Russell Wilson to the Giants, Building our Perfect QB and Raymond Felton Talking Hoops

Summary

Episode Summary: "Russell Wilson to the Giants, Building our Perfect QB and Raymond Felton Talking Hoops"

In this episode of "Throwbacks with Matt Leinart & Jerry Ferrara," hosts Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara delve into a vibrant mix of current sports headlines, personal anecdotes, and insightful discussions with guest Raymond Felton. Released on March 27, 2025, this episode navigates through topics ranging from NFL signings and NCAA transfer dynamics to the evolving landscape of the NBA and the challenges of raising young athletes.

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Raymond Felton's Passion for Golf

Early in the episode, Raymond Felton shares his burgeoning interest in golf, highlighting his recent attendance at a Bryson DeChambeau launch event. Felton remarks, "Golf is speaking to me this year. It's just speaking to me, me. And it's because of you" ([00:53]). He describes witnessing DeChambeau's impressive display of power shots, mentioning, "Pitch black with lights, and he was trying to tag these drones in the sky. It was actually pretty funny, but he just hitting absolute laser beams" ([01:04]). Felton expresses his intent to incorporate golf into his routine more regularly, aiming to play at least once a month.

Navigating the NCAA Transfer Portal

The conversation shifts to the seismic shifts within college sports, particularly the impact of the NCAA transfer portal. Felton discusses the influx of over 700 players entering the portal, comparing it to free agency in professional sports. "Players are going to leave and go find another opportunity somewhere else. If they can. And, and, and that's the way it is" ([31:00]). The hosts debate the erosion of loyalty among athletes, with Felton asserting, "There's not a lot of loyalty anymore" ([32:00]. They further explore how schools are adapting by hiring general managers to manage recruiting and roster adjustments proactively.

Building the Perfect Quarterback

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to dissecting the recent signing of Russell Wilson to the New York Giants. Jerry Ferrara expresses skepticism, stating, "It's not my favorite player in the world either. Not my favorite" ([18:21]). The hosts debate whether the Giants' acquisition of Wilson diminishes the need for drafting a new quarterback, pondering the future of the team's performance. Felton muses, "The Giants would take Shador in a heartbeat. And now this signing of Wilson makes me believe that there's no chance Shador is going three" ([20:24]).

Parenting and Raising Young Athletes

Transitioning from professional sports to personal life, Matt Leinart and Jerry Ferrara discuss the joys and challenges of raising children who show interest in sports. Ferrara shares touching anecdotes about his son, Jacob, navigating basketball with enthusiasm while occasionally adopting colorful language. "He's in two different basketball camps right now. So I'm gonna ride this thing out as long as it lasts" ([12:25]). Felton echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the importance of nurturing talent and guiding young athletes with patience and encouragement.

NBA Era Debate: Old School vs. Modern Players

A spirited debate unfolds around the evolution of the NBA, focusing on whether former stars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant could compete in today's more pace-and-space-oriented game. Matt Barnes contends, "Professionals are professionals. Athletes are athletes, of course. And I think, you know, back in the day was very Physical. The game was totally different than what it is now" ([57:01]). The hosts discuss the physicality of past eras compared to the current emphasis on three-point shooting and athleticism, with Barnes advocating for the timeless skills and adaptability of legendary players.

Memories and Reflections on UNC and NBA Career

Reflecting on his illustrious career, Matt Barnes reminisces about winning the national championship with UNC and his experiences in the NBA. "One of my biggest parts of my career is winning that national championship because it's not easy to do. It's not easy to do" ([42:56]). He shares fond memories of playing alongside and against notable players, recounting intense rivalries and memorable moments on the court. Felton adds, "Playing in Cameron. Yeah, it's crazy. You got the students and the fans on top of you. They can barely. They can touch you on your back" ([45:13]), highlighting the electric atmosphere of college basketball rivalries.

Listener Mailbag: Building the Ideal Quarterback

Engaging with their audience, Leinart and Ferrara tackle listener questions about constructing the perfect quarterback team. Felton presents his ideal QB lineup, selecting players based on arm strength, accuracy, athleticism, and clutch performance. "Arm strength. I'll go Josh Allen. Accuracy. I'll go Tua. Athleticism. I'll go Lamar. Clutch factor. I'll go Joey B... overall, I'll go Patrick Mahomes" ([85:02]). Ferrara counters with his selections, focusing on accuracy and leadership qualities, demonstrating the diversity of opinions among sports enthusiasts.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reflect on the enduring nature of sports fandom and the evolving dynamics within various leagues. Felton underscores the importance of teaching young athletes the fundamentals despite the changing landscape, emphasizing, "You got to really just teach them the basics" ([73:10]). Leinart celebrates the camaraderie among former athletes and the lasting impact of their shared experiences, stating, "It's like a fraternity... it's like family, you know, So I think it means a whole lot more than just the name and, you know, the colors and just the history" ([43:05]).

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Notable Quotes:

• Raymond Felton ([00:53]): "Golf is speaking to me this year. It's just speaking to me, me. And it's because of you."

• Jerry Ferrara ([18:21]): "It's not my favorite player in the world either. Not my favorite."

• Matt Barnes ([57:01]): "Professionals are professionals. Athletes are athletes, of course. And I think, you know, back in the day was very Physical."

• Matt Barnes ([42:56]): "One of my biggest parts of my career is winning that national championship because it's not easy to do."

• Raymond Felton ([73:10]): "You got to really just teach them the basics."

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the episode's multifaceted discussions, providing listeners with a clear understanding of the engaging conversations between Matt Leinart, Jerry Ferrara, and guest Raymond Felton. Whether delving into professional sports strategies, reflecting on personal athletic journeys, or exploring the intricacies of parenting young athletes, this episode offers a rich tapestry of insights and stories for sports enthusiasts.

Transcript

[Jerry Ferrara]

Raymond Felton is just not dunking four times a game in the NBA. You think like, oh, he probably doesn't really have a dunk package. You should have dunked more in the NBA.

[Matt Barnes]

You.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You throwing it down.

[Matt Barnes]

I could really get up, but once I got into the league, man, listen, when you get knocked out the air by Shaquille O'Neal and some of these big dudes, you learn to shoot a flo.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, everybody, welcome into another episode of Throwbacks. Please. However you're listening to us, don't forget to leave a comment on the YouTube or leave a review on Apple or Spotify. It helps us out. Email us some questions, thoughts. We're doing some mailbags feedback at Throwback show.

[Raymond Felton]

Did you see my post about golfing? I said, golf is speaking to me this year. It's just speaking to me, me. And it's because of you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You went to a Bryson DeChambeau Launch.

[Raymond Felton]

I saw Bryson DeChambeau launch balls with his new driver, LA Golf. La Golf at Bel Air Country Club a couple nights ago. Pitch black with lights, and he was trying to tag these drones in. In the sky. It was actually pretty funny, but he just hitting absolute laser beams.

[Jerry Ferrara]

My goal is to get you to a place and you have a lot of hobbies and you work out a lot, and you got three.

[Raymond Felton]

I don't really have a lot of hobbies. I don't.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I mean, it's like you'll go, do you have beach volleyball? Right? You coach your kids and stuff. You have things. It's not like you're. You have tons of free time. However, my goal for you, and I'm glad you went to that, but you had a nice little blaze, like a sport coat, A blazer. What was that a nice piece on?

[Raymond Felton]

You know, I got to step up every once. My goal is I got more than. I got more than hoodies and sweats in the closet.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know, I would love to get you to a place where you golf like once a month, once every six weeks May like, you know, just get you in the mix.

[Raymond Felton]

Once a month is great. I'm actually. I hit up my boy because we have a couple par three courses, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's a great place to start.

[Raymond Felton]

So we have topgolf, which is a par three, and then there's a par three behind a hotel over here. That's actually pretty good. I used to play it decent amount. So I'm going to try and get one in this week and then. Yeah, I just. I just need to get out there, dude. It's calling me. It's. It is. I think since we've been doing this together, I, I've talked more about golf, been invited to. Really cool that I'll, I'll, we'll get to later on the pod, you know, in a couple months where I'm going this summer, which is freaking ridiculous.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And.

[Raymond Felton]

But, but yeah, man. Like, it's, it's, it's gonna be part of my life. It just takes up so much time.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It does. But can I say, and I'm gonna tell you about who our guest is today. I'm not gonna spoil who the guest is in the coming week or two.

[Raymond Felton]

All I'll say is you got a.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Little chubby for next major champion from the PGA Tour coming on. We'll talk. We're going to talk a little, man. Not today. Not this episode coming. I think maybe next week. We're looking good.

[Raymond Felton]

Good teaser, buddy. But you're. You have a. You have a chub.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I mean, zero. Easy. It was the easy. I'm already prepped for that interview next week. But we have a great guest today, too. I'm not trying to outshine our guy today because also he has some Nick's blood in him. Raymond Felton, former Target Felton man, national champ. Obviously, you know, the college tournaments coming back tonight, games will be going back on. I did think of you, though, Maddie, because we had Coach Gottlieb on a few weeks ago, and I know it's been talked about, but the juju interview and heartbreak. Women's college basketball. Yeah. Heartbreaking for so many reasons. Also, it happens in the tournament. We were on a collision course for UConn, which I think that could have really broken a lot of viewing records. I still think that's gonna be a good game. Now here's what I'll say. And hopefully we wish juju the best and hopefully a speedy recovery and a just a full recovery. I'm not counting out this USC women's team just yet. I know going into UConn that's going to be a massive upheaval without Juju, but I'm not so fast to say that's a wash. I feel like it's fired up now to get into the spotlight just to echo really quick.

[Raymond Felton]

I mean, you know, we're thinking about juju. She'll make a. She'll make a full recovery. She's going to come back stronger. We all know that. It is just hard. It's just, it's part of sports. It happens. And it's unfortunate, you know, and it's.

[Matt Barnes]

And.

[Raymond Felton]

And just what she's done for usc. I mean, the fact that, you know, those seats are full because of her and her team, but she's a star, man. Like, she. She's a superstar. And Coach Gottlieb talked about her a couple weeks ago. So, look, at the end of the day, it happens. She's gonna be fine. She's gonna come back bigger and better and stronger. But to your point, they. They've. They've recruited really well through the portal through high school, and this team is. Is. Is built to. To continue to make a run. I. I think it's going to be challenging if they do line up with UConn and Paige Beckers in the Elite Eight. I think that's a difficult game, the way UConn. I mean, Yukon might be the favorite to win it now, but, yeah, they. They've. Kiki was. Is a stud. Like, they've. They have eight or nine deep that they go, so they're going to be tough. You know, Lindsay does a great job there, so. But shout out. You know, we're thinking about juju. Obviously, she'll be better. And shout out to UFC women's basketball. Let's see. Let's see what they can do. But, yeah, Ray Felton, what a stud, too. I mean, just growing up. Cause we're the same age, so. Pretty much the same age, right? He's 40.

