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Dan Patrick
You are listening to the Dan Patrick show on Fox Sports Radio. He is the star of inside. The NBA hall of Famer, Charles Barkley back on the program. Chuck, good to see you finish this sentence. If the Lakers lose tonight.
Charles Barkley
The Lakers, I told you two months ago, six weeks ago, Lakers are on a good team. They got two really, really good players, but they're not a good team either. ESPN just swings on them like they choke like, like everything chased like chicken. But the Lakers are not a good team. They're going to lose either this round or next round, but more likely this round. But they just, they're not very good.
Dan Patrick
What do you think the future, like, if you're. Let's say you're Luca and you look around. JJ didn't play anybody off the bench. LeBron's got maybe two more years left. If you're.
Charles Barkley
The Lakers are not going to be a contender with the team they have now. Your. Your best player can't be 40 or. I just don't think that's, that's, that makes no sense whatsoever. Yeah, your best player can't be 40. I mean, and JJ was wrong the other night to play those guys the entire second half because, number one, it's probably going to affect them tonight. It definitely affected him down the stretch the other night. You know, both of those guys missed layups and, and they made some mental mistakes with the ball. So, no, this is, this is not the Lakers year. And people think I hate on the Lakers. I told you, that's the Lakers on a good team. But ESPN was just swinging on them like they were damn King Kong.
Dan Patrick
And so, but if, but if you're Luca, do you want to stay? Do you want to re. Sign? If you're looking around at what you have with the. Austin Reeves, a nice player, but what are you going to build on when LeBron's gone?
Charles Barkley
Well, I, I don't know the answer to that question, first and foremost, but I don't think he can go anywhere. I mean, he's going to be a Laker probably for life from this point going forward.
Dan Patrick
Okay. All right.
Charles Barkley
I was, you know, Dan, you know the clowns of espn, they always make me laugh.
Dan Patrick
Wait, aren't you going to be working there? Like.
Charles Barkley
But there, you know, I'm going to be a straight shooter. It's interesting how they were discussing Giannis this week. Like, should Giannis want to leave? I'm like, I clearly don't remember when I played. I don't remember saying, we need to get Charles Barkley some help. In Philadelphia or Phoenix or Karl Malone some help in Utah, Patrick Ewing some help in New York. And I remember guys in the media kissing my ass and Carl's ass and Patrick ass like, well, Yanna should want to leave Milwaukee now because he can't win the championship. I. I wonder what all the guys were when I played, asking me to get some help. I mean, they were kissing. They were like, loving the Lakers, loving, loving the Celtics, loving Michael, loving the Pistons. But I don't remember all these kiss asses back in the day saying, you know, we need to get Charles Barkin some help because he can't win a championship in Philly or Phoenix. But it makes me laugh like, no, Giannis got to leave Milwaukee. You know, that already started like, wow, y'all weren't concerned about us other great players back in our day, but y'all all of a sudden now y'all like, oh, Giannis has got to leave Milwaukee now. Is his championship window closed? I'm like, man, thanks for helping me.
Dan Patrick
Out when I went.
Charles Barkley
I went out there with nobody.
Dan Patrick
You had a great team in Phoenix.
Charles Barkley
We had a really good team in Phoenix.
Dan Patrick
You guys should have won the title that year.
Charles Barkley
No, Michael was better, Mike was better.
Dan Patrick
But you guys had a better team than the Bulls.
Charles Barkley
It was a pick them series, but Michael was the greatest ever. And then the next two years, Akeem was better than me when it counted. So, hey, listen, all I wanted, one reason I got out of Philadelphia, I just wanted a chance. I had three chances at it, and we lost to the champs three years in a row. That's all you want, but I don't want to stack my team ever. That I. I'm always be against super teams, period.
Dan Patrick
All right, I'm watching last night, you guys, after the Pacers game, and Shaq is blaming Giannis for the altercation, the incident with Tyrese Halliburton's dad.
Charles Barkley
Yeah, that was. Shaq was 100 wrong and stupid on that subject. I've never. Dad, I've never seen that. Number one. I want to thank Tyrese for coming out, apologizing, and then I want to thank his dad for coming out and apologizing. Like, I never seen that before in my. I'm over 40 years in the NBA. I've never seen a parent, you know, it was like, AAU crap.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. Yeah.
Charles Barkley
You know how much I hate aau. It's like these parents, they think they can scream their kid to the NBA. It drives me flat crazy. But they apologize. And let me tell you something. Giannis is one of my favorite players. He became more one of my favorite players last night because ain't no way in the hell I wouldn't have clocked his ass. There ain't no way I would have clocked him. And I ain't trying to be no fake tough guy on television. There's no way I wouldn't have punched him in the face when he did what he did. There's no way. And like I say, I ain't trying to be no fake tough guy. But in that heat of the moment, and Yanis said it, I didn't know it was his dad. If a regular fan came on the court and did that to me, a 100% would have punched him in the face.
Dan Patrick
Should he get the same punishment as if that was just a fan and not Tyrese Halliburton's dad?
Charles Barkley
I don't even know what the appropriate punishment is. Like I say, I'm glad they both apologize. I'm not sure what the punishment is, what's fair.
Dan Patrick
How about you keep him away from the first playoff game, the next playoff game at home?
Charles Barkley
That's fair. That's fair. I don't think he should be executed, but I think, hey, you can't come to the next two, the next two games at home. I think that would be fair.
Dan Patrick
Or if he wants to be on the court so badly, he must play five minutes for the Pacers.
Charles Barkley
That would be a great. He has to start the game and play the first quarter for his son. That'll be a great punishment.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, yeah. He's got a guard, Donovan Mitchell, I think that's right. For five, five minutes.
Charles Barkley
He has to play. You can break it up how you want to. He has to play 20 minutes.
Dan Patrick
He's Charles Barkley, the Hall of Famer. Turner Sports Inside the NBA analyst. I know athletes hate it when, you know, people in my position say somebody quit. So I'm just trying to come up with a better description for what the Miami Heat did the other night against Cleveland. If they didn't quit, what exactly did they do?
