Speaker 1: Welcome to the Best of the Week for What's Right
Speaker 1: with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
Speaker 1: week on the show. Enjoy for Kyrie, Obviously, you feel
Speaker 1: sick for him. I think Kyrie has handled the last
Speaker 1: couple of years about as well as any player could have.
Speaker 1: And I've been so impressed by him, and as far
Speaker 1: as on a dime, remaking his leader reputation and maturity
Speaker 1: reputation and kind of sage wisdom and all of that,
Speaker 1: I've never seen him like it. Like him going from
Speaker 1: a guy who's like, well, great player, but you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to deal with a bunch of other stuff to
Speaker 1: a guy where the other stuff is a huge part
Speaker 1: of his greatness. And it seemingly happened on the trade
Speaker 1: to the Maps, and so you give him massive credit.
Speaker 1: You feel sick for him. I also he's a pending
Speaker 1: free agent. How this impacts the contract he will or
Speaker 1: won't get For a guy who turns thirty three in
Speaker 1: a few weeks. Maybe it's craven to talk about that immediately,
Speaker 1: but you think about that, and it concerns you. And
Speaker 1: the other thing you think about is this, since they
Speaker 1: traded Lukadncic he was playing way too many minutes because
Speaker 1: they didn't have another ball handler. And this is a
Speaker 1: and they left themselves with one creator, one ball handler.
Speaker 1: And now I mean the minutes he has played since
Speaker 1: the start of February. Let's go there, right, Luca was
Speaker 1: traded on what February first, Okay, so perfect since the
Speaker 1: Luca trade forty two, forty forty two, forty four, forty
Speaker 1: thirty seven, thirty two in a blowout, forty thirty eight
Speaker 1: thirty eight, and then last night, I it was now
Speaker 1: he was playing big minutes prior to that as well,
Speaker 1: actually since Luca's injury, he was playing big minutes. But
Speaker 1: Luca was coming back, and Luca would have obviously would
Speaker 1: have been back, you know, well earlier than that.
Speaker 2: And the maps the topic right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we do it right now, like we might as
Speaker 1: well just get to it the because we have the
Speaker 1: breaking news on it, and so I I don't there's
Speaker 1: a lot of pieces to this demon's that are inextricably
Speaker 1: tied to the Luca trade.
Speaker 2: And yeah, with the not having the extra ball handler,
Speaker 2: but even the guy that they traded for was hurt
Speaker 2: since he got there, he played in what a half
Speaker 2: of a game, and I think with Nico Collins, with
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis being a known hurt player, that's something that
Speaker 2: you have to take into account and like you're seeing
Speaker 2: that firsthand, and I just it was it was obviously
Speaker 2: a bad decision. It was like it was Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: getting hurt or Luca donc Is just completely flaming out
Speaker 2: and being a hinentrance to your team.
Speaker 1: Well so that so there were a million reasons the
Speaker 1: Luca trade made no sense, uh, even if all of
Speaker 1: your skepticism was correct about him. One was you were
Speaker 1: worried about his body, and so you trade for a
Speaker 1: guy who's six years older and Anthony Davis who has
Speaker 1: real worries about his body. Another one was you actually
Speaker 1: already had depth at center. What you didn't have depth
Speaker 1: that was shot creator. You trade a shot creator for
Speaker 1: the best shot creator arguably in basketball, and Luca for
Speaker 1: another big Another reason it was risky was your window
Speaker 1: with Luca was a decade. You then go Nico Harrison.
Speaker 1: You said, Nico Collins the receiver for the Texans, but
Speaker 1: I knew him. It the You then go on TV
Speaker 1: and say your windows three to four years, Well, this
Speaker 1: year is done now done, and next year's in jeopardy,
Speaker 1: like are you and also are you going to re
Speaker 1: sign Kyrie Irving? Do you still have to? If you don't,
Speaker 1: what are you doing? There was a lot of, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of back burner rumors, demons that this could be
Speaker 1: a Kevin Durant destination next year, that Katie get back
Speaker 1: with Kyrie. You have Anthony Davis. From basketball standpoint, it
Speaker 1: would fit great. Okay, Well, now that's massively in question, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know, you tear your acl in March if
Speaker 1: you're Kyrie, do you just miss all of next year?
Speaker 1: And shout out to Kyrie for shooting those free throws?