[Jerry Ferrara]

41, I think. He's 40 on the dot. About to.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah. So those are the. Those. I mean, UNC years. I mean, they had a squad back then. They had a absolute squad the year they won the national championship.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm a little mad at unc, though, because I had them on the fourth leg of a nice little opening parlay, and they just didn't come through. They came back from, like, 25 down, and they suckered me right back into. Okay, I might still win this bet. You took UNC to win? Well, I. No, no, just for that game. For that. Yeah, just for that game. It was.

[Raymond Felton]

Ole Miss is playing. I hope Ole Miss is playing good.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what? Here's a take, and then we'll get to Ray. So I used to, you know, avoid flying during things like March Madness or an NFL playoff game or a basketball game. I really wanted to watch because if you didn't get that JetBlue DirecTV seat, you couldn't really watch the Wi Fi. Now they figured it out for the most part. Every now and then, you get on the flights where the WI FI doesn't work or the airline, whatever. But for the most part. For the most part, it's really, really good. So I flew home. I did that movie in Florida. I stayed a few days and played some golf with the boys. No surprise. And then I flew home for that Colorado State, Maryland game on the plane. So I was able to order a drink, pop open the laptop. It was like a sports bar in the air to the point where when we landed, I was like, taxi, a little slower. I gotta see. I saw the ending while taxiing to my gate, and it was an awesome flight. And now I'm gonna start making flights. Four games I want to watch as long as that WI fi holds up. So Thursday's a. This Thursday's a. You know, it's a sneaky good day because the tournament kicks back up. And then we got Major League Baseball opening day. I'm busting this out for you, Matt, although I think my boys are gonna have a lot of questions. But listen, here's the bigger question. How much baseball you get to tune into early, bro?

[Raymond Felton]

We'll talk about baseball in. In September, okay?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Three, four months from now.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah, maybe the All Star break. Maybe that. Let's talk about baseball. There's too many games, dude. We might go on. We might win 120 games this year. I mean, that is true. 30.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And I got. Honestly, I just go back in, talk about.

[Raymond Felton]

I just really. I want to say, like, thinking about Mookie Bets, man. Really sick. That's the only thing, really, I care about. He's been sick.

[Jerry Ferrara]

What's happening with it? Have they got them to the bottom of it?

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah, he's lost, like, 30 pounds. I just been reading the report. So nasty virus, flu, whatever, but not eating.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He's not able to, like, hold down.

[Raymond Felton]

Food, so he'll be fine. But, yeah, think about it. But, yeah, but you. You catch me on the ba. You catch me baseball in the summer, dude, we talk about.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I was so back in last. End of last season, into the playoffs, but to the point where I said, I'm gonna really pay more. And it's not that attention. I don't love baseball. I think when you have kids and as you get older, you have to let go of some things. You have to make some tough choices. And for me, I'm not letting go of football, college and pro. I'm not letting go of basketball. And baseball was one of the things that I let go a little bit. And ufc, some fights that are on, like, after midnight because I just can't stay awake. However, LA at the end of last season. I was saying, I'm back in on baseball. I'm gonna. The true test if you're back in on baseball, especially if you're t. If you don't live in the city that your favorite team is in, is. Are you the baseball package? I am not yet currently subscribed. Let me.

[Raymond Felton]

Let me just. Let me just say something really quick about my team. And for all the Dodger fans listening, this might be the greatest pitching rotation of all time. And now they got to stay healthy. But let me just read some names off.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Go ahead.

[Raymond Felton]

First of all, Snell H, Just a minor pickup this off season. He's a Cy Young.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So annoying.

[Raymond Felton]

Tyler Glasno, a monster who, by the way, was hurt most of last year. He's back. Yamamoto. Okay. Yamamoto Sasaki, the other guy we picked up. Oh, and then let me just throw in Sh. Otani, by the way, who's probably a top four pitcher in the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Forgot he pitches because he's probably.

[Raymond Felton]

Guys, I'm leaving. I mean, Kershaw came back, you know, obviously, shout out to Kersha. I mean, it is unbelievable. And then you just. Just throw the lineup in there with Mookie and Freddy and. I mean, look, dude, that. That's what I'm saying. We're going to coast, okay? I'm going to follow my Lakers here the next couple months. We're going to make a deep playoff run. It's a long, long MLB season, dude. A long one. I'm not worried about what happens in April and May and June. You get.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're a bucko. Five, like, 105 wins is, like a down, dude.

[Raymond Felton]

I'll check the standings, like, every four days, and we'll be up 4, 14 games by the time June comes around. And it's like, all right, let's go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You'll watch them at bats, right? You'll see, like, Ohtani's up with two on, and they're down two in the ninth. Let me just see what happens.

[Raymond Felton]

I'll take the. I'll take the boys to a gamer. We'll go to a couple. We go to a couple games every year. I'll take the boys this year. Probably the first time we'll see Cason's ready. Cannon might not, but you know, those things. We go for six, seven innings and we leave, and it's a pretty fun day for them, so.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, it was. One of the first things we truly bonded on with this podcast was the Yankees Dodgers World Series. I will say, for my Yanks, interesting off season. And I just can already tell you, we might not pay attention to it now, but when it gets into September, you're just going to hear a lot about that fifth inning or sixth or whatever it was. You're just going to. That is going to be the real. If it's a FOX game or whoever has the game nationally, they're espn. They're going to bring that clip up. We're going to see that a lot this year being brought back up.

[Raymond Felton]

I want to ask you about the. The. The kids. I think Bri posted something on Instagram or maybe it was you about. I mean, are we raising a little? Are we raising a little. A little point guard in the Ferrara house or what, man? I mean, you know, that not get you pumped.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm trying to keep my emotions in check because, you know, with kids, right, like, it's. It's this for two weeks and then next week, who knows, it could be. I don't do that anymore. But since going to that Knicks game and I showed him when we were in Florida, I showed him a clip of that Bridges game winner against the Blazers, right? Because he's never seen a game winner. I'm like, here come. I was in the morning too. So the next day, I'm like, watch this clip of me. I showed it and we watched it again in, like, slow motion. And he heard Mike Breen make the call, and that was it. He kept it moving. So they come back here. I'm. I'm still in Florida, and Bree sends me a video of Jacob in his Carl Anthony Towns jersey driving and shoots a basket. And when he hits it, he goes, bridges for the win. Bang. It's good. Nick's will, he did the Mike Green call.

[Raymond Felton]

That's great.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Asks me every morning, dad, did the Knicks win? Even if they didn't play last night? And he's. He's in two different basketball camps right now. So I'm gonna ride this thing out as long as it lasts. I don't know if it's forever, but, man, do you keep them spot right now?

[Raymond Felton]

It's a good start because typically if they don't care, they'll just show no interest. Or, like, they'll. They'll hate. Not. They'll hate if you drag them to something. They'll hate if you want them to watch something with you. But if he shows interest on his own, then, dude, you just keep. You keep milking that. Keep. Kind of keep watching a game with them, keep showing some highlights, because he's gonna get the bug, dude. And it Doesn't I mean, that that's just in him, which is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you really don't know what your kids hear you say. Someone at. When he was wearing the Towns jersey, someone asked Jacob, why do you like Carl Anthony Towns? He's like, I like that his nickname's Cat. But he has too many dumb fouls, which is exactly what he got that from. He heard me bitching about Cat for having a dumb, like, too many dumb fouls. And now that's, like, in his brain.

[Raymond Felton]

Well, the word that's going around our house is ass cheeks. I gotta be honest. I, I, it's not for mom and dad. I have no, I have no clue.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Kids, cursing is super funny, but you really have to manage your reactions, because then it's just gonna be full ass cheeks.

[Raymond Felton]

It's ass cheeks. And then this morning when I drop. I dropped the boys off at school. Cannon's gonna get kicked out of school at, like, age 7. He goes butt cheeks into the. He said butt chee this time.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And I go, he cleaned it up.

[Raymond Felton]

He's in, he's in, he's in preschool, right? So, like, I walk in, the teacher's in there. Like, it's, it's pretty low key. It's. It's awesome. Walk in, put his bag around Case and follows me. And I drop Case and start school after, and he just goes in and he's just like, butt cheeks. And I'm like, I looked at him, I said, dude, you cannot say that in school.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, stop. Your bag. You don't do that.

[Raymond Felton]

No, I say, the police are gonna come and get you. And he goes, daddy, really? I go, yeah, man, you can't say that, that word.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You're gonna get locked up, dude.

[Raymond Felton]

Ass cheeks, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay, It's March Madness, and Wendy's is hyped. The courts are polished, the jerseys are on. There's a junior bacon cheeseburger or double stack for $1 with in app offer and purchase. The lights are lit again. There's a JBC or double stack just for $1 with in app offer and purchase. The shoes are shy. All right, all right, Sorry.

[Raymond Felton]

All right. Wendy's is the official hamburger of March Madness, which means more deals for you and more burgers for your face. It also means that, well, you know this. We've got a JBC or a double stack for $1 with an in app offer and purchase. Sorry. It's just hard not to get excited when there's an offer on two of the freshest, hot, off the grillest burgers.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That Wendy's makes the JBC with fresh beef, applewood, smoked bacon, cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato and mayo and the hot and juicy Double Stack two patties of fresh never frozen beef with cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion. The real champions of March Madness.

[Raymond Felton]

Head to the Wendy's app to grab the $1 JBC or the $1 double stack with in app offer and purchase.

[Jerry Ferrara]

For the freshest deals in fast food. Got to be Wendy's. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Account registration required. It's one of the best times of year for sports fans around the country. Tournament time. You got the games on all throughout the day. You're keeping track of your office pools. All the close finishes have you on the edge of your seat. It's the best.

[Raymond Felton]

But regardless of who makes it to the final game in the tourney, one thing's for certain. It takes the most talented people working together to help these teams play at this level. If you're hiring, you want the most talented people on your team to help your business go to the next level. How do you find them? ZipRecruiter and right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com throwbacks ZipRecruiter.

[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Raymond Felton]

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[Jerry Ferrara]

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[Raymond Felton]

Is that how you feel? You feel. Do you think it's just ass cheeks? Well, I mean, Jameis Winston's a throwbacks, you know, he's a. He's a friend of the show.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Friend of the show.

[Raymond Felton]

I love that signing, by the way.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I love the James signing. I was fully ready.