Charles Barkley
Well, you know, it's interesting. It's three things I don't like doing. One thing I would never do says somebody should get fired. I've made that clear for 25 years. I'll never. I like, I can say they're not doing a good job, but I would never say somebody should get fired. That's just like my number one rule. Secondly, I don't like using the word choke or quit because that's, that's damning. But the Miami Heat quit in game four because if you were not embarrassed after game three, you and to come out and play like you did in Game 4, the Miami Heat, they quit. They were ready for Cancun. And it was really unfortunate because I have so much respect for Pat Riley, Alonzo Martin and Eric Spoelstra. And like I say, the Cavs were gonna win the series, but to come out there and quit like that. But, you know, Eric Spoetzer said that was embarrassing. That was embarrassing for the Heat organization and. But I have faith in Pat Riley, Alonzo Martin and Eric Spos. They're going to fix. They're going to fix it. I mean, they were. Once Jimmy Butler forced his way out of there. They needed to get the season over with. I hated it. It ended as badly as did, and it was unfortunate, but they quit.
Dan Patrick
Steve Kerr came out and said, Draymond Green is the best defender he's ever seen.
Charles Barkley
Well, he can say that, but he's supposed to. That's his player. But he's not a better defender than Michael Kobe, Dennis Rodman, he's a terrific defender, but he's not. But I. He going to just say. He going to say that.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, but you got to be also honest when you do it. From the standpoint of he did. He played with Michael, so he. He did see the best defensive player.
Charles Barkley
Listen, I think in the moment he got. He got to say the reason Draymond wasn't in the game, because Sengun was cooking and he got him like, you know, Draymond was in foul trouble. Why was he in foul trouble? Was cooking him. So. But listen, Draymond is a heck of a player. He's a really good player. He's a really good defender. But I expect coaches to defend their players. I really do.
Dan Patrick
He's not a better defender than Rodman was when Dennis was with the Pistons.
Charles Barkley
No, he was not. No, he was not a better defender than Rodman. I can 100 say that. Dennis was amazing, but Pippin, to me.
Dan Patrick
Was a better defender than Mike. Scotty could guard everybody.
Charles Barkley
Well, he couldn't guard me. They doubled me with Horace Grant. Let's get that out there.
Dan Patrick
Okay. All right, that's. That's fair.
Charles Barkley
But you know what? I. I will agree. Scott. Scott is a better defender than Draym. I'll. I'll give him his flowers.
Dan Patrick
Who did you love seeing on you? Like, I never.
Charles Barkley
I never even worried about it then. Nobody. You remember back in the day when they had the Jordan stopper, we used to laugh about that.
Dan Patrick
Like Gerald. Gerald Wilkins.
Charles Barkley
Like, are you serious right now? There's no great player. There's no great player who can be stopped. You can make him work hard. Like, you can't stop Giannis. You can't stop Bird. You can't stop Dominique Wilkins. You're not going to stop me. You're not going to stop. Now. You can make us work hard, but this notion that you're going to stop a great player, that's insane. You're not going to stop a great player, period.
Dan Patrick
But there wasn't a guy where you go, because George Gervin, I asked him that question. I said, ice, who was the guy that you couldn't wait to see on the court? And he goes, kevin Greevey. He played for the. The Baltimore Bullets. He said, I loved playing against Kevin Greevey because I knew I was going to score. You didn't have that guy. Where you go, I'm putting up 40.
Charles Barkley
Well, you know, I felt like I was going to get double team 95% of the time. I don't think. I never thought that one guy could guard me. It's interesting when people put up still photos of me. A couple people noticed it. They're like, why aren't you looking at the defender? I said, first of all, I'm not even worried about the guy guarding me because I'm always looking past the defender. Yeah, if you get a steel photo with me with the ball, I'm never even worried about the guy, Garmin. I'm looking like, where's the double team coming from? Or where I'm going. And I didn't even know this one of my friends. He's a man. I'm looking at these old photos of you when you got the ball. You're not even looking at the guy. I said, dude, I'm not even worried about one guy stopping me. I don't care who it is. I don't care if it's Rodman. I don't care if it's Kevin McHale. Who's a great defender. Kevin, the best player I've played against. I'm not. I'm looking like, is there a double team or what angle am I going? I'm never worried about one guy stopping me, period.
Dan Patrick
What if Jordan guarded you?
Charles Barkley
He's too little. He's too little. He's. Listen, Michael, he can't guard me in the post. He's too little.
Dan Patrick
Did you say that to him?
Charles Barkley
I've said it to him a thousand times. Little man, late. Hey, little man, you're in the wrong place. I say, little man, you're at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Dan Patrick
Wait, he's taller than you.
Charles Barkley
He too little, though. Too little.
Dan Patrick
He can jump.
Charles Barkley
Yeah, he going to fly because I'm going to hit his ass. I'm going to hit him with elbows. I'm hit him with elbows and ass.
Dan Patrick
What was it like when you guarded him?
Charles Barkley
I can't guard him. It was really funny. He actually talked about this one time we switched out and I get down in my defensive stance and he just started. He did. I switched out and he looked at me. He just started laughing and just said, are you serious right now? And he actually passed the ball, but because he was laughing so hard.
Dan Patrick
Golden State didn't double you when you scored 56.
Charles Barkley
And you know what's really funny about that? I had, I think 24, 26 the first quarter. So I, I, I, I'm running by the bench and I said, nelly, you better double me. He says, nope, after I get like the first ten, the first quarter, I said, nelly, are you gonna double me? He said, not all night. I'm not gonna double you. So I got like 24 the first quarter, basically. I think I had 28 the first half. And I'm screaming at Nelly, nelly, you better double me. And he's screaming at me, not a chance. I'm gonna w. I says, byron Houston's too little. Chris Gatlin too little. It's so funny. Cadelli was amazing. And I'm screaming at him, are you gonna double me? He's like, I'm not gonna double you all night. And that's actually a true story.
Dan Patrick
That was your high 56.
Charles Barkley
Yes. In, in a, in, in a. In a. I think that was the game we. Because I was already mad because Nike made a commercial with me. Well, Chris Weber dunk it on me. And so we did he bring the.
