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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we have a busy Sunday night podcast,

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Speaker 1: which for some of you will be Monday morning. But

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Speaker 1: you can always go to the Calling Coward Volume YouTube

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Speaker 1: page to get this stuff. We put it up there

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Speaker 1: as soon as it's done. So let's start with a

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Speaker 1: lot of NFL stuff. This is free agency week and

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Speaker 1: you're going to start seeing information pour in on free

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Speaker 1: agency stuff. So let's start with a big one. The

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Speaker 1: Rams have signed DeVante Adams, the former Packer and jet

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Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers. Rams signed him to a two year

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Speaker 1: deal for pretty hefty money. Well, they're moving off Cooper Cup,

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Speaker 1: so why go after DeVante Adams Because the Rams, much

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Speaker 1: like the Warriors, wanted to get somebody on Steph Curry's timeline,

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler, a veteran who can win now, and the

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Speaker 1: Lakers wanted to do it. You know, they didn't want

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Speaker 1: to give up Anthony Davis for a kid. They want

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Speaker 1: to win now. The Rams Sean McVay think they can

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Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl and DeVante Adams and Pooka Nikoua

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Speaker 1: will be the one and two wide receivers. Also interesting,

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Speaker 1: they signed two to two at well to a one

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Speaker 1: year deal for ten million y because he knows the system,

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Speaker 1: he can run, he can get downfield. They don't want

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Speaker 1: to break anybody in. They feel they got two years

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Speaker 1: with Matt Stafford that he can play at a super

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Speaker 1: Bowl winning level. So the Rams have been doing this.

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Speaker 1: I've talked about this at great length. They're spending their money.

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Speaker 1: Chiefs do this. They're spending their money on offense and

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Speaker 1: trying to keep their defense young, flexible, and less expensive.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean Jared Versus isn't going to get a

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Speaker 1: huge deal in a few years. For the Rams, you

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Speaker 1: keep your stars. I saw Nick Bolton just got signed

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Speaker 1: to the Chiefs linebacker. Excellent player, super rangey, great linebacker.

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Speaker 1: But you've got Matt Stafford, Kyen Williams, Pakua DeVante Adams,

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Speaker 1: Tyler Higgsby a very solid B B plus tight end

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Speaker 1: two to two at well in this sism knows the offense.

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Speaker 1: They may go draft. They also signed left tackle Jackson

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Speaker 1: to a contract, so they got Hevenstein Wright tackle Jackson,

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Speaker 1: left tackle. They're spending all their money on offense right now,

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Speaker 1: but it's a great defense. You could argue the defense

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Speaker 1: is more talented, but it's very young and doesn't cost

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Speaker 1: as much. So this is just you know, this is

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Speaker 1: the RAMS formula. You got a quarterback that can win

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Speaker 1: the Super Bowl for the next two years, we're going

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Speaker 1: to load them up with guys that know the system

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Speaker 1: or know how to play, and so that's why you

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Speaker 1: get the DeVante Adams Steele and I agree with it.

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Speaker 1: I agree with that belief, which is when you have

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Speaker 1: a Super Bowl winning quarterback, don't waste the years. You

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Speaker 1: don't know what happened. Stafford's been inged up his whole career,

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Speaker 1: so get him ready to go. This defense last year

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Speaker 1: which gave Jalen Hurts trouble in the snow or Hurts

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Speaker 1: pass for under seventy yards. This defense is good enough

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Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl, but it wasn't offensively good

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Speaker 1: enough to win a Super Bowl. So they're going to

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Speaker 1: move off Cooper Cup. You'll have two number ones in

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Speaker 1: Pook DeVante Adams. They'll probably draft another wide receiver. But

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Speaker 1: you've got it all. Now you got both tackles, your quarterback,

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Speaker 1: star running back, better than average tight end, and now

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Speaker 1: two number ones on offense and a great head coach.

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Speaker 1: So the Rams deal makes sense. Another story Diana Russini

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Speaker 1: reporting that the Pittsburgh Steeters are going to make a

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Speaker 1: big run at Sam Donald, the most athletic in the

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Speaker 1: prime quarterback available on the market. She said she still

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Speaker 1: believes the Seahawks or the leader in the clubhouse. So

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Speaker 1: I think about this stuff all the time. And because

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Speaker 1: I've bounced around in my career, and what do I

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Speaker 1: consider when you're moving around and you have options. I

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Speaker 1: always consider the management just as much or more than

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Speaker 1: the money. And for Sam Donald, I'd be very wary

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Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh. I do not think the Pittsburgh Steelers currently

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Speaker 1: possess the ability to get the most out of a quarterback.

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Speaker 1: That doesn't mean Sam Donald couldn't be a Steeter and

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Speaker 1: be pretty good. But there's about six or seven, maybe

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Speaker 1: a few more, but six or seven teams in this

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Speaker 1: league that I think are you uniquely equipped to get

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Speaker 1: the most out of any quarterback, whether it's a star

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Speaker 1: or a B quarterback, Sam Darnold B plus the Rams

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Speaker 1: with McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco Andy Reid, Kansas City,

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Speaker 1: Sean Payton getting the most out of bow Nicks, Kevin

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Speaker 1: O'Connell in Minnesota. There's more, but I'd say there's seven

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Speaker 1: or eight organizations. Philadelphia has done a good job where

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Speaker 1: you know, the O line, the coaching, the coordinating. They

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Speaker 1: put a lot of resources around the organization to help

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Speaker 1: the quarterback. I do not consider the Pittsburgh Steels one

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Speaker 1: of those. We'll see how Ben Johnson works in Chicago,

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Speaker 1: but you know, historically, even recent last decade, Chicago's not

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Speaker 1: equipped to help a quarterback be his best. Again, it

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean Mitch Trubisky can't get into the playoffs, but

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Speaker 1: the Bears have shown time and time again they lack

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Speaker 1: of sensibility. They can be tone deaf. It's more of

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Speaker 1: a defense first organization. Pittsburgh Steelers have led the NFL

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Speaker 1: in defensive spending for I think three years guaranteed. Maybe

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Speaker 1: it's so that's just the organization, that's the coach. They

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Speaker 1: can't get the offensive line right. McVeigh has gotten the

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Speaker 1: offensive line right, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, those guys need

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Speaker 1: one off season to get it right. Steeter's been trying

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Speaker 1: to get it right, and they put draft capital in it,

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Speaker 1: They've spent money on it. They still can't get the

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Speaker 1: online right. So I think for Sam Donald, you have

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Speaker 1: to consider that I'm not saying Seattle is a great

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Speaker 1: offensive organization. Mike McDonald's a defensive coach, but the GM

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Speaker 1: John Snyder, I mean, he just doesn't miss on wide receivers.

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Speaker 1: You go back to his history. He gets wide receivers right,

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Speaker 1: he gets running backs right. I like Seattle's offensive personnel,

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Speaker 1: and I'm not absolutely sure Darnald would crush it there.

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Speaker 1: But I have more confidence in Seattle than I do Pittsburgh,

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Speaker 1: which is telling you I have very little in Pittsburgh.

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Speaker 1: Little confidence in Pittsburgh offensively to get the best out

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Speaker 1: of any quarterback. Again, I'm not saying if you would

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Speaker 1: have put Brady in Pittsburgh, he wouldn't have been successful.

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Speaker 1: But there's a reason that he and Bruce arians want

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Speaker 1: a suit. They're just coaches that are better at this stuff.

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Speaker 1: So that's where we are today. You're going to get

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Speaker 1: more and more information coming out, probably by the time

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Speaker 1: this airs. But I think that Donald story is interesting.

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Speaker 1: I would guess it's probably sixty five thirty five sixty

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Speaker 1: forty Seattle over Pittsburgh. They're both very good rosters, both

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Speaker 1: the Seahawks and the Steelers, and Donald will have in

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Speaker 1: both instances, especially Pittsburgh. You're not gonna have to outscore everybody.

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Speaker 1: But when you're in a division with Labar Jackson and

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Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, you know you need to have an organization

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Speaker 1: that really gets offense, and I don't think the Steelers

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Speaker 1: do now. Diana also reported that the Seahawks will come

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Speaker 1: in contact with Aaron Rodgers. So I thought Aaron played

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Speaker 1: really well at the end of the year. But if

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Speaker 1: you're giving me Donald or you're giving me Aaron Rodgers,

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Speaker 1: I would take Donald, even though I think Aaron has

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Speaker 1: obviously a much more impressive resume and at his best

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Speaker 1: can be better than Sam Donald. But Sam is at

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Speaker 1: this point in his prime. He's much more athletic. I

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Speaker 1: think he's more coachable. You don't get any baggage Aaron

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Speaker 1: at this point. And listen, I was told by a source.