[Raymond Felton]

You don't like the Russell signing?

[Jerry Ferrara]

And me and all my group chats and all that, we were fully ready to just embrace. Look, we ain't really going anywhere. Malik Neighbors probably going to break their wide receiver receiving yards record with Jamis. It's going to be a wild ride to six or seven wins, but it'll be fun. We'll have some weird comebacks. It'll be. It just is going to be an entertaining bad year. And then. And then look, while still maybe drafting a quarterback and who knows? The Russell Wilson signing now. Not my favorite player in the world either. Not my favorite. Yeah.

[Raymond Felton]

Why is that?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I just. He's a little bit history there. There's a little bit of a history there. But also.

[Raymond Felton]

What? Well, no, no, no, no. You can't just throw that out there and not talk about.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, if you really want.

[Raymond Felton]

He came on Entourage, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. And Doug, Ellen and Connolly talk about a lot about it on the Victory podcast, like when we were promoting the first. He's in the Entourage movie along with Gronk and Edelman and a bunch of. A bunch of cameos. Right. And he's the one who threw the pass that Connolly broke his leg on when I was guarding him. It was a Russell Wilson pass that got Connolly's leg broken. Not his fault. And he was all about it. Had us up to Seattle after the movie was done. We screened the Entourage movie for the entire. By the way. We were trying to get into the facility, and we were locked out, and no one was coming to get us. And Pete Carroll walked up chewing gum, like, what are you guys doing? And he had no idea who we were right away. And like, we're meeting up with Russ. We're screwing any. Pete Carroll let us in. We ran the 40. We did that tennis ball machine where you catching the tennis balls. We did a bunch of drills, kicked some field goals, screen the movie for the entire team, all this stuff. And he's like, Kim and Doug are like friends. Like, they come and Then just movie gets close to coming out. You know, it's doing good. Not great tracking Strand. And then people start saying, oh, Entourage is toxic. And then I think Russell just ghosted everybody from Entourage, ghosted Doug, ghost everyone. Like, just unfollows, like just high knees on the plane.

[Raymond Felton]

Something. Something happened there.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't think something specific happened other than maybe he saw it wasn't a giant hit and did. I don't know. I don't. I. I don't know. Nice guy. Nice guy. A few times I have hung out with a very nice guy.

[Raymond Felton]

So you're holding on. You're holding on to a beef for, like, 14 years.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So there's a half a beef, but then when you dive into the actual. So. But the former Steelers quarterback room is now in New York. You got Fields with the Jets, Russell William Wilson with the Jets. Where are you going? Where are you and Matt? Are we. Do they not draft a quarterback now? Do you. I know Wilson's like, 10 years guaranteed. One year. That's you.

[Raymond Felton]

You saw. Yeah, I mean, the Jameis signing. Okay. All right. We got a bridge guy. Let's go see if we can get. Let's go get Shador. I. I think Cam Ward's a lock to go number one.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Right.

[Raymond Felton]

That's all. I think that's a lock. Right. So what does Cleveland do it to? And then Giants at three, and we talked about it this week on the phone. Just like I think Giants. I think Giants would take Shador in a heartbeat. And now this signing of Wilson makes me believe that there's no chance Shador is going three, that he's going to go number two right now. And now. But what if Shador does go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But the Browns don't have a quarterback. They have Kenny Pickett. That's it.

[Raymond Felton]

Maybe they're in the same boat. Maybe they're just like, you know what?

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll. Well, there's no one left. It's Flacco this year.

[Raymond Felton]

And then we'll go get Arch Manning.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Next year, take our chances with Kenny Pickett. No offense to Kenny.

[Raymond Felton]

Like you said, go win a couple games and then. And then go get. And then set yourself up to get Arch Manning next year, who I think will be the number one pick. All that's being said is, is I saw. I understood the Jamis thing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes, me, too. And why do you need both? Why do you need both?

[Raymond Felton]

Exactly. And that's. I mean, and listen, like, Russell Wilson's a starter. I don't. Like. I don't think there's going to be a competition there. And maybe they told him there is going to be competition. I can't imagine. Wilson's not the star. He actually played pretty well for Pittsburgh last year. But I just don't see like that's not a move that's going to get the fans excited and it's not a move that's going to say, all right, well now New York is. I mean, now they can compete in that division and get to a playoff. It doesn't, it doesn't say any of that, which is why give them all that money, you know, and go draft. Go try and get Jackson Dart, you know, trade back, trade. By the way, maybe I'll start talking.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Milroe over this situation. Like you could talk me into a lot of other. I got talked. I talked myself into Joe Milton before a lot.

[Raymond Felton]

There's some drafts that have Dart going in the top 10.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I know, it's so crazy.

[Raymond Felton]

And you could trade. I mean, that's the thing. Like he's. Yeah. I don't know, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I've always been able to spin it, Matt. I'm. I'm excellent at spin. What I mean is like I, I was able to spin the Daniel Jones draft pit when they drafted them. Even though it was way too high. I tried to spin it and it made sense and then I was able to spin the contract. Right. It's like there's so like, what quarterbacks. Could you even pay at this point? There is no spinning this. And for me, anything short of a playoff, win a playoff appearance and win, it's a failure. If they, if they win eight games, what does that get you? They go eight and nine. That's, that's bad.

[Raymond Felton]

They're not, they're not winning.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's worse than how many.

[Raymond Felton]

What was the record last year? They won what, four games?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Five, Something like that. And by the way, they're over under wins. Total was three and a half. They signed both these quarters.

[Raymond Felton]

Four and a half. It's three and a half still. Three and a half.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, it moved. It didn't move at all.

[Raymond Felton]

It's gonna be another long fall for you, buddy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And then now I know we'll talk about it because we're going to be doing some a lot of fun draft stuff. But now do I gotta start getting my mind ready for Travis Hunter? It's. It just. I don't know if this is. And is this keeping your job? If you're like Dable and Shane? Is this the move. This is a thing that's going to allow you and buy you more time. It's a, it's awful, man.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah, I, I, I don't, I don't know. I don't know. I don't have an answer for you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Nine starters.

[Raymond Felton]

I don't know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

20, 20.

[Raymond Felton]

I don't know the reasoning of both. And, you know, I know. I think obviously Rogers is, I think that's going to happen quickly.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's gotta be Steelers now. There's no right. Steelers or Browns.

[Raymond Felton]

Cleveland, Cleveland Shador and Kenny Pickett. You know, prime wants him to go to New York so bad, probably number three.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They should. The jets and the Giants at this point should draft.

[Raymond Felton]

They still could draft Shador at 3.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I mean, maybe what we could do, like for the NFL draft that could be fun before the actual draft is we'll sit down and let's, let's do a draft. If we combine the jets and the Giants to make one team, what players are we taking? Because that's where we're at.

[Raymond Felton]

Already talking Giants in March.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No, I'm not talking Giants. But come on, what did you, your mind must have been a little broken when you saw that.

[Raymond Felton]

No, my mind immediately went to you. I said, oh, Jerry's gonna be so pissed.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Poor guy. Poor.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah. I was like, why? But it's just. Why? I don't get it. I don't get it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We've mentioned a few times how much we appreciate the rating, the ratings and reviews on this show. It does help on Apple and Spotify particularly. And before we give you the Wendy's fresh moves, we want to just. We're going to take a second. We're going to read another one. Hold on, let me see. Got a few. Okay. I like this guy. I promise this one's not me. The name is NYC Football. So someone right now who wrote this review, not too happy. Either jets or Giants fan, but NYC Football says chemistry between these guys. That's us. Is great. Shows getting better. Every episode feel like I'm in their real life Entourage.

[Raymond Felton]

Did your boy write that?

[Jerry Ferrara]

That does seem like someone I would know that wrote that. Or maybe even me. It wasn't me. This is a real review. You could see it. But it does help us. So if you get a second.

[Raymond Felton]

What would a real life entourage look like? Am I mean in my Vinnie Chase and your Turtle, or am I Turtle to your Vinn?

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't think.

[Raymond Felton]

Are we just rocking? We're just rocking and rolling. Just Matt and Jerry.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't have Vinnie Chase vibes. I just never have. You're Vinnie Chase, bro. That's it. You're Vinnie Chase. I think I could be a good E right now.

[Raymond Felton]

I think you're. I think you're a goodie. I think you're. I think you're more than.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So we have two spots open. We have Johnny Drama open and we have Turtle open.

[Raymond Felton]

So I still can't look like it's so funny, dude. Because obviously now that I know you, I can't look at you in. In pictures of Turtle and just look at you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

The same early years.

[Raymond Felton]

You were £250.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I wasn't 250. That's a little extreme. I was 205.

[Raymond Felton]

No shout out. I mean, you look. You look like. You look fantastic, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm just saying I remember something crazy. You gotta remember something too, Matt. I came in, like a little heavy, but also once something starts working. But once something starts working, you just add. Then it's just. You know. And look, the fat jokes worked and it became a thing.

[Raymond Felton]

You played it up.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And you've been on sets before. You've. You. You're in sag. You know, you get around those craft service tables. Six in the morning when you haven't eaten anything yet and there's fresh hot Krispy Kreme donuts just sitting there on the table with good cod. They'll take your coffee order. You know, it's just a great place.

[Raymond Felton]

It's great.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Great place to put on some weight.

[Raymond Felton]

When I was. When I was super fat when I was little, my brother. My brother would go to my mom and he would be like, mom, like, what are we gonna do about Maddie? He's so fat. This is when he was like 15 and I'm fat.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Shaming you.

[Raymond Felton]

You know, And God bless my mom. My mom was like, don't worry, he'll grow out of it. He'll grow out of it. And sure enough, I grew out of it. But, dude, there's some rough ears, bro.

[Jerry Ferrara]

How tall is your bro?

[Raymond Felton]

Six feet. Dude, I'm a.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So is he considered. Is that more normal? Like, are. Is your height and aberration in your family? You're what, about six?

[Raymond Felton]

We used. We used to say it was a mailman, but it couldn't have been the mailman. Not one person in my family is over 61 and that's extended everything. So I'm just. I'm an anomaly.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, you got some, like, great, great great grandfather who. I don't somewhere.

[Raymond Felton]

I had a great. I think a great unc. Might have been six. Two. Maybe I did. Dude, My grandparents were short. My mom was. My mom was f. My mom for was like five eight, five, seven five eight. And growing up, you know, in the 60s, 70s, that was pretty tall. My dad's five'eleven so like yeah, man, I don't know what happened but. But yeah, dude, shout out to.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Shout out to £50 turtle change. Yeah, you said I was. If I was 250, I'd have to be hospitalized at five.

[Raymond Felton]

Dude, you're five nine. Five nine.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I love it.

[Raymond Felton]

Yes.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Keep it coming.

[Raymond Felton]

Did I just give you five nine?

[Jerry Ferrara]

You gave me five. If I was five nine, I'd be Vince, bro.

[Raymond Felton]

Five six. Two bills.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes, 205 bills.

[Raymond Felton]

Yep. Look at you now, bro. Hosted throwbacks.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, again, give us some more of those ranging reviews.

[Raymond Felton]

We do appreciate it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

And now it's time for fresh moves of the week brought to you by Wendy's. Head to the Wendy's app to get a $1 JBC or a $1 double stack with offer and additional purchase. All right. Each week we're going to pick our fresh moves of the week and it hard to. For me to ignore, you know, again, I'm new to nil and the trying to keep up with transfer portals and all that. 750 men's hoops players, student athletes entered the transfer portal. Gone already. There was already 250 there from other coaching changes and stuff like that. They're expecting oh like well over a thousand, maybe two thousand. Who knows? Matt, is this now just free agency? It's free agency, right?

[Raymond Felton]

Oh, yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I have a question for you.

[Raymond Felton]

We talked about during college football. Remember the backup quarterback for Penn State? Yes. He bounced and because. Because that's when the portal window opens. So it leaves the student at these players a limited amount of time to either stay or go find another home somewhere, which then obviously you're leaving your team. And I think Pippin, like Scotty's. Pippin's son did that. He was on Michigan. Yeah, Michigan's still playing obviously in the sweet sixteen. And he wasn't, you know, he's not playing a lot, but he left his team in the portal and along with over 700 players that you said. It's. It's the same thing that we talked about in football. The. The windows need to be changed. Yes. It's. It's just, it's. It's just, it's. It's crazy. Like there's not really an answer that we have. Like the windows are open this time. Players are going to leave and go find another opportunity somewhere else. If they can. And, and that's the way it is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But how crazy is it even? I think One player, so St. John's right, gets bounced in the second round. They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. They couldn't hit water if they fell off a boat in that game. And I, I hate what happened to Lewis and how that team, how the fans started, like, going at him. That's horrible. But anyway, they clearly, the shooting was always a thing they need to shoot. They already got a shooter. Kid from Arizona state transferring 6, 5 wing could shoot. They like, already addressed one part of their thing that was a loss. So it felt like a free agency.

[Raymond Felton]

Isn't it crazy? Like, a lot of these schools now are hiring general managers. You know, they have to. So you have coaches, and we'll just take March Madness college basketball coaches and GMs that are playing in the tournament but have eyes and ears and people already looking to, to uphold their. Or upholster the roster for the following year because they know they're going to have guys that leave and they know there's going to be guys available. So that first day of the portal, when you get 500 kids, boom, you already have guys. And by the way, you have a coach practicing for a March Madness game, while you probably have a GM on the computer doing all their recruiting rankings, reaching out to these kids. It's just, it's crazy that that's happening, but that's, that's the way this system is right now. And it's, it's, it's just the, the hard part is like, it feels like there's not a lot of loyalty anymore. On.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's what I was gonna ask.

[Raymond Felton]

You know what I mean? Like, it's, it's. And, and again, the argument from the athlete's perspective is coaches can leave and take more money and they, they can leave a team. And I get that right. And so now the players have a lot more say, a lot more power. They can kind of control some of their decisions, which is, which is great. But you just don't see, like back in the day, when you sign a letter of intent, you sign a letter of intent to go play for that school, and you were, you were, they were being loyal to you by offering you a scholarship, and you were being loyal to them by committing to that school and competing and, and doing your best and trying to. And it hopes it works out. And then in the opposite, like, maybe you would transfer a couple years in and all of that kind of stuff. And that Just doesn't happen anymore. And to that point, there was a crazy graphic going around this week, and I want to. I want to ask you this, a little trivia question, so.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, boy. Okay. Not ready for this as well.

[Raymond Felton]

We're talking about the portal and just the constant change. So there's 16 teams, right? Sweet 16. There was a graphic out there that basically had the starting lineup for each team and where those players started in college. So they could have started at the school they're at, and they're still the Sweet 16 from the Sweet 16. There is one team in the Sweet 16 where all five starters started at at their school and have stayed at their school. One team. Can you guess that team?

[Matt Barnes]

Oh, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, there's.

[Raymond Felton]

There's a couple teams that have four. Four of the five starters and their fifth.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's not so much that they went to the end. They switch schools. They're at other schools.

[Raymond Felton]

Yep, got it. One team in the Sweet 16.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm gonna. I'm not confident, but I'm gonna say Maryland.

[Raymond Felton]

Nope.

[Jerry Ferrara]

No.

[Raymond Felton]

Same. Same conference, though. Big Ten.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I don't even know. I gotta pull up. Who's remaining too?

[Raymond Felton]

I'll tell you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Tell me, please.

[Raymond Felton]

Purdue.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Purdue, I was gonna say.

[Raymond Felton]

So all five starters on Purdue started at Purdue. They haven't left. Whether freshman. They have some older guys, too. Michigan State. Four or five start at Michigan State. Duke.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Actually four or five that I knew. I knew Duke wasn't the.

[Matt Barnes]

And then.

[Raymond Felton]

And then you go into some of these. Some of these teams, like BYU 3.

[Jerry Ferrara]

BYU's got a player coming in next year, though.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah, I mean, Houston, three of five. Maryland, I think two of five based.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, my guess was terrible. Maryland, Tennessee.

[Raymond Felton]

Only two. But, like, there's a couple that all Four, five or one. Like Auburn. I think just one from Auburn. The rest of the starters all came from somewhere else, if I'm not mistaken. It's just crazy. And it goes to the point. It's like. Like, especially in hoops where you can be one and done and all that kind of stuff.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's just. So two things for you on this. Like, look, I totally get if you're not getting playing time, but you've. You were a big recruit and you've shown some promise, and for whatever reason, you're not getting playing time, you go in the portal. Got it. I also get the coaching change. Hey, it was. This guy brought me here. It's totally different. I'm just. New start for me. Great. How much, if at all, though, is this really Saying I just could get more money here, you know, like, is that, do you think that's becoming a main reason why some of these things? Because the playing time part is like tried and true. And in football I really, really get it. You know, you just want to get reps and get seen. Basketball, you know, you could still go off on your potential even if you don't get the playing time. I mean, is it as simple as some of these guys just could get more money elsewhere?

[Raymond Felton]

Dude, same as football. Absolutely. You have. And, and, and that's why we've seen sort of the Cinderella kind of fade this year in the first, you know.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like it would be careful with that. Cinderella will be dead soon.

[Raymond Felton]

It's the first time since 2007 that there are no teams seated number 11 or higher in the sweet 16. The top 16 teams in the tournament all won their first round games. That's the 17. Yeah. It's just to your point, I think a lot of these mid majors, lower level schools, you have a really good player that it's, it's this, it's the same, it's the same thing in college football. And I tell a lot of kids this, if you're a quarterback especially or whoever, and it's like to go play for a smaller school, group of five school compete, start ball then, then, then in two years Georgia are coming Colin, Oregon are coming Colin. Because you have the experience and you're going to go get a bag. It's the same thing in basketball. I mean you go out there and play for a mid level team, a mid major team and you average 15 to 20 a game or you have a nice little tournament where you have one or two good games, you're getting a payday somewhere else. That's what we've seen. That's what we're seeing in the portal now. It's just wild. Yeah. So I think a lot of it, I would say most of it is chasing, chasing the money and a better opportunity, potentially.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Shout out Wendy's because that was. We gave you 750 fresh moves right there. Because 750 players went to the portal before we bring in Raymond Felton. I was, you know me, I always try to think how I could equate sort of my job and my business into sports. So what, what's like the transfer portal in Hollywood and can there be one? The answer is no, of course. It's a silly thing to think of, but I racked my brain trying to think what would be a good equivalent. And I think I Came up with it. A transfer portal for characters killed off of shows. Now, here's why they need the transfer portal. I'm going to bring you quickly through the process of getting killed off a show. It's happened to me multiple times.

[Raymond Felton]

Josie got killed off a show.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, the biggest thing is, you know, with power, and Power had multiple deaths a week. They bring you in like Hard Knocks. Courtney Kemp would call me and say, bring your scripts. Like, when they're cutting the player on Hard Knocks, bring your scripts. You're like, oh, it's happening. But the biggest thing is it's not that you can't take another job right away. You just got to be really secretive, because if we shot my death scene and I take a job the next day, and then it gets announced in the trades, oh, Jerry Ferrara is on the office. You could kind of say, oh, we know he's getting killed off Power. Then it tips the ending off. So a lot of times they want you to wait to take a job and really do a good job about not announcing it. I think a transfer portal for characters killed off would be a good easy way with rules written in to transition on another show.

[Raymond Felton]

So what show. What show would you go to?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Like, when I was getting killed off Power and. Yeah, and if I was, let's see. I mean, it might have been nice to pop up on, I don't know, like a Handmaid's Tale or something. Something dark. I don't know.

[Raymond Felton]

Keep the drama going.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's a good show, man. Maybe pop up on Ted Lasso. Even though there's only two.

[Raymond Felton]

You just went from Handmaid's Tale to Ted Lasso.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So I'm just trying to think of the last two shows I watched while Power was on.

[Raymond Felton]

I don't know. Watch a White Lotus right now. That's good.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll do. We'll do a White Lotus recap. At some point.

[Raymond Felton]

We should start doing recaps on here. I binge the last.

[Jerry Ferrara]

This is at all time hbo. Are you caught up on White Lotus?

[Raymond Felton]

No, I'm not. So. Okay, we'll talk.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We'll talk later. I guarantee you'll watch it and you will text to me.

[Raymond Felton]

I've. I've been. I've been trying to get. Get, like, everyone's talking about it online, so I'm trying not to look into, like, what happens. I. I don't know anything that happens. We've only watched two episodes, so we're fine.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, you, at some point. Well, I guarantee I'll get a WTF from you at some point as you get along in the season. All right, again, thanks, Wendy's. And now let's bring on Raymond Felton.

[Matt Barnes]

Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from Ebglis. After an initial dosing phase of 16 weeks, about 4 in 10 people taking EBGLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[Jerry Ferrara]

EBGLIS Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250 milligram per.

[Raymond Felton]

2 milliliter injection, is a prescription medicine.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Used to treat treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who.

[Raymond Felton]

Weigh at least 88 pounds or 40.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also.

[Raymond Felton]

Called atopic dermatitis, that is not well.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Controlled with prescription therapies used on the.

