Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara - Charles Barkley on LeBron & Bronny, JuJu vs Caitlin Clark, KAT Trade Verdict & Angering the Celtics

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

In the latest edition of Throwbacks, Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara are joined by the one-and-only Hall of Famer Charles Barkley! Sir Charles gives his official verdict on the Karl-Anthony Towns trade and explains why the Celtics may be even more motivated to win this season than they were last season. Barkley also reveals the fascinating backstory to his legendary “I am not a role model” ad campaign, breaks down why LeBron’s career is the greatest story in sports and tells us which athlete is still way more popular than him on Auburn’s campus.  Plus, Matt’s got a big problem with Jerry – a diehard Yankees fan – supporting the Mets in their series vs the Phillies; Jerry takes us through his rationale. The guys also dive into the Jets decision to move on from Robert Saleh and Jerry tells us which award-winning actor was supposed to appear on Entourage but was ultimately fired.  Finally, in this week’s “Throwback 3,” Matt and Jerry reveal their top 3 most iconic sports venues. Which ones made the cut and which ones missed out? We’d love to hear your thoughts as well!  New episodes of Throwbacks drop every Thursday. Make sure you’re subscribed on YouTube and following on all podcast platforms. Also, make sure you’re locked in on social @ThrowbacksShow on all platforms for highlight moments, bonus content, and to engage with the guys & the Throwbacks community. (https://link.chtbl.com/throwbacks)   A big thank you to our sponsors:   DraftKings  Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using https://dkng.co/throwbacks or through my promo code THROWBACKS  GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, [phone] or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY).  Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT) or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD).  [1.5%] 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min. $5 bet. Max. $200 issued as non-withdrawable Bonus Bets that expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 10/31/24 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK.  Wendy’s  Try Wendy's New Saucy Nuggs Today https://wendys.com/nuggs  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get a credit card annual fee waiver and earn soon plus points faster with the Scotiabank Ultimate Package and bank more entertainment. Learn more at scotiabank.com slash banking packages. Conditions apply. Scotiabank. You're richer than you think. You know, Matt, you can text me other than to be on the podcast every now and then. Oh, I like that. Tell him, Charles. Tell him. All right, here we go. Another episode of Throwbacks. Jerry Ferrara, Matt Leiner, as always. However you're listening today, we appreciate it.

Subscribe to us on YouTube. Follow on Apple and Spotify. Also, all our socials are at Throwbacks Show. And again, we actually respond to you. Yes, we do. As a podcast and as a people, we respond to you. Some of you were responding to me a little too much recently. But we love that. We love it.

We love it. How's it going, Matt, before we dig in today? How you doing? It's been a week, dude. I'm good though, man. You can see my hair. I need a haircut this week, man. A little disheveled this week. Got the beard growing, but I'm still recovering from last week's college football slate, which is wild. Five of the top 11 teams lost, including my Trojans. We don't need to beat a dead horse talking about USC. I've talked about USC football all week, but it was wild, man. That's why college football

is the best and another great slate of games, big games coming up this weekend too. So how about you, man? You are, again, I feel like one of us is in the news or in the social sphere of just like whether it's my jersey take or whether it's you rooting for like rivals and stuff.

Can you just explain yourself, please? Okay, for clarity, yes. We'll talk about this before we get into other amazing things we have for you with the show today. This show has maybe been my favorite so far. But, you know, as we know, baseball playoffs are in full swing. This goes back to when the Mets were in that play-in situation with the Brewers and Alonzo hits the home run.

I made a video saying, look, this is actually more related to the Knicks. My hatred of Philly fans, mainly Sixers fans, is so deep that I would actually love nothing more than to see the New York Mets, which I am not a fan of. I'm a Yankee fan. I would love nothing more than to see the New York Mets, which I am not a fan of, I'm a Yankee fan. I would love nothing more than to see the Mets bounce the Phillies out of the playoffs, if for nothing else, it pisses off every Philly fan.

That take, and that's why I know I can never be in the take business, because instantly Mets fans told me to go fuck myself. Phillies fans told me to go fuck myself. Yankees fans, my own mother, called me up, Matt, and said, Jerry Charles, how could you root for the Mets? She was disgusted with you.

Exactly. It doesn't matter who your rival is playing. I understand your point, because you hate Philly so much. I hate them. But at the expense of seeing your rival, where you grew up, another team that you hate win?

So, all right, let's unpack that for one second. And it coming up, listen, we're going to dive all into Coach Sala getting fired, and we're going to talk about our guest in one second because it's related to Philly. The take is simply this. I am not threatened by the Mets or their fans, meaning I grew up a Yankee fan in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is one of the weird places. You grew up in the Bronx, Yankees.

You grew up in Queens, Mets. Brooklyn is maybe even 60, 40 Mets when I grew up. So yes, there was some hostility growing up, and the Mets in the 80s and early 90s were better than the Yankees till about 94. Since then, I mean, we beat them in a Subway series. It's really not, there's nothing left to prove about who's the, I don't have hatred. It's not F the Mets, but I'll tell you what, that Knicks Philly series, it became F the Sixer fans for me real quick. So yeah, I'm living on

that take because I don't want the Mets to win the World Series. I don't want them to beat the Dodgers or if the Padres, whoever they play, I don't want that to happen. So I just want the Mets to beat the Phillies. That's it. I would never root for the Clippers to beat anybody in the NBA. Never. And talk about non-threatening. Why are you threatened by the Clippers, man? I'm just saying you grow up in a town where fans, fans aren't even split here. This is a 95% Lakers town. We all know.

But when the Clippers got good a decade ago, when they had all those Glob City and everyone was like, oh, they're the best team. They still choked. They still never. And when they were in the playoffs, I hated them. And I didn't care if they played whoever. I just would never root for that. I would never root

for the San Francisco Giants to win a World Series. Okay, so if it were Clippers, this is something that's not going to happen. If it were Clippers-Celtics, arguably the biggest Laker rival, because I guess you could say the Warriors, but I don't

know, like in the West only, but Lakers-Celtics, they used to make video games based on the rivalry. If it were Clippers-Celtics, who are you rooting for? Jerry, if it was the Clippers-Sixers, knowing your hatred for the Sixers, I would still root for the Sixers, dude.

And that is not a shot at you. I would hope Philly won a NBA championship. Your take is hotter than mine. I hate the Sixers. Therefore, I'm rooting for the Phillies. You just are all out on the Clippers. I can't believe you're threatened by the LA. By the way, I'm not threatened by the Clippers.

Trust me. If the Giants, okay, Giants, Angels. San Francisco Giants, Anaheim Angels. Do you even care? You said the Angels. I know that never happened either, but I'm just saying, I'm trying to find a comp here. There's no comp.

I just wouldn't do it. I root for my teams and that's it. I will just say to all three franchises that cursed me out, and Giants Angels did happen. Giants Angels did happen. I was at Troy Percival, close the game.

I was at one of those. Did you care? Did you care? I cared at that time because I grew up right there, so it was like the team, but I was, I've never rooted for the angels outside of that when I was 17. Well, here's what I'm going to wrap it up with to all three fan bases and my mom. Okay. Shout out to mom. Shout out to mom. But

mom, I love you. I don't, I don't care what you say. You're not talking. You're not going to publicly pressure me into backing off this take. I want't care what you say. You're not gonna publicly pressure me into backing off this take. I want the Mets to beat the Phillies. End of story. And then whatever happens to the Mets after that, I don't care. And Yankee fans, I am worried about the Royals.

This is not a, I'm overlooking the Royals as well. I'm terrified of the Royals. So calm down. I did not expect that to go that way. But speaking of Philly fans, Matt, we have someone joining us on the show today who knows exactly what it's like to play in front of the Philly fans

and might even be a Philadelphia Phillies fan himself. We sat down yesterday, and I got to thank you and Andrew Gundling, our producer for this. We sat down yesterday with a man who has great nicknames. Sir Charles, the round mound, the rebounds. Charles Barkley

joined us yesterday. We're going to play that interview in a little while. But he was awesome. Awesome. And yeah, shout out to Andrew. We had mentioned we had Don Trell on last week talking baseball and great stories. And he's like, what about Charles? And I'm like, man, I used to hang with Charles back in Arizona.

I'll shoot him a text. And it was and he responded. He's like, yeah, let's go. And he, like, what about Charles? And I'm like, man, I used to hang with Charles back in Arizona. I'll shoot him a text. And he responded. He's like, yeah, let's go. And he, I mean, dude, what a guy, man. Shout out to Charles. We love Charles. It's epic. It's going to be epic.

