Speaker 1: Welcome back to Unplugged. We got a good one for
Speaker 1: you guys this week. We got my brother key on
Speaker 1: Dueling stopping by. Also, the neighborhood hater is back. He
Speaker 1: said he wants a new name today. I guess we'll
Speaker 1: have to decide if he gets a new one or not.
Speaker 1: We'll be discussing a few topics going around, but particularly
Speaker 1: we're going to touch on the stephen A and Lebron
Speaker 1: James situation. Recently, everyone's known Lebron has taken exception to
Speaker 1: stephen A's disrespect of his son, Bronni James. He walked
Speaker 1: up to him in the middle of a Knicks game
Speaker 1: and addressed him. Let's take a look at that. Well,
Speaker 1: here's one of the things we think that may have
Speaker 1: upset Lebron that stephen A said, take a look at
Speaker 1: this clip.
Speaker 2: I am pleading with le Bron James as a father.
Speaker 1: Stop this.
Speaker 3: Stop this.
Speaker 2: We all know that Bronni James is in the NBA
Speaker 2: because of his dad.
Speaker 1: So obviously that situation went viral. I think stephen A
Speaker 1: himself said he wanted to sweep it under the rug,
Speaker 1: but he woke up the next day with the buzz
Speaker 1: of social media, his agency, ESPN, everybody wanted to address
Speaker 1: it and wanted him to address it. So here's the
Speaker 1: clip of what he said.
Speaker 2: That wasn't a basketball player confronting me. That was a parent,
Speaker 2: That was a father. And I can't sit here and
Speaker 2: be angry or feel slighted by Lebron James in any
Speaker 2: way in that regard.
Speaker 1: So fast forward, just a couple of days ago, Lebron
Speaker 1: caught up with this former teammate and buddy Richard Jefferson pregame.
Speaker 1: Here's what they were talking about. So before I go
Speaker 1: into my point of view, let's bring the hater in.
Speaker 1: Welcome you're bringing You're bringing bottles in, Bro, It's not
Speaker 1: even it's not even happy our nowhere yet you see
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Yeah, Captain, save them. So, Gina, we
Speaker 1: had a real debate in our in our group chat
Speaker 1: about this very situation, and some of you guys made
Speaker 1: good points, but I took it from a father standpoint.
Speaker 1: I think I'm one of the few individuals who's been
Speaker 1: a player who obviously has kids in this basketball space
Speaker 1: and now is in the media. And although I love
Speaker 1: Steven stephen a is my guy, talked to him often
Speaker 1: saluted him for his new hundred million dollar deal. By
Speaker 1: the way, congratulations, But I don't always agree with what
Speaker 1: he says. Now, I don't know exactly what was said.
Speaker 1: I think we think we have a gist of what
Speaker 1: kind of pissed off Braun. But what was your take
Speaker 1: on Broun's reaction to what not only Steven A's been saying,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people have been saying.
Speaker 4: Well, let me just first say, I'm not a father.
Speaker 4: So when you did say that in our chat, it
Speaker 4: kind of I stepped backed.
Speaker 5: A little bit.
Speaker 1: I want to respect a little bit.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but at the moment, you know, both guys could
Speaker 4: be right and both guys could be wrong in that situation.
Speaker 4: Cause Lebron I waited to come and talk to him
Speaker 4: after the game. Yeah, I guess. Also, what was Steven
Speaker 4: ain't supposed to do with six eight, two hundred and
Speaker 4: sixty pounds, Nothing except sit there and stand there, same.
Speaker 1: Thing the rest of the NBA will be able to
Speaker 1: do with it, right, nothing.
Speaker 4: I heard the comment that he got mad at Yeah,
Speaker 4: I would have been mad too if I was Lebron.
Speaker 1: I just think it's interesting because again I took it
Speaker 1: straight as the father when I seen it, it wasn't
Speaker 1: about Lebron the superstar. And oddly enough, you know, when
Speaker 1: Steven A kind of addressed it, he said, you know,
Speaker 1: he was talking to me as a father, and that's
Speaker 1: how I look at it. And everyone wants to say, well,
Speaker 1: you know, granted your son's in this space now, he's
Speaker 1: fair game, and like I said, two things can be true.
