- 5 hours ago
Charles Barkley joined The Steakhouse to drop absolute truth bombs on his weight loss journey, patching things up with Michael Jordan, and why the NBA playoffs are about to get wild.
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00:00Long-time friend right up the street here in town doing Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley joining us on Sports
00:06Radio, 92.9 The Game.
00:08Charles, thanks so much for coming on.
00:11No problem, my brother. How are you doing?
00:13I'm doing good. Every morning, I get to drive down 14th Street on the way to Colony Square, and there's
00:19this big, beautiful man who's just not so big anymore.
00:22That billboard.
00:23He's just a beautiful man.
00:24He's just a beautiful man, yeah.
00:26Thank you, Sandra.
00:27Did you have that board put right in front there, the Four Seasons and everything, or what?
00:33You know, I think Road.co is my company. They wanted to embarrass me, so they put it right there.
00:40And let me tell you something. I get beat to death by Kenny and Shaq, because they have to see
00:46it every time they go in the studio.
00:48Yes.
00:49Yeah, I think they deliberately put it there just so early.
00:52Ernie says something every now and then, but Shaq and Kenny kills me every day they drive by that billboard.
00:58Well, I will say this. You look fabulous, and I can say that I'm comfortable.
01:03I mean, you've never looked better. You kept the weight off. You made the statement the other day.
01:08There aren't a lot of fat, old people around.
01:10So why was it so important to you to not be fluctuating up and down?
01:14I've known you a long time. We both love to eat, but clearly you're committed to it this time, big
01:20time.
01:21Yeah, you know, Dr. Peterson, she's my doctor here in Atlanta.
01:27She was tipping me with my weight loss journey, and, man, I gained like 100 pounds.
01:32I peaked out at 355 when I got my hips.
01:36I mean, I was just a fat ass, plain and simple.
01:39And I just got, and obviously I'm 63 now, you know, and I can't eat less and work out enough
01:47to lose basically 100 pounds at my age.
01:52So I got involved with Manjaro. Dr. Peterson started me on Manjaro, and then I met his company, and I
02:00do Zep down.
02:02And I started at 355, and I'm 270 now.
02:06I'm not trying to get to my playing weight, which was 250.
02:09I want to get, I told them, they said, when we started the journey, I said, I want to get,
02:13I'll take 275, between 265 and 270.
02:17So I'm 270 right now, and I feel great.
02:20You know what, steak, what's really funny about fat people, and listen, if you're struggling with your weight, I definitely
02:26think you should try one of these drugs.
02:28I mean, they've got a lot of different drugs.
02:31But, man, you want to be healthy, especially when you get older.
02:34But you know what, you just get used to feeling like crap, I think.
02:38Like, you know, when I lost the first 20, 30 pounds, I'm like, man, I feel different.
02:42My knees don't hurt.
02:43My back don't hurt.
02:45And then the more weight you lose, you're like, because you just get so used to feeling like crap.
02:50So I'm glad I did.
02:51Shout out to Dr. Peterson.
02:53But, you know, Rowe's been great, man.
02:55Rowe.co is a company.
02:57But Zep down is a drill.
02:57I take a shot once a week.
02:59Yep.
02:59And that's it.
03:00Do you lose?
03:01How much of your passion?
03:03Listen, I remember the days of the Lodge.
03:04You'd walk in.
03:05You'd get that massive bowl.
03:07I don't know, was it butter beans or something like that?
03:09Or maybe back in the day?
03:10Green beans.
03:11Green beans, right?
03:11Yeah, you know, it was so funny.
03:13The Lodge, I would get like, because, you know, when you, like, I'm trying everything to lose weight.
03:18And I'm like, give me six orders of green beans.
03:22I remember.
03:23First of all, those were the best green beans in town.
03:28But, you know, but the thing is, man, when you get older, number one, no matter how much you work
03:34out or how little you eat.
03:35And, like I say, obviously, the hip thing, when I got the hips, which is a game changer, you know,
03:42I get, like I said, I peaked out.
03:43I played at 250, but I got to 355.
03:46But, like I said, I can't work out enough or eat less, which is stupid anyway.
03:51Nobody want to eat vegetables their whole damn life.
03:55But, like I say, man, I feel great mentally and physically.
