Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we have a busy Sunday night podcast,
Speaker 1: which for some of you will be Monday morning. But
Speaker 1: you can always go to the Calling Coward Volume YouTube
Speaker 1: page to get this stuff. We put it up there
Speaker 1: as soon as it's done. So let's start with a
Speaker 1: lot of NFL stuff. This is free agency week and
Speaker 1: you're going to start seeing information pour in on free
Speaker 1: agency stuff. So let's start with a big one. The
Speaker 1: Rams have signed DeVante Adams, the former Packer and jet
Speaker 1: with Aaron Rodgers. Rams signed him to a two year
Speaker 1: deal for pretty hefty money. Well, they're moving off Cooper Cup,
Speaker 1: so why go after DeVante Adams Because the Rams, much
Speaker 1: like the Warriors, wanted to get somebody on Steph Curry's timeline,
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler, a veteran who can win now, and the
Speaker 1: Lakers wanted to do it. You know, they didn't want
Speaker 1: to give up Anthony Davis for a kid. They want
Speaker 1: to win now. The Rams Sean McVay think they can
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl and DeVante Adams and Pooka Nikoua
Speaker 1: will be the one and two wide receivers. Also interesting,
Speaker 1: they signed two to two at well to a one
Speaker 1: year deal for ten million y because he knows the system,
Speaker 1: he can run, he can get downfield. They don't want
Speaker 1: to break anybody in. They feel they got two years
Speaker 1: with Matt Stafford that he can play at a super
Speaker 1: Bowl winning level. So the Rams have been doing this.
Speaker 1: I've talked about this at great length. They're spending their money.
Speaker 1: Chiefs do this. They're spending their money on offense and
Speaker 1: trying to keep their defense young, flexible, and less expensive.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean Jared Versus isn't going to get a
Speaker 1: huge deal in a few years. For the Rams, you
Speaker 1: keep your stars. I saw Nick Bolton just got signed
Speaker 1: to the Chiefs linebacker. Excellent player, super rangey, great linebacker.
Speaker 1: But you've got Matt Stafford, Kyen Williams, Pakua DeVante Adams,
Speaker 1: Tyler Higgsby a very solid B B plus tight end
Speaker 1: two to two at well in this sism knows the offense.
Speaker 1: They may go draft. They also signed left tackle Jackson
Speaker 1: to a contract, so they got Hevenstein Wright tackle Jackson,
Speaker 1: left tackle. They're spending all their money on offense right now,
Speaker 1: but it's a great defense. You could argue the defense
Speaker 1: is more talented, but it's very young and doesn't cost
Speaker 1: as much. So this is just you know, this is
Speaker 1: the RAMS formula. You got a quarterback that can win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl for the next two years, we're going
Speaker 1: to load them up with guys that know the system
Speaker 1: or know how to play, and so that's why you
Speaker 1: get the DeVante Adams Steele and I agree with it.
Speaker 1: I agree with that belief, which is when you have
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl winning quarterback, don't waste the years. You
Speaker 1: don't know what happened. Stafford's been inged up his whole career,
Speaker 1: so get him ready to go. This defense last year
Speaker 1: which gave Jalen Hurts trouble in the snow or Hurts
Speaker 1: pass for under seventy yards. This defense is good enough
Speaker 1: to win a Super Bowl, but it wasn't offensively good
Speaker 1: enough to win a Super Bowl. So they're going to
Speaker 1: move off Cooper Cup. You'll have two number ones in
Speaker 1: Pook DeVante Adams. They'll probably draft another wide receiver. But
Speaker 1: you've got it all. Now you got both tackles, your quarterback,
Speaker 1: star running back, better than average tight end, and now
Speaker 1: two number ones on offense and a great head coach.
Speaker 1: So the Rams deal makes sense. Another story Diana Russini
Speaker 1: reporting that the Pittsburgh Steeters are going to make a
Speaker 1: big run at Sam Donald, the most athletic in the
Speaker 1: prime quarterback available on the market. She said she still
Speaker 1: believes the Seahawks or the leader in the clubhouse. So
Speaker 1: I think about this stuff all the time. And because
Speaker 1: I've bounced around in my career, and what do I
Speaker 1: consider when you're moving around and you have options. I
Speaker 1: always consider the management just as much or more than
Speaker 1: the money. And for Sam Donald, I'd be very wary
Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh. I do not think the Pittsburgh Steelers currently
Speaker 1: possess the ability to get the most out of a quarterback.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean Sam Donald couldn't be a Steeter and
Speaker 1: be pretty good. But there's about six or seven, maybe
Speaker 1: a few more, but six or seven teams in this
Speaker 1: league that I think are you uniquely equipped to get
Speaker 1: the most out of any quarterback, whether it's a star
Speaker 1: or a B quarterback, Sam Darnold B plus the Rams
Speaker 1: with McVeigh, Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco Andy Reid, Kansas City,
Speaker 1: Sean Payton getting the most out of bow Nicks, Kevin
Speaker 1: O'Connell in Minnesota. There's more, but I'd say there's seven
Speaker 1: or eight organizations. Philadelphia has done a good job where
Speaker 1: you know, the O line, the coaching, the coordinating. They
Speaker 1: put a lot of resources around the organization to help
Speaker 1: the quarterback. I do not consider the Pittsburgh Steels one
Speaker 1: of those. We'll see how Ben Johnson works in Chicago,
Speaker 1: but you know, historically, even recent last decade, Chicago's not
Speaker 1: equipped to help a quarterback be his best. Again, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean Mitch Trubisky can't get into the playoffs, but
Speaker 1: the Bears have shown time and time again they lack
Speaker 1: of sensibility. They can be tone deaf. It's more of
Speaker 1: a defense first organization. Pittsburgh Steelers have led the NFL
Speaker 1: in defensive spending for I think three years guaranteed. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's so that's just the organization, that's the coach. They
Speaker 1: can't get the offensive line right. McVeigh has gotten the
Speaker 1: offensive line right, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, those guys need
Speaker 1: one off season to get it right. Steeter's been trying
Speaker 1: to get it right, and they put draft capital in it,
Speaker 1: They've spent money on it. They still can't get the
Speaker 1: online right. So I think for Sam Donald, you have
Speaker 1: to consider that I'm not saying Seattle is a great
Speaker 1: offensive organization. Mike McDonald's a defensive coach, but the GM
Speaker 1: John Snyder, I mean, he just doesn't miss on wide receivers.
Speaker 1: You go back to his history. He gets wide receivers right,
Speaker 1: he gets running backs right. I like Seattle's offensive personnel,
Speaker 1: and I'm not absolutely sure Darnald would crush it there.
Speaker 1: But I have more confidence in Seattle than I do Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: which is telling you I have very little in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Little confidence in Pittsburgh offensively to get the best out
Speaker 1: of any quarterback. Again, I'm not saying if you would
Speaker 1: have put Brady in Pittsburgh, he wouldn't have been successful.
Speaker 1: But there's a reason that he and Bruce arians want
Speaker 1: a suit. They're just coaches that are better at this stuff.
Speaker 1: So that's where we are today. You're going to get
Speaker 1: more and more information coming out, probably by the time
Speaker 1: this airs. But I think that Donald story is interesting.
Speaker 1: I would guess it's probably sixty five thirty five sixty
Speaker 1: forty Seattle over Pittsburgh. They're both very good rosters, both
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and the Steelers, and Donald will have in
Speaker 1: both instances, especially Pittsburgh. You're not gonna have to outscore everybody.
