Basketball Hall of Famers Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and David Robinson talked about a variety of topics during appearances on "The Dan Patrick Show" Wednesday.
Malone opined on former Bull, Dennis Rodman, who he said he's known since both played in an Oklahoma pro-am event backed by the late Wayman Tisdale, a former NBA player.
"What people don't realize about Dennis is that guy would give you the shirt off his back and I think that's been some of his demise," he said. "When they were talking about 'should he go into the Hall of Fame,' I don't think they were necessarily talking about his stats. I think, personally, that they were scared to death about what he would wear or say.
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"I love the fact that he made the Hall of Fame."
Barkley, an NBA analyst for TNT, admitted that he picked the Heat to win the Finals, but after the Thunder's Game 1 win Tuesday night, he stated, "LeBron James doesn't have a lot of help. He's Michael Jackson playing with a bunch of Tito Jacksons..I picked Miami to win that series, to be honest with you and I still think they have a good chance to win that series, but if they don't give him any help, they're in trouble because Oklahoma City's got a very good team. I thought the difference in the game last night was Russell Westbrook. He was fabulous."
He also threw in a jab at his friend Dwyane Wade, Miami's All-Star guard, a Chicago native and Barkley's occasional co-star in commercials: "When he plays poorly, his knee is hurt. When he plays great, he's great."
Barkley complimented Sam Presti, the Thunder's general manager, but added: "I like Sam, but if the Portland Trail Blazers had taken Kevin Durant, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we? He did a great job with Westbrook and he did a great job with Serge Ibaka, and Harden."
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Barkley also discussed a report that he's interested in being a candidate for the Philadelphia 76ers'--his first NBA team--general-manager position.
"I think everybody knows that I want to be a GM, so I would sit down and talk to them," he said. "It would depend on the financial considerations. I'm not taking any big old huge pay cut; let's get that straight.
"I want that challenge at some point and I think I'm ready for it, and I think I would be successful, to be honest with you," Barkley continued. "I can't be worse than some of these other stiffs running NBA teams. Some of these guys are bums.
"I'm not going to take a bad job. I'm only going to take a job where I have creative control."
Robinson, who was maligned for not winning a championship early in his career prior to Tim Duncan's arrival in San Antonio, was asked about the widespread criticism of Heat superstar LeBron James and though he defended the current league MVP, he admitted that he would choose Kevin Durant over James moving forward.
"In the past, he let it get to him a little bit, but this year he looks like he's relaxed, he's doing a great job, he's playing extremely well, but still, if he doesn't win, everybody's still going to talk about him and that's ridiculous. The way the guy has played, especially during these playoffs, has been outrageous," he said. "I think Durant for right now. I think the way he's playing and I like their team right now. I like the way they're playing. I think they're going to win this one, so I'd have to go with his for right now. We'll see who wins this championship and I'll tell you after that."
The Hall of Fame center, a former No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick, also discussed Chicago native Anthony Davis, the likely top choice in the upcoming draft.
Explained Robinson: "Anthony, I think, similar to Tim, I'd just try to take as much pressure off him as possible and get him to understand the expectations out there--I think LeBron's a good example--the expectations are always just ridiculous. You've just got to play at your own pace, your own strength and just be your own man because you can't be what everybody else expects you to be all the time."