Speaker 1: You know, he obviously is as big of a Kobe
Speaker 1: fan as any active player. Kobe famous famously shot his
Speaker 1: free throws after he tore his achilles. You really really
Speaker 1: hope that Kyrie's career doesn't follow that same trajectory as
Speaker 1: far as Kobe was just never the same guy after
Speaker 1: that torn achilles. But I also think Kobe Kobe was
Speaker 1: thirty four when he tore his achilles. Kyrie is thirty
Speaker 1: two about to be thirty three. Was was Kobe? I'm
Speaker 1: looking up when so Kobe tore his Achilles in April
Speaker 1: of thirteen. Kobe was born in August of Uh. Yes,
Speaker 1: we was thirty four August seventy eight. So I I
Speaker 1: just will the MAVs make There's so many tentacles to
Speaker 1: this and I'm reacting in real time. Will the MAVs
Speaker 1: make the play in they're three and a half clear
Speaker 1: of Phoenix. Phoenix would be a at this point a
Speaker 1: more interesting team, uh because of the Kadim Booker factor,
Speaker 1: even though that seems to just be ready for the
Speaker 1: season to end. But now that whoever gets that ten
Speaker 1: seed is dead on arrival, the MAVs have no who
Speaker 1: on the MAVs can create a shot, honest to god,
Speaker 1: Like last night after Kyrie went down, it's Dante Exum
Speaker 1: you you know who you also? I mean Kai Jones.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Kai Jones, by the way, who had
Speaker 1: some real personal demons and issues or action demons is
Speaker 1: too strong. I don't know that he he had a
Speaker 1: It seemed like he might have had a drug problem,
Speaker 1: you know, and seems to have gotten himself clean and
Speaker 1: is you know, resuming his NBA career. So you root
Speaker 1: for young people like that, Like that was going down
Speaker 1: the wrong track. He ended up playing big minutes yesterday,
Speaker 1: right they signed him. He goes nine to ten from
Speaker 1: the field. But I mean Clayton Thompson signs there thinking
Speaker 1: I can catch and shoot. Well, who's who you're catching
Speaker 1: it from?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 1: This isn't I think, you know what. I think I
Speaker 1: did a bad job in my initial reaction to this.
Speaker 1: This is a.
Speaker 2: Again like the Luca ad trade.
Speaker 1: No, the Kyrie injury some in the last ten minutes,
Speaker 1: because this is just an unmitigated disaster of historic proportions.
Speaker 1: And you can say the injury is just bad luck,
Speaker 1: but that's only if you think that if Kyrie's workload
Speaker 1: was different, if his responsibility was different, if his ability
Speaker 1: to rest games, if need be was different, He's still
Speaker 1: would have torn his ACL. I don't think that. And
Speaker 1: the MAVs, who are the defending Western Conference champions, decided
Speaker 1: without the player forcing them or even asking them to, decided,
Speaker 1: I am going to blow this entire thing up and
Speaker 1: take a risk that's unprecedented in NBA history. And within
Speaker 1: a month of the trade, the piece you traded for
Speaker 1: who was injured when you made the trade got hurt again.
Speaker 1: And the guard in this league that maybe at this point,
Speaker 1: honestly has more responsibility to his team than any other
Speaker 1: guard in the league because of how the rosters construct
Speaker 1: did post Luca. You use him in a potentially reckless
Speaker 1: manner and his historically shaky knees get one of them
Speaker 1: gives out on him, and now you're just cooked. And
Speaker 1: you're a team that does not have your own draft
Speaker 1: pick for twenty seven through thirty. So that's the other
Speaker 1: like they MAVs future draft picks. I talked about this
Speaker 1: the other day, so I kind of know it already.
Speaker 1: But here's what it is, outgoing draft picks. In twenty
Speaker 1: twenty seven, it goes to Charlotte. In twenty twenty eight,
Speaker 1: Okse can swap with them. In twenty twenty nine, it
Speaker 1: goes to Houston or Phoenix. In twenty thirty, I think
Speaker 1: the Spurs can swap with them. But twenty seven, twenty eight,
Speaker 1: twenty nine, and thirty you do not have your own pick,
Speaker 1: and two of those years, yeah you will have someone's pick.
Speaker 1: But okay, in twenty seven it just goes to Charlotte.
Speaker 1: In twenty eight, Oka Se can swap with you. In
Speaker 1: twenty nine, Houston can swap with you, and in thirty.
Speaker 1: The Spurs can swap with you, so if you bottom out,
Speaker 1: it doesn't do you any good. I I don't know.
