Speaker 1: Welcome in What Driving Think Right episode for eighty. This
Speaker 1: episode of What Driving Thick Right is presented to you
Speaker 1: by Boost Mobile. A reminder to you, guys subscribe to
Speaker 1: the pod that way, you know, when these Bonus Friday
Speaker 1: pods come out, we have a great We had a
Speaker 1: great mail bag pod ready for you guys with some
Speaker 1: great long form questions. You guys are really doing a
Speaker 1: good job doing sending long, thoughtful emails to What's Rightmailbag
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. But we are pushing that to
Speaker 1: next week because I did so much on the World
Speaker 1: Cup on Thursday that there are these non World Cup
Speaker 1: stories that I figured we could just get to right
Speaker 1: here in this There were too many other stories that
Speaker 1: we weren't able to get to. Adam Silver's press conference,
Speaker 1: Kawhi's trade non trade, everything happening there, these NFL lists.
Speaker 1: Lebron's future now, there is some belief in some circles
Speaker 1: we are recording this Thursday afternoon, that Thursday evening, Lebron's
Speaker 1: gonna announce where he's going. I don't I'm not one
Speaker 1: of the people that believes that if he does, then
Speaker 1: our Lebron portion of this will be useless. And you
Speaker 1: can fast forward through. But I don't think he's gonna
Speaker 1: announce it before you guys hear this. But again, if
Speaker 1: you want to participate in the mailbag, What's Right mailbag
Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. Demons's doing a little overtime today
Speaker 1: because Lamar Jay. The bunch of lists have come out
Speaker 1: and Lamar is not being respected on them. I'll let
Speaker 1: you take it from there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so my goy, Lamar has been getting crucified over
Speaker 2: the course of the last few days. Sixty ninth in
Speaker 2: the NFL Top one hundred. People are ranking him.
Speaker 1: After being second last year. His number two the NFL
Speaker 1: Top one hundred is voted by players. He was second
Speaker 1: last year, sixty ninth this year, go ahead.
Speaker 2: Right drops the sixty ninth amongst his peers. He's outside
Speaker 2: of the top ten in multiple quarterback lists. What's going on?
Speaker 2: Has everybody forgotten about Lafara Jackson?
Speaker 1: So I want to get your take on it in
Speaker 1: a second. But first, here's here's why this is not
Speaker 1: nothing to me, and it's at least somewhat notable. It
Speaker 1: says to me, Demanse that there is some level of
Speaker 1: concern amongst you know. So it's because it's a it's
Speaker 1: a diverse array of lists, right, So Colin had his list,
Speaker 1: he's out of the top ten the Scouts, Coaches Executives list.
Speaker 1: He's out of the top ten the Player's ranking, which
Speaker 1: is kind of a fuzzy list. He's going sixty nine.
Speaker 1: Is weird because it's like him versus every position. But
Speaker 1: there are certainly going to be at least ten more
Speaker 1: quarterbacks on the list, So he's out of that top ten, right.
Speaker 1: So it's a players people that work for teams media
Speaker 1: with a level of Lamar's skepticism, and I think that
Speaker 1: speaks to the fact that people are wondering two things.
Speaker 1: One does is he still a dynamic runner? Like last
Speaker 1: year he basically lost as many yards in sacks as
Speaker 1: he gained running the ball, Like is that as an
Speaker 1: all of a sudden a middle aged quarterback. Is that
Speaker 1: out of his game? And how will that impact the
Speaker 1: rest of his game? And the other thing I think
Speaker 1: people are concerned about is has he now entered the
Speaker 1: injury prone category for quarterbacks? The problem with the injury
Speaker 1: prone thing hurting his ranking is it's sure as hell
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to be hurting Joe Burrows and Joe Burrow's,
Speaker 1: you know, injured the same amount as Lamar. Like Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow and Lamar have actually over the last five years,
Speaker 1: like played almost the identical amount of games, so you
Speaker 1: can say they are equal injury concerns, even though I
Speaker 1: think some people probably think Burrow's far more, that's not
Speaker 1: really the case. But it's not hurting Burrow. So those
Speaker 1: are the things that jump out to me. You know,
Speaker 1: you really believe in Lamar and really like Lamar your
Speaker 1: thought on all thoughts on all of this.
