Barkley in mid-season form: ‘LeBron should go back to Cleveland’; Jordan still ticked off at him

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.”