03:58So, for people that have never done it, it essentially just cuts the appetite.
04:05Does it take it away?
04:06Do you still appreciate food as much?
04:09You know, if I had a dollar for every time I've been asked that question, I think you would need
04:17to talk to a doctor.
04:18Yeah.
04:19Because I honestly, first of all, obviously, I'm eating better and I'm working out.
04:24But I have zero idea exactly what the drug does.
04:28Right.
04:29I mean, obviously, I'm going to eat.
04:31I'm serious.
04:32They say, like, of course I'm going to eat.
04:35I ain't going to starve myself.
04:37But, yeah, but I've been asked that question.
04:39And I just look at them and start laughing.
04:41They're like, what are you laughing about?
04:42I said, I got zero idea exactly what the drug does to me.
04:47I said, I'm not even going to make up no BS.
04:51I said, all I know is it works.
04:54But I do.
04:54I said, I'm not going to make up no lie to you.
04:56I mean, obviously, a doctor would know exactly what it does to your body.
05:01But, honestly, I got zero idea what it does.
05:05Yeah.
05:05Anyway, Charles Barkley with us on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
05:09You mentioned recently, we'll get to the Hawks and Knicks, obviously,
05:12because folks in Atlanta won't hear from you on that.
05:13But I want to ask you, you mentioned recently that the freeze is over
05:18with you and Michael Jordan, that you're chatting again.
05:21You're going to play golf coming up soon.
05:23A comment on that and your relationship with LeBron James
05:27and the effort he has done without Luka, without Reeves,
05:31to put the Rockets in the position they're in.
05:33So if you don't mind talking about Michael,
05:34and I don't know your relationship with LeBron too much over the years as well.
05:39Like, being LeBron a cordial, I don't know him that well at all.
05:43I've only been around his company a few times.
05:45I don't really socialize with players, to be honest with you, Jake.
05:48Because, you know, you have to criticize these guys at times,
05:51and some are very sensitive.
05:53But LeBron, I think he's great.
05:55I think he's just amazing.
05:58And obviously you've got to factor in that the Rockets stink.
06:01I'm not sure what the hell they're doing.
06:03Embarrassing.
06:03You know, we've been complaining all season.
06:06Like, when you watch them play, and this was crazy,
06:09Fred VanVleet got hurt before the season started.
06:13And then, even when the Rockets were doing good,
06:16we were like, what kind of offense are they running?
06:20They give the ball to Kevin Durant at the top of the key,
06:23or they give it to Sagoon and say, score.
06:26And I says, well, that's going to work against 70% of teams in the league,
06:32but it's not going to work against a good team, especially in the playoffs.
06:36And I see everybody on TV has been saying the same thing.
06:39Why didn't the Rockets go out and get a point guard?
06:41Because we've been saying the same thing all season.
06:44Man, this offense isn't going to work.
06:46You can't give the ball to Kevin and Sagoon and say, score.
06:51I said, yeah, it works against the Sacramento Kings,
06:55but it ain't going to work against an elite team.
06:58And then you've got the Lakers, who are a mediocre team without LeBron,
07:03without Luka and Austin Reed.
07:07And they're looking like the damn Golden State Warriors.
07:11We got rid of Luke Kennard because he couldn't get minutes over Corey Kispert.
07:15And Luke Kennard's over there lighting up the Rockets.
07:17And it's like, damn.
07:19I mean, if Houston can't beat that team, LeBron's 41.
07:22God bless.
07:23He's played great.
07:24But that's embarrassing.
07:25And I think it's embarrassing for the Pistons to be getting smoked by a number
07:28eight seed.
07:30Yeah, but, you know, it's so funny.
07:32You know, people think you hate on their team.
07:34I told people, they're like, everybody talking about, well, the Pistons,
07:38I said, man, the Pistons, I don't have.
07:39I said, they play really hard, and they got two players who can score.
07:43That's not going to win in the playoffs.
07:45And then you factor in, Durham's not playing good.
07:48When you watch the Pistons play, even during the regular season,
07:51they play really good defense, and they play hard.
07:54But they only got, if you go back and look,
07:56they only got like two guys in double figures.
07:58That was Cade Cunningham and Jalen Durham,
08:01and who both made the All-Star team rightfully so.
08:04But you ask yourself, well, who's the third and fourth best player
08:06on that team?
