WEBVTT - Reaction to Kevin Durant's WILD take comparing the 2026 76ers to 2017 Warriors 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:17.639 The volume. All right, Olikodopsinwight, you're at the volume. We 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.160 have a bonus episode today. We have a lot of 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.639 drama going on between Kevin Durant as well as his 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:27.760 former Warriors teammates now Dreamond Green and Klay Thompson going 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:30.880 at Kevin Durant after he tried to compare the Philadelphia 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.159 seventy six Ers to the twenty seventeen Warriors said they 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:37.920 were better on paper. A kind of a bizarre set 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:40.560 of social media interactions between those guys. I want to 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:42.760 kind of dive into the comps between the Sixers and 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.680 the Warriors. Talk a little bit about that twenty seventeen 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:48.159 Warriors team, talk a little bit about the way that 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:51.360 it is discussed, and Kevin Durant's kind of like hang 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.000 ups about that team because I do think they're fascinating. 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:55.280 The kind of thing we don't really have time to 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.560 talk about during the regular season. But hey, it's August, 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.000 we got time to kill. We're going to dive in 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:01.360 to it today. You guys have the joke before we 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.360 started subscribe to Hoops and Not YouTube channels. You don't 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.440 miss any more of our videos. We have a goal 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.240 to get to one hundred fifty thousand subs need about 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.319 sixty five hundred more. So you guys can help us 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:12.880 a lot if you scroll down, hit that subscribe button. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.600 If you're already subscribed like this video, sign up for 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.600 post notifications. All right, let's talk some basketball. So Kevin 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.400 Durant has spent the last couple of days arguing online 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:25.440 with folks about Lebron's move to Philadelphia and essentially making 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:30.039 the comparison between that move in his move to Golden State. Now, 0:01:30.400 --> 0:01:33.360 this is of course completely ludicrous, but I want to 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.040 dig into this concept more because I do think it's 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.440 fascinating And just as a disclaimer up front, Kevin Durant' 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:41.280 is one of my favorite basketball players ever. I think 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:43.679 he's a great role model for hoopers all around the 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:47.120 world his work ethic. I think if there's one of 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.920 the biggest gifts that Kevin Durant's given to basketball community 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.520 is what his workouts look like. I think one of 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.120 the biggest reasons why kids struggle to translate workout stuff 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.440 to games is they don't go game speed. And if 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.240 you watch a Kevin Durant workout, tacks every single workout 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:03.200 at game speed. I think there's a lot that he 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.640 can give back to the basketball community just simply as 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.880 an example. And I think also he just represents true 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.359 love for the game, which I think is one of 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.280 the most important pieces of a kid's success in the game. 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.960 So everything that happened with his move to Golden State 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.080 that doesn't really take away from that for me at all, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:24.520 even though I do find it a fascinating discussion. But 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.680 Kevin Durant has always felt the need to defend his 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:30.839 move to Golden State, and there's this debate. I saw, 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.360 you know, Draymond talking about it on his pod. Basically 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:35.400 this idea that like Kevin Durant actually just kind of 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.080 has this view of basketball. He used the phrase uncle 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:42.400 drew Ish, like he's just focused on things like points 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:46.519 per game and does KDC the game that way? Probably, 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.359 And I do think that that's something that's worth discussing 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:51.160 at some point. But I don't think that's why he's 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.360 so defensive about Golden State. I think he's defensive about 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:58.200 Golden State and making these comparisons to Philly because he 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.079 feels like he didn't get much credit for the success 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.200 that he had in Golden State. He didn't get much 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:07.480 credit from Warriors fans who viewed Steph Curry as the 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.959 primary driver of that team's success, and he didn't get 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.440 much credit from like the basketball masses for his titles 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:17.280 in his finals MVPs that he got in Golden State. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.160 If anybody out there actually thinks that this Philadelphia seventy 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.160 six ers team is in the same stratosphere as that 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.880 twenty seventeen Warriors team was, we've clearly just too much 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:32.000 time has gone by. We've forgotten what happened in that area. 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.760 That Warriors team won seventy three games the year before, 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.440 and we're about as close as you can possibly get 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:45.200 to being repeat champions without actually winning. They lost to 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.080 a Chase Down block and a step back three pointer, 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:53.720 otherwise they'd be repeat champs. After adding Kevin Durrant that summer, 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.520 the Warriors were the largest preseason title favorite in the 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.480 history of the NBA. Some sports books before the season 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:07.000 even started had they bet minus one fifty to win 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:10.840 the title, meaning that if you bet one dollar on 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.160 the Warriors to win the title in October of twenty sixteen, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.400 you would have received a payout of sixty six cents. 