Speaker 1: But when you're in a division with Labar Jackson and
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, you know you need to have an organization
Speaker 1: that really gets offense, and I don't think the Steelers
Speaker 1: do now. Diana also reported that the Seahawks will come
Speaker 1: in contact with Aaron Rodgers. So I thought Aaron played
Speaker 1: really well at the end of the year. But if
Speaker 1: you're giving me Donald or you're giving me Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: I would take Donald, even though I think Aaron has
Speaker 1: obviously a much more impressive resume and at his best
Speaker 1: can be better than Sam Donald. But Sam is at
Speaker 1: this point in his prime. He's much more athletic. I
Speaker 1: think he's more coachable. You don't get any baggage Aaron
Speaker 1: at this point. And listen, I was told by a source.
Speaker 1: I said this three weeks ago, or maybe a month ago,
Speaker 1: And I trust my source that when Aaron Glenn, the
Speaker 1: new Jet coach, moved off Aaron Rodgers. Remember Aaron flew
Speaker 1: out to New York thinking he was going to be
Speaker 1: a Jet and Aaron gled said, we're not interested. My
Speaker 1: source said, the Jets told him we don't want that quarterback,
Speaker 1: and we just don't want Aaron the guy. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean Aaron is Lucifer, but Aaron comes. He's a very
Speaker 1: moody guy and a very moody player. And I was
Speaker 1: told that by two people who played with him for
Speaker 1: the Packers. And so if you've got a young coach
Speaker 1: and Mike McDonald, do you want to saddle him with
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers' personality. Aaron Glenn wanted no part of it
Speaker 1: because Aaron Glenn from Detroit knows how valuable culture is.
Speaker 1: So Seattle is building their culture and I think Aaron's
Speaker 1: not a good fit for that. Now. When he went
Speaker 1: to New York, Robert slafelt he had the culture built.
Speaker 1: He needed a life preserver. It didn't work. But that's
Speaker 1: not what Seattle's looking at. Seattle is saying to themselves, Hey,
Speaker 1: we may draft a quarterback this year. We'll certainly draft
Speaker 1: a quarterback next year. It's a much better college quarterback class.
Speaker 1: But we got a roster here that can win, and
Speaker 1: we think our staff we got two good backs. Noah
Speaker 1: fant You know receivers. John Sneyder either drafts some or
Speaker 1: acquires him. He's good at that position. The old line
Speaker 1: is good enough, defense is young and talented. We think
Speaker 1: Sam can keep us going in the direction that we
Speaker 1: want to build. So I think Aaron's a long shot
Speaker 1: to Seattle, but he's been so talented, and he did
Speaker 1: play well in the last ten games. I think you
Speaker 1: talk to him. I mean, if Darnold's camp wants forty
Speaker 1: five million and Aaron's willing to play for less, okay,
Speaker 1: then you go with Aaron. So Sam's to me talented,
Speaker 1: but his contract should be closer to Baker Mayfield than
Speaker 1: it should be to what Rock Purty will get. Even
Speaker 1: though I think Darnold's talented Pertty, he's going to get
Speaker 1: about forty eight million, probably close to it. I don't
Speaker 1: think i'd spend it on Sam, especially giving him, you know,
Speaker 1: I'd give him two maybe a team option. Third. I'm
Speaker 1: not giving him for he just has one great year
Speaker 1: and a lot of questions. Speaking of Aaron Rodgers, there's
Speaker 1: stuff trickling out that Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson will
Speaker 1: end up with the New York Giants. Say it out loud.
Speaker 1: Old quarterbacks going to organizations to be a savior. It
Speaker 1: doesn't work. It didn't work with Aaron with the Jets.
Speaker 1: It didn't work with Russell to the Denver Broncos. You
Speaker 1: can be an older quarterback and go to a really
Speaker 1: good roster Stafford La Tom to Tampa. But this Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers to the New York Giants. Wow, I'd consider retirement
Speaker 1: that organization. You've got a coach and a GM that
Speaker 1: could be gone before Thanksgiving. Offensive line has issues. They
Speaker 1: have one weapon, the running games week. The division's excellent.
Speaker 1: Now that Jayden Daniels appears to be Lamar Jackson of
Speaker 1: the NFC. You know, it always ends the way it
Speaker 1: should for quarterbacks, right, what you put into it, you
Speaker 1: get out of it. And if Aaron Rodgers signs with
Speaker 1: the New York Giants, this is how it should ended.
Speaker 1: Superstar level quarterback talent, limping to the end, wobbly to
Speaker 1: the end with the Jets and the Giants without much
Speaker 1: of a market. And for the record, he was very
Speaker 1: good in his last ten games. Don't kid yourself with
Speaker 1: a really weak NFL coaching staff. Aaron Rodgers did a
Speaker 1: good job with the Jets last ten games. Where's the market?
Speaker 1: Whose fault is that? When you're when you're a pain
Speaker 1: in the butt. This is what happens when you're mostly
Speaker 1: committed but not always in the off season. This is
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.
Speaker 1: Jason Tempf, host of Hoops tonight. All right, let's start
Speaker 1: Lebron will be fine. He'll be back in a week
Speaker 1: or two. I thought the bigger issue with the Lakers Celtics,
Speaker 1: and I said this during the week on my show,
Speaker 1: is Boston's better. You can't come in missing starters. So
Speaker 1: no Jackson, no Rui. That's length. That is length you
Speaker 1: can use to get you anything near the rim. Defend
Speaker 1: the rim. So when I heard that, I thought, no Jackson, Hayes,
Speaker 1: no Ruiy Hachimora. This could be a tough one, but
Speaker 1: I also felt there's two things I want to talk about.
Speaker 1: Number one is I thought the Lakers looked tired in
Speaker 1: the second half. I thought they just gave you everything
Speaker 1: they had in the first half, one of the best
Speaker 1: first halfs of the NBA. Seedon. It was a great
Speaker 1: first half. Lugan didn't played particularly well, but it was
Speaker 1: a great first half. And I thought in the second
Speaker 1: half the Lakers ran out of gas. And if it
Speaker 1: was at home, maybe it's different. But I fly a
Speaker 1: lot flying from LA to Boston. I don't care how
Speaker 1: good the seats are and how comfortable you are. It
Speaker 1: takes its toll and the pace the Celtics play at
Speaker 1: I thought it wore the Lakers down. So that's my
Speaker 1: first take, and you can address that before we get
Speaker 1: into the Luca Tatum stuff. Just the fact that no
Speaker 1: Jackson Hayes, no Ruie on the road. They played a
Speaker 1: pretty frenetic schedule, I mean over the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: and I thought they ran out of gas.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was one of those things where I think
Speaker 3: there are some realities about this matchup that, regardless of
Speaker 3: regular season circumstances, need to be factored in, Like We're
Speaker 3: going to talk a lot about the top teams in
Speaker 3: the league today, and I don't think Boston is like
Speaker 3: separated from everybody in terms of like putting real distance.
Speaker 3: But I do think they deserve to be favored, and
Speaker 3: I think they've demonstrated that at several points this season
Speaker 3: in several different games. That said, within the context of
Speaker 3: that particular game, it was kind of interesting to me
Speaker 3: to see the juxtaposition of that one with the first
Speaker 3: time these two teams played. The first time these two
Speaker 3: teams played, the Lakers play, Lakers played an excellent defensive
Speaker 3: game and Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum couldn't get anything going.
