Barkley gets down to brass tacks about his desire for GM position

His role as a television analyst on TNT has given him a perfect way to vent frustrations, bestow compliments, and even offer apologies for his own transgressions. However, his tenure will be coming to an end soon, if Sir Charles has his choice. He has a serious desire to enter NBA management, and wants - no, thirsts - to be a general manager.

The Chuckster is tiring of criticizing teams and wants the responsibility to build a winner with his own hands.

“It’s time for me to be a general manager,’’ said Barkley, who has been at TNT for eight years. “I think everybody around me knows it’s time for me to take a different challenge.

“I always want to keep going as a person. I love my job. I love the people I work with. But now it’s time for me to take on another challenge as a man. I need to grow as a person and it’s time for me.

“And certainly I can do a better job than some of these guys have been doing.’’

Several Hall of Fame players have gone on to be general managers. Some have been wildly successful, such as Jerry West and Joe Dumars, while others floundered, such as Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor. There is no way to determine how Barkley would fare unless he receives an opportunity.

The question is whether an organization - likely a suffering one yearning for improvement and legitimacy - would take a chance on hiring a legendary player with a questionable track record, including a recent DUI arrest that led to a leave of absence from TNT. Barkley called his actions “stupid’’ and has remained out of the headlines since.

“If a good opportunity came up, I would take it,’’ said Barkley, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. “I think people sometimes get confused with taking a job and taking a bad job. Every job is not a good job, but I think if a good job came up, I would take it. But I am not going to leave TNT for no bad job.’’

And there is no rule that says a flawed figure can’t put together a championship team.

“[Teams] are taking a chance on guys worse than me,’’ said Barkley. “First of all, I think my résumé is better than some of the other guys who have gotten jobs running NBA teams.

“I want my chance to fail, just like everybody else.’’

Of course, Barkley’s current job is to predict who will reign in the NBA this season, and he said there are five teams with a legitimate shot at winning the title: Cleveland, Orlando, Boston, the Lakers, and San Antonio.

He said Rasheed Wallace may benefit from a secondary role with the Celtics. The key, he said, is preserving the older players.

“I think the main thing they have to do is worry about being healthy, just trying to stay healthy, just get through the regular season,’’ said Barkley. “They probably have more depth with Rasheed, who can play 4 or 5.

“They are a contender. They can win anywhere, on the road or at home. They are going to have one of the two or three best records in the NBA.’’

He is picking a Celtics-Lakers final.

“I think that would be great for the league, of course,’’ he said.

In his years as an analyst, Barkley has become a stern authority on league issues and troublesome players. And his take on social networking - players sending out Twitter and Facebook updates - is pure honesty:

“Things like that are a waste of time. First of all, I have always been very adamant about some loser worrying about what some celebrity is doing during the day. [The player is] a loser and he should be concentrating on his skill as a player and his other aspect of his life, learning to invest his money, his family life, investing his time and energy into that.

“Sitting around talking to complete strangers about what you are doing during the day, I have been very critical of that. Professional sports is not a babysitting service. These guys at some point got to grow up and mature.’’

Jackson even created a stir by drawing five fouls in nine minutes in an Oct. 9 preseason game. He served a two-game suspension for his antics, and that seems to have led him to reconsider his stance.

This is what he told the Globe this past week:

“I’ll be the first to admit it. I said a lot of things this summer about not wanting to be here. But this team is a lot better than I thought we would be. I have always been a man and admitted when I was wrong. This team is a lot better than I thought we could be, and I hope we continue to grow and be ready for opening night.’’

The Warriors indeed have talent in Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph, and Andris Biedrins. But they all seem to play two positions: point guard and swingman. In a division where Phoenix is picked to finish second behind the Lakers and the Suns are hardly formidable, the Warriors have an opportunity to surprise people - if they have a focused Jackson. That is not lost on him.

“I think the biggest thing is to go out there and not be selfish,’’ said Jackson, who relinquished his captaincy after his suspension. “I think that’s the best way for me to keep my composure, not be selfish. Realize I am going out there and playing for these guys, not just myself. Playing for my coaches, you know, everybody in this locker room.’’

Jackson emerged as an unlikely success story several years ago when he finally cracked an NBA roster four years after being drafted in 1997. He even won an NBA title with San Antonio in 2003. Then came the Brawl at the Palace in November 2004, for which he was suspended 30 games, and his reputation was forever tarnished. He then pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness for an incident outside an Indianapolis strip club in October 2006.

He is determined to clean up his image, though resigned to that fact that it may never happen.

“People have said the worst,’’ he said. “When I got in that fight in Detroit and when I got into it at that strip club, people have said the worst. They threw stones at Jesus, you know? People have their opinions.’’

Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com.