Speaker 2: I think it's just a little recency bias, Like it's
Speaker 2: a year he was banged up. I understand that, but
Speaker 2: I just look at where a lot of people were
Speaker 2: a year ago before last season. I just think that,
Speaker 2: and he also has like a lot of proof of concept.
Speaker 2: I don't know how he could have dropped this far down,
Speaker 2: but I will say it's this is the type of year,
Speaker 2: like he's got a new coach. It seems like everything's
Speaker 2: kind of in place where if he doesn't if he
Speaker 2: doesn't perform, that's just on him. And if he gets
Speaker 2: injured again, then I do think it's fair for you
Speaker 2: to be like he is an injury risk. But I
Speaker 2: just think it's a big year for him, But I
Speaker 2: also think that he's being disrespected at this point.
Speaker 1: So listen, I think both of those things are objectively true.
Speaker 1: I think it is a big year for him, and
Speaker 1: I also think he is there is. He is one
Speaker 1: year removed from back to back first team All Pro seasons,
Speaker 1: and there is a lot like listen, he has not
Speaker 1: been We've talked about it, you know, I have to
Speaker 1: talk about it more here good in the playoffs, but
Speaker 1: he's been better than Justin Herbert in the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: Herbert is high on all these lists. You know what
Speaker 1: I mean. He is injuries are a concern, but injuries
Speaker 1: are a concern for Joe Burrow, and Burrow is high
Speaker 1: on all these lists. So here is demand's a what
Speaker 1: I my gut feeling is about why he has had
Speaker 1: this type of fall, And this is, you know, I guess,
Speaker 1: somewhat controversial opinion for some people. I don't think it
Speaker 1: should be. But whatever, despite the fact that Lamar has
Speaker 1: one of a top three all time league passer rating,
Speaker 1: and despite the fact that last year, even in an
Speaker 1: awful year, he had a crazy good touchdown interception ratio
Speaker 1: and a you know, a pretty good passer rating in
Speaker 1: a bad year. I think there is still a belief
Speaker 1: around the league in some circles, and by the way,
Speaker 1: this is a belief that I share, that part of
Speaker 1: what has allowed Lamar to thrive as much as he
Speaker 1: has as as a passer is the threat of him running,
Speaker 1: and that teams don't necessarily defend Baltimore's passing attack the
Speaker 1: way they defend the passing attack of some of the
Speaker 1: other elite quarterbacks, and that if Lamar is on a
Speaker 1: significant downward trajectory as far as running frequency and effectiveness,
Speaker 1: and if teams finally start to treat him defend him
Speaker 1: with less fear of his running, that that will drastically
Speaker 1: impact his passing efficiency. That's what I think what these
Speaker 1: lists are saying is they think the part of Lamar's
Speaker 1: game that has made him the most special is deteriorating,
Speaker 1: and that even though the numbers don't suggest it, his
Speaker 1: passing game, pure passing game has not.
Speaker 2: You know, gone ability has gone down, You're.
Speaker 1: Right, has not. It has not evolved. It certainly has
Speaker 1: a vault, but has not evolved enough to offset what
Speaker 1: they're going to lose from the running threat. And that
Speaker 1: he is going to be defended a little differently if
Speaker 1: he's less of a running threat. And the sacks last
Speaker 1: year were bad. It was a lot of sacks for
Speaker 1: a lot of yards, and that also speaks to a
Speaker 1: lack of escapability. So I think all those things are
Speaker 1: fair questions. But it does seem to me, and I'll
Speaker 1: let you respond to this for it to move on.
Speaker 1: I never thought he should have been rated, even coming
Speaker 1: off the MVPs, the best quarterback in football, but he
Speaker 1: has been on this US multiple times. That felt too extreme.
Speaker 1: This all these folks saying he's not a top ten quarterback,
Speaker 1: that also feels far too extreme. I I am very
Speaker 1: interested in how he's going to jive with first time,
Speaker 1: with the new head coach, this new offensive coordinator, all
Speaker 1: of that. Do you like what let me ask you
Speaker 1: this before you before we go or before we move on.