You're going to love it. Yeah. We actually didn't get to ask him this because I had this on the list of things to ask him. But we went so far off the menu that I just left it that way. And I know you did too. but obviously everyone's talking about, and we have to talk about it, uh, solid getting fired.

And I know Rogers yesterday was on McAfee and saying, you know, he's, you know, basically pissed. I'm paraphrasing, but anyone who thinks he had something to do with it, that you're wrong,

which I believe. So I thought the timing of this was really interesting. Obviously, anytime it happens in season, and I asked you on text, but you've never played with a coach getting fired mid-season, in-season, right? I never have. Denny Green drafted me and got fired after my rookie year. After. And then, I mean, I had a very terrible relationship with Wisenhot in Arizona. That's well documented. Was there ever a coach on the hot seat while you were playing

where like it could happen, maybe? No. Again, this is, I mean, this happens. It's never happened to me, you know? And again, too, just like it's just so polarizing because of bringing in Rodgers last year and then he tears his Achilles. And we talked about it on throwbacks the first episode.

We made the bet if the Jets win the Super Bowl. Literally, this is a Super Bowl contender, and obviously they've struggled. And now they're, what, two and three? Are they two and three? Two and three. And going into Monday night football against one of the top two or three teams in

the NFL with an interim head coach. That's my biggest thing. When I looked at this, you know, and again, not a Jets fan, but again, I, I, I want to, I just want to see, I just want to see it. I wanted to see Rogers with this team and all the weapons. The offense has been underwhelming. People will blame Rogers. Some of the coaching stuff, time management, all that, everyone's always been on Salah

about that, but the timing of it. Because if he, you know, Jets are at home Monday night versus Buffalo. If the Jets, if Salah doesn't get fired and they beat Buffalo, he's not getting, he's got job security for at least another few weeks, if not the rest of the season, maybe. But I

do think think though, because there's always more to this, like this has been brewing, right? And even last year, you lose Aaron Rodgers for the year. So you kind of have a pass. Sala has a pass. Right.

But we don't know. And I've been around enough teams where there's just other stuff that's happening that's not public. And whether you said, whether it's time management, whether it's how to be a head coach or, or, or if it's players stuff in the locker room, I mean, now, obviously now there's more, it's, there's more exposure because we just have more access to everything. Um, you could either look at it too, like this, like this could in a way,

galvanize the team. Um, it could bring them together because we don't know the relationship between Saul and some of the, and old Brooke now is the interim and players have, have been speaking out about him and how much they love him as a defensive guy and all that. Rogers even said this week, obviously different styles, but the respect that he has within that locker room and maybe, maybe it does the opposite.

Maybe it lights a fire in that locker room. Those are the things that I'm sure will come out over the next couple of days, weeks. I like to go dumb fan on you every now and then. But is he going to be able to call the defense? You're getting elevated now to interim head coach. You were calling the defense, which also was like a solid thing as well.

Offense was clearly the problem. I don't know. Does that, do you think that, is he still calling the defense now? Yeah, he'll still call the defense. He'll still do it, right? It's not like an impossible thing. Yeah, I mean, I think you take on, as a head coach, you're taking on now meetings, right, during the week. You're taking on now clock management, time management, game situation stuff.

But, you know, when you have, you know, basically now he's going to go, all right, hack it. You have Rodgers who's, I mean, Rodgers who's been around forever obviously can take a load off that too. So it doesn't, it's not going to change that. Plus Ulbricht probably has his guys now that he'll elevate and be, you know, be the eyes up in the booth or whatever. So that won't be a distraction

or that won't play a bigger role probably as people would think. It's wild though. I mean, yeah, two and three, it's kind of a shit show. I mean, it is a shit show. And if they win, people will forget and they'll move on and they'll be three and three. Tied for first. Yeah.

Actually in first because they'll have the first division win over Buffalo. So they win Monday night there. They're in first place, but they're but they're I mean, there's a lot bigger problems to the offense has been terrible and Aaron you know, Aaron Aaron probably be the first to tell you he needs to play better didn't play great last week, but but the line there's

just more to this like there's there's a lot of issues right now on that team getting Garrett Wilson going getting this offense going, running the football, all those things. So we'll see, man. We'll be watching Monday night. You know, we usually do who needs it right before our Wendy's segment. So, I mean, who needs it?

Did we just do it? Did we just do the segment? Did we just do who needs it? Jets, right? They need it. They need it for a lot of reasons. Well, honorable mention, I agree. It who? Jets, right? They need it. They need it for a lot of reasons. Well, honorable mention, I agree. It is the Jets.

Honorable mention is Niners 2-3 on the road against Seattle 3-2. Now, the Niners riddled with injuries. They certainly need it because you would think they will get healthy at some point. And you just don't want to fall too, maybe not, but you don't want to fall two and four, and then the Seahawks in first at four and two. Cardinals had a nice win last week. Cardinals are coming. Yeah.

By the way, the Rams are going to get healthy with the receiver at some point, too. Yeah. I mean, they got to get those receivers back. All right. Well, we're going to now do my favorite part of the show, the can't get enough sauce moment of the week brought to you by wendays i went off with mine last week with goff i think

i still i think i still uh i'm correct with that one i have a good one for this week do you want to lead off you want me to go you go i got i got i gotta say my boy my boy was all over the place this weekend so you're gonna love it but you go well, for me, and I have not talked much WNBA this season so far, but I've obviously been watching the playoffs a lot. I did not realize, I mean, I knew it, but I did not realize the Liberty were 0-5 in the finals and are yet to win it. I knew they were yet to win a championship.

I didn't realize it was 0-5, but they're kicking off tonight in the finals, and Sabrina Ionescu, I mean, she's... They got some stars on that team, man. She's averaging 20 points a game. She's shooting 46.5% from three. That's saucy right there. 95% basically from the free throw line.

And they're going tonight versus Minnesota. For me, it's so clearly Sabrina. That is my can't get enough sauce moment of the week. And I'm really hoping that the Liberty hang a banner so we could also get rid of some of this New York basketball deficiency that we've had, so to speak, for a long time. Hang a banner, Sabrina. Go hang a banner.

Did you happen to watch Vanderbilt beat Alabama this weekend? Oh, I did. I did. That was saucy. What was saucy was their QB, Diego Pavia. Yes. Okay, this dude. So his story is wild, how he got to this point.

I won't get it, but just bounce around. Gets to Vanderbilt. And I try to compare it to like, it's probably like a 16 seed beating a one seed in the March Madness, right? We saw that. We've seen that a couple times. I think we saw Purdue a couple years back lose to a 16 seed beating a one seed in March Madness. We've seen that a couple times. I think we saw Purdue a couple years back lose to a 16 seed. Like Vanderbilt in the SEC against Alabama,

it's like David versus Goliath. It should never happen, and it happened. And our boy balled, and after the game, he starts talking. I'm not going to use the F word, but Nashville is going to get effing turned up tonight on live TV. Just didn't even, didn't even care. And then goes on X and starts putting out his agent's cell phone number.

Give me some NIL deal. Hey, Wendy's let's shout out to Wendy's. That's honey barbecue. Wendy's that's garlic parm. That's Honey Barbecue, Wendy's. That's Garlic Parm. So that is every sauce in the book. Shout out to Diego for just one balling and then seizing the moment, man.

And to me, that's what NIL is about. That's what makes it cool, right? The platform to do that. The biggest upset we've seen in college football. And gosh, I don't even know how long, man. He went full NIL. He was NIL- He went full, he was NIL-ing. Dude, he was NIL-ing. No shame.

And by the way, shouldn't. I mean, just, dude, take your moment and take your moment. Spicy honey barbecue. It's a little bit spicy, it's a little bit sweet, and it's barbecue at the end of the day. He was dipping the saucy nugs in everything at the same time. He did not care. Thank you to Wendy's.

That is our can't get enough sauce moment of the week. Real quick before we take a break and bring on Sir Charles, I did in thinking about the Salah stuff, have I ever been a part of with an acting,

a firing, and I've been a part of several. And it's a little bit different because you don't want to film stuff and then have to fire an actor, say, because then you got to reshoot that stuff.

Right. But we did do that on Entourage, unfortunately. And the story has been told before, so I'm not breaking news. Doug Ellen told it, I believe, on his pod. But you know Richard Dreyfuss, the great Richard Dreyfuss, legend, Jaws, Holland's Opus, Marathon, just legend. He was cast to play the Murray manager role that the E character goes to work for. It's the same episode we were filming Tom Brady.