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Speaker 1: I said this three weeks ago, or maybe a month ago,

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Speaker 1: And I trust my source that when Aaron Glenn, the

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Speaker 1: new Jet coach, moved off Aaron Rodgers. Remember Aaron flew

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Speaker 1: out to New York thinking he was going to be

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Speaker 1: a Jet and Aaron gled said, we're not interested. My

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Speaker 1: source said, the Jets told him we don't want that quarterback,

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Speaker 1: and we just don't want Aaron the guy. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean Aaron is Lucifer, but Aaron comes. He's a very

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Speaker 1: moody guy and a very moody player. And I was

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Speaker 1: told that by two people who played with him for

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Speaker 1: the Packers. And so if you've got a young coach

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Speaker 1: and Mike McDonald, do you want to saddle him with

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Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers' personality. Aaron Glenn wanted no part of it

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Speaker 1: because Aaron Glenn from Detroit knows how valuable culture is.

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Speaker 1: So Seattle is building their culture and I think Aaron's

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Speaker 1: not a good fit for that. Now. When he went

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Speaker 1: to New York, Robert slafelt he had the culture built.

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Speaker 1: He needed a life preserver. It didn't work. But that's

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Speaker 1: not what Seattle's looking at. Seattle is saying to themselves, Hey,

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Speaker 1: we may draft a quarterback this year. We'll certainly draft

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Speaker 1: a quarterback next year. It's a much better college quarterback class.

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Speaker 1: But we got a roster here that can win, and

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Speaker 1: we think our staff we got two good backs. Noah

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Speaker 1: fant You know receivers. John Sneyder either drafts some or

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Speaker 1: acquires him. He's good at that position. The old line

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Speaker 1: is good enough, defense is young and talented. We think

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Speaker 1: Sam can keep us going in the direction that we

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Speaker 1: want to build. So I think Aaron's a long shot

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Speaker 1: to Seattle, but he's been so talented, and he did

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Speaker 1: play well in the last ten games. I think you

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Speaker 1: talk to him. I mean, if Darnold's camp wants forty

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Speaker 1: five million and Aaron's willing to play for less, okay,

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Speaker 1: then you go with Aaron. So Sam's to me talented,

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Speaker 1: but his contract should be closer to Baker Mayfield than

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Speaker 1: it should be to what Rock Purty will get. Even

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Speaker 1: though I think Darnold's talented Pertty, he's going to get

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Speaker 1: about forty eight million, probably close to it. I don't

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Speaker 1: think i'd spend it on Sam, especially giving him, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'd give him two maybe a team option. Third. I'm

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Speaker 1: not giving him for he just has one great year

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Speaker 1: and a lot of questions. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, there's

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Speaker 1: stuff trickling out that Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson will

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Speaker 1: end up with the New York Giants. Say it out loud.

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Speaker 1: Old quarterbacks going to organizations to be a savior. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't work. It didn't work with Aaron with the Jets.

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Speaker 1: It didn't work with Russell to the Denver Broncos. You

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Speaker 1: can be an older quarterback and go to a really

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Speaker 1: good roster Stafford La Tom to Tampa. But this Aaron

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Speaker 1: Rodgers to the New York Giants. Wow, I'd consider retirement

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Speaker 1: that organization. You've got a coach and a GM that

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Speaker 1: could be gone before Thanksgiving. Offensive line has issues. They

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Speaker 1: have one weapon, the running games week. The division's excellent.

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Speaker 1: Now that Jayden Daniels appears to be Lamar Jackson of

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Speaker 1: the NFC. You know, it always ends the way it

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Speaker 1: should for quarterbacks, right, what you put into it, you

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Speaker 1: get out of it. And if Aaron Rodgers signs with

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Speaker 1: the New York Giants, this is how it should ended.

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Speaker 1: Superstar level quarterback talent, limping to the end, wobbly to

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Speaker 1: the end with the Jets and the Giants without much

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Speaker 1: of a market. And for the record, he was very

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Speaker 1: good in his last ten games. Don't kid yourself with

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Speaker 1: a really weak NFL coaching staff. Aaron Rodgers did a

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Speaker 1: good job with the Jets last ten games. Where's the market?

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Speaker 1: Whose fault is that? When you're when you're a pain

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Speaker 1: in the butt. This is what happens when you're mostly

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Speaker 1: committed but not always in the off season. This is

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Speaker 1: what you become. Put yourself who's scoring big in the

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Speaker 1: All right, busy, NBA, doct a lot to talk about.

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Speaker 1: Jason Tempf, host of Hoops tonight. All right, let's start

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Speaker 1: Lebron will be fine. He'll be back in a week

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Speaker 1: or two. I thought the bigger issue with the Lakers Celtics,

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Speaker 1: and I said this during the week on my show,

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Speaker 1: is Boston's better. You can't come in missing starters. So

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Speaker 1: no Jackson, no Rui. That's length. That is length you

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Speaker 1: can use to get you anything near the rim. Defend

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Speaker 1: the rim. So when I heard that, I thought, no Jackson, Hayes,

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Speaker 1: no Ruiy Hachimora. This could be a tough one, but

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Speaker 1: I also felt there's two things I want to talk about.

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Speaker 1: Number one is I thought the Lakers looked tired in

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Speaker 1: the second half. I thought they just gave you everything

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Speaker 1: they had in the first half, one of the best

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Speaker 1: first halfs of the NBA. Seedon. It was a great

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Speaker 1: first half. Lugan didn't played particularly well, but it was

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Speaker 1: a great first half. And I thought in the second

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Speaker 1: half the Lakers ran out of gas. And if it

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Speaker 1: was at home, maybe it's different. But I fly a

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Speaker 1: lot flying from LA to Boston. I don't care how

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Speaker 1: good the seats are and how comfortable you are. It

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Speaker 1: takes its toll and the pace the Celtics play at

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Speaker 1: I thought it wore the Lakers down. So that's my

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Speaker 1: first take, and you can address that before we get

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Speaker 1: into the Luca Tatum stuff. Just the fact that no

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Speaker 1: Jackson Hayes, no Ruie on the road. They played a

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Speaker 1: pretty frenetic schedule, I mean over the last couple of weeks,

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Speaker 1: and I thought they ran out of gas.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was one of those things where I think

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Speaker 3: there are some realities about this matchup that, regardless of

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Speaker 3: regular season circumstances, need to be factored in, Like We're

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Speaker 3: going to talk a lot about the top teams in

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Speaker 3: the league today, and I don't think Boston is like

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Speaker 3: separated from everybody in terms of like putting real distance.

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Speaker 3: But I do think they deserve to be favored, and

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Speaker 3: I think they've demonstrated that at several points this season

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Speaker 3: in several different games. That said, within the context of

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Speaker 3: that particular game, it was kind of interesting to me

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Speaker 3: to see the juxtaposition of that one with the first

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Speaker 3: time these two teams played. The first time these two

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Speaker 3: teams played, the Lakers play, Lakers played an excellent defensive

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Speaker 3: game and Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum couldn't get anything going.

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Speaker 3: And in the Lakers controlled this game. The Boston Celtics

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Speaker 3: put together a beautiful defensive game, and Lebron and Luca

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Speaker 3: can't get anything going.

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Speaker 1: And so.

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Speaker 3: These two teams in particular, and by the way, I

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Speaker 3: think there's a decent chance we see these two teams

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Speaker 3: in the finals. If these two teams face in the finals,

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Speaker 3: it's going to turn into this like relentless matchup hunting

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Speaker 3: type of game, and it's all about Tatum and Brown

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Speaker 3: going at Austin and Luca. And then on the other

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Speaker 3: end of the floor, Lebron and Luca going against Derek

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Speaker 3: White and al Horford, and I think there were some

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Speaker 3: mistakes last night. JJ Reddick talked a little bit about

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Speaker 3: it after the game. Al Horford is a big body

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Speaker 3: that slides his feet well, and he has always done

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Speaker 3: well against bullyball players, even going back to Joel Embiid

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Speaker 3: and Giannis and Tenecumpo. Al Horford is some of the

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Speaker 3: best reps against those guys that you'll see in the

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Speaker 3: playoff context. Lebron and Luc are bullyball guys, and al

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Speaker 3: Horford was just having none of it, and he put

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Speaker 3: together just a beautiful defensive game. In that second half,

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Speaker 3: they were much more deliberate about attacking the Celtics guards,

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Speaker 3: and you got to see how they can have some success.

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Speaker 3: And that's really it. Like both of these teams, I

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Speaker 3: actually think, interestingly enough, these are the only two teams

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Speaker 3: in the NBA that can put together five man groupings

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Speaker 3: where you really can't leave anybody open. When Ruy is

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Speaker 3: healthy and Dorian finished with is healthy, and when the

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Speaker 3: Celtics have Chris Hops Worzingis and al Horford healthy, when

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Speaker 3: they're healthy and put together like even the Knicks, you

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Speaker 3: can help off of Josh Hart, like with the Thunder,

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Speaker 3: you're gonna give late contests to guys like Lou Dort

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Speaker 3: that you're not super worried about. Yeah, these are the

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Speaker 3: two teams, teams that can truly space the floor and

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Speaker 3: force you to play one on one. And if there

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Speaker 3: was one defensive reality from the Lakers in this game,

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Speaker 3: they've guarded really well when they can offer help from

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Speaker 3: behind in their kind of swarming, switching defense. Boston, they

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Speaker 3: really leave you on an island because if you help.