Speaker 1: What do you think is more likely this season another
Speaker 1: eight year where he is a top an MVP finalist,
Speaker 1: top three MVP finish, or a year where a downward
Speaker 1: trajectory continues.
Speaker 2: The first one. I believe him. The first I think
Speaker 2: that he'll have a good season over having a bad one,
Speaker 2: and I just believe in him. And I think everything
Speaker 2: is in place for him, and if you don't, if
Speaker 2: it doesn't work out this year, then I do think
Speaker 2: there are like serious discussions or ways you need to
Speaker 2: start looking at it. Yeah, exactly. But I think that
Speaker 2: if he had this season that he had last year
Speaker 2: again this next season, then it would have been fair
Speaker 2: where everybody's ranking him. But I just there wasn't enough.
Speaker 2: It wasn't like last year was this guy?
Speaker 1: It was one year? Right, Yeah, And I'm curious based
Speaker 1: on this where the players are gonna have Mahomes well,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Mahomes got hurt, Mames didn't
Speaker 1: have a good year. So here is here's what else.
Speaker 1: I think the most likely outcome for Lamar next year
Speaker 1: is a solid year where he's like the sixth or
Speaker 1: seventh best quarterback in football. That's what I think is
Speaker 1: the most likely. But if you're telling me he's either
Speaker 1: going to have a bad year an MVP year, I
Speaker 1: think bad is more likely than MVP. I think that
Speaker 1: it is the injuries and the lack of running and
Speaker 1: that stuff. I think it's more likely that that is
Speaker 1: catching up to him than we see another unstoppable season. Now, again,
Speaker 1: the most likely is neither of those and somewhere in
Speaker 1: the middle. But I am I'm not quite as bullish
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Speaker 1: call one eight hundred my reset gambling problem called one
Speaker 1: eight hundred gambler. When you guys hear this, I guess
Speaker 1: it's possible Lebron will have made his decision. I think
Speaker 1: it is highly unlike. I think it's unlikely that he
Speaker 1: decides on Thursday. We're recording this on Thursday. You guys
Speaker 1: are gonna hear this on Friday. Understand that you know,
Speaker 1: you guys this All the sixers have reached out to Bron.
Speaker 1: Draymond and Bron are super tight. Steve Kerr, I think
Speaker 1: jokingly told some fans we got him. Here is how
Speaker 1: I would handicap it. At the moment, I think Cleveland
Speaker 1: is the clear favorite. I think Philly is more possible
Speaker 1: than people are really giving it credit. And I think
Speaker 1: the Warriors are the dark horse, and I think that
Speaker 1: is the full list. I don't think it's Miami. I
Speaker 1: never ever thought it was Minnesota. And while there was
Speaker 1: a little buzz around Denver, I don't think that's likely.
Speaker 1: I think that Philly makes a lot of sense, except
Speaker 1: for it just would feel the weirdest of the three.
Speaker 1: Golden State I don't believe has enough, and they haven't
Speaker 1: seemed able to acquire Anthony Davis. And I think Cleveland
Speaker 1: makes more sense basketball wise than some folks are giving
Speaker 1: it credit. I think Harden is probably more movable than
Speaker 1: people recognize if they were to need to do that.
Speaker 1: And I'm going to add one little bonus thought that
Speaker 1: I said to Colin, and this is again just reading
Speaker 1: Tea leaves because they are keeping this close to the
Speaker 1: vest I am not certain. I'm not certain that in
Speaker 1: order to play with Draymond, Lebron has to go to
Speaker 1: Golden State. I'm not saying I'm saying. In fact, that's
Speaker 1: exactly what I'm saying that I am just not certain
Speaker 1: the only way he can play with Draymond is go
Speaker 1: to Golden State. Draymond obviously also opted out of his deal,
Speaker 1: and I just think there is that in order to
Speaker 1: play with Steph, he obviously has to go to Golden State.
Speaker 1: In order to play with Draymond, he probably has to
Speaker 1: go to Golden State. I don't know that he definitely
Speaker 1: has to go to Golden State to play with Draymond.
