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Not available in all states. October 3rd, 2024. Significant date. The launch of the Jim Jackson Show. Also basketball season, NBA. And college is right around the corner.
My birthday month coming up in a few days. Thank you for joining. We'll be here every week. You know, wherever you download your podcast, whether that's Amazon, Apple, Spotify, whatever it is, we'll be here. Sometimes I'm traveling a little bit because a basketball takes me away from the studio, but I'll be sure to tune in and give you an update on our shows and where you can catch it and when you can catch it. You can also follow us on Instagram at Jim Jackson Show.
Listen, coming up in this show, I mean, we're blessed to have Charles Barkley serve Charles to bless us. But before we even get to that, the reason why, I mean, it's another podcast. People talk about it all the time.
It's filtered with podcasts, especially on the sports side. Why another one? Well, because it's mine. And I always thought about doing something a little bit different. You get a chance to dig into my 14 year career in the NBA, played on 12 different teams. So I got a lot of perspectives, not only on some outstanding players that I play with through management, some of the trials and tribulations of playing in the NBA, some of the ups and downs, the high moments, the low moments, but also my 18 year career in TV, going in 18 this year, just being able to follow young players from the college game into the NBA and speak upon those experiences, but also how sports brings life, friendships, passion, travel, music, all of this together. Just a small little iteration insight into what this show will be all about. And also get the input from the people that will be joining to be able to bring in outstanding guests, to dig into their personalities, their lives, how sports also plays a big role in what they do professionally. I tell you what, it's going to be a lot of fun.
I'm looking forward to being with you. Let's talk LinkedIn people and small business owning. I'm a small business owner.
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That's why you got to use them. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash Eisen. That's LinkedIn.com slash Eisen to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance, fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way.
Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates potential savings will vary not available in all States or situations. Well, as promised, my first guest, of course, is Sir Charles Chuck. Charles Barkley, thank you for blessing us with your presence. Hey, listen, off air, we were talking about golf because, you know, we love golf and you're in Philly right now.
What's your handicap right now, bro? Oh, Tien. Number one, I'm excited to be on your podcast, man. It's an honor. You know, I got a lot of love for you as a person, as a player, you're a hell of a player. And now I enjoy working with you and watching you do your thing. I love talking golf with you. And you know, we love the sticks, man. Hey, I can talk to you about cigars all day long, my brother. Come on, you already know. And the thing about it is golf is interesting because we'll go anywhere to play some golf.
I mean, it's just like we talk, especially when we have our time off. And I don't know, back in the day, when you were playing, did you take clubs with you? When did you start playing? I only played during the summer. I never played golf. I didn't play, well, because, you know, my first eight years I was in Philly. And you know, you can't play golf in Philly. Now, I did play every now and then when I got traded to Phoenix because it's nice out there during the winter. But my first eight years in NBA, I was in Philly.
So it wasn't like, no, you didn't get to play any damn golf during the winter. Well, hey, listen, before we jump into some stuff, I want to say congrats on the relaunch of RoundMile Media. I know you started it in 2018, but you kind of relaunched it along with Jeff Zucker and his company who used to work with Turner. Just talk a little bit about kind of what that means in regards to where you want to go with it. Now, you talk about live, you know, events and original documentaries and scripted shows.
What is the premise behind RoundMile Entertainment or studios? Well, number one, everything's on the table as far as the type of shows that I want to be involved in. You know, we've done several shows. Now with Jeff, we're just going to take it to the next level. I think the number one thing for me, Jimmy, is I want to put positive black people in position to be successful. We're never going to do trash.
We're never going to do trash. I mean, I don't need money. This is just kind of an arm of me figuring out what happens when I'm done with television. So, you know, you want to make money when you're sitting at home. But for me, I hate black trash on television. I hate it, because I think that especially when people got money, you're supposed to be helping people make money, not making money making your people look bad. So for me, I'm going to be very strict.
The stuff that I've done before, I was very strict on. And now with the advent of Jeff, you know, Jeff has been a friend for a long time. He's my boss for a while. But I've known him for a long time. And he's obviously been a power broker in this business for a long time.