[Raymond Felton]

Skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Ebglis can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Ebglis. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur.

[Raymond Felton]

Tell your doctor if you have new.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Ebglis. Before starting Ebglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Matt Barnes]

Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about epglis and visit epgliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate First. Like you know to check the Jumbotron first before attempting to eat a stack of Supreme Nachos in one bite. Now you're just a meme that everyone shares on game day. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

[Jerry Ferrara]

There are people out there all across the country pushing boundaries to grow the game of golf, like champion speed golfer Lauren Kupp, who plays faster than anyone else, and Will Lowrey, whose work in the golf community inspires more kids to get into the game. As a champion partner of the Masters, bank of America supports everyone determined to find out what's possible in golf and in life. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America bank of America NA Member FDIC Copyright 2025 bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. All right, thanks for joining us. Right. We were just talking a little bit before you jumped on too. I. I celebrated the 20 year anniversary last year with Entourage. It was 20 years since Entourage started. And then we were kind of looking back. You're coming up on 20 years since your national championship with us. So about that number, that 20 year number, I don't know why. It just really starts to reflect, makes you feel old. Has it hit you yet? There's been 20 years since the national championship?

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, man. We just. Early in the year, we had our reunion. We did it during football season just because a lot of guys coaching and a lot of guys can't move around like that during basketball season. So it was just fun, man, to get back with my old teammates. We still keep in contact. We all like brothers. We still have our group chat. We keep in contact with each other throughout the year. But just to get with everybody and see everybody, man, it was. It was so real just to relive that moment and just to, you know, see videos and, you know, we had like a little slideshow that we did and everything. So it was fun to see. It was fun for my family to see it. You know, who wasn't there to be a part of it when I was. When I was a young buck. So it was. It was one of those moments where you can. You can never take that from me. That's probably one of my biggest parts of my career is winning that national championship because it's not easy to do. It's not easy to do.

[Raymond Felton]

I remember, you know, we were. We were in college the same time I was at usc. And when you. When you look at USC football, it's a football school. The Cardinal and Gold there. It's just something about wearing that jersey. And then you look at all the. The former players, you know, Marcus Allen, Ronnie lots, and all those guys I can own. And I'm. I love basketball. I grew up playing basketball. My oldest son played basketball forever. Like, what is it like wearing, like, a North Carolina basketball uniform? Like, I just, as a fan, I. I gotta imagine, like, walking around that school being the starting point guard for a national championship team. It's got to be, like, pretty electric.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Best colorway in the. In the. In all.

[Raymond Felton]

It is too, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Best colorway ever. Best colorway ever.

[Matt Barnes]

One thing I can say, man, Carolina fans is. Is amazing. They. They travel, they. Everywhere you go. I don't care where. Where I played at. When I was in the NBA, there was Always Carolina fans there. There was always fans at the games. And it's. I don't know, man. It's just. It's like a fraternity, you know, like, guys like Vince and like, even mj. James Worthy, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, I can. The list goes on, you know, Was like a real good friend of mine who both played football, you know, and he also played basketball in Carolina.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He could hoop, right?

[Matt Barnes]

He can hoop, really jump out the gym.

[Raymond Felton]

You should have seen him coming off the edge, though. That was scary.

[Matt Barnes]

But, you know, the history goes on, man. And it's just. And it's like a brotherhood. Like, I could call any of those guys to this day, you know, and I didn't even play with them. And it's like. And it's like family, you know, So I think it means a whole lot more than just the name and, you know, the colors and just the history. It's just. It's like a. It's like a big fraternity. You know, we. We all look out to each other. We all, you know, like family. I don't care how far it goes back, you know, Some of these guys I never even played with. Some of these guys I watched playing growing up. Some of them I never even seen play. I just see clips of them and it still. It still doesn't matter. It's like family, man. So. So putting on that jersey and being a part of that is special, you know, something that is going to be with me for the rest of my life.

[Raymond Felton]

So I had the pleasure of going to a UNC Duke game, but at Duke. So I didn't go to Chapel Hill. I was at Duke, but it was. I've been to a lot of sport events. It's like this one was a bucket list one. And do you have any funny. Any unique stories about that rivalry? And I know you played against Reddick, right?

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah.

[Raymond Felton]

And Reddick is literally outside of Christian Lake. There's, like, the most. We always thought, like, Duke always has. You had, like, Leitner, you had Reddick, you had Grayson Allen, you had, like, three of the top five probably most hated college basketball players of all time. Do you have any stories playing against JJ or just that rivalry in general?

[Matt Barnes]

Well, no, really don't have no stories. You know, jj, you know, me and JJ have been battling with each other ever since high school. You know, we was in the same McDonald's game, just AAU and just going to college, him going to Duke, me going to Carolina. And it's just always been a rivalry and a battle. JJ is one of those guys that, you know, he didn't really get up under my skin, but I know Jackie Manuel got up under his skin because Jackie Manuel was on him like. Like white on rice, man. It was. But it was fun, you know, I think. I think the rivalry and the junk talking and all that stuff really comes from the fans and the students more than. More than me, you know what I'm saying? Because actually, you know, Sean Darker is like one of my. One of my good friends even to this day. And he went to Duke, and it was never no bad blood, but when we stepped on the court against each other, it was like we wasn't friends. It was time to compete and was trying to. Trying to win a game. But when it comes to jj, though, you know, JJ was always one of those guys that, you know, he could shoot the piss out of the ball, and I guess people just didn't like him. He always had that little. That little arrogant look about him, and guys just. Just didn't like it. But, you know, it did bother me, you know, J.J. cool with me. We got a chance to play with each other with the Clippers in the league as well, so, you know, everything comes in full circle, man. But. But that rivalry is like, man, playing in Cameron. Yeah, it's crazy. You got the students and the fans on top of you. They can barely. They. Sometimes when you take the ball out, they can touch you on your back. That's how close they are, so. But it's fun, though. It's electric.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah. We talk a lot on this show about rivalries, even at professional sports, and it feels like, look, there's certainly rivalries in professional sports still. You got Celtics, Lakers, which they might be on a collision course this year, who knows? But it really does feel like the college level and a lot of that might change now at nil and transfer portals everywhere, and maybe those rivalries will start to fizzle out. But it really does feel like Duke UNC is one of the last few remaining, that even if you're not a fan of either of the two teams, you're still putting that game on. I want to ask you, though, just going back to how aware were you guys as players? Does this even come up when, like, you know, you know, Coach Roy Williams, you know, he hadn't gotten that monkey off his back of winning the title? Like, is that something that any. You know, you guys are all young players at the time? Like, is that ever even discussed, like, getting coaches first or just. You're just so locked in on the mission at hand, because I feel like I would know, like, this guy's been at it for so long. He's never, we want to be the team to get him that first one.

[Matt Barnes]

No question. I mean, that, that, that was definitely part of it. You know, we wanted to do it for the school, we wanted to do it for ourselves, we want to do it for our families, and of course, definitely wanted to do it for Coach, you know, because he's been there and he could never get over that hump. So to be able to be a part of that first team, to get him his first, you know, national championship, I mean, that's, you know, all of them is going to be special to him. All of all the players are going to be special to him. But I think the one that he got with us is going to be always stuck in his mind and his head because, you know, of course, one, you know, it was his first one, and it was a, it was a beautiful run, man. It was, it was tough, you know, battling against Michigan State in that Final Four and then going, playing against Illinois in that championship game with a lot of talent.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Great game, man. You, you, I mean, right now, such a good game. I, I, I, I watched some of it back, and I will have to admit, Raymond, I did look back at the Villanova game. All right, have you looked, though? Only because it's so funny all these years later, right? Alan Ray, in the travel. I don't know how often you've been asked that and you're. But I watched it 10 times. I'm trying to figure out, man, by, by like, NBA standards now, this isn't even, like, this isn't even close. Like, have you even, have you seen. Was the last time you even seen that play? Because it was you. I think you guys win anyway. I really do. I don't think that was, like, the deciding factor of the game, but at the time, I remember being a kid watching it and be like, yeah, I kind of took an extra half step there, which now that's not even debated. That's no travel.

[Matt Barnes]

Right, right, right, right. I mean, it was a big play. It was definitely a gussy call. But, hey, listen, I'm glad he made it, you know, because I got in foul trouble that game, and I actually, I found out. But, you know, my guy, Melvin Scott, he stepped up and he hit four free throws to steal the game to win the game at the end right there. So, you know, one thing I tell people, man, no matter who, who's supposed to be the best Player on the team who's supposed to be the man who supposed to be what? It always be somebody that, that, that comes off the bench or don't play as many minutes that steps up in order for you to win the championship. All of that stuff happens, man. Injuries, everybody being healthy, all kind of stuff mixed into that. And I think, you know, it was just, it was just, it was just God's plan for us to win it that year. Everything just came in our favor. Everything was working for us. We was playing great basketball. We was locked in, you know, it was just, you know, a blessing, A blessing for us, man. For real.

[Jerry Ferrara]

What I saw. Now, look, I'm again, admittedly huge Knicks fan, so I know a lot about your career. You're one of my favorite Knicks. So I start looking at that McDonald's game. I see you in the dunk contest, man. This is what I'm saying. We don't, normal civilian fans don't realize because Raymond Felton is just not, not dunking four times a game in the NBA. You think like, oh, he probably doesn't really have a dunk package. I saw some of the duck, man, you should have dunked more in the NBA. You, you throwing it down.

[Matt Barnes]

Well, you know, I, I, I did used to have a, A pretty, I actually had a 42 inch vertical, so.

[Jerry Ferrara]

42, yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

So I could, I could, I could really, I could really get up. But yeah, once I got into the league, man, listen, when you get knocked out the air by Shaquille O'Neal and, you know, Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, some of these big dudes that was in the league at the time when I first got in the league, when you get knocked out the air trying to go dunk, you learn to shoot a floater. You learn to shoot a floater. So there ain't no more ducking, ain't no more trying to jump. Like these guys like John Moran and Anthony Edwards, these young guys now scary, man, the way they get up now and jumping like that. I would like to have seen how they did that with Shaq and those guys is up under that rim.

[Raymond Felton]

You, how. So like we, we talked about this a couple weeks ago when, and there was a lot of talk about the NBA All Star Game and yeah, just how you fix it, how you don't. What's wrong with it? I, I'm more curious of the dunk contest because you were a dunker back in the day. Why don't the Anthony Edwards of the world, John Morantz of the world, some of these High Flyers. Why don't they, they, like, why don't they enter the dunk contest like it used to be? Because back in the day, I mean, LeBron's ever done, I don't think. Right. Kobe did it. Vince Kobe won it greatest. Like, we just don't see the faces of the NBA that can get up, do that. Why is that?