Speaker 1: What I will say is and where I disagree with
Speaker 1: my pal Bill Simmons vehemently, and I kind of agree
Speaker 1: more with Zach Lowe on this one. If he were
Speaker 1: to sign with Cleveland or Philly, that team absolutely can
Speaker 1: make the finals. And if you could make the finals,
Speaker 1: you can win the championship. Like the last team to
Speaker 1: make the to be draw truly drawing dead in the
Speaker 1: finals was probably the heat against Lebron and ads Lakers.
Speaker 1: Like we have seen underdogs win finals over the last
Speaker 1: decade and certainly come really close it, particularly in the
Speaker 1: Pacers case. So I I think there is a better chance.
Speaker 1: I think if Lebron goes out east and picks Philly
Speaker 1: or Cleveland, that team can absolutely get to the finals.
Speaker 1: You can get to the finals, you can win the championship.
Speaker 1: And I think he Mike right now, if you were
Speaker 1: to offer me an even money bet, my bet would
Speaker 1: be Cleveland. I don't think Philly is out of it,
Speaker 1: as weird as that would be potentially, and I think
Speaker 1: Golden State right now, barring a significant transaction, is pretty
Speaker 1: clearly in third place. How I read it?
Speaker 2: All right?
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Speaker 1: Adam Silver had his press conference. We'll get to the
Speaker 1: QUI thing in a minute, but he said this about
Speaker 1: the second apron. The purpose of this system is ultimately
Speaker 1: to create competition throughout the league, and from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: I think the system is work working incredibly well. He
Speaker 1: went on to say, the goal isn't necessarily to have
Speaker 1: a different champion every year, but we have had eight
Speaker 1: different champions over the last eight years. So here's and
Speaker 1: this is these are not ute opinions unique to just me,
Speaker 1: but I do think it Warren's mentioning. So here's what
Speaker 1: I Here's where I think people are confused about the
Speaker 1: way NBA salary works. The players get the same share
Speaker 1: no matter what. It just changes who gets what. So
Speaker 1: here's what I mean. The way the salary gap is
Speaker 1: said is the players get I think it's forty nine percent,
Speaker 1: but we're just gonna call it half. They get half
Speaker 1: of basketball related income and then the owners get the
Speaker 1: other half to do, you know, run the teams, do whatever,
Speaker 1: make a profit if and Windy did a good job
Speaker 1: explaining this, and I've explained it before as well, but
Speaker 1: it warn't repeating because I think people don't understand this
Speaker 1: piece of it. That number down to the dollar is
Speaker 1: the players percentage is the same every year under this
Speaker 1: CBA and it and that all the aprons and max
Speaker 1: salaries and winby not taking you know, the full max
Speaker 1: and all those things do is it shuffles that money
Speaker 1: to other players. And so if if guys, if there's
Speaker 1: a bunch of teams going over the apron using bird
Speaker 1: rights to re sign players and all, you know, all
Speaker 1: of and all of a sudden that your holy shit,
Speaker 1: players instead of getting their fifty percent again I think
Speaker 1: it's forty eight percent, but I mean they're fifty percent
Speaker 1: of the pie, the players as a whole got fifty
Speaker 1: two percent of the pie. Then the players as a
Speaker 1: whole have money clawed back and it goes to the owners.
Speaker 1: And if at the end of the year, because guys
Speaker 1: took discounts or some teams didn't spend enough, the players
Speaker 1: didn't get their full piece of the pie, then the
Speaker 1: owners at the end of the year write a check
Speaker 1: to the players. And so the amount of money that
Speaker 1: is going to the players is going to be to
Speaker 1: the dollar at the end of the year the same,
Speaker 1: no matter what players take discounts, what players sign for
Speaker 1: the max, what teams are afraid of the apron, what
Speaker 1: teams aren't. So it really it's it's not so much
Speaker 1: that this is saving the owner's money as much as
Speaker 1: it is is distributing the talent across the league, which
Speaker 1: is what the league wanted. Now you can argue that's
Speaker 1: not good, that that is, that that's been a failure
Speaker 1: by the league, that they shouldn't want that, But I do.
