WEBVTT - PROOF LeBron saved the Lakers, Durant burning bridges + QB tiers REACTIONS 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:13.120 Welcome in What Driving Nick Wright? Episode four eighty seven. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.640 This episode of What's Right with Nick Wright is presented 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:21.759 to you by the great people at boost Mobile. Jam 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.840 Back show today again, scheduling updates, Gonna have a show tomorrow. 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.040 Might be a little mailbag stuff, but there's so many 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:31.080 things I want to get to today that I think 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.599 some of them are going to be pushed to tomorrow's episode, 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:39.959 including one of my favorite exercises every single year, projecting 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:44.560 the next year's NFL Hall of Fame class as the 0:00:44.600 --> 0:00:47.840 Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the Class of twenty 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.800 twenty six is happening this weekend. The Hall of Fame 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:54.680 game is tonight. I don't really care that much about 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:56.800 the Hall of Fame game, but I cary mentally about 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.400 the actual Hall of Fame, so we'll do some of 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:05.160 that all. So there is kind of a big picture 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:08.520 sports media topic about what is and what is not 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:13.160 in twenty twenty six allowed to be discussed on sports 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.679 television and what's not allowed to be discussed on sports 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:21.479 television related to the Rogers McAfee reunion from a few 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.679 days ago that I think we'll get into in tomorrow's show. 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:28.800 So that's tomorrow's show. Next week regular schedule, then a 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:33.840 little sabbatical for the first time since the TV show started. 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:39.200 So for the first time since September of twenty seventeen, 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:44.440 I will have two consecutive weeks off leading into this 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.640 football season, and so we'll be off for the end 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.200 of August and then you guys know how it goes 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:53.280 once football comes back. The Gambling Show is back. We 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.480 are back to three sometimes even four episodes a week, 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.480 and we are rolling. But right now there's a ton 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.480 to get to, so much that some good topics didn't 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:06.880 even make the main show. Straight to the voicemail brought 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.919 to you by our friends at boost Mobile, Madison Beer 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.920 and Justin Herbert share some nice canoodling on the practice field. 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.320 I'm not gonna be able to do better than we 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:20.200 did on the TV show responding to this yesterday, So 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.120 you know, find the clip on social or on YouTube 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.760 or watch First things first, for that Brew was really 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:28.080 the star of that moment. But that was, you know, 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:32.120 nice sweet moment. Maybe you know, time and a place 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.360 is what you're always told. No problem with what they did, 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.720 where and when they did it maybe could have been improved. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:43.000 The Commanders signed Steph Diggs. That maybe is a loss 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:47.760 for the Chiefs. The Chiefs just having faith that Rashi 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.600 Rice is going to get in shape and stay out 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.639 of trouble, that Xavier Worthy is going to stay healthy, 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.440 that the flashes they saw from Taekwon Thornton can be 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.119 a real thing, that fifth round rookie Cyrus Allen can 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.760 be the player that he looked like the first few 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.280 days at camp before he got hurt. A lot of 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:11.160 ifs going into the Chiefs receiving course. Stepan Diggs, I 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.079 don't think is a great player anymore, even though he 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.519 had a great season last year, a very good season 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:20.640 last year with the Patriots. But the Commanders, after they determine, 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:24.359 I think that that roster spot that they maybe had 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.200 earmarked for Brandon Ayuk, that Brandon Ayuk is in no 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.040 position to be playing football anymore, and so they go 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.600 with Stepan Diggs and the Hall of Fame games tonight, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.360 Kenny Pickett, Carson Beck. The only noteworthy piece of that 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:46.240 is the Cardinals deep down assuredly hoping Carson Beck looks awesome. 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:49.880 No disrespect to Jacoby Brissette, who's an excellent backup, but 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.560 a bad starter, probably hoping that they hit a diamond 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:55.600 in the rough with Carson Beck see something from him 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.880 today and some late breaking news shout out Jonathan Taylor 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:05.640 Lee building a is he a Hall of Famer type 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.000 of resume? Again, very hard to make the Pro Football 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.880 Hall of Fame gets a two year, forty four million 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:16.040 dollar extension with thirty nine million guaranteed. Good for him. 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.840 He was an all time great Badger, an all time 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:20.800 great college player, and he has been one of the 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.400 most consistent backs in the league since he came in 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.599 a reminder for you guys, we do have for people 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.440 that want to send long, thoughtful emails, our mail bag, 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:36.960 What's Right mail Bag at gmail dot com. Okay, we 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:41.679 were going to start today before we get to Aaron 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.040 Donald and the Rams, before we get to Mike Sando's 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:50.200 Invaluable Annual Quarterback Tiers. We were going to start with 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:55.200 something I meant to do Tuesday, which was Katie doubling 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.359 down on that the twenty twenty six six Ers and 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:06.840 the twenty seventeen Warriors. What's the difference. We are not 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.880 going to start there because we're gonna start somewhere else 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:15.120 with basketball because and we don't do this often because 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.480 I am going to respond to some of the reaction 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.200 to a clip we put out a couple days ago 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:28.039 about the Lakers being the biggest losers in Lebron's free 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:35.000 agency decision, and what generated the most reaction, which was 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.760 me saying Lebron saved the Lakers. So I want to 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:47.520 separate the two topics here. First, let me address the 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.680 idea that the Lakers were the biggest loser in Lebron's 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:56.160 free agent decision. That is certainly a matter of opinion. 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:02.000 Smart people can disagree on that whether or not the 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:07.760 Lakers appreciated Lebron James while he was there, did him right, 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.960 or did him in some ways right and in some 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:15.520 ways wrong, All of that is a totally fair subject 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.719 of debate discussion. And if folks want to say, Nick, 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:24.280 you have that stone wrong, you're a Lebron guy, and 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.360 you're glossing over the fact that they drafted BRONI you're 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:31.680 glossing over the fact that you know he the damage 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:37.239 that him wanting Russell Westbrook did that those different things. 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:44.040 And regardless of all that, it was never Lebron casts 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:49.120 such a big shadow. It was never going to fully 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:53.560 be Luca's team with Lebron there, and so they had 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.200 to move on even for the minimum, it wouldn't have 0:06:56.200 --> 0:07:00.279 be that. We can disagree on that, but that is 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.440 a matter of opinion, and so if you say, Nick, 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:08.760 you're wrong, that's totally legitimate. I can think you're wrong, 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:16.640 but that's a matter of debate. What people had the 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:22.160 most vociferous reaction to, and what people got angriest about 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.760 and responded to the most was the other piece of that, 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:33.480 which is not a matter of debate at all. It 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.480 is settled fact. And I am not going to sit 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:43.240 here and allow folks in real time to recreate history, 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.800 to create an alternate universe that none of us actually 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:55.400 lived in. And that was the Lebron saved the Lakers 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:06.880 piece that is undeniably, unequivocally true, and anyone debating otherwise 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:11.360 is either making shit up or doesn't know what they're 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:20.280 talking about. When Lebron James decided to sign with the Lakers, 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:29.040 it's not only that the proudest, most decorated, most consistently 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:33.880 successful franchise in the history of the sport was in 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:42.760 its lowest time, a team that five years before Lebron signed, 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:46.800 there had only missed the playoffs five times dating back 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:50.079 to when they were in Minneapolis in their entire history, 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.160 and then in the five years before Lebron got there, 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:59.760 missed the playoffs every single year. It's not that they 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:06.920 were bad for the Lakers. They were of the thirty 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:12.920 teams in the NBA, the single worst team in the 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:17.760 league for the five years leading up to Lebron getting there. 