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Speaker 1: Welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by fan Duel here at
Speaker 1: the volume. Happy Monday, everybody. I hope all of you
Speaker 1: guys had an amazing weekend. I just got in the
Speaker 1: door from Mexico about two hours ago. If you have
Speaker 1: you guys, asked me about the hurricane. Really wasn't much
Speaker 1: of a factor. Uh, one morning was pretty bad, and
Speaker 1: then after that the rest of the trip was two
Speaker 1: and a half days of the best Mexico weather I
Speaker 1: have ever experienced. I played some golf, went down to
Speaker 1: the beach, hung out by the pool. Everything you could
Speaker 1: hope for from a relaxing Mexico vacation. That said, I'm
Speaker 1: excited to be back and to talk some basketball today.
Speaker 1: We're not gonna be starting the power rankings until later
Speaker 1: this week, but today we're gonna be reacting to that
Speaker 1: Rolling Stones article about Steph Curry and his recruitment of
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant this summer, at least within his own franchise.
Speaker 1: A couple of really interesting little quotes in that article
Speaker 1: that I wanted to briefly touch On'm not gonna be
Speaker 1: going too long today, maybe about fifteen minutes before we
Speaker 1: get started. You guys know the drill. Subscribe to the
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Speaker 1: but not least, if you miss one of these shows
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Speaker 1: Hoops tonight. And then last little announcement, last day of
Speaker 1: this blank background, I am going to be hanging all
Speaker 1: of the artwork uh tomorrow so it'll be there for
Speaker 1: our next show, little sneak Peak, when I'm very very
Speaker 1: excited about. And yes, if you're wondering why I'm hanging
Speaker 1: up a poster of a star destroyer and high resolution,
Speaker 1: the answer is because it's awesome and I'm very I
Speaker 1: did for you guys to see the final results. So
Speaker 1: all right, let's get going. So the synopsis of this article,
Speaker 1: there a couple of things that were in there that
Speaker 1: I'm not going to touch on. For instance, Steph made
Speaker 1: a passing mention to k D and trust issues. Um,
Speaker 1: I can't speak to that. I don't know any of
Speaker 1: the details. I do think that what happened with Kyrie
Speaker 1: is interesting, but I don't necessarily think that's what Steph
Speaker 1: was referencing. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. We don't know.
Speaker 1: I certainly don't have a good enough feel on that
Speaker 1: to make a comment. Um. One of the things he
Speaker 1: touched on that. I that I briefly want to touch
Speaker 1: on is a quote that he had about Katie requesting
Speaker 1: a trade this summer. He said, quote, man, he thinks
Speaker 1: they're gonna go to teams like if you went to Phoenix,
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be the same team if he's there.
Speaker 1: They have a little bit of everything. But they would
Speaker 1: have to deal with the organizational transition to get rid
Speaker 1: of Jalen Brown. He's such a pivotal piece if they
Speaker 1: would have done that. End quote. Curry broke apart his
Speaker 1: fingertips and an explosion and agreed with Snoop because apparently
Speaker 1: he was talking to Snoop dog of this part of
Speaker 1: the interview that Durant was better off staying with the Nets. Now,
Speaker 1: if Steph says that he's better off staying with the Nets,
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily disagree. I mean, in terms of the rosters,
Speaker 1: Brooklyn does have an interesting roster. I don't have them
Speaker 1: in my top ten top tier contenders. Big Shock. Will
Speaker 1: learn more about them when we get to the to
Speaker 1: them in the power rankings. Uh. That said, I do
Speaker 1: understand where Katie was coming from. I do think there
Speaker 1: were better basketball situations out there for him. Where I
Speaker 1: disagree with Steph as he was saying that every team
Speaker 1: would have to blow themselves up to get Katie. That
Speaker 1: just simply wasn't the truth. I thought the Miami and
Speaker 1: Phoenix options right up front made no sