The new season brings joy to hoop fans in more ways than one. While the games are enough entertainment, there are a few more things that fans look forward to. One of those is The Steam Room podcast, hosted by Ernie Johnson and the legendary Charles Barkley. The iconic duo is back and the first episode of their fifth season was an absolute joy to listen to.

While the hour-long podcast might be a task for you to finish in one go. We bring you the major takeaways from the episode.

Charles Barkley on the James Harden saga

As usual, Charles Barkley doesn’t mince his words while talking about the James Harden trade saga. Harden has been in the crosshairs of the Philadelphia 76ers for over a year. However, now The Beard has got what he wanted, a trade out of Philly. He was recently traded to the LA Clippers after months of controversies and bad press. Sir Charles was particularly happy with Harden moving out of Philadelphia because he was tired of the questions about Harden.

He called the Harden saga a “national nightmare” and is just glad that he isn’t with the 76ers anymore. Barkley said when he was in Philly during the summer, people would come up to him asking details about the Harden situation. He said that if he “had a dollar” for every question he was asked about the drama, he’d “quit TNT”.

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Barkley believes that an athlete’s life, even without any external drama, is tough enough to navigate. With a “dark cloud” hanging over the head, that makes the situation much worse and that’s what Harden was doing to himself.

An Ageing Warriors tale

4x NBA champion Draymond Green was one of the guests on the season opener of The Steam Room. The Golden State Warriors are, without a doubt, one of the strongest teams in the league. The Big Three have stayed with the team for several years and form their core strength. However, despite their brilliant lineup, their key players are in their 30s now and are getting older by the day. When Barkley brought this up, Green agreed to the points made by the NBA veteran.

But Green said that while they are a team made up of older players, he sees it as having more experience by your side. Moreover, the Warriors bringing in Chris Paul this season has added more depth to their roster. Another thing that Green mentioned is that there was something off with the squad last season.

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Although he directly didn’t mention Jordan Poole, it was pretty clear that’s who he was hinting at. With all the drama that unfolded with Green and Poole, the Warriors veteran feels that as a unit they have moved past it and are ready for bigger things.

Charles Barkley’s grandpa experience

Charles Barkley has been on cloud nine ever since he became a grandfather. Everyone who listens to the 60-year-old talk anywhere knows about Little Henry and his tales. The new grandfather has been loving his new role at this age and seems to never get enough of it. However, it wasn’t always like that for Barkley.

Before Henry, when his friends used to tell him about their experiences as a granddad, Chuck could not fathom how great it actually was. Baseball legend Dusty Baker joined The Steam Room gang later as well.

Barkley said that “not a lot excites me” because he has had a very exciting life. This is why he didn’t realize the actual meaning behind grandfather talks coming from his friends. However, now Sir Charles proudly says “It’s the greatest thing ever”. Despite being a grandpa being the best experience of his life, Chuck is still adamant about never changing diapers.

A heartfelt poem from a fan for Charles Barkley and Ernie Johnson

The duo of Chuck and Ernie is iconic in the world of basketball. Sometimes people may not realize the impact that these two have had on people by staying true to what they do. During the show’s segment where they take fan mails, a long-time listener of their podcast wrote a heartfelt poem for the duo. Randy from Long Island called in to dedicate a poem to the two hosts that made them emotional.

After the fan thanked them for everything they had done for him, Ernie said, “That was very impressive”. Soon after the call, Barkley reflected on the beginning of their podcast journey.

He said that when they started it, Barkley thought it was the “stupidest thing ever”. However, over the years, The Steam Room has held its importance in Chuck’s life and now it is something he actively looks forward to. The duo ended the episode by saying that they “cannot wait for episode #2”. As Steamers ourselves, we’ll be looking forward to it as well.

Charles Barkley Could Have Attained Billionaire Status Courtesy of James Harden Saga – ‘The Steam Room’ Podcast Reveals