Dan Patrick
Ball around his back and then dunked. Yeah.
Charles Barkley
My mind said to me, I said, chris is not a great free throw shooter. I'm going to foul him. So I reached for the ball to foul him and he took it. I was going to take a foul.
Dan Patrick
He.
Charles Barkley
And he took it behind his back and dunked on me. It was a three point play. So Nike calls me and said, hey, can we use this in a commercial? I said, of course I'm not upset about it. I got. Everybody's been dunked on. So then when they, when the commercial come out and Chris says, well, I don't care what anybody say. You're my role Model. He's laughing in a barbershop. I said, oh, I gotta make him pay for that. I got to make him pay for that.
Dan Patrick
A side topic. What is Bill Belichick doing?
Charles Barkley
Well, this is a very slippery subject for me because Bill's one of my really good friends. I don't. I'm not sure what's going on. You know, he's been a great friend for me for a long time. We've been. For instance, he coached for the Browns. I think he got to be very careful right now. This is starting to be on a very slippery slope. He's the greatest football coach ever for him. And Nick Saban for college. Nick Saban for Bill. The NFL. Yeah. From what I'm hearing, it's starting to be a very slippery slope. And I never talk about people's personal relationship. That's another rule I got. But I will admit I'm a little concerned with some of the stuff that's going on, and I might actually reach out to him and make sure everything's good. But I am concerned, from what I'm hearing, because, yeah, it's not a. It's not a good look right now. I'll admit that.
Dan Patrick
And he's such a control freak, but he's relinquished control, it feels like. That's what's surprising to me.
Charles Barkley
Yeah, listen, man, I have very strict rules on things about. Don't ask me no personal questions. Nobody in my family can speak. No, I'm the one who's famous. I'm the one who had to deal with all the crap. No, don't, Don't. Don't say anything, because if you say something, it's just gonna muddy the water. That's what I call it. If any family members speak out, it's just gonna muddy the water. It's. And, yeah, I'm a little concerned. I'll admit that, because. Because, you know, he's my friend through good, bad, and whatever, and I just hope he. I hope everything's all right.
Dan Patrick
Whenever I see you doing those Capital One commercials, you got Spike Lee. It dawned on me the last time. Could Spike ever play basketball?
Charles Barkley
No.
Dan Patrick
Okay.
Charles Barkley
No. Let me tell you something. The. There's two people who I work with are the best at what they do. There's a guy named Joe Pitka who's one of the greatest directors of all time. The second one is Sam Jackson. They are the two best I've ever worked with when it comes to making commercials, because they know what works. Like sometimes both of those guys, we're shooting A commercial. They're like, now, that sucks. We're not gonna do it like that. Joe Picker and Sam Jackson, they're like, no. And Sam was like, who wrote this crap? Who wrote this crap? And he says, that doesn't work. It doesn't make any sense. Let's do it like this. But those are the two best I've ever worked with as far as knowing what works on camera. Joe Pick and Samuel L. Jackson, they are the best. But Spike, Spike, Spike has 0 athletic ability. 0.
Dan Patrick
All right, just wanted to know. No.
Charles Barkley
0 athletic ability.
Dan Patrick
Are you golfing today?
Charles Barkley
No, we got. It's kind of hard because, you know, we worked at 2 in the morning and I have to get up early to play because, you know, we got to be back in the studio by 6:00 tonight. So I'll start playing next week, to be honest with you, because once we get teams eliminated, we have a lot. We work every night, but sometimes we have like one game. But right now we still have two games going to two in the morning. So I'm not golfing right now.
Dan Patrick
Shaq had to go to the bathroom the other night.
Charles Barkley
Oh, man, that was hilarious, wasn't it? But you know what's so funny? Dan? He's not even my age yet. You know, like back probably five to seven years ago, if I had to go to the bathroom, like, if I was watching something on television, I could hold it. And like, once I got like 55, you can't. And he's, he's getting that age now. Be like, yeah, if you try to hold it, it's gonna come out on his own. Yeah, that. So I told him, I said, welcome to old time age, brother. You can't. You. When you gotta go, you gotta go. It's that simple.
Dan Patrick
We gotta go. Great to talk to you again. Thank you, Chuck.
Charles Barkley
All right, brother, thanks for having me. You take care of yourself, brother.
Dan Patrick
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows@foxsportsradio.com and within the iHeartRadio app. Search FSR to listen live. Hey, it's Steve Covino and I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific, on Fox Sports Radio and of course, the iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich? We talk about everything. Life, sports, relationships, what. What's going on in the world. We have a lot of fun talking about the Stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work together, I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive show on planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on Fox Sports radio and the iHeartradio app from 5 to 7pm Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific. And if you miss any of the live show, just search Kovino and Rich wherever you get your podcast. And of course, on social media, that's Kavino and Rich. Timberwolf said goodbye to the Lakers. The Rockets roll the Warriors. I walked in today, first person I see is Marvin. And Marvin says the following. You going to apologize? I said, about what? You know what I said. No, you know what you said. I go, wait, is this about Rudy Gobert? Yes. You called him the most overrated player in the NBA. I'd like to take this moment. I'm gonna stare into the camera. To Rudy Gobert, I apologize for saying you're the most overrated player in the NBA for one night. It's a temporary apology. Very, very temporary. Rudy Gobert looked like a keem Elijah 1. He looked like Shaq. He looked like Tim Duncan. Rudy Gobert had 27 points and 24 rebounds.
Charles Barkley
Excuse me.
