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Speaker 1: Eligibility and deposit restrictions apply. All right, welcome to hoops tonight.

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Speaker 1: You're at the Volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all

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Speaker 1: of you guys are having a great week so far.

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Speaker 1: We are live on AMPS. If you're watching on YouTube

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Speaker 1: is the very first place that you guys can get

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Speaker 1: these shows. We are continuing our top twenty five players

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Speaker 1: in the last twenty five years today with number four

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry. It's gonna be a fun one. And then

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Speaker 1: I've got two mail bag questions as well in the show.

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Speaker 1: You guys know the jope before we get started. To

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Speaker 1: any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: don't forget. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Under Hoops Tonight also looking for more mailbag questions over

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Speaker 1: the course of the rest of this week and potentially

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Speaker 1: into the future, so drop those into the YouTube comments.

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Speaker 1: I saw several people complaining in the last video that

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Speaker 1: we've been doing the mail back questions off the top,

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Speaker 1: so I'm gonna listen to you guys and swap it.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna move the player rankings piece to the front

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Speaker 1: of the show, and then we'll do the mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions at the end. Just you guys know, for future reference.

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Speaker 1: Our YouTube team works really hard to add chapters. So

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Speaker 1: if I'm ever talking about something that you could care

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Speaker 1: less about, just go to the chapters and you could

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Speaker 1: probably find the topic that you're specifically interested in. When

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Speaker 1: we get into the regular season and you guys know,

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Speaker 1: I'm hitting on like six or seven different topics a day,

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Speaker 1: sometimes that tool can be useful for you guys, So

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Speaker 1: you'll find that again in the description. Our YouTube team

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Speaker 1: works really hard on that. But for today, we'll start

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Speaker 1: with Steph and then we'll hit the mailback questions at

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Speaker 1: the very end. So number four, Steph Curry is accolades,

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Speaker 1: four time NBA champion, best player on two championship teams,

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Speaker 1: best or second best player on two championship teams. That's

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Speaker 1: kind of what I said about KD. I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to give either of them credit or for being one

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Speaker 1: or two on that team. I'm just gonna keep it

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Speaker 1: vague for both of them. Four time first team All NBA,

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Speaker 1: nine time All NBA overall, won the scoring Champion, was

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Speaker 1: the scoring champion in twenty sixteen in twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: led the league in steals in twenty sixteen, won back

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Speaker 1: to back regular season MVPs in twenty fifteen in twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: and won the NBA Finals MVP in twenty and twenty two. Now,

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Speaker 1: to be clear, I credit Steph as a two time

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Speaker 1: Finals MVP. I thought he deserved to win the in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. That stretched, there was a really bizarre stretch

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Speaker 1: from NBA voters where they did this really weird thing

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Speaker 1: where they kept like just hawking the box score and

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Speaker 1: following narratives instead of looking at the obvious structure of

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Speaker 1: the basketball team, like Steph was getting blitzed on every

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Speaker 1: single pick and roll out thirty feet from the basket,

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Speaker 1: and the Warriors were playing four on three in the

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Speaker 1: back end, and Andrea Guadala was getting wide open back

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Speaker 1: door cut dunks out of the weak side corner and

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Speaker 1: wide open threes out of the weak side corner, and

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Speaker 1: everyone looked at his points per game numbers, and then

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Speaker 1: the fact that he held Lebron to below average efficiency,

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Speaker 1: which was more a product of Kyrie and Kevin Love

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Speaker 1: being out and the Warriors really loading up on him.

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Speaker 1: There was really no legitimate case for Andrea A. Guidala

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Speaker 1: to win the Finals MVP in twenty fifteen, except for people,

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Speaker 1: especially in the media, buying into narratives and box scores

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Speaker 1: and not really understanding what was happening on the basketball team.

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry was by far the best player on the team.

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Speaker 1: He was the engine that made everything work. That was

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Speaker 1: the case from the first game of the season all

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Speaker 1: the way through to the end of the NBA Championship.

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Speaker 1: Steph was the one who played super well in the

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Speaker 1: pivotal Game five game at home in Golden State, like

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Speaker 1: he deserved to win Finals MVP. That's just the way

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Speaker 1: I see it. I think that anybody who points to

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Speaker 1: you know, one Finals MVP as a downside for Steph

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Speaker 1: is being dishonest. In that particular case, I think that

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Speaker 1: he was clearly the best player on two championship teams

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Speaker 1: and deserves credit as such. His claim to fame is

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Speaker 1: that he was the best shooter ever. Now, to be clear,

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Speaker 1: simply referring to Steph as the best shooter ever is

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Speaker 1: a really big underrepresentation of what Steph can do as

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Speaker 1: a basketball player. He was also a top five ball

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Speaker 1: handler ever. He's a very gifted scorer. Remember, scoring to

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Speaker 1: me is like an art. It's like an improvisational shot

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Speaker 1: making thing and like it's hard to explain, but like

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Speaker 1: a good score has just a natural feel for how

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Speaker 1: to generate baskets in the margins of basketball, like outside

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Speaker 1: of your wide open stuff that comes in the flow

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Speaker 1: of offense, and Steph has always been very good at that.

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Speaker 1: He's the very best off ball player in NBA history.

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Speaker 1: He's also an excellent passer. Remember when Mark Jackson had

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Speaker 1: him on the ball for the most part, he averaged

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Speaker 1: nine assists per game in twenty fourteen, before Steve Kirk

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Speaker 1: came in and moved him into a lot more off

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Speaker 1: ball situations. He's also a savage competitor. I think he's

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Speaker 1: the best leader in the game right now. There's no

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Speaker 1: drama with Steph. There's no highs and lows. He just

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Speaker 1: keeps a good, even keel throughout the season. He only

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Speaker 1: cares about winning, doesn't give a shit about media or

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Speaker 1: the way that he's talked about. That's why he invited

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant into that situation. I don't think many stars

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Speaker 1: in NBA history would have done so. Steph just only

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Speaker 1: cares about winning, and I think that that speaks very

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Speaker 1: highly to the type of leader that he is. But

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Speaker 1: make no mistake, he is the greatest shooter to ever

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Speaker 1: touch a basketball as well. So for fun, I put

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Speaker 1: together three stats for you guys to demonstrate just how

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Speaker 1: far ahead of the field Steph is as a shooter.

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Speaker 1: Y one, Steph has made three point eight threes per

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Speaker 1: game in his career. Nobody else in NBA history is

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Speaker 1: over three point two points per game, so a significant

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Speaker 1: gap there. He also, since the twenty sixteen MVP season,

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Speaker 1: is averaging four point seven three pointers made per game.