Speaker 1: He is fair game now. But I think it's it
Speaker 1: holds a different amount of what's the word I'm looking
Speaker 1: for it Just when Steven stephen A is at the
Speaker 1: top of the list now he's the number one black
Speaker 1: sports media guy in the game, well deserved just signed
Speaker 1: a huge deal. So I think when he says thing,
Speaker 1: it carries more weight, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 1: like I said, he hasn't been the only one that
Speaker 1: said it. And let's keep it real. These kind of
Speaker 1: altercations have happened a lot in the past, probably less
Speaker 1: during social media because people can kind of go to
Speaker 1: war of wards. But when I first got in the league,
Speaker 1: if a writer or someone says some shit you didn't like,
Speaker 1: the next time you saw him, you were going to
Speaker 1: address that, and that's happened a lot, so that's something
Speaker 1: that's not too uncommon. But I just think my whole
Speaker 1: stance is lebron has probably been the most scrutinized superstar
Speaker 1: in the history of sports, period, and I think he
Speaker 1: knew he what he signed up for. Now on the
Speaker 1: flip side, the father side understanding Broni's path to the league,
Speaker 1: some people say he belongs, some people say he doesn't
Speaker 1: belong by the way he's killing in the G League
Speaker 1: right now at twenty one, one, five and five. NBA
Speaker 1: numbers have been very solid, but he's still young, he's
Speaker 1: still growing. Never in the history of the NBA has
Speaker 1: the fiftieth fifth pick ever been this big of a
Speaker 1: deal ever. But I just think again, when Steve and
Speaker 1: A says it hits different with some guys, and granted,
Speaker 1: could he have handled it a different way, And that's
Speaker 1: what you guys are saying, this is this was this
Speaker 1: was Braun, you know, wanting everyone to see. And I
Speaker 1: didn't look at it that way at all. I just thought,
Speaker 1: as a father, he's seen the dude. It brought the
Speaker 1: rage up, and I'm gonna address that shit wright where
Speaker 1: I'm at. I don't give a fuck where I'm at.
Speaker 1: I'm at the airport, I'm at the game. I see
Speaker 1: him in LA Live. I'm gonna address And I think
Speaker 1: that's how I kind of took the situation. But I
Speaker 1: think you think at the end of the day, people
Speaker 1: have to understand man. Like again, Lebron signed up for
Speaker 1: this at the face of the league. He's worn the
Speaker 1: cape for a long time and he's been scrutinized heavily.
Speaker 1: Whether he deserves it or not is up to the
Speaker 1: people scrutinizing. But it's different man, when you you you
Speaker 1: have your kids and your children.
Speaker 4: Well, I know one thing, I'm never talking about Brownie
Speaker 4: respectfully again because.
Speaker 1: He might slap the shit out. But he said a
Speaker 1: few things in this area about Bronnie.
Speaker 4: But I was in a dark place. Due okay, okay,
Speaker 4: you know we were in tenth place, nine tenth place.
Speaker 5: It goes.
Speaker 4: But Bronie, Man, I want you in the game. Let's
Speaker 4: be successful. Let's get you in the game. Man, Let's go.
Speaker 5: Man. Wha who is this.
Speaker 6: To say?
Speaker 1: Lebron checking stephen a shook you. Yeah, but I thought
Speaker 1: you said they can't whoop us, They can't whoop me.
Speaker 1: Oh no, It's like I thought it was all the smoke,
Speaker 1: but I wasn't talking. I wasn't talking bad about Bronnie.
Speaker 4: Yeah, myg No, I love you, Bronie man. I hope
Speaker 4: the best for you.
Speaker 1: Don't know, It's just a tough situation. And again I
Speaker 1: think there's a blowover. But I just think people have
Speaker 1: to take a step back again. I mean, yeah, we
Speaker 1: get paid a lot of money for you to be
Speaker 1: able to say whatever you want, but talking about our
Speaker 1: kids is different, whether our kids are pros or not pros.
Speaker 1: I would always take offense to it. And people already
Speaker 1: know how I moved. Some of my my crew asked
Speaker 1: me earlier what I've done, And you guys already know we're.
Speaker 4: All the time.
Speaker 1: You already know what kind of time I'm all. So again,
Speaker 1: love stephen A. Don't always agree with what he says.
Speaker 1: And again he's not the only person that had his
Speaker 1: criticized or critique. There's been a lot of noise around
Speaker 1: Browny and I think bro I sue le BRONI for
Speaker 1: you know, not really flashing back. He said a few
Speaker 1: things here and there, but to have the world always
Speaker 1: talking about you at nineteen twenty years old cannot be easy.
