Speaker 1: Let's stay in the NBA for a quick topic that
Speaker 1: raised a few eyebrows this weekend. That's because Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer Isaiah Thomas called out the one and only Lebron
Speaker 1: James himself for being quote unprofessional end quote, for wearing
Speaker 1: no shirt during early shooterun on Friday. This is what
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas had to say about Lebron while NBATV role
Speaker 1: the warm up video. Y'all gotta see this, Take a
Speaker 1: look at this. I just totally one hundred percent object
Speaker 1: to this. If I was a GM or coach, I
Speaker 1: would never let one of my players walk out on
Speaker 1: the floor looking like this. The professionalism in our NBA
Speaker 1: league is the minute so much. I like Lebron, but
Speaker 1: to walk out on the floor before a game with
Speaker 1: no shirt on and shoot, I mean, come on, man,
Speaker 1: where are we at?
Speaker 2: What we doing?
Speaker 1: Adam Silver, if you want to find somebody find that,
Speaker 1: put a fine on that end quote. Isaiah Thomas is
Speaker 1: one hundred percent right. It's just a bad example to
Speaker 1: use because you see, contrary to what some of you
Speaker 1: trolls out there want to instigate and fabricate and start up.
Speaker 2: When it's talking about Steven A.
Speaker 1: Smith and Lebron I told y'all, I'm gonna always be fair.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do my job regardless of how we
Speaker 1: feel about each other.
Speaker 2: I'm going to do my job.
Speaker 1: Lebron James is not the greatest example to use because
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of the time the brother epitomizes professionalism.
Speaker 1: Lebron James is usually dressed up. Lebron James carries the
Speaker 1: mantle and conducts himself with the proper level of decorum
Speaker 1: and professionalism. Media interviews, post games, availability, stuff like that.
Speaker 1: Lebron James shows up big events representing the NBA brand.
Speaker 2: It's Lebron James you lean on.
Speaker 1: So to mention a word unprofessionalism and him with a
Speaker 1: broad brush would be incredibly unfair.
Speaker 2: But if you're.
Speaker 1: Isolating an incident which Isaiah Thomas dead.
Speaker 2: Then it's more than fair.
Speaker 1: And the reason why it's more than fair is because
Speaker 1: you're thinking about what's going on in a moment. You're
Speaker 1: a man out there with no uniform, no T shirt
Speaker 1: on in a professional environment. You're not in a closed
Speaker 1: door practice. You're out at the arena where fans have
Speaker 1: already been allowed to enter the arena. It is a
Speaker 1: professional environment, but Most importantly, it's about who this critique
Speaker 1: is coming from, y'all. Do understand at that champion that
Speaker 1: is Isaiah Thomas was also the president of the Players
Speaker 1: Association for years, right? Did y'all know that when it
Speaker 1: came to diversity in the sport covering the NBA, that
Speaker 1: one of the biggest people who spearheaded that movement was
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas who brought it up and made it an
Speaker 1: issue during collective bargaining negotiations in the eighties. Did you
Speaker 1: know that because he did it, so people like me
Speaker 1: and Michael Wilbon and various others who had been blessed
Speaker 1: and fortunate enough to cover.
Speaker 2: The NBA for years, including women.
Speaker 1: By the way, Isaiah Thomas was one of the people
Speaker 1: who spearheaded that movement. And when they talk about the
Speaker 1: level of professionalism law before David Stern in the aftermath
Speaker 1: of the brawl at the Palace in Auburn Hills in
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, so implemented a dress code law.
Speaker 2: Before that, it was Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 1: Who was a leader amongst many the Michael Joy of
Speaker 1: the world, the allowance on mornings of the world, the
Speaker 1: shack Deesel go back and look at the footage. Did
Speaker 1: you see how they came to a game? Did you
Speaker 1: see how they were dressed? Do y'all know who the
Speaker 1: most popular coaches were at that time?
Speaker 2: Pat Raley, remember how he dressed?
Speaker 1: Chuck Day Daddy Rich as my man John Sally would
Speaker 1: call him.
Speaker 2: Remember how he dressed.
Speaker 1: Everybody would would would bow to the altar of Chuck Daly,
Speaker 1: God rest the soul.
Speaker 2: Larry Brown helped upgrade my wardrobe. I'll tell y' all
Speaker 2: that story one day. If I haven't already, remember how
Speaker 2: coaches were dressed. You ain't see coach dressed. Coaches dressed
Speaker 2: in warm up suits and sneakers.
Speaker 1: There's a level of professionalism that came associated with the sport.
Speaker 1: And Isaiah Thomas didn't escape mentioned in that as well.
Speaker 1: When somebody, like whether it was Jalen Rose or whatever else,
Speaker 1: was on the set with him and when they said, yo,
Speaker 1: what about the coaches, Isaiah said them too. So he's
Speaker 1: talking about a professionalism and a standard that has been ignored.
Speaker 1: Now in terms of the media, I think it's safe
Speaker 1: to say that if anybody had the right to speak
Speaker 1: on this issue, it would be made In case y'all
Speaker 1: didn't notice your brother dresses quite nicely. Matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I gotta talk to my damn nephew Josh and how
Speaker 1: he been dressing. He gotta upgrade his wardrobe because there's
Speaker 1: a standard that comes across associated with your boy, Stephen.
Speaker 2: They you don't believe me as first take. It ain't
Speaker 2: no accident.
Speaker 1: I might say it with a smile on my face
Speaker 1: half jokingly, but I'm also serious. Oh you're gonna dress
Speaker 1: on first take. You ain't gonna just show up dressed
Speaker 1: in the old kind of way. He ain't going down
Speaker 1: like that. Professionalism matters. This was a rare moment when
Speaker 1: we can look at a lebron and somebody like Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas whatever dream out of the word unprofessional when it
Speaker 1: came to him. But it doesn't mean that particular critique
Speaker 1: wasn't appropriate for that one time. It's worth mentioning it
Speaker 1: plain and simple.