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Speaker 1: Number two, Steph has four seasons with at least three

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Speaker 1: hundred made threes. The rest of the players in NBA

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Speaker 1: history combine for only two. Last, but not least, in

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Speaker 1: the twenty sixteen season, Steph made two hundred and twenty

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Speaker 1: threes off the dribble. Nobody else in the league made

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Speaker 1: more than one hundred and twenty six ninety four more

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Speaker 1: off the dribble threes than anybody else in the league.

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Speaker 1: Among the other eighteen players in the league who made

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Speaker 1: at least fifty pull up threes that season, not a

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Speaker 1: single one of them managed to crack forty percent, and

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Speaker 1: Steph shot forty four percent on them. He basically invented

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Speaker 1: high volume pull up three point shooting, and since then

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Speaker 1: the league has been trying to catch up. And the

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Speaker 1: crazy thing is, even though the league has been trying

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Speaker 1: to catch up, Steph has still maintained his lead as

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Speaker 1: the best pull up jump shooter in the league. This season,

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Speaker 1: there were forty seven players who attempted at least three

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Speaker 1: hundred pull up jump shots, and Steph was the only

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Speaker 1: player in that list to crack sixty percent in effective

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Speaker 1: field goal percentage. He shot forty six percent on pull

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Speaker 1: up twos in one hundred and made one hundred and

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Speaker 1: forty nine pull up threes at forty three percent, which

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Speaker 1: came out to his sixty one percent effective field goal percentage.

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Speaker 1: Only guy in the league with over three hundred makes

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Speaker 1: to be over or over three hundred attempts to be

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Speaker 1: over sixty percent effective field goal percentage. The very best

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Speaker 1: shooter in NBA history, and it is not close now.

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Speaker 1: Steph's crowning achievement, in my opinion, was winning the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two NBA Championship and Finals MVP. Now, a lot

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Speaker 1: of you guys might think unanimous MVP in twenty sixteen, right,

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Speaker 1: But I want to tell his story because I think

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Speaker 1: Steph's career path is one of the more interesting career

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Speaker 1: paths from any star in NBA history. And there was

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Speaker 1: a narrative that formed from twenty fifteen to right before

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Speaker 1: he won the Championship in twenty twenty two that I

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Speaker 1: don't think was particularly fair, not really close to fair,

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Speaker 1: but it was kind of the prevailing opinion around the

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Speaker 1: NBA fan bases outside of Golden State. Obviously Golden State fans,

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Speaker 1: you got to remember, like within that like specific kind

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Speaker 1: of bubble. Everyone thinks Steph's the best of Most of

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Speaker 1: them think stepfs of buff Lebron all time. A lot

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Speaker 1: of them think Steph has been the best player in

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Speaker 1: the league for the better part of a decade. So

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Speaker 1: obviously you got to kind of set the Warriors fans

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Speaker 1: aside for a second and look at the rest of

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Speaker 1: the league and the rest of fans. The vast majority

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Speaker 1: of basketball fans kind of bought into this narrative for

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Speaker 1: a while. And I think that Steph resoundingly got rid

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Speaker 1: of and proved that narrative false in the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: two NBA Finals. And so I want to kind of

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Speaker 1: paint a picture of Steph's career and kind of explain

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Speaker 1: just what was at stake when we got to that

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Speaker 1: NBA Finals series against Boston. So again, we got to

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Speaker 1: look at the beginning. Steph does not get recruited behind

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Speaker 1: major college programs, go to Davidson and kicks everyone's ass

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Speaker 1: in college. Anyway, he slips to seventh in the draft

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Speaker 1: and goes behind guards like Tyreek Evans and Ricky Rubio

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Speaker 1: and Johnny Flynn. A lot of concerns about his size

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Speaker 1: and athleticism right from scouts. His early career shows some promise,

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Speaker 1: but then he runs into some ankle injuries. He ends

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Speaker 1: up sitting out most of the twenty twelve season to

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Speaker 1: get his ankles right, and as a result, ends up

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Speaker 1: signing a discounted contract. If I remember correctly, it was

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Speaker 1: four years, forty four million that ended up being one

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Speaker 1: of the primary factors in them being able to sign

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant as we look into the future, So he

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Speaker 1: comes back in twenty thirteen and immediately pops averages twenty three,

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Speaker 1: four and seven. The Warriors go forty seven and thirty five.

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Speaker 1: They win a first round series against Denver, and then

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Speaker 1: Steph has this crazy Game one against the Spurs. It's

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Speaker 1: kind of like his coming out party in the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: drops forty four in a double overtime loss. They end

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Speaker 1: up taking the Spurs to six games, but the Spurs

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Speaker 1: do eventually get him under control, but Steph kind of

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Speaker 1: pops onto the scene as a legitimate playoff performer. Right

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Speaker 1: then we go into twenty fourteen, You're going to see

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Speaker 1: a rapid is set here from Steph makes the All

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Speaker 1: NBA team for the first time, finish his second team

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Speaker 1: all NBA finishes sixth in MVP voting. The Warriors go

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Speaker 1: fifty one and thirty one and they lose a seven

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Speaker 1: game or heartbreak to the Clippers. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors were actually up by one with just over

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Speaker 1: two minutes left in Game seven, but Blake Griffin takes

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Speaker 1: over down the stretch. The Clippers would run this like

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Speaker 1: high iso for Blake Griffin right at the top of

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Speaker 1: the key, and he did it twice against Draymond in

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Speaker 1: the final minutes and got two big buckets. And then

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Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan had a massive block on Steph Curry at

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Speaker 1: the rim. So the Clippers end up pulling out a

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Speaker 1: Game seven and the Warriors go home in the first round.

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Speaker 1: But then in twenty fifteen and the summer coming into

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Speaker 1: that season, so summer of twenty fourteen, they get rid

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Speaker 1: of Mark Jackson. They bring in Steve Kerr. Steve Kerr

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Speaker 1: fundamentally changes the way the Warriors play offense. He has

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Speaker 1: this obsession with the total number of passes that the

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Speaker 1: team has and he wants to lead the league in

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Speaker 1: total number of passes made. They immediately do their offense skyrockets.

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Speaker 1: They finish sixty seven and fifteen, seven games ahead of

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Speaker 1: the rest of the field in the NBA standings that year.

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Speaker 1: Steph finishes the season averaging twenty four points, four rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and eight assists, makes First Team All NBA for the

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Speaker 1: first time, wins his first MVP award, and the Warriors

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Speaker 1: win the NBA Championship. And like I said, he didn't

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Speaker 1: get the Finals MVP, but Steph absolutely should have gotten

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Speaker 1: the MVP in twenty fifteen. It was one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest travesty award decisions in NBA history in my opinion.