Speaker 1: The only reason Demonse. I think Nico Harrison survives this
Speaker 1: is because Patrick Dumont, the owner, came out and did
Speaker 1: his own press conference where he was like, two thumbs
Speaker 1: up to the trade. You gotta be a grinder like
Speaker 1: Shaquille O'Neill and Larry Bird were never drank, never party
Speaker 1: and just all ball and and I'm yeah, of course,
Speaker 1: and I am just sick for Kyrie man. This sucks
Speaker 1: and it's it's a lot of money. And I know
Speaker 1: nobody cares about the money part of this with pro athletes,
Speaker 1: but Kyrie had cost himself a lot of money the
Speaker 1: previous few years and left money on the table, and
Speaker 1: then because of his own excellent play and the desperation
Speaker 1: of the MAVs post, Luca was in a spot where
Speaker 1: he was going to get that macal and now I
Speaker 1: don't know what it means for him. This is devastating.
Speaker 1: Oh god, so oh hold on, So that's interesting. So
Speaker 1: that's probably what he'll do. Well, I don't know. I mean,
Speaker 1: he has a player option, but I don't know that
Speaker 1: I so he could pick up the player option for
Speaker 1: forty four million, but I think it's more likely he
Speaker 1: opts out and still gets a new deal. I just
Speaker 1: don't think it will be a four year max like
Speaker 1: so it's if it were a career ending injury, which
Speaker 1: it's not, then you just opt into your player option.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's what's gonna happen. But I'm just
Speaker 1: devastating for Kyrie. I'm not listening, and I'm devastating for
Speaker 1: MAVs fans. Thirty days and your entire basketball world is
Speaker 1: just you went from having one of the brightest futures
Speaker 1: of any team in the league too its as dark
Speaker 1: as it gets, and all of a sudden, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: is back on the Pelicans.
Speaker 2: And they're raising the prices in the stadium for particular.
Speaker 1: Well, that's another thing I saw that story. It's just
Speaker 1: a tone deaf timing of the announcement. I don't understand
Speaker 1: that piece of it at all. But just joining us,
Speaker 1: Kyrie irving torn acl that was the fear last night.
Speaker 1: I am amazed by the way quick sidebar. I am
Speaker 1: constantly amazed at how accurate those sports medicine folks on
Speaker 1: Twitter are by watching the video of something and saying
Speaker 1: what injury the guy suffered. I think those guys that
Speaker 1: I follow on Twitter bat like eight hundred. I think
Speaker 1: four out five they nail just by watching one video.
Speaker 1: And it's listen. I do know know nothing about science
Speaker 1: or medicine, but it's always impressive to me.
Speaker 2: So Shack said that Steph deserves to be in the
Speaker 2: goat conversation.
Speaker 3: Do you think that's a right take to have?
Speaker 1: Sadly no, So let's talk best point guard ever. We've
Speaker 1: done this before. I'll do it again just quickly. Here.
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, I believe this in my bones, is the
Speaker 1: greatest point guard in NBA history. And Magic Johnson. It's
Speaker 1: not only that as a rookie one Finals MVP, now
Speaker 1: we should of Kareem should have won it, but had
Speaker 1: one of the single greatest finals games ever playing center
Speaker 1: at just being utterly dominant to win a championship as
Speaker 1: a rookie right after winning a championship in college. If
Speaker 1: people don't know what I'm talking about, the Kareem was
Speaker 1: out so magic jump center as a rookie against Doctor
Speaker 1: J and the Sixers and dropped forty two, fifteen and
Speaker 1: seven to win a championship in the finals. That almost
Speaker 1: gets talked about too much. And what doesn't get talked
Speaker 1: about enough, in my opinion, is this demanse. In year three,
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson was second team All NBA, and then after
Speaker 1: that he played nine more seasons before the HIV diagnosis
Speaker 1: and was first team All NBA all nine seasons. Those
Speaker 1: nine seasons after year three, his MVP finishes were third, second,
Speaker 1: hold on sorry, third, third, second, third, first, third, first, first, second,
Speaker 1: So again years four to twelve for Magic nine consecutive
Speaker 1: first team All NBA's nine consecutive top three MVP finishes,
Speaker 1: three league MVPs, went to nine finals, won five championships.
Speaker 1: He's the greatest point guard ever. With that said, every
Speaker 1: time I'm putting together my all time starting five steps
Speaker 1: the better option at point guard than Magic. So I
Speaker 1: know that sounds weird, but whenever it's like, Okay, create
Speaker 1: the greatest team you can possibly create, I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: So the two the only two locks, even with respect
Speaker 1: to Kareem, the only two locks are Michael and Lebron.
Speaker 1: Those guys are the locks. And now we're figuring out
Speaker 1: the rest of the squad, and so I go all right,
Speaker 1: so Lebron's there, he can bring the ball up. You know,
Speaker 1: Michael couldn't shoot a three to save his life, so
Speaker 1: I probably need some more shooting defensively. I'm going to
Speaker 1: be a monster anyway, so I'll put Steph in in
Speaker 1: place of Magic. So that's where the best point guard conversation.