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.320 When they hoysted the trophy if you bet a dollar 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.239 on the seventy six ers today to win the twenty 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.839 twenty seven title, you'd get fourteen times as much money 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.960 in the payout. Even if you bet on this year's favorite, 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.680 that Spurs team with Victor Weminyamu damn near won the 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.400 title last year and all those young guys are going 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.159 to get better, you'd get paid four times as much 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.320 money as you'd get paid betting on the twenty seventeen 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.200 Warriors to win the title. It was the most talented 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:51.920 roster in the history of the NBA. There's no comp 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:55.960 nothing comes close. They had the second best player in 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.440 the world in Steph Curry. They had the third best 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:00.880 player in the world in Kevin Durant. But it wasn't 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.400 just that they were called the Hampton's five for a reason. 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.240 They had perhaps the best defensive anchor in the world 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.960 in Draymond Green. They had the second best shooter in 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:13.400 the history of the league in Klay Thompson, who also 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.039 happened to be an excellent perimeter defender in the NBA. 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:21.080 And then Andre guadala is probably the greatest wing defender 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:25.160 of the twenty tens, who is so valuable to what 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.800 the Warriors do on both ends of the floor as 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.240 a primary defender to guard the other team's best player, 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:32.839 but also as the guy that is just a connective 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:36.719 playmaking talent for them on offense. He won a Finals MVP, 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.560 He has a Finals MVP trophy at his house, and 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:45.000 he was the fifth guy in that lineup. If I 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.279 even tried to create a comp in the modern NBA, 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:52.479 it wouldn't even make sense for starters. Imagine if Luka 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:55.799 Doncic and Shay Gildess Alexander were on the same team, 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.880 but the other three guys in there closing five were 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:05.040 Alex Crusoe, Rudy Gobert and og Ananobi. Hell okay See 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:07.960 has a version of this with Shae Chet and Alex 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.119 Cruser right now, and we consider them to be tied 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:13.919 with San Antonio for the most talented roster in the 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:19.520 league today. Just imagine adding Luka Doncic and Ognanobi to 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.919 this year's Thunder team. That's what the twenty seventeen Warriors 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.760 were working with. That's why they were such massive favorites 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.360 in that era, and it's why it required basically a 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.760 complete physical breakdown of the team for them to miss 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:40.240 out on a three peat, and they still were a 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:42.799 Steph Curry three pointer away from forcing a Game seven. 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.800 I've said this time and time again over the years. 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:50.640 The amount of respect and admiration that a player gets 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.479 for their success at the highest levels of basketball is 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:59.040 directly proportional to the amount of difficulty and adversity they 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:03.000 overcome in the pursuit. This is true for every single 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:07.800 player and every single championship won. Lebron gets more credit 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.360 for his win in twenty sixteen than he does for 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.480 the other three titles combined. Steph Curry gets more credit 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.360 for his twenty twenty two title than his other three 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:24.760 titles combined. It's the struggle that resonates with fans. I 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:26.440 said it a few times during the playoffs this year, 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.800 like there's nothing in all of sports like the moments 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:35.160 were a single supremely gifted basketball player digs deep within 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:40.000 himself and completely takes over a game against impossible odds. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:45.240 That game one wemby performance against OKC this year. What 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.600 did it feel like watching that? How did it resonate 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:55.200 with you? Compared to Kevin Durant winning fifteen straight playoff 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.880 games with the Warriors in twenty seventeen. There was something 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.360 kind of empty about kd's success in Golden State, not 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.800 that it wasn't impressive or anything like that, like predictably, 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:09.920 considering the advantages and insane spacing that Golden State provided 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:16.360 kg KD was surgically efficient in those playoff runs. In 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:20.200 kd's last three playoff runs with OKC, he logged a 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:24.160 fifty six percent true shooting percentage. In the three playoff 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.640 runs with Golden State, he logged a sixty four percent 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:31.600 true shooting percentage. His true shooting percentage didn't skyrocket by 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:36.120 eight points because KD got way better at basketball. It's 