It's the same golf episode. So we filmed the stuff with Brady, goes well. Now we have to film with Richard Dreyfuss. This is like, we're all fired up and didn't really know his lines, wasn't really down to, didn't want to come out of the trailer right away and that he was replaced the next day shot like a half a scene with him who replaced shut george siegel who did a fantastic job also another legend in his own right uh but

i've seen actors at table readings get fired all the time we have table readings on tv where you get the script. I know you were an all American. I don't know if you were at the table read, but you met, yeah, that's right. My sister-in-law,

Matt, you're Matt's an all American. She loves that show, by the way. It's a great show. But yeah, you show up to a table read and it's known, Hey,

we're just reading. We're not really acting here. So you can't really judge it. The writers just want to hear the words, but especially with network TV, if you have three jokes in an episode and you deliver them at the table read and they don't get a laugh, you could either A, lose the joke. So that kind of sucks for you. You have one less joke or B, you get fired after a table read. It used to happen all the time. Actors would get cast on guest stars and co-star roles, show up to the table reading,

didn't work out, replaced. So, okay, so real quick, the only table read I've ever been to was The Simpsons, and it was awesome. What a great table read I was in an episode of The Simpsons. It was really cool. Next week, we're going to go down your IMDB list.

We're just going to do it next week. You referenced a few projects already. We're still getting residual checks. checks okay but let me ask you this and you kind of answered it but i um mid tv and movies are a little different probably but like mid tv or mid movie you've never seen anyone get fired like you're two weeks into a shoot and obviously you'd have to reshoot everything or do you like you shoot them out of it maybe they die in the show whatever like have you ever seen that not like a guest appearance because obviously Dreyfus had that role but before even he was fired before you're right tv and movies way different tv much more functions like sports

right uh because it's such a longer season you're're doing a season, so that in itself makes it feel like a sports team. I've never seen someone fired while too much was... So the Dreyfus stuff was probably the most I've seen where we actually filmed the scene. Now we got to reshoot it. I'll tell you what was weird. I've seen directors fired, which is similar to like a coach

because the director is almost like the coach with TV. And then the next day, you're like, all right, we got this new director. Let's hope this works out. I've seen directors quit. I saw a director go to lunch and not come back. Went to lunch, never came back. I would love to be a fly on the wall of, I would love to be a fly on the wall of the Entourage set. But just in general, man, we got to do a whole episode on just day in the life of Jerry Farrar on a set of a movie or whatever. Well, I tell you what, most of my goals with every acting project I've ever had

was to not be fired. So sorry to Robert Silas. Seems like a really good dude. I'm sure he'll be at DC somewhere. He's a great dude, man. Very, very soon. And you know who else would have been a great cameo in Entourage? Our guest coming up, Charles Barkley, who we sat down with yesterday.

Let's just roll it. Let's just go to Sir Charles. This is an ad for BetterHelp. Welcome to the world. Please, read your personal owner's manual thoroughly. In it, you'll find simple instructions for how to interact with your fellow human beings and how to find happiness and peace of mind. Thank you, and have a nice life. Unfortunately, life doesn't come with an owner's manual.

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Watch Triple Option on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. Of course, this man needs no introduction. Charles Barkley joining us. But, Charles, when I was looking at some of the stuff with you, you got five sports Emmys. Five?

Is that true? Do you keep them? Do you have them out i don't have them out i have them in atlanta ah okay uh but i uh what's really crazy number one they pay us to talk about sports now they're giving us trophies this has got to be one of the most uh scam job in the history sports announced that i tell people this is the greatest we should go to the bank with like a mask on that's just we're gonna watch sports anyway but to get paid to do it is like highway robbery now they're giving us trophies

that's how crazy it is man um what's really crazy here i'll tell you the true story so i have gotten nominated for emily emmy every year which is thanks thanks for the people but i went to the ceremony like the first 12 years that i lost. And you have to sit there with that shit eating grin on your face. Like, yeah, I'm just glad I got dominated. I just want to thank you. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. And out of your breath, you're like, fuck, I lost again. And then I told TNT, I'm not going ever again.

Cause you know, I'm competitive. I'm like, you have to sit there with that stupid look on your face and then I win like that's just y'all send one of these flockers

around here to go then I win like the next five Jerry I couldn't believe it Charles we at Entourage went 0 for 6 so with Emmys we nominated six years in a row, lost six years. But like you, you go there, you start saying, I don't really care if I win or lose.

It's happy, good to be here. But once you get there and people start making speeches and their tucks, it's like the competitiveness kicks in and you want to win. Yeah, we lost to The Office every single year for six straight years. Well, like, I think you're 100% correct. I didn't really give a shit the first one, two, three, four, five. After, like, six or seven, you're like— because the main reason you want to win, you want to get to thank everybody.

These guys out here thanking everybody who's on the show and blah, blah, blah. Because I know the people on our show, they work harder than me and Ernie. Ernie works hard. Me, Kenny, and Shaq, we work at least. And so I just want the opportunity to thank all the people who were there and for being there all the time. But I've never actually been there when I want.

I'm not going to lie. We're on big new kickoff. This is actually hilarious. We had our first Emmy nomination, I think, last year. And, of course, we get the list of names, and it's us, and it's College Game Day, and it's the TNT crew with you guys. And we're like, shit, man, we got no chance of winning this thing. And we didn't.

But they were telling us we had one of our producers would go. I think it might be in New York or wherever. But they go to that sports awards, and they're just sitting in the crowd like, we got no shot for college football. But we're 0 for 1. But we were just happy to get nominated. And we knew we'd lose to you guys. I think if you have a shoe like you guys, you just happen to be nominated.

Think about Ernie Johnson. He lost before Bob Costas retired, he lost to Bob Costas like 23 straight years. And I'm friends with Bob. I said, Ernie, let me put a head out on Bob. Get rid of him. Take a year off, Bob.

But Ernie's won a couple of sets there, so man, we're really proud of him. But he's the guy, he's the glue to hold our show together. How did you get into TV? You know, you were obviously part of, you know, crazy interviews while you were playing and all that. Was that something that you always wanted to do

or it just kind of fell in your lap? You know, Matt, it's really difficult when you play sports, trying to figure out the next aspect of your life because it's not a lot. First of all, you're not going to get a real job. That shit's out the next aspect of your life because it's not a lot first of all you're not gonna get a real job that's that shit's right the window okay i mean uh jared probably unique he's probably the only one to one of us three who've actually went had a had to work like a nine to five job in their life at some point several fired from several fired from several. Fired from several. Hey, so, Matt, me and you, we've never had a real job in our life. So, okay, I'm not going to go get a nine to five.

Coach is, like, way too hard on work. And then it's like, we got lucky and got one of these TV gigs. So my mentor is a guy named Dick Ebersole. Of course. And so my last couple of years, he said, what do you think about TV? I said,

well, you know, I don't know. Cause it wasn't as popular as it is now. Let's get that out of the way. I said, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do. Blah,

blah, blah. He said, I think you, you should think about television. He says, you, you,

you, he said, now I will admit this. You're going to be in trouble all the time. I said, I said, what does that mean? He says, now, I will admit this, you're going to be in trouble all the time. I said, what does that mean? He says, you know, people tell you they really want to hear the truth. They don't want to hear the truth. Fans want two things.

Tell me my team is going to be good and tell me my favorite player is going to be great. That's all fans really want. And a lot of times you have to be honest with them. Like, first of all, all these guys can play. I would never downgrade them. They're not superstars, but they're all good players here in the NBA. But you know when their team suck. And they

want you to say, tell me my team is competing for a championship. Let me tell you something. If your team make it to the playoffs, you have to throw a damn party. I mean, no, y'all are not going to win the championship. If y'all get to the playoffs just like a win, and he says, fans always say they want the truth, like most people, you know, but yeah, they don't want the truth.

So Dick Ebersole hired, he talked me into it, and I've been so lucky and blessed. I made one of the greatest decisions in my life to go to Turner to work with the great Ernie Johnson and Kenny and then Shaq came along. I love the people I work with and work for. And I'm not just saying that, you know, man,

we have a, we've been nominated every year because of the people. And Matt, you know this and Jerry, you know, there's from television. I always say, we go on at 7 o'clock at night, and I always talk to the crew.

They're like, yeah, we've been here since noon. I'm like, what the fuck did y'all do since noon? And they're there every day at noon, and I'm like, this is crazy. We don't go on at 7 o'clock at night. Ernie shows up around lunchtime because he does all the show stuff. Me, Kenny, and Ernie, me, Kenny, and Shaq show up around 6 just in time to put on a suit and get into makeup. And I'm always amazed at the crew.