Dan Patrick
Yes, I said the same thing. He dominated 12 of 15 from the floor. He's the third player in the last 50 years to have a 2020 in a playoff game while shooting at least 80% from the floor. He was great. The rest of the Timberwolves, not so good and they still won. The Lakers shot better from 2.3 point free throw line and they ended up losing. And you say goodbye to the Lakers, what could have been. But to Rudy Gobert, once again, congratulations on a wonderful performance against a front line that I think I probably could have gotten 10 rebounds. But once again, I mean, come on. Lakers had no big guy. Rudy Gobert should have been dominating just rebound wise. Just rebounding, that's all. He should have 20 rebounds every game against the Lakers. He should have. But once again, to Rudy Gobert, congratulations on a wonderful, wonderful performance. Did that seem sincere? Not feeling the sincerity? You're not. Because you went out, you want to say, well, for one night anyway, you did that and you're expected to do that anyway. Other than that. And, you know, fake sincerity, so. I really do. Kindness. Okay. Yes, Marvin, But Rudy's still one of.
Charles Barkley
The most overrated, not just. Not the most overrated.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, okay. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Congratulations. The Timberwolves, they advance as they dust off the Lakers 4 1. And as we always do, we don't look at the team that's advancing. We look at the team that's going off into the sunset. The question is, is LeBron going off into the sunset as well? He was asked about his future after the loss. Do you have that, Marvin? I have.
Charles Barkley
He talks about J.J. redick season.
Dan Patrick
Oh, okay. I thought that he was asked about his future there.
Charles Barkley
I think J.J. is going to continue to grow. I thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign for a rookie coach. It's already hard being a rookie coach in the NBA, and it's a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers. It's a whole nother ball game, and I thought he handled it extremely well. I thought he just learned every single day, held us accountable. He. He pushed us. I thought JJ and his coaching staff were great.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. I thought that he had a really good regular season. I don't think he did well in this series. I think he was all in on the previous game, and he didn't sub out in the second half. I think he thought, if we win this game, we can win the series. If we don't win this game, we're not going to win this series. That was just my feeling. If you're watching it in real time and you're thinking, okay, they might win this game. And then they didn't. And then I wondered what the aftershocks would be. And we saw that Minnesota didn't play well at all. It's just the Lakers have no bench now. You're really reliant on Luca, who was banged up under the weather, and you're relying on LeBron James. And it's not fair to LeBron to say, hey, you still have to be one of the 10 best players in the game. I think if he comes back, I think you're going to have to look at how do you monitor his minutes here. And it might be one of those situations like the San Antonio spurs used to do. They didn't care about the regular season. This is about the postseason. How many minutes you play and how fresh are you going to be in the Postseason? I think LeBron wants to. His ego gets in the way. He wants to prove that he can play every single night, and he's going to play as many minutes as possible. Now, I admire that. I want to see the stars play, but I also have to factor in what is the ultimate goal. Not to prove that you can play more games than guys who were 20 years younger than you. It's to prove how great you are when you get to the postseason. Because that's how he's measured the regular season. Doesn't matter, okay? You get another All Star appearance, all right? You score a couple thousand points, you add your 40,000 points or assist or whatever it might be. This is about winning a championship. And I wonder how close he thinks they really are. The west is young. OKC is not going anywhere. You're seeing a Houston Rockets team that's young might get. Kevin Durant might be the missing piece for them in the off season, but they might beat the Golden State warriors you saw last night. They weren't afraid and they shut down Steph Curry. So you start to look around and you go, okay, where do we fit here? And if I'm a Laker fan, I think we're kind of a middle of the pack. I loved what they were doing when they had an eight game winning streak. They had a stretch there where they were playing great defense and it felt like there was a collaboration going on. It wasn't just two players. There was a true collaboration. But then as you get to the postseason, coaches really start to limit the number of players who contribute. You might go seven deep, maybe eight. But the Lakers, I think JJ Redick looked at that bench and he went, I don't want to put those guys in. You know, you don't have confidence in them, but if you put them in, then they can gain confidence. So that's what I didn't understand. But JJ Redick, he was testy. So pre game, this is a pre game press conference and he was asked about what happened with the lack of substitutions previous game. What do you recall about your thought process? In a moment, sticking with the five you stuck with in. In the fourth quarter the other day. And is there an assistant or someone maybe that you'll lean on tonight? Maybe to try to get, you know, some other guys involved if that opportunity presents.
Charles Barkley
Are you saying that because I'm. I'm inexperienced and that was an inexperienced decision that I made. Do you think I don't talk to.
Dan Patrick
My assistants about substitutions every single timeout? No, I just think there's a lot of coaches lean on their assistance in those situations, as do I, every single time.
Charles Barkley
That's a weird assumption.
Dan Patrick
And then he walked out. So that's pre game tension running a little high there. I think it's a fair question to ask. I think you can ask it in a better way, but I do think the topic is fair because of what we just saw. Yes, Eden? Yeah, it didn't strike me as that unfair of a, of a question. Plus, I don't know why the reporter should assume the other way either. The, the reporter should assume that he just does everything that we think he does. I, I mean, it doesn't seem like that crazy of a question. Yeah, Pauling, I disagree just a hair. The phrasing of the question is fine, but it feels like they're doing a preview of the next game in this press conference. Not even last night's game, but the following. That's what it's meant for, for quotes for after. And this is a three day old story. Two day old story. And Reddick is probably like, we're still talking about this now. That said, he could have blown it off with a pat answer easily. Yeah, but you know, that's just. If you watch jj when he was doing his TV work at the mothership, he, if, if he, if he got bored with you or he was going to dismiss you, he could get combative. Like he didn't suffer fools. He's like, oh, God, this guy's going to tell me about substituting. Okay, I got it. Now that makes you a great media guy, not necessarily a great head coach, but the topic I thought was fair. And we saw the bench scored four points, there weren't substitutions, and I think you had a tired team. Now, I look at this a couple of different ways because you, you have LeBron, how many more years? And LeBron said after, he's not sure. He's not sure what's going to happen here. Feels like there's one more year there. I think, I think you owe it to the possibility of you and Luca having an entire off season, training camp, an entire regular season together. J.J. redick, second year. Austin Reeves is a, you know, a really good player, but you start to look at the other players on the roster and you're going, are you going to develop them? Can you get somebody in there? I think it's difficult. You know, LeBron's going to make $60 million and probably $60 million attached to that because he's still playing basketball with endorsements. If you're Luca, do you want to be the centerpiece? Are you going to be the guy when LeBron leaves in a year Are you ready for that? Here's Luca after the game last night. I mean, it's been great, honestly, you.
