Earlier this week, NBA Champions Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson made headlines when they had U.S. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris as a guest on their All The Smoke Podcast.
While the current Vice President was a guest on the show, Matt Barnes tells Scoop B Radio that he would welcome Harris’ opponent, Donald Trump on All The Smoke as well. “We don’t have any no-no’s to be honest with you,” Barnes tells Scoop B Radio.
“I would DEFINITELY interview Donald Trump. Just because I want to ask him some real questions. That’s it.”
Trump is not the only person Barnes would welcome. Barnes and Jackson would also welcome the GOAT, Michael Jordan on the program for a sit down as their guest. “Man…. I hope MJ, you know,” he tells Scoop B Radio.
“I hope so. And even if it’s not our show and it’s somebody else’s show, we just want to hear him. We want to hear his stories. We had the chance to sit down with Dominique Wilkins and he had a bunch of GREAT Jordan stories so I would love to just hear Mike talk so hopefully it’s All the Smoke but if it’s not us… anybody.
Added Barnes: “I just feel like sometimes when you’re just THAT great, you let the work speak for you and let everyone else speak for you and I know that he’s got a lot to say about NASCAR, golf and doing a bunch of cool shit so I’m hopeful one day that he’ll give in and sit down with us.”
Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York before moving to Wilmington, North Carolina. Barnes shared that he’d also like to have two other Brooklyn born notables as guests on All The Smoke. “Baller? Bernard King. A New Yorker? Spike Lee,” he said.
Next weekend, Lee will join Jack Nicholson, Billy Crystal and Alan Horowitz as honorees enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for their devoted fandom and unwavering support for the game. Barnes respects Lee’s body of work as a movie director and wants to learn more about his craft. “I just want to dig into those ideas behind Mars Blackmon,” he said.
“And then obviously, all of his great work and creative ideas and breaking boundaries and breaking glass ceilings. I listen to his Master Class and I’m just really appreciative of his hard work and everything that he’s gone through to get to where he’s at.”
A defensive presence during his 14 year NBA career, Matt Barnes was a second round draft pick in 2002. A member of the Golden State Warriors’ 2017 Championship team with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Barnes also had stints with the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies. While chatting with the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Barnes articulated that the success of the All The Smoke show is pretty awesome especially because both he and his co-host were solid role players on high calibers teams.
“Stars are special people,” said Barnes.
“But I think that they see things through a certain lens and expect everyone and everything to be at the highest level and life isn’t like that. So I think that guys that were roleplayers and guys that have been through some shit understand the ebbs and the flows of life in the game and business and were able to adapt and work with others well and take our ego out of stuff. So I definitely feel like the stars will obviously be the center of everything but there’s a lot of quality people out here that are doing a lot of great things and they’re playing their role.”
As a podcaster and media personality, Barnes sheds light on things that other podcasters should be paying attention to in today’s juxtaposition of pop culture, politics and sports. “ I think on the political side, just policy and your local vote, you know,” he said.
“Obviously it’s a mess right now whether it’s going to Kamala [Harris] or Trump but I think what people need to know and understand is your local vote is where you’re gonna see a turnaround, you know? The potholes, the local schools… a lot of different things in your community you directly have control over if you get out and vote. So really educating themselves on local policy and hopefully that will encourage them to continue to educate themselves for the bigger stuff.”
In addition to podcasting, media and politics, Barnes also weighed in on the upcoming NBA season. Barnes likes the New York Knicks and their star in Jalen Brunson. “I think that they need a little bit more, but I love everything that he’s been able to do,” he said.
“The way he’s been able to… I don’t want to say reinvent himself but, being able to lead a team, you know? He was under Luka [Dončić] for a little bit and did well when Luka was down and went to New York and I think shocked the world with his play.”
Out West, Barnes is paying attention to Lakers superstar LeBron James. Entering year 21 in his NBA career, James is the NBA’s all time leader in points scored.
Million Dollar Question: Is it likely that someone will break James’ scoring record OR will someone break the league’s assist record held by John Stockton?
“I think that there’s going to be a better chance of breaking LeBron’s scoring record which I think is out of reach because the ball doesn’t move the way it used to move,” said Barnes.
“It’s more one-on-one now. There’s not anymore of the old-school Chris Pauls and Steve Nashes, the John Stocktons, Magic Johnsons… those kinds of point guards have kind of gone away. There are more scoring guards now so, if there’s any record that’s going to be broken and I don’t think LeBron’s record is going to be broken; if I had to have me pick one, it would be the scoring record.”
That’s a fair assessment. For those keeping score at home: John Stockton, the all-time assists leader of the NBA has a total of 15,806 assists in his career. As of today, the highest-ranked player still active in the NBA is San Antonio Spurs point guard, Chris Paul, who is ranked third all-time and has a total of 11,984 career assists.
James is ranked fourth All-Time with 11,009 and Denver Nuggets point guard Russell Westbrook is ranked ninth all-time with 9,468.
Lastly, while chatting with Scoop B Radio, Matt Barnes shared his thoughts on his growing friendship with Snoop Dogg. “I met Snoop in college,” he said.
“Always a huge fan. I’ve been a cannabis smoker since I was a teenager so obviously meeting him at UCLA was a dream but to turn from meeting him into a brotherhood and I can really call him my brother.”
With over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide. Snoop’s accolades include an American Music Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and 17 Grammy Award nominations. Barnes respects Snoop’s philanthropic work. “We’ve done cancer foundation events together, we’ve hung out and our families have hung out,” he said.
“So to idolize him and really get a chance to meet him and know him as a man because a lot of people that I used to idolize and I got a chance to meet weren’t ‘it’ as human beings. But Snoop? He’s everything you think of and more! Just a great human and a great spirit — caring, loving and one of the greatest entertainers of all time.”
Make sure to watch Matt Barnes’ full interview on Scoop B Radio here.
