Jesse Ventura and Donald Trump. Photo Courtesy of: Politico

Jesse Ventura has always told it like it is and did it his way in the ring and in politics.

In the ring, Ventura had classic feuds with former WWE Champion Bob Backlund. He also was the man in the ring with Adrian Adonis, as he and “The Body” made up The East-West Connection.

On the microphone as a commentator in wrestling, he was Charles Barkley before he took over “Inside The NBA” with Ernie Johnson, Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith and Shaquille O’Neal on TNT!

 He kicked butt working alongside Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon as a broadcaster.

Think I’m lying? See for yourself!

As a politician, or a statesman as he calls himself, he was the mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis before becoming the governor of Minneapolis in 1998.

Post political career, Ventura has been a political watchdog. In his book, DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs in Government, Ventura states that ‘both parties are street gangs warring with each other for power over the country and the American people.’

On Scoop B Radio Overtime, Ventura addressed regulation in how much time politicians should spend in office. “Well you know you look at it this way, we have term limits on the President,” Ventura told me.

Check Out Jesse Ventura and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

“You know the President can only serve two four year terms that’s it, you know but then again it comes back to us. When you strip everything away from it all it comes back to us. We can implement term limits, vote him out of office.”

Ventura continued:

“We have the ability to do that so ultimately all problems in this country could be resolved by the people but the problem is the people aren’t vigilant, and the people aren’t paying attention, and also I found this out you know people tell you that they wanna hear the truth and all that and this and that I don’t believe they really do and I’ll tell you why. I don’t think people like the truth because many times the truth takes them out of their comfort zone, and people do not like to be taken out of their comfort zone and the truth can do that, when you learn the truth like a lot of the things our country does internationally, then you learn about it we don’t look so good but you notice that we never come back, that’s one thing I notice about this country, we never admit to a mistake.”

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Inside The NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, Ernie Johnson, Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith and Charles Barkley. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Kyrie Irving’s monstrous game in Tuesday’s win against the Boston Celtics, Charles Barkley’s maroon suit selection on Tuesday along with he and Shaq arguing caught my eye. It all somehow tied into my observation of the play of the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown.

Firstly, on Tuesday, Charles and Shaq did a ton of bickering on camera. Can’t lie, it was very funny, but made you wonder what was serious and what wasn’t

As per Yahoo Sports’ Dan Devine:

In discussing whether or not Game 5 was a “must-win” game for a Cavaliers team that heads back to Boston with a 3-1 lead, just one win away from a third straight trip to the Finals to take on the Western Conference champions (and their now-bitter rival) Golden State Warriors, O’Neal made the point that it would be in Cleveland’s best interests not to “mess around,” lay another egg and give the Celtics new life. A reasonable point!

And then, the bit:

“Chuck, you have no idea what we’re talking about, because you’ve only been to the Finals once,” said O’Neal, noting that Barkley only played for a championship once, when his Phoenix Suns fell to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals.

“I wasn’t riding on Dwyane Wade and Kobe’s coattails,” Barkley barked back, giving Shaq short shrift for his contributions on the Los Angeles Lakers teams that three-peated from 2000 through 2002, and the Miami Heat squad that won it all in 2006.

“Doesn’t matter, Chuck,” O’Neal said. “I got the same thing you got, and I passed you up 10 years ago.”

“I’m just letting you know,” Barkley said, as O’Neal repeated “Anyway” in an unsuccessful attempt to get the last word. “If I had been riding on Kobe’s coattails, and Dwyane Wade’s … and [Heat center] Alonzo Mourning’s, too, I forgot about him. And [Lakers forward] Rick Fox. Derek Fisher.”

“People question why you’re in the Hall of Fame anyway,” Shaq replied. “Bum.”

The two began smiling and laughing as Smith attempted to step in. Host Ernie Johnson, who had taken the opportunity to eat some macaroni and cheese while his two bookend big men squabbled, retook the reins and asked why the back-and-forth had gotten so personal so quickly.

“Because Chuck’s always interrupting,” Shaq said. “Don’t interrupt me, Chuck. I’m going to punch you right in your face one time, I’m telling you.”

Barkley responded by saying he’d “throw one of these chicken wings at [Shaq’s] fat ass.” Things then got back to normal — well, as normal as things get when you’re dealing with threats of hurled chicken wings, and jokes about barbecue-sauce-colored suits — before Shaq offered one more reminder that Barkley had only been to the Finals once.

The segment moved on.

Hope they worked out their differences before tonight’s Game 5.

Secondly, Charles Barkley‘s suit selection on Tuesday was maroon; it took me back to him being selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1984 NBA Draft. The suit he wore Tuesday was more tailored; and even though someone teased Barkley by saying that if he spilled Merlot wine on his suit, no one would noticed, I was intrigued.