Charles Barkley
Know, the way the fans accepted me, you know, it's been. Am the community said to me has been amazing. So I'm really glad that I'm here. I had a great. A couple months, you know, obviously trying to learn about everything about the city, about the team. So just trying to process everything.
Dan Patrick
All right, so he's got one more year on his deal. Then does he want to be there? He's going to get paid. He'll be the centerpiece there. And then you start to look at that trade. Who won in that trade? Dallas got Anthony Davis, Lakers got Luca. Both are out moving forward. And this. I think I would have a better answer in a year if you. If you said after next year, I think then I'm going to great grade the trade. Now, that's not fair because we want to grade a trade right away. But if I said to you, you could have had Luca or you could have Giannis if you're the Lakers. So if you knew that the Mavericks were going to move on from Luca, right, because defense wins championships, they weren't going to pay him this money. Let's say he was going to be available in the off season. Let's say you had Giannis available in the off season. What would you do if you're the Lakers? Because it's not a real scenario. It's hypothetical. But if you look at how this was going to play out, then maybe that would have been the scenario where Luca would have been available. He's four years younger than Giannis. But, you know, this is one of those, did they make the right deal for the right player at the right time? And I think they did that because now all of a sudden, you got LeBron, who's on the clock. How many more years does he have? We can get Luca. We might be able to steal a championship here. Because if you don't have LeBron, are the Lakers making that move? And the answer is probably yes, because he's one of the top five top 10 players in the game. But you're making that move with LeBron to win a championship, whereas if you didn't have LeBron, you would make that move just for the future. So this would be an experimental year, but this was about winning a championship, and you failed miserably. Now you're a three seed, so you can't say, well, the expectations are too high. You're a three seed and you have maybe the Best duo in basketball. And yes, you do have a rookie coach, but I think JJ Redick did a really good job during the regular season, the postseason. I think he'll look back on that and, you know, you get together with your staff and you say, what could we have done better? Who could we have played a little bit more? You're seeing this with the Knicks. I mean, Tom Thibodeau, he does this all the time, that he plays his players. He doesn't have a deep rotation there, but you can only do that for so long, and then these players get worn down. That's why the spurs were always fresh in the postseason, because Greg Popovich, he prioritized that he was like, I don't care if we're the first or second or third. See, I don't care. I want my guys ready to go in the postseason. And they were. Seaton, what's poll question we're going to have, by the way? LeBron said, I don't have an answer to the question about what comes next. I'll sit down with my wife and family support group, have a conversation with myself on how long I want to continue to play. We'll see in the moment. I get the answer. I think he's going to be back and play again. He's also got his son there. There's a lot of money there. You're playing with the Lakers, and you get a chance to spend more time with Luca and develop that. Yes, Seaton, it is crazy that that theoretically could have been the last time we saw him play, and it doesn't feel like that at all. You're right, it could be. But I think he's going to play one more year. I think he knows he's not going to win another championship. This might just be padding your stats. You know, get to play with Luca, get to play with your son. But, you know, currently constructed, they're not better than, you know, these other younger teams. Yeah. Pauling, I. It's interesting, when Seaton brought up before the show, no one's discussing even the possibility that LeBron could retire. I think everyone thinks he would do the tour, but there's any chance, he says to himself, I got my son in the league, I got him on the roster, I played basketball games with him. That was the icing on the cake. It's hard to picture he's measured differently than anybody else in the history of the game. So it's not just, hey, I got my son in, and, hey, you know, we made the play. I am playing With Luke, it's. It's all about, you know, now you got Steph Curry, who's kind of on his level. You know, people now want to bring who's better, who's had a better career, Steph or LeBron? Like, LeBron by far. Like, what are we doing here? Steph's a wonderful player, but, you know, now he's encroaching on LeBron because his team's still alive and LeBron's isn't. Be sure to catch the live edition of the Dan Patrick show, weekdays at 9am Eastern, 6am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio Apple. Awkward moment yesterday after the show, thought it was a decent show and talking to the Danets, and all of a sudden, I hear a crash. And I look over. Marvin is over by my desk. And then I realize Marvin has knocked something off my desk. Not just anything. I have a lot of tchotchkes gear here. If you're watching on Peacock, you can see a lot of stuff on my desk. But you know how I feel about Bill Walton, one of my favorite people, one of my favorite players. And I looked over, and the bobblehead is off, and one of his arms is off, and his legs are broken. Emotional. Yes. But I'm here. I'm here today. This is one of the great comebacks of all time. But it was a catastrophe yesterday. Marvin felt bad. Ish. I think.
Charles Barkley
Oh, no, no. I legit felt bad. If I didn't feel bad, oh, you would know. I didn't feel bad. I felt bad about it.
Dan Patrick
Okay. But I asked Weeks, our cameraman, our Mr. Do It All. He's the glue guy for the show. He's literally the glue guy. And if you're watching on Peacock, I brought Bill back to life. Well, Weeks did. So we got the arm back together. The legs are secure. Ish. And the Bill Walton bobblehead doll is back in business.
Charles Barkley
Yay.
Dan Patrick
I sent Marvin a picture last night because I came in, I said, I got to get this thing glued. It's. It's. It's going to be coming back to life. I sent Marvin just a picture of the Bill Walton bobblehead doll. I had no response to it. There was nothing other than the picture there, and I said it. Message sent loud and clear. Marvin.
Charles Barkley
Hey, I'm really. I'm legit sorry about it. I really felt bad about it.