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Speaker 3: It's like Luca got caught a bunch of times in

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Speaker 3: the first half of that game helping in on drives,

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Speaker 3: easy kickouts, and he was giving up threes. You cannot

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Speaker 3: help with Boston. You cannot help with the Lakers. It

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Speaker 3: turns into a one on one contest, and the Celtics

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Speaker 3: just did a much better job of it in this

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Speaker 3: particular matchup.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. I saw a piece of video,

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Speaker 1: so I had said on the Luca trade, I would

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Speaker 1: never have traded him, but if you gave me three

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Speaker 1: firsts Ad and Austin Rivers, I'd sleep on it. And

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Speaker 1: I said that because I've always said Luca is a

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Speaker 1: much better Carmelo. I never think he's in great shape.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I think he sometimes takes the ball

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Speaker 1: out of teammate's hands. And you know, I don't think

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Speaker 1: I love Luca, but I saw when Luca first arrived

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Speaker 1: in Los Angeles. He looked puffy, hadn't played since December.

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Speaker 1: He's never been in great shape. But my take was

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Speaker 1: La gets you in better shape. The lifestyle is different

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Speaker 1: and Lebron and the pressure, you know, to kind of

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Speaker 1: impress Lebron. You can see Steph showing off with Jimmy Butler.

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Speaker 1: Lebron's kind of showing off with Luca. I mean, it's

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Speaker 1: just it's it's ego, it's fun. You finally got your match.

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Speaker 1: And the players I meant, Steph is more efficient. Lebron's

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Speaker 1: playing with an energy of a twenty seven year old.

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Speaker 1: So so, but somebody pointed this out to me yesterday

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Speaker 1: because I watched the entire game. They said, look at

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Speaker 1: the energy of Jason Tatum on both ends of the floor,

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Speaker 1: and Luca has bad stretches like right now, like he

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Speaker 1: has these four or five minutes or longer moments on

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Speaker 1: the floor and you're like, bro, you're just you're a

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Speaker 1: negative right now, like you're you're just getting beat off

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Speaker 1: the ball. And do you think this is something Luca

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Speaker 1: because you're nodding your head, you're seeing it too. Does

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Speaker 1: Luca play himself in the better shape or did Dallas

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Speaker 1: with their concerns about these consistent calf injuries about not

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Speaker 1: being in shape and lifestyle. Do you think we're getting

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Speaker 1: eighty percent in Los Angeles of Luca that some of

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Speaker 1: the videos on the internet that show him three years

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Speaker 1: ago through he was tomahawk in it and you're like,

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Speaker 1: not really quite what I see? Now? What is your

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Speaker 1: take on where Luca's at and where he'll end up

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Speaker 1: as a Laker.

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Speaker 3: So that's a tough game for under any circumstances, to

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Speaker 3: go on the road in Boston. A Boston team that's

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Speaker 3: had some disappointing losses at home this year and was

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Speaker 3: kind of itching for they were itching for a signature win,

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Speaker 3: Like the Celtics really wanted that one. I mean, you

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Speaker 3: could tell the level of intensity they brought right from

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Speaker 3: the opening tip. It's a tough game under any circumstances.

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Speaker 3: Luca is not yet back into his peak shape. It's

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Speaker 3: gonna take a little while to get there. I actually

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00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,320
Speaker 3: think it'll be somewhat there's a little bit of a

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Speaker 3: blessing in disguise with the Lebron injury, because Lebron has

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Speaker 3: been going full bore since like mid January, and it

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00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,119
Speaker 3: was kind of inevitable that there'd be some sort of

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Speaker 3: nagging thing that would arise over the course of this stretch.

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Speaker 3: And I actually think it'll be pretty nice for Lebron

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Speaker 3: to get like a month off here, a couple weeks

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Speaker 3: off here, just to take a little break before the postseason.

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Speaker 3: That'll get more time for Luca to really lean into usage,

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Speaker 3: to really lean into having the ball in his hands

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Speaker 3: and build his rhythm back. That said, like, this goes

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Speaker 3: back to the Dallas series. The Dallas Series is a

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Speaker 3: different type of challenge the Dallas Boston series. In the finals,

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00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,359
Speaker 3: it was a different type of challenge because Boston had

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Speaker 3: all sorts of dudes that they could help off of.

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Speaker 3: They were putting chrisops Porzingis onto PJ. Washington and Derek

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Speaker 3: Jones Junior and leaving him under the basket. The Lakers

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00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:45,840
Speaker 3: will be able to create more space for him, But

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Speaker 3: he wasn't even getting past Jalen Brown for the most part.

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Speaker 3: Last night, like just one on one, Jalen Brown had

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Speaker 3: him in clamps and was bringing a ton of physicality,

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Speaker 3: and like, there's this kind of recurring theme I've seen

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Speaker 3: ogn Andobi did a little bit on Thursday night. I

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Speaker 3: don't know if you I caught the Knicks game, it

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00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,960
Speaker 3: was kind of a little bit similar in that game.

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Speaker 3: All the way back to the second round series with

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Speaker 3: Oklahoma City last year, lou Dort gave Lucas some issues.

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Speaker 3: Lucas struggles with the really big and strong forwards that

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Speaker 3: can guard, and so there's a little mini challenge here.

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Speaker 3: If the Lakers are going to be able to defeat

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Speaker 3: a team like Boston in the finals, Luca's going to

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Speaker 3: have to overcome the Jalen Brown problem. But as far

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Speaker 3: as the big picture goes, he's twenty five years old.

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Speaker 3: He's playing alongside one of the greatest work ethic dudes

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Speaker 3: you're going to meet in the league, one of the

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Speaker 3: greatest take care of your body type of dudes that

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Speaker 3: you see in the league. I think Luca's going to

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Speaker 3: get to a level of better conditioning. That said, I

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Speaker 3: don't think he's going to be the dude who had

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Speaker 3: like seventeen dunks in his rookie year. I think those shit,

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Speaker 3: I think that shit might have sailed.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: You know it's interesting with the Celtics because Tatum played

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Speaker 1: very well. And you know, I say this often on

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Speaker 1: the show, that there's a real gap in them in

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Speaker 1: what fans view as hate and what I view as contextualization.

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Speaker 1: So every time I talk about Jason Tatum, I always

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Speaker 1: say he's great. He's a great player. He's a top

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Speaker 1: eight player in the league. I don't believe he's top three.

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Speaker 1: I trust Sja offensively more, trust Jokich is all around better.

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Speaker 1: I trust Jannis defensively more. I think Luca at his

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Speaker 1: best is a better, more natural offensive player. Hell, if

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Speaker 1: you gave me one quarter to win it all game seven,

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Speaker 1: I take Lebron over Jason Tatum. I actually would. But

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Speaker 1: he's a great player. He's going to be a Hall

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Speaker 1: of Famer. He's a nice kid. But I've said this,

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Speaker 1: there are games where I'm like, where is he? Is

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Speaker 1: he on the floor? Now, this was not one of them.

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Speaker 1: He was terrific and I've watched him now play live

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Speaker 1: three or four times. I get to the arena early

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Speaker 1: he's the first guy on the floor. But it is interesting.

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Speaker 1: People get very upset about this, and I've said this

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Speaker 1: in the Olympics, when you're playing with the world's best players.

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Speaker 1: He was a coach's decision do not play against Serbia,

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Speaker 1: and he had two in the gold medal game, and

426
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,600
Speaker 1: that Lebron and Steph flourished in those games. So there

427
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: are players that sometimes are around great players. Lebron was

428
00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,199
Speaker 1: like this very early in his first Olympics. He was like,

429
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 1: finally it opened up more of Lebron. And then there

430
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 1: are players that actually love playing within a system. I

431
00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: think Jason is one of those players. I think his God,

432
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,160
Speaker 1: his DNA is he's a teammate. You know, he likes

433
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,200
Speaker 1: being part of a collective. He chose Duke so he

434
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 1: could play with other great players, right like like Shryzewsky

435
00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,320
Speaker 1: makes you play defense. He was there with the you know,

436
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:29,719
Speaker 1: Grayson Allen, Luke Cannard, if I'm remembering right, Like, so,

437
00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: my take is I think he's a star. I think

438
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 1: the NBA's only ever had three true faces of the League, Magic,

439
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,960
Speaker 1: Michael Lebron. I think Bird was a reluctant because he

440
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: was conjoined with Magic. He was facing the league, but

441
00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 1: Magic was the face of the league. He he loved it.

442
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: You know, French Lick, Indiana pimples on the face, grumpy

443
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: Larry Bird didn't feel face of the league. But you

444
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 1: know you join him at the hit with Magic, and

445
00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: it's like Okay and Shaq and Kobe. I think you

446
00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,560
Speaker 1: could argue as a pair or face the league for

447
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,560
Speaker 1: several years. Duncan never was a team, never was. Karl

448
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: Malone never was. So what do you make of kind

449
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,280
Speaker 1: of my criticism of Tatum. It's not a criticism. It's

450
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: more like, listen, at any one time, the NBA has

451
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 1: two faces or one face of the league, two global stars,

452
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: and about fifteen other stars Carmelo Anthony, guys, is that

453
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:22,680
Speaker 1: unrealistic to say? No?