Speaker 1: And I think his dad's kind of prepped him for
Speaker 1: with the mental toughness it's going to take to succeed
Speaker 1: in this league. But again, man, wish them the best,
Speaker 1: you know, wish Bronni the best steal. But let's move
Speaker 1: on to your Lakers. These boys have been looking solid.
Speaker 1: Eight out of the last ten, what sixteen, sixteen and
Speaker 1: four in their last twenty night last you.
Speaker 4: Guys did have beon doing that stress because me happy
Speaker 4: as bathing business?
Speaker 1: Or come on, last fifteen games they're number one in
Speaker 1: the league in defense, and Luca's eleven games they're number three,
Speaker 1: they're thirteen. Overall, these guys are playing with a new energy.
Speaker 1: Luca has taken a huge load off Lebron. You and
Speaker 1: Ray particular, who's sitting behind the camera, were real Luca haters.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Speaker 1: Has your opinion changed it all?
Speaker 4: Absolutely? But let's be honest. I never hated it on
Speaker 4: Luca before he put on our uniform, right, but you
Speaker 4: still hate it though a little bit. If you want
Speaker 4: to tell him sorry, you can tell him right there
Speaker 4: in that camera.
Speaker 5: Note let's hold tight on okay, Okay, let's get through this.
Speaker 4: Next ten days, okay, because ten days is aggressive. Okay, so,
Speaker 4: but yeah, I was wrong about Luca. He makes us
Speaker 4: look good. He's giving Lebron a break.
Speaker 1: Huge thing for us, right, huge break. I love that
Speaker 1: Bron can go to the bench now for extended amounts
Speaker 1: of time. I love that Lebron defers to Luca pretty
Speaker 1: much the whole entire game until the fourth quarter so
Speaker 1: he can save his energy. We've seen spurts of Bron
Speaker 1: in the third and fourth quarters. It looks like it's
Speaker 1: a few years ago, like where he's taking off on
Speaker 1: people late in the game. I think this Luca experiment
Speaker 1: has been extremely successful up to this point. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: goal for the Lakers is always to win rings, but
Speaker 1: I think they've put theirself in a position to possibly
Speaker 1: come out of the West now and right now. Come
Speaker 1: out of the West, they got to be healthy. I
Speaker 1: think they got a little reality check with Boston. I
Speaker 1: think Boston ran the shit out of them in the
Speaker 1: first and you saw their legs get a little tired
Speaker 1: in the second half. Bad news, Bron growing forty how
Speaker 1: was he forty one? Forty years old? And a string
Speaker 1: growing and we're about six weeks from the playoffs? Are
Speaker 1: what are Laker fans thinking, and what's your level of
Speaker 1: concern with Bron's injury.
Speaker 4: I think we want to step back right now. I mean,
Speaker 4: it couldn't have happened at a perfect time. Let's see
Speaker 4: if Luca can hold it down like while Lebron is gone.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, you guys were on my ass
Speaker 4: about talking about Ar being untouchable, but now it's we
Speaker 4: kept you. Now it's time to step up big now.
Speaker 4: So am I optimistic about it?
Speaker 5: Yeah? I am.
Speaker 1: I like the pieces this team has had. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think Connect is playing with the chip on his
Speaker 1: shoulder since he almost got traded. Obviously, Ar has been
Speaker 1: playing great the last few games, but overall has had
Speaker 1: a great season. Someone who's really stepped his game up
Speaker 1: as Jackson Hayes oh Man, I think he's turned into
Speaker 1: a young Tyson Chandler Ish the constant lob threat. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's eaten and they need that. And I think
Speaker 1: they missed him in Boston definitely. But I think overall,
Speaker 1: man eight and two in the last ten, sixteen and four,
Speaker 1: I think we got to give j J some.
Speaker 5: Credit man Coach of the Year candidate and talk to him.
Speaker 1: I saw I saw Bubbs at the sc UCLA game,
Speaker 1: and we went back and talked at halftime, and I
Speaker 1: just asked him what it was like. I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just like I see if you knew
Speaker 1: gray hairs, He's just like, you know, I love this shit.
Speaker 1: I love this I love our team. I love what
Speaker 1: we have. He thinks they have something special. And you
Speaker 1: were a little skeptical.