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Speaker 1: So twenty sixteen, again, I'm not putting this as Steph's

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Speaker 1: crowning achievement. What I am putting this at is what

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Speaker 1: I think is the coolest moment of Steph's career. So

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Speaker 1: you gotta look at the context here. He's already the

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Speaker 1: NBA's defending MVP, He's already the defending champion and should

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Speaker 1: be defending Finals MVP, but Steph is such a psychopath

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Speaker 1: that he decides he's not good enough. Steph since then

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Speaker 1: has said that he was obsessed in the summer of

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen with leg strength. Thing that I talk about

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Speaker 1: all the time with young basketball players and I've talked

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Speaker 1: about a lot on this show, like strength is one

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Speaker 1: of the most under one of the most underrated elements

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Speaker 1: of skill development that doesn't get talked about or or

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Speaker 1: emphasized enough with young players. And the reason why is

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Speaker 1: a lot of people think of it as just this

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Speaker 1: thing that's loosely associated with dunking. But like, the reality

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Speaker 1: is is leg strength is the number one element in

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Speaker 1: any sort of movement jump shooting. So again, if you

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Speaker 1: think of your jump shot as like a machine, right,

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Speaker 1: like a muscle memory machine. If you're a really good

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Speaker 1: jump shooter, you have crafted a form that you can

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Speaker 1: replicate thousands and thousands and thousands of times. And as

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Speaker 1: a result, like in any sort of static, stand still environment,

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Speaker 1: like most of the best shooters in the world shoot

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Speaker 1: over seventy percent on stand still jump shots, right, and

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Speaker 1: the very very best will be up over eighty ninety,

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Speaker 1: Like STEP's over ninety percent on stand still jump shots.

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Speaker 1: But most of the top tier shooters in the world

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Speaker 1: are over eighty percent, and the really really good ones

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Speaker 1: are up over seventy percent, right, Like that's your muscle memory, right,

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Speaker 1: But then you get into a game and you're running

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Speaker 1: up and down in transition, you're chasing guys around on defense.

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Speaker 1: The game is physical, and so that kind of muscle

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Speaker 1: memory gets disrupted, and that gets even further disrupted when

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Speaker 1: you start taking movement shots, because now not only are

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Speaker 1: you fatigued from the other elements of the game, but

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Speaker 1: you're flying off of screens or you're making a move

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Speaker 1: off of the dribble to get into a dribble, combination, footwork,

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Speaker 1: whatever it is to get to a pull up three

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Speaker 1: right or a pull up jump shot right. So in

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Speaker 1: those situations, all of the movement that precedes the shot,

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Speaker 1: your leg strength is what allows you to stop on

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Speaker 1: a dime wherever you're at and get the appropriate amount

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Speaker 1: of lift so that you can go to your muscle

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Speaker 1: memory that you practice so much in standstill situations. That's

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Speaker 1: how you get to your release right. And obviously you

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Speaker 1: practice that leg strength outside of the weight room on

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Speaker 1: the court when you're practicing those dribble jump shots and

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Speaker 1: movement jump shots as well. But essentially, your leg strength

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Speaker 1: is what allows you to get into that shot off

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Speaker 1: of any sort of movement or any sort of fatigue situation.

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Speaker 1: And Steph was obsessed with leg strength in the summer

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Speaker 1: of twenty fifteen, and so he goes up a massive level,

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Speaker 1: raises his scoring average by six point three points per game,

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Speaker 1: makes one hundred and sixteen more threes than he did

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Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, including sixty nine more pull up threes,

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Speaker 1: averages a career high five point four rebounds per game,

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Speaker 1: leads the league in steals. So, like, imagine how insane

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Speaker 1: of a competitor you'd have to be to literally be

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Speaker 1: sitting on top of the basketball world raigning MVP, should

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Speaker 1: be raining NBA Finals, MVP defending champion, and you're like,

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Speaker 1: I'm not close to as good as I want to be.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to get way better. He literally finished fourth

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Speaker 1: in Most Improved Player voting in twenty sixteen. I think

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Speaker 1: it's one of the coolest stories from Steph Curry's career

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Speaker 1: because it demonstrates that he's a legitimate psychopath competitor. What

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Speaker 1: ended up happening as a result, the Warriors win seventy

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Speaker 1: three games, which was an NBA record, They make it

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Speaker 1: to the NBA Finals, and then they run into the

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Speaker 1: second best basketball player ever to touch the earth at

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Speaker 1: the absolute peak of his powers in Lebron James and

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Speaker 1: a red hot Kyrie Irving and they end up losing

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Speaker 1: a heartbreaker in seven games, and so from there, that's

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Speaker 1: where the narrative starts to form. This is the narrative

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Speaker 1: that I'm referring to that culminates in the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: two finals. So in twenty fifteen, Kyrie Irving and Kevin

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Speaker 1: Love are hurt, right, and so the Calves still take

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Speaker 1: them to six, with guys like Timofey Mozgov and Matthew

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Speaker 1: Delvdova and James Jones getting significant minutes in that series,

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Speaker 1: and so you know, everyone's like, okay, like maybe there's

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Speaker 1: some luck at play there. Then in twenty sixteen, Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irving and Kevin Love are healthy and the Calves win,

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Speaker 1: and so the narrative starts to form. Right, Steph got lucky,

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Speaker 1: didn't even win finals, MVP. Right, people start to undercut

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Speaker 1: Steph as a player. Then we go into twenty seventeen

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Speaker 1: and Steph's again. We talked about Steph's leadership earlier, but

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Speaker 1: like Steph's leadership and him not giving a shit about

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Speaker 1: the narrative and him not giving a shit about what

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Speaker 1: people outside of the Warriors organization thinks. He just cares

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Speaker 1: about winning basketball games, So he invites and takes good

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Speaker 1: care of KD in his transition coming into Golden State. Right,

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Speaker 1: and again, you have to understand Steph's smart guy like KD.

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Speaker 1: I don't think knew any better. Like I said this

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Speaker 1: in the KD video, I think KD looked at the

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Speaker 1: situation and was like, I just want to play the

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Speaker 1: best basketball of my career. All I care about is basketball,

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Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go play with the Warriors, and they're

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Speaker 1: gonna help me become a better basketball player. I think

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Speaker 1: KD was kind of oblivious to the potential downsides of

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Speaker 1: that narrative, right. I think Steph knew and just didn't care.

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Speaker 1: I think Steph knew that if he brought in KD

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Speaker 1: that it would do some damage to his reputation around

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Speaker 1: the league. And I just literally think he doesn't give

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Speaker 1: a shit. I think all he cares about is winning.

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Speaker 1: And again that's why I say he's the best leader

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. So naturally, the KD Steph Warriors, whoop

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Speaker 1: everyone's asked. They won sixty seven games, they won fifteen

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Speaker 1: consecutive playoff games, they win the title, they win again

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Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen. Now, to be clear, like I said,

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Speaker 1: Steph doesn't care. He's a three time champion. The Warrior

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Speaker 1: are now the most valuable franchise in the NBA. So

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Speaker 1: Steph's doing great in this particular situation. But the narrative

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Speaker 1: is growing, right because KD wins both finals MVPs in

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Speaker 1: those two years. Remember KD and Lebron are filming commercials together.