454
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,639
Speaker 3: I mean, I heard your rant about Jason Tatum, and frankly, like,

455
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 3: there is truth to the fact that Tatum lacks like

456
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:35,639
Speaker 3: the traditional NBA aura right, Like, he's a good dunker,

457
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 3: but he's not Vince Carter. He's a good shooter, but

458
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:42,600
Speaker 3: he's not Kevin Durant. He's big and strong, but he's

459
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,879
Speaker 3: not Lebron. He's a good playmaker, but he's not Luka Doncic.

460
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 3: He's a good defender, but he's not what Kawhi Leonard

461
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 3: was in his prime, and he doesn't really have a

462
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 3: very big personality, So like it's really hard to like

463
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 3: put together you know, something specific about Jason Tatum to

464
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,280
Speaker 3: like market really well as far as like face of

465
00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:06,360
Speaker 3: the league type of stuff that said, like he's really

466
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 3: good at all of those things. Still yees, he's become

467
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 3: like just by virtue of him being a jack of

468
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 3: all trades, he's become one of the most useful players

469
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 3: in the entire NBA. This has kind of been the

470
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 3: interesting trajectory of Jason Tatum's career if you go back

471
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,879
Speaker 3: into early years in like eighteen nineteen twenty. In those years,

472
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 3: Tatum was like projected to be one of the best

473
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 3: shooting forwards in the league. He had some unbelievable jump

474
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 3: shooting seasons during that stretch. Then what happened was is

475
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 3: he started to bulk up and he got really big

476
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 3: and strong, and it greatly improved his defensive versatility. He

477
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 3: improved as a playmaker. But in that stretch twenty twenty one,

478
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, his jump shot

479
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 3: fell apart and became super unreliable to the point where

480
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 3: it was like sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't.

481
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:54,920
Speaker 3: Fifty in a playoff game, he'll have seventeen in a

482
00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:56,800
Speaker 3: playoff game, you know, Like it became one of those

483
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,720
Speaker 3: things where he couldn't rely on the jump shot. Honestly,

484
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,359
Speaker 3: I think think the Team USA situation right off of

485
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 3: the heels of last year's playoff run, as he shot

486
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,679
Speaker 3: very poorly in the playoffs on jump shots and then

487
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,160
Speaker 3: he shot what for sixteen with Team USA. I think

488
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 3: he got humiliated and spent the entire summer in the gym,

489
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 3: and he's added like a reliable jump shot to the

490
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,360
Speaker 3: Swiss army knife that he already was, and now it's

491
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 3: one of those things where, like I agree with you,

492
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,399
Speaker 3: I think Jokic is better. I think Giannis is better.

493
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 3: I think Shay's better. I think Luka Doncic is better.

494
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,680
Speaker 3: I think if you asked like league average role players

495
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,679
Speaker 3: alongside all those players, I think Tatum is behind those guys.

496
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 3: But I do think he's closer to that tier or

497
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 3: in that tier at the bottom as opposed to the

498
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 3: next set of guys. Like when you look at the

499
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,120
Speaker 3: next set of guys like, I think Tatum brings more

500
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 3: on a night in, night out basis than Anthony Davis does.

501
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,359
Speaker 3: I think Tatum brings more on a night in night

502
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,119
Speaker 3: out basis than that next tier guys, Kevin Durant, Lebron,

503
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 3: James Stephka. I think he deserves credit for being like

504
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 3: a foundational, reliable, you can count on this dude type

505
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,120
Speaker 3: of superstar. But I also think everything you said regarding

506
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,240
Speaker 3: he does not have a flash point in his skill set.

507
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,639
Speaker 3: There's nothing on that. There's not well think about that.

508
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 3: You can close your eyes.

509
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:15,879
Speaker 1: I've said this and I can think of like five

510
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,680
Speaker 1: Michael plays, six Lebron plays a bunch of magic bird.

511
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: You close your eyes with Tatum and you're like, it's

512
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,000
Speaker 1: like Carl Malone. I don't have a Carl Malone play.

513
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,800
Speaker 1: I don't have a Duncan play. There is something about

514
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 1: the persona, the or the imagery that his face of

515
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 1: the league. Okay, so I watch most of the Nuggets

516
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,120
Speaker 1: thunder game. I missed the first quarter, but Shay went

517
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 1: off for forty. Of course, this week Jokich had a

518
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,680
Speaker 1: you know, a thirty twenty twenty plus game, right, It's

519
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 1: I think it was the first time ever in league history,

520
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: and somebody to do that. So I love Jokic. I

521
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 1: thought he should have won three straight and Bead was

522
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 1: sort of gifted one. But I'll tell you why I

523
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,800
Speaker 1: would give it to Sga. I'd give it to Shaye.

524
00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:00,040
Speaker 1: So I've said this on many occasions. Words matter, and

525
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: get in trouble for the wrong word, but you have

526
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: to watch the words. It's most valuable. Now. Production is

527
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 1: a huge component to value, right like valuable is I mean,

528
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 1: I always say this, Moms are usually the most valuable

529
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,639
Speaker 1: person in a house. Dad may make more, the kids

530
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 1: may have a brighter future. Mom's the MVP, she's the glue,

531
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 1: and she's super productive, right Like, at least in my house,

532
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,200
Speaker 1: mom was the most valuable player dad. My dad was

533
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 1: the local optometrist. He paid the bills. So Jokic, you

534
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 1: can argue, is more productive. Okay, but he's playing with

535
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 1: Gordon Porter, Jamal Murray and a coach that's got a

536
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,680
Speaker 1: ring thanks to Jokich SGA, And this is about fifteen

537
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: percent of it. As a better defender. SGA plays with

538
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,640
Speaker 1: a roster that is so young it only averages one

539
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,320
Speaker 1: year older than the Auburn Tigers roster. So he is

540
00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 1: playing with kids, and that matters. They're still figuring out

541
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,199
Speaker 1: how to play basketball. Not to mention chet Homekin, you know,

542
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 1: has been out for a while. I mean, you can

543
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: argue outside of Shade, nobody else on that roster none

544
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: of their best offensive players have even hit their prime yet.

545
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 1: So and that's one of the reasons I worry about

546
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 1: them in the playoffs winning big road games with this

547
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,560
Speaker 1: young roster. So based on the fact that his production

548
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 1: isn't Jokic, but it's damn good. He's a better defender,

549
00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,919
Speaker 1: he's carrying a younger roster and didn't have homegrun for

550
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:38,280
Speaker 1: a spell, I would narrowly give Shaye the MVP. What

551
00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:39,440
Speaker 1: say you, So?

552
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 3: I actually think Shay has a decent sized lead it

553
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,000
Speaker 3: really let's just get to the foundational piece of the case.

554
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 3: He's twelve games ahead of Denver and the standings twelve.

555
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:55,080
Speaker 3: That's an enormous gap between those two teams, and so

556
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 3: when you start to make a case for Jokic, it

557
00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 3: needs to be overwhelming. And there are some things with

558
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 3: Jokic that I think are realities. I think Jokic is

559
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 3: a better basketball player than Shake Gildas Alexander Same. I

560
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 3: think Denver would fall apart more than OKC would fall

561
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 3: apart if the two players were removed. But that's never

562
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 3: been the way that we've given MVP. It's never been

563
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,480
Speaker 3: sheer value in a vacuum. It's never been who's the

564
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 3: guy that we think is the best player for a

565
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 3: sixteen win playoff front, right, That's never been the way

566
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 3: we've done it. It's always been a combination of a

567
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 3: bunch of factors, team success, your individual value, like your

568
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,479
Speaker 3: reputation in the league. There's always been a narrative element

569
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 3: that's regardless of how we want to pretend like it

570
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 3: should be factored in, it does get factored in. There's narrative,

571
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 3: there's momentum, there's all of that kind of stuff. It's

572
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 3: kind of like the Jokic thirty twenty twenty game. It's like,

573
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,120
Speaker 3: here we are two thirds of the way through the season,

574
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,600
Speaker 3: Jokic puts together a stat line that's never happened in

575
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 3: NBA history. Hey, let's revisit this thing. Even though the

576
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 3: thunder have been consistently a better basketball team this year,

577
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 3: I think two things. One, Shay's having a much better

578
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 3: offensive season than pep are giving him credit for. You

579
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:06,720
Speaker 3: mentioned the youth. The youth for the thunder manifests an inconsistency.

580
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 3: J Dubb is an incredible player. He is what twenty

581
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,719
Speaker 3: two or he's young. He's super inconsistent. Chet incredible player.

582
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 3: He's young. He's gonna make mistakes. He's not a guy

583
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:21,040
Speaker 3: that's super dependable night in night out. He's shot twenty

584
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,680
Speaker 3: something percent from three in the series against Dallas last year.