[Matt Barnes]

I have no clue. That's something that I always, I've always asked and always just be like, like, just why? And I never really got a legit answer, but I don't know. I would love to see that. I would love to see John Moran, Anthony Edwards, Zion Williamson. Oh, God. Zach Levine. Like, I would like to see a dunk contest. Aaron Gordon, you know, these guys who can really fly. I would like to see a dunk contest with those, with all of them in just one contest, just to see what happens. Yeah.

[Raymond Felton]

Gary. I've always wondered what it was like to. Because I could dunk back in the day, but I always had, I had, like, the lazy hops.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you have like that little, like. Yeah. I mean, you aren't like, like throwing it. I was always.

[Raymond Felton]

I've always wondered what it's like to, like, dunk on somebody and all. Like, what it's like to run a 4. 4. Like, just what it's like to be fast. That's it. As an athlete, I was a pretty good athlete, but I never, I didn't have any fat. I didn't have any fat. I didn't have any fast twitch, though, that's for sure.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You know what I wanted to ask you too, before we dive into some other NBA stuff. So, you know, we're talking about J.J. and I, I, I kind of came to this thought the other day, and I'm. But, But I was just wondering, from your perspective, someone who played the game at the highest level. Right. So JJ's in year one. Is it any kind of an advantage? And I know we saw it with Steve Nash, who was relatively recently retired. You know, like, JJ is played against 80% of the current NBA, right. He's only been out of the game two years. You know, I guess from a player perspective and from a coaching perspective, do you think that's any sort of advantage that he, he's played against these guys within the last three years? I always wonder that, like, he's drawn up plays with guys. Obviously he knows LeBron, but he's coached. He's played against Jason Tatum. He played in Dallas with Luka. Like, he's played in the NBA recently.

[Matt Barnes]

I mean, I think that helps with relationship wise. I think that helps with a level of respect that, that you have with each other because, you know, you are literally a player's coach. But I just, you know, it also helps that you got LeBron James on your team too, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Very. Yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, that. That helps a lot because, you know, just the things he could do and the things he's doing at the age of 40, like, listen, it hurt to get up this morning, so to see him do that at the same age I am right now is nothing but amazing. But I think JJ's doing a great job. You know, I think he's a, he's a really good X and O, you know, guy that draws up some good plays and he makes good adjustments, you know, in games, before games and, you know, I just, you know, be interesting to see what he does, you know, over the next few years. But I think he's doing a great job so far, by far, having a good year as a first coach, you know, and I think, you know, with his knowledge of the game, I think he'd be fondo.

[Raymond Felton]

You, you mentioned a little bit ago Shaq and just some of the old school big guys, and there's a lot of chatter about the eras, right? And, and I think Tim Hardaway was on, I think Gilbert's podcast, just roasting the dudes, like literally like Swaggy, who's my boy from sc, to his face, like, these guys just like, you couldn't play, you suck, blah, blah, blah. You, I mean, you played in this current era, but you, you had a cross, right, because you played against Shaq, you played against some of those, got Kobe in the mid 2000s. Where do you stand on this whole era debate on whether or not the old school guys could play in today's game, which is a lot more open and fast and shooting threes and all that, or whether or not the current guys are, you know, quote unquote, tough enough to play back in the 80s and 90s. Where do you, where do you stand on that side? I'm just fascinated by it because I love, like, I grew up Laker. I'm a die hard Laker fan. I grew up, you know, the Shaq and Kobe era, even Showtime, I was a little kid, but like, I just. It was different back then. Like everything was through the center and it was more physical. Felt like today, it's just a different game today.

[Matt Barnes]

Well put like this. Professionals are professionals. Athletes are athletes, of course. And I think, you know, back in the day was very Physical. The game was totally different than what it is now. It was a lot of just pound the ball in the paint, get the ball in the post, come off pins, pin downs, you know, ball screens and just there was more physical guards back then, you know, when I came in the league, point guards like Chauncey Billups and, you know, Andre Miller and, you know, these guys were physical dudes who would post you up and just, you know, the game is a whole lot different now. You know, point guards now are scoring 30 points a game and, you know, shooting threes from half court. Like, you know, the game is just evolved and the game is different. Not to say that, you know, these young guys couldn't play back then. I can't say that because, you know, these guys are very talented, very athletic and very skilled. But to say that these older guys couldn't play now is absurd because these dudes was physical, they was mean and they was talented and they was skilled. You know what I'm saying? So I think a lot of the old school guys think that the game is soft now, which the game is, you know, they, they, they do, you know, they can't touch no more.

[Raymond Felton]

Just the fouls, man.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, like you might get a flagrant and get thrown out the game. Dudes would get knocked out the air left and right. Back in the day, like in the.

[Raymond Felton]

80S, bill and beer just coming, just.

[Matt Barnes]

Oh, man. Would probably be banned from the league at this point.

[Jerry Ferrara]

He wouldn't be in the league. There wouldn't be no right now for.

[Matt Barnes]

The league at this point.

[Raymond Felton]

But who was, who was the, who was the toughest? I mean, because like Ben Wall, I'm trying to think of back, like Ben Wallace was a dog inside. Like Rasheed was nasty. Like who was.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Those grizzly teams probably weren't fun.

[Raymond Felton]

Zach Randolph.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, probably back when I played the most physical team was, yeah, by far Detroit as far as their defense. But even with them being physical, they wasn't like, it wasn't like a nasty physical like, like the old Detroit bad boys, right.

[Jerry Ferrara]

They were, they would beat your ass. Yeah. Old Detroit would beat you up.

[Matt Barnes]

It wasn't like that. Then you got, you know, Indiana too. Indiana was like that as well with Ron Artest and all those guys. You know, those guys were real, really physical, you know, played a lot of great hard defense. But yeah, to answer your question, man, I, I don't, I don't believe that neither, Neither one could not play in, in the era. Like, I feel like the young guys can play then. I feel like the older guys could play now. So that. That's.

[Jerry Ferrara]

You just would have had so much more space to operate. You know, like, even if you look at, you know, I know your game well from watching you in the NBA, and you just would have had so much more room. So I just took a look at all your score. You just would have scored way more because this would have been more space. I feel like, you know, space.

[Matt Barnes]

And then nobody couldn't really touch me. And I was right. I like to play physical. So, yeah, just with. And I know a lot of people don't like this debate when it comes to MJ and LeBron. You know, to me, they both. They both are goats. You know, MJ is mine because that's who I grew up watching, of course. You know what I'm saying? But they both are goats. But if MJ played in his time where they couldn't be physical with him, I mean, who. Who tell how many points this man would have had or how many.

[Jerry Ferrara]

38 a game.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. So, I mean, the game is different, and that's all I can say. The game is different now. You know, they score way more points. It was. It was unheard of to be. To see two teams score over 140 points in a game.

[Jerry Ferrara]

We got Tom Thibodeau and the New York Knicks scoring 140. Man, that, like, that's a box score. I never thought I would see a Tom Thibodeau Coach team scoring 140 points. I just never thought I'd see that in my lifetime time.

[Matt Barnes]

Exactly. Exactly. Where.

[Raymond Felton]

Where do you. Raymond, where do you put Kobe in that conversation? Because I feel like I'm. I'm like, MJ, Kobe and LeBron is great. Clearly what he's been able to do. But I just. I don't know if Kobe doesn't get enough credit or he does, because I've seen a lot of guys come on and say Kobe was a top. Is. Is closest to MJ than anybody.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah.

[Raymond Felton]

And I had some people who don't even have him in his top 10.

[Matt Barnes]

That's crazy.

[Raymond Felton]

You played them. I mean, that was the same era. Like. Like, where does he stack up against basically those two guys? Right. That's the debate.

[Matt Barnes]

To me, he's. To me, he's number two. That's my opinion. To me, he's right behind MJ for what he's done to the game. And like you said just a second ago, he's the closest thing to mj. He's the closest things to it. Just his work ethic, the way he puts into the game, the way he studied the game. Student of the game, always learning. Like. Like MJ said, he always used to call him and ask him questions, trying to get better. And just what he's done for the game and what he's done during. During his time of playing. I mean, what. What can you really. What can you really say, man? For somebody to say that he's not in their top 10, that's crazy.

[Raymond Felton]

I don't know who. Jerry. Jerry. Jerry. Barely had him in the top five. I think that's not true.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes, you relax.

[Raymond Felton]

You said that.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm just older than you, so I remember Maddie, Magic, and Bird a little more than you because I'm older. But, like, I feel like if you.

[Raymond Felton]

Look at Jordan, Kobe, like, Tiger and even.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, you're going all sports now?

[Raymond Felton]

No, I'm just. I'm just thinking LeBron, and this isn't even a slot. Like, we always talk about the killer instinct and, like, the greatest, greatest, greatest, greatest athletes, like, those four, in my opinion, are like, the greatest athletes. And, like, I put Serena up there, and you, Gretzky, like, you have all these guys, but, like, that killer instinct is just like, either hat. Like, Tom Brady played to 45, and, like, people could say he was. I trained with people and say, oh, he wasn't a great athlete. He was an absolute, just psychopath when it came to, like, I want to be the best of all time. That. That's, to me, what Kobe was. You know, it's like he was a psychopath. And you hear stories talking about, like, the guys that played with him and his work ethic and all that is like, he. To me, he's. Yeah, MJ's 1A and he's 1B. It's not even close.

[Matt Barnes]

I totally agree with you.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I told you. Some LA roots, too. We're gonna. We gotta talk about some New York things first.

[Raymond Felton]

You probably put. You probably put Jalen Brunson in your top five, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Of course. Of course. Well, speaking of Brunson. All right, so, you know, Die Hard Nick fan, I very, very happy with Brunson and all that, but I've always said this is something like on all my Knicks group chats, and I'm in 10 million of them. Right, right. Even before Brunson, it was like, who was the last point guard the Knicks had? It's like, it's easy. It's obvious. It's Raymond Felton that's the last point guard before Brunson. That we Nick fans had. That felt like real leadership, all the things you want out of a top point guard. So you get to the Knicks, and you were balling, man. Balling, right? And I'm still, like, don't know how to feel about the Melo trade, because I love Melo, and, you know, one of the great Knicks, but, like, was kind of shortchanged because he didn't have a ton of weapons around him because most of the weapons went in the damn trade. So, like, all I could say is, as a Nick fan, I was super happy to get mellow, But I remember being a little younger saying, like, but he's got to play with Felton, man. That's, like, the whole point. So, like, I don't want to go too far back in the past and make you relive that stuff, but, like. Like, before that trade happened, were you really feeling like New York was home for you? Because you know how it is in New York, too, when we. When we latch onto a player, man, that love lasts forever.

[Matt Barnes]

Listen, I still get love to this day from New York, from the fans. And when I go. When I go out there and go to games and stuff, that trade, man, I think that's the one trade I think hurt. That hurt because it was my first, actually. My first time getting traded, and I was just. I was having such a great year, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, you were, like, 18 and 10.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, I got snubbed from the All Star Game that year. You know, I thought I was gonna make it and got snubbed and just, you know, just having a great year in a big city. And, you know, if you went to New York, you know how it goes. You went to New York, man. New York loves you, man. It was beautiful. So, you know, when they was talking about getting mellow, I was like, okay, you know, we. We gonna have a chance to. To win this thing, you know, because we was already, like, top five, top six in the. In the east at that time, you know? But you add a guy like Melo to that team, and he'd still be able to keep some pieces. I said, we gonna. We gonna have a shot. So I wasn't even in that trade, you know, at the beginning. Last minute, I got. I got thrown in the trade the last minute, and I was just like, oh, my damn, it hurt. And I end up coming back.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, yeah. We'll talk.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

You know, after that. But it hurt, man. It was just. It was just one of those moments where it was just like, you know, I still, you know, I did. I did what I had to do. When I got to Denver.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes.

[Matt Barnes]

It was just like. It was just. It was just. Just unhappiness because, you know, I just didn't want to leave New York. You know, it was just good times and it was fun. It was fun.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So, yeah, like, so you represent for a lot of Nick fans, like, this kind of last moment up until the recent two, three years of this team, where it's like, the last time we had an all star level point guard was you. And then you come back to the Knicks, right? Now, I don't know if that was like, I don't know how that feels coming back for you, or you were like, okay, I'm finally back. Now we could do this thing. Because that 2013 team wins 54 games, right? That up until again, the last two, three years, that team, that was the last Nick team to get out of the first round in a year. And, like, everything kind of collapsed once that team fell apart. But you get back to the Knicks, was that, like, bittersweet? Or is that like, okay, no, I'm back where I belong. Let's. Let's run this, because now I can play with Mellow and sty in all these guys, right?

[Matt Barnes]

No, it was. It was one of those situations where I. I wanted to come back and I got the phone call. Mellow. Mellow actually called me. Coach Woodson called me. And, you know, they signed J. Kidd. So. And I was, you know, before I even got there. And so I was a little iffy about going at first. I'm like, listen, this is Jason Kidd. Like, this is hall of Famer point guard, somebody that I idled, somebody that I looked up to. And it's like, if he's going there, then, you know, what am I coming there for? You know what I'm saying? And it was just a phone call that I had with him, and, you know, I decided to come. And then when I got there, the crazy thing about it, when I got there, and Jason Kidd was just like, this is your team.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

I'm like, what? He's like, this is your team. We gonna go as you go. You know, you gonna be the guy who gonna be the leader of this team, who gonna run this offense, and, you know, we gonna go as far as you take us. And I was like, wow. So to get that type of confidence coming back from a guy like Jason Kidd and. And him, to just learn from him, I mean, he used to tell me things on the court with plays before I. Even before I Even saw it, he would tell me what was going to happen and it happened. So I mean, shout out to him, man, he's just a great coach, great teammate, just an all around great person, man. He did a lot for me in that second stint when I came back to New York, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Fricking Roy Hibbert turned into Bill Russell in the second round out of nowhere, man. I don't understand what happened, Matt. You probably don't remember remember because you don't watch much like beat the Celtics easily JR Smith ball and all of a sudden just control this year. And then Roy Hibbert turns into Bill Russell blocking mellow at the red. I've never seen anything like it. I'm still pissed about. And then Roy Hibbert was gone. He did that. And then that type of center was like out of the NBA. So mad, Ray, I'm so mad about it still.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, me too. Because I thought we had a chance, man. I feel like we was the one team that can compete with Miami because we beat three times out of one that year. So, you know, we was one of the teams that I don't think Miami wanted to see that year.

[Raymond Felton]

Stat was. Stat was on that team.

[Matt Barnes]

Yes, that was on that team.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah. I used to.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Tyson Chandler, defensive player of the year.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah. I was in Arizona when Stat was in Phoenix, man. Those, those. Phoenix. It was probably around. When did Stat go to Phoenix? After New York.

[Matt Barnes]

No, no, he was there before.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, he came up with Nash. Okay.

[Raymond Felton]

That's right. No, it was, it was like, like Nash, Boris, DL, they had, they had a Barbosa. They were like running gun with Dan. You play for Dan, Tony? No.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah. That was the first time I came to New York. Yep.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Is all that true with Dan, Tony? Of like, I, I forget there's like this urban legend story which you never know is true, where they're like, I don't know what anyone. If it was a Knicks or a Suns team where he's like drawing up plays and like one of the players, like coach. What about defense? Like, don't worry about it. Just outscore him. Was he really that offensive mind? I mean, I'm sure he talked talk defense with you guys, but he goes down as like an offensive guru, you know.

[Matt Barnes]

Oh no, he's an offensive like Wizard. It's crazy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

You know the things he can draw, the way his offense goes. You know, if you, if you have guard, if you regarding his offense or point guard of his offense, you're going to have some of your best numbers. Your Best. Yeah, you know, playing up under him. But as far as defense, you know, you know, like everybody has a defensive coach, so coach Mike Wilson was actually the defensive coach on that team, which was crazy. He ended up being the head coach.

[Raymond Felton]

Right.

[Matt Barnes]

Next time I came, I came back around. But. And it's so funny is that I've known coach. I've known coach Mike D'Antoni Even when I was in high school, because his brother Dan D'Antoni was my AAU coach.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Oh, really? He's an offensive dude too, right?

[Matt Barnes]

Yes, he is. Yes, he is.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Wow.

[Raymond Felton]

Just running gun, man. Just running gun. I. I'm curious because we talked before you jumped on a little bit about club Club hoops, and I've witnessed it kind of firsthand at like the, like the, the made hoops tournament. And my son flirted with a little bit of eybl. But do you teach because you coach and do you teach because the game has changed so much. We talked about earlier where it was, you know, center driven. You throw it in the post and you work around a big. And obviously that now the bigs are, are shooting threes and they can, you know, they can run the point and all that. How do you teach the game to your kids? Curiously, because when I, when I teach quarterback, it's hard now because the game is run out of the shotgun and the game is run at the RPO that you hear. And it's not as much under center with the old school play action, which I still believe we all know this. Like, like you still make your money and win games from playing within the tackles, throwing the football. What is your perspective and approach on coaching like the next generation of kids?

[Matt Barnes]

These generation of kids are definitely different, but I think, you know, as, as teachers and as, as coaches, we still have to still teach these kids the basics, you know. And I think when you look at a lot of these kids now, they are very talented. They are. They probably way more talented, way more athletic than we were. But the thing we knew about the game is we knew the basics, you know what I'm saying? So if you could put us in any type of offense and we could survive, we knew how to play. That's why you see a lot of these kids now, they struggle now because a lot of them don't really understand how to play. They just off raw talent, raw athleticism, you know what I'm saying? And I think with me as a coach, what I do do, I still teach the basics. I teach the little small things. You know, these kids now want to just come out and do a straight step back on the three. I'm like, no, that's, that's, that's not realistic.

[Raymond Felton]

That's my oldest son's only move to step back.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Steph Curry screwed everything up.

[Raymond Felton]

I begged him to go in the post. I begged him to go in the post. I was like, dude, you're, you're a six four guard. You're big and strong. The dudes guarding you might be like, jump. But like, you're big. Use your body. And like, like, look at, I would always say like Kobe's gang. Kobe would go in the post as much. Like, it's just, it's so, it bothers.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Me, man, because too old, Matt, you're too old, bro.

[Raymond Felton]

That's like me and Jerry, man, when we play the 40 year old pickup. Like I'm, I'm, by the way, I ain't going in the post no more. I just shoot outside because I don't want to get fouled. But I'm saying like, the post is like the old school, man. These kids don't know. They don't know.

[Matt Barnes]

Nah, they don't, man. But you know, I, I just, you know, I can relate to the kids because I was able to play in both, in both eras, but at the same time, like, I still have to be. You guys still got to be firm with these kids because, you know, a lot, a lot of these kids now, unfortunately, you know, they're, they're spoiled. You know, they didn't, they didn't come up and was raised the way we was. So, you know, these kids now, spoiled, they're a little softer than we are in certain ways. And I don't mean, I don't mean softer. Sensitive. Let me say that word. They're a little more sensitive than we are by far. You know, and you know, we didn't have transfer portals and you know, these. And I love the nil deal part of it and the transfer port I really don't like because, you know, a kid now, if you hard on a kid and you holding a kid accountable, if you don't like it now, I'm leaving this school. And you know, you're not going to get better that way. You know, I, I don't, I don't, I don't like that part of it. But it is what it is. But we just got to continue to just keep teaching these kids the basics, man, and really staying on them and really teaching them how to play basketball rather than just throwing the ball out there and Just say, look, who's the most talented? That's who's going to win this game. You know, that ain't going to work when they get in college. That ain't going to work when you get into the NBA or even overseas. You know what I'm saying? So you got to really just teach them the basics.

[Raymond Felton]

A lot of, A lot of laughing because a lot of people ask me about nil, and I'm all for it. And we shout out the O'Bannon brothers, man, because they really, they spearheaded the whole thing. Everyone used to say, I took a pay cut from going to USC to the NFL.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, you probably did. You probably.

[Raymond Felton]

What? That's. I did, but I mean, I can't speak for other guys, but what, what was. Was there, you know, any story you could tell about. I mean, I can, I can only imagine 20 years later, because we can, we can speak freely about this now because we can't get in trouble. Being a North Carolina basketball player had to be. Had to come with its perks.

[Matt Barnes]

Oh, 100%. I was okay in college. Put like that, you're good.

[Raymond Felton]

I was good.

[Matt Barnes]

I was, I was. I was okay in college. I, I didn't have. I didn't have too many worries when I was in college. I'll put it like that now, though. And these NIL deals now, it's crazy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

But you guys would have, you guys would have cleaned, the two of you.

[Matt Barnes]

I'm acting like A.J. the number one kid in the country that went to BYU, right? I need 7 million. No, no, I'm kidding.

[Raymond Felton]

It is. I hear some of these stories and.