Like, what the hell have y'all been doing here all day? And, Matt, you know when you're on the road, y'all got, man, going on the crew. Like, what the hell have y'all been doing here all day? And, Matt, you know, when you're on the road, y'all got, man, going on the road, you got a gazillion people, especially trying to do it live in front of an audience. Because I know how hectic, because we only travel during the conference finals, and there's a lot of stuff that goes into it, being outside, dealing with the weather. So, man, there's a lot of stuff that goes into it being being outside dealing with

the weather so man it's a lot of you can hear the same thing with you when you uh i shot some commercials and things like that i can't imagine what it's like being on a real show when you're taping all those hours man that's got to be crazy for the crew well that we talked about this last week like one of the biggest offenses with acting is showing up and not knowing your lines because there's hundreds of people standing around who've been there way longer than you who want to go home so at least come ready to to go that's why you say you come in you put the suit on but you're always ready to go because and you know you're talking about what fans want to hear you have to know, do you ever say stuff where you're like, all right, everyone in Milwaukee is going to be mad at me now

because I said that about the... Do you know when you say something that's going to elicit some emotions from a fan or you don't even, you're just keeping it real? Well, it depends on two things. Number one, I like to make fun of certain cities. Yes, we know. Yeah, but, you know, first of all, if they don't have a sense of humor, they shouldn't be watching our show or sports.

True. I said, come on, man. Come on. You know, everybody, some people are always offended about something. You should be able to take a jump, first and foremost. I try not to ever get personal. I never talk about guys' personal relationship. That's their own business.

I would never discuss another person's personal business. But I like to make fun. Like San Antonio, they call it the river walk. That's not a damn river. That's a creek. If anybody, I don't know. Man, I think you're from the West Coast here. You're from the East Coast.

But down south, we call them creek. Just a little body of water. It's not a river. It's not a lake. They call that thing the river walk. I says, hey, that's not a river. I've seen a river before. That's a dirty creek is what it is.

I love it. You know, I don't want to we were talking off the air a little bit you know it's basically time to go back to work because basketball is a pause

I don't want to send you back to work too soon because I'm enjoying this but I did think of you guys because I'm a diehard Knicks fan when they traded for Cat and I was almost like

man I wish the season would be going on because I would love that moment to happen and then you would have been the first group that I would have wanted to hear talk about it have you given have you even had a chance to sit and think about that for Nick Vans we now want to know please talk Jerry off a

ledge talk me off the ledge because I was very emotional Charles when that train went down well let me say this you know it's so funny I telling you guys, I've been on vacation since like June, the second week of June. Good for you. I play golf every day since the second week of June. Yes. The season starts two weeks in two weeks. And I have these fools saying to me, man,

you got to be excited to go back to work. I'm like, why would I be excited? I play golf every day. I can never get tired of playing golf. I said, no, I want to play golf. No, I said, I'll be ready when it hits. But who wants to go to work when they can play golf and have fun every day? I've enjoyed the hell out of my last three months of just playing.

I've been playing golf. I smoke two cigars per night. Life is good. So, no, I ain't ready to go back to work. But, Jerry, love the trade for the Knicks. There you go. There you go. Hey, don't like it, love it.

Oh, yes, Charles. And let me tell you something. They had to do something because, number one, they were not going to beat the Knicks. Excuse me. They were not going to beat the Celtics. Excuse me. They were not going to beat the Celtics. And when Paul George went to Philly, they probably were not going to beat the 76ers.

And first of all, they lost to the damn Pacers last year. So they were not better. I picked the Pacers in that series, number one. You did. And I said, I don't think the Knicks can beat. I don't think they can beat the Pacers. So the Pacers are just as good or better. The Knicks lost Hardenstein, who's a huge loss.

Yeah, yeah. And so I tell you, man, I'm really proud of those guys with the Knicks because I hate saying this because I sit there and I'm a Phillies fan and man let me tell you something I was throwing shit in my TV last night when the best was scored because there's a different energy in sports when New York teams do well and like I tell people like when I hang out with you guys I'm doing absolutely jack shit today because there's four baseball games coming yes yeah and the really cool thing about living on the west coast i'm gonna do this i'm gonna get on my bike my treadmill and just watch sports for the whole day and that's all i'm doing that's the cool thing

about even when i do matt when i watch his shorts they come on at 9 o'clock in the morning. Yep. 8 o'clock in the morning. I'm like, this is so awesome. You wake up, it's time to just watch sports all day. I love it. But I'm doing absolutely nothing because my Phillies, man, when that place was going crazy last night for the Mets

and the day you got the Yankees in Kansas City, this is a great time for sports. The weather finally broke. Well, it's not broken on the West Coast yet. It's still hot as hell out here. They said we got another week of 110s. But between college football, pro football, hockey started last night. We know you love hockey.

We know you love hockey. I love hockey, man. I do. I love hockey, man. I do. I love hockey, man. There's something so special. Those guys, they're kind of like football players to me because football players, man, their mindset is to step on a football field, you have to have a certain mindset. You have to be all in.

You can't be a coward. You can't be soft. If you step on a football field, something bad can happen. That's why football is my favorite sport. But there's some about these guys in hockey who they don't have none of the NBA BS. They don't have no prima donnas. They're like, we just want to win the stanley cup and the one thing i could always say about myself man i never worried about how much money i made i don't care about how much money these guys make today bless them bless them bless them but the number one thing has always got to be the sport you can make as much money as you want, but the number one thing,

I can always go back and tell people, man, I was so lucky and blessed to have the best job in the world, but basketball was always the number one thing. I didn't care about all the extracurricular activities, how much money I made. I ain't worried about the nightlife. All that stuff is just a bonus,

but I've always said, hey, man, I love playing basketball, and it was an honor and a privilege chuck uh uh for basketball player there austin rivers i don't know did you see that take when he came out and said like 30 nba guys could play in the nfl you know first of all that was stupid uh first because yeah and i'm gonna, Matt. I'm going to tell you how much of a wuss I was. Please do. I played football one day in my life.

One day. Linebacker? And I remember the last thing the coach said to me. My hands were all beat up. Everything was hurting. I was dirty. I was stinky. And I had my head down. And the coach said, I'll see y'all tomorrow.

I said, what? I said, what? He says, we got practice tomorrow. So I waited because I didn't want to be a wuss in front of the rest of the team. I took my time showering, waited around. Last thing as a coach, this ain't for me. This is not for me. I don't have it in me.

I wasn't even a good basketball player at that time, but I know I did not want to play football. We used to joke later. He says, I put you at the wrong position. Because on the defensive line and the offensive line, I said, Coach, I just ran full speed into a dude for two hours. What kind of talent does that take? That takes zero talent.

I said, I just ran full speed into another big old dude for two hours. He's hurting. I'm hurting. No, I'm not doing this. But he said, I should have put you in tight end or something like that. But I said, no. First of all, it was

a great decision by me. But, man, football is no joke. You can't go out there messing around. It's different. Totally different. Especially if you play one of those positions where you really have to hit every plate. I mean, you

cannot hide on the defensive line or the offensive line. Somebody's going to hit you in your man face mask every single play like the other positions you can get away with stuff like if you're a wide receiver and you're not involved in the route you know you can hide out 80 probably 75 80 percent of the time but like on the offensive defensive line you're all in every play also also i i tell i talked to mark ingram about this running backs like to be a running back and to play for he played for like 12 years and he's not the biggest dude but i'm like god damn

dude like and he's in great shape but i'm like every every play is a collision as a running back and these dudes are they're your size, Chuck. They're massive human beings. They're like 280 and run four fours. Yeah, what's really crazy is all these running backs are done basically when they're 30, 31. You might get squeezed a couple years out. They won't be productive years, but you probably get squeezed out

a couple years. That tells you how demanding. There's no other job in sports where you're done at 30, except for NFL running back. Because, you know, there's a cumulative effect. I mean, remember, you go back now, you're taking these hits in high school. You're taking these hits in college. And then early in your career, they're just running you in the ground.

I think they got to find a way to make sure these guys get paid better. If you know their career is going to end sooner, you can't run them in the ground and say, hey, we're going to draft another running back next year. I don't think that's fair. I don't have the answer, but they got to find a way to make sure if you're going to run these guys in the ground, they're fairly compensated. Yeah. So you said at this point, though, you played the one day football, you weren't good at basketball yet. So

at what point for you, when you're in high school, you're starting to say, oh, all right, I found my sport. I know I'm good. Like, when did that click for you with basketball? Well, let me tell you something. Unfortunately, it didn't happen right away. Jerry, I grew from 5'10", because at the time I was a 5'10 guy. You know, because people always feel like I was not on any recruiting things or anything like that, because I grew from 5'10 to 6'5 in one year. And it was kind of weird, too, because everybody always, the first question, man, were your bones hurting? I said, dude, I didn't feel a damn thing. I didn't even know I had grown.