Speaker 1: I will defend, so to speak, Adam silver In that
Speaker 1: it was their goal and it has achieved. That they
Speaker 1: don't want super teams. They want player that they they
Speaker 1: want you to have to have tough team building decisions. Now, again,
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's what they should want. Should
Speaker 1: they want teams to develop home draft and develop homegrown
Speaker 1: stars that they want to keep but cannot because of
Speaker 1: the financial penalties of it. I don't know that they
Speaker 1: should want that. What I do know is I think
Speaker 1: there has been a little confusion on how much the
Speaker 1: players are getting screwed by the apron like hold on
Speaker 1: NBA CBA BRI four players. I think it's forty eight percent.
Speaker 1: So let me I just I want to read this correctly.
Speaker 1: The so this is just reading from Sportico. The NBA
Speaker 1: released the final accounting of last season, revealing basketball related
Speaker 1: income was eleven point six to eight billion, up from
Speaker 1: ten point twenty five billion. The BRI means players and
Speaker 1: owners will split an escrow of five hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: million set aside to make the math work and the
Speaker 1: shared revenue system laid out in the CBA. So the
Speaker 1: CBA calls for players to receive fifty one percent of
Speaker 1: BRI basketball related income in the form of salaries and benefits.
Speaker 1: The NBA with holds this is the part I'm talking
Speaker 1: about ten percent of player salaries each year to ensure
Speaker 1: the revenue split is achieved. Then it talks about why
Speaker 1: the revenue was heard a bit, okay, So this is
Speaker 1: what I'm trying to get to. Total salaries and benefits
Speaker 1: of the twenty twenty five twenty six season were six
Speaker 1: point twenty seven billion above the fifty one percent threshold.
Speaker 1: The ESCRO account was divided, so fifty four point eight
Speaker 1: percent went to the owners and forty five point two
Speaker 1: percent to the players to reach the fifty one percent mark.
Speaker 1: Last season, more than ninety percent of the amount in
Speaker 1: ESCRO went back to owners. So what that is saying
Speaker 1: is they're supposed to basically have like a fifty to
Speaker 1: fifty split, okay, but certain years given the way that
Speaker 1: it's not a hard cap like the NFL, and I
Speaker 1: hope this isn't too boring, but I want people to
Speaker 1: understand it that you're not always going to actually get
Speaker 1: If you were to just be like, hey, whatever contract
Speaker 1: players have, they get paid out is you know, it
Speaker 1: is what it is. You wouldn't truly get the fifty
Speaker 1: one to forty nine split, but they have to get
Speaker 1: the fifty one to forty nine split. So because of that,
Speaker 1: everybody's salary, ten percent of it gets held. And some
Speaker 1: years when the league underspins, if you will, guys get
Speaker 1: a bump or a bonus, and some years guys take
Speaker 1: a haircut. So Steph again from Sportico, let me just
Speaker 1: read more from the article of the ten percent salaries
Speaker 1: in ESCRO players received just under half back. For practical purposes,
Speaker 1: it means each player for the twenty five to twenty
Speaker 1: six season took a five and a half percent haircut
Speaker 1: on their negotiated salary. A twenty million dollars player actually
Speaker 1: earned eighteen point nine million. Zeph Curry got dinged the most.
Speaker 1: His salary is fifty nine point eight, so he loses
Speaker 1: three point three. So it's all in proportion. And so
Speaker 1: if there were a year where the league didn't spend enough,
Speaker 1: then that twenty million player would actually get twenty one
Speaker 1: million like they would get the bump back. But the
Speaker 1: reason I'm laying this out is the amount of money
Speaker 1: paid out to the players doesn't is not affected by aprons.
Speaker 1: It's just not. They get their fifty one percent no
Speaker 1: matter what, no more, no less so what it is.
