Who needs training camp? Charles Barkley’s mouth always is ready to go.
Barkley sounded off to Chris Myers in the latest edition of Fox Sports 1on 1 interview show (tonight, 8 p.m. ET).
Here are some soundbites:
On Lebron James as a free agent after this year: “I hope he goes back to Cleveland with some real fans. Those fans in Miami are faker than a three-dollar bill.”
On his current relationship with Michael Jordan: “I love Michael. He’s been one of my best friends forever and I hope we can work through it. Our relationship is estranged because I said some things about him as a General Manager the last couple years. I can’t get on television and say he’s done a good job as a GM. One of the things people respect about me whether they like it or not is that I don’t have a double standard. Michael has not done a good job as a GM.”
On strong reactions from people on what he has to say about any topic – sports or non-sports: “I think after my third year [in the NBA], I said, ‘oh I can’t please everybody. I’m just going to please me. I’m going to say what I think and what I feel. And I’m not going to worry about the negativity.’ After that third year, I’ve been the same since. I’m going to give my honest, fair, balanced opinion – some people are going to like it and others wont.”
On the Los Angeles Lakers future: “With or without Kobe Bryant, the Lakers are going to stink next year. I love Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest 10 players ever.”
On the legacy of NBA Commissioner David Stern: “[He’s] the greatest Commissioner in sports history. Easily. People forget, me and David Stern came in the same year. The average player salary in the NBA was $200,000. Now, the average salary is $5.5 million dollars. That’s amazing. He put us in the Olympics and made it an international game. We play games in foreign countries and I think I saw it last year, the finals were broadcast in 200 countries.”