Why Charles Barkley feels the Phoenix Suns are an ‘afterthought’

Why Charles Barkley feels the Phoenix Suns are an ‘afterthought’

always a pleasure to be joined by our next guest Hall of Famer the one and only Sir Charles Charles Barkley joins us here on Bickler Marada Morings Charles good morning to you Thanks for joining us today Oh appreciate it brothers How y’all doing We are doing good It’s weird because you’ve been you’ve been so kind enough to to us to come on the show for years and every time we introduce you it’s always from NBA on TNT We can’t say that anymore Charles And it’s weird Yeah it’s it’s you know it’s going to be interesting Uh I just signed off on the deal last week cuz I wasn’t sure if I was going to take it Um but I’m like you know what I don’t want to screw Ernie Kenny and Shaq but mainly the people behind the scenes So I’m going to take a chance with ESPN and hopefully it’ll work out perfect It always does wherever you go Chuck You know that All right so let’s get into the uh what’s going on with the Phoenix Suns We’re talking about a firsttime general manager a first time head coach in Jordan who’s going to be unveiled today at a press conference Lot of unhappiness in the fan base because of all these Michigan State ties to this new regime What is the short-term prognosis for the Phoenix Suns in your opinion How do they get out of this mess Well they’re screwed right now So you go you you make the best deal for Kevin That’s the first thing You make the best deal I hear they’re like working with him and whatever I’m like no you don’t work with him You make the best deal for the team So you make the best deal for the team Uh because you got to start your rebuild because you only got one Listen let’s be honest If you know what you’re doing you only got one decision the Deon Booker decision Um you make the best deal for KD no matter don’t worry about his feelings You make the best deal for yourself cuz you know some people going to take a chance with him some people not He only got one year left on his deal and he’s 37 years old So you make the best deal for the Phoenix Suns You probably stuck with Bradley Beer because he won’t wave his no trade So the only decision you got to go to Devin Booker and says “We’re going to suck for the next couple years You can stay here cuz we love you but can we make a deal and start our rebuild and make you happy And if I’m Deon Booker I say you know what Let’s do this That’s really the own decision Kevin Durant’s easy You make the best deal where you can get the most assets Probably don’t get not going to get a lot but somebody might be stupid and give you a lot Like I say you’re stuck with Bradley Bill because of the no trade But the decision you got to make it’s only one decision Okay Devin do you you you’re still a hell of a player We’re not going to be any good for the next two to three years We need to start our rebuild What what what can we what what situation can we put you in where you go can compete for a championship in your prime and we start our rebuild Mhm That’s really the only decision Has nothing to do with who’s the general manager who’s all this other thing That’s the only decision the Suns got to make this summer You got to do the deal the rent deal but the decision is really all about Devin Yeah Do we Cuz cuz he’s the only valuable asset you got Truth So that that’s the decision on KD’s future Chuck it’s interesting And there’s a difference And you said “Hey you don’t have to work with him you do what’s best for your team I wonder how that would affect future free agency dealings But just in terms of Kevin Durant’s fit with a team I think there’s only going to be certain a certain number of teams that are interested in getting him anyway What do you think of his fit on a championship caliber team right now It didn’t work in Brooklyn obviously with a big three It didn’t work in Phoenix Does it It hasn’t worked anywhere but Golden State True True Yeah I mean that those are just fact hacks out there But can it work It have to would have to be the perfect situation He can’t be your he can’t be your leader because you need leadership He’s proven that when he has to be the leader he don’t he said “I don’t want to be the leader I just want to play basketball.” Well it doesn’t work like that when you’re the best player It doesn’t work like that You have to be a leader Uh unless you got somebody like Steph Curry Klay Thompson Draymond Yep Like yeah So it’s going to be interesting but you can’t even worry about that Like yo we got to do what’s best for the Phoenix Suns I mean you we because I heard when I laugh when I hear “Well we’re going to work with KD and his people.” Like screw that You got to do what’s best for the Phoenix Suns Yeah Like so true You guys gave up all that stuff to get him Now you got to worry about him too Like no let’s do the best for the Phoenix Suns Period Yeah And you’re so right about that leadership component because you know we lived it in Phoenix with you in 93 A basketball team is a reflection of your