585
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:27,000
Speaker 3: Shae is the grown up in the room. Shae is

586
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 3: the night to night guy. So many of these games

587
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,720
Speaker 3: break down for the thunder against good teams in particular,

588
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 3: So many of these games break down where it looks

589
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 3: like every single Thunder player is uncomfortable and a little

590
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,960
Speaker 3: bit like a little bit like kind of shying away

591
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 3: from the moment and ches and Shae has to grab

592
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,960
Speaker 3: the reins and like control things and like as Chet's

593
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:49,920
Speaker 3: been out of the lineup a bunch this year. As

594
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,640
Speaker 3: Jay Dubb has had a down shooting season and he's

595
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 3: coming on as of late, but he's had a down

596
00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 3: shooting season. Shay's been carrying him through that. Shay has

597
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 3: been the guy that has lifted their elite defense to

598
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 3: the point where they can win games, and so I

599
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,760
Speaker 3: think he deserves more credit than that. The second piece

600
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,720
Speaker 3: of it is a reality with Denver. Denver has lost

601
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 3: a lot of games this year because they can't guard

602
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,480
Speaker 3: oh at all, and Jokic, for the record, in the

603
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three postseason, had a very good playoff run Defensively,

604
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 3: he is capable of having good moments on defense. However,

605
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,040
Speaker 3: there is a simple reality with Jokic that causes a

606
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,760
Speaker 3: lot of problems for Denver's defense. He cannot switch onto

607
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 3: perimeter players and he can't play on his heels back

608
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:37,920
Speaker 3: at the rim because guys just jump right over him

609
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,360
Speaker 3: and go around him. That forces Jokic to come out

610
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 3: to the level of ball screens and put two on

611
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:50,160
Speaker 3: the ball. So Denver persistently exists in rotation. They persistently

612
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 3: exist in four on threes. That's how the Suns score

613
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 3: on them so easily. That's how the Lakers scored on

614
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 3: them so easily. That is the problem that they consistently

615
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,440
Speaker 3: run into is Jokic has to come up to the level.

616
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,240
Speaker 3: When he comes up to the level, it's a simple

617
00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,080
Speaker 3: pocket passer skip pass, and they're playing four on three

618
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,040
Speaker 3: out of it, and they just haven't been very good

619
00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 3: defensively this year on the back line rotating out of it,

620
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 3: and so they just haven't been as good. Their defense

621
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 3: is bad. Jokich is a significant part of that. I

622
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 3: think that gets factored into this debate. And so when

623
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,480
Speaker 3: I really look at it in the big picture, there's

624
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 3: not enough for Jokisch, even though I think he's having

625
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 3: an unbelievable season, arguably the best offensive season ever. But

626
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,440
Speaker 3: if you look at it, it's not enough to justify

627
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 3: that twelve game gap in the standings and then to

628
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 3: tie things up. Shades drop forty on them today as

629
00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 3: they got to win.

630
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, No, I think we're on the same page. Well,

631
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: I've set it before. Fubo is one of my favorite

632
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,120
Speaker 1: ways to watch sports, College basketball, NBA. It doesn't matter

633
00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 1: what the sport is. Fubo TV delivers. I watch it

634
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,280
Speaker 1: constantly on airplanes if I'm in my car and I'm

635
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,000
Speaker 1: driving and I want to stay up to night in

636
00:32:57,040 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 1: the game, FuboTV dot Com slash Colin will get fifty

637
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: dollars off for two months of Fubo TV, and the

638
00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,200
Speaker 1: Masters is going to be on it. Major League Baseball

639
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,880
Speaker 1: is going to be on it. It's just in my life.

640
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:13,800
Speaker 1: I can't always be in front of a TV, but

641
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,080
Speaker 1: I want to stay up to date on what's happening

642
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:24,400
Speaker 1: in sports. Fubo TV dot Com slash Colin fifty bucks

643
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 1: off two months Fubo. And now for our next segment,

644
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 1: Whiskey Business, brought to you by Green River Whiskey, the

645
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 1: official whiskey of the Colin Cowhard Podcast. If you want

646
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Speaker 1: to enjoy life simple pleasures, reach for Green River Whiskey.

647
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648
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649
00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:48,840
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650
00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: in a bottle today. You know it's God. I would

651
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:59,440
Speaker 1: have I thought. A month before it happened, I said, Warriors,

652
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,640
Speaker 1: just get Jimmy Butler. I don't care what analytics say.

653
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:09,360
Speaker 1: Steph is sleepwalking. And I remember saying, Butler's the anti Wiggins,

654
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: Like every possession is intentional, totally intense, everything's a street fight.

655
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:17,759
Speaker 1: I always thought Wiggins was talented, a little passive. You know,

656
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,080
Speaker 1: you didn't know possession of possession if he was engaged

657
00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:22,400
Speaker 1: I think we talked about this last time, so I

658
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,800
Speaker 1: thought Butler would be a big help. It is amazing

659
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,200
Speaker 1: there were eleven and two since Jimmy Butler arrived. What's

660
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,800
Speaker 1: interesting now, if you start looking at their playoff position,

661
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: they could end up against Houston, which I think is

662
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,520
Speaker 1: the dream scenario for Golden State because Houston can't shoot,

663
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,839
Speaker 1: Like that's the team you want to play. A young

664
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,719
Speaker 1: team that struggles shooting, you can beat Golden State. You know,

665
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: they don't have a ton of offensive firepower from the

666
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:53,319
Speaker 1: perimeter outside of Steph Pods a little bit. But when

667
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:58,319
Speaker 1: you watch the Warriors, it's really interesting. Oklahoma City again

668
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,200
Speaker 1: is tremendous def team, but I don't trust them, okay

669
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: seeing a big road playoff game. They're too young. I

670
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,239
Speaker 1: think Golden State has a lower ceiling, but an incredibly

671
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,800
Speaker 1: high floor. And I think outside of maybe at Cleveland,

672
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,879
Speaker 1: Boston could go seven games with almost anybody. Is there

673
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:20,839
Speaker 1: a team let's just look ahead. Is there a team

674
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 1: the Warriors would not want to face in the West

675
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 1: and the playoffs that you just don't think is a

676
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:32,080
Speaker 1: good matchup at all. Well, that's an interesting question because Dallas,

677
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:38,160
Speaker 1: if healthy, would be tough with Gafford Lively ad they're

678
00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 1: center rotations great, They're a big team, and I could

679
00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: see that team slowing it down and being just a

680
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:47,480
Speaker 1: handful for the Warriors. But I think they're going to

681
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,719
Speaker 1: go into a soft tank here and just keep everybody out.

682
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a terrible idea. So Minnesota, if

683
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:55,440
Speaker 1: they had the twin Towers, you know, if they had

684
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 1: Cat and go Bear could be problematic. But I sort

685
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,880
Speaker 1: of look at the West, I'm like, I don't know,

686
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:04,080
Speaker 1: is there a team.

687
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna get out of the plane. It's

688
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 3: been really fascinating just how immediately good they've been, and

689
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 3: it's been kind of like a kind of a proof

690
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 3: of concept for me about roster balance. Just like, no

691
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,319
Speaker 3: matter what you're doing, if you ever ask somebody to

692
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,279
Speaker 3: do too much, they're gonna be inefficient, they're gonna start

693
00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 3: making mistakes. And there were so many role players for

694
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:23,839
Speaker 3: that team that were being asked to do so much

695
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 3: more than they're doing now because there was no Jimmy,

696
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 3: and Jimmy's come in and just like crystallize everyone's roles

697
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,719
Speaker 3: and everyone just has consistent minutes in the rotation. Now,

698
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:34,080
Speaker 3: and everything's coming together for them, they're gonna get out

699
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,680
Speaker 3: of the plane. In my opinion, if that's the case,

700
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 3: it's the team that I would want to face if

701
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:41,960
Speaker 3: I was. Golden State is a team that they can

702
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 3: load up on defensively, and so I think a team

703
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 3: like Denver, if they got the six to three matchup

704
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,960
Speaker 3: against a team like Denver, that'd be good. Memphis is

705
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 3: another team like that that is a poor spot up

706
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:55,600
Speaker 3: team that they could load the paint up on. The

707
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:57,359
Speaker 3: Other thing I like we talked about earlier with being

708
00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 3: able to bring Yokic up to the level Steph is

709
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 3: that Steph is the guy that will consistently get Denver's

710
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,719
Speaker 3: defense into rotation, and now they have Jimmy Butler to

711
00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:07,960
Speaker 3: be the guy that kind of helps pay off those sequences,

712
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 3: as he's been so good in the middle of the

713
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,440
Speaker 3: floor this year. I think, yeah, I would lean towards

714
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,960
Speaker 3: if I was. The problem with the Lakers is Lebron

715
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 3: and Luca will just hunt their small guards all day

716
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,680
Speaker 3: long in space, and I think that that could be

717
00:37:20,719 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 3: a problem for them and the Laker defense, like we

718
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:26,000
Speaker 3: talked about earlier, is keyed up on the ability to

719
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 3: help off of people, and there are a couple guys

720
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 3: for Golden State that they feel like they can help

721
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 3: off of. So I think Denver if they got into

722
00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,400
Speaker 3: that sixth spot, I'd be looking at if Denver slipped

723
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 3: to the three as a potential matchup that they could upset.