I'm not even going to lie. I get back to school, and my coach says, dude, how big are you? I said, like, I didn't. Because it's not like, it ain't one of them things when you get i'm in a small town in alabama it ain't like we got a place to check our height you know i went back to school and i was like six four and a half six five and uh that's the first time that i really got recognized and uh it was a blessing though i mean that growing like that changed

the whole dynamic of my entire life and then then you go to auburn and we were talking yeah this is crazy bo jackson right who who uh won a heisman so i've seen him at the heisman stuff and just maybe the best athlete ever frank thomas who I spent some time with at Fox when he was doing the baseball stuff. What was it like for those guys? The three of you at Auburn in the 80s. Well, first of all, I hate both of those guys. I hate both of them with tremendous conviction. So, Bat, you understand this. Playing football at USC and playing football at Auburn,

and it's probably worse at Auburn because in L.A. you got everything. Where I'm from, you got Alabama and Auburn football. Yep. Even to this day, and I'm not even joking, even to this day, as much success as I've had in my life, when I'm walking around Auburn with Bo Jackson, people are knocking me out the way to get to Bo Jackson. That's why, same thing, him and Frank,

because people don't understand. I don't even know Frank was good at baseball because he played football at Auburn. Yep. And obviously, until I went to see Bo play baseball, I was like, oh, Frank played baseball too. But Bo, man, when you walk around Auburn with Bo, you better get out.

You keep your head on a swivel. Those fans are trying to get to him, and if you happen to be in the way, you're going to get knocked over quickly because football is king. And listen, like you know in USC, football is always going to be king over basketball no matter how much success.

But that girl, that young lady, y'all got a UFC right now, Juju. Incredible. Hey, I tell all them bitter, angry girls in the wmba and they're upset about clay caitlin clark move over more because juju is special number one i would give a shout out to caitlin to what she's did for women basketball the last three years man it's been incredible and i wish those women would embrace it but matt, Matt, that girl Juju, she is the real, real deal. So I went to their game last year.

They played Kansas in the Sweet 16. And I sat with our AD and Lincoln Riley and some of the guys. And it's my first time seeing her live. And I was like, God damn, she is special. And, I mean, Kaitlyn Clark. And we, and I mean, Caitlin Clark and I actually, I want to, I have a question for you about Caitlin Clark because I actually, I met her a couple years ago.

We did a football game in Iowa. She was great. She was balling then, but it was like, wow, this girl is a star and clearly she is. I see Juju and I'm like, she's just different. You know, when you see an athlete, doesn't matter. You're like, like Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State. I don't know if you watched him the first time.

You're just like, that dude should be in the NFL right now. Juju Watkins is like, she's going to be bigger than Kaitlyn Clark. And I don't even know if that's possible for what Kaitlyn Clark has done for women's basketball. Yeah, you know, Matt, that's what's going to be interesting. Taylor is a supernova, and Juju probably is a better player. So those two women are going to be running the WNBA for the next 10, 12, 14, 15, 20 years, basically. And I advise those other women to shine.

I mean, Asia's the best player in the world. This girl, Nafisa Collier, is a flat-out monster. I tell you what, I'm going with the Lynx to beat the Liberty. I do. I think they're going to shock the world. I really do. Because I worry about the Liberty, that they just give all their juice to getting rid of

the ghost of the Aces. And I tell you what, this Minnesota team, man. They're good. They might be a team of destiny. It's going to be fun to watch, because I'm a big WNBA fan. And I just hope those girls, like, you know what?

We got Kael Caitlyn and we got Juju. We got Asia. Paige Becker's coming in from UConn. Oh, my God. I forgot about Paige. Yeah, I watched her workouts. They're insane. If that girl stay healthy, she's in the conversation with Juju

and Caitlyn for the next 20 years. People forget. People forget this. You know, she was considered one of the best high school players ever. She just can't get a break. That's why she keeps getting hurt. Yeah. And she finally was healthy last year.

And I tell you what, that game they had in the tournament, man, she was special also. But so, man, they were special also. But so, man, it's a great time for the WNBA. I hope they milk it for the next because this is a great time. I think USC goes out and plays UConn this year. I think those two are going to battle early in the preseason. That should be somewhere like the Boston Garden or Madison Square Garden or somewhere like that.

You need that in a big city. It should be like a game of the week. Right. You know, UConn and Tennessee used to do it every year. But if Juju and Paige are going to play, it should be at the Boston Garden, or New York City at the Garden.

It should be somewhere special. Not on campus. They should get all the bells and whistles. I was going to ask you, because later in the show, we're doing our throwback three iconic places to play, like sporting venues when you were playing what was your and they have to be like your favorite just the place where you

were going on the road to play whether it was this is going to be some shit or i'm just hyped to play here do you have you don't have to give a top three but which ones because i'm with you it would be insane to watch those games at msg or b Garden would be nuts. So when you went to the Boston Garden, you're like, because you had only seen that dump on television. And you're like, wow, this is amazing and special. And then the same thing, you went to the Garden in New York. You're like, wow, this is special. And you knew it was special.

The Spectrum in Philadelphia was spectacular because you had seen it. Because really, and you count the form in that. But I will say in my time in the NBA, those three or four places, but also when you went to Chicago Stadium, when Michael was at the peak of his superpowers, he turned it into the Boston Garden, Bass Girl Garden, the Spectrum, and the Forum. The thing that was really weird about and amazing about the Forum,

you would sit there like, I remember the first time we played there, you see Denzel, you see so Stallone, you see like another 10 stars, but what's really cool about it, Jack Nicholson was sitting beside, right beside the bench. And he mentioned,

he says, Charles Barkley, you got a bright future, young guy. I said, thank you, sir. I went to call,

I went to call all my friends. I was like, Jack Nicholson knows who I am. And it was like, Jack Nicholson knows who I am. And it was the same way when Denzel came up to me at a game later. Jack just had to be, he sits directly beside the team. But, man, when Denzel Washington came up and said hello to me, I called all my friends. I'm from a town of a couple thousand people in Alabama.

That was the cool thing about the forum. I remember sitting there watching Stallone and Schwarzenegger and all those guys. I'm like, this was at the peak of their powers. And you're like, damn, this is crazy. Rocky sitting over there. You know, this is so crazy. Oh, my God.

That go to Terminator that go diane cannon me and and and then it had magic kareem james worth and all those guys it was crazy that's how the knicks feel when jerry sits courtside now yeah i don't know about all that my first my my first ever sporting event my i grew up in orange, but my dad grew up in Englewood. So we're diehard Dodgers. You mentioned the Phillies earlier. My Dodgers, gosh, we're in trouble. But we grew up Dodger fans, Lakers, Showtime, that era, and the LA Kings.

So my first two ever sporting events were at the Great Western Forum. Nosebleeds, because we couldn't afford anything, but nosebleeds, last row. I think Gretzky was on the team then back in the day. And then the Showtime Lakers, man. And that was my introduction to that era of sports. I think I was five or six when I first went there. Well, I tell you what, man. First of all, that Dodgers-Pardew games last night was bananas.

It was so crazy. When they got off to that 6-0 lead, my man hit that grand slam. I'm like, damn, this is going to be a great game. At the end, there was really no more runs. There was no more scored. It was crazy. But, man, that place, that San Diego, that home thing is really amazing. Have you been to Petco, Charles?

I've never been to Petco. It's incredible. It seems like it. And like I say, when I was watching that Met game last night, pulling for my Phillies, I'm like, man, that's why we need the Knicks to be good. There's some type of energy.

There's some type of energy in New York. I tell people, and I'm not trying to be a hater. Every time you say this, everybody on the West Coast whining and bitches that complain. I'm like, yo, man, there's a different type of energy

on the East Coast. I says, no disrespect to anybody. I live on the West Coast. I say, no disrespect, but New York, Boston, Philly, there is a different energy in those fans.

I tell people, I say, yo, man, when you go to a Celtics game, you go to a Patriots game, you go to anything in New York. Mets, Yankees, Knicks. Or when you're in Philly, when the Sixers are doing great, the Eagles, it's the Eagles' town.

They're going nuts for the Phillies right now. And we're going to win today. We're putting an end to this mess, reign of terror today. We're going to win today. And they're going to come back to Philly tomorrow and it's going to be one of the greatest games. I'll tell you what my goal is.

