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AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 20, 2012Charles BarkleySTATELINE, NEVADA CHARLES BARKLEY: My golf game was a little shaky. I got very frustrated today. The only thing that's going to make me feel better is go lay out on this boat and drink a couple of Coronas. Q. (Off microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Dwight Howard needs to grow up and make a decision. I'm a big Dwight Howard fan. I think he's one of the best basketball players in the world. But you said it, it's exhausting talking about him for the last, really, almost six months. And I wish he would make a decision and‑‑ because I am just sick of hearing about it every single day, to be honest with you. Well, you know, they talk about he wants to go somewhere and be the alpha male. First of all, he should try to go somewhere because you're not going to beat the Miami Heat in the next couple of years by yourself. Chicago, they talk about him and Derrick Rose, and him and Kobe with the Lakers. Darryl Williams and him in Brooklyn. He needs to go somewhere he's going to have a lot of help. Because the Miami Heat, with the addition of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, they're going to be able to reload for the next three or four years. It's going to be tough for anybody to beat them. I think the Knicks made a mistake letting him get an offer sheet. They can't come back and complain later. He was their guy. They should have made him an offer. Kevin McHale, they're doing a great job acquiring pieces. But the Knicks just blew it by letting him get on the open market. And they gave him a great offer sheet and they didn't match it. Well, first of all, the Miami Heat, I think they did a good job getting Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis. I think realistically you've got to wait and see what happens with the Dwight Howard thing, because I don't think any team has made enough strides to beat the Miami Heat right now. But that could all change if you get a Dwight Howard. But right now I don't see any team that's made enough changes to beat Miami right now. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: You know, I don't know. But I'm happy for Rex. I'm a big Rex Ryan fan. That's pretty cool. I actually saw a story but I haven't seen any pictures of him yet. But, you know, listen, I was a fat guy. WeightWatchers has been great for me. I would recommend it to anybody; because, hey, listen, we've got a bunch of fat people out there. Me and Rex are just two of them. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: The only chance I got of being up that early is I'll be coming in. I'm not going to get up that early‑‑ I might be coming in from the blackjack table around 4:30. But I'm not going to get up just to watch golf. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: First of all, I've seen Warren recently. He's ducking me. Listen, Warren can't outrun me, man. I know I'm an old guy now, and I don't have a lot left in the tank, but I got more in the tank than he got. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Oh, yeah, name the place and I'll be there. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: There's nothing wrong with that number. I just think they treat them NFL players unfair with the‑‑ they need to pay those guys. You know, they've got a very short career. I was really happy for Matt Forte to get the running backs for the Ravens. And Ray Rice, those guys they deserve to get paid. And the NFL, to me, they're always somewhat unfair, cutting players too quickly, to be honest with you. But the NBA, listen, everybody just compares salaries to everybody else and you're going to get a great contract. But I just wish they would treat those NFL players a lot better, to be honest with you. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I gotta tell you, I think people overreacted to that situation, to be honest with you, because I think that's just a way football coaches talk. I don't think they really want to hurt people. I really don't think‑‑ you know, even when you go back to Greg William, some of the stuff got a little personal. But all coaches that go out there, hit guys as possible as you can, but I don't think you really want to hurt people. I mean, do you want to hit them really hard to try to intimidate, make it real physical, of course you do. But I thought the NFL really overreacted to the whole situation, to be honest with you. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I think Jeremy Lin is a good player. He's going to have more success. Tebow seems like a terrific kid, but he's actually going in to be a back‑up. Jeremy Lin is going there to be the starting point guard. He did some incredible stuff. I want to see him do well, because that's one of the greatest stories I've ever seen, to be honest with you, as long as I've been involved with the NBA. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I think he meant now. And I'm pretty sure they would beat us now. You know, the thing that made me laugh the most about that whole scenario was Kobe's an old 33. And we were only 29 at the time we played on the original Dream Team. So I think it's funny when an old guy calls young guys old. But if you look at that team, we had David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. We beat them up. One of the weaknesses of that team, I think they still will win the Gold Medal, but they don't have a lot of size. And we would have beat them up down low with Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Obviously we had Michael and Scotty Pippen and those guys. But their lack of size would have been very beneficial to our '92 team. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: That would be Mr.Russell Westbrook for the Oklahoma City Thunder. LeBron is a just a physical beast, but you don't see many 6'8" wide receivers or anything out there. But I think Russell Westbrook, right now he's one of the most talented guys we've ever had in the NBA. I think he'd be a great wide receiver, running back, safety, corner, he's so explosive. But I think if I had to pick one guy I'd go with Russell Westbrook. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I might be old. I'm still a little bit overweight. But football players‑‑ it's my favorite sport, and boxing‑‑ they're the toughest guys in the world. But they don't have any talent compared to basketball players. Playing with Bryant and Ray is not really difficult. It's just the scenery. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. This lake is amazing. It was perfectweather. It's been a heat wave across the country all summer. I was so excited to get here. Got a great breeze. I'm just loving it right now. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, listen, my goal always is not to come in dead last. And the thing about it, I'm going to always be in it all three days. I just gotta have one decent round. My only goal is to not come in dead last. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, you know this Dream Team is very good. And I hope they win the Gold Medal. But the one thing they don't have is a lot of size. And they get smaller as they go to the bench. You know, I think Spain is going to probably be their biggest obstacle. You have Pau Gasol and his brother Marc who are terrific NBA players. I think they have Ibaka on that team also. If they can get good guard play, because the defense we put on people, this team, on the perimeter, is amazing from a defensive standpoint. But if those teams can get good guard play‑‑ and don't forget about Argentina also. They got a very good team. But the lack of size is the only detriment to this U.S.A. team. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I don't think you can salvage it now. Because when you're number one, we'll talk five picks, you're supposed to be a perennial All‑Star, to be honest with you. But they've got to try to be productive. At this stage you're just trying to be productive. That's it. If you've been in the league X amount of years and you were a number one pick or a number two or three or four or five, people expected you to be a great player. And they're both good players, but obviously haven't lived up to their draft status. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Nauseating. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Kobe's an older guy, but I expect him to pace himself, to be honest with you. I don't think he's really too thrilled about all these exhibition games. I think he'll be ready to go when the Olympics start soon. But I think the veteran guys probably really‑‑ you know, they're called exhibition games for a reason. So guys are really just trying to get their feet wet, to be honest with you. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: They need to get bigger because they've got great guard play and great perimeter play. I think if their big guys play well, they'll have a very good team. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I don't think he can play the 4. He can't play the 4. He's a center. But, like I said, it's a work in progress. They gotta get good big man play before they can go to the next level. But I don't look at Spencer Howard as a 4. Q. (Off Microphone)? CHARLES BARKLEY: I root for Michael Vick. I want to see him and the Eagles do well. But we learn from the Miami Heat: You can't come out saying what you're going to do, you gotta do it. It's not that easy to win. I think that's the one thing we take for granted in sports. People think it's really easy to win. And it's not easy to win. You've got injuries. First of all, the most important thing, you've got talent level, but you have injuries factor in. You just need to get it done before you start proclaiming stuff. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Wait a minute, when they came at us‑‑ we haven't said anything to them. We have to defend ourselves. Let me tell you something, they've got a good team. They've got a very good team. But one of their weaknesses is they're very small. So David Robinson and Patrick Ewing would have a field day. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: A couple of people have said that to me. First of all, nobody's more athletic than Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen or David Robinson. This notion that these guys are superhuman today, listen, we've seen great basketball players before. I don't believe they're more athletic than we are. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: The talent level, well, I think there's just more international guys, to be honest with you. They had a bunch of NBA players when we first started, played in the NBA. One of the reasons they sent the pros, there were guys in the NBA who played for those foreign countries, were kicking these college guys' butts. That's why we went over there. This notion that guys are all superior today athletically, man, that is not a fair estimate. Clyde Drexler, he's not as great a player as Kobe Bryant, but he's just as athletic as he is. Kobe Bryant has played well the last couple of years. The Sixers have great guard and great wing play. The success of the team is going to come down to how well their big guys play. Their big guys are going to have to play well. They have to get bigger. I think bringing Kwame Brown makes them bigger. But now they just gotta play well. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Wimbledon was cool. Got something off of my bucket list that I've never done before. Got to see the great Serena Williams play in person; it was pretty cool. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: Not really. Not really. I had to make sure I made Nike look good. So whatever Nike had for me, it wasn't all white. But it looked good. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: It's an interesting debate. I'm not sure there's a right or wrong answer, to be honest with you, because if they take it down, I can understand it. But if they don't take it down, it could be a reminder to never let something like that happen again. But not just at Penn State. I'm talking about around the country where abuse goes on. So you can make a negative into a positive, but I'm not sure‑‑ I'm glad I don't have to make that decision, too. Q. (Off Microphone) CHARLES BARKLEY: I can't guarantee it. But I'm going to be in it until the end. There's other players that suck, too, but I'm going to be in it until the last hole on Sunday afternoon. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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