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Speaker 1: Remember that Uber commercial with I think it was the

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Speaker 1: two of them and carry Champion if I remember correctly.

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Speaker 1: But they're riding around in an uber like openly calling

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Speaker 1: themselves the two best players in the world. And now,

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Speaker 1: to be clear, I thought that at this point it

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Speaker 1: was a tier of three players. I thought it was Lebron, Steph,

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Speaker 1: and KD all on the top tier of the league,

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Speaker 1: with Lebron having a slight edge over the other two guys.

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Speaker 1: But Lebron and KD were painting this narrative like it

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Speaker 1: was them too and then everybody else. And I to

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Speaker 1: be like, like I said, not only do I think

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Speaker 1: Steph was on the same tier as those guys, but

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Speaker 1: I think Steph is clearly demonstrated that he's a better

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Speaker 1: player than Kevin Durant in his career, right, So like

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Speaker 1: so again, he's got four championships and two of them

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Speaker 1: outside of the KD years, Right, So Steph has won

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Speaker 1: that battle. But again, I'm just talking about the narrative

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Speaker 1: and the narrative that's building at this point in time

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Speaker 1: circa the summer of two tenty eighteen is that it's

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Speaker 1: Lebron and KD and then everyone else, and Steph needed

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Speaker 1: KD to come in and save him, right, Like, that's

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Speaker 1: the narrative. Right. Then it gets worse because from twenty

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Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty twenty one, KD gets hurt in the

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen playoffs and they lose in the finals, which

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Speaker 1: only furthers that narrative. Bob Myers makes a couple of

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Speaker 1: tough decisions, bringing in guys like Kent Basmore and Kelly

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Speaker 1: Ubre who weren't great fits in the Warriors system, and

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Speaker 1: Klay Thompson obviously is out for two years with the

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Speaker 1: Achilles injury and the ACL injury. Steph ends up missing

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Speaker 1: the playoffs twice in a row, and at the same time,

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Speaker 1: Lebron wins his fourth championship in fourth finals MVP with

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Speaker 1: the Lakers in twenty twenty and KD has this kind

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Speaker 1: of heroic playoff run in twenty twenty one where he

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Speaker 1: nearly beats the Bucks by himself with injured Kevin excuse me,

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Speaker 1: with Kyrie Irving out of the lineup and James Harden

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Speaker 1: playing on a bad hamstring, right, So like, now the

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Speaker 1: narrative is just officially out of control. Right, steph isn't

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Speaker 1: even on the same level as these guys. In a

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Speaker 1: lot of these conversations, everyone's saying he got lucky in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, and Kad came in and carried him in

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Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. In twenty eighteen, now he can't even make

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. To make things worse, Lebron hits a game

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Speaker 1: winner over him in the in the play in tournament, right,

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Speaker 1: so like or not like, it's just it's just completely

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Speaker 1: out of control at this point. So it gets so

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Speaker 1: out of control that NBA players are starting to take

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Speaker 1: shots at the Warriors. You guys might remember in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one, at the beginning of the season, we get

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Speaker 1: an actual quote from Damian Lillard after the fifth game

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Speaker 1: of the regular season. Damian Lillard says, quote, He's seeing

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Speaker 1: that it's tough to get those quality looks. Now it's

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Speaker 1: different than what it looked like in the last four

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Speaker 1: to five years. Actual quote from Damian Lillard, actual peer

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Speaker 1: in the league, dancing on Steph's grave, for lack of

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Speaker 1: a better term, finding a respectful, passive, aggressive way right

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Speaker 1: to kind of dance on Steph's grave. This what was

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Speaker 1: funny about it. That was the fifth game of the season,

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Speaker 1: and I think the war were two and five in

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Speaker 1: the or two and three in the first five games.

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Speaker 1: Steph was shooting forty two percent from the field and

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Speaker 1: thirty two percent from three through the first five games.

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Speaker 1: But here's the problem. The Blazers have to play the

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Speaker 1: Warriors two nights later and Steph drops a career high

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Speaker 1: sixty two points. Davian Lillard did a win, like I said,

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Speaker 1: an absolute savage competitor in that season. In the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one season where they missed the playoffs, he won

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Speaker 1: the scoring title. He averaged thirty two points per game

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00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,120
Speaker 1: on sixty six percent true shooting, which is absolutely bonkers.

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Speaker 1: Makes first team All NBA, finishes third in MVP voting.

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Speaker 1: The Warriors actually went thirty seven and twenty six when

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00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,280
Speaker 1: Steph played, which is an excellent record. But like I said,

431
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,400
Speaker 1: the roster was weird. They had some poorly fitting role players,

432
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:44,720
Speaker 1: and Steph gets that bizarre tailbone injury where he falls.

433
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 1: I think it was like he fell down and landed

434
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,520
Speaker 1: on a step in the stadium if I remember correctly.

435
00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 1: Golden State goes two and seven in the games where

436
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: Steph doesn't play that year, so they end up in

437
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,600
Speaker 1: the play in tournament. That's when step hit lebron hits

438
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,320
Speaker 1: that game, winning three. Then they dropped that game to Memphis,

439
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,919
Speaker 1: and suddenly Steph's like kind of ridiculously good season just

440
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 1: gets swept under the rug. And that narrative, like I'm

441
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,200
Speaker 1: talking about, is kind of stronger than it's ever been.

442
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,880
Speaker 1: Coming into twenty twenty two, Bob Myers makes a couple

443
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:15,360
Speaker 1: of really smart adjustments to the roster. He brings in

444
00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,120
Speaker 1: gets rid of Kelly Uberan camp Baysmore, brings in really

445
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: smart ball movers that are like good players that fit

446
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,879
Speaker 1: in the Warrior system, and Namanya bi Elitza out of

447
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 1: Porter and Gary Payton. They come out the gates red hot.

448
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,680
Speaker 1: They win eighteen of their first twenty games. Steph looks

449
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,480
Speaker 1: like he's in peak form. In the first twenty games.