Dan Patrick
Okay. I think there's sincerity there. Yes. Todd, Wouldn't it be more realistic not to fix it? Because he always had bad feet, so maybe should have just kind of left it as. Oh, man. As it was way too soon. Way too soon. Not a terrible thing. And I'm gonna run you today because I got tired of you, like 20 minutes in. There's a warning. You're not kicking me out. I'm gonna. I'm gonna give you a warning. All right? Next time, I'm gonna tee you up two days in a row, though, I'm gonna warn both benches here, okay? Because you were Friday, Fritzy. Way too early for me. But we've recovered. We rebounded. That's what we do. We come back. We rally. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. The Knicks close out the Pistons. Pistons rallied, kept it close. And then Jalen Brunson did this at the end of the game, backing down as our Thompson at the logo. Plenty of time left. We're tied at 113 here in game six. Brunson between the legs. Dribble gets rid of Thompson. Walk up. Three pointer. He got it. The clutch player of the year will not be denied. Jalen Brunson with 4.3 puts the Knicks in front 116. A 113. He ended up with 40. Now I'll praise Jalen Brunson. He's a wonderful player. We know what he does in the playoffs. He's averaged 30 points per game in 30 playoff games with the Knicks. The only player in the history of the franchise who's averaged more is Bernard King. And it was just a tick more. The Pistons did a really good job with Brunson, but how many times do I have to say this? The best player is not going to beat me. He's labeled the most clutch player in the NBA. They gave him an award that says that's the most clutch guy in the NBA. No, there was an award I get. This might be the first year, but he certainly earned it. The problem I have is you must make somebody else beat you. And Thompson did a wonderful job. He did for the most of the night. For most of the series. He did a wonderful job. The game is on the line. He was forcing him to go left, and maybe he was going to get a double team there, but he went back. I. I got to send two people at him. And Brunson gives up the ball. That's it. Can somebody try this, please? That's all. That guy can beat me. I don't want him to beat me. How about I send two guys If OG And Anobi beats me, okay. If Cat beats me, okay? Jalen Brunson, the most clutch player in the NBA is not going to beat me. That's all. And Cat had just found out. Found out. So what, what are we doing? Send two players at him, make sure he gives up the ball and have somebody who may not be used to being in that situation take the shot. That's all. I'll go back to when Michael Jordan pushed off against Brian Russell. I gotta have another guy coming at Mike. If Steve Kerr, John Paxton situation happens again in a situation like that, I can live with that. I'm not letting the greatest player in the history of the game go one on one. I don't get it. The best player will not beat me. I can guarantee that. That's what we should have said in the huddle. Brunson will not beat us. Make sure that we're going to send a double team that way now. Maybe outsmart you, maybe breaks the double team. Maybe he makes his move before you get there. But I'm watching and I go, they got single coverage on him. I don't care how good you are, if the guy is labeled the most clutch player in the NBA and they give you a damn award, don't let him be clutch. That's all. Congratulations to the Pistons though. They had a late run there and made it interesting. But the Knicks, they were able to hit the shot when they needed to. Rockets at the Warriors. Game six coming up. That'll be tonight. The Rockets are a slight underdog. I think they're around a four or five point underdog. And Clippers and the Nuggets, the Clippers are a slight favorite in that game. That'll be on Saturday. 877-3-DP show email address dpdanpatrick.com Twitter handle @DP Show JJ Redick had his exit interview with the media and boy, he, he gave them a gift yesterday. I don't know if he intended to give them a gift, but when he said this, I certainly had a reaction. I'll start with the off season and the work that's required in an off.
Charles Barkley
Season to be in championship shape.
Dan Patrick
And you know, we have a ways to go as a roster and certainly.
Charles Barkley
There are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There's certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That's where my mind goes immediately, is.
Dan Patrick
You know, we, we have to get in championship shape. Okay, we use the word work and shape. And then we used shape, championship shape. Again, that's your opener. And I went, okay, who's not in shape? Who wasn't in championship shape? Not LeBron. He's in shape. I'm guessing Austin Reeves in shape. Rui Hachimura in shape. Who's not in shape here? Oh, that's right. Luca wasn't in shape. Is this calculated? Was this a good thing to do? If you're Luca, how are you taking this? You've, you know, spent the first, whatever, five years of your career listening to somebody or people say you're out of shape, even though you go to an NBA Finals, you play in the Olympics, you go to a Western Conference finals, but then you get traded because you had a GM who didn't want to invest in you that kind of money because he thought defense wins championships and you weren't going to be in shape. Here we are. Now, this is where I think if LeBron wants to win a championship, he can help win a championship in the off season by being a big brother, mentoring Luca, and say, I want you working out with me a couple. Couple of days a week. Now, he might go kicking and screaming and say, I don't want to. Off season is just that. It's the off season. But if you want LeBron and LeBron wants to win another championship, the only way it's going to happen is if Luca truly wants to get in shape and wants to play defense. Because they went after him in that series, they targeted him, they went by him for layups. And I thought that J.J. redick. Now, the first thing I thought of, does J.J. say that to Luca, what he said yesterday, I want you to be in championship shape. I don't like when a coach goes to a press conference to say something about his team unless he's told his team that. Now, if he says to Luca, I'm going to say something. I'm not going to mention your name, but I want you to be in championship shape. I've seen that. I know what championship shape is. I need you to be ready to go start to finish. I can't have you out of shape or not in great shape and have these nagging injuries. I can't have that because that's how they come up. That's how they surface when you're not in shape and Luca has nagging injuries. But Luca's been spoiled. Luca doesn't want to hear negative things. I mean, look how he reacts to officials when they make a call. Fans get into it with him. I. I guess JJ knows what he's doing, but I don't know if message is sent, how it's received by Luca, because he might be. If I'm Luca, I'd be Like everybody knows you're talking about me. Like, do you have to say that? Because it's implied. He didn't have to say Luca. Everybody knew what he was talking about. But that's the message that he sends his team into the off season. At least having in the back of their minds, or at least Luca is certainly. But I. If I'm LeBron, I'd say, hey, work out with me. Work out with me and Bronnie and give me. Give me a couple of days a week. Yes, Ton. I think passive aggressive is the way to go. Why have the confrontation enough to talk to him one on one, man to man, when you can just kind of throw it out there in the media? Let them figure out who he's talking about. Thank you, Todd. All right, let's pull question today. Seat? No, Connor, I'm glad you asked. We might as well start with the overwhelmingly, you know, biggest story of the night. Okay. The New York Knicks winning their third NBA championship. Congratulations. Yeah, yeah. That parade last night. There's going to be a parade, right? So the New York Knicks winning their third NBA championship last night is a remarkable achievement. Crazy since they just advanced out of the first round or just another symptom of Knicks fans being insane? Well, there's a celebration outside the Garden, I guess. And I mean, you did beat the Pistons. Pistons had a good year. They did. But the Knicks were celebrating like it's 1969. You know, they are celebrating. So congratulations on another championship there. That. That would be their third championship. They've won. 1970 champions. Yeah. 1970. 1973. Congratulations. Yes. Todd. Didn't they learn their lesson? They had that big celebration when they beat Trey Young in the Hawkins, who was dressed in Nick's gear today. I am. Knicks are my favorite team. Not as much as Rob is in the back, but I like the Knicks. But I will say that the Knick fans got a little crazy obnoxious when they knocked out the Hawks in the first round and they're having like a ticker tape parade with their shirts off in. In the middle of Manhattan. You don't do that. And that jinxes things.