And he has my vision. Like I said, man, listen, I always tell people, I'm on the back nine. I hope I'm on 12 or 13.
But you just never know. And I'm just going to try to put positive stuff out in the universe. Well, with Round Mile Media, again, it's the relaunch because you started in 2018. But with, you know, all the stuff going on with the new media rights and the NBA and Turner kind of exiting some of that, quote unquote, right now, did that kind of expedite the process to kind of relaunch and get into this? Or was this something you were going to do anyway, if Turner continued with those media rights moving forward? Well, to be honest with you, I was very disappointed. I've been disappointed in Turner for a long time, to be honest with you, because this should have been done three years ago, where I had more television production stuff out there. You know, they haven't been a great partner. They've been a great TV partner as far as my basketball career. I mean, I love the Turner family, as far as my basketball stuff. But as far as my television production, things like that, all this stuff should have had probably three or four, maybe even, like you said, to 18.
It should have happened probably five years ago. I should have probably 20, 30 projects, which I don't want to, let me make one thing clear. I'm not going to be on TV. My job is to help other people become successful. But Turner has not been a good partner for me, because I should have been way ahead of where I am now.
And now, Jeff came into the picture, and hopefully he can take my company to the next level. You know, it's interesting too, because a lot of the media space is going back to trying to figure out some original documentaries, some scripted programs. You talked about having more blacks in representative roles. Does that mean from a scripted historical kind of projects? You talked about live to events. What's the live event? What is that? Is that basketball? Is that football? Is it soccer track?
What's the live event category? Well, you know, you don't have, because the way everything is all over the place, and we have so many different areas, avenues we can go to, I don't know what it entails. But, you know, I've said this for a long time, Jimmy. I think the way black people have been portrayed on television, Hispanics and things like that, you know, terrorists and Muslim-type people, I think the media landscape has done a disservice to black people, to Muslims, and to Hispanics. Because, you know, if you see somebody black on television, they're probably going to be a crook. Most Hispanics are gang bangers and things like that. And, you know, if you see a Muslim on television, he's probably going to be blowing up some.
So one of the things that I have been talking about, I've been talking about this for 30 years. We got to make sure that we get fair representation. We got black doctors. We got black lawyers. We got black engineers. We got Muslim engineers. Hispanics are some of the hardest working people I've ever met in my life, living in Arizona. I admire the hell out of Hispanics.
Those people are some of the most hard-working people in the world. And that goes back to when I made that role model commercial, because I was really concerned that, man, I think our black kids are all brainwashed to think they can only be in sports and entertainers. And I'm like, no. Because I knew Nike, when I went to them with that commercial, they thought I was nuts. I said, you're going to get killed by the public perception. I said, man, I don't give a shit about the public perception. I said, I want these young black kids.
And I knew the media were kind of bashing me. But I said, I get my point across, and I get to talk about what I want to talk about. I said, yeah, are we role models to a certain degree?
Yes. But I don't want these young black kids thinking that, hey, my only chance of being successful is through athletic entertainment. I'm like, no, dude. We got doctors. We got lawyers. We got engineers. We got teachers. We got firemen.
We got policemen. There's a whole, and Jimmy Theta is crazy about it. And I tell him all the time, when I'm working with some of these HBCUs, you got a better chance of being a doctor and a lawyer, playing in the NBA, a much better chance. Game Time Picks filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats, so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. Yet another way that Game Time makes things easier for you when you're looking for tickets to anything in your area. With the new Game Time Picks, it's curation easier to save more on sports, concerts, comedy, theater, and more. And with the all-in pricing feature, which is my favorite, you get to see the total upfront, so there's no surprise fees at Game Time checkout. And with Game Time, you always get the lowest price guarantee, or Game Time's going to credit you 110% of the difference.
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See representative for warranty details. Promotion is $20 off plus a 10% senior or military discount, one discount per household. Well with that Charles too, so you talk about the positive image, so with Turner kind of exiting the NBA space, what's your future from a TV perspective? You talked about with the media company that you're not going to be on TV, but from a TV, people love to see you on TV.