450
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 1: He averages twenty nine, six, and seven and shoots forty

451
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: two percent from three on thirteen three attemps three point

452
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,280
Speaker 1: attempts per game. But then Steph, if you guys remember,

453
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 1: Steph gets close to the all time three point record

454
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,080
Speaker 1: and it kind of just triggers this like weird phase

455
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 1: of Warriors games where they're a little distracted and Steph's

456
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: shot selection isn't as good as it usually is because

457
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:52,679
Speaker 1: he's jacking up three, he's trying to break the record,

458
00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: and he ends up shooting just thirty six percent from

459
00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 1: three for the rest of the season. Then the Warriors

460
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 1: start dropping games. They had a two to eight stretch

461
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,480
Speaker 1: with Steph in the lineup. Steph ends up spraining a

462
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,480
Speaker 1: ligament in his foot and missing the end of the

463
00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,440
Speaker 1: regular season. The Warriors finish in their last twenty eight

464
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:12,920
Speaker 1: games twelve and sixteen. You know, And again the reason

465
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 1: why I tell all of this story is just to

466
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 1: build up what was at stake going into that twenty

467
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 1: twenty two playoff run. You can imagine had they not won,

468
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,800
Speaker 1: just the way that Steph's career would be talked about. Right,

469
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 1: everything was teetering on the brink right around the time

470
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 1: of that foot injury right, because Steph had just finished

471
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,560
Speaker 1: his first full regular season of his career where he

472
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: shot below forty percent from three. He averaged just twenty

473
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,600
Speaker 1: five and a half points per game, which was his

474
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: lowest mark in five years. Steph is thirty three years

475
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: old at this point. Those of you guys who'll listened

476
00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,439
Speaker 1: to the show, you'll remember I was saying at the time, like,

477
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 1: it's one of two things. It's either just a really weird, bizarre,

478
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,320
Speaker 1: extended slump or this is the beginning of Steph's decline.

479
00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: And I said, we're gonna find out in the playoffs.

480
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 1: And boy did we find out, because now every championship

481
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 1: team catches a break, right, And the break that this

482
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 1: particular championship team broke got was the Denver Nuggets right

483
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,359
Speaker 1: in the first round because Jamal Murray Michael Porter Junior

484
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,639
Speaker 1: are out, so Denver's just doesn't have the talent. So

485
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 1: Steph gets to work his way back in. Because Steph

486
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 1: didn't play at all in the regular season after the

487
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,600
Speaker 1: foot injury, he came off the bench in the first

488
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:28,680
Speaker 1: four games of the Nugget series and got to kind

489
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,240
Speaker 1: of work his way back against the limited Nuggets team, right,

490
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,119
Speaker 1: which was super important for the Warriors because it just

491
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,119
Speaker 1: kind of gave him essentially like a mini little training

492
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 1: camp in the playoffs to get ready for the rest

493
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,520
Speaker 1: of the playoff run. But most importantly, Steph got out

494
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:43,239
Speaker 1: of his slump. But he averaged twenty eight points per

495
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,640
Speaker 1: game in that series and shot over forty percent from three,

496
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 1: which are big indicators of what we expect from Steph

497
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 1: when he's at his absolute peak. Then we go into

498
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: the Memphis series, Game four, they're up two games to one.

499
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 1: Steph scores eighteen points in the fourth quarter to go

500
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: up three to one. Not Steph's last great Game four

501
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 1: in that playoff run either, We'll get to that in

502
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,399
Speaker 1: a second. They close the Mountain six. They beat Dallas

503
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: in five. That was the only time I was stupid

504
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: enough to pick against the Warriors in that playoff run.

505
00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,400
Speaker 1: I thought Luco was gonna have some success against Golden

506
00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 1: State's lack of perimeter size, just a hunting matchups the

507
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: way he did against Phoenix, but Wiggins just did an

508
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 1: unbelievable job on him, and Luca never really look a

509
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 1: put up numbers in that series, but he never really

510
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 1: had control of the series. Warriors put together a really

511
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 1: good team effort. They had six players in that series

512
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,159
Speaker 1: average double figures and they advanced to the NBA Finals.

513
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,879
Speaker 1: So the Boston series was interesting because Golden State was

514
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,239
Speaker 1: a slight favorite going in in Vegas. I think they

515
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,920
Speaker 1: were right around a minus one fifty favorite. I actually

516
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 1: picked Golden State to win in seven. But if you

517
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: guys remember what I said before the series, it was

518
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: gonna be tough, and the reason why I picked it

519
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,199
Speaker 1: to go long was because I said Boston had the

520
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,480
Speaker 1: most talented roster in the NBA. They had demonstrated in

521
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,919
Speaker 1: the first three rounds of the playoffs that they were inexperienced.

522
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,160
Speaker 1: Basketball at Q was a shortcoming. They had really bad

523
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: transition defense, they struggled with decision making from their stars,

524
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 1: But in terms of sheer talent, they were the most

525
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,880
Speaker 1: talented roster in the league still are to this day.

526
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:11,719
Speaker 1: And in addition to that, I thought they had the

527
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,399
Speaker 1: best half court defense that I've seen in this last

528
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,360
Speaker 1: like five to ten year era. Right they were outstanding

529
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,160
Speaker 1: half court defense, and they jumped Golden State to start

530
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 1: that series. They had that crazy fourth quarter in Game one,

531
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 1: then they win Game three at home and they're up

532
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,399
Speaker 1: two games to one, with an opportunity at home to

533
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 1: go up three games to one. That's when Steph in

534
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 1: Game four goes crazy. So Boston jumps out to an

535
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 1: eleven to four lead. The crowd's going crazy. Steph scores

536
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,119
Speaker 1: forty three points. I was going back to watch the

537
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,439
Speaker 1: game today. He hit five pull up threes off the

538
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 1: dribble in that game. Just go watch every bucket Steph

539
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 1: made in Game four of this Boston series. This sheer

540
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,480
Speaker 1: degree of difficulty was off the charts on almost every

541
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,320
Speaker 1: single shot he made in this game. It was one

542
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,720
Speaker 1: of the most incredible shot making performances in NBA history.

543
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,280
Speaker 1: Two massive shots at the end of the fourth quarter.

544
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,119
Speaker 1: Drives around Robert Williams for a big floater to put

545
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 1: him up three, and then hits the dagger over Derek

546
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: White on the right wing, a little jab step three

547
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,600
Speaker 1: to put him up by six, and they steal Game four,

548
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,919
Speaker 1: and then they go home and win again. You gotta think, like,

549
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,480
Speaker 1: if they lose that game, they're down three games to one,

550
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,199
Speaker 1: like Boston probably wins the series. If Steph doesn't do

551
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: that in Game four instead, they go home and they

552
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,800
Speaker 1: win to go up three to two and then Steph

553
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,879
Speaker 1: pours in another thirty four in Game six, and the

554
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: Warriors win the NBA Championship. Steph finally gets the Finals

555
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 1: MVP he deserved a long time ago. And now the

556
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 1: narrative looks stupid because again, like as we look back,

557
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 1: everything hinged on that stupid narrative. Everything hinged that Steph

558
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 1: was not at the same level as these guys at

559
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,640
Speaker 1: the top of the league, that he needed injury luck

560
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,880
Speaker 1: to win in twenty fifteen, that he couldn't beat Lebron

561
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,439
Speaker 1: when he was healthy with his whole team, That he

562
00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 1: needed KD to come in and win a championship. Oh look,

563
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: KD got hurt and they lost in the finals. Oh look,

564
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 1: they missed the playoffs twice after KD left. Like, the

565
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,640
Speaker 1: narrative was hinged on this idea that Steph wasn't very

566
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: good and that he wasn't capable of doing something like

567
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,119
Speaker 1: beating a more talented team, you know, as the sole

568
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:19,359
Speaker 1: offensive engine on a basketball team on the way to

569
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 1: an NBA championship. He totally crumpled up and threw that

570
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:28,720
Speaker 1: entire narrative in the dumpster. And most importantly, now it

571
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,200
Speaker 1: kind of paints everything else in a different light. Now

572
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,480
Speaker 1: as you look back, you don't look at it as

573
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: Steph getting carried along the way. Now you look at

574
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 1: it and you have to you have to acknowledge the

575
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 1: consistent greatness from Steph from twenty fifteen through to this year.

