November 3, 2006 -- This week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with TNT's Charles Barkley. Barkley, 43, was just inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Q: What's next for you, career-wise?

A: I want to be a GM. I promised my daughter I wouldn't take a job until she got out of high school. She is done this year. I love working at TNT. I've got two years left on my contract and then I'm going to make a major decision after that.

Q: You have picked the Nets to go the Finals. Why?

A: In the East, you only have to beat a couple of teams. You have to beat Miami and you probably have to beat Detroit.

Q: What do you think of the Knicks?

A: It is going to be interesting to see what they consider success. I think they will be better than last year, but is that going to be enough? Are they a playoff team? I don't think so. Can Isiah [Thomas] do enough to save his job? That really, to me, is the only question. I don't know what they consider more successful.

Q: To you, is Stephon Marbury a winner?

A: He hasn't won anywhere, so I guess the jury is still out. I think he is a nice kid, a very talented player. It is not up to me to call him a winner or not because anybody who has made it into professional sports, they have done something right in life. As far as a team guy, he has not won, so apparently the jury is still out.

Q: What does it mean to you to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

A: It's cool because I never think about the basketball stuff, because what we accomplish away from that is more important. It was just a great opportunity to thank my family and friends, people who helped me along the way to that point, because that is what I used my speech for. But I don't take the basketball stuff seriously.

I'm talking about Red Auerbach and everyone is talking about how many championships he won. That's cool.

That's great, but for him to draft the first black player, to hire the first black coach and make it mandatory for black and white players to stay together, that stuff is way more important and significant than the championships he has won.

Q: You picked the Nets in the Eastern Conference to go to the Finals. Who do you think is their main competition?

A: Miami is going to be interesting because: Can they stay healthy? They have a really old team. Detroit is still a question mark in terms of missing Ben Wallace and their coaching situation.

It was really unfair how those players tuned on Flip [Saunders] last year during the playoffs. I'm interested to see if he can get that situation under control.


Q: In terms of the MVP, who do you like?

A: Tim Duncan because they will have one of the three or four best records so winning gives you a huge advantage. I think he had career lows in points and rebounds on one leg. I think he will be healthy.

Q: What's the one thing that people don't know about Charles Barkley?

A: I hope they understand that I don't have a favorite team. I don't have a favorite player. I'm just going to give you an honest, fair assessment of teams and players. People take it so personal at times. They think, 'Oh, you don't like this player or this team.' I don't care who wins or who loses.

I live in Phoenix and people say, 'You don't like the Suns.' I say, 'That's not true, the Suns don't play enough defense to win.'

Q: What do you think of Isiah Thomas?

A: I don't think they are going to make the playoffs. I think they will be better, but they won't have all that internal conflict going on. It will be very interesting to see if he can keep his job. I think they have a chance of being .500, but I don't think that will get them in the playoffs. But my question is: Is that enough to save his job?