724
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:41,160
Speaker 3: Houston and Memphis, to me, are both gettable. I look

725
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,320
Speaker 3: at it as I don't know about how you feel, Colin,

726
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 3: but I think there's a five team inner circle. I

727
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 3: think it's Boston and Cleveland out east, and I think

728
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:52,520
Speaker 3: it's ok See, Denver and the Lakers out west. I

729
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 3: think those five teams are the like if those five

730
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 3: teams are the teams that have substantial chances to win

731
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,080
Speaker 3: the championship. Behind that, all of those teams I think

732
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,239
Speaker 3: are pretty heavily flawed. Golden State has been really good

733
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,640
Speaker 3: since the Jimmy Butler trade, but they've played a relatively

734
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 3: light schedule, so I'd like to see a little bit

735
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,399
Speaker 3: more before I decide where they kind of fit into

736
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,239
Speaker 3: all of this. Like the Lakers before they beat before

737
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:19,400
Speaker 3: they lost to Boston, they beat fourteen straight five hundred

738
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 3: or better teams like that. That's how good the Lakers

739
00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,719
Speaker 3: were playing before that. Celtics game. I'm not going to

740
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,080
Speaker 3: bail on them because they flew across the country after

741
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 3: a bunch of after a beatal schedule in last.

742
00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:32,720
Speaker 1: And missing and missing two of the longest players.

743
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, two vitally important starters. They're vertical spacer and Jackson Hait. Like,

744
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 3: how how often did you see Jared Vanderbilt catch the

745
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 3: ball under the basket yesterday with no idea what to

746
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 3: do because he can't finish over anybody. But like that,

747
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 3: that's the thing, Like I I kind of have a

748
00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:48,520
Speaker 3: feeling that the Lakers are one of the inner circle

749
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,759
Speaker 3: teams because I've just seen them be so good for

750
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,360
Speaker 3: so long against so many good teams. I want to

751
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,439
Speaker 3: see a little bit more like from Golden State, because

752
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 3: I do think they can enter into that group. But

753
00:38:58,160 --> 00:38:59,839
Speaker 3: I just want to see a little bit more from them.

754
00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 3: But I think between Denver and LA i'd want to

755
00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 3: play Denver if I was then.

756
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 1: You know, I was thinking about this topic. I didn't

757
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,360
Speaker 1: do it on TV because I didn't know if it

758
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:14,439
Speaker 1: was worthy. Stephen A. Smith Lebron James had that interaction right,

759
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:18,439
Speaker 1: and you know, it's funny. I've always been a fan

760
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 1: of Lebron and I know stephen A. I text him

761
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:27,440
Speaker 1: twice recently, a former teammate over at ESPN, and I'm

762
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,880
Speaker 1: always sensitive. I'm glad my son and daughter did not

763
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,719
Speaker 1: choose broadcasting. I wouldn't want him to be compared to

764
00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 1: their dad. And if they got criticized, my take his well,

765
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:42,440
Speaker 1: you got into this business. So you know. My first

766
00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:48,280
Speaker 1: reaction is, Bronnie James is a Laker because Clutch Sports

767
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,279
Speaker 1: and Lebron James made sure everybody knew we want him

768
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: to be a Laker. He was not a dominant college player.

769
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,200
Speaker 1: In fact, his size and skill set is really not

770
00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,160
Speaker 1: that of an NBA player, but not a point guard.

771
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:03,560
Speaker 1: Not a lot of six to two off guards in

772
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: NBA history, and right now he's not shooting particularly well.

773
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:10,839
Speaker 1: He's athletic, he's a good kid, smart. I think he

774
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,279
Speaker 1: was draftable. It was one of the weaker drafts. I

775
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 1: defended the Lakers drafting him a great draft. Maybe not

776
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 1: in this draft, which was one of the weaker draft,

777
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 1: but every fourth or fifth NBA draft. You know, this

778
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:26,840
Speaker 1: draft coming up is very domestic and very very interesting.

779
00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 1: At the top, there's some really good players from great programs.

780
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,840
Speaker 1: Last year was an international draft, and a lot of

781
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:35,319
Speaker 1: projecting didn't have a problem being draft. You know, it

782
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,120
Speaker 1: was a bit of a flex for Clutch Sports on

783
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,920
Speaker 1: Lebron to get him in LA, kind of a power flex.

784
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 1: And again, you're making eight million bucks. You were wedged

785
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 1: into an organization that probably, you know, in most years,

786
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: wouldn't have drafted a player of your skill level. I

787
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:58,040
Speaker 1: tend to defend journalists having the right to opinions, and

788
00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:02,200
Speaker 1: people say, well, you know, it's it's you know, here's

789
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:08,840
Speaker 1: one of the things where I think Lebron James in

790
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:11,399
Speaker 1: his mind is doing the right thing. Don't bad mouth

791
00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: my son. But I've seen many broadcasters get their kids

792
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,480
Speaker 1: into broadcasting and their kids aren't very good. Some are,

793
00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:21,960
Speaker 1: some are not. And that's the reality of a public

794
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 1: facing job. Mayor basketball player, sportscaster. You know you're not

795
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,759
Speaker 1: you know you're not. You know, this is not a

796
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,839
Speaker 1: job that's you know, you write annuities or you're in

797
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,840
Speaker 1: waste management. Like everybody knows his name. So my take is, listen,

798
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,879
Speaker 1: you you have an eight million dollar contract. You're fair game,

799
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 1: right that that's the way it goes. But you played basketball. No,

800
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 1: Lebron his kind of ideology, the way he thinks. What

801
00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:50,200
Speaker 1: was your sort of take on it?

802
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 3: You know, it's interesting. I've been thinking so much about

803
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 3: this over the course of the last couple of weeks

804
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:57,480
Speaker 3: because it's a dynamic that I relate to a certain extent.

805
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,840
Speaker 3: I remember, like when I was playing at Arizona Christian

806
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:03,600
Speaker 3: when I was in Naia. I remember like watching a

807
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:07,280
Speaker 3: broadcast of a game and I was having a brutal

808
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,120
Speaker 3: shooting season when I was in college. This was the

809
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,960
Speaker 3: one this is the season that I had my worst

810
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,799
Speaker 3: three point shooting season. It was I was in my head.

811
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 3: I was in this like small role where I was

812
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,320
Speaker 3: doing taking all these catch and shoot threes out of

813
00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:18,840
Speaker 3: the corner, and I was just having a brutal offensive season,

814
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,040
Speaker 3: and so I was struggling with it. And I heard

815
00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,080
Speaker 3: this announcer who was announcing one of the games like

816
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 3: talking junk about me in the broadcast, and I remember

817
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,000
Speaker 3: getting like super upset about it because I'm like, I'm

818
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 3: taking three hundred shots a day. I'm doing everything I

819
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 3: can to fix this problem, and this like dude who

820
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:37,359
Speaker 3: has no idea what I'm doing, is criticizing the way

821
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 3: that I'm playing, and like I think about that a

822
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 3: lot from NBA players, where I get it, like me

823
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,720
Speaker 3: relative to an NBA player, even as someone who played

824
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:48,200
Speaker 3: me relative to an NBA player, I don't. I don't

825
00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:51,880
Speaker 3: have the cachet or the or the reputation to be

826
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:54,399
Speaker 3: able to criticize the greatest basketball players in the world.

827
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,760
Speaker 3: And so on a certain level, I sympathize with the plight.

828
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,560
Speaker 3: But then what you said is the is the most

829
00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:07,200
Speaker 3: important context there. We chose a career that exists in

830
00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 3: the public view. I have a relatively small platform among

831
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 3: the big shots in the media world. I deal with

832
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:17,719
Speaker 3: a shit ton of negativity every day. I can't even

833
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:19,839
Speaker 3: imagine what you deal with. We won't even go there.

834
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:24,120
Speaker 3: But there's just this outrageous amount of negativity. To your point, Colin, like,

835
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:26,839
Speaker 3: I'm living the dream. I love my job. I love

836
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:28,759
Speaker 3: the flexibility that I have. I love that I get

837
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:31,640
Speaker 3: to talk about the game of basketball. This opportunity that

838
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,880
Speaker 3: you have given me has changed my life infinitely for

839
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 3: the better. And so I would never sit there and

840
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:41,239
Speaker 3: hyper focus on this specific part of my job that's

841
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 3: a negative because it's just so worth it. And that's

842
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:46,120
Speaker 3: really what it comes down to, is like from the

843
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 3: NBA player's perspective, it's just the reality of the predicament

844
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:51,839
Speaker 3: that they're in. They have this wonderful life that comes

845
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:54,000
Speaker 3: from being a professional basketball player, but it comes with

846
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,840
Speaker 3: this criticism. The second piece of it is, to me,

847
00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:01,440
Speaker 3: the criticism is authentic and necessary. And I was thankful

848
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,719
Speaker 3: in Lebron's tweet thread that he included in there like hey,

849
00:44:04,719 --> 00:44:07,759
Speaker 3: when players fail, we need to discuss it. And I'm

850
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 3: so glad he said that, because here's the thing. Sports

851
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,759
Speaker 3: are nasty. They're mean, they're violent, you talk shit, you

852
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:14,840
Speaker 3: step on each other to get to the finish line.