They want to hear your voice. What's the future for you on TV post this year? Yeah, you know, I don't know. I wish I could give you a great answer. I don't know. I know this is our last year and we're going to lose it to NBC.
You know, there's a couple things at play. Number one, I'll be 62 years old. It'll be 25 years at Turner and I don't know if I have the energy because I take my job very serious. I work my ass off and I want people to love basketball and enjoy basketball, but my biggest concern is do I want to go through the grind or breaking in another group on another network? That's my big, like I said, I'll be 62 years old.
Do I want to break in another? Because number one, Ernie would never go. Ernie's not going anywhere and I don't know what Kenny and Shaq want to do.
We have a whole year to make a decision, but it's probably everybody's an independent contractor and I know ESPN, I know NBC and Amazon would love to have some combination, but I just don't know what the future holds. I wish I could get you, you know, I ain't going to lie to you. I don't know.
I tell people, everybody keeps asking me and you're like, dude, I don't know what's going to happen. I know one thing for sure. We're going to lose to NBA after next year.
That's all I know. Now, Ernie and Shaq and myself, we're going to have to make a decision. Like, do you want to go here, here, here, here? Oh, see, I'm watching TV and I said this about Joel Embiid and they said he showed up at training camp today like 25, 30 pounds lighter. I think that's awesome. Because I said, I said, you know, because I was doing Paul George's podcast and I said, you do know that, because man, the East is going to be crazy now with Big Cat going to New York. I love that trade for the Knicks. I actually like that trade for both teams, to be honest with you. But, you know, Joel's been breaking down the last few years and I'm really excited he showed up 20, 30 pounds lighter.
How? Because I think, because it doesn't matter about Paul George, Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, if Joel cannot stay healthy, nobody in the East can beat the Celtics. And now, and that was before the Knicks made that trade. So I'm really proud of that kid. You know, anytime we say stuff about guys today, Jimmy, you know, they're so sensitive and I didn't take it. I wasn't trying to criticize him. I said, you know, anytime you say something, they don't lie.
They take it like, oh, he criticized me. I'm like, nah, man, if you keep getting hurt, you're getting older. Now you maybe need to consider planning a lighter weight. So it's breaking news right now. He came in 25, 30 pounds lighter. I'm happy for Joel. Cause you know, I'm a diehard Sixers fan. I root for the Sixers and I root for my sons. Now I'm with you on that too, because I've always been an advocate that his injuries were a result of not coming in shape in camp. And he didn't understand that.
I think mentally of why it was important, but speaking of which, and I'm glad you made the transition. Can Boston repeat? And if they don't, who's the team, is it Philly?
Is it Milwaukee? Who, who comes up now to really challenge Boston in the East? If they don't repeat, you know how hard it is to actually repeat and accomplish some of the goals and the records they set last year were just phenomenal with that Celtics run.
Well, they are the team to beat. The Porzingo thing is worrying. The Porzingo thing is worrying. You know, he's going to miss half the season. So that's something to think about.
That's something to really think about. I talked to one of the Celtics announcers actually yesterday. He said he thinks maybe All-Star break for Zinga to be back, which that would give him plenty of time.
That would give him plenty of time to acclimate to the second half of the season. But my Sixers went out and armed themselves. They got a lot better, but man, I really liked the Karl Lanson talent trade for the Knicks. I really do. I do. Cause I think that his size, his shooting ability, the pressure, he don't have to be the star.
I really think so. I give West and those guys credit for going out and get him. And hopefully this will put a chip on his shoulder too, to be honest with you. Be like, Oh, y'all didn't want me. And Hey Jimmy, you know what it's like playing in New York. You got to come there.
He got to come there and be really pissed off. Cause they think, I think it's a great piece for the Knicks, but slipping out to the West. Let me tell you something. I love, love what OKC did. OKC had a great summer. OKC had a great summer and cause getting Hartenstein and Caruso, man, I think that's going to be a great pickup OKC. And I forgot about a team when I was talking on some shows, getting ready for the season, the Memphis Grizzlies, man, they are sleeper, man.