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.480 That is not a matter of opinion. They play games, 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.400 They have wins and losses. In the five years before 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:31.160 Lebron got there, they had the fewest wins. Oh, but Nick, 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:37.280 the future was bright. No, the fuck it wasn't. They 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:41.559 had a head coach in Luke Walton who had with respect, 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:48.439 no idea. What he was doing was not We saw 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:53.120 when he left, the Lakers got one more brief shot 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.920 at being a head coach, did not go well and 0:09:56.040 --> 0:10:05.959 is now lifetime assistant. Oh the young core that Lebron inherited, 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:11.040 Let's go through it. Let's look at who they were. 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:16.920 Lonzo Ball like Lonzo I think Lonzo got you know, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:25.720 I really respect that he has dealt with a catastrophic 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:30.200 injury and tried to make his way in the league. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.640 But Lonzo Ball was not then and has not since then, 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:40.120 been the centerpiece of anything significant in the NBA. They 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:45.480 had Brandon Ingram, a nice player, the type of volume 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:50.000 scorer that will consistently be one of the fifty best 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.880 players in the league, but never sniff being one of 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:58.880 the twenty five best players in the league. They had 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:07.600 Kyle Kuzma, who the best basketball he's ever played, the 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:15.240 only winning basketball he's ever played, was alongside Lebron. They 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:24.560 had Julius Randall, who, after multiple other stops, finally turned 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:31.320 into a real pro, a legit fringe all NBA guy, 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.280 but a guy who, even a decade later, we still 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.880 see given the holes in his game, how they get 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:46.960 exacerbated come the postseason. And Josh Hart, who is a 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:51.360 this isn't a real thing, but Hall of Fame role 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:57.320 player who also had multiple stops before getting to the 0:11:57.360 --> 0:12:02.240 Knicks and achieving his ultimate basketball destiny, which is from 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.640 his own words, if I'm your best player, your second 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:07.559 best player, your worst team in the league, but if 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:11.439 I'm your fourth or fifth guy, you can win a championship. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.520 Has proven that's the young core that team. If Lebron 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:22.720 doesn't sign there, that team is a lottery team. Forever, forever. 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:29.520 And that does not even to mention the most dysfunctional, 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.680 most dysfunctional, and bottom five overall ownership situation in the 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:41.200 sport that included the week Lebron was in the same 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:47.600 summer Lebron signed the one of the greatest players in 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:52.840 the history of the franchise, maybe the greatest, holding an 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.760 impromptu press conference calling the GM a snake and a 0:12:55.800 --> 0:13:06.800 backstabber and saying I'm out. So, yeah, Lebron saved that team. 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.800 Oh but Nick, we had the assets to get Anthony 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:13.640 d Anthony Davis was not coming to the Lakers if 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:22.560 Lebron James didn't go to the Lakers. So we can 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.920 debate the end of Lebron. You can have an opinion 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.720 whether he underachieved as a Laker. You can. You There 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.760 are a lot of takes that, while I might disagree with, 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:46.120 are at least what we would call acceptable opinions. The 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:54.400 idea we're going against, the idea that Lebron saved the 0:13:54.480 --> 0:14:00.320 franchise is not an acceptable opinion. In the three years 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.360 prior to Lebron getting there, the best single moment the 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:07.520 Lakers had was when the G League, the forty year 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.440 old G League Andre Ingram played at the end of 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:15.120 the season that one game and scored like twenty. That's it. 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:25.120 So don't don't try to in real time revisionist history 0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:32.760 what happened there. And it's stunning to me how many 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:36.920 people it's one thing to try to do revisionist history 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.720 on stuff that's actually like deep history. You're like, people 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:42.480 might not know, they might not remember, they might not 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:47.960 have done the research. We all were there. We were 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:52.600 there for the sad end of post Achilles, of the 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:58.960 Kobe era, where the story was maybe unfairly that Kobe's 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:05.600 contract wasn't album tross. We were there for the twenty 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.160 seven wins, the twenty one wins, the seventeen wins, the 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:15.600 twenty six wins leading into the year before they got Lebron, 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:21.359 when they scratched their way to thirty five wins, finishing 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:26.280 last or second to last in the conference four of 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:30.840 the five years, and then having a resurgent twenty eighteen 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.960 where they finish eleventh. Give me a break, We're not 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:43.200 doing it. So subject of a debate how it ended 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.440 in LA not a subject of a debate how it 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:51.040 started and what Lebron going to the Lakers did for 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:56.440 the Lakers. Oh, Nick, but the Lakers get free. They 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:02.400 they if Lebron hadn't signed there, Kawhi would have done it. Okay, yeah, 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:08.600 that's a great alternative history. Lebron doesn't sign there, Kawhi 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.480 signs there the next summer and they use all their 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.720 young assets. They got to get Anthony Davis to go 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:18.040 get Paul George. How did that decade work out for 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:25.760 the Clippers. Today's show's brought to you by presenting sponsor 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:30.120 hard Rock Bet sportsbooks. Some sports fans call this the 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.520 slow period until football season, not on Hard Rock Bet. 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:36.240 On hard Rock Bet, call it baseball season. This summer, 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.040 Hard Rock Bet is the hottest betting odds in Florida, 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.280 introducing the ten cent summer sale. This is really great, guys, 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:48.160 big juice fee, whatever you call it. 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Last time they put three twenty point 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:16.680 scorers on a team, they said it was unfair, which 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.240 was the team I was on, the Sixers have got 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:21.840 four to twenty five point scorers on this team, So 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:26.280 hell yeah, I think they're going to be a contender now. 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:32.240 The only team that people said was unfair that Durant 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:37.119 was on was the Warriors. More on them in a moment. 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.679 But that's not the last team to have three twenty 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.199 point scorers come together. In fact, it's not even the 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.920 last or the second to last team to have three 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.800 to twenty point per game scorers on it that Durant 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:54.879 was on, because when he joined the Suns and then 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.880 they added Bradley Beal, that team had three twenty point 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:03.040 per game scorers. And when he joined the Nets and 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:06.119 then they added James Harden, that team at three twenty 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:08.600 point per game scorers along with him and Kyrie Irvick. 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:15.760 But he's obviously talking about the Warriors, and I think 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:22.720 Draymond before Kad doubled down, had the right take on 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:27.639 this when he basically said Kat just looks at He 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.600 compared it to Uncle Drew in the old Nike commercials. 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:33.840 It was that Nike or Sprite. I think it was Nike. 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.560 Doesn't matter that he just looks at the game as 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:43.720 getting buckets and oh it's PEPSI oh wow, the good job, 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.840 I mean bad job by me, maybe also a bad 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:51.000 job by PEPSI. That's an iconic commercial that not only 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.760 did I not know it was them, but I thought 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.879 it might be a soda company, and I went with 0:19:55.960 --> 0:20:03.720 a different competing soda company. Regardless that it's just getting buckets. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.159 That the way Katie looks at the game is just 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:10.880 getting buckets. And that's kind of Katie's own words. If 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:14.399 you remember the interview he did, I think it was 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:18.640 around the Olympic time, when oh, it was in that, 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.800 I think it was in starting five the Netflix dock 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.080 when he's like, I can get five guys off the 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:30.520 street to play defense. He's like, defense about sliding, hands 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:35.520 up effort. The game's about getting buckets. And by the way, 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:40.280 he's not totally wrong about the most important skill in 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:46.879 the league for an individual player is about going and 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:55.800 getting buckets. So while comparing it to the Warriors in 0:20:56.080 --> 0:21:03.320 twenty seventeen was of course, of course laugh you could 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:07.360 give him the benefit of the doubt. You then were 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:10.600 not able to give him the benefit of the doubt 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:15.639 when he put this on Instagram, I believe in response 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:21.480 to someone saying those two teams aren't close. He then says, 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:27.440 ain't close, laughing my ass off. Joel MVP recently, Jalen 0:21:27.480 --> 0:21:32.280 Brown recent finals, MVP, Tyrese MAXI all started the last 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:36.879 three years. We all know what bron does. Clay Thompson 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.680 never a MVP candidate in nothing, twenty two points per game, 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:47.199 Draymond fourteen seven and six, Steph and MVP just like 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:50.720 Joel was. I don't get how the Warriors team is 0:21:50.760 --> 0:21:55.119 better on paper. So Clay responded, saying, ay Man, you good, 0:21:55.160 --> 0:21:58.119 because that is a real shot at Clay never an 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.040 MVP in nothing. I mean, I don't know. I assume 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.040 he was the MVP of like Washington State when he 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:06.960 was there, so I haven't looked. I assume he was 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:10.439 the MVP, you know, of his district in high school. 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:16.720 And Draymond said, slim thought he was on his burner, 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:24.840 and those are like real shots. It's also ludicrous and 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:30.959 so even though so here's so let me first address 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:32.919 it on its merits and then talk about why I 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:38.760 find it fascinating. Then we'll get to football. Let's just 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:45.200 go with the first thing. He put Joel MVP recently, 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:52.199 so that would be the Steph, the Joe the Steph 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:58.159 and Joel are the comps. Right, Steph wasn't the MVP 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:05.440 recently when Durant signed. Durant signed two months after Steph 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.080 was handed his second straight trophy, and this one was 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:16.639 the first ever unanimous. Steph was in that moment a 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:23.800 top three player. Durant in that moment was a top 0:23:23.840 --> 0:23:31.200 three player. Joel Embiid right now, even when healthy, even 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:34.879 a healthy Joel Embiid, which obviously the big concern is 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:36.760 he's not going to be healthy, but say you could 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:39.480 waive a magic wand and he is because of what 0:23:39.520 --> 0:23:44.240 the injuries have done to his mobility, his defensive and 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:54.880 rebounding impact. Win healthy Embiid is closer to fifteen than 0:23:54.920 --> 0:24:02.360 he is to three, somewhere in that ten to fifteen range. Lebron, 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:09.320 who's the addition, is also I think most I probably 0:24:09.320 --> 0:24:12.399 consider him a little better than most people, but I 0:24:12.440 --> 0:24:16.520 think he's probably over the course of a season right now, 0:24:16.600 --> 0:24:19.399 right around ten in the league. I think most people 0:24:19.480 --> 0:24:25.000 have him closer to fifteen. But so the Stephen kd 0:24:25.240 --> 0:24:27.800 were the second and third best players in the league. 