Speaker 1: You know, gets off to a rough start, or not
Speaker 1: a rough start, but it gets complicated. This episode of
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Speaker 1: But as far as best PLA player of all time,
Speaker 1: there's a I mean, I just told you. Magic has
Speaker 1: nine first Team All NBAS. The guys who are actually
Speaker 1: in the discussion for greatest player of all time, Lebron, Michael,
Speaker 1: and Kareem they have as far as first team All
Speaker 1: NBAS thirteen for Lebron, ten for Kareem, ten for Michael.
Speaker 1: Some people throw Kobe in there. I don't think that's legit,
Speaker 1: but that's fine. He has eleven. Steph has four, so
Speaker 1: he doesn't have the the great season after great season
Speaker 1: after great season all these other guys did. Here's the
Speaker 1: other thing that he doesn't have. And again I'm not
Speaker 1: tearing him down, but this if everyone who is actually
Speaker 1: in the goat debate, which I think is only three people,
Speaker 1: but other people might want to expand it to a
Speaker 1: couple others. And even if you expand it to them,
Speaker 1: if you include Magic, if you include Wilt or Russell,
Speaker 1: like pick whomever, they all had an extended period where
Speaker 1: they were unequivocally, undeniably the best player in the league.
Speaker 1: Steph doesn't have one. Steph doesn't have one season. Now
Speaker 1: that's again it's like, well, that's his whole career is
Speaker 1: during Lebron's career. I get it. But that so you
Speaker 1: just so you can't be in the goat conversation when
Speaker 1: and you can be like, what about the Yearie won
Speaker 1: unanimous MVP. Yeah, he was going to be considered the
Speaker 1: best player in the league, and then the finals happened,
Speaker 1: and so like, there has just not been so a spot.
Speaker 1: I'm not tearing him down. You guys know how highly
Speaker 1: I think of him as a player.
Speaker 3: He is greatest shooter, arguably.
Speaker 1: The greatest shooter ever. He might be the greatest ball
Speaker 1: handler ever. He's one of the greatest teammates ever.
Speaker 3: But he is offball players.
Speaker 2: I know that's not like exactly the best, the best,
Speaker 2: probably probably one of the best off ball players.
Speaker 3: In NBA history, I imagine.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe the maybe the best. Yes, no, all those
Speaker 1: things really matter. I find to me, Uh, nobody wants
Speaker 1: to have this debate. But an interesting one is him
Speaker 1: versus Duncan. Like it is, it's hard to do, Like
Speaker 1: putting up Steph's career versus Duncan, and Steph's career versus Kobe,
Speaker 1: and Steph's versus Shack are all really interesting because those
Speaker 1: are four so different players, just you know, so such
Speaker 1: drastically different players, different styles, different career arcs like those
Speaker 1: to me are real debates. But Steph versus Lebron, Michael
Speaker 1: and Kream are not wh she is not and that's fine,
Speaker 1: Like that's not a It was also weird timing to
Speaker 1: have this discussion, Like Steph was having a down year
Speaker 1: and the Warriors were twenty five and twenty five and
Speaker 1: they traded for Jimmy and they're you know, on the uptick,
Speaker 1: and Steph is playing some of his best basketball of
Speaker 1: the year. But this isn't like some magical Steph Curry season.
Speaker 1: He's not. He has no shot of being first team
Speaker 1: All NBA this year. He is. I remember when they
Speaker 1: traded for Jimmy he had as many games with fifteen
Speaker 1: or fewer points as he had thirty plus points. Like,
Speaker 1: he's averaging the fewest points he's averaged in a season
Speaker 1: since his first MVP is so in a decade, and
Speaker 1: he's averaging below forty from three for just the second
Speaker 1: time of his career. So again, I'm not he's all.
Speaker 1: All that's true, While it's also true is he's having
Speaker 1: the greatest old little guy season ever. So all those
Speaker 1: things can be true at the same time. But goat
Speaker 1: conversation now we're now we're getting a little cuckoo. Where
Speaker 1: we have to start today is with what Lebron James said,
Speaker 1: what was said about what he said, and how we
Speaker 1: got here. So first a level set of what happened.
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards was asked about being face of the league
Speaker 1: and he was like, I don't really have an interest
Speaker 1: in it, I just want a ball. Lebron was then
Speaker 1: asked about that as the face of the league, and
Speaker 1: Lebron said, yeah, I don't blame him. Why would you
Speaker 1: want to be when all the people who talk about
Speaker 1: our league and it seemed like he was about to
Speaker 1: say former players, but and media, but instead it was
Speaker 1: just a catch all, just shit on the players. And
Speaker 1: then as Bomani Jones would say, hit dog gone holler.