best player and there’s no arguing that Devin Booker has gone backwards since Kevin Durant has arrived Do you think that Book by himself with a different crew if if if KD goes elsewhere that we’ll get a better Devin Booker next year I think you will but the problem is the team’s not going to be any good The Suns aren’t even I mean the Suns are afterthought I mean think about this Okay Obviously you got to get rid of KD because of the contract situation but Devin Booker and Bradley Bill you’re a playin team at best At best So uh you know Deon’s a hell of a player great kid And you know when we had to So so crazy We had this conversation like he got to step up and be the leader but cuz we had this conversation about KD KD didn’t want to be the leader Okay that’s fine But somebody else has to be the leader And Devin I don’t know if he has the personality to lead Uh you you can’t just be a great player You got to cuz players you have to take all the responsibility for the press Like it’s like me when I was I got I get all the credit and all the blame for my team success Like no And I hate saying this because it sounds it don’t sound great Nobody says Sabalos didn’t win the championship No Yeah Nobody says Mark West didn’t win the championship Like Charles Barkley didn’t win the championship Is that fair No 100% not fair But that’s just the way it is Doug goes with being the leader and the man on the team Y you can get mad about it You can whine and about it Those are the rules of engagement with when you’re a great player you get all the credit but you get all the blame And KD does not want that responsibility which is fine Uh Devin I I I would feel bad for him if he stayed in Phoenix I think they got to make the trade because that’s the only way they can start the rebuild because they have no draft pick for the next four years or more So he’s a valuable player He could be on a championship contending team So at some point you got to start to rebuild I mean you can keep him and be mediocre in his prime for the next three or four years and but that makes zero sense whatsoever Yeah you’re right The great Charles Barkley our guest here on Bickley and Marada Morning Shifting focus Charles to the NBA finals tied up at one Bick and I were talking about it Even with Indiana stealing game one Oklahoma City has dominated this series They have this swarming defense Do you think Indiana can make this a series Yeah because the coach at OKC uh did that stupid ass thing changing the start lineup Wondered about that Well see cuz see game two doesn’t matter Only game one matter They got the split If you go back and look at Indiana when they get to split they’re content Like when they got up 3-1 they went back to New York and like “Yeah we’ll let y’all have this game and then we going to finish y’all off in game six.” So people talking about game two Game two didn’t matter Once Indiana got their split they were good And let me tell you something this reminds me I was having dinner with some NBA people last night And I said they’re asking me I said this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen because it’s actually happened before about I can’t remember probably 20 years ago the Dallas Mavericks had the number one team in the NBA And Avery Johnson who I like did the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen He was playing against Don Nelson’s team and he’s he’s got the best record in the NBA and Nelly played small ball Avery Johnson changed his starting lineup with the best record The Mavs have the best record in the NBA He changed his lineup and they lost as the number one seed to the AC seed Golden State Warriors Mhm And I remember saying on TV the night that night I was like “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve seen If you’re the number one seed and you got the best record why would you change your starting lineup?” And I’m not sure what what he was doing Coach Daniel for game one Now now he stuck cuz he did the same stupid thing in game two and they won Yeah But game two didn’t matter to to Indiana They packed it in against the Knicks Now the series really starts tomorrow to be honest with you And I think the Pacers in great shape because coach coach you know all these coaches they do this analytical BS but they want to be the smartest person in the room And no dude you got the best record in the NBA Why are you changing Yeah why the hell are you changing So I think Indiana’s in the driver’s seat right now I picked OKC to win this series I didn’t think anybody could beat them but the coaching out here trying to be Red Arbback and we going to see if it come back to bite him in the ass You’ve been uh so on the money in in calling out ESPN over the years when they just just fixate on LeBron and the Lakers when they’re not even a good team and and then people wonder why no one knows or wants to watch a guy like Shay Gilis Alexander or Tyrese Hallebertton What what do you think the NBA needs to get right about marketing all its teams and all its star players to get away from