Speaker 4: Of him at the beginning too, right, Absolutely, I mean
Speaker 4: the dude came off the little league circuit.
Speaker 1: He came off coaching the Lakers like no one's ever
Speaker 1: done that.
Speaker 4: Yes, but obviously I took for granted his knowledge about basketball.
Speaker 4: You know, I was wrong and he got us looking great?
Speaker 4: And was I right again? Because I think at the
Speaker 4: very beginning I said, JJ is going to be great
Speaker 4: at this.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to know it. It's hard for you
Speaker 1: to admit when you're wrong, and I'm right, I tell you,
Speaker 1: And it happened to.
Speaker 7: Happy here you guys, good lord. Word is you don't
Speaker 7: want you don't like your name the hater? Yeah, because
Speaker 7: I'm a lover man. Okay, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 7: What would you like your name to be?
Speaker 1: Because you've made a mark in the social media world
Speaker 1: with the name and your presence, like give me, give me.
Speaker 5: I am in l A l A.
Speaker 4: You step around the city with me and see all
Speaker 4: the love that I get out here. Man, So come
Speaker 4: on now, okay, you're who you are because anyway, don't
Speaker 4: get me started.
Speaker 5: Here we go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get the love with you.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 5: I got the green light off you out here, so.
Speaker 1: Green out here, green light was on me.
Speaker 5: Just say thank you next time.
Speaker 1: Man. So what do you so you want your name
Speaker 1: to I'm gonna have to talk to the team. LA's
Speaker 1: finance is what you want to go?
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's what they called me.
Speaker 1: Anyway, who I've never I've known you for half my
Speaker 1: life and I've never heard no one say that.
Speaker 5: Here we go.
Speaker 4: Everyone has ever said I want me smiling and happy. Yeah,
Speaker 4: they don't have.
Speaker 1: To be saying yeah, well LA's finest.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, Happy birthday to man started next week. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I want to welcome back back in my guy Kean Dueling. Yes,
Speaker 1: Sir KD. The Warriors have found something since picking up
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler. Ten and two since he's joined the team,
Speaker 1: fourth best defense, seven best offense. During that stretch, Butler
Speaker 1: and Curry. What has been your assessment of this trade
Speaker 1: since it's gone down.
Speaker 6: Man, the Warriors come out and play real.
Speaker 1: We need the glass bottles.
Speaker 8: They've been killing it. It's fun to see, you know,
Speaker 8: Steph get that extra boost, right because like he's one
Speaker 8: of those players that, like, you know, once, once he's gone,
Speaker 8: you know what I mean, the game is gonna miss him.
Speaker 8: So to see him playing on this level, to see Jimmy,
Speaker 8: you know, coming and putting his imprint on the team.
Speaker 8: And they're gonna get healthier when they get Kaminga back,
Speaker 8: They're gonna get healthier, They're gonna have a different element.
Speaker 6: They're gonna be a very very dangerous team. Man in
Speaker 6: the postseason.
Speaker 1: Well, I think, I mean, similar to what Luca has
Speaker 1: been able to do for Lebron, Jimmy is someone that
Speaker 1: can carry the Warriors over a stretch of time to
Speaker 1: allow Steph to steal some more minutes on the bench,
Speaker 1: you know, since losing Clay and losing Jordan Poole and
Speaker 1: then you know kd All kind of Steph sidekicks that
Speaker 1: were able to carry the team at times. Jimmy gives
Speaker 1: them that and then also that tenacity on defense and
Speaker 1: in Playoff Steph and Playoff Jimmy, Playoff Draymond is something
Speaker 1: I'm definitely looking forward to. You know, what's interesting to
Speaker 1: me about this is obviously OKAC sits at the top
Speaker 1: of the West, young hungry team and have been, you know,
Speaker 1: record wise, one of the best teams in lead the
Speaker 1: entire year.
Speaker 5: But they're young.
Speaker 1: When I look at the Western Conference, I look at
Speaker 1: the Lakers, I look at Denver, and I look at
Speaker 1: Golden State or all teams with experience with veterans that
Speaker 1: could very well represent I mean, this could be the
Speaker 1: year that okay See runs through the Western Conference and
Speaker 1: represents the West in the finals. This can also be
Speaker 1: the year that okay See stumbles in the second round
Speaker 1: and one of these older, veteran, more experienced teams takes
Speaker 1: this one last run at the Western Conference before Oklahoma
Speaker 1: City really takes over.