Jock is still out of trouble. They get Adams back. I tell you what, don't sleep on the Memphis Grizzlies, but I tell you Zion look like he's in great shape.
It's all interesting, Charles. I mean, with the way it's funny because teams have gotten better in the West. Now, one thing I will say about Memphis, what hurts them, I think at the beginning, Gigi Jackson is out with an injury. Vince Williams, key component is out with an injury early. Now, Jaron Jackson with the hamstring, Jaron Jackson with the hamstring won't be maybe starting the season, but they'll be right there. Ja is healthy, but teams have gotten better in the West. And where does that leave Denver? Because it seems like Denver didn't make the moves necessary to surround your kids like they did in the past as Minnesota now has solidified itself. You talked about the fact that OKC has solidified themselves with the free agency. We know what the Lakers are going to do. Sacramento getting DeRozan teams have kind of just formed around and Denver has kind of stayed Pat. How do you think the improvements of the other team impact kind of the outlook with the Nuggets? Well, I think last year they did joke a disservice because not having him a backup really hurt him when they played those twin towers against Minnesota because they had enough, but they had zero bench that the front office of the Nuggets let him down. I do like going out and getting Westbrook, but I still think they need to because did their number one draft pick blow out his Achilles? This year? Yeah, the guy they drafted number one who I really like, I can't think of his name, he blew out his Achilles in the summer league.
Yeah. So it's one of those things too where Calvin Bouver is a really good friend of mine. And I know some of the comments of your Denver fans that didn't really like what he said about KCP. If he could, you know, he's kind of replaceable with our young guys. Cause he really believes in Braun, Christian Braun and those guys like that and Peyton Watson, they can come in and develop, but it seems like they've not taken that next step as according to, you know, what the other teams in the Western conference have done. But the interesting part is about it always goes back to this charge.
We always notice the Lakers, what LeBron and AD. I'm not going to let you do that, but you know, it always goes back to, let me say something. So listen, first of all, I love all those knuckleheads at ESPN. A lot of my friends before wanted games, cause I watch ESPN every day.
It's awesome. And every day they're talking about the Warriors and the Lakers, the Warriors and the Lakers. And I said, Hey guys, let me start the show.
I said, Ernie, I cleared it with you. I got something to say, but y'all please quit talking about the Warriors and the Lakers. The Warriors and the Lakers both stink.
Okay. The Warriors and the Lakers both stink. First of all, they're like, well, they're in the playoff hunt. No, they're not in the playoff hunt. They have some stuff that I haven't ever made up called a play in. That's what they're in.
Okay. They're in the play in. Neither one of these teams are any good. So they act like the Lakers and the Warriors are contenders. They're not. They're play in candidates. Love LeBron.
He's amazing, but the Lakers and the Warriors are not contenders. Plain and simple. So stop it, Jimmy.
I'm not going to let you do that. Listen, that's the conversation. You know, all the time, the news cycle is going to revolve around what Steph is doing and what LeBron is doing in particular, just because they're, they're so galvanizing regards to, with regards to their personalities, what they've accomplished. And they always spark some kind of controversy with regards to different opinions on whether the Lakers franchise will always be in that conversation.
100%. But you can't start this at this episode talking to me about OKC, Sacramento, you know, so those would be New Orleans. So what did the Lakers, if they were in the play in last year, their problem, think about this, and you answer this question now, right? They're probably the only team that didn't get better. And they were in the play. But Charles, let me say this. They're saying, because now you got a healthy Gabe Benson, you have a healthy Jared Vanderbilt, two guys that are complimentary players, but the add value that that having those two back in the lineup gives, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just saying right, wrong, or indifferent. Those were two guys they were counting on last year that weren't really in the lineup.
I see you. They don't move the needle. Are those better than DeRozan?
No. Did DeJounte Murray going to New Orleans? I mean, the healthy Zion Woods. Now what they gonna do with BI Brandon Ingram is going to be very interesting. So, so those more movers than Vincent and Vanderbilt, in my opinion, Deion Deionte Murray, I think he's a better player than Gabe Vincent. But so, so listen, I know we're going to talk about the Lakers because of LeBron. I know we're going to talk about the Warriors because of Steph, but the Warriors and the Lakers, I think the interesting question, you hit it, what did the Nuggets do?
Because they, as long as you got the best player in the world, you should be a contender. But I say the injury. It was De'Ron Holmes, De'Ron Holmes.
Yes. From Dayton. I watched him play in March Madness the last couple of years.
I'm like, man, that's a nice pickup. And then he blows out his Achilles. But so they got to do something to help the Joker because he gave out last year. He did.
He gave out. So now it's going to be harder because I'm going to tell you something, I actually like this trade for Minnesota, man. I mean, I love it for the Knicks, but I, I don't think, I don't think Minnesota got worse because Judas Reynolds is a very good player. You got Anthony, you got Nas. Yes.
Yeah. So man, the West, the West is going to be amazing to watch this year. Well, it's about probably, unlike the East, it's probably 14 teams out of the 15 that are contending for those top 10 spots. Whereas at the East, you probably have eight, you have maybe 10 teams. In the East, you got, you got three teams. Cause I don't count the Bucks. I don't count the Bucks. I don't count the Bucks in the big three. So you got Philly, you got Boston and you got New York is a big three, right?
That's it. Okay. And then the second tier is Cleveland, Milwaukee, Orlando, or Cleveland, Indiana. I was going to say, don't sleep on the Pacers. Right. Okay. I think the Pacers and Orlando, because didn't they get KCP?
Yeah. I tell you what, he going to help them because they should have beat Cleveland last year. They're going to be a year older. That boy Bancaro is a serious problem. Them damn Wagner brothers, they are a serious problem.
Going out and getting a veteran like KCP, man, that's a great pickup. So I got Indiana and Orlando is probably four and five in the East. It's going to be, you know, and that's the thing. The top of the East is as tough as it is the top of the West.
It's the other teams below them. Cause we know what Cleveland, we know who Cleveland is, but can Darius and also Donovan Mitchell backcourt really work? Does Eben Mobley start to expand his game a little bit more to give up and free up some, some space because on paper, you know, the essence is there, but yet, but the one guy driving me crazy.
I've been, and I've been waiting on him. I've been bragging about this dude for five years and he disappoints me every year, Jared Allen. From what aspect though, what do you expect from Jared Allen though? What, I mean, what he's going to rim protect, run to the rim? I thought he, I thought he'd be a 2010 guy, an all-star by now. But with those guards and Eben Mobley, he's not going to get the touches.
That's, that's the challenge. He should be the second option on that team. Like he's the second best player on that team.
People automatically go to Mobley. I said, well, if you actually, when I watched him play, when, when Jared Allen plays well, that's when they play their best. They've got to do a much better job. It should be Donovan and Jared Allen, one and two, and everybody else get to eat after that.
You got to, because he's the only guy going to get you easy baskets. Because if you look at Donovan and Garland, they're both undersized guards. They have to work so hard. They use so much energy because they're so undersized and they're undersized on the defensive end, which wears them down even more. That's why I think they get hurt a lot of times.
They have to be at full, more energy all the time. So, but the other one guy who I like, he should, I said, man, this guy, he got so much talent. He got a great body. Like he can play against big guys. He's not athletic enough to play wing guys and he, they can't guard him in the post because he's too big.
So he's the one guy, in my opinion, that if Cleveland's going to ever get to the next level, it's gotta be him. Well, it'd be interesting because parity is funny. Parity in football, NFL is great because small market teams still throw. I don't care if it's Green Bay, it could be smaller Kansas city.
They still thrive. The NFL is going to be popular no matter what, who plays, but the NBA, as much as we want parity, you still want to see some of those big market teams from a TV perspective involved. And it seems like we're watching different teams kind of elevate up or is Orlando that next team? Can they take it to the next level with the youth that they have, but look at where Philly, Boston, Boston basically didn't look, they didn't lose anybody.
Now I know presenting is not coming back early, but they didn't lose anybody. So as you try to climb the ladder yet, and still, you still have these teams in front of you, same thing in the West, you know, with these young teams. Yeah, but you gotta be patient. If you're Orlando, you're not going to win a championship this year. Patience. Come on, Charles, Charles, you know this league now about patience.