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:39.760 skyrocketed by eight percentage points because the basketball is just 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:45.560 much easier for it. I vividly remember countless uncontested dunks 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.400 for KD in that series, driving closeouts off of skip 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.000 passes when Lebron is like in the paint helping on 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.400 a Steph Curry action on the strong side of the floor, 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.000 or him going right down the middle of the lane 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.320 in transition because Caves defenders are out to Clay or 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:05.800 Steph trailing on the wings. It showed clearly in the 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:10.320 numbers two his unguarded catch and shoot three point attempts 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:15.280 and his dunks both almost doubled per game from the 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:19.400 twenty sixteen playoffs to the twenty seventeen playoffs. In the 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:24.319 twenty sixteen playoffs with OKC, seventy eight percent of Kd's 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.360 catch and shoot threes were contested. As a result, he 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.200 made just thirty four percent of them. In the twenty 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.960 seventeen playoffs, only sixty three percent of his catch and 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:36.040 shoot looks were contested, and so as a result, he 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.679 shot forty five percent on them. A Kevin Durant iso 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:45.880 post up or ball screen in the twenty seventeen playoffs 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:49.400 with Golden State was worth one point two points per 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:54.280 possession including passes. In twenty sixteen with the Thunder, they 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.720 were worth less than zero point nine points per possession 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.880 including passes, and his volume the number of times he 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:06.120 had to do it was nearly double because he had 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.280 so much more responsibility on offense with twenty sixteen with 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.640 a twenty sixteen thunder. In twenty seventeen, when Kevin Orran 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.439 took a rest in the playoffs with the Warriors, the 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:20.000 Warriors had a plus fifteen point four net rating. They 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:22.840 grew the lead massively every time he stepped off the floor. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.080 Today's show is brought to you by a presenting sponsor, 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:29.360 Hard Rock Bets sportsbook. 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In twenty sixteen with a thunder, they were 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.559 neutral when KD was off, so we didn't have that advantage. 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:16.760 And look, I'm not like I've talked about this all 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:19.640 the time when we talk about the flaws in data. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.880 This is why I think data is so flawed. It's 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.360 not like Kevin Durant went from zero point nine points 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.640 to one point two points per shot creation possession because 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.280 he just got magically so much better when he went 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.160 to the twenty seventeen Warriors. It's surrounding circumstances. It's the 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:38.800 difference between having Andre Roberson in the corner versus Klay Thompson. 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:45.600 It's the difference between having Steph Curry instead of Russell Westbrook. Right, 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.680 it is the difference between being surrounded by the most 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:53.480 talented roster in NBA history, a team that already had 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:58.120 a seventy plus win infrastructure before you showed up, and 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:04.600 that very talented but flawed OKC roster. And again, I'm 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:07.800 not trying to sit here and say one like the 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.760 data from OKC was also flawed because of the fact 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.120 that the team was so bad at spacing the floor 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.680 for him. The reality with KD has always been somewhere 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:21.520 in the middle, right, a lot easier than it looked 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.520 in OKC, a lot tougher than it looked in Golden State, 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:30.360 and I have never begrudged KD for wanting to leave 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:34.520 OKC and create a better basketball situation for himself. But 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.640 he had to know that when he decided to go there, 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:44.080 to the seventy three win Warriors that had just beat him, 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.840 that it would come with a certain connotation that was 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.720 different than if he had tried to build something else 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:55.160 or go somewhere else. Kd's run with the Warriors felt 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.760 empty for fans because we already knew he was awesome, 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:04.800 But instead of getting the payoff the massive like oh 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.040 Man he finally overcame adversity in the NBA playoffs and 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:12.760 hoisted the trophy. Instead of getting that type of moment, instead, 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.280 we watched everything look way too easy for him as 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.960 his team just racked up fifteen straight playoff wins and 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:22.560 back to back titles. He signed as a free agent 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:25.680 in the absolute heart of his prime thanks to a 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:27.800 loophole in the CBA that led to a cap spike, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.960 a unique circumstance that probably won't ever happen again with 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.280 the very team that just eliminated him in the playoffs, 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.520 and that team was one block and one shot away 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.640 from repeating his champions the year before. Without it, he 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.680 should have known that his success there would not have 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.360 resonated with people the way he wanted it to. He 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.600 wasn't the first player to ever try this sort of thing. 