Speaker 8: I agree one hundred percent. I agree with you. You know,
Speaker 8: like styles make fights. I think nobody is really afraid
Speaker 8: of OKC. I think people would.
Speaker 1: That's and that's not even disrespectful, you mean, that's just
Speaker 1: many me and you talking because we know experience is
Speaker 1: what wins in the playoffs.
Speaker 8: I would rather avoid Joker at all costs, right, you know,
Speaker 8: just because he presents such a mismatch. He's a matchup
Speaker 8: problem on both ends. And he's just he's just he's unbelievable.
Speaker 8: And like I said, styles make fights, so I would
Speaker 8: I agree nobody's ducking Okay, see.
Speaker 1: Smoke Kawhi hit the game winner on Sunday Hard and
Speaker 1: drop fifty in this past week, the Clippers winners of
Speaker 1: their last three. Kawiss played twenty one games this season.
Speaker 1: He's playing a lot of minutes right now, KD. He's
Speaker 1: at twenty two six and three forty six percent from
Speaker 1: the field. What has kind of been your outlook on
Speaker 1: the Clippers? I mean, James's resurgence, Kawhi is rounding into shape.
Speaker 1: Is he playing too many minutes? I don't know, but
Speaker 1: this team is looking very solid. Not something we mentioned,
Speaker 1: but again, another team with a lot of experienced guys
Speaker 1: that have won championships before. One of the best coaches
Speaker 1: in the league. Thoughts on those two guys in particular, though,
Speaker 1: Kawhi and James and the way they've really been able
Speaker 1: to kind of get their games back in shape.
Speaker 8: This is the time of year where you see those
Speaker 8: teams rev up like leading into the playoffs, right combine
Speaker 8: missing Why missing time one is he's got degenitive issues.
Speaker 8: It's not that they're load managing and things like that.
Speaker 8: He's got real issues that he's gonna have to deal
Speaker 8: with long after basketball ends. But you got t lou
Speaker 8: championship pedigree. He gets the most out of his guys.
Speaker 8: Norman Powell got an opportunity to be highlighted this year.
Speaker 8: So now as he goes back to the third option,
Speaker 8: you have an extra weapon. They have size, they have versatility,
Speaker 8: they have the pedigree, and they're another team who's very
Speaker 8: very dangerous.
Speaker 1: Agreed, very dangerous. It's funny how these older teams have
Speaker 1: kind of been playing under the radar the entire season,
Speaker 1: and now you know, the as players, we know, season
Speaker 1: really really gets going after All Star and now you're
Speaker 1: seeing these older teams round in to form right at
Speaker 1: the perfect time. So it's gonna be fun. I'm definitely
Speaker 1: looking forward to these these Western Conference plays and playoffs. Sure,
Speaker 1: so you know, do do old habits die hard with
Speaker 1: the Clippers? You know Kawhi win healthy in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I mean he's got what finals, two finals, MVPs right,
Speaker 1: two finals MVPs and two championships, but he hasn't necessarily
Speaker 1: been able to get there and be healthy. Harden has
Speaker 1: a you know, a history of kind of struggling in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. If Kawhi is healthy, are these guys able
Speaker 1: to kind of shake off these old habits and really
Speaker 1: be able to make a run come playoff time.
Speaker 8: I think they can make a run. Long they don't
Speaker 8: run up against Denver. I think Denver is a mismatch.
Speaker 1: So avoid Denver at all costs in the Western.
Speaker 8: At least in the first round, right, because you can
Speaker 8: hit a rhythm, you can hit a stride, you can
Speaker 8: kind of get things going, and then you have days
Speaker 8: to recover in the playoffs, right, so you can you know,
Speaker 8: you can recover and and kind of you know, change
Speaker 8: the game play and things like that. But it's yet
Speaker 8: to be seen. I think James is matured as a player.
Speaker 8: I think he's still playing at an extremely high level.
Speaker 8: I think he's he's so much more unselfish. Though he
Speaker 8: passed the ball and you know, made assists. I think
Speaker 8: he makes winning plays now, in particular on the defensive end.
Speaker 8: I saw possession the other day where he got like
Speaker 8: five deflections in one possession, and that's just something we
Speaker 8: haven't seen. So I think these guys understand the height
Speaker 8: of the moment. I think they're hungry, and I think
Speaker 8: they believe that in a seven game series we can
Speaker 8: be in or compete with anyone.