0:24:28.000 --> 0:24:32.640 Lebron going into year twenty four at age forty one, 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:35.840 call him, call him in EMBIID instead of two and three, 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:42.480 twelve and thirteen. And then it gets to the shots 0:24:42.480 --> 0:24:48.119 at Draymond and Clay, which I think are super fascinating, 0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:55.760 great job producers. In high school at Santa Margarita Catholic 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:59.760 High School, senior Clay was named Division three State Player 0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:03.040 of the Year in league MVP Clay should have called 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:11.040 out the receipts there. Great job. So here is where 0:25:11.080 --> 0:25:22.560 I think that Katie loses the plot a bit if 0:25:22.600 --> 0:25:29.640 you like. I don't know where people wanted to have 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:36.399 Klay Thompson and Draymond Green ranked as far as individual 0:25:36.520 --> 0:25:44.639 players across the league in twenty sixteen, but wherever you 0:25:44.800 --> 0:25:50.160 had them ranked is irrelevant to how for a team 0:25:50.240 --> 0:25:55.040 that was going to have Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, 0:25:55.480 --> 0:26:02.359 they were the absolute perfect third and fourth guys. Clay 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:05.840 as being one of the three greatest pure shooters in 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:09.399 the history of the league all of a sudden being 0:26:09.440 --> 0:26:13.080 a guy who was going to get more open shots 0:26:14.200 --> 0:26:20.560 than any other team's third option, plus again pre injury, 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:27.360 being a spectacular perimeter defender. He might be the number 0:26:27.560 --> 0:26:32.359 one draft pick in the whole league to play that 0:26:32.560 --> 0:26:38.720 exact role, and he was there, and Draymond Green, as 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:47.159 a guy who was clearly the best defensive player in 0:26:47.200 --> 0:26:53.040 the league at that point plus an offensive hub without 0:26:53.080 --> 0:27:00.240 having to shoot, would have been the number one half 0:27:00.280 --> 0:27:08.679 pick for that role. Comparing that team to this Sixers 0:27:08.720 --> 0:27:11.120 team is of course absurd on its face, and that's 0:27:11.160 --> 0:27:14.960 before we get to the fact that the Warriors had 0:27:15.040 --> 0:27:18.080 just set the all time wins record and beaten Durant 0:27:18.440 --> 0:27:20.840 and had won a title of the year before, and 0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:23.040 the previous two years had won one hundred and seventy 0:27:23.040 --> 0:27:26.960 one games. The Sixers had won I think sixty eight 0:27:27.000 --> 0:27:29.800 games total of the previous two years and won one 0:27:29.920 --> 0:27:35.320 playoff series. So that part is of course just ridiculous. 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:41.159 The closer comp would have been, and there was a 0:27:41.200 --> 0:27:43.920 decent comp it just wasn't ever realistically it was gonna happen, 0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:49.240 would have been if bron joined the Thunder this offseason. 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:54.280 Because the Thunder won the championship two years prior, they 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:57.080 could have won the championship this year they lost in 0:27:57.119 --> 0:28:00.240 a hard fought seven game series. Granted a round before. 0:28:00.520 --> 0:28:04.480 Shay is the back to back MVP. They they're you know, 0:28:07.040 --> 0:28:12.080 those that he would be replacing Lou dort in the 0:28:12.119 --> 0:28:15.480 starting lineup the way Durant replaced Harrison Barnes. That would 0:28:15.520 --> 0:28:19.600 have been far more similar, except for the fact that 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:23.720 Lebron's not twenty eight two years removed from winning league 0:28:23.800 --> 0:28:29.840 MVPs forty one, and Lebron is already a minted four 0:28:29.920 --> 0:28:34.840 time champion with ten finals appearances under his belt. But 0:28:34.880 --> 0:28:37.119 at least that would have been closer. This is, of 0:28:37.160 --> 0:28:48.680 course absurd, but the bigger, more interesting conversation here is twofold. 0:28:49.120 --> 0:28:55.440 First one is this has Katie like Torte and I 0:28:55.480 --> 0:29:01.720 don't know, I don't know the parties involved well enough, 0:29:04.200 --> 0:29:10.320 but has he torched his relationship with everybody there? The 0:29:10.400 --> 0:29:15.640 burner account stuff with Houston he took not and that 0:29:15.720 --> 0:29:17.840 wasn't Burner account that. I don't even know what to 0:29:17.920 --> 0:29:25.760 call it. The leaked DMS. He he took pretty pointed 0:29:25.800 --> 0:29:32.440 shots at Steph and really personal shots at cur So 0:29:32.480 --> 0:29:37.680 that's the coach and the best player. He now is 0:29:40.360 --> 0:29:44.160 minimizing who Klay Thompson was at every point of his 0:29:44.240 --> 0:29:52.080 basketball career and summing up Draymond's value as fourteen, seven 0:29:52.120 --> 0:29:58.840 and six like I don't know. Maybe again I don't know. 0:29:58.960 --> 0:30:04.440 Durant personally. So maybe the folks who do are like, ah, 0:30:04.480 --> 0:30:09.520 that's slam, it's fine, whatever, But that that seemed like 0:30:10.080 --> 0:30:14.960 harsher than it needed to be. And the other and 0:30:15.080 --> 0:30:17.400 this last point is a point I think folks have made. 0:30:17.440 --> 0:30:26.040 But most interesting part is Durance still wants to fight 0:30:26.120 --> 0:30:34.080 this war. He still wants to have this argument. He 0:30:34.080 --> 0:30:36.520 he sorry if you guys hear in the honking outside 0:30:36.560 --> 0:30:39.560 the window. The old alternate side of the street. Parking 0:30:39.600 --> 0:30:42.600 in Manhattan can always be a little hectic around this time. 0:30:47.520 --> 0:30:56.160 He I don't think that. No, I don't think when 0:30:56.280 --> 0:31:07.040 Lebron signed with the Sixers anybody else was like, you 0:31:07.080 --> 0:31:11.160 know what, this reminds me of Katie going to Golden State. 0:31:12.000 --> 0:31:15.040 I don't think anybody was trying to relitigate that. I 0:31:15.040 --> 0:31:17.800 don't think anybody was like, oh, now there's a comp 0:31:19.240 --> 0:31:23.280 for Katie. To bring it up unprompted and to then 0:31:24.400 --> 0:31:30.560 continue the argument online is a really interesting window into 0:31:32.360 --> 0:31:36.160 how much the criticism of that and the reaction to 0:31:36.200 --> 0:31:40.080 that still sits with him. And I find that fascinating, 0:31:40.480 --> 0:31:45.480 if not a little. I don't want to say sad, 0:31:45.520 --> 0:31:47.520 because that sounds like patronizing, and I'm not trying to 0:31:47.560 --> 0:31:51.880 be patronizing again. I know I don't necessarily have this reputation, 0:31:51.960 --> 0:31:57.360 but I really do try to be fair. But it 0:31:57.480 --> 0:32:04.160 is certainly fascinating that this is a war he still 0:32:04.160 --> 0:32:08.600 wants to fight and seems adamant. I don't think he's trolling. 0:32:11.160 --> 0:32:16.280 I think it's something he actually believes, and that is, 0:32:18.680 --> 0:32:24.440 at least to me, very fascinating. All right, let's get 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:27.360