Charles Barkley
I don't.
Dan Patrick
Okay. You have your Jalen Brunson T shirt on.
Charles Barkley
I do.
Dan Patrick
I'm dressed as if I'm going to the parade and that they won the whole thing. But they're going to have a tough time with Boston. I think we all can agree. Oh, thank you, John. That's my NBA. Nobody knows who Rob in the back is. Okay. He's one of our. The back. I know, but if you have to explain it to the audience, I mean, this is about you, not somebody else. Todd. Yes. Marvin Fritz.
Charles Barkley
He's dressed like one of the guys who does the T shirt guns. Like, you know, like. All right, time out. All right, come on, guys. You guys ready for this?
Dan Patrick
Come on, New York.
Charles Barkley
Come on, get up. And Todd comes out there. All right. He goes on a trampoline, dunks the ball. Or at least not. But somebody else.
Dan Patrick
Planter.
Charles Barkley
Fascinating.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. Are you all ready for this? Yes. So this is we, not they, we, the New York Knickerbockers. We got to settle down a little bit. We got to touch. He's wearing tear away Knicks pants and. But they're crazy. Do not tear those away. May or may not have an undergarment on. So I'm definitely not going to do that. Yeah. Pantaloons on. But congratulations to the New York Knick fans. You did it. Been a. Been a long battle there, but you did. 877. 3 DP show email address dpdanpatrick.com Twitter handle @dpshow and once again, good morning. If you're watching on Peacock, thank you for downloading the app. David Cohn, Yankee broadcaster, will recap what Aaron Judge did in the first month of the season. Historical. And it's one of those where you go, wait a minute, he's batting.427. He's not even using a torpedo bat. By the way, where did the torpedo bat controversy go? That didn't last long, did it? They didn't outlaw this, did they? Remember that? Oh, my God, it's ruining the sport. And I'm like, not everybody's using the torpedo bat.
Charles Barkley
Did you know women are more likely.
Dan Patrick
Than men to develop dry eyes, which may be due to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle or after menopause and the use of oral contraceptives. Give your dry burning or irritated eyes a daily refresh with Refresh Optive Mega 3 Lubricant Eye Drops, a preservative free formula that provides fast acting, lasting relief. Refresh Optive Mega 3 is safe to use as often as needed. Find refresh online or in the eye drop aisle at all major retailers and the dream season is now complete. The Golden State warriors are the 2015.
Charles Barkley
NBA champions on the in the new.
Dan Patrick
Limited podcast series dubbed dynasty, it's been 10 years since their shocking run to a championship. We examine the controversial move that made it possible.
Charles Barkley
It's never a great conversation as a player when you hear that you're being.
Dan Patrick
Benched for the entire behind the scenes story of Golden State's incredible 10 year run. Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations. But if we're honest, most people run from them. Staying silent, missing chances and holding themselves back. I know this is true because I used to be like that until I realized that negotiation isn't a talent. It's a skill that anyone can learn. And once I did, everything changed. I went from people pleaser to confident communicator. And now I teach bonus Fortune 500 leaders and top executives how to do the same. Listen to negotiate anything on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In 2020, a group of young women.
Charles Barkley
Found themselves in an AI fueled nightmare.
Dan Patrick
Someone was posting photos. It was just me naked. Well, not me, but me with someone else's body parts.
Charles Barkley
This is Levittown, a new podcast from iHeart podcasts Bloomberg and Kaleidoscope about the rise of deepfake pornography and the battle to stop it. Listen to Levittown on Bloomberg's Big Take podcast. Find it on the iHeartRadio app, Apple.
Dan Patrick
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Charles Barkley
I'm Clayton English.
Dan Patrick
I'm Greg Lott.
Charles Barkley
And this is season two of the War on Drugs podcast.
Dan Patrick
Last year, a lot of the problems of the drug war. This year, a lot of the biggest names in music and sports.
Charles Barkley
This kind of star studded a little bit, man.
Dan Patrick
We met them at their homes. We met them at their recruitment recording studios. Stories matter and it brings a face to them.
Charles Barkley
It makes it real.
Dan Patrick
It really does. It makes it real.
Charles Barkley
Listen to new episodes of the War on Drugs Podcast, Season 2 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
Podcast Summary: The Best of the Week on The Dan Patrick Show
Release Date: May 3, 2025
Host: Dan Patrick
Guest: Charles Barkley
The episode kicks off with host Dan Patrick welcoming NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley back to the show. The primary focus is on the Los Angeles Lakers' recent performance and their prospects moving forward.
Discussion Highlights:
Team Assessment: Charles Barkley critiques the Lakers' current roster, expressing skepticism about their ability to remain competitive.
"The Lakers are not going to be a contender with the team they have now. Your best player can't be 40 or... that makes no sense whatsoever."
[00:56] Charles Barkley
Coaching Decisions: Barkley criticizes coach J.J. Redick for not utilizing the bench effectively, which he believes contributed to the Lakers' shortcomings.
"JJ was wrong the other night to play those guys the entire second half because... both of those guys missed layups and made some mental mistakes."
[00:56] Charles Barkley
Team Future: The conversation delves into the uncertainty surrounding LeBron James's future with the Lakers and the challenges the team faces if LeBron departs.