I understand. But listen, Orlando, I love what they're doing. I thought last year was a positive. This year, I expect them to win a round in the playoffs. And like, they're not going to beat Boston. They're not going to be Philly. They're probably not going to be New York. So what's the successful season for them then? They should win a round in the playoffs.
Yeah. Because dude, their best player is only like 20 years old. He's not going anywhere for the next 10, 15 years.
Those Wagner bars, I think they're like 25. Their back court, I think they got young kids. So, because I'd say they're not a contender, but I think they got a bright future. I really do.
I think you got a great future. Yeah. The young players, they have Jamal Mosey has done an excellent job of, you know, the hardest thing to do with young players is to have them not just focus on the offensive end, but defensively try to get better and play together. And having covered them in the playoffs last year against Cleveland, one thing I saw, well, a couple of things that I saw from Jamal Mosey and that coaching staff was the tight-knit group that they were. That we knew that Paolo was the kind of a guy. And then there was Wagner after that Frans, but everybody, even though the back court was oversaturated regarding, they all supported each other, which I think goes a lot to say about those young men that play, how important it is that they're together, but also the leadership from the coaching staff in particular from Jamal Mosey. Well, Jamal did a fabulous job. You know, Jimmy, a lot of our coaches are cowards in the NBA.
They won't host these guys or hold them accountable. They're like afraid. Like, you know, cause I talked to all the coaches all the time. I'm like, yo, man, you go and get fired, get fired to your weight. You got to coach your team. That's why if you go back, that's why Popovich, Pat Riley, you know, guys are like, you know, they're like, nah, I'm going to hold you accountable. And, you know, Damian Woody, one of my favorite guys on ESPN, he says, as a coach, you're either coaching it or you're allowing it to happen. To get back to your original point about Jamal, he's coaching those guys, teaching them how to play basketball the right way. And it showed because most people didn't have Orlando going to game seven with Cleveland. Now, most people like Cleveland going to be in this series easily. And I'm like, I actually like Orlando in this series, but obviously I was wrong, but like, I like what Orlando is doing.
Now it tells me the general manager knows what he's doing. Going out. Okay. I got a bunch of young kids. We kind of got our feet wet in the playoffs. KCP won two championships. Let me go get him and teach these young guys what it takes to get to the next level.
So I love what they did. Well, speaking about young guys, and we didn't talk about this too. You brought up Popovich, you know, his team has missed the playoff in the last five years, but you bring in a Chris Paul, it looked like when Bianna has put on weight. With that said, Devin Fissel is going to be out a little bit at the beginning of the year, but with Chris Paul coming in and also Harrison Barnes, a little bit more veteran laden backcourt, how does that help San Antonio? And look, they won 22, I think wins last year. What does that equate to this year? What kind of jump does the San Antonio Spurs take this year with those two acquisitions? Well, number one, you know, Shaq and Kenny get mad at me because I, every time I say Chris Paul is the best leader we've had in NBA the last 20 years, I love that guy.
But, and I like the addition of Harrison Barnes, but you want me to be honest with you? Think about it. They're not going to be able to go that high because I'm trying to think, I don't know how many teams they're going to pass. Right. Yeah. They may have 22 wins last year. And even if they win it, how much would you say? Okay.
Your question, can they get to 40, 41 for like, it's going to be tough. I'm trying to think off the top of my head. Oh, he mentioned down Phoenix Suns. Mavericks. The Mavericks.
I don't know. Who would you say, and I'm going to ask you your opinion, because I value your opinion. Who would you say they're better than in the West right now?
Portland. I mean, that's, I mean, really with, so if you equate it, I look at it like, okay, so Chris Paul to Harrison Barnes helps you win maybe 10 more games. So now you're at 32 from 22. But a couple of things are going to happen. Your young guys are going to be around veterans who are going to teach them how to play and how to win.
And then you're going to get better as a team and you're still going to get lottery picks. And yay, you mess around, send that flag boy down there. And you're like, hey, I talked to a couple of NBA people on the Olympic team, a couple of players, a couple of coaches, because, you know, I don't go by that high school, all that other stuff.