576
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 1: And like I told you guys in that playoff run

577
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:49,800
Speaker 1: that I was rooting for Steph and that was the

578
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: reason why, because like you know how it is. I

579
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,320
Speaker 1: hate the narratives personally because like I'm a big basketball

580
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: fan and so like you guys know, I'm a huge

581
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 1: Lebron James fan, and like there's this narrative push with

582
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: Lebron to try to make him the goat. I literally

583
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,840
Speaker 1: saw a Rich Paul go on a podcast the other

584
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: day and say that he's the goat because he dealt

585
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: with media pressure. And I'm like, can we make a

586
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,640
Speaker 1: basketball case for anything anymore? Like can we just be

587
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: like you guys heard, like my goat case for Lebron

588
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 1: was longevity and variety, all the different ways that he

589
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,520
Speaker 1: led different teams to success along the way. It's like

590
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 1: people can't just talk basketball anymore. It can't just be

591
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 1: like it can't just be like, oh, Steph was a

592
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,480
Speaker 1: bonafide superstar, top tier superstar. And yeah, Kevin Durant coming

593
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: in as another bonafide top tier superstar helped them win

594
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 1: two championships. But that doesn't make Steph not a superstar.

595
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean Steph's not as good as KD or

596
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: not as good as Lebron, Like he was very much

597
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 1: on the same level as those guys. The narratives took

598
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 1: away from the basketball that was taking place. And again,

599
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 1: like in that twenty twenty one season, they missed the

600
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: playoffs and Steph was easily the best regular season player

601
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,120
Speaker 1: that year. Opinion like do you remember the springtime? Do

602
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 1: you guys remember the springtime? In twenty twenty one, Steph

603
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:08,560
Speaker 1: was must see television. I still remember to this day,

604
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: driving from a ski trip from Breckenridge back into Denver

605
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 1: in a blizzard, watching on my phone as Steph Curry

606
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: was lighting somebody on fire in a random regular season game,

607
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: going crazy in the second. I don't even remember who

608
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 1: they were playing, because there were literally dozens of games

609
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 1: like this in that spring. Like what bothered me is

610
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: like and again like this is where it gets to

611
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:31,960
Speaker 1: we talk about like the benefit of the doubt and

612
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 1: why I hate minimizing championships. Why do I hate minimizing

613
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:40,040
Speaker 1: championships Because in twenty fifteen, Steph Curry won an NBA championship.

614
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,200
Speaker 1: His team was seven games better than everybody in the

615
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,400
Speaker 1: regular season. He won regular season MVP. Did they catch

616
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,600
Speaker 1: a break in the NBA Finals, Sure, but every championship

617
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 1: team catches a break. Like I said, he hoisted the

618
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 1: damn trophy. That should have stamped him for the rest

619
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,640
Speaker 1: of his career as a proven, bona fide superstar. That

620
00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 1: should have colored everything else that we saw from Steph

621
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 1: for the rest of his career. But instead, because of

622
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: the narrative based culture outside of the Warriors fan base,

623
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,440
Speaker 1: everybody wanted to undercut everything Steph was doing. Like I said,

624
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,239
Speaker 1: even Dame Lillard was stepping up and taking shots at

625
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,440
Speaker 1: his expense. And So what I loved about that twenty

626
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:20,640
Speaker 1: twenty two championship is it just recolored and redefined everything

627
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,880
Speaker 1: from Steph's career. Now there's these book ends right now.

628
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: It's like, instead of twenty fifteen being the beginning of

629
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 1: his phase of luck, now it's twenty fifteen is the

630
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:35,240
Speaker 1: beginning of Steph's incredible superstar career. In twenty twenty two

631
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 1: is potentially we'll see Steph has an opportunity again in

632
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 1: the future to win. But twenty twenty two is like

633
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,120
Speaker 1: that crowning achievement that just solidifies and proves that everything

634
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 1: that took place over the over that eight year span

635
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:50,640
Speaker 1: was at the same level as everybody else that was

636
00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 1: at the top of the league. Now, I think Steph

637
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,479
Speaker 1: is firmly the second best player of this era. And

638
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:58,720
Speaker 1: when I say era, I mean just like this this

639
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 1: particular era, not the since nineteen ninety eight, like this list,

640
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: but in this particular era, I think he's firmly the

641
00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,160
Speaker 1: fifth best perimeter player of all time. I moved him

642
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: past Larry Bird after that twenty twenty two championship, and

643
00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:14,320
Speaker 1: as we go back over the last twenty five years,

644
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: I think he's the fourth best player in the post

645
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:22,440
Speaker 1: MJ era to ever touch a basketball court. So I like,

646
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,520
Speaker 1: and you know what's great is remember that slump that

647
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,720
Speaker 1: we were talking about. Well, not only did he prove

648
00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,320
Speaker 1: it wrong in the playoffs by shooting forty percent from three,

649
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 1: but in this regular season this past year, twenty nine

650
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: six and six on sixty six percent true shooting and

651
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: forty three percent from three on high volume, same old

652
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,720
Speaker 1: dominant Steph. Now all this other stuff went wrong for

653
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: the Warriors. I won't get into it because we've talked

654
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 1: about that at length on this show, but like I

655
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 1: just it just feels good. It feels good as a

656
00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: fan of the game and as a fan of staph.

657
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,040
Speaker 1: Like I say, Lebron's my favorite player, Steph is my

658
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: second favorite player in the league. Love. I love his demeanor.