08:08I've asked that to many people, like, I don't know.
08:11I said, if they don't find a couple guys who can get 20 points a night,
08:15third and fourth option.
08:16Now, I didn't know Durham was going to be struggling like this,
08:19to be honest with you.
08:20But they can't score.
08:21In Orlando, they underachieved all year, and they can really score.
08:25Yeah, they got personnel.
08:26They got guys.
08:27They got three guys that can put it in.
08:29All right, we had a great year back into the year for the Hawks.
08:31And Nikhil wins up most improved.
08:34Jalen had a banner year.
08:36McCollum, obviously, Dyson.
08:38But the playoffs are different.
08:40It's physical.
08:41It's a half-court game.
08:42We've stolen or gotten to.
08:43We didn't steal them.
08:44Talk about Hawks-Knicks.
08:46It would be unlikely that the Knicks could lose this series.
08:51But just take us through where you think we are with game five.
08:55I didn't think it.
08:56I thought it was a pick-em series, to be honest with you.
08:59First of all, shout-out to Quinn Snyder and whoever running the Hawks.
09:03They put together a really, really good team.
09:07I thought it was a pick-em series.
09:09I picked the Knicks in seven because game seven would be in New York.
09:13But the series is going pretty much like I thought.
09:16It's an even, matched-up series.
09:18Like I say, I picked the Knicks in seven because game seven is going to be in New York.
09:22So what do you like most about us and matching up with them?
09:25And why are we still very much in this series?
09:28Well, Jalen is turning into a superstar.
09:32He's turning into a flat-out superstar.
09:35Y'all got a bunch of really, really good young players.
09:40A bunch of really good young players.
09:43Jalen, man, he got a chance of being special.
09:48He is a fantastic player.
09:51But I'm trying to think.
09:53Well, Dyson Daniels.
09:56Daniels is playing green.
09:58Who's unique.
09:59Nikhil Alexander Walker the last two months.
10:03Which is, was lighting everybody up.
10:05So that's real?
10:08A hundred percent real.
10:10I think, listen.
10:11Let's be honest.
10:12And I ain't trying to badmouth anybody.
10:14I think once they got Tree out of the room,
10:18that took, that put the air back in the room.
10:21Because he was sucking all the air out the room.
10:24Let's be honest and sincere.
10:26Tree's a good player.
10:28But he was sucking all the air out the room.
10:30I think once he got out the room, everybody could breathe.
10:36And since then, they've taken off.
10:39They've taken off.
10:41And man, I'm telling you.
10:43This is, they, they, they, I do, I think they got to find one more big guy in the future
10:47going forward.
10:48No doubt.
10:49But as far as, as far as perimeter players, the Hawks got a terrific team.
10:54I think I want to get back to something you asked me earlier.
10:56They're just saying.
10:56So, you know, me and Michael, Michael got offended by something I said about him on the radio.
11:02I think it was 13 years ago.
11:04And he was my best friend.
11:05And we were great.
11:06And he took it personal, which I was saying he wasn't good at running a team.
11:12And he went ballistic.
11:13And he called me and said, hey, man, you're my best friend and blah, blah, blah.
11:17And I said, yo, man, I have to do my job.
11:21I can't, if I'm going to have any credibility, when I criticize other people, just because you're my boy, I
11:27got to be fair.
11:29And we hadn't spoken in 13 years.
11:34And then last week, a couple weeks ago, I was just chilling.
11:38And I get a phone call from one of my friends, Vince Coleman, excuse me.
11:45And I said, yo, man, what's up?
11:47And he says, I'm sitting here with MJ and I'm sick of both of y'all BS.
11:54Y'all know y'all love each other.
11:55Y'all know y'all miss each other.
11:57I want y'all to put all this BS in the past.
12:00And he says, and I say, yeah.
12:03And he said, yeah, man, you know what?
12:04This is just total BS.
12:06I was not speaking in all these years, blah, blah, blah.
12:09And he said, hey, when basketball is over, come down to my golf course in Atlanta and let's get together
12:14and talk this whole thing out.
12:16And I said, I would love to do that.
12:19And as soon as basketball is over and I get a break, I'm going to fly down the floor to
12:23this golf course.
12:24And, you know, I miss him as a friend.