I'm like, no, I want to know from real basketball people. They're like, yo man, this flag boy ain't no joke. He don't, he don't, he coming here with like, yeah, I think I'm just as good as you guys. And they're like, he came in and I was like, whoa.
I said, what? They're like, Chuck, he's the real deal. And like, you, you, you keep, you get, women's going, he got a great coach in Popovich. He going, he's already got good habits. You bring Chris in, he going to be a great leader for those young guys. Harrison going to be a great veteran mentor for those young guys.
Like I said, they're going to be back in the lottery again next year. And he'd like put flag in there or a couple of these guys. You're like, we on the right pack. We on the right path down in San Antonio. Now it's going to be an exciting year. I can't wait for it to start because there's so many intriguing questions, so much player movement. I can't wait to see, like, you know, I told you, I'm excited to see Joel's lost 25, 30 pounds.
I can't wait to see, like the biggest question was Zion and speech. And you know, and I went through this, you know, when I got to the NBA, Jimmy, Moses Malone, I was, wasn't getting to play it. Moses told me I was fat and lazy. And he made me lose 50 pounds. He worked with me before practice every day, after practice every day.
And I've been telling that story about Zion. I'm like, who? Because they've already, he already runs the team. They have a coach or general manager, or even a veteran like, yo, man, you're going to keep getting hurt until you get in shape. And I'm hoping he get in shape. First of all, let me tell you something, the money they're paying these dudes right now, Jimmy.
And we fought for it though, back in the day, Charles, we fought union wise to be able to get bigger pieces of the pie and they're getting it right now. Let me tell you something, if I was playing in the NBA today and I was fat, you know what they'd be saying about Chuck? Man, Chuck's anorexic.
Chuck is anorexic out here. Hey man, I played in the NBA for 16 years, Jimmy. The most money I made was $5 million. You know, I would never eat again if they start talking about 30, 40, 50, $60 million. And what's really crazy, Jimmy, once this new TV deal kick in, we're going to have guys making $70, $80, $90, $100 million. Yeah. I would never eat again type of money.
Cooks all day long. Hey man, listen, before we get out of here, a couple of things. One, I got to give you your flowers and you don't remember this.
I don't know if you will, but this is the kind of person you are. And this always stood out to me. 1997, you used to come to Toledo where I'm from, Toledo, Ohio. I'm playing the Jamie Farr classic, a LPGA event with the big ones on the tour. But during the summer, I would have my basketball camp at the University of Toledo. It just so happened to coincide with the tournament, the pro end that you played in. We reached out to your people, got you to see if you would come by the camp. And I knew you were busy and I knew you had a lot of stuff going on, but within that, you still took time out, came by our basketball camp. It was Todd Mitchell, myself, Dennis Hobson at the University of Toledo, and talked to the kids and spent time and took time out of your busy schedule. And people don't understand that part about the giving side of you.
They see the boisterous, they see the voice of outspoken, but this side of me always sort of met my mom and my mom loved it. People still talk about it to this day about that. So I would be remiss if I didn't say thank you, how much I appreciated that, how much that stood out to me as a young player at the time, to have you be a part and really dig into your time a little bit and give a little bit back to not only me, but those kids who were at the camp. Well, man, I appreciate that.
Hey, you know, I'm old school because of Moses Malone, Dr. J, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney. They're like, yo, man, take time for the kids, man, because, you know, one of the great things and about our lives and negative, you know, they see us so much. We're so prevalent black jocks and we might get to see them one time and not meet them at all. So we need to always try to help them when we can. And I appreciate the kind words, my brother. Well, you know, and speaking of helping, we as the NBA family lost a tremendous human being, forget basketball player, forget basketball player, just ambassador to the sport in the world.
Just a few thoughts on the loss and the life of the Kim Bay Mutombo. Yeah, man, that shook me up. I was actually in Auburn.