Speaker 1: So it's not that it's saving the owner's money, it's
Speaker 1: that it really is the owners think this is best
Speaker 1: for competitive balance. I just don't know that I agree
Speaker 1: that this is the type of competitive balance they should
Speaker 1: be going after. The thing I think we all agree
Speaker 1: on is the NBA treating the Kawhi Leonards skin like
Speaker 1: a nuclear facility was breached and we need a five
Speaker 1: thousand page governmental report on it is ridiculous. And the
Speaker 1: latest updates on the aspiration deal with Silver saying this
Speaker 1: investigation needs to be wrapped up before the beginning of
Speaker 1: next season and hoping it ends this summer is wild
Speaker 1: to me. And I think it is a failure by
Speaker 1: Silver to allow this to be so loyally and prioritizing
Speaker 1: dotting every eye and crossing every tee and following every
Speaker 1: lead and every loose end rather than getting a resolution.
Speaker 1: And I I don't I am surprised that. I'm not
Speaker 1: surprised that the Clippers and the Raptors paused the trade.
Speaker 1: I am surprised that Silver hasn't felt comfortable simply saying
Speaker 1: here's the ruling, because it doesn't seem like we're anywhere
Speaker 1: close to getting one. And I have no idea what
Speaker 1: that means for brandon Ingram or Kawhi Leonard, or how
Speaker 1: anybody's going to do their business, or for restricted free
Speaker 1: agents the likes of which the Clippers might have an
Speaker 1: offer sheet ready for, but they don't know who's going
Speaker 1: to be on their team. And this should not have
Speaker 1: taken ten months to get to the bottom of. And
Speaker 1: I've never seen anything like it where we don't know
Speaker 1: who brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, Kawhi Leonard are going to
Speaker 1: play for next year, and because of that, we kind
Speaker 1: of don't know if some of these restricted free agents
Speaker 1: are going to get big offer sheets. I've never seen
Speaker 1: anything quite like this. And then last but not least,
Speaker 1: KD was on Instagram and answered one of these you
Speaker 1: know ones got to go picture thing and said basketball
Speaker 1: would actually move forward if get Nick Wright wasn't involved.
Speaker 1: Hold up, I don't know why I said, hold up, now,
Speaker 1: I'd like to say that, well, KD was just talking
Speaker 1: about you know, bald nick right, shaved head nick right,
Speaker 1: and he and I sense of mend defenses because I
Speaker 1: thought we had mind defenses. But when this was I
Speaker 1: was told about this because I'm not active on Instagram.
Speaker 1: I then I did DM KD, and he was very
Speaker 1: very funny to his credit, and I know what he
Speaker 1: was doing, and I think it is cheeky, so to speak,
Speaker 1: and so I one second, let me get get it
Speaker 1: for you guys, and not surprisingly like I, I guess
Speaker 1: I shouldn't be surprised by this. As soon as I
Speaker 1: sent it, he responded, I sent the old question guy
Speaker 1: emoji this guy, and I wrote, I thought we were cool,
Speaker 1: now hate to see it. And his response to I
Speaker 1: thought we were cool was what made you think that
Speaker 1: it is legitimately funny? But I guess I had gotten
Speaker 1: bad information. And again, I don't want to betray confidences,
Speaker 1: but I don't think this is betraying confidences. And I
Speaker 1: actually think Durant comes out looking really good here. So
Speaker 1: I'm going to share the interaction with you guys. He
Speaker 1: wrote to me, it's just an opinion on your skills,
Speaker 1: but I don't matter. I'm not your bosses. They love you,
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. And I, because I'm me and
Speaker 1: I can't help myself, responded to him to be fair
Speaker 1: in my craft, much like you and yours. My skills
Speaker 1: are pretty unimpeachable. My opinions are, of course a matter
Speaker 1: of debate. And then I wrote, you know, but all good,
Speaker 1: no hard feelings, because I do think it's totally we
Speaker 1: are in the business of critiquing, criticizing athletes. We have
Speaker 1: to be totally fine when they do it back to us.
Speaker 1: And then he was very funny in my opinion where
Speaker 1: he really did try to put due to us which
Speaker 1: I think he feels we do to them, which is
Speaker 1: he wrote, you show up every day, so there's an
Speaker 1: opportunity for you to move up on my all time list.