12:26I think he missed me as a friend.
12:28But we're both just stubborn or idiots.
12:32You can put it in that category.
12:35And we decided, hey, man, this is just stupidity of us not being together because we were so close for
12:41my entire career, to be honest with you.
12:44But I'm glad it's over and I'm looking forward to getting back with him.
12:48Michael Jordan was literally your best friend.
12:51Yes.
12:52Wow.
12:53He was always there for me through good times and bad times.
12:58Well, it's like you said.
12:59You're 63 years old.
13:00And Michael's – we know how stubborn Michael is.
13:03And, you know, no one more sore than him.
13:06Stubborn than me.
13:07He said more stubborn than me and him because we're both idiots.
13:10We're both idiots.
13:11So we both have to take responsibility.
13:13Yeah.
13:14And he's having – San Diego, he was a race fan.
13:15He's having a hell of a –
13:16Oh, my God.
13:17He's NASCAR's king all of a sudden.
13:18I mean, that's amazing.
13:19You know what that means, Tim, as well, right?
13:22Man, I'm telling you, you know, it's so crazy.
13:25He's such a great businessman.
13:27You knew he was going to be successful.
13:30I mean –
13:31He's dominating the sport.
13:33He's dominating right now.
13:35Well, I'm telling you, it's been a shocker because, like, I think that kid just won five
13:41of the first ten races, and he's on fire right now.
13:46But, you know, he's always going to be successful.
13:48So, I mean, I'll tell you this from the story's sake.
13:52You know, we were playing golf about – it was probably close to 40 years ago now, and
13:58he says, hey, man, I was looking at your Nike contract.
14:01I'm like, how the hell did you get my contract?
14:05And he says, you're making about $3 million a year.
14:09I says, yeah.
14:11He says, tell him you only want a million and take the rest in stock options.
14:16And I was like, number one, I said, I don't even know what the hell that means.
14:21So, I take it.
14:22He's always been a brilliant businessman.
14:25And I take it to my financial people, and I said, hey, I was playing golf with Michael,
14:29and he said, instead of taking $3 million, take a million and take the rest in stock options.
14:34And they're like, that's very risky.
14:38How good a basketball player do you think this guy is?
14:41I said, let me tell you something.
14:43The world is getting rid of the damn know-how good he is.
14:47And he's going to sell a lot of shoes.
14:50And they're like, well, it's your money.
14:53You can do what you want to, but I'm just telling you, it's very risky.
14:59And to be honest with you guys, because of that, I probably made another $50, $60 million.
15:04Oh, my God.
15:04Because, you know, at that time, I think I got the stock at like $35.
15:09And it's, in the last, since I've been in the NBA, it's probably split over $100 probably 10 times.
15:1910 times.
15:20In the last 40 years.
15:22And I probably ended up making another $50, $60 million, thanks to his business document.
15:27So, he's always, man, he's always giving me advice on what to invest in and things like that.
15:32But that was probably the best investment.
15:34That's the best golf game you ever had.
15:36Hey, before you go, Charles Barkley finishing up with him.
15:39It does feel a little bit like folks get to.
15:41You guys feel there?
15:43Yeah, we're here, buddy.
15:44You here?
15:46Charles.
15:47Charles.
15:48Yeah, you there?
15:48Yeah, we're here, buddy.
15:49Yeah, we're here.
15:50You here?
15:50Okay.
15:51I was going to say, it feels a little bit like folks can get snuggled up again with Inside the
15:57NBA.
15:58It has been hard between Prime and NBC and, like, you guys are in ESPN, but you've heard
16:06the same criticism, which is, I don't know when those guys are on.
16:08We used to know every night on TNT when it was going to be, but does it feel like the
16:13whole audience is back again now that it's the playoffs and you're on ESPN and ABC?
16:18Well, I think now, because people are really tuned in to the playoffs, you know, that was
16:23the one negative thing.
16:24The NBA just took the most money.
16:26They didn't take any fan appreciation into account.
16:30They just said, let's just take the most money from NBC and Amazon and ESPN.
16:37Don't worry about the fans.
16:39And I thought that was a real, number one, I know everybody want to make the most money,
16:44but I thought that was the one thing that hurt the NBA this year.
16:48Number one, we were never on.
16:49We were only on one time in December and one time in January.