"I don't think he can go anywhere. He's going to be a Laker probably for life from this point going forward."
[02:06] Charles Barkley
Discussion Highlights:
Media Critique: Barkley mocks the media's focus on Giannis Antetokounmpo considering leaving Milwaukee, contrasting it with the lack of similar concerns during his playing days.
"People think I hate on the Lakers... ESPN was just swinging on them like they were damn King Kong."
[02:15] Charles Barkley
Impact on Team Dynamics: The discussion touches on how media narratives can influence player decisions and team strategies.
Incident Overview: Shaq blamed Giannis for an altercation involving Tyrese Halliburton's father post-Pacers game. Barkley offers his perspective on the situation.
Discussion Highlights:
Barkley’s Stance: He unequivocally supports Giannis, stating he would have reacted similarly if faced with a fan's aggression.
"I didn't know it was his dad. If a regular fan came on the court and did that to me, a 100% would have punched him in the face."
[04:56] Charles Barkley
Proposed Punishments: Barkley suggests practical consequences for Giannis, such as restricting his participation in upcoming playoff games.
"I think he has to start the game and play the first quarter for his son. That'll be a great punishment."
[06:26] Charles Barkley
Discussion Highlights:
Draymond Green’s Defense: Barkley critiques Steve Kerr's praise of Draymond Green, arguing that while Green is a good defender, he doesn't surpass legends like Dennis Rodman.
"Draymond is a heck of a player. He's a really good defender. But Dennis was amazing."
[08:51] Charles Barkley
Defensive Comparisons: The conversation includes comparisons between past and present defensive players, emphasizing the difficulty of surpassing historical greats.
"There's no great player who can be stopped... You can't stop Giannis."
[10:21] Charles Barkley
Discussion Highlights:
Friendship and Concerns: Barkley discusses his friendship with NFL coach Bill Belichick, expressing concerns about recent developments without delving into specifics.
"He's the greatest football coach ever... I'm a little concerned with some of the stuff that's going on."
[15:44] Charles Barkley
Privacy Respect: He emphasizes the importance of respecting personal relationships and not discussing them publicly to avoid "muddying the water."
"Don't say anything, because if you say something, it's just gonna muddy the water."
[16:52] Charles Barkley
Discussion Highlights:
Performance Praise: Dan Patrick and Barkley both commend Rudy Gobert's outstanding performance against the Lakers, highlighting his dominance on the court.
"Rudy Gobert looked like a keem Elijah. He looked like Shaq. He looked like Tim Duncan."
[22:08] Charles Barkley
Gobert’s Impact: They discuss Gobert's statistical achievements and his role in the Timberwolves' victory, with Barkley labeling him as the "most overrated" yet acknowledging his talent.
"No, you can make us work hard, but this notion that you're going to stop a great player, that's insane."
[10:21] Charles Barkley
Discussion Highlights:
Coaching Evaluation: Dan Patrick critiques JJ Redick's handling of substitutions during crucial games, questioning his inexperience as a rookie head coach.
"JJ Redick looked at that bench and he went, I don't want to put those guys in. I don't have confidence in them."
[24:08] Dan Patrick
Strategic Decisions: The conversation explores whether Redick's decisions were strategic or indicative of broader team issues, such as over-reliance on LeBron James.
"The Lakers have no bench now. You're really reliant on Luca, who was banged up under the weather, and you're relying on LeBron James."
[24:38] Dan Patrick
Discussion Highlights:
Longevity and Legacy: The trio debates LeBron James's potential retirement, his contributions to the Lakers beyond basketball, and his legacy in the sport.
"LeBron wants to prove that he can play every single night, and he's going to play as many minutes as possible."
[28:05] Dan Patrick
Family Influence: They discuss how LeBron's relationship with his son, Luca, influences his decisions and future with the team.
"Play with your son, but the team isn't better than these other younger teams."
[31:31] Dan Patrick
Discussion Highlights:
Championship Victory: The Knicks winning their third NBA championship is celebrated, with Barkley and Patrick discussing the team's performance and fan reactions.
"Congratulations to the New York Knick fans. You did it."
[49:31] Dan Patrick
Fan Behavior: They touch upon the exuberant and somewhat chaotic celebrations by Knicks fans, questioning sustainability and future implications.
"Knicks are celebrating like it's 1969. So congratulations on another championship there."
[49:31] Dan Patrick
Other Topics Covered:
Commercials and Media Appearances: Barkley shares anecdotes about working on commercials, particularly expressing his views on Spike Lee's athleticism.
"Spike has 0 athletic ability."
[17:42] Charles Barkley
Physical Fitness and Player Shape: The conversation shifts to the importance of players being in "championship shape," critiquing Luka Doncic's physical condition.
"Luka wasn't in shape. I wonder how he's taking this."
[43:48] Dan Patrick
Bill Walton Bobblehead Incident: A light-hearted segment discusses a mishap with a Bill Walton bobblehead during the show.
"The Bill Walton bobblehead doll is back in business."
[37:33] Dan Patrick
The episode wraps up with final thoughts on ongoing NBA stories, upcoming games, and playful interactions between Dan Patrick and Charles Barkley. Barkley signs off with his characteristic humor and candid remarks, leaving listeners with insightful and entertaining commentary on the week's sports events.
Charles Barkley on Lakers' Competitiveness:
"The Lakers are not going to be a contender with the team they have now."
[00:56]
Barkley on Giannis Media Hype:
"I clearly don't remember when I played... but it makes me laugh like no, Giannis has got to leave Milwaukee now."
[02:15]
Barkley on Defensive Legends:
"Dennis was amazing, but Pippin, to me."
[09:27]
Dan Patrick on Coach Redick:
"JJ Redick looked at that bench and he went, I don't want to put those guys in."
[24:08]
Barkley on LeBron's Physical State:
"Welcome to old time age, brother. You can't hold it, you gotta go."
[19:18]
This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and humorous exchanges between Dan Patrick and Charles Barkley, providing listeners with an in-depth overview of the episode's content.