659
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 1: His demeanor is what won me over. Just everything that

660
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,400
Speaker 1: makes him the type of basketball player that he is

661
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 1: up here is what won me over with Steph. And

662
00:33:02,040 --> 00:33:04,520
Speaker 1: I've become one of his biggest fans, and it was

663
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: really cool to see that crowning achievement kind of change

664
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:08,560
Speaker 1: the way that he's perceived around the league. And now

665
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 1: everyone's a fan, a Steph fan, and now everyone's on

666
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:14,720
Speaker 1: board with it. Right, biggest what if? What if KD

667
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: had not come to the Warriors in twenty sixteen. Like

668
00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: I said before, I admire the hell out of Steph

669
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 1: for bringing KD in in twenty sixteen, but it definitely

670
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:24,320
Speaker 1: hurt his perception around the league. I think he knew

671
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 1: it would and I just think he didn't care. But

672
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,840
Speaker 1: let's pretend for the sake of this, what if. What

673
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,160
Speaker 1: if Steph doesn't get KD in twenty sixteen, I think

674
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,120
Speaker 1: he probably still gets a title anyway sometime somewhere in

675
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,160
Speaker 1: the twenty seventeen to twenty nineteen range, Like I think

676
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 1: Lebron probably gets another one in there, and Steph probably

677
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 1: gets another one in there. Right, But here's the thing.

678
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 1: Does Steph with three titles but no KD does that

679
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,080
Speaker 1: guy get more respect around the basketball world? I think so?

680
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:52,920
Speaker 1: And so that's the thing, Like we talked about, the

681
00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:55,760
Speaker 1: KD thing kind of was used against Steph in a

682
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,280
Speaker 1: lot of ways, Like it's crazy for both players, Like

683
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 1: that's two NBA championships, legitimate Larry O'Brien trophies, and for

684
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: both players, For both KD and Steph, those two championships

685
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,879
Speaker 1: are viewed as incredibly low level accomplishments by most people,

686
00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 1: again outside of the Warriors fan base, like people just

687
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:16,840
Speaker 1: don't care. And so had he gotten one without KD

688
00:34:16,880 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 1: in the middle there you look back at a three

689
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,839
Speaker 1: championship career where he's clearly the best player on all

690
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: three teams. I think probably avoids some of the narrative

691
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:27,359
Speaker 1: struggle that he dealt with. But again, Staph doesn't give

692
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:29,920
Speaker 1: a shit. All he cares about is winning. He wanted KD,

693
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 1: he got KD, and as a result, he's got four

694
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,239
Speaker 1: NBA championships, which not many people in NBA history do.

695
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to our mailbag question. So

696
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: I've got two of them for you today. First one

697
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 1: from James Hi Jason. In a previous video, you mentioned

698
00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,520
Speaker 1: you don't believe in hypotheticals and are more interested in

699
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: evaluating players on what exactly happened. Why then, is there

700
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 1: a section with each player that focuses on their what if? So,

701
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,959
Speaker 1: to be clear, the what if section is just for fun.

702
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 1: We are in the middle of the NBA off season.

703
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 1: Like I was looking at the calendar this morning, I

704
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:07,799
Speaker 1: think I think the first preseason game is a month

705
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,160
Speaker 1: from today, October fifth, which good news for you guys.

706
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:14,800
Speaker 1: I talked about doing fifteen season previews that was gonna

707
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 1: cut off fifteen teams, but I'm actually gonna push it

708
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 1: to four weeks and We're gonna do twenty season previous

709
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:21,800
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna do full season previews for twenty NBA

710
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,279
Speaker 1: teams starting next Monday. But like we just have a

711
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,200
Speaker 1: lot of time to kill over the course of the summer.

712
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,120
Speaker 1: This has been just this has been probably the most

713
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 1: boring NBA off season that I can remember. There's just

714
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,640
Speaker 1: been literally nothing that's happened, and so, you know, we're

715
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:37,960
Speaker 1: just finding ways to kill time. And so I'll talk

716
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: about what if at the end of something like this

717
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 1: in a brief context, just for fun. But when I

718
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 1: really try to think about where I rank these guys,

719
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna factor that in. Like That's why I

720
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:51,359
Speaker 1: spent you know, thirty seconds on steps what if and

721
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 1: a lot more time on everything else. It's it's again,

722
00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 1: I don't think it matters when I'm ranking players, or

723
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:00,560
Speaker 1: I don't think it should for other people. But obviously, uh,

724
00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: for fun, I'll do it in a situation like this.

725
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,600
Speaker 1: All right, one more mailbag question. After Lebron retires, will

726
00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,200
Speaker 1: you have a new favorite NBA player? If yes, who

727
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:17,239
Speaker 1: will it be and why so? I After Lebron retires,

728
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,360
Speaker 1: I will have favorite players, but nothing like Lebron. Obviously,

729
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,200
Speaker 1: as you guys know, I became a fan of Lebron

730
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:26,399
Speaker 1: when I was basically a kid, So uh, for me,

731
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 1: like that that that like that there's like a weird

732
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 1: childhood sentimentality thing that's going on there, Right, And so

733
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,319
Speaker 1: I'll never be as much of a fan of a

734
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,240
Speaker 1: player as I was of Lebron. It's just not possible

735
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,439
Speaker 1: because I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a grown ass man,

736
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 1: and and like, it's just that's not gonna happen anymore.

737
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,399
Speaker 1: But I do. It's funny. I have such a love

738
00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 1: for the game of basketball that I I kind of

739
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 1: find things that I love in every player, Like even

740
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,920
Speaker 1: as I look back at at players that I dislike

741
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: for various reasons, right, Like not a huge fan of

742
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,680
Speaker 1: James Harden, Right, but like I literally am obsessed with

743
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: his footwork on a step back three, and I copy

744
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 1: it all the time. Right, literally stole my step back

745
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,760
Speaker 1: three from James Harden. When I look at like Joel Embiid,

746
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,319
Speaker 1: who drives me crazy, Like I his outrageous confidence in

747
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: bravado on the court. I really like his footwork out

748
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 1: of the post. I find extremely impressive. Like I find

749
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,719
Speaker 1: things that I like in players, even that I was

750
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:27,600
Speaker 1: watching highlights of Trey Young the other day on Twitter,

751
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,960
Speaker 1: just playing pick up basketball over the summer, and he

752
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 1: hit this like he had this ridiculous like left to

753
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:37,319
Speaker 1: right cross into a hard forward step back into a

754
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 1: right to left snatch back dribble into a pull up

755
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,440
Speaker 1: three and just buckled his defender. And I was like,

756
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that's one of the nastiest moves I've

757
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:47,080
Speaker 1: ever seen. And it's like, that's the thing is, like,

758
00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:49,640
Speaker 1: I don't like Trey Young, particularly as a player, for

759
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,879
Speaker 1: various reasons, but like, as a basketball fan, how can

760
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 1: you not like some of the things that these guys do? Right?