16:54I thought that was a disservice to the fans.
16:58Not that we weren't all just like, what the hell are we at?
17:02And so now at least like we're on the next three nights.
17:06Like I was going back and forth between hockey and basketball last night.
17:13Both games were pretty good last night, but listen, both hockey games were great last night.
17:17I'm not going to lie.
17:18I was watching going back and forth on both, but now at least like we're on, at least we
17:23know we're on the next three nights and we got some good games.
17:27I mean, we're going to have two ass kickings tonight.
17:29I can tell you that.
17:31I mean, the Celtics is going to beat the hell out of my Sixers and the Spurs is going to
17:35beat the hell out of Portland.
17:38But the other game should be a really, really good game.
17:41But we're going to have two ass kickings on ESPN tonight.
17:45I said, I know we got to go, but I think there's three great teams.
17:49I mean, Oklahoma City is better than last year.
17:51Wemben Yama is beyond what anybody could have dreamed of.
17:54And the Celtics are getting better every night.
17:57Those three teams, I'm in Vegas.
17:59I got $5,000.
18:00Who am I taking to win the NBA title?
18:05I'd probably go with OKC.
18:07They're on a mission.
18:09Man, they blew away my sons in 4th Street last night.
18:15They're probably going to have a cakewalk against the Lakers next series.
18:22Even if they play, listen, if something miraculous happened and they play the Rockets, that'll
18:27be an easier series.
18:30But I don't think, well, the last time that they played, the Lakers played to Thunder,
18:36they beat them by 52.
18:38Right.
18:39That was actually the game.
18:41And people are going to say, Luka got hurt.
18:42Well, Luka got hurt in the third quarter.
18:44They were down 32 at halftime.
18:47Yeah.
18:48Because I guess they, because the Lakers, you go back and look, Lakers had won like eight
18:52or nine in a row.
18:54They went to OKC and OKC is like, yeah, we're going to let y'all know there's levels to
18:59this.
18:59And they were up 32 at halftime.
19:02And I'm winning by 53.
19:04So I would probably go with them.
19:07But Spurs, let me tell you something.
19:08Yeah, Spurs beat them three times.
19:10Spurs beat them three times.
19:11They did.
19:12But that was a caveat.
19:14You go back and look at those games.
19:15So they learned something the last game.
19:20See, Hardenstein can't play against Wimpenyama.
19:26Because if they beat them the first three times when they played Hardenstein, Hardenstein
19:31got hurt.
19:33But when they played the last time, and then what they realized is Hardenstein is not a
19:39score.
19:40That allows Victor to stand back there and play like a safety.
19:44When he has to play Chet or another guy, he can't do that.
19:48Because Chet can hit threes.
19:50So that's his strategy.
19:52You can't play Hardenstein against Wimpenyama because he's not a score.
19:56So he gets to stand back there and block everything at the basket.
19:59But when he has to guard guys out on the floor, that frees up going to the basket.
20:04So that's the thing you got to pay attention to when they play.
20:08But listen, because of the Anthony Edwards injury, we just can't assume that they're going
20:14to beat Denver now.
20:16That's going to be ahead.
20:17First of all, I don't ever care who wins, but I'd probably rather see Denver win now.
20:23Because without Anthony Edwards, his purse was sweet Minnesota.
20:28But Joker against Wimpenyama, because Wimpenyama put a 45-piece dinner on his ass last time
20:33they played steak.
20:34He put 45 on Wimpenyama.
20:37I would rather, like I said, I hope Anthony gets healthy, but I don't think he's going
20:41to be healthy in the next two weeks.
20:43But Wimpenyama against Joker in the second round would be must-see TV.
20:48A lot of great talent left and a lot of great inside the NBA left.
20:52It's great to see you guys looking as good as you do.
20:55Enjoyed watching you all weekend.
20:56It's always a pleasure.
20:57And if I don't see you in person, we'll see that smiling face on 14th Street, if nothing
21:02else.
21:03All right, my brother.
21:04Hey, you're a good man.
21:05You're a good friend.
21:06Y'all take care of yourself and keep kicking ass on the radio.
21:09Thank you, buddy.
21:10Charles Barkley in Atlanta, three straight nights of Inside the NBA.
21:13We'll come back.
21:14Lots to get to on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
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