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.480 I don't again, like I think there's a unique balance 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.000 in these sorts of situations. When you're trying to improve 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.600 your circumstances in the NBA, want respect and you want admiration. 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.120 You want to give yourself a position where you feel 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.560 like you can compete, but you don't want to just, 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.120 you know, go to a situation where it's gonna look 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:14.600 so easy that you don't get the credit. That's a 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.840 fine line. But people have tried to stack their championship 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.840 odds before. I said Lebron tried to do Lebron literally 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:25.120 tried to do this in twenty ten. Not quite as 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.280 taky as joining the team that just beats you, but 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.000 Lebron really was trying to make his pursuit of a 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:35.320 championship much easier. He didn't say not five, not six, 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.560 not seven because he felt like just a small tweak 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:40.680 and his circumstance was going to unlock them. He said 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.920 that because he thought, oh, I'm just gonna stack my 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.160 team will win every chip. That's why he said that. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.640 But what ended up happening when Lebron went to Miami 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.760 was very different. For starters, the team wasn't nearly as 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.440 deep as the Warriors, like they didn't have a Clay 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:01.440 Igudala Draymond infrastructure to put to Wade and Lebron James around. 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.560 Their stars also broke down, like Chris Bosh got hurt 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.520 in the twenty twelve playoffs, which led to great adversity 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.360 against the Pacers and against the Celtics. The Heat trailed 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.360 in both of those series, and then Dwayne Wade was 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.920 never the same after twenty twelve when his knee kind 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:19.840 of fell apart. So like Lebron might have said, not five, 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.880 not six, not seven, but the reality as we watched, 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:28.880 it was a fucking struggle and they needed absolutely heroic 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.240 performances from Lebron to win both titles. Game six in 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.000 Boston down three to two thirty points and a half 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.640 to save the season. Game six of the twenty thirteen Finals, 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:42.960 down double digits with a facing elimination in that crazy 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.520 fourth quarter, he had that helped force overtime. The insane 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.080 Game seven performance with the five threes in the late 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:54.360 jump shots that iced the series. Lebron gets more credit 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.040 for those two titles because they looked difficult and he 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.000 had to be amazing to put push them over the top. 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:05.840 When Lebron designed the team, he thought it would be 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.280 a lot easier, and had they just ripped off four 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.159 straight titles and won fifteen straight playoff games and just 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.760 generally cruised to success, I'd argue even though he'd have 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.400 more titles, he wouldn't be viewed the same. We wouldn't 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:21.879 have given Lebron much credit because we would have watched 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.199 what happened in Cleveland and then watched what happened in 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:27.439 Miami and been like, Ah, that just feels cheap. Instead 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:31.159 of getting to see the Lebron finally getting over the 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.720 top and the coronation that comes with it, it would 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:39.280 have felt like skipping steps, skipping steps on that pathway 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.600 to greatness. For the record, Steph had to go through 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.080 the same process. Remember the way Steph was discussed in 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:50.240 twenty twenty and in twenty twenty one, everyone was talking 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:52.080 about it's going to be different for him now. His 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:55.080 own peers like Damian Lillard were saying things about him. 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.480 Steph was really good, amazing actually in those back to 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.560 back champion years in twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen, but 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:06.560 no one was giving him credit for it because he 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:10.240 lost to Lebron when Lebron had his teammates at full strength, 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:14.080 and then he won after the deck was completely stacked 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:17.199 in his favor, so no one was running outside of 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.159 Warriors fans. Warriors fans have always you know, put Steph 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.280 in like above Lebron, and you know, in the goat 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.399 conversation like, Warriors fans loved Steph, but outside of Warriors fans, like, 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:30.520 no one was really giving Steph that much credit. When 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:34.880 he won in twenty twenty two with less talent around him, 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.760 overcoming adversity with a signature moment in Game four in 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.400 Boston that saved their season. Steph's global reputation was never 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:47.600 the same after that. No one will ever disrespect Steph 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.320 Curry's name or try to undercut his success as ever. Again, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:58.520 that is the process of achieving the respect from the 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.080 basketball masses when it comes to success at the highest 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:06.080 levels of the NBA. As for this Philly team, the 0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:09.040 way that it'll be remembered entirely depends on what it 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:14.719 looks like as it pertains to Lebron's legacy, Like if 0:19:14.760 --> 0:19:17.760 the Sixers win the title, but like Lebron is just 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.760 another piece and the talent level is clearly just overwhelming 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.879 their opponents, and it's clear that Lebron didn't really have 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.800 to be great for them to win. It's not going 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.600 to move the needle much when he gets a fifth title. 