Would it be great if the Dodgers win tonight and there's a game five i tell you what my goal is would it be great if the dodgers win tonight and there's a game five the phillies win tonight that's a game five man that's not that that's so good crazy it'll be crazy like i don't i'm pulling for my feelings and i don't care who wins dodge and padres because they're both terrific yo man what the hell is going on with Otani? That dude is an alien, man. What the hell? Never seen anything like it.

By the way, he's as big as you. He's 6'5", too. And stealing bases and hitting home runs? Thank God he can't pitch. If he could pitch, it wouldn't be a fair fight. I mean, it would not be fair. I mean, that's how great he is. And so I really want to, I don't want his season to end.

I just want to, I want more drama. That's what I want. I want more. And listen, I can't watch the Yankees play KC. I mean, sports are so amazing. I tell people, I say, people do, why do you love sports so much? I say, man, there's something happening in sports every week, every month.

That's like the other day I was watching UConn. UConn against Temple. And I was in a sports bar, and I root for Jim Morrow Jr. At Temple, because they're in Philly, I was watching. They're at the one yard

line. They get two cracks at it to win the game. And on the last play of the game, the dude fumbles and UConn takes it back 99 yards. And I'm sitting there like,

dude, this can only, this is crazy. They're this far away from And I'm sitting there like, dude, this is crazy. They're this far away from losing the game, and the kid jumps and fumbles, and UConn takes it back 99 yards. I'm like, are you kidding me? This is why sports are amazing. It's the best entertainment in the world.

Having worked in TV my whole career, I'd still rather watch a sporting event over any television show or movie. It's the best theater in the world to me. It is. I watched the Cincinnati Ravens game the other day. And I'm like, whoa. And I'm like, one of the best. Like, this Lamar Jackson dude got away out of the pocket

like three or four times, and he should have been sacked. I'm like, that would drive me crazy if I was a defensive lineman. I had this dude dead to right like five to seven times. He runs out, then he throws one of the most amazing touchdowns. But I do. I love watching these guys, man. It's amazing. You know what I always wanted?

I was always hoping to run into you at one of these golf events again because I always wanted to ask you this. I almost asked you this in Canada. We were talking about the Gretzky golf event years ago that we were at, but I don't think we got to it. But, you know, your famous commercial, I'm Not a Role Model, right, which I'm sure people ask you about, but I always wondered, was that something that, that campaign Nike, did Nike come

to you with all that already done? Like with like the, I am not a role model, all that stuff. Was that campaign like ready to go? Or did you put your imprint on it when they came to you? Because to me, obviously we'll talk about Jordan and the the commercials and of course but as a kid that was the commercial for us that was the one yeah you know so jared i went to nike i said hey i got an idea for a commercial they're like excuse me i said i got this idea i wanted to make a commercial they're like you're fucking nuts and i says no no no i said you got to trust me on this we're going to start a great debate i know athletes are role models but i want to start a better conversation they're like this is a bad idea it took me a while to talk them into it and finally we did it and it took over the country for a while but what i was trying to do

because so when you play sports you do a lot of speaking at different schools and unfortunately we have too many segregated schools in this country and so i would go to and i took like a survey over two or three years before I decided to do the commercial. I'm not going to lie. And I says, man, when I go to white schools, these kids want to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, firemen, policemen. But when I was going to these black schools, they're like, I want to play in the NFL. I want to play in the NBA. I'm like, okay. And I hear this same bullshit,

Jerry, for three years. I says, are black kids a brainwash to think they're going to be athletes and entertainers? I'm like, dude, they can be doctors. I said, well, first of all, they got a better chance of being a doctor and a lawyer and an engineer than they do playing in the NBA. I said, dude, your dad's

5'7". You're not going to play any sport. Stop it. So when I sit down with Nike and told them said, dude, your dad's 5'7". You're not going to play any sport. Stop it. So when I sit down with Nike and told them about, hey, this is what's bothering me. I just want to start a debate. People are going to get mad when I made the commercial. I said, dude, I'm used to people saying bad shit about me.

I play in Philadelphia. I'm good. I'm a big boy. I can handle it. And I give Nike a lot of credit. They came to me later and said, yo, man, you were right and we were wrong. 90% of our letters were positive. And I said, guys, all I was trying to do was talk to black kids through a commercial like,

dude, you're not going to play in the NBA. Think about being an engineer. Think about being a doctor. Think about being an engineer. Think about being a doctor. Think about being a lawyer. And Jerry, to be honest with you, I've never been more proud of anything I've done. Because like I say, I can take the heat. People would actually listen sometime instead of jumping to conclusions. I would just try to start a debate in the black community because a lot, no disrespect, it is what it is. White people don't tell their kids, well, you going to play in the NBA or the NFL. They tell their kids, hey, be doctors, be lawyers, be engineers and things like that. Most of these black parents

got to do a much better job of telling their kids, hey, you're not going to play in the NBA, but you can be a doctor, you can be a lawyer, you can be an engineer, you can be a teacher. And that was the objective of the commercial. I have an older son who's 17 getting recruited in football, and I was around the club basketball scene, and you've seen it, Chuck, like all these parents are nuts, and just the expectation, the pressure. I don't even put that on my kid. I'm just like, hey, if you've seen it, Chuck, like all these parents are nuts and just the expectation, the pressure.

I don't even put that on my kid. I'm just like, hey, if you want to play, go and work and try to put it in and see where it takes you. But I've never once told him like, like you're going to make it this. You just, I think it's a false expectation. Speaking of kids and, you know,

this is a big story is Brawny and LeBron shared the court this week for the first time i don't know if you saw that just i don't know big picture thoughts charles on that and brawny playing for the lakers with with his dad which is crazy to say crazy it's just on the lefty he's a righty and he's a good hooper too man i like it so matt i'm first i'm asking that question first number one yep, you can't force. Nobody can like, oh, you're going to play pro sports. It will shake out in the wires.

Right. What I tell these kids, yo, man, get an education. Get a free education. Play sports to get a free education. And if you're good enough, which is 99.9% or not, you get a free education, get to dictate your life and your future. which is 99.9% or not, 99.9% or not, you get a free education, get to dictate your life and your future. So I tell kids, man, I ain't no hater.

I'm just telling you, are you going to be one of the 450 best basketball players in the world? More than likely not. Let's get that out of the way. So to get to your final question, man one i'm so glad brony's healthy yes of course because man that was such a scary thing for our family like i can't imagine what lebron was going through they said hey your kid had a heart attack man that's got a playing basketball you're like to get that call that's got be terrifying. Right. And, you know, what's really terrifying is trying to figure out

if you're going to let him play again. Sure, that wasn't an easy decision. That's not easy. Hey, Mama, we got to sit down. Because, you know, the kid wants to play. But God forbid if something happened, you would never forgive yourself as a parent so i'm glad he's just healthy and we're all reading for him because we have so much respect for lebron it's not gonna be easy because he has a target on his back because of his last name there's gonna

be a certain amount of petty jealousness of people who are like, you don't deserve to be in the NBA. You're not as good as some of these other players. You only got in because of your dad. So everything LeBron did for the NBA, I've always said this. I don't get into the silliness or the GOAT debate.

Michael Jordan might be the greatest basketball player ever. I actually got Kobe ranked the head of LeBron if you want me to be honest with you. And I love LeBron. I think LeBron's done everything great. I've said this about him before. I think it's probably one of the greatest stories ever in sports, if not the greatest. We've never had a kid, because people forget this, Kobe Bryant struggled in the NBA early. So did Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, everybody. The only player, the only player I ever seen who came out of high school that was ready is LeBron.

The only one. And for him to go, never really get in trouble, never done anything wrong, lived up to the height is one of the greatest sports stories of all time. I've said that many times. For that kid to never get in trouble and be as great as he's been, he's one of the top five basketball players ever, in my opinion. It's one of the greatest stories ever.

And I'm really looking forward to, you know, they got to handle this thing with kid gloves, literally, because they can't just put him out there. Right. Because he's not a finished product yet. But, man, it's a great story. I think we saw the Griffiths play together in baseball, but I can't think of anybody else

where a father and son played a pro sport together. No, not in this way. And yeah, I mean, like you said, LeBron was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in high school. How many high school kids could then,I remember the last person, I think, before that was Felipe Lopez, who was from, you know, Queens and Brooklyn, like where I grew up. And that turned out much differently. So, yeah.

You know, Jared, to have that type—especially in our today, because in my day every every fool didn't have a video camera right yeah we didn't have the internet hey thank god you're telling me yes and i have discussed that off air yeah yeah so but but for him to go these 20 years, never really get in trouble. It would, because everybody has a phone now. They're filming like everything you do publicly, privately, screenshot.