I was having my charity golf term at Auburn Monday and it came across my bleacher report because I get updates and they have in all sports. It hurt. You know, I never met a better person. Everybody knows he was a heck of a basketball player. Jimmy, he built hospitals in Africa.
You know, think about that. Built hospitals in Africa. That's what like to number one, get out of that country and become one of the hall of famer. But to use your own money to build a hospital, man, if that don't make you think this dude's special, there's something wrong with anybody. He was one of the nicest men I ever met. And, you know, we kind of figured something was not right because when he announced he had cancer, we kept reaching out to him in the last couple of years that we didn't hear anything back. And we didn't know where like things must not be going good because, you know, because when I'm in Atlanta and he's there, I would bump into him all the time.
And, you know, and I know I hadn't, I say, I reached out to a couple of numbers and didn't get a response. And then we were like, but when I got that news, man, my heart, it hurt, man, because, you know, we're a family, you know, we lost Jerry West recently. We lost Bill Walton, you know, because I've been in this thing for over 40 years, man, 40 years. You and guys like yourself, y'all part of my family, man. I mean it, like, you know, me and you way back then, and now we work together, we talk around and smoke about cigars and things like that. Like, y'all, the NBA is part of our family. When Bill died, that hurt, then Jerry, who was great.
And then you factor in Mutombo, who was 30 years younger. But man, what a wonderful person. We've got to find a way. I mean, there's got to be some type, well, because I know we got the Social Justice Award for Kareem. We need to have an award at Dikembe's name, where we recognize somebody's charity work. I mean, obviously, like I said, we got the Kareem, but we can never honor our legends enough, period. No. Yeah, I corrected that.
Maybe it's an ambassadorship award or something that, you know, not only touches communities here, but across the world via the NBA, because of what Dikembe was able to do, the official Ambassador to the NBA. Man, Chuck, man, I thank you for taking the time. I know you're busy. I know you got a lot of things, especially golf.
So I'm looking forward to this year, even though it may be the last one with Turner. Enjoy, my brother, and hit them long, but don't hit them too often. Hey, brother. Hey, man. You're a good brother.
I'm honored to be on your podcast. Keep doing your thing, and I'll bump into you somewhere soon. All right, my man. Peace out. All right.
Peace out, my brother. Well, before I wrap this up, just keep in mind, I remind you, every Thursday you're able to catch the show, so tune in. But also, I do a segment on the show called Off the Court. We maybe talk about some things that are non-basketball related, but this week it was something different. I had to kind of stay on the court, but it revolves around something much bigger than that, and that's the loss of a very personal and dear friend of mine, Dikembe Mutombo. You heard Charles talk about it and what kind of special man that Dikembe was. I had the honor of meeting Dikembe back in 1991 when we played at Ohio State Georgetown at the time when he was playing with another good friend of mine, Alonzo Mourning. I was blessed to play against Dikembe early in my career when he was with the Denver Nuggets, and then more importantly, got to know him through playing, but really got to know him when I got traded to the Atlanta Hawks and got to spend time around Dikembe Mutombo, to find out the man behind the number 55, who he was, what his passions were, family life, how much the Congo meant to him and what it meant to be able to give back to them, to be able to impact the young people there who didn't have maybe the medical, the education, some of the funding that they needed to survive, and why it was so important that he utilized what he did in basketball on the court to be able to help people off the court. Then we played again together, spent a year in Houston on the back end of both of our careers, and the transition that he made from being a dominant center to more of a complementary player to Yao Ming, but yet and still his heart has grown a lot more, became like an ambassador to the NBA.
And when I say ambassador, I mean true ambassador to the people. I don't think there's one person that ever met that had anything negative to say about Dikembe outside of getting elbowed by those sharp elbows. And whether you're a teammate or opponent, you got a whiff of that. But the man himself inspired a lot of people to do a lot of things. He was a precious, dear, impactful friend of mine that battled with Kench for two years. He fought the good fight. And like Dikembe, he left a legacy that we can all be proud of. So for all that knew Dikembe, you know what I'm talking about, the man that he was, all that didn't have got a glimpse of his life. He was a special human being. And to him, I say, rest in peace, my friend. We're going to miss you, but we will see you soon.
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