Speaker 1: And then all the guys who Lebron was talking about
Speaker 1: doth protested too much. So the first one was stephen A,
Speaker 1: who did a five minute rant in response to Lebron
Speaker 1: that and I'm not I am not exaggerating when I
Speaker 1: say this. In the first ninety seconds of stephen A
Speaker 1: responding to Lebron saying that the biggest voices in the
Speaker 1: media just go after you repeatedly, particularly if you're the
Speaker 1: face of the league. In the first ninety seconds of
Speaker 1: a response to that, stephen A blamed Lebron James for
Speaker 1: the following the downfall of the Slam Dunk Contest, the
Speaker 1: lockout in twenty eleven, and the Chris Paul Laker trade
Speaker 1: being mixed. He put it all Lebron's feet, all of it.
Speaker 1: He's like ruin the dunk contest because you wouldn't participate,
Speaker 1: and then said the decision was what led to the
Speaker 1: owners locking the players out and changing the collective bargaining agreement,
Speaker 1: and then threw the CP three trade in h as
Speaker 1: kind of a little dessert after a delicious entree and
Speaker 1: didn't really, to my ear, address any of what Lebron
Speaker 1: actually said. And then and I couldn't believe this. And
Speaker 1: let me say this as well. I have a really
Speaker 1: good relationship with Steven A. I actually texted with him
Speaker 1: this morning. But he is so I don't want people
Speaker 1: to think that this is there's like media beef. But
Speaker 1: he knows this. We both have strong opinions. We disagree.
Speaker 1: I disagree with a lot of what he says. He's
Speaker 1: a big boy, grown man. He understands none of that's personal.
Speaker 1: And so I'm not I'm not trying to start something.
Speaker 1: This guy's a friend of mine. I just think he's
Speaker 1: out of his mind on some of this stuff. And
Speaker 1: then on his podcast and this I won't put on him.
Speaker 1: And you know, appreciate those producers of that podcast because
Speaker 1: they put us on their you know, friendly relationships. But
Speaker 1: and Demon's ay, this will blow your mind again. In
Speaker 1: addressing Lebron, James saying that if you're the face of
Speaker 1: the league, you get extra criticism, get shit on. When
Speaker 1: Steven A brought that up on his podcast, you know
Speaker 1: what video played alongside it, like the soundless what we
Speaker 1: call b roll highlights. Hand to god, it was Bronnie's
Speaker 1: bad minutes against the Sixers. That's true. Go look, go
Speaker 1: watch so like again, I don't think that's stephen A's call,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't exactly dispel the narrative that, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: you there might be a little, a little unfairness here,
Speaker 1: and so that was his part of it. Bill Simmons,
Speaker 1: who is as loud and as respected and as important
Speaker 1: of an NBA voice as there is, who is an unabashed, obvious,
Speaker 1: diehard Celtic fan who has never really been what you'd
Speaker 1: call a Lebron guy, and Lebron's never been a Simmons guy.
Speaker 1: Simmons sent out the following tweets. Celts Cavs is a
Speaker 1: wonderful NBA game between two excellent teams that's included some
Speaker 1: terrific individual performances. This next game will be splendid too.
Speaker 1: We're so lucky to be able to watch great players
Speaker 1: like Luka Ancic, Lebron James and James Harden battling it
Speaker 1: out tonight, just basically making fun. It's being like, this
Speaker 1: is ridiculous. Oh, everyone's got to be so positive. And
Speaker 1: then Bill went on a long history lesson on his
Speaker 1: pod this week where he was like, this is how
Speaker 1: it's always been, and then explained how we went after
Speaker 1: guys who either hadn't won or until they won, or
Speaker 1: very specific postseason failures in the moment, which is not
Speaker 1: at all what Lebron's talking about. Lebron was talking about
Speaker 1: the general conversation surrounding the league being constantly negative. And
Speaker 1: you know who totally agrees with Lebron that that's a problem,
Speaker 1: Bill Simmons. You know how I know that because on
Speaker 1: December thirty first, Bill Simmons did an NBA pod with
Speaker 1: the great Kirk Goldsbery that is titled The All Positive
Speaker 1: NBA Show with Kurk Goldsbury that he says at the beginning,
Speaker 1: he's doing because the conversation surrounding the league has gotten
Speaker 1: too negative. So for some of these guys, even when
Speaker 1: Lebron says something they agree with, because it's Lebron saying it,
Speaker 1: they can't agree with it. And then Wilbond on the
Speaker 1: Greatest Sports TV Show that's ever existed. Pardon the interruption.
Speaker 1: Did you know did what he always does, which is
Speaker 1: whether it is while he's on the broadcast, when Lebron
Speaker 1: happens to past Magic Johnson for career assists, or when
Speaker 1: he's addressing Lebron's comments. Can't help himself but make it clear,
Speaker 1: no matter how great these guys are, they're not quite
Speaker 1: as great as the guys that happen to be playing
Speaker 1: during my personal heyday covering league. It's crazy how that
Speaker 1: works out. And we're yet to see what the Chuckster's
Speaker 1: going to say, but we'll find out here very soon,
Speaker 1: and my guess is it'll be more of the same.
Speaker 1: So now that I've set the table on what happened,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, and then Lebron responded with tweets, it would
Speaker 1: appear this first tweet as a response to stephen A,
Speaker 1: where I wrote, exactly made my point. But anyways, happy
Speaker 1: this convo has started. It ain't about face of the game,
Speaker 1: and it ain't about one person or one show. It's
Speaker 1: about the culture of basketball. The most beautiful game in
Speaker 1: the world. Our game has never been better. Incredible young
Speaker 1: stars from all over the world and some older ones too,
Speaker 1: laughing emojis. Steph Curry should be all we're talking about today.
Speaker 1: This after he scored fifty six. Let's discuss how great, okay,
Speaker 1: seeing the cav have been this season in two complete
Speaker 1: different styles of breakdown why and how they have been.
Speaker 1: Of course, if players don't perform, when I need to
Speaker 1: discuss that too and break that down. Even that can
Speaker 1: be discussed in a way, and this is the important
Speaker 1: piece of it. Even that can be discussed in a
Speaker 1: way that's not to bring finality to that player's game,
Speaker 1: but to leave room to see how that player responds,
Speaker 1: and let's watch the journey of that player. This ain't
Speaker 1: about me either. This is where I disagree with Lebron,
Speaker 1: and I'll get to that in a second. This ain't
Speaker 1: about me either. At this point, I don't really care
Speaker 1: what's said about me. It's always something. This is about
Speaker 1: the impact the negativity is having on our beautiful game
Speaker 1: and our fans. I know I speak for a lot
Speaker 1: of the players. More importantly, a hell of a lot
Speaker 1: of great fans that truly love and celebrate this sport
Speaker 1: around the world. Hashtag mind the game than a cloud emoji,
Speaker 1: a brain emoji, and of course a crown emoji, because
Speaker 1: what would a Lebron tweet be without the crown emoji?
Speaker 1: All right? He then went on with my pal Scott
Speaker 1: Van Pelt made a similar point after the Laker game,
Speaker 1: and now everyone's caught up. So to me, the question
Speaker 1: should be, is Lebron right that the coverage of the league,
Speaker 1: particularly for the super duper stars face of the league
Speaker 1: caliber guys too negative? And if he's right, how did
Speaker 1: we get here? So I do think he is correct,
Speaker 1: and I do think I have been a part of
Speaker 1: the problem at times. I'll explain how in a moment,
Speaker 1: and I think so where I disagree with him, where
Speaker 1: he says this isn't about him, it actually is almost
Speaker 1: entirely about him and one other person, because so much
Speaker 1: about how we currently cover the league has to do
Speaker 1: with how we covered Lebron James, because how he was
Speaker 1: covered has impacted how every other superstar, true super duperstar
Speaker 1: is covered. So this is a point I used to
Speaker 1: make about Prime Klay Thompson. The better example right now
Speaker 1: might be like Devin Booker, where I think those guys
Speaker 1: who are in the Jalen Brown Devin Booker tier of
Speaker 1: players like ten to twenty if you were ranking them,
Speaker 1: might be in the actual sweet spot because they get
Speaker 1: the same max contract as the superstar as the super duperstars.