Speaker 1: Switching gears to some women college basketball shout out to
Speaker 1: the Bruins. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Big Ten champions. Obviously sc
Speaker 1: kind of had their number this season, and you say
Speaker 1: it was able to get them when it counts. Hopefully
Speaker 1: we'll get a chance to see them in the tournament
Speaker 1: face each other. But Juju Juju has been absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1: Shout out to her. Big Ten Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: probably will win National Player of the Year. She passes
Speaker 1: Kaitlyn Clark for the most points through two seasons any
Speaker 1: women's college basketball player in the history. She's number two
Speaker 1: in scoring right now, behind Hidalgo. I think at Notre Dame,
Speaker 1: is it's safe to say that the Juju Watkins effects
Speaker 1: is here. I just saw this morning she signed with
Speaker 1: United Airlines. I think she is just absolutely killing it
Speaker 1: on all fronts, on and off the court. But what's
Speaker 1: up with this Juju effect? We got something really coming
Speaker 1: down the pipeline.
Speaker 6: Huh juju effect is real, brother.
Speaker 8: You know, she brings the style and grace to the
Speaker 8: game outside of just her play and her skill set
Speaker 8: on the court. She glows, man, you know, from a
Speaker 8: ponytail to her swagger to her smile. Like all the
Speaker 8: things that she brings, you know, off the court, she
Speaker 8: brings them just as good on the court. She's unbelievable.
Speaker 8: She's a three level score. She can dribble, she can shoot,
Speaker 8: she can pass. I was so impressed. I saw her
Speaker 8: working with I think it was piel Handy this summer,
Speaker 8: and she had her right hand wrapped up and I
Speaker 8: saw her getting all that left hand work in right.
Speaker 8: And so when you see her now, last year she
Speaker 8: was right hand dominant. She went right quite a bit,
Speaker 8: but now she's got all these different counters going left
Speaker 8: and she's just unbelievable.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 6: She's so good for women's basketball. I think her timing
Speaker 6: is perfect.
Speaker 1: Man. She's special, very special, And I'm gonna jump out
Speaker 1: there right now. People may get mad. I think if
Speaker 1: she continues on this trajectory, she has a chance to
Speaker 1: be the greatest women's player ever. And that's sayed a
Speaker 1: lot because a lot of great women have come before her,
Speaker 1: particularly Cheryl Miller, who drops this Thursday, and all the
Speaker 1: Smokeman she.
Speaker 6: Checked out to see it.
Speaker 1: But there's been a lot of amazing women. Obviously Kaylyn
Speaker 1: Clark is taking the world by storm. But ju You
Speaker 1: is different. I've seen her in person. She's a big,
Speaker 1: solid frame and she's still nineteen. Like she's not one
Speaker 1: of these whole back, double hole backs, red shirt like
Speaker 1: this is. She's the real age, she's supposed to be,
Speaker 1: in the real grade. She's supposed to be. But just
Speaker 1: the way she plays, and I don't want to disrespect
Speaker 1: her game by saying she plays like a man, because
Speaker 1: she's the best, one of the best women in the game,
Speaker 1: but she plays like a man. Bro likes her rhythm,
Speaker 1: the way she gets to her spots, the way she
Speaker 1: goes downhill and gets these and like it. Is so impressed.
Speaker 1: I was sitting in courtside with my whole boy, Tracy Mills,
Speaker 1: who's her cousin at UCLA when they beat us before
Speaker 1: we went to the Big Ten tournament, and just seeing
Speaker 1: that up close, it's absolutely incredible. Man, So the sky
Speaker 1: is the limit. I'm happy for her and her family
Speaker 1: and her team. I'm obviously happy for the Bruins that
Speaker 1: were Big ten champs, and hopefully we get a chance
Speaker 1: to collide with them one more time in the NCAA's
Speaker 1: men's tournaments. Right around the corner, which means, what programs
Speaker 1: do you feel have the best shot in the final four?
Speaker 1: Half to a mint, I haven't followed the men's as
Speaker 1: much as I've actually followed the women's this year, but
Speaker 1: any men's team stick out to you that that really
Speaker 1: has a chance to make make a good run.
Speaker 8: I'm gonna say this, next to the next, to the
Speaker 8: Western Conference, the Eastern Conference, in the euro League, the
Speaker 8: SEC is the best league in basketball outside of those things.