all these ratings discussions You know Dan that’s a great question because we got first of all there’s only in in our in my basketball career There’s a lot of great players but Magic Bird and Michael are King Kong They’re they’re they’re supernovas Yep Mhm Then you got Kobe and LeBron That’s probably it during my lifetime It’s kind of like golf I said you had Garrett player Jack Nichols and Anna Palmer Then you had Tiger Those the only four guys that were like “Oh yeah whatever they’re doing I’m going to be watching.” Scottish Heffler Jordan Speed Justin Thomas Phil Mickelson is almost on that level with Tiger He right right below Tiger but that’s it Yep And the NBA we got the Joker we got Giannis uh we got Luca we got Shay we got a lot of great players who are just great You know ESPN had this stupid stupid discussion Who’s going to be the face of the NBA They were like I’m never going to be the face of the NBA I said well it doesn’t kind of work like that You don’t give it away right You don’t give it away You have to take it Yeah Um but there are very few players like that But concentrate on the great players we got They got mad at me a couple months ago I said the Lakers stink and the Warriors stink I don’t care Uh cuz they both went up when they made the trade which anybody know when you made a trade It’s kind of like when you fire a coach your team going to go on a run but then they going to realize that we really suck We just got a new coach and we realize that we got to play harder because they realize that we got our coach fired We got our coach fired So the players like pick it up for like two weeks then they realize they suck and they go backwards So I was like “Yo man why do y’all I did a rant I said “Why do y’all talk about the Warriors and the Lakers like they’re contenders?” The Warriors and the Lakers both stink They got Luca they had a little run They got Jimmy Butler They had a little run but they both really stink They’re not contenders Um just talk about the greatness Shay Gildris is amazing You know Jaylen Williams Hallebertton Seakum I think Seakum is probably the most underrated player in the NBA Yep But but they try to make it about stars and big markets Man we got a lot of great players in NBA Jaylen Brown Jason Tatum are great I mean we got a bunch of good good players Uh Devin Booker is a great player So just concentrate instead of just worrying about the big market and the stars talk about the greatness of the players Yeah All right Lastly before we let you go I got to ask you a golf question Have you ever played Oakmont Are you stoked for the open this week I am stoked No first of all no I I got to give a shout out Uh I got to uh to Pton Manning So Dan Pton Manning who’s a great dude called me a few months back He said “Hey man what are you doing on this date?” I said “I’m not doing anything What do you want to do?” He said “I want to take you to Augusta for two days We’re going to stay on the property.” I’m like “Holy.” Okay So so so so Dan he takes me and Dwayne Wade and Grant Hill to Augusta for two days and we and we we stay on the property Listen if I had have died the next day I’m like I’m good I’m good How’d you play It was it it I played great I’m playing great right now I’m probably down to an eight six six to eight right now I’m playing wonderful but man it was two of the best days of my life And we stayed up there We stayed on the property and it was flat out two of the best days of my life you know But I have not played Oakmott Um you know I was talking to Colt No who’s amazing does a great job on television He’s like “If you give me even par right now or one or two over I might take it right now before the week start.” Uh-huh And I’m like “What?” He’s like “Man you give me even par one or two over to start the week.” And says “I can finish that Sunday night at 6:00 I think you’re going to win the golf tournament or you’re going to be close to a playoff.” And I was like damn So I cannot wait to watch Uh it’s uh the US Open is amazing I love the Father’s Day tie-in Uh so I can’t wait Uh but I’ve never played Oakmont But you just made Vic real jealous Yeah those two days at Augusta National man Keep living the dream Chuck And Chuck congrats on the ESPN deal We look forward to watching you guys in the future man Hey Vince Thank you brother Hey you guys Y’all take care of yourself I know it’s hot as hell in the desert I’ll see y’all in uh October Sounds good See you Chuck Charles be well brother The Hall of Famer joining us here on Bickley and Marada Mornings We got a lot Yeah You’re going to be okay for the rest of the show We got a lot to react to from Charles Barkley Thanks for watching Bickley and Marada Click to see the latest Bickley Blast and hit the button in the middle to subscribe to Arizona Sports

NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley joined Bickley & Marotta to talk about the Phoenix Suns and the moves he feels they need to make in the offseason to be competitive next season.

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