You see guys screw up all the time with screenshots. So I'm, it's amazing what he's accomplished. So I'm excited to see, I'm excited to see some teeth because, Jerry, you're next, man. But he had a great goal this summer. Actually, believe it or not, I actually like the trade for Minnesota also.

Joel Embiid, I said to him about this summer, he needed to consider playing less weight. Yes. And he came in 30 pounds underweight. And I think it's going to help him because they got Paul George. I'm excited for that. Oklahoma City going out. Did your boy…

Hartenstein and Caruso. Caruso. I said Hartenstein earlier, but Caruso going there. Zion Wilson came in in shape. I know. He has a little beard going. I'm in on the Zion season coming up. Man, I'm hoping that kid, you know, because when I got to the NBA,

I was fat and overweight, and Moses made me lose 50 pounds, and the rest is history. I'm hoping he has a vet like that to get on his behind the yard, and I'm really proud of that kid. Yeah. So, man, I don't know what the hell I'm going to have with my Phoenix Suns. They finally went out and got a point guard. Yes.

Oh, the wild card. The Memphis Grizzlies. Mm-hmm. Tell you what, if y'all can stay out of trouble, man, the Memphis Grizzlies got a chance of being really, really good. Delando Magic went out and got KCP. They got a bunch of young guys. The Pacers are going to be solid. really good. Delando Magic went out and got KCP. They got a bunch of young guys. The Pacers are going to be solid.

Man, that's the beauty of basketball. We can make all these trades and talk all the crap we want to until you put ball to the court. And that's the beauty of this thing. I cannot wait to get the season started because I know

Oklahoma City is going to be good. How good is the question? I know your Knicks are going to be good. How good is the question? I know the Sixers are going to be good. How good is the question? You know, and the NBA did something they had never did before. They managed to piss the champs off.

Yeah, I know. I understand this. I was like, damn. They just crapped on Jalen. Like, this dude just won MVP twice in a conference. I was like, yeah, you still ain't going to make the Olympic team. And then Tatum. Then you got Tatum.

Benched. That was wild. We know you just won a championship. We still not going to play your ass. I'm like, how in the world did we piss off the champ? It would never happen in your day, Chuck. That would never happen in your day. And I'm like, whoa, man.

So, Jerry, that's just so beautiful. Because if I'm Tatum and Brown, I'm coming for the NBA. Y'all totally disrespected us this summer. You know, can you imagine? Because Michael Jordan was petty. Like, he talked bad about people who did stuff to him in high school and college. Can you imagine if they left Michael Jordan off the Olympic team

or didn't play him? He'd be going for like 45 a game. He'd be like, no. And I'm expecting Tatum and Brown to send an NBA message, man. I'm really, I can't wait for some of this stuff to happen this year. Yeah, I hated all that, Charles, because it's like, you're right. I don't think we've ever seen a more disrespected championship, or at least the two-star players of the team.

Never. And it seems like it's so hard to repeat because you just want it. Maybe you're believing that you're good. Maybe you don't work as hard. I don't know. I'm not an athlete, but you just want it. Repeating is hard. And now they're coming in with a chip on their shoulder.

How does the team that wins a chip then get a chip on their shoulder? Hey, first of all, not only are they coming in with a chip on their shoulder, How does the team that wins a chip then get a chip on their shoulder? Hey, first of all, not only are they coming in with a chip on their shoulder, they're well rested. Y'all didn't play. Didn't even wear them out. You know what? Let's do this. The Celtics are gonna

be the favorite. Let's play Jalen and Jason. Let's let them play the whole game all summer in the Olympics. Then they'll be tired coming in the training camp. No, let's let them play the whole game all summer in the Olympics. Then they'll be tired coming into training camp. So like, no, let's just piss them off and let them rest. If Tibbs was the coach, Tibbs would have ran them into the ground during the Olympics. Listen, I think you just got 1% excited to go back to work, Charles. I think I just finally found you just got 1% excited to go back.

Hey, I will be excited when that day comes. Of course. Hey, I'm not going to be excited not to play golf for the next two weeks. Well, that's what I was going to say. Go enjoy baseball. I hope you're playing a ton, a ton of golf. And I hope I get to play with you one of these days. Every day since June the 15th, somewhere like that.

I'm good. Well, I'm coming to Arizona next offseason to play with you. No, first of all, I'm in Philly all of a sudden. Nobody comes to Arizona during the summer. No. It's 195 degrees out here. I meant winter. I'll come to Philly in the summer.

We'll play in the winter. We'll come out there in the winter. Definitely. Well, Matt, so I think Arizona's decent, but Arizona State is mediocre, right? And football? And football. They're both pretty good this year. Wait, so wait, you're bringing is mediocre, right? And football? And football. They're both pretty good this year. Wait, you bringing a big group out here or something?

I mean, you tell us. We'll bring whoever you want. Okay, USC is mediocre. They can't play defense. They lost last week. Get them, Charles. Get them. UCLA stinks.

So, where are y'all at this week? Penn State comes to SC this week. That's a dangerous game for Penn State. Yep. Chuck, real quick before we let you go, and this is totally random, but me and Jerry got to bet who's a better three-point shooter. And I don't know if we have time to pull these clips. I'm not an athlete, Charles.

Real quick, I played basketball in my day. Modern day, I played with Jamal Sampson. I remember that name. Ralph Sampson's nephew. I played with all those guys. I like to say I modeled my game after Chris Mullen, your former teammate on the Dream Team. The white guy who just stuck around the thing and shot, even though Chris

was great. We have video footage of me shooting, and apparently Jerry played in all these celebrity all-star games. You coached against me in San Antonio at the Creek Walk. At the Creek Walk, you and Shaq were the coaches in the Ruffles game, and you were coaching against me, and I went off a little bit. We got a bet, and I want you to tell us right now. You don't even have to see. Who do you like? We're going to do

that. We're doing a three-point contest. Matt versus me. We're going to go around the world. NBA three-point line. Oh, here we go. Watch, Chuck. This is Mullen. By the way, in a Patagonia jacket like six years ago. God, that does look like a good stroke. I'm not going to lie. He got nine in four and he put his legs into

it and everything. All right. Now, I don't have like a, I have just like a highlight video. Oh, you didn't see the jumper. I think I was looking at you right there, Charles. Look, the jumper, that's from deep. That's from like 30. I need a three to the dome. Is that a set shot?

Is that a set shot? I don't know what that is. It's not really set. Well, I had a lot of time to find the seams. I had time to find the seams. It's like a free throw. They're leaving me open. They got to get on me.

Look at this. Are y'all going to have any type of timer? No, because we're old. I say no timer, but, and I will say, I think Matt's got to be minus 250. I'm easily plus 250 as the underdog. He reminded me he's a professional athlete. So, if you had to make a bet, I'm plus 250, Matt's

minus 250. We're going around the world, five shots a station, who comes out on top? I'm gonna go with Matt. Okay, fair enough. So, I'm gonna tell you, because I always go with the old Jock. Because,

Thank you, Charles. Because I always say this, once you get over the job you lose something but you have to remember something about who you're competing against yeah they never had it very true charles you are the best go enjoy baseball and golf seriously can't wait to watch you're the man thank you so much and uh yeah you on the show. You're the man. Thank you so much. And yeah, man, just keep being you. You're the best. We love you.

Hey, man, it was my pleasure. Continue to success. Matt, you know, Matt, you can fucking text me other than to be on the podcast every now and then. Oh, I like that. Tell him, Charles. By the way, after the season, I'm going to come see you, man. We're going to golf. Honestly, it would be so awesome. Come on, brother. I would love that. Hey, Jared, thank you come see you, man. We're going to golf. Honestly, it would be so awesome. Come on, brother.

I would love that. Hey, Jared, thank you for having me. You guys have a great day. Okay, it's kind of hard to do the rest of the show now, knowing that we have to follow our own interview with Barkley. I love that he called you out, though. I love that he called you out. I was like, Chuck, I'll text you every week if you want me to.

Text him. You put me in a group chat with him, and he's going to get memes and witty bands. Let's get the Barkley group chat going. By the way, the Barkley group chat's going, and we will golf with Charles in Scottsdale at some point. And also, shout-outs. He's on Instagram.

I don't know if he needs us to plug it, but follow Charles Barkley on Instagram. I hope he posts. He's not going to, but I hope he does. I literally saw his name pop up on my following. I'm like, why is Charles following me? That's so good. Never thought I'd see the day.