853
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,920
Speaker 3: It is inherently nasty, and there's a winner and a loser,

854
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:21,400
Speaker 3: and in order for us to discuss the winner and

855
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:24,799
Speaker 3: the loser, it inherently requires us to be critical from

856
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,839
Speaker 3: time to time. It is part of the job. If

857
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:29,160
Speaker 3: we came on every day and we just only said

858
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,000
Speaker 3: nice things about players, we'd have no credibility. There's a

859
00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:35,520
Speaker 3: certain amount of this to where it makes it mean

860
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:39,080
Speaker 3: more when we say a player succeeds if we also

861
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:42,759
Speaker 3: criticize them when they fail. My thing with it is like,

862
00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,160
Speaker 3: just make sure you're doing your homework, Like if you're

863
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:48,680
Speaker 3: going to criticize someone, make sure it's based in the homework,

864
00:44:48,719 --> 00:44:49,959
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Because I got a certain

865
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,160
Speaker 3: point if you're just talking shit to talk shit. Now

866
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:55,160
Speaker 3: we're entering down a darker path. But I've found this

867
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,440
Speaker 3: really fascinating because on one hand, I relate to players,

868
00:44:57,719 --> 00:44:59,279
Speaker 3: but on the other hand, like this is just the

869
00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:01,040
Speaker 3: reality of the situation that we're in.

870
00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:03,480
Speaker 1: That Yeah, that's why I asked you. Yeah, because you know,

871
00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:06,919
Speaker 1: you played college basketball, and I've I've tried to never

872
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,040
Speaker 1: make it personal. Although you know, like I said for

873
00:45:10,160 --> 00:45:13,120
Speaker 1: years about Carmelo Anthony, I'm like, man, if you're not

874
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:16,279
Speaker 1: willing to play defense, James Harden I felt the same way,

875
00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:21,160
Speaker 1: you're not a great teammate because defense's effort. Offense is

876
00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:23,560
Speaker 1: a lot of skill, it's a lot of fun. Playing

877
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:27,600
Speaker 1: defense sucks, it's hard. So what you're basically saying if

878
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,200
Speaker 1: you won't defend, and I feel this about Luca, is yeah,

879
00:45:30,239 --> 00:45:33,440
Speaker 1: I'm kind of above that. Well, the utter ten guys aren't.

880
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 1: So I've always thought when players don't commit to the

881
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:40,360
Speaker 1: defensive end, I think less of them. And you're kind of,

882
00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:42,000
Speaker 1: you know, you're kind of sending a message to the

883
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: teammates say you do that, I'll do the fun part.

884
00:45:46,440 --> 00:45:49,120
Speaker 1: And so that's one of the reasons I've always respected

885
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:52,880
Speaker 1: Lebron Is in his defense in the last twenty games, Jesus,

886
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:54,680
Speaker 1: it doesn't even make sense for a forty year old.

887
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,040
Speaker 1: So and I've always been a huge Lebron fan, and

888
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:03,040
Speaker 1: I actually supported the Lake drafting Bronnie. I supported Bronnie

889
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:05,600
Speaker 1: playing in that game so that father son record could

890
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:08,440
Speaker 1: be set. I'm for it. I was a little critical

891
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:11,839
Speaker 1: when he had one good, really nice G League game

892
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,640
Speaker 1: and they quickly moved him up, you know, to the Lakers,

893
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:18,200
Speaker 1: and I'm like, guys, now you're asking me as a

894
00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:21,160
Speaker 1: broadcaster to lie to the audience and I'm not going

895
00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:24,080
Speaker 1: to do that. Is that he's not an NBA player,

896
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,319
Speaker 1: he may work himself into a you know, eighth ninth

897
00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:30,000
Speaker 1: guy in a roster, and I'm rooting for that because

898
00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:32,040
Speaker 1: I really do think Savannah and Lebron have done a

899
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:36,320
Speaker 1: wonderful job considering this generational wealth. They're good people. They're

900
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:39,719
Speaker 1: grounded as much as you can be. If you're Ronaldo

901
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,239
Speaker 1: Messi Lebron Brady, right like, you just kind of bake

902
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:45,439
Speaker 1: in some of this shit. Ain't normal, right, So it's

903
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:49,160
Speaker 1: just interesting. You know, I think the audience wants me

904
00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:52,279
Speaker 1: to have definitive takes and take a side. But I

905
00:46:52,320 --> 00:46:55,239
Speaker 1: think Steven A. Smith does have a right to be

906
00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:58,200
Speaker 1: honest about Bronnie. But I also get the dad part.

907
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:03,360
Speaker 1: But I do come back to listen the minute you

908
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 1: made that decision to wedge Brownie on to the Lakers.

909
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:17,040
Speaker 1: The most sacred part of sports is the uniform. You

910
00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:20,759
Speaker 1: gave somebody a uniform, and many question whether he is

911
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:24,600
Speaker 1: uniform worthy. At the NBA level, Like you can say

912
00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:28,120
Speaker 1: what you want that owners do and gms do, but

913
00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:34,200
Speaker 1: that uniform, in any sport, that is what makes grown

914
00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 1: men cry. They work twenty years to wear an NBA uniform. Hell,

915
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,400
Speaker 1: it can be a ten day contract, man, If you

916
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:43,319
Speaker 1: get ten days in the NBA, for the rest of

917
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:48,120
Speaker 1: your life. I was an NBA player, And so when

918
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:51,000
Speaker 1: you get somebody to put that jersey on for the

919
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:54,759
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers, there's gonna be some animosity. They got

920
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:56,880
Speaker 1: people going to say, wait a minute, time out, Now,

921
00:47:57,040 --> 00:48:00,439
Speaker 1: come on now, And so it's it's one of those

922
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,080
Speaker 1: I know, I'm supposed to take a side on this,

923
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:05,879
Speaker 1: and I've said this to people privately, I don't talk

924
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:10,680
Speaker 1: about this that, you know, the Ukraine, Putin Zelenski, Russia,

925
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:16,160
Speaker 1: United States, it's way more complic I've watched more video

926
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:20,560
Speaker 1: on that story in the last six months than everything

927
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,720
Speaker 1: except sports. It's there's a lot of complexity with NATO

928
00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:30,600
Speaker 1: and the history of Russia and US, and sometimes, if

929
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 1: I'm ever critical of the media, social media has made

930
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:40,720
Speaker 1: simplicity the go to apparatus, and I think Brownie stephen

931
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,600
Speaker 1: A Lebron, I think it's complicated. I think there's the

932
00:48:43,719 --> 00:48:48,560
Speaker 1: dad thing, there's the history thing, there's the journalist thing.

933
00:48:50,200 --> 00:48:53,720
Speaker 1: And I hated to see it because I love Lebron

934
00:48:54,040 --> 00:48:57,000
Speaker 1: and I really like steven A. Smith. I like them both.

935
00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:59,319
Speaker 1: They're really good at what they do. And I know

936
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:02,000
Speaker 1: that's a considered a soft pedal, but that's how I

937
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,680
Speaker 1: feel about it.

938
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,600
Speaker 3: You know, It's so fascinating because you're asking people to

939
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:09,200
Speaker 3: just bring a little bit of nuance into the discussion

940
00:49:09,239 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 3: with the Lebron stephen A Smith thing, and there's just

941
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 3: none that. It's there's none of that. There's like this

942
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:17,880
Speaker 3: huge anti Lebron He's ruining Bronni's life kind of angle,

943
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:20,360
Speaker 3: and then there's the steven A Smith step to Lebron

944
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,879
Speaker 3: and now he's getting Now Lebron's getting in his face

945
00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:24,880
Speaker 3: and he's paying the price for his actions. And I'm

946
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:26,840
Speaker 3: sitting there and I'm like, I'm reading, I'm doing the

947
00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:29,480
Speaker 3: lip reading when I'm watching Lebron, and he's saying like, like,

948
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:31,560
Speaker 3: keep my son out of this. And to your point,

949
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:34,880
Speaker 3: on a very basic level, Bronni is an NBA player

950
00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:40,000
Speaker 3: with a large profile. He's going to get discussed. Like

951
00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:43,120
Speaker 3: there's no universe where he's not going to be criticized

952
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:43,680
Speaker 3: like that, like and.

953
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:46,520
Speaker 1: Played at USC and Sierra Canyon. He was a high

954
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:49,399
Speaker 1: profile high school player exactly.

