lazy guy, he started a small business. You know, I don't...

We don't hang out with him. We're just a podcast. All right, that's life advice. rr at gmail.com. I hope you enjoyed that one. Obviously, I'm always fired up when we can get Barkley. Enjoy the rest of the conference finals games.

Bill and I will be back again Sunday, as always. Please subscribe and review. Ryan Rosillo Podcast, bring your Spotify. Thanks to Kyle. And no Steve this week. Outro Music