Speaker 1: But it is not a daily legacy referendum. When they
Speaker 1: play great in big spots, they're lauded. When they play
Speaker 1: poorly in big spots, it we usually look to instead
Speaker 1: the best player on their team, and why didn't he
Speaker 1: do more? And that's I think what ants comments are
Speaker 1: referring to. While he wants to be this player on
Speaker 1: the team, obviously he sees man heavy is the head
Speaker 1: that wears the crown, and so that the reason I
Speaker 1: say this is about Lebron and one other person is
Speaker 1: the Lebron of it all? Is this? How many times
Speaker 1: have you been watching sports TV and heard a version
Speaker 1: of this? Sometimes by me? That's why I'll say, hand up,
Speaker 1: I'm part of it. Well, after a guy misses a
Speaker 1: big shot, or plays poorly in a big spot, or
Speaker 1: doesn't carry his team far enough or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: how many times have you heard this, Well, if we're
Speaker 1: leb Yron, we'd be killing him. Well if Lebron did that,
Speaker 1: and so the way Lebron was covered set a template
Speaker 1: to where it's how then Durant and Steph and Embiide
Speaker 1: and Giannis and Jokic, those MVP guys, Well, fair's fair
Speaker 1: did it to Lebron? So then we get to this
Speaker 1: question why did we cover Lebron that way? And that
Speaker 1: then gets to the other person in this story, the
Speaker 1: only name in all of NBA history bigger than Lebron's,
Speaker 1: and that's Michael Jordan. Because so much of our basketball,
Speaker 1: and at this point it's not just basketball, it's overall
Speaker 1: sports commentary has been twisted is probably too strong of
Speaker 1: a word, but adjusted, tweaked, manicured to serve the legend
Speaker 1: of Michael Jordan. You hell. You saw it in some
Speaker 1: of the reaction to the Super Bowl and Mahomes getting
Speaker 1: a loss in the biggest game. It's like, oh boy,
Speaker 1: we all know those super Bowl losses count different than
Speaker 1: divisional round losses. That's a Michael Jordan argument. And when
Speaker 1: you look back at how we have covered this league
Speaker 1: for forty years, there's only one guy, one guy who
Speaker 1: at EA each and every turn, has benefited from it,
Speaker 1: and it's Michael. Let's go back to how we talk
Speaker 1: about the nineteen eighties as a decade. Who was the
Speaker 1: face of the League in the nineteen eighties. Oh, there
Speaker 1: wasn't a face. It was two guys. We've turned two
Speaker 1: guys into one person, bird Magic. So why why was
Speaker 1: it not magic and bird or bird and magic separately. Well,
Speaker 1: in part is it because when we turn bird Magic
Speaker 1: into one person and don't give Larry Bird his kind
Speaker 1: of individual standing. Folks right now, big enough NBA fans
Speaker 1: to care about this, to be watching this pod to
Speaker 1: or to be watching this clip, probably don't know that
Speaker 1: Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, their team's played in six
Speaker 1: playoff games against each other, and Larry Bird was six
Speaker 1: and up, not in series in games disease, you know,
Speaker 1: bird magic in the eighties. What we have totally erased
Speaker 1: one person's legacy from the If you ask die hard
Speaker 1: NBA fans, give me your top twenty five, twenty five
Speaker 1: players of all time, the vast majority are going to
Speaker 1: have every single guy that was the best player on
Speaker 1: multiple championships with one glaring omission, and it'll be the
Speaker 1: same omission Isaiah Thomas. Why because part of part he
Speaker 1: is just he has been turned into a bit player
Speaker 1: in the story of Michael Jordan. We've partially erased a
Speaker 1: Keeam's legend while his championships came, you know, when Michael
Speaker 1: wasn't playing. Even though one of those championships came in
Speaker 1: a year Michael Jordan got MVP votes. We've glossed over
Speaker 1: when people talk about Shaquille O'Neill. Shaquille O'Neill, does anyone
Speaker 1: have you ever heard someone make this point about his greatness?
Speaker 1: At twenty three years old, he outplayed he was the
Speaker 1: best player on the court in a playoff series with
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan and beat him. No, we just pretend it
Speaker 1: didn't happen. And then the pia stay resistance of all
Speaker 1: that is the guy who was his wingman for the
Speaker 1: whole thing, Scotty. We we act like he was a
Speaker 1: just a nineties run our test and that included in
Speaker 1: Michael's die. So why am I explaining that in relation
Speaker 1: to this, Because it's not only that the guy that
Speaker 1: today's face of the league or the potential faces of
Speaker 1: the league have to deal with a constant teardown of
Speaker 1: what they have or haven't accomplished. It's that the last,
Speaker 1: the previous guy, the all time face of the league,
Speaker 1: got the exact opposite treatment. And it is again if
Speaker 1: you really look at it. We did. There's so much
Speaker 1: of how we consume today's NBA that is colored by
Speaker 1: how we have discussed and talked about these two players,
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan and Lebron James. When it comes to Michael,
Speaker 1: we elevate lesser players like Reggie Miller, who was a
Speaker 1: nice player. He was eighteen three and three for his career.
Speaker 1: He made zero first or second All team NBAS That's
Speaker 1: who he was into a guy with almost legendary status.
Speaker 1: Why he had that great one series against Michael. You
Speaker 1: hear more about Craig Elo who Jordan hit the shotover
Speaker 1: than Sidney Moncrief, who beat him in the playoffs, was
Speaker 1: one of the best defensive players ever. Why we talk
Speaker 1: about the nineties Knicks who had one All Star on
Speaker 1: their entire team for a decade like this legendary opponent.
Speaker 1: Why to build up the legend of the face of
Speaker 1: the league? Juxtaposed that to how Lebron when he was
Speaker 1: rolling through the East the way Michael was in the nineties.
Speaker 1: We didn't build up the sixty win Hawks, or the
Speaker 1: Paul George Pacers or the DeRozan Lowry Raptors into something
Speaker 1: bigger than they were No, we went the opposite. That's
Speaker 1: the Yeah, yes, you made eight straight finals, but in
Speaker 1: that conference against those teams. What is it again, It's
Speaker 1: it's not that it's always been this way. It's not
Speaker 1: that it slowly became like this. It's that it did
Speaker 1: a one to eighty. There are just certain things that,
Speaker 1: again in service of one guy at the expense of
Speaker 1: the other. We've just decided, like someone in some bible,
Speaker 1: some sports bible somewhere decided coincidentally right or around the
Speaker 1: time that this guy Lebron was lapping the field in
Speaker 1: every category. Actually, you know what, longevity is not a
Speaker 1: factor in any of this. It's just you know what.
Speaker 1: And when it comes to how great a player is,
Speaker 1: how long he was great, nobody cares about that since
Speaker 1: when that was that was literally never a part of
Speaker 1: any logical sports discussion until again, so much of how
Speaker 1: we talk about today's league has to do with these
Speaker 1: two players. And then we get to the media piece
Speaker 1: of it, because one bill talked about this. Yes, Michael
Speaker 1: was criticized until he won, and then once he won,
Speaker 1: he was deified to a level an athlete in this
Speaker 1: country has never been deified. And so the guys, this
Speaker 1: current generation, not this generation, the old guys of this
Speaker 1: generation Lebron Katie, those guys who watched that growing up thought, man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get that same treatment once I win and
Speaker 1: I'm great and I'm the face of the league, universal
Speaker 1: praise and adoration. And then the guys who gave that
Speaker 1: to Michael, like Wilbond, now say we're not on your payroll?
Speaker 1: Were you on Michaels because that's what he got people.
Speaker 1: It's all projection. People. People say to me and Shannon that, uh,
Speaker 1: you guys, they make up in their minds this tight
Speaker 1: relationship with Lebron that we must have while denying the
Speaker 1: reality of the pretend relationship that you're acting like that
Speaker 1: we have with Lebron a moderate Shad actually had with Michael,
Speaker 1: my main man, Michael Jordan, the sideline reporter for the finals,
Speaker 1: was his dear friend and golf buddy. We we then
Speaker 1: act like people are being honest arbiters of this skip.
Speaker 1: God love him. Built a huge portion of his career
Speaker 1: on a singular take, which was this guy will never
Speaker 1: be Michael Jordan, and nothing that he can do can
Speaker 1: ever change my mind on it. He could never move
Speaker 1: off that it was the only through line other than
Speaker 1: his Cowboys fandom for his TV career. And in Woje,
Speaker 1: who at a point in time was not only a
Speaker 1: great reporter the best columnist in the in basketball media,
Speaker 1: got iced out by Lebron's camp and just eviscerated him
Speaker 1: for years and years and years. Simmons, who crushed Lebron's
Speaker 1: family during back when he was doing running diaries about
Speaker 1: the draft, and then Lebron never had a real relationship
Speaker 1: with him, and then Lebron annihilated Simmons. Celtics has always
Speaker 1: been a begrudging appreciator of what he has or hasn't done.
Speaker 1: And then there's like, there's other guys who's so much
Speaker 1: of their career is tied into Michael, whether it's Wilbon
Speaker 1: or why does Barkley get a pass for not winning
Speaker 1: while he ran into Michael Jordan. All of this so
Speaker 1: you have a whole media machine, and then folks have
Speaker 1: the audacity, the absolute audacity to act like it's shocking
Speaker 1: that that it's shocking that Lebron might occasionally push back
Speaker 1: or might say, you guys changed the rules mid game
Speaker 1: and this isn't how you've treated guys previously, and so
Speaker 1: that's what they're talking about, and I think it's reasonable.
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's a fix for it. I thing,
Speaker 1: maybe the fix for it is for when Lebron retires,
Speaker 1: this whole thing resets, but honestly, maybe not