[Matt Barnes]

Listen, I love the game they asked for is wild. I love the game so much, man. I was just. I was just grateful and happy to go to Carolina. And I was the number one player in the country coming out of high school. I was a Naismith national player of the year in high school that year in 2002. And I just wasn't on that type of time. I was just grateful. Just a little kid out of Lotta South Carolina that was just grateful to be in a situation I was in to go to school and play college ball at a dream school and had an opportunity to better myself there and possibly get to the NBA. And that's all my focus was. I really wasn't thinking about how much money I could get or, you know, anything. And the great thing my parents wasn't. My parents wasn't like that too. You know, I'm not going to call the school out, but we was Offered millions of dollars, you know, from another school, you know, plus a house, plus cars, all kind of stuff. And my mama just looked at me and said, where do you want to go? And I said, I want to go to Carolina. And she said, okay. And they turned the deal down. That's great. Yeah, they turned the deal down. And ain't no end up working out for all of us.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

You know, at the end. So, you know, it's. It's one of those things down, man, where the. The game is just not the same no more. You know, you have, you know, parents out here selling their kids for money. Yeah, even in the AAU game, man, I'm dealing with that now. In aau, the teams are offering people money, kids, money, families, money to get their kid to just come play for their team. And to me, what I'm telling parents is, what is that teaching your kid? You're not caring about what are these kids are learning, how these kids developing, you know, saying. And I'm just not with that. I don't like that.

[Raymond Felton]

I remember one kid, I remember, I think it was seventh grade or eighth grade, we're at made hoops. And I think before, like the third, the third stop, like, you could. You could switch a team or whatever. And then after the third, whatever, you couldn't. I remember seeing a kid literally play for three different teams in one day. And he was. I don't remember the name, but he was a top kid. And he would just take his jersey off, he'd go throw that. And I was like, what the.

[Jerry Ferrara]

What's going on?

[Raymond Felton]

It was the same. It was just like parents, like these coaches are poaching the kids or pro. There's probably some. Some handshakes going on to get the kid to come play for him. And I was like, man, like, to your point, Raymond, like the parent. The parents are almost just as bad. Not all the parents. And you're lucky, obviously a great one, but like, like, like they're not all like that. And it's. It's. It's unfortunate. So.

[Matt Barnes]

Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

[Raymond Felton]

Before.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's all very unrelatable to me. No one ever offered me money to play anywhere or anything. I don't think they're gonna offer my kids any money. And I'm gonna be a good sports parent because my kid's gonna be playing. You know, we're gonna just be talking about playing time. Last thing, Raymond. And we're gonna let you go. Just so for you, your all time UNC team, you could put Yourself on there. You could leave yourself off. We're talking about the UNC greats. And again, it could be guys you played with that some of us might not put on there. But who's your North Carolina five?

[Matt Barnes]

Ooh, that's tough.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Can you go any direction?

[Matt Barnes]

No, no, no. It's tough for me. Point guard. I'm gonna go with Phil Ford.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Okay, great.

[Raymond Felton]

I told you, Jerry. I told you.

[Matt Barnes]

You go. Feel for it. 2. I'm gonna go with, obviously, MJ at the 2 part. MJ. Now, the 3. The 3 spot is where it gets tricky.

[Raymond Felton]

That's tough.

[Matt Barnes]

You know, three spots where it gets tricky because you can go, man, you can go. Vince, you can go. Jerry Stackhouse, you can go.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's tough. That's probably the toughest spot. You're right, man. You. You.

[Matt Barnes]

You can go so many places. But I'm gonna go with Vince. My three. The four is tough, too, because you got my big bro Rasheed Sheed. Got my big bro Antoine Jameson. You know, you got James Worthy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

James Worth. Yeah, that's tough.

[Matt Barnes]

James Worthy. But for me, if I just had to choose one just off the history, just off, you know what I know about, you know, James Worthy, I'm gonna go with him at the fourth spot, and then for me, at the five spot. I know when I. When I said this before, a lot of people was like, oh, you ain't gonna go with Tyler Hillsborough? I. I like Tyler, you know, I think he's a. He's a great player. He did a lot of great stuff in college basketball. But for me, I'm going with my big fella at the five spot. I'm going Big Sean May.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Big Sean May.

[Matt Barnes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's a. Oh, God.

[Matt Barnes]

I'm going. My guy.

[Jerry Ferrara]

That's a great squad.

[Raymond Felton]

I had hands in there. Hansborough was a dog.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm with Felton, man.

[Raymond Felton]

In college, anytime you got bloody, you're just bloodied, and you're just bodying people out there.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Obviously, like, you can't go wrong picking James Worthy. It's. But, like, I love the way, like, the legend of Rasheed Wallace continues to grow. Like, even former NBA players just talk about, like, just guys who would have thrived today when we had that conversation of what guy backed at, like, yes, sir. I mean, Rasheed Wallace, he had the whole pack. He had everything. Threes before big men shot threes and can shoot threes.

[Raymond Felton]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Barnes]

His left hand. Left hand. Just as good as his right. Just as good as his right.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Serious.

[Matt Barnes]

I'm so Serious? Listen, I was playing for the Bobcats and that's when Detroit was Detroit, right. And they was beating him so bad that he shot it. He started shooting threes left hand it and he hit. And he hit like three in a row.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's. We could. I gotta see if we can find this footage. That's crazy.

[Matt Barnes]

He was shooting threes left handed, man. It was. Man, it was bad. It was bad.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Can't thank you enough.

[Raymond Felton]

We appreciate you, man.

[Jerry Ferrara]

One of my favorite players to watch over the years and appreciate it, man.

[Matt Barnes]

I appreciate y'all, man. Thanks for having me on.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Appreciate it. Thank you, Ray. All right. Should we do some mailbag now? That was awesome. That Raymond Felton stop off still. I just. Still will never be over the mellow Trey I know we talked about in the interview. It's still. That's like the big what if for Nick fans. But anyway, he's just been haunted.

[Raymond Felton]

Being a New York fan your whole life.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yeah, it's. It's.

[Raymond Felton]

I'll bring you to the. You're. You're. You're a pseudo LA guy too, though there.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I never. I never caught on to any LA team. I enjoyed watching Kobe in the Lakers all those years. Like, as a fan, I went to a lot of games. Can't get into the Kings. Rams weren't even there when I was living in LA and definitely not rooting for any LA football.

[Raymond Felton]

It's not a football town anymore.

[Jerry Ferrara]

It's not. All right, let's do some mailbag stuff because that's been working. I think I pulled two good ones. You want me to take? I could take the first, you take the second.

[Raymond Felton]

Yeah. What do you got?

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, we're gonna go to Leonard in Detroit, who is probably happy that the Pistons are doing well. But he says, jerry, there are a lot of big time cameos and entourage over the years. Any of them cause you to feel starstruck?

[Raymond Felton]

I think you talked about that once, right?

[Jerry Ferrara]

A little bit.

[Raymond Felton]

Was it Phil?

[Jerry Ferrara]

Well, Phil was definitely. It was starstruck early. But then we. He's so good at like disarming you and like being normal. Dude, we played some golf too at while he was shooting, so that went. The Brady thing was definitely a little star struck at the time because also the way he came in. But again, that went quick. Kanye didn't have me starstruck. And again, this is Kanye 15 years ago. It. There was a moment there where he was like so late. We wondered if he was just gonna. If he was coming at all for his cameo. I Will say the one that got me a little bit was Matt Damon. Matt Damon got me a little bit also. It was like, Matt Damon, LeBron James, and Bono all shot on the same day. So that even some of the scenes I wasn't in, I said, I have to show up for some of these scenes. This is like, one. But when you look at a call sheet, you know, I'll give you the scenes for the day and the time. And it's like, yeah, first up, it's Matt Damon and LeBron James. And then second up, we have this quick thing with Bono, and then we're finishing with this, like, Matt Damon meltdown scene that he's gonna improv. I'm like, I gotta. I gotta show up, you know, it's for the kids, Vince. It's for the kids. That's those famous lies for the kids, Vince.

[Raymond Felton]

I love it. All right, David at Orlando. Saw your guys build your perfect quarterback video on Instagram the other day where you were allowed to use quarterbacks from any era. Now do it. Just the quarterbacks playing today.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I got a lot of heat for mine, but my Peyton Manning. Accuracy. For all time. I got a lot of heat.

[Raymond Felton]

No, you did well.

[Matt Barnes]

You.

[Raymond Felton]

No, you put Eli Manning in there for clutch.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Yes. I got more heat for Peyton. For accuracy. I got a lot of heat.

[Raymond Felton]

Okay. Arm strength. I'm gonna go Josh Allen. I'll just build mine really quick. Arm strength, Josh Allen. Accuracy. I'll go Tua. Athleticism. I'll go Lamar. Clutch factor. I'll go.

[Matt Barnes]

Oh.

[Raymond Felton]

Because I want to make this different. Clutch factor. I'll go Joey B. Oh, and then overall, I'll go Patty Mahomes.

[Jerry Ferrara]

I'm gonna go super specific. You're gonna hate this. You are gonna. Absolutely.

[Raymond Felton]

You're gonna go Daniel Jones, Eli Manning.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Arm strength.

[Raymond Felton]

Tommy DeVito, Russell Wilson. And now Jamis Winston.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Wait, we might still sign Aaron Rodgers, too.

[Raymond Felton]

And Aaron Rodgers. And Shadow Sanders.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Aaron Rodgers. Draft Shador. Six quarterbacks. Like what people do in a fantasy draft. They draft all quarterbacks and they build their team. Yeah. Arm strength. We've heard all about it. Why not put Joe. Why not Joe Milton for arms? Just arm strength. We're only talking about the strength of one's arm. Joe Milton.

[Raymond Felton]

Hey, just keep going, dude.

[Jerry Ferrara]

Accuracy. It's. I know. He's only a rookie going into his second year. It's hard to overlook Jaden Daniels when you're talking accuracy. Dude, he's putting it pinpoint. Accuracy. Athleticism. Love, Lamar. You have to take Lamar. I still do. Don't want him taking too many hits, but you're right on that. Clutch factor. Look here. You ready for this? This is going to be a controversial take. Who was more clutch in the biggest game of the year than Jalen Hurts this year?

[Raymond Felton]

Love it.

[Jerry Ferrara]

So how do you ignore that? I'm giving the man flowers, and overall, that's where I put in the Josh Allen, because Josh Allen has just enough of all of these things that I think Josh Allen's a good overall. Good question, though, David. Appreciate it.

[Raymond Felton]

All right.

[Jerry Ferrara]

All right, let's get some more. Don't forget, it's feedback at throwback show. Thank you to Raymond Felton. Next week. Next week.

[Raymond Felton]

Bro, we can't even say it, but you are so excited.

[Jerry Ferrara]

In the words of. Of DJ Khaled, let's golf.