Speaker 1: And so that's not the entirety of the interaction, it's
Speaker 1: most of it. You get the gist of it. So
Speaker 1: a few things on it. One, I got no issue
Speaker 1: whatsoever if the I did take some cheap ish shots
Speaker 1: at Durant when he was with the Nets. Again, I've
Speaker 1: apologized for those. That's why I guess I said, I
Speaker 1: thought we were cool, but maybe not if he you know,
Speaker 1: if he is still upset about that, totally fair. And
Speaker 1: if he's not still upset about that, but it's been
Speaker 1: upset about things I've said after that, again totally fair.
Speaker 1: Like that he is. Nothing he said there was out
Speaker 1: of bounds, obviously publicly or privately. Why would he be
Speaker 1: upset with me? As the question people are asking, I
Speaker 1: have a few theories. One, you know, I know, you
Speaker 1: know he thinks that I give a favorable coverage to
Speaker 1: guys that I have personal relationships. I shouldn't say I know.
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that he thinks I give favorable
Speaker 1: coverage to guys I have a personal relationship with and
Speaker 1: therefore maybe have been unfair to him. I try to
Speaker 1: be very clear about any relationships or biases I have,
Speaker 1: and I don't think I've been unfair to him, certainly
Speaker 1: in the last few years. Again, I was a little,
Speaker 1: as they would say in the World Cup season, cheekier
Speaker 1: than I needed to be in some of the net stuff.
Speaker 1: But I again I've since apologized for that. So there's
Speaker 1: that piece of it. I don't think I do. Again,
Speaker 1: this is just blind guessing that he thinks I don't
Speaker 1: rank him as high as he deserves to be ranked.
Speaker 1: I think he's one of the twenty greatest players of
Speaker 1: all time. But I've been very adamant. I don't think
Speaker 1: you can possibly make the argument he's one of the
Speaker 1: ten greatest players of all time. Maybe that drubbed him
Speaker 1: the wrong way. And last, but not least, I was
Speaker 1: pretty critical this year about what I you know, the
Speaker 1: social media stuff that I think wrecked the Rockets locker
Speaker 1: room and his colpaville in that that is, I believe
Speaker 1: I was more than fair there. But and again I'm
Speaker 1: blind guessing any of those things could be a reason,
Speaker 1: you know, he's displeased with me. It also might be
Speaker 1: none of those things, just he's never likes me, or
Speaker 1: he thinks I have shitty opinions, or he thinks I
Speaker 1: don't know ball who knows. I just do know that
Speaker 1: I don't think I get as no, I don't think
Speaker 1: I know. I don't get as worked up as some
Speaker 1: of my colleagues do. When these guys treat us the
Speaker 1: way we treat them. We're also in the public eye.
Speaker 1: We're also a level of celebrity. We also are public
Speaker 1: figures that do an entertainment based job, and if those
Speaker 1: folks want to criticize how we do our work the
Speaker 1: way we criticize how they do their work, that is
Speaker 1: a thousand percent fair, and everybody doesn't have to like
Speaker 1: everybody with that set. I actually do like Durant. I
Speaker 1: find him really fascinating. I think he's really interesting. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's ever been an athlete quite like him
Speaker 1: when it comes to the way he interacts with fans
Speaker 1: and media and all of that. And I obviously have massive,
Speaker 1: massive respect for him as a player. And so is
Speaker 1: there a part of me that wishes like he thought
Speaker 1: what I did was good? Sure? It probably is. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a little sad, but it's what I'm not gonna do
Speaker 1: is stare at the camera and be like this is
Speaker 1: what No, what he said, It's totally fine. I don't, though, understand.
Speaker 1: I don't think basketball would actually move forward if I
Speaker 1: wasn't involved. I don't think I'm holding the sport of
Speaker 1: basketball back. I will say that is my opinion. I
Speaker 1: think that's overstating it just a bit. Enjoy the World
Speaker 1: Cup Final, Enjoy your weekend. We'll be back next week again.
Speaker 1: Morning episodes Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, See you guys. Then,
Speaker 1: thank you to boost Mobile, thank you hard Rock Bet,
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Speaker 1: you guys soon. What's right,