Speaker 8: I think they have so many teams. I think they're
Speaker 8: like eight to ten deep in that conference where they
Speaker 8: can be beat on any given night. Obviously, Duke having
Speaker 8: Cooper Flag is a favorite. They've had an incredible year.
Speaker 8: There's some sleepers in there. Penny Penny Hardaway's Memphis Memphis
Speaker 8: Tigers are a sleeper to me.
Speaker 6: Penny is doing a.
Speaker 8: Really good job down there, and I think that program
Speaker 8: is gonna continue to grow. I think they just got
Speaker 8: about twenty five million dollars in NIL money from FedEx
Speaker 8: and so I'm expecting big things from Penny on that
Speaker 8: down there in Memphis. But if I had to make
Speaker 8: a choice, I'm gonna go with the best player I think.
Speaker 8: I think Duke. They're well coached, they're balanced, they have
Speaker 8: the pedigree. I don't think Cooper will get an opportunity
Speaker 8: to play in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 6: Again. I think he's just a one and done.
Speaker 1: He's out of here. Huh.
Speaker 6: He's man.
Speaker 8: You gotta he gotta, he gotta make it happen in
Speaker 8: my opinion, and so I still think Duke is the
Speaker 8: favorite to win it all. But those SEC teams are
Speaker 8: gonna be very dangerous, especially the ones that are seated
Speaker 8: a little bit lower.
Speaker 1: Ken, I want to ask you real quick, and this
Speaker 1: is kind of even off script. The age of college
Speaker 1: basketball players these days. A new rule that JUCO doesn't
Speaker 1: count against you. You can do two years of JUCO
Speaker 1: and coming as a freshman. Still, we're seeing Auburn who
Speaker 1: just got knocked off this weekend by Alabama. Great game,
Speaker 1: they came down the wire. Obama got him. But that
Speaker 1: Auburn team, like their average age is older than the
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder. They got a twenty six year old
Speaker 1: on the team, twenty five year olds, some twenty four
Speaker 1: year olds. It's it's just so much different from when
Speaker 1: we played, you know what I mean, Like one, we
Speaker 1: didn't do the whole backs and you you red shirted
Speaker 1: if you were really hurt, like I think the portal
Speaker 1: and this is not a knock on the kids at
Speaker 1: all because they're just utilizing the system. I think this
Speaker 1: obviously is an NC double a problem. But I commented
Speaker 1: on something a few weeks back where Rick Patino said, like,
Speaker 1: we're not even recruiting high school kids this off season.
Speaker 1: They kind of pissed. That kind of pissed me off
Speaker 1: because I mean, when we were coming up was for
Speaker 1: kids turning into men. Now it's for pretty much grown
Speaker 1: ass men that probably aren't going to go to the league,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. If you think you're and
Speaker 1: I'm saying it's all the respect. If you're twenty five
Speaker 1: to twenty six playing college sports, unless you're a quarterback,
Speaker 1: you're probably not going to go to the next level.
Speaker 1: And I just kind of feel like you're taking up
Speaker 1: space for young kids with you know, that are supposed
Speaker 1: to have this type of opportunity. So what are your
Speaker 1: thoughts on just kind of the way the NCUBA has
Speaker 1: these kids allowed to play. You got twenty six year
Speaker 1: olds playing against eighteen year old and young people. So well,
Speaker 1: that's how it is the league. But this is not
Speaker 1: the league.
Speaker 5: This is college.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so what are your thoughts on that.
Speaker 8: My thoughts are, Matt, if you let these guys come
Speaker 8: out early, right, and they go undrafted, let them come
Speaker 8: back to school, right, so they're still young enough where
Speaker 8: they can still grow, cope, debate, get developed, make some
Speaker 8: money through n I LS and things like that. What
Speaker 8: happens is when guys leave for the draft and they
Speaker 8: don't get drafted, you know what I mean, Like you
Speaker 8: you lose a whole demographic of young players that you
Speaker 8: could potentially welcome back into the system. And so I
Speaker 8: think there's a loophole for the older guys in the
Speaker 8: late bloomers, you know. And not to minimize what they're doing,
Speaker 8: they're showing stick tuitiveness.
Speaker 6: Most guys aren't going to play in the NBA. Come on,
Speaker 6: come on now, three.