955
00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:51,040
Speaker 3: And like and so like to me, it's like, on

956
00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:54,560
Speaker 3: a very basic level, we have to acknowledge stephen A's

957
00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:57,879
Speaker 3: right to discuss Bronni. Like that's just that's that's that's

958
00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:00,040
Speaker 3: very to me. That's a very simple part of it.

959
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:03,360
Speaker 3: But then there's another reality, which is, like, Okay, Lebron

960
00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:05,879
Speaker 3: probably feels like stephen A's used him a little bit

961
00:50:05,920 --> 00:50:07,920
Speaker 3: like a punching bag over the course of the last

962
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:09,960
Speaker 3: year or two, and I think Lebron's sick of it

963
00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:12,320
Speaker 3: and he's lashing out. So on one hand, I'm like, Okay,

964
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:15,319
Speaker 3: I also support Lebron's right to confront stephen A and

965
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:17,400
Speaker 3: be like, hey, dude, what the heck, But like the

966
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:21,319
Speaker 3: specific point he decided to argue regarding his son, it's

967
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:24,000
Speaker 3: hypocritical because to your point, as soon as you elevate

968
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:26,960
Speaker 3: Bronny to this level, how could you possibly hope to

969
00:50:26,960 --> 00:50:29,360
Speaker 3: protect him from that type of criticism. It's part of

970
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:31,880
Speaker 3: the deal. You've dealt. Dealt with it, Lebron. You, Lebron,

971
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:34,680
Speaker 3: you are the most polarizing player in NBA history. Like this,

972
00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 3: you know this?

973
00:50:36,719 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 1: Let me add something else that I think again is nuanced.

974
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:44,600
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I've always been so impressed with

975
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:49,120
Speaker 1: Lebron James. He didn't grow up with a father. Okay,

976
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:58,320
Speaker 1: It's pretty understood that both parents can, over the course

977
00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:02,279
Speaker 1: of time, be very better official to any child who

978
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:06,160
Speaker 1: then becomes an adult. Lebron James has stayed out of trouble,

979
00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:09,520
Speaker 1: and he did not have that guiding strong hand of

980
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:14,080
Speaker 1: a father, and yet you would never know it. He's

981
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:17,759
Speaker 1: been a terrific father, a terrific husband, a wonderful businessman.

982
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:20,920
Speaker 1: He is such a good friend. I know two of

983
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:28,200
Speaker 1: Lebron's friends Lebron's a great friend, and could I argue

984
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:32,440
Speaker 1: that Lebron takes so much pride in being a father

985
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:36,359
Speaker 1: because he did not have that at home, that he

986
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:40,000
Speaker 1: is going to err on the side of overprotective. And

987
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:41,920
Speaker 1: I'm going to defend the hell out of Lebron for

988
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:48,480
Speaker 1: that right. I'm sorry now again. I maybe I'm wrong,

989
00:51:48,680 --> 00:51:51,960
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm too sympathetic. And my dad wasn't always around,

990
00:51:52,520 --> 00:51:54,760
Speaker 1: but he was around enough that I had a dad,

991
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,680
Speaker 1: and he was a local town optometrist, and I was

992
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:03,280
Speaker 1: very proud, and he gave me multiple moments of wisdom

993
00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:08,000
Speaker 1: and advice and a spanking or two when I when

994
00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:10,200
Speaker 1: I turned the sprinkler on as he was trying to

995
00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:13,200
Speaker 1: move it and Flack Flack black hit my dad as

996
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:15,640
Speaker 1: he had his white doctor jacket on heading to work

997
00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: and was soaked and had to go back inside. I

998
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,760
Speaker 1: got spanked that day. I was laughing hysterically for a while.

999
00:52:21,040 --> 00:52:24,480
Speaker 1: So I have these moments in my life where my

1000
00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:26,920
Speaker 1: father had a great impact. I mean, I was talking

1001
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:28,759
Speaker 1: to a friend the other day about a moment that

1002
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:32,400
Speaker 1: my dad said something. He was like, I was twelve

1003
00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:34,800
Speaker 1: years old. It has been with me my entire life,

1004
00:52:35,480 --> 00:52:38,600
Speaker 1: and so maybe I'm just being too overly sympathetic. But

1005
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:41,960
Speaker 1: Lebron didn't have a father at home, and if he's

1006
00:52:42,040 --> 00:52:45,600
Speaker 1: airing on the side of, hey, man, I protect my family,

1007
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:48,799
Speaker 1: this is it for me. Man, I'm this is a

1008
00:52:48,840 --> 00:52:51,640
Speaker 1: bubble that I am gonna if I if I'm airing

1009
00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:55,440
Speaker 1: on the side of overprotective. I got Lebron's back on that.

1010
00:52:56,120 --> 00:52:58,480
Speaker 1: And that's the kind of stuff I think of as

1011
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:01,600
Speaker 1: somebody that's divorced. Six kids are in my life. How

1012
00:53:01,600 --> 00:53:04,359
Speaker 1: do I be a step parent? I think about all

1013
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:08,040
Speaker 1: that stuff. Maybe I'm too old and protective, but I

1014
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:11,520
Speaker 1: just I think it's more complex than steven A is

1015
00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:14,680
Speaker 1: a bad guy and Lebron's a good guy and it's

1016
00:53:14,760 --> 00:53:17,360
Speaker 1: just that's not the way life is, right.

1017
00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:21,720
Speaker 3: No, I agree, And to your point, like there's the

1018
00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:25,719
Speaker 3: the motivating factor is something that all parents can relate to.

1019
00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:27,239
Speaker 3: It kind of goes back to what we were talking

1020
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:30,680
Speaker 3: about just in overall player criticism. Just because the player

1021
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:34,160
Speaker 3: is being unrealistic about the realities of his profession and

1022
00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:37,960
Speaker 3: the fact that criticism comes with that profession, it doesn't

1023
00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:40,480
Speaker 3: make it like I also relate to that player when

1024
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:43,520
Speaker 3: he pushes back and when the player goes like to

1025
00:53:43,719 --> 00:53:46,680
Speaker 3: like today, Kevin Durant tweeted at Skip Bayless like, I

1026
00:53:46,760 --> 00:53:51,080
Speaker 3: also understand the reason why he might want to clap back,

1027
00:53:51,560 --> 00:53:54,239
Speaker 3: even though Kevin Durant should be realistic about the fact

1028
00:53:54,239 --> 00:53:56,120
Speaker 3: that he's one of the greatest players of all time.

1029
00:53:56,520 --> 00:54:03,120
Speaker 3: Therefore media Yeah, so basically, Skip Bayles said that Kevin

1030
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:07,120
Speaker 3: Durant looks like he's already mentally retired, and kat tweeted

1031
00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:08,600
Speaker 3: him and said, I guess that means both of us

1032
00:54:08,640 --> 00:54:09,440
Speaker 3: are washed.

1033
00:54:12,600 --> 00:54:14,800
Speaker 1: By the way I watched that game Katie had twenty

1034
00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:15,120
Speaker 1: one n.

1035
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:20,000
Speaker 3: Katie's been awesome this year. Like the Sun's issues are

1036
00:54:20,040 --> 00:54:24,000
Speaker 3: like entirely organizational Katie's. I think if someone gets Katie

1037
00:54:24,080 --> 00:54:26,920
Speaker 3: this summer, he's gonna walk right in and help a

1038
00:54:26,920 --> 00:54:28,760
Speaker 3: team win a title, or at least get him close.

1039
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:30,640
Speaker 3: Like he's so good, He's so good.

1040
00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:34,319
Speaker 1: Oh, he's so good. I would love to sit down

1041
00:54:34,600 --> 00:54:38,040
Speaker 1: and break bread with Kevin Durant. I really love the guy.

1042
00:54:38,120 --> 00:54:40,640
Speaker 1: I think he's such a fun player. I like everything

1043
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:44,600
Speaker 1: about him. I hated him leaving Golden State, but he's

1044
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:47,640
Speaker 1: such a unique all time player. I love Kevin Durant.

1045
00:54:47,680 --> 00:54:50,640
Speaker 1: I love watching him play I like his quirky personality.

1046
00:54:51,719 --> 00:54:55,080
Speaker 1: Jason Temp, host of Hoops Tonight. This was fantastic. I

1047
00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:57,520
Speaker 1: had some NFL news before you, but this was really good.

1048
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:00,560
Speaker 1: Let me throw this out there, folks. The Steeler are

1049
00:55:00,560 --> 00:55:03,560
Speaker 1: going to sign DK Metcalf to a five year, one

1050
00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:06,480
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty million dollar contract. I'm just telling you

1051
00:55:07,400 --> 00:55:10,279
Speaker 1: I wouldn't do it, and I like DK Metcalf. That

1052
00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,160
Speaker 1: is way too much money for a wide receiver, especially

1053
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:17,960
Speaker 1: for an organization that can't figure out offense. As always, Jason,

1054
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:19,080
Speaker 1: your money, Thanks buddy.

1055
00:55:19,239 --> 00:55:20,640
Speaker 3: It was good to see you, Colin. Looking forward to

1056
00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:21,000
Speaker 3: next time.

1057
00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:24,560
Speaker 1: The volume