Speaker 3: And in the Lakers controlled this game. The Boston Celtics
Speaker 3: put together a beautiful defensive game, and Lebron and Luca
Speaker 3: can't get anything going.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 3: These two teams in particular, and by the way, I
Speaker 3: think there's a decent chance we see these two teams
Speaker 3: in the finals. If these two teams face in the finals,
Speaker 3: it's going to turn into this like relentless matchup hunting
Speaker 3: type of game, and it's all about Tatum and Brown
Speaker 3: going at Austin and Luca. And then on the other
Speaker 3: end of the floor, Lebron and Luca going against Derek
Speaker 3: White and al Horford, and I think there were some
Speaker 3: mistakes last night. JJ Reddick talked a little bit about
Speaker 3: it after the game. Al Horford is a big body
Speaker 3: that slides his feet well, and he has always done
Speaker 3: well against bullyball players, even going back to Joel Embiid
Speaker 3: and Giannis and Tenecumpo. Al Horford is some of the
Speaker 3: best reps against those guys that you'll see in the
Speaker 3: playoff context. Lebron and Luc are bullyball guys, and al
Speaker 3: Horford was just having none of it, and he put
Speaker 3: together just a beautiful defensive game. In that second half,
Speaker 3: they were much more deliberate about attacking the Celtics guards,
Speaker 3: and you got to see how they can have some success.
Speaker 3: And that's really it. Like both of these teams, I
Speaker 3: actually think, interestingly enough, these are the only two teams
Speaker 3: in the NBA that can put together five man groupings
Speaker 3: where you really can't leave anybody open. When Ruy is
Speaker 3: healthy and Dorian finished with is healthy, and when the
Speaker 3: Celtics have Chris Hops Worzingis and al Horford healthy, when
Speaker 3: they're healthy and put together like even the Knicks, you
Speaker 3: can help off of Josh Hart, like with the Thunder,
Speaker 3: you're gonna give late contests to guys like Lou Dort
Speaker 3: that you're not super worried about. Yeah, these are the
Speaker 3: two teams, teams that can truly space the floor and
Speaker 3: force you to play one on one. And if there
Speaker 3: was one defensive reality from the Lakers in this game,
Speaker 3: they've guarded really well when they can offer help from
Speaker 3: behind in their kind of swarming, switching defense. Boston, they
Speaker 3: really leave you on an island because if you help.
Speaker 3: It's like Luca got caught a bunch of times in
Speaker 3: the first half of that game helping in on drives,
Speaker 3: easy kickouts, and he was giving up threes. You cannot
Speaker 3: help with Boston. You cannot help with the Lakers. It
Speaker 3: turns into a one on one contest, and the Celtics
Speaker 3: just did a much better job of it in this
Speaker 3: particular matchup.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny. I saw a piece of video,
Speaker 1: so I had said on the Luca trade, I would
Speaker 1: never have traded him, but if you gave me three
Speaker 1: firsts Ad and Austin Rivers, I'd sleep on it. And
Speaker 1: I said that because I've always said Luca is a
Speaker 1: much better Carmelo. I never think he's in great shape.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think he sometimes takes the ball
Speaker 1: out of teammate's hands. And you know, I don't think
Speaker 1: I love Luca, but I saw when Luca first arrived
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles. He looked puffy, hadn't played since December.
Speaker 1: He's never been in great shape. But my take was
Speaker 1: La gets you in better shape. The lifestyle is different
Speaker 1: and Lebron and the pressure, you know, to kind of
Speaker 1: impress Lebron. You can see Steph showing off with Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 1: Lebron's kind of showing off with Luca. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just it's it's ego, it's fun. You finally got your match.
Speaker 1: And the players I meant, Steph is more efficient. Lebron's
Speaker 1: playing with an energy of a twenty seven year old.
Speaker 1: So so, but somebody pointed this out to me yesterday
Speaker 1: because I watched the entire game. They said, look at
Speaker 1: the energy of Jason Tatum on both ends of the floor,
Speaker 1: and Luca has bad stretches like right now, like he
Speaker 1: has these four or five minutes or longer moments on
Speaker 1: the floor and you're like, bro, you're just you're a
Speaker 1: negative right now, like you're you're just getting beat off
Speaker 1: the ball. And do you think this is something Luca
Speaker 1: because you're nodding your head, you're seeing it too. Does
Speaker 1: Luca play himself in the better shape or did Dallas
Speaker 1: with their concerns about these consistent calf injuries about not
Speaker 1: being in shape and lifestyle. Do you think we're getting
Speaker 1: eighty percent in Los Angeles of Luca that some of
Speaker 1: the videos on the internet that show him three years
Speaker 1: ago through he was tomahawk in it and you're like,
Speaker 1: not really quite what I see? Now? What is your
Speaker 1: take on where Luca's at and where he'll end up
Speaker 1: as a Laker.
Speaker 3: So that's a tough game for under any circumstances, to
Speaker 3: go on the road in Boston. A Boston team that's
Speaker 3: had some disappointing losses at home this year and was
Speaker 3: kind of itching for they were itching for a signature win,
Speaker 3: Like the Celtics really wanted that one. I mean, you
Speaker 3: could tell the level of intensity they brought right from
Speaker 3: the opening tip. It's a tough game under any circumstances.
Speaker 3: Luca is not yet back into his peak shape. It's
Speaker 3: gonna take a little while to get there. I actually
Speaker 3: think it'll be somewhat there's a little bit of a
Speaker 3: blessing in disguise with the Lebron injury, because Lebron has
Speaker 3: been going full bore since like mid January, and it
Speaker 3: was kind of inevitable that there'd be some sort of
Speaker 3: nagging thing that would arise over the course of this stretch.
Speaker 3: And I actually think it'll be pretty nice for Lebron
Speaker 3: to get like a month off here, a couple weeks
Speaker 3: off here, just to take a little break before the postseason.
Speaker 3: That'll get more time for Luca to really lean into usage,
Speaker 3: to really lean into having the ball in his hands
Speaker 3: and build his rhythm back. That said, like, this goes
Speaker 3: back to the Dallas series. The Dallas Series is a
Speaker 3: different type of challenge the Dallas Boston series. In the finals,
Speaker 3: it was a different type of challenge because Boston had
Speaker 3: all sorts of dudes that they could help off of.
Speaker 3: They were putting chrisops Porzingis onto PJ. Washington and Derek
Speaker 3: Jones Junior and leaving him under the basket. The Lakers
Speaker 3: will be able to create more space for him, But
Speaker 3: he wasn't even getting past Jalen Brown for the most part.
Speaker 3: Last night, like just one on one, Jalen Brown had
Speaker 3: him in clamps and was bringing a ton of physicality,
Speaker 3: and like, there's this kind of recurring theme I've seen
Speaker 3: ogn Andobi did a little bit on Thursday night. I
Speaker 3: don't know if you I caught the Knicks game, it
Speaker 3: was kind of a little bit similar in that game.
Speaker 3: All the way back to the second round series with
Speaker 3: Oklahoma City last year, lou Dort gave Lucas some issues.
Speaker 3: Lucas struggles with the really big and strong forwards that
Speaker 3: can guard, and so there's a little mini challenge here.
Speaker 3: If the Lakers are going to be able to defeat
Speaker 3: a team like Boston in the finals, Luca's going to
Speaker 3: have to overcome the Jalen Brown problem. But as far
Speaker 3: as the big picture goes, he's twenty five years old.
Speaker 3: He's playing alongside one of the greatest work ethic dudes
Speaker 3: you're going to meet in the league, one of the
Speaker 3: greatest take care of your body type of dudes that
Speaker 3: you see in the league. I think Luca's going to
Speaker 3: get to a level of better conditioning. That said, I
Speaker 3: don't think he's going to be the dude who had
Speaker 3: like seventeen dunks in his rookie year. I think those shit,
Speaker 3: I think that shit might have sailed.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know it's interesting with the Celtics because Tatum played
Speaker 1: very well. And you know, I say this often on
Speaker 1: the show, that there's a real gap in them in
Speaker 1: what fans view as hate and what I view as contextualization.
Speaker 1: So every time I talk about Jason Tatum, I always
Speaker 1: say he's great. He's a great player. He's a top
Speaker 1: eight player in the league. I don't believe he's top three.
Speaker 1: I trust Sja offensively more, trust Jokich is all around better.
Speaker 1: I trust Jannis defensively more. I think Luca at his
Speaker 1: best is a better, more natural offensive player. Hell, if
Speaker 1: you gave me one quarter to win it all game seven,
Speaker 1: I take Lebron over Jason Tatum. I actually would. But
Speaker 1: he's a great player. He's going to be a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer. He's a nice kid. But I've said this,
Speaker 1: there are games where I'm like, where is he? Is
Speaker 1: he on the floor? Now, this was not one of them.
Speaker 1: He was terrific and I've watched him now play live
Speaker 1: three or four times. I get to the arena early
Speaker 1: he's the first guy on the floor. But it is interesting.
Speaker 1: People get very upset about this, and I've said this
Speaker 1: in the Olympics, when you're playing with the world's best players.
Speaker 1: He was a coach's decision do not play against Serbia,
Speaker 1: and he had two in the gold medal game, and
Speaker 1: that Lebron and Steph flourished in those games. So there
Speaker 1: are players that sometimes are around great players. Lebron was
Speaker 1: like this very early in his first Olympics. He was like,
Speaker 1: finally it opened up more of Lebron. And then there
Speaker 1: are players that actually love playing within a system. I
Speaker 1: think Jason is one of those players. I think his God,
Speaker 1: his DNA is he's a teammate. You know, he likes
Speaker 1: being part of a collective. He chose Duke so he
Speaker 1: could play with other great players, right like like Shryzewsky
Speaker 1: makes you play defense. He was there with the you know,
Speaker 1: Grayson Allen, Luke Cannard, if I'm remembering right, Like, so,
Speaker 1: my take is I think he's a star. I think
Speaker 1: the NBA's only ever had three true faces of the League, Magic,
Speaker 1: Michael Lebron. I think Bird was a reluctant because he
Speaker 1: was conjoined with Magic. He was facing the league, but
Speaker 1: Magic was the face of the league. He he loved it.
Speaker 1: You know, French Lick, Indiana pimples on the face, grumpy
Speaker 1: Larry Bird didn't feel face of the league. But you
Speaker 1: know you join him at the hit with Magic, and
Speaker 1: it's like Okay and Shaq and Kobe. I think you
Speaker 1: could argue as a pair or face the league for
Speaker 1: several years. Duncan never was a team, never was. Karl
Speaker 1: Malone never was. So what do you make of kind
Speaker 1: of my criticism of Tatum. It's not a criticism. It's
Speaker 1: more like, listen, at any one time, the NBA has
Speaker 1: two faces or one face of the league, two global stars,
Speaker 1: and about fifteen other stars Carmelo Anthony, guys, is that
Speaker 1: unrealistic to say? No?
Speaker 3: I mean, I heard your rant about Jason Tatum, and frankly, like,
Speaker 3: there is truth to the fact that Tatum lacks like
Speaker 3: the traditional NBA aura right, Like, he's a good dunker,
Speaker 3: but he's not Vince Carter. He's a good shooter, but
Speaker 3: he's not Kevin Durant. He's big and strong, but he's
Speaker 3: not Lebron. He's a good playmaker, but he's not Luka Doncic.
Speaker 3: He's a good defender, but he's not what Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 3: was in his prime, and he doesn't really have a
Speaker 3: very big personality, So like it's really hard to like
Speaker 3: put together you know, something specific about Jason Tatum to
Speaker 3: like market really well as far as like face of
Speaker 3: the league type of stuff that said, like he's really
Speaker 3: good at all of those things. Still yees, he's become
Speaker 3: like just by virtue of him being a jack of
Speaker 3: all trades, he's become one of the most useful players
Speaker 3: in the entire NBA. This has kind of been the
Speaker 3: interesting trajectory of Jason Tatum's career if you go back
Speaker 3: into early years in like eighteen nineteen twenty. In those years,
Speaker 3: Tatum was like projected to be one of the best
Speaker 3: shooting forwards in the league. He had some unbelievable jump
Speaker 3: shooting seasons during that stretch. Then what happened was is
Speaker 3: he started to bulk up and he got really big
Speaker 3: and strong, and it greatly improved his defensive versatility. He
Speaker 3: improved as a playmaker. But in that stretch twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: twenty twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, his jump shot
Speaker 3: fell apart and became super unreliable to the point where
Speaker 3: it was like sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 3: Fifty in a playoff game, he'll have seventeen in a
Speaker 3: playoff game, you know, Like it became one of those
Speaker 3: things where he couldn't rely on the jump shot. Honestly,
Speaker 3: I think think the Team USA situation right off of
Speaker 3: the heels of last year's playoff run, as he shot
Speaker 3: very poorly in the playoffs on jump shots and then
Speaker 3: he shot what for sixteen with Team USA. I think
Speaker 3: he got humiliated and spent the entire summer in the gym,
Speaker 3: and he's added like a reliable jump shot to the
Speaker 3: Swiss army knife that he already was, and now it's
Speaker 3: one of those things where, like I agree with you,
Speaker 3: I think Jokic is better. I think Giannis is better.
Speaker 3: I think Shay's better. I think Luka Doncic is better.
Speaker 3: I think if you asked like league average role players
Speaker 3: alongside all those players, I think Tatum is behind those guys.
Speaker 3: But I do think he's closer to that tier or
Speaker 3: in that tier at the bottom as opposed to the
Speaker 3: next set of guys. Like when you look at the
Speaker 3: next set of guys like, I think Tatum brings more
Speaker 3: on a night in, night out basis than Anthony Davis does.
Speaker 3: I think Tatum brings more on a night in night
Speaker 3: out basis than that next tier guys, Kevin Durant, Lebron,
Speaker 3: James Stephka. I think he deserves credit for being like
Speaker 3: a foundational, reliable, you can count on this dude type
Speaker 3: of superstar. But I also think everything you said regarding
Speaker 3: he does not have a flash point in his skill set.
Speaker 3: There's nothing on that. There's not well think about that.
Speaker 3: You can close your eyes.
Speaker 1: I've said this and I can think of like five
Speaker 1: Michael plays, six Lebron plays a bunch of magic bird.
Speaker 1: You close your eyes with Tatum and you're like, it's
Speaker 1: like Carl Malone. I don't have a Carl Malone play.
Speaker 1: I don't have a Duncan play. There is something about
Speaker 1: the persona, the or the imagery that his face of
Speaker 1: the league. Okay, so I watch most of the Nuggets
Speaker 1: thunder game. I missed the first quarter, but Shay went
Speaker 1: off for forty. Of course, this week Jokich had a
Speaker 1: you know, a thirty twenty twenty plus game, right, It's
Speaker 1: I think it was the first time ever in league history,
Speaker 1: and somebody to do that. So I love Jokic. I
Speaker 1: thought he should have won three straight and Bead was
Speaker 1: sort of gifted one. But I'll tell you why I
Speaker 1: would give it to Sga. I'd give it to Shaye.
Speaker 1: So I've said this on many occasions. Words matter, and
Speaker 1: get in trouble for the wrong word, but you have
Speaker 1: to watch the words. It's most valuable. Now. Production is
Speaker 1: a huge component to value, right like valuable is I mean,
Speaker 1: I always say this, Moms are usually the most valuable
Speaker 1: person in a house. Dad may make more, the kids
Speaker 1: may have a brighter future. Mom's the MVP, she's the glue,
Speaker 1: and she's super productive, right Like, at least in my house,
Speaker 1: mom was the most valuable player dad. My dad was
Speaker 1: the local optometrist. He paid the bills. So Jokic, you
Speaker 1: can argue, is more productive. Okay, but he's playing with
Speaker 1: Gordon Porter, Jamal Murray and a coach that's got a
Speaker 1: ring thanks to Jokich SGA, And this is about fifteen
Speaker 1: percent of it. As a better defender. SGA plays with
Speaker 1: a roster that is so young it only averages one
Speaker 1: year older than the Auburn Tigers roster. So he is
Speaker 1: playing with kids, and that matters. They're still figuring out
Speaker 1: how to play basketball. Not to mention chet Homekin, you know,
Speaker 1: has been out for a while. I mean, you can
Speaker 1: argue outside of Shade, nobody else on that roster none
Speaker 1: of their best offensive players have even hit their prime yet.
Speaker 1: So and that's one of the reasons I worry about
Speaker 1: them in the playoffs winning big road games with this
Speaker 1: young roster. So based on the fact that his production
Speaker 1: isn't Jokic, but it's damn good. He's a better defender,
Speaker 1: he's carrying a younger roster and didn't have homegrun for
Speaker 1: a spell, I would narrowly give Shaye the MVP. What
Speaker 1: say you, So?
Speaker 3: I actually think Shay has a decent sized lead it
Speaker 3: really let's just get to the foundational piece of the case.
Speaker 3: He's twelve games ahead of Denver and the standings twelve.
Speaker 3: That's an enormous gap between those two teams, and so
Speaker 3: when you start to make a case for Jokic, it
Speaker 3: needs to be overwhelming. And there are some things with
Speaker 3: Jokic that I think are realities. I think Jokic is
Speaker 3: a better basketball player than Shake Gildas Alexander Same. I
Speaker 3: think Denver would fall apart more than OKC would fall
Speaker 3: apart if the two players were removed. But that's never
Speaker 3: been the way that we've given MVP. It's never been
Speaker 3: sheer value in a vacuum. It's never been who's the
Speaker 3: guy that we think is the best player for a
Speaker 3: sixteen win playoff front, right, That's never been the way
Speaker 3: we've done it. It's always been a combination of a
Speaker 3: bunch of factors, team success, your individual value, like your
Speaker 3: reputation in the league. There's always been a narrative element
Speaker 3: that's regardless of how we want to pretend like it
Speaker 3: should be factored in, it does get factored in. There's narrative,
Speaker 3: there's momentum, there's all of that kind of stuff. It's
Speaker 3: kind of like the Jokic thirty twenty twenty game. It's like,
Speaker 3: here we are two thirds of the way through the season,
Speaker 3: Jokic puts together a stat line that's never happened in
Speaker 3: NBA history. Hey, let's revisit this thing. Even though the
Speaker 3: thunder have been consistently a better basketball team this year,
Speaker 3: I think two things. One, Shay's having a much better
Speaker 3: offensive season than pep are giving him credit for. You
Speaker 3: mentioned the youth. The youth for the thunder manifests an inconsistency.
Speaker 3: J Dubb is an incredible player. He is what twenty
Speaker 3: two or he's young. He's super inconsistent. Chet incredible player.
Speaker 3: He's young. He's gonna make mistakes. He's not a guy
Speaker 3: that's super dependable night in night out. He's shot twenty
Speaker 3: something percent from three in the series against Dallas last year.
Speaker 3: Shae is the grown up in the room. Shae is
Speaker 3: the night to night guy. So many of these games
Speaker 3: break down for the thunder against good teams in particular,
Speaker 3: So many of these games break down where it looks
Speaker 3: like every single Thunder player is uncomfortable and a little
Speaker 3: bit like a little bit like kind of shying away
Speaker 3: from the moment and ches and Shae has to grab
Speaker 3: the reins and like control things and like as Chet's
Speaker 3: been out of the lineup a bunch this year. As
Speaker 3: Jay Dubb has had a down shooting season and he's
Speaker 3: coming on as of late, but he's had a down
Speaker 3: shooting season. Shay's been carrying him through that. Shay has
Speaker 3: been the guy that has lifted their elite defense to
Speaker 3: the point where they can win games, and so I
Speaker 3: think he deserves more credit than that. The second piece
Speaker 3: of it is a reality with Denver. Denver has lost
Speaker 3: a lot of games this year because they can't guard
Speaker 3: oh at all, and Jokic, for the record, in the
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three postseason, had a very good playoff run Defensively,
Speaker 3: he is capable of having good moments on defense. However,
Speaker 3: there is a simple reality with Jokic that causes a
Speaker 3: lot of problems for Denver's defense. He cannot switch onto
Speaker 3: perimeter players and he can't play on his heels back
Speaker 3: at the rim because guys just jump right over him
Speaker 3: and go around him. That forces Jokic to come out
Speaker 3: to the level of ball screens and put two on
Speaker 3: the ball. So Denver persistently exists in rotation. They persistently
Speaker 3: exist in four on threes. That's how the Suns score
Speaker 3: on them so easily. That's how the Lakers scored on
Speaker 3: them so easily. That is the problem that they consistently
Speaker 3: run into is Jokic has to come up to the level.
Speaker 3: When he comes up to the level, it's a simple
Speaker 3: pocket passer skip pass, and they're playing four on three
Speaker 3: out of it, and they just haven't been very good
Speaker 3: defensively this year on the back line rotating out of it,
Speaker 3: and so they just haven't been as good. Their defense
Speaker 3: is bad. Jokich is a significant part of that. I
Speaker 3: think that gets factored into this debate. And so when
Speaker 3: I really look at it in the big picture, there's
Speaker 3: not enough for Jokisch, even though I think he's having
Speaker 3: an unbelievable season, arguably the best offensive season ever. But
Speaker 3: if you look at it, it's not enough to justify
Speaker 3: that twelve game gap in the standings and then to
Speaker 3: tie things up. Shades drop forty on them today as
Speaker 3: they got to win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, No, I think we're on the same page. Well,
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Speaker 1: ways to watch sports, College basketball, NBA. It doesn't matter
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Speaker 1: Masters is going to be on it. Major League Baseball
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Speaker 1: I want to stay up to date on what's happening
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Speaker 1: off two months Fubo. And now for our next segment,
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Speaker 1: in a bottle today. You know it's God. I would
Speaker 1: have I thought. A month before it happened, I said, Warriors,
Speaker 1: just get Jimmy Butler. I don't care what analytics say.
Speaker 1: Steph is sleepwalking. And I remember saying, Butler's the anti Wiggins,
Speaker 1: Like every possession is intentional, totally intense, everything's a street fight.
Speaker 1: I always thought Wiggins was talented, a little passive. You know,
Speaker 1: you didn't know possession of possession if he was engaged
Speaker 1: I think we talked about this last time, so I
Speaker 1: thought Butler would be a big help. It is amazing
Speaker 1: there were eleven and two since Jimmy Butler arrived. What's
Speaker 1: interesting now, if you start looking at their playoff position,
Speaker 1: they could end up against Houston, which I think is
Speaker 1: the dream scenario for Golden State because Houston can't shoot,
Speaker 1: Like that's the team you want to play. A young
Speaker 1: team that struggles shooting, you can beat Golden State. You know,
Speaker 1: they don't have a ton of offensive firepower from the
Speaker 1: perimeter outside of Steph Pods a little bit. But when
Speaker 1: you watch the Warriors, it's really interesting. Oklahoma City again
Speaker 1: is tremendous def team, but I don't trust them, okay
Speaker 1: seeing a big road playoff game. They're too young. I
Speaker 1: think Golden State has a lower ceiling, but an incredibly
Speaker 1: high floor. And I think outside of maybe at Cleveland,
Speaker 1: Boston could go seven games with almost anybody. Is there
Speaker 1: a team let's just look ahead. Is there a team
Speaker 1: the Warriors would not want to face in the West
Speaker 1: and the playoffs that you just don't think is a
Speaker 1: good matchup at all. Well, that's an interesting question because Dallas,
Speaker 1: if healthy, would be tough with Gafford Lively ad they're
Speaker 1: center rotations great, They're a big team, and I could
Speaker 1: see that team slowing it down and being just a
Speaker 1: handful for the Warriors. But I think they're going to
Speaker 1: go into a soft tank here and just keep everybody out.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a terrible idea. So Minnesota, if
Speaker 1: they had the twin Towers, you know, if they had
Speaker 1: Cat and go Bear could be problematic. But I sort
Speaker 1: of look at the West, I'm like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: is there a team.