761
00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 1: So I kind of like everybody for various reasons. But

762
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:02,279
Speaker 1: if I had to, just for fun, I put together

763
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,240
Speaker 1: a list my top five players under the age of thirty,

764
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,400
Speaker 1: in no particular order, just as a fan. Guys that

765
00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:13,840
Speaker 1: I really like. Nikole Jokic is on there. I think

766
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,800
Speaker 1: it's just so unbelievably impressive to be a dominant number

767
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,759
Speaker 1: one in the league with a league this talented like

768
00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: we are in a league. Remember our top fourteen. We've

769
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:29,840
Speaker 1: got Steph Giannis, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, Jason Tatum,

770
00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,400
Speaker 1: Lebron James, Jimmy Butler, Luka, Doncic, Kawhi, Leonard, Devin Booker,

771
00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:37,560
Speaker 1: Shake kills Alexander Damian Lillard, like our league is freaking stacked,

772
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,919
Speaker 1: and Jokic is like a clear number one. I think

773
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,600
Speaker 1: that is super super cool. I've talked a lot about

774
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 1: it on the show, but his footwork is something that

775
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,239
Speaker 1: has always been super impressive to me. His touch. I

776
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:53,319
Speaker 1: don't think people realize how hard you have to work

777
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 1: to be able to make push shots and floaters and

778
00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: hooks at damn near seventy percent. So Jokics've been a

779
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,400
Speaker 1: huge fan of shake Yo's. Alexander is one of my

780
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:06,759
Speaker 1: favorite young players. The old school approach to to offense,

781
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,480
Speaker 1: that like hard downhill pressure on the rim mixed in

782
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:12,560
Speaker 1: with short range pull up shooting just reminds me of

783
00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:16,920
Speaker 1: a lot of vintage guards. Anthony Edwards, same thing, outrageous confidence,

784
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 1: the just like kind of vintage throwback two guard thing

785
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:23,279
Speaker 1: he's got going on. He missed a turnaround fade away

786
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 1: against Lithuania in the first half the other day where

787
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,400
Speaker 1: he did the d wade like half spin and then

788
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,400
Speaker 1: come back and just buckled the dude and he missed it.

789
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,440
Speaker 1: He shot it along on the back room and I

790
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:37,239
Speaker 1: was just like, I love this kid, Like like I

791
00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,600
Speaker 1: just have this feeling like Anthony Edwards in his mid

792
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:43,160
Speaker 1: to late twenties is gonna be potentially the best player

793
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,400
Speaker 1: in the league and and be just an incredible watch.

794
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 1: So Anthony Edwards is up there for me. Love his confidence.

795
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 1: Luka Doncic at four and again no particular order, but

796
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 1: Luka donciz is the fourth guy. I uh, Luca, I

797
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 1: think is you know again? And he's actually a good

798
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,600
Speaker 1: example of a guy who I love hate right because

799
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:05,360
Speaker 1: like his play style drives me crazy sometimes and he

800
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:09,080
Speaker 1: could be a whiner, but I am obsessed with Luka

801
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:15,080
Speaker 1: Doncicic's like the ability he has to sell his moves

802
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,640
Speaker 1: because he's not fast, and he is big and strong.

803
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:21,000
Speaker 1: That's obviously his physical trait that he dominates games with,

804
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 1: but he sells every single move with every part of

805
00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 1: his body. As a matter of fact, Like if you

806
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 1: are a young ball handler, regardless of your athleticism, the

807
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,920
Speaker 1: guy that I would watch in terms of body language

808
00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,239
Speaker 1: when he's making his moves is Luca because again it

809
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:38,280
Speaker 1: goes to show you you don't have to be whipping

810
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,200
Speaker 1: the ball all over the place to get buy people

811
00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:41,920
Speaker 1: off the dribble. All you have to do is get

812
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,440
Speaker 1: a defender to guess wrong, And the best way to

813
00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,960
Speaker 1: get a defender to guess wrong is to sell a

814
00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:51,399
Speaker 1: particular move and then transition into another one right. And

815
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,960
Speaker 1: like you'll see Luca setting up for a left to

816
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,480
Speaker 1: right crossover and he'll have his shoulders open to the

817
00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:59,480
Speaker 1: left and his whole body is positioned towards the left,

818
00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,080
Speaker 1: and then he'll like cut across, and like you'll see

819
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:04,959
Speaker 1: defenders take a slide step that way. So many guys

820
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: will just bring the ball out to the left while

821
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:09,040
Speaker 1: they're squared up with the defender and they'll whip it

822
00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:11,759
Speaker 1: across to the right, but the body doesn't move at all,

823
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,400
Speaker 1: and so the defender stays square it up. And so Luca,

824
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: I think, is a really fun basketball player to watch

825
00:41:17,560 --> 00:41:20,320
Speaker 1: from the standpoint of skill development and kind of learning

826
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:23,840
Speaker 1: how to beat people off the dribble without an incredible

827
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:26,560
Speaker 1: quickness advantage. I've always been a fan of Luca and

828
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: then lastly Devin Booker. It's just very similar body type

829
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 1: to me, that like six five sixty six two guard,

830
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,600
Speaker 1: and he takes a lot of similar shots that I

831
00:41:35,719 --> 00:41:37,520
Speaker 1: like to take. And so as a basketball fan, I've

832
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:42,319
Speaker 1: always really appreciated Devin Booker because I just want to

833
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 1: be more like him with when I play on the court,

834
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,279
Speaker 1: and so Devin book like, those are those are my

835
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: five guys under the age of thirty that I'm just

836
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:51,759
Speaker 1: a fan of. So that's not a ranking of any sort.

837
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,239
Speaker 1: It's just just basketball players that I really like and

838
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:57,000
Speaker 1: basketball players that I'll be rooting for into the future.

839
00:41:57,960 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 1: And then honestly, like, there's a lot of really young

840
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:02,319
Speaker 1: players that I love, jayde and Ivy, I love Palapankara,

841
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,719
Speaker 1: big big chet Holmgren fan. I'm hearing really good things

842
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,239
Speaker 1: about chet Holmgren and his work ethic and his competitiveness,

843
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 1: so I'm excited to root for him. I mean, there's

844
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 1: so much to get excited about in the young players.

845
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,359
Speaker 1: Jabari Smith Junior is another one I really like. So again,

846
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,719
Speaker 1: after Lebron retires, I'm kind of looking forward to that

847
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 1: phase of my career breaking down the game of basketball,

848
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:27,080
Speaker 1: because like, I'll ditch the childhood sentimentality and just be

849
00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,160
Speaker 1: a fan of the game, you know, for the rest

850
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,239
Speaker 1: of my life. And I'm looking forward to that. All right, guys,

851
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today. As always, I

852
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:37,120
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys supporting me in the show be

853
00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:39,520
Speaker 1: back tomorrow with Number three. Have three more shows this

854
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,680
Speaker 1: week on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then we'll head into

855
00:42:42,760 --> 00:43:08,800
Speaker 1: our season previews starting on Monday. The volume