When Barkley appeared on Scoop B Radio last month, we chatted about that suit selection, with Chuck telling me: “Man, burgundy was my favorite color.”

Barkley added:

“Well when you’re poor, you get that one suit and that was it. You know, first of all I don’t mind growing up poor it just made me a better person, but man burgundy was my favorite color. I wanted to have a nice suit for the draft and we went out and got it. Listen let me tell you something, that bring back some good memories,” said Barkley. “You know the draft was a start of my amazing journey through life, and I’ve had an amazing life and it all started that night.”

While I was observing Charles’ attire in between he and Shaq’s bickering, I started reflecting on the undermanned Boston Celtics and the fact that Jaylen Brown is 20 years old!

In fact, Brown is literally one month younger than my baby sister, Kandace. I felt old!

I also thought about how fast Brown has grown in the past year. The third pick in last year’s NBA Draft, the guy is legitimately playing against the NBA World Champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals as a rookie and holding his own.

Kudos!

Brown averaged 6.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game during the regular season. Through 16 postseason appearances, the 20-year-old is averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 boards on 47.1 percent shooting from the field, including 21.7 percent from three.

My mind was wandering towards Brown though because his draft attire last year reminded me so much of a cross between Charles Barkley’s suit with a splash of Hakeem Olajuwon’s when the Houston Rockets drafted him in 1984. Brown’s tie and blazer combo of Brown’s was reminiscent on point!

What made you pick that one out, J? “I had thousands of suits to choose from and I’m super meticulous and picky,” Brown told me. “So I had to make sure I did my due diligence on suits so it took me a while.”

He furthered:

“This is the one that kind of popped out a lot of young guys tend to go with flashy colors or fluorescent patterns or floral patterns I just wanted to keep it simple and classy, timeless but definitely classy I wanted to do it like that because it matches my personality so I expressed my personality through my suit.”

Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells reported yesterday that the Celtics may be without Brown for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night. ESPN.com’s Chris Forsberg, reports that Brown is officially questionable for the elimination game due to a right hip pointer.

The Celtics have a bright future. They’ve got the first pick in this year’s NBA Draft, a good coach in Brad Stevens, a bench full of depth and the ever stylish Jaylen Brown.

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While the basketball world reacted to Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith’s belief that the ’94 Houston Rockets would defeat the Bulls (H/T Dime/Uproxx’s Oliver Maroney) had Michael Jordan not retired and Scottie Pippen’s response to it, there was something lost in the traslation: The Jet admired the 90’s Orlando Magic. 

That Magic team was special: Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott were young, tough and one of the Eastern Conference’s biggest threats not named the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls.

Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith thinks so too! Smith, who suited up against the Orlando Magic in the 1995 Finals as a member of the Rockets saw potential in that young team.

“You know, anytime you have a guard and a big man it’s the perfect balance,”  he told me on Scoop B Radio.

“They had the perfect balance and you had Penny who was so versatile that he could play inside, outside,” said Smith.  “And you had Shaq with everything that he’s done and being so young. That was the dynasty missed; dynasty missed by the Orlando Magic, for sure.”

After a brief run with the Magic, Shaq realized his worth and signed a mega contract via free agency with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was the center of the future and he, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson would rule the NBA and the Western Conference in the early 2000s.

Check out the interview with Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson below (the chat about the Orlando Magic begins at the 5:22 mark). 

O’Neal ended up with the better career, winning multiple rings with the Lakers and then with the Miami Heat. Hardaway wasn’t as lucky. After O’Neal’s departure, he’d be the team’s lone star, but struggled with a devastating injury that cut short his promising career. After his time with the Magic, he’d bounce around the league playing for the Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks and Miami Heat before retiring in 2007.

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The post Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith Believes Shaq and Penny Orlando Magic Was: ‘dynasty missed’ appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith chats with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about everything on Scoop B Radio. Photo Credit: Angie Vasquez

TNT’s Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith has one of the coolest jobs in the world. He talks about probably one of his favorite topics in the world: basketball.

The NBA veteran and two-time NBA champion as a member of the Houston Rockets teams with Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley and gives his expert analysis on all 30 NBA teams and more. On Scoop B Radio Overtime, the Jet and I talked about a range of topics including his North Carolina teamate, Michael Jordan and even his taste in fashion.

Yo Jet, tell me about those suits! You’ve been pretty dapper throughout the playoffs! 

“Well for me my sister had been in fashion for a long time,” he told me. “She was a buyer for Nordstrom, she was a buyer for a lot of stores, Macy’s, and men’s department stores all kinds of things. She always would tell me how: ‘oh you can’t wear that color with this, you gotta wear darks on the outside.‘ She would tell me these things and it would go in one ear and right out the other until I got older I would shop like that and then she would be like: “oh you were listening? So I gotta credit my sister and my dad for that style sense.

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