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna get out of the plane. It's
Speaker 3: been really fascinating just how immediately good they've been, and
Speaker 3: it's been kind of like a kind of a proof
Speaker 3: of concept for me about roster balance. Just like, no
Speaker 3: matter what you're doing, if you ever ask somebody to
Speaker 3: do too much, they're gonna be inefficient, they're gonna start
Speaker 3: making mistakes. And there were so many role players for
Speaker 3: that team that were being asked to do so much
Speaker 3: more than they're doing now because there was no Jimmy,
Speaker 3: and Jimmy's come in and just like crystallize everyone's roles
Speaker 3: and everyone just has consistent minutes in the rotation. Now,
Speaker 3: and everything's coming together for them, they're gonna get out
Speaker 3: of the plane. In my opinion, if that's the case,
Speaker 3: it's the team that I would want to face if
Speaker 3: I was. Golden State is a team that they can
Speaker 3: load up on defensively, and so I think a team
Speaker 3: like Denver, if they got the six to three matchup
Speaker 3: against a team like Denver, that'd be good. Memphis is
Speaker 3: another team like that that is a poor spot up
Speaker 3: team that they could load the paint up on. The
Speaker 3: Other thing I like we talked about earlier with being
Speaker 3: able to bring Yokic up to the level Steph is
Speaker 3: that Steph is the guy that will consistently get Denver's
Speaker 3: defense into rotation, and now they have Jimmy Butler to
Speaker 3: be the guy that kind of helps pay off those sequences,
Speaker 3: as he's been so good in the middle of the
Speaker 3: floor this year. I think, yeah, I would lean towards
Speaker 3: if I was. The problem with the Lakers is Lebron
Speaker 3: and Luca will just hunt their small guards all day
Speaker 3: long in space, and I think that that could be
Speaker 3: a problem for them and the Laker defense, like we
Speaker 3: talked about earlier, is keyed up on the ability to
Speaker 3: help off of people, and there are a couple guys
Speaker 3: for Golden State that they feel like they can help
Speaker 3: off of. So I think Denver if they got into
Speaker 3: that sixth spot, I'd be looking at if Denver slipped
Speaker 3: to the three as a potential matchup that they could upset.
Speaker 3: Houston and Memphis, to me, are both gettable. I look
Speaker 3: at it as I don't know about how you feel, Colin,
Speaker 3: but I think there's a five team inner circle. I
Speaker 3: think it's Boston and Cleveland out east, and I think
Speaker 3: it's ok See, Denver and the Lakers out west. I
Speaker 3: think those five teams are the like if those five
Speaker 3: teams are the teams that have substantial chances to win
Speaker 3: the championship. Behind that, all of those teams I think
Speaker 3: are pretty heavily flawed. Golden State has been really good
Speaker 3: since the Jimmy Butler trade, but they've played a relatively
Speaker 3: light schedule, so I'd like to see a little bit
Speaker 3: more before I decide where they kind of fit into
Speaker 3: all of this. Like the Lakers before they beat before
Speaker 3: they lost to Boston, they beat fourteen straight five hundred
Speaker 3: or better teams like that. That's how good the Lakers
Speaker 3: were playing before that. Celtics game. I'm not going to
Speaker 3: bail on them because they flew across the country after
Speaker 3: a bunch of after a beatal schedule in last.
Speaker 1: And missing and missing two of the longest players.
Speaker 3: Yeah, two vitally important starters. They're vertical spacer and Jackson Hait. Like,
Speaker 3: how how often did you see Jared Vanderbilt catch the
Speaker 3: ball under the basket yesterday with no idea what to
Speaker 3: do because he can't finish over anybody. But like that,
Speaker 3: that's the thing, Like I I kind of have a
Speaker 3: feeling that the Lakers are one of the inner circle
Speaker 3: teams because I've just seen them be so good for
Speaker 3: so long against so many good teams. I want to
Speaker 3: see a little bit more like from Golden State, because
Speaker 3: I do think they can enter into that group. But
Speaker 3: I just want to see a little bit more from them.
Speaker 3: But I think between Denver and LA i'd want to
Speaker 3: play Denver if I was then.
Speaker 1: You know, I was thinking about this topic. I didn't
Speaker 1: do it on TV because I didn't know if it
Speaker 1: was worthy. Stephen A. Smith Lebron James had that interaction right,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's funny. I've always been a fan
Speaker 1: of Lebron and I know stephen A. I text him
Speaker 1: twice recently, a former teammate over at ESPN, and I'm
Speaker 1: always sensitive. I'm glad my son and daughter did not
Speaker 1: choose broadcasting. I wouldn't want him to be compared to
Speaker 1: their dad. And if they got criticized, my take his well,
Speaker 1: you got into this business. So you know. My first
Speaker 1: reaction is, Bronnie James is a Laker because Clutch Sports
Speaker 1: and Lebron James made sure everybody knew we want him
Speaker 1: to be a Laker. He was not a dominant college player.
Speaker 1: In fact, his size and skill set is really not
Speaker 1: that of an NBA player, but not a point guard.
Speaker 1: Not a lot of six to two off guards in
Speaker 1: NBA history, and right now he's not shooting particularly well.
Speaker 1: He's athletic, he's a good kid, smart. I think he
Speaker 1: was draftable. It was one of the weaker drafts. I
Speaker 1: defended the Lakers drafting him a great draft. Maybe not
Speaker 1: in this draft, which was one of the weaker draft,
Speaker 1: but every fourth or fifth NBA draft. You know, this
Speaker 1: draft coming up is very domestic and very very interesting.
Speaker 1: At the top, there's some really good players from great programs.
Speaker 1: Last year was an international draft, and a lot of
Speaker 1: projecting didn't have a problem being draft. You know, it
Speaker 1: was a bit of a flex for Clutch Sports on
Speaker 1: Lebron to get him in LA, kind of a power flex.
Speaker 1: And again, you're making eight million bucks. You were wedged
Speaker 1: into an organization that probably, you know, in most years,
Speaker 1: wouldn't have drafted a player of your skill level. I
Speaker 1: tend to defend journalists having the right to opinions, and
Speaker 1: people say, well, you know, it's it's you know, here's
Speaker 1: one of the things where I think Lebron James in
Speaker 1: his mind is doing the right thing. Don't bad mouth
Speaker 1: my son. But I've seen many broadcasters get their kids
Speaker 1: into broadcasting and their kids aren't very good. Some are,
Speaker 1: some are not. And that's the reality of a public
Speaker 1: facing job. Mayor basketball player, sportscaster. You know you're not
Speaker 1: you know you're not. You know, this is not a
Speaker 1: job that's you know, you write annuities or you're in
Speaker 1: waste management. Like everybody knows his name. So my take is, listen,
Speaker 1: you you have an eight million dollar contract. You're fair game,
Speaker 1: right that that's the way it goes. But you played basketball. No,
Speaker 1: Lebron his kind of ideology, the way he thinks. What
Speaker 1: was your sort of take on it?
Speaker 3: You know, it's interesting. I've been thinking so much about
Speaker 3: this over the course of the last couple of weeks
Speaker 3: because it's a dynamic that I relate to a certain extent.
Speaker 3: I remember, like when I was playing at Arizona Christian
Speaker 3: when I was in Naia. I remember like watching a
Speaker 3: broadcast of a game and I was having a brutal
Speaker 3: shooting season when I was in college. This was the
Speaker 3: one this is the season that I had my worst
Speaker 3: three point shooting season. It was I was in my head.
Speaker 3: I was in this like small role where I was
Speaker 3: doing taking all these catch and shoot threes out of
Speaker 3: the corner, and I was just having a brutal offensive season,
Speaker 3: and so I was struggling with it. And I heard
Speaker 3: this announcer who was announcing one of the games like
Speaker 3: talking junk about me in the broadcast, and I remember
Speaker 3: getting like super upset about it because I'm like, I'm
Speaker 3: taking three hundred shots a day. I'm doing everything I
Speaker 3: can to fix this problem, and this like dude who
Speaker 3: has no idea what I'm doing, is criticizing the way
Speaker 3: that I'm playing, and like I think about that a
Speaker 3: lot from NBA players, where I get it, like me
Speaker 3: relative to an NBA player, even as someone who played
Speaker 3: me relative to an NBA player, I don't. I don't
Speaker 3: have the cachet or the or the reputation to be
Speaker 3: able to criticize the greatest basketball players in the world.
Speaker 3: And so on a certain level, I sympathize with the plight.
Speaker 3: But then what you said is the is the most
Speaker 3: important context there. We chose a career that exists in
Speaker 3: the public view. I have a relatively small platform among
Speaker 3: the big shots in the media world. I deal with
Speaker 3: a shit ton of negativity every day. I can't even
Speaker 3: imagine what you deal with. We won't even go there.
Speaker 3: But there's just this outrageous amount of negativity. To your point, Colin, like,
Speaker 3: I'm living the dream. I love my job. I love
Speaker 3: the flexibility that I have. I love that I get
Speaker 3: to talk about the game of basketball. This opportunity that
Speaker 3: you have given me has changed my life infinitely for
Speaker 3: the better. And so I would never sit there and
Speaker 3: hyper focus on this specific part of my job that's
Speaker 3: a negative because it's just so worth it. And that's
Speaker 3: really what it comes down to, is like from the
Speaker 3: NBA player's perspective, it's just the reality of the predicament
Speaker 3: that they're in. They have this wonderful life that comes
Speaker 3: from being a professional basketball player, but it comes with
Speaker 3: this criticism. The second piece of it is, to me,
Speaker 3: the criticism is authentic and necessary. And I was thankful
Speaker 3: in Lebron's tweet thread that he included in there like hey,
Speaker 3: when players fail, we need to discuss it. And I'm
Speaker 3: so glad he said that, because here's the thing. Sports
Speaker 3: are nasty. They're mean, they're violent, you talk shit, you
Speaker 3: step on each other to get to the finish line.
Speaker 3: It is inherently nasty, and there's a winner and a loser,
Speaker 3: and in order for us to discuss the winner and
Speaker 3: the loser, it inherently requires us to be critical from
Speaker 3: time to time. It is part of the job. If
Speaker 3: we came on every day and we just only said
Speaker 3: nice things about players, we'd have no credibility. There's a
Speaker 3: certain amount of this to where it makes it mean
Speaker 3: more when we say a player succeeds if we also
Speaker 3: criticize them when they fail. My thing with it is like,
Speaker 3: just make sure you're doing your homework, Like if you're
Speaker 3: going to criticize someone, make sure it's based in the homework,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean, Because I got a certain
Speaker 3: point if you're just talking shit to talk shit. Now
Speaker 3: we're entering down a darker path. But I've found this
Speaker 3: really fascinating because on one hand, I relate to players,
Speaker 3: but on the other hand, like this is just the
Speaker 3: reality of the situation that we're in.
Speaker 1: That Yeah, that's why I asked you. Yeah, because you know,
Speaker 1: you played college basketball, and I've I've tried to never
Speaker 1: make it personal. Although you know, like I said for
Speaker 1: years about Carmelo Anthony, I'm like, man, if you're not
Speaker 1: willing to play defense, James Harden I felt the same way,
Speaker 1: you're not a great teammate because defense's effort. Offense is
Speaker 1: a lot of skill, it's a lot of fun. Playing
Speaker 1: defense sucks, it's hard. So what you're basically saying if
Speaker 1: you won't defend, and I feel this about Luca, is yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of above that. Well, the utter ten guys aren't.
Speaker 1: So I've always thought when players don't commit to the
Speaker 1: defensive end, I think less of them. And you're kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, you're kind of sending a message to the
Speaker 1: teammates say you do that, I'll do the fun part.
Speaker 1: And so that's one of the reasons I've always respected
Speaker 1: Lebron Is in his defense in the last twenty games, Jesus,
Speaker 1: it doesn't even make sense for a forty year old.
Speaker 1: So and I've always been a huge Lebron fan, and
Speaker 1: I actually supported the Lake drafting Bronnie. I supported Bronnie
Speaker 1: playing in that game so that father son record could
Speaker 1: be set. I'm for it. I was a little critical
Speaker 1: when he had one good, really nice G League game
Speaker 1: and they quickly moved him up, you know, to the Lakers,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, guys, now you're asking me as a
Speaker 1: broadcaster to lie to the audience and I'm not going
Speaker 1: to do that. Is that he's not an NBA player,
Speaker 1: he may work himself into a you know, eighth ninth
Speaker 1: guy in a roster, and I'm rooting for that because
Speaker 1: I really do think Savannah and Lebron have done a
Speaker 1: wonderful job considering this generational wealth. They're good people. They're
Speaker 1: grounded as much as you can be. If you're Ronaldo
Speaker 1: Messi Lebron Brady, right like, you just kind of bake
Speaker 1: in some of this shit. Ain't normal, right, So it's
Speaker 1: just interesting. You know, I think the audience wants me
Speaker 1: to have definitive takes and take a side. But I
Speaker 1: think Steven A. Smith does have a right to be
Speaker 1: honest about Bronnie. But I also get the dad part.
Speaker 1: But I do come back to listen the minute you
Speaker 1: made that decision to wedge Brownie on to the Lakers.
Speaker 1: The most sacred part of sports is the uniform. You
Speaker 1: gave somebody a uniform, and many question whether he is
Speaker 1: uniform worthy. At the NBA level, Like you can say
Speaker 1: what you want that owners do and gms do, but
Speaker 1: that uniform, in any sport, that is what makes grown
Speaker 1: men cry. They work twenty years to wear an NBA uniform. Hell,
Speaker 1: it can be a ten day contract, man, If you
Speaker 1: get ten days in the NBA, for the rest of
Speaker 1: your life. I was an NBA player, And so when
Speaker 1: you get somebody to put that jersey on for the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers, there's gonna be some animosity. They got
Speaker 1: people going to say, wait a minute, time out, Now,
Speaker 1: come on now, And so it's it's one of those
Speaker 1: I know, I'm supposed to take a side on this,
Speaker 1: and I've said this to people privately, I don't talk
Speaker 1: about this that, you know, the Ukraine, Putin Zelenski, Russia,
Speaker 1: United States, it's way more complic I've watched more video
Speaker 1: on that story in the last six months than everything
Speaker 1: except sports. It's there's a lot of complexity with NATO
Speaker 1: and the history of Russia and US, and sometimes, if
Speaker 1: I'm ever critical of the media, social media has made
Speaker 1: simplicity the go to apparatus, and I think Brownie stephen
Speaker 1: A Lebron, I think it's complicated. I think there's the
Speaker 1: dad thing, there's the history thing, there's the journalist thing.