All right. So last week we did a poll for Sam Darnold getting a nickname. I'm still all about it. You recommended the Sam Darnold, the Red Hammer. The Red Hammer, dude. In honor of his granddaddy, Dick Hammer. We asked the internet. No one likes it.

63.8% said no. 36.2% said yes. I just think that's people not disliking your nickname. I think that's them just not wanting to give him a nickname. He hasn't earned it yet. Well, he's earned the hammer. I mean, after his grandpa dick. I mean, the red hammer.

Come on. We're going to try to make it work. I'm going to keep it going. Screw it. So also last week we did our throwback three of like nick's name as we mentioned now this week we have a great one we even got a little tidbit from barkley about some of his iconic venues that he played in so we're gonna do our throwback three matt you picked this one right so i picked this i i was you know i think

the cool thing about this is we can every week we want to do whether it's sports or pop culture just anything, anything that kind of creates that debate and stuff. And I was thinking like being an athlete, I had a chance to play in some of the coolest stadiums as you're, as a fan, you've been to great events and great stadiums. It got me thinking of like the all time sports, iconic stadiums places. It could be any sport. It could be, you know, it could be center court Wimbledon. It could be anything you want to either play in as a player

or just to go as a fan. And I'm curious to know what you picked. So should we go backwards three to one? Because I have it in order, in specific order. Okay, yeah, let's go backwards. Let's go. Well, you go in order, in specific order. Okay, yeah, let's go backwards. Let's go. Well, you go three. I'll go three.

Okay. Now, first off, too, I am leaving out Madison Square Garden because I think we could all say that unanimously would be my number one in a lot of people. So leaving that out, we're trying to dig a little deeper. My number three, and I'm going a little off the menu because you could argue, is it a venue? It sure is. Augusta National. Oh, yeah, for sure. Not only do you want to play that course one of these days, but that is the one golf trip I haven't been on yet.

A lot of my friends do. You got to lock your cell phones up and go into Augusta. It's not the easiest ticket to get even. And for me, that's number three. That's on my bucket list to play, which I probably never will. But that's on my bucket list to go witness the masters. That's a great, okay. So my number three, you may have been to this place. Okay. I see. It is not what you would think, but I can

imagine that the history, the stories and the epic games that have happened in this place, Rucker Park. Ooh, Maddie. That's pretty good, right? Yes. That's fantastic. That absolutely counts. It counts, right? Yes, for sure. I'm just thinking of like,

I love hoops, right? And obviously I know you love hoops. I'm thinking like some of the most, like some of the like legendary players have played that in the street ball. And like, we both grew up in a time where it was like Above the Rim was out. And what were the guys that were? Why am I?

Above the Rim. Above the Rim, yeah. Above the Rim, yeah. So like all those guys. And N1 and all that. Yeah, the professor. N1, that's right. N1.

Above the Rim also, Will. Great movie. Tupac, shout outs. By the way, great movie, great gear. I used to wear Above the Rim t-shirts all the time. But I'm shouting out Rucker Park, number three. Well, I love that because it's one of those, and this is what makes it an iconic venue

in an era now where everything is the Wells Fargo Center or the smoothie, everything is branded. Great, it makes financial sense for everyone to do that. The Rucker Park, Rucker. You just say Rucker. Say it. Everyone's pulled up. Kobe's pulled.

Everyone pulls up when they can. That's great. And by the way, something we could do in New York as well, Matt. If we're there in the summer, we can go cruise by Rucker and maybe we could have our three-point shootout there. Doubtful. Doubt. I'm not doing it there.

That would be good. Oh, I'll do it there. All the outdoor stuff. Not me. Not me. All right. What do you got, too? All right.

My number two, only because I did feel like I wanted to put a football place, and this is part of my LA heritage. I went to a Giants game a couple of times when I was a kid. Didn't always love going out to Meadowlands back then, but when I went to the Rose Bowl for the first time, and I don't know if this bothers you, me saying this, but when I went out there and also I lived in Burbank for a while, so I was close to Pasadena, used to play golf at Brookside over there all the time. So we used to sneak into the Rose Bowl after around the golf and just look at it. I went to a few Rose Bowl games there as well, but that place is pretty freaking cool, man. It's the best. It's the Rose Bowl game.

Yes, that particularly. Is the best setting and backdrop, I think. There's some great ones in college football, but that one, because the magnitude of the game and what it's meant to college football history and then also the mountains behind it, the sun setting, like it's a beautiful, beautiful stadium. And yes, I did lose to

Texas, but I did whoop on UCLA in that stadium a bunch. And I wasn't, I wasn't bringing it up for, but you would do agree that I look at you. I it's iconic. So I'm torn. I'm going to, I had one, I'm going to get rid of this one. Um, I'm going to go, not this one. I'm, I'm going to go, not this one. I'm going to go Wrigley Field. Okay. And only because I grew up a baseball fan, my first love, Dodgers. We're actually most likely going to Wrigley Field this year for big noon. We have Northwestern,

who's going through the stadium renovations. It's going to be so cool. Versus Ohio State at Wrigley. So it's my first, I've never seen a baseball game at Wrigley. I've never seen a baseball game at Fenway or the old Yankees. Like I just, we don't, you know, growing up, we just didn't travel like that. So I would love to see a Cubs-Dodgers game at Wrigley in my lifetime.

But I will be there in the month of November for a football game, which is pretty cool. But I just feel like growing up, you know, with the Ivy on the wall and just that, it's just an iconic baseball venue. One of Bree's cousins lives like three blocks from there. So we've gone and seen. And Chicago is such a great, like, it's just a great city.

Like, I don't know. It's an awesome stadium. I do think baseball has some of the more memorable ones that have lasted the longest uh which brings me to my number one and it's no longer around you briefly mentioned it and I feel this way for so many different reasons and if you've been there you'd know the old Yankee stadium if it's not MSG then this this is my number one. I could still close my eyes and smell the beer and the mustard. My mom almost caught a line drive there. I know I mentioned her several times in this episode.

She literally got knocked over by some drunk dude, a whole cup of beer spilled all over me. I could still smell it. And there was just ghosts. The best thing to do if you want to just even see, go watch the Jeter documentary, The Captain, because it runs you through those 90,

and now we can go way back to the 70s, 60s, Yankees too, but those 90s teams, you know, Tino Martinez hitting the home run off of Yung Wei Koo, it's like, oh my God, the ghosts are coming out,

and especially with Aaron Boone notoriously against the Red Sox, and you know, it ended, but that place was special. That's a memory like you're a kid growing up, and that's the ballpark. That chair back there is from the old Yankee Stadium. Oh, yeah, that's awesome.

That chair right there, I won in an auction. That is from the old Yankee Stadium. Yes. All right, my number one. And I don't know if you've ever been to this. I've been. Cameron Indoor, Duke Carolina. Yes this I've been Cameron Indoor Duke Carolina yes I've been to that game it's insane it was have you been I've been it nothing like it nothing

like it it was I love college sports and I love rivalries I love tradition I love there's nothing like it and to to, that week I went, I was hanging with Coach K. I got to know Coach K over the years. He's the best. And that place is tiny. Like I didn't realize how small it was. Yeah.

And which makes it even better. And I was there, center court, two rows up, watching a Duke Carolina game in like 2008 or nine. I don't even remember what it was. Actually Duke, Duke blew them out. It wasn't like, North Carolina wasn't great't even remember what it was. Actually Duke, Duke blew them out. It wasn't like North Carolina. It wasn't great that year, but I was like thinking

like, this is like, this lived up to the hype for me and the expectation of going like, if anyone ever go see a college hoops, like that's a bucket list that I got to check off. Yeah. That's it to me, that places the difference of college sports and pro sports, meaning like the fandom, right? It's just different. It's a little different. Yeah, it's just different. The shit talk, and they're right, I'm telling you, when it's small, I say it's small, it is small. And the student section, I mean, they were, I will never forget, they had like a little chant and a little thing for every single player on the team.

And I was like, this is what it's all about, man. Like that place is epic. Well, that is our top three, our throwback three most iconic sports venues. So many good ones. We want to hear from you. We're at Throwback Show on all socials. Remember, we will respond to you. We're going to wrap up here, Matt.

As we wrap off, I don't know if we're going to play some music, but fire up the Barkley group chat. We could have a great segment going. Every week we could ask Barkley something in the chat and just read his response. We'll probably still be better than some of the things I say on this show. I'm going to text him right now. I'm texting him right now.

Thank you, Andrew and Adam and everybody behind the scenes. This episode was awesome. We had a blast doing it. See you texting him right now. Thank you, Andrew and Adam and everybody behind the scenes. This episode was awesome. We had a blast doing it and see you next week. Peace.