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:37.200 But if they win, and it looks hard and Lebron 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:39.560 is front and center on both ends of the floor 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.600 as a vital cog in the system, and he has 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:45.480 like a massive game in a big series like Game 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:48.119 seven against the Nixon Madison Square Garden, he has like 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:50.280 seventeen points in the fourth quarter to send him to 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.240 the finals, and he guards Wemby in the finals and 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:55.800 is like instrumental to a championship win. It'd be a 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:59.800 massive ad to his legacy. People might even change their 0:19:59.840 --> 0:20:06.880 mind about it. So again insummation, like this Sixers team 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:12.320 is very talented on paper, but to Katie's point that 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:15.160 even though there are some impressive resumes on there, right, 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:19.920 like Katie called it out, like Joel Embiid's an MVP. Lebron, Yeah, 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:23.320 Jaylen Brown Finals MVP, Lebron four Finals MVPs and four 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:27.040 MVPs Joel Embiid regular season MVP. Right, Like, they've got 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.960 a lot of like impressive resumes in there. But there's 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:33.560 a reason why hard Rock Bet again all of our 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.280 odds provided by our partner, hard Rock Bet. The reason 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:38.400 why they're plus eight p fifty to win the title 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.680 right now in hard Rock Bet is because Joel Embiid 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:42.560 is a former MVP, but he's a shell of his 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:46.160 former self. Lebron turns forty two in December. Jaylen Brown 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.960 is super talented, but is generally regarded as flawed and 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:50.880 tough to fit with other players. That's why he got 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.680 traded for such a cheap price this offseason. And Tyree 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:56.320 s Max he's really talented, really talented up and coming guard, 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:58.680 but he's a third team All NBA guy, not prime. 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.639 Steph Curry, I would argue the Sixers actually need to 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:04.879 become greater than the sum of their parts to have 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.560 a chance to win the title. They need to maximize 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.720 each other to have any shot. I do think it's 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.440 worth mentioning that the Sixers group does have on paper talent. 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:16.400 I'm not undercutting the fact that this is a talented 0:21:16.480 --> 0:21:19.240 roster or that lebron chose the roster for talent. He 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.800 certainly did. The potentials off the charts. Raw talent is 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.760 a strength for this roster. But no, it's not the 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:31.240 same as the twenty seventeen Warriors, not even close. We'll 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:34.159 never see anything like that again. The talent on the 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.399 roster unprecedented. The move from KD to the team that 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.040 beat him, to a team that had already won a 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:44.000 title and almost won a second one, that is such 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.080 a unique set of circumstances and it'll never be that 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:51.000 way again. And the way KD is behaving on social 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:55.480 media right now is a reflection of the way he 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:59.560 feels like he didn't get credit. It is a defense 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:05.240 of his move when it was indefensible at the time, 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:10.680 indefensible in the sense that again, he has the right 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:13.680 to do whatever he wants. That Warriors team was fun 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:17.520 to watch. I enjoyed watching the KD Warriors. They played 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:21.840 a fun brand of basketball. But ultimately if Kd's goal 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.119 because again, the way he's acting is a reflection of 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:28.639 the fact that he feels like he's underappreciated and that 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:32.400 he doesn't get the credit that he deserves, but if 0:22:32.400 --> 0:22:37.320 he wanted credit and appreciation, that wasn't the move to make. 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.480 And the reason it rings hollow for fans and the 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:45.160 reason he doesn't get credit and appreciation for those years 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.600 is because it just looked easy. Watching him dribble right 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:53.280 down the lane and throw down uncontested dunks in the 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:58.800 NBA Finals doesn't resonate the way that him hitting a 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.840 turnaround fadeaway jump shot to force overtime against the Bucks 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:05.440 in Game seven in the second round of twenty twenty 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.720 one resonated with fans. I'd argue KDE's stock as a 0:23:09.720 --> 0:23:12.920 basketball player went up more from his twenty twenty one 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:15.399 playoff run, where he was a toe on the line 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.680 away from a potential finals run and maybe a championship 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:23.240 on a flawed roster. He gained more with fans then 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:28.960 than he did hitting game icing jump shots in the 0:23:29.040 --> 0:23:35.240 NBA Finals or horsting the Finals MVP trophy twice. Again, 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.840 Like I that whole era is really weird to look 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:41.800