Speaker 1: And I hated to see it because I love Lebron
Speaker 1: and I really like steven A. Smith. I like them both.
Speaker 1: They're really good at what they do. And I know
Speaker 1: that's a considered a soft pedal, but that's how I
Speaker 1: feel about it.
Speaker 3: You know, It's so fascinating because you're asking people to
Speaker 3: just bring a little bit of nuance into the discussion
Speaker 3: with the Lebron stephen A Smith thing, and there's just
Speaker 3: none that. It's there's none of that. There's like this
Speaker 3: huge anti Lebron He's ruining Bronni's life kind of angle,
Speaker 3: and then there's the steven A Smith step to Lebron
Speaker 3: and now he's getting Now Lebron's getting in his face
Speaker 3: and he's paying the price for his actions. And I'm
Speaker 3: sitting there and I'm like, I'm reading, I'm doing the
Speaker 3: lip reading when I'm watching Lebron, and he's saying like, like,
Speaker 3: keep my son out of this. And to your point,
Speaker 3: on a very basic level, Bronni is an NBA player
Speaker 3: with a large profile. He's going to get discussed. Like
Speaker 3: there's no universe where he's not going to be criticized
Speaker 3: like that, like and.
Speaker 1: Played at USC and Sierra Canyon. He was a high
Speaker 1: profile high school player exactly.
Speaker 3: And like and so like to me, it's like, on
Speaker 3: a very basic level, we have to acknowledge stephen A's
Speaker 3: right to discuss Bronni. Like that's just that's that's that's
Speaker 3: very to me. That's a very simple part of it.
Speaker 3: But then there's another reality, which is, like, Okay, Lebron
Speaker 3: probably feels like stephen A's used him a little bit
Speaker 3: like a punching bag over the course of the last
Speaker 3: year or two, and I think Lebron's sick of it
Speaker 3: and he's lashing out. So on one hand, I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 3: I also support Lebron's right to confront stephen A and
Speaker 3: be like, hey, dude, what the heck, But like the
Speaker 3: specific point he decided to argue regarding his son, it's
Speaker 3: hypocritical because to your point, as soon as you elevate
Speaker 3: Bronny to this level, how could you possibly hope to
Speaker 3: protect him from that type of criticism. It's part of
Speaker 3: the deal. You've dealt. Dealt with it, Lebron. You, Lebron,
Speaker 3: you are the most polarizing player in NBA history. Like this,
Speaker 3: you know this?
Speaker 1: Let me add something else that I think again is nuanced.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I've always been so impressed with
Speaker 1: Lebron James. He didn't grow up with a father. Okay,
Speaker 1: It's pretty understood that both parents can, over the course
Speaker 1: of time, be very better official to any child who
Speaker 1: then becomes an adult. Lebron James has stayed out of trouble,
Speaker 1: and he did not have that guiding strong hand of
Speaker 1: a father, and yet you would never know it. He's
Speaker 1: been a terrific father, a terrific husband, a wonderful businessman.
Speaker 1: He is such a good friend. I know two of
Speaker 1: Lebron's friends Lebron's a great friend, and could I argue
Speaker 1: that Lebron takes so much pride in being a father
Speaker 1: because he did not have that at home, that he
Speaker 1: is going to err on the side of overprotective. And
Speaker 1: I'm going to defend the hell out of Lebron for
Speaker 1: that right. I'm sorry now again. I maybe I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm too sympathetic. And my dad wasn't always around,
Speaker 1: but he was around enough that I had a dad,
Speaker 1: and he was a local town optometrist, and I was
Speaker 1: very proud, and he gave me multiple moments of wisdom
Speaker 1: and advice and a spanking or two when I when
Speaker 1: I turned the sprinkler on as he was trying to
Speaker 1: move it and Flack Flack black hit my dad as
Speaker 1: he had his white doctor jacket on heading to work
Speaker 1: and was soaked and had to go back inside. I
Speaker 1: got spanked that day. I was laughing hysterically for a while.
Speaker 1: So I have these moments in my life where my
Speaker 1: father had a great impact. I mean, I was talking
Speaker 1: to a friend the other day about a moment that
Speaker 1: my dad said something. He was like, I was twelve
Speaker 1: years old. It has been with me my entire life,
Speaker 1: and so maybe I'm just being too overly sympathetic. But
Speaker 1: Lebron didn't have a father at home, and if he's
Speaker 1: airing on the side of, hey, man, I protect my family,
Speaker 1: this is it for me. Man, I'm this is a
Speaker 1: bubble that I am gonna if I if I'm airing
Speaker 1: on the side of overprotective. I got Lebron's back on that.
Speaker 1: And that's the kind of stuff I think of as
Speaker 1: somebody that's divorced. Six kids are in my life. How
Speaker 1: do I be a step parent? I think about all
Speaker 1: that stuff. Maybe I'm too old and protective, but I
Speaker 1: just I think it's more complex than steven A is
Speaker 1: a bad guy and Lebron's a good guy and it's
Speaker 1: just that's not the way life is, right.
Speaker 3: No, I agree, And to your point, like there's the
Speaker 3: the motivating factor is something that all parents can relate to.
Speaker 3: It kind of goes back to what we were talking
Speaker 3: about just in overall player criticism. Just because the player
Speaker 3: is being unrealistic about the realities of his profession and
Speaker 3: the fact that criticism comes with that profession, it doesn't
Speaker 3: make it like I also relate to that player when
Speaker 3: he pushes back and when the player goes like to
Speaker 3: like today, Kevin Durant tweeted at Skip Bayless like, I
Speaker 3: also understand the reason why he might want to clap back,
Speaker 3: even though Kevin Durant should be realistic about the fact
Speaker 3: that he's one of the greatest players of all time.
Speaker 3: Therefore media Yeah, so basically, Skip Bayles said that Kevin
Speaker 3: Durant looks like he's already mentally retired, and kat tweeted
Speaker 3: him and said, I guess that means both of us
Speaker 3: are washed.
Speaker 1: By the way I watched that game Katie had twenty
Speaker 1: one n.
Speaker 3: Katie's been awesome this year. Like the Sun's issues are
Speaker 3: like entirely organizational Katie's. I think if someone gets Katie
Speaker 3: this summer, he's gonna walk right in and help a
Speaker 3: team win a title, or at least get him close.
Speaker 3: Like he's so good, He's so good.
Speaker 1: Oh, he's so good. I would love to sit down
Speaker 1: and break bread with Kevin Durant. I really love the guy.
Speaker 1: I think he's such a fun player. I like everything
Speaker 1: about him. I hated him leaving Golden State, but he's
Speaker 1: such a unique all time player. I love Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: I love watching him play I like his quirky personality.
Speaker 1: Jason Temp, host of Hoops Tonight. This was fantastic. I
Speaker 1: had some NFL news before you, but this was really good.
Speaker 1: Let me throw this out there, folks. The Steeler are
Speaker 1: going to sign DK Metcalf to a five year, one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty million dollar contract. I'm just telling you
Speaker 1: I wouldn't do it, and I like DK Metcalf. That
Speaker 1: is way too much money for a wide receiver, especially
Speaker 1: for an organization that can't figure out offense. As always, Jason,
Speaker 1: your money, Thanks buddy.
Speaker 3: It was good to see you, Colin. Looking forward to
Speaker 3: next time.
Speaker 1: The volume