Speaker 1: And fourth syllable words, I see it.
Speaker 8: But most guys are not going to play in the
Speaker 8: league anyway, and so to be able to you know,
Speaker 8: have that college experience, come out with a degree, you know,
Speaker 8: extend you know, your adolescent years a little bit. I
Speaker 8: don't necessarily have a problem with it because it's not
Speaker 8: stopping our top talent from being one and done, are
Speaker 8: going to the ote, are going overseas to play and
Speaker 8: coming back to the league, and so I think it
Speaker 8: leaves some room for the college game to, you know,
Speaker 8: still have some competition, have some competitiveness, but it's a
Speaker 8: little bit more difficult for the younger guys because their
Speaker 8: bodies aren't as developed. In the college game, you can
Speaker 8: still bump and all that as well.
Speaker 1: So Okay, I like that's interesting because I don't agree,
Speaker 1: Like I'm not on the I'm on the side of
Speaker 1: I feel like this is for colleges, for these young
Speaker 1: kids that are coming in that are eighteen nineteen to
Speaker 1: try to develop, to see if they do have a
Speaker 1: chance to man, dang, that.
Speaker 6: Was not eighteen when he came to UCLA.
Speaker 1: He was nineteen. But that's an overseas kid. That's a
Speaker 1: little different, you know what I mean. But I feel no,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely not mad because, like you said, most kids,
Speaker 1: unfortunately aren't going to go that's just the nature of
Speaker 1: the game. Plus nil is so crazy right now. So
Speaker 1: these kids are still getting a lot of bread during
Speaker 1: these opportunities. So, like I said, I don't fault the
Speaker 1: kids at all, like take advantage of the system that's provided.
Speaker 1: But I just think the NCAA, you know, like most
Speaker 1: times it's awesome shit right now that I think they
Speaker 1: need to fix that, Katie before we get you out
Speaker 1: of here. Steph Curry being named assistant GM at Davidson,
Speaker 1: I think boje Ha just kind of started a trend now,
Speaker 1: you know, Masterpiece over New Orleans. Now Steph just signed over.
Speaker 1: The assistant is Davidson. What are your thoughts on big name,
Speaker 1: whether it be players or personalities becoming gms of colleges.
Speaker 6: I love it. I love it when your gift makes
Speaker 6: schome for you.
Speaker 8: And you know, too often, man, you know, we get
Speaker 8: put in boxes right and like you don't have to
Speaker 8: do this, or that you can do this, and that
Speaker 8: he's setting himself up.
Speaker 6: For a post career.
Speaker 8: It's it's his school that he went to, so he's
Speaker 8: an alumni, he's got a vested interest in that. And
Speaker 8: who better than Steph right to represent your program Steph
Speaker 8: is not only just a great basketball player, but he's
Speaker 8: a great human being. He's a great ambassador for the game.
Speaker 8: He understands business. I mean, he's just really cracked the
Speaker 8: code and get it all out. So I love to
Speaker 8: see us getting these opportunities, bringing in Pete to New Orleans,
Speaker 8: like he put New Orleans on the map to a
Speaker 8: certain degree. And Pee, you remember p used to come
Speaker 8: up at U c l A and who.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Pee, he used to try to fight me.
Speaker 5: We can talk.
Speaker 6: Did that ball touch saying he was gonna shoot it?
Speaker 1: You know, every other time. Couldn't tell him nothing.
Speaker 8: But it's great to see that man because he has
Speaker 8: the business acumen, the resume, and the passion and the
Speaker 8: love for the game. Obviously his kids play college ball.
Speaker 8: They little Romeo always had a love for the game.
Speaker 6: So it's good to see. It's good to see our guys,
Speaker 6: you know, taking their place in the game.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Man shout out to Steph, master P and woj Man.
Speaker 1: I love the presidents they're said, and looking forward to
Speaker 1: more guys getting the opportunity to do the same. And
Speaker 1: women love to see some women getting those roles too,
Speaker 1: So Katie Man, thanks for your time. We'll definitely tap
Speaker 1: back in soon.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 1: Enjoy your week.
Speaker 6: Man, Thank you Bro. Always appreciate y'all having Well.
Speaker 1: That's a rap for this week on Unplugged. Thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us. You can catch this on all the
Speaker 1: Smoke Productions YouTube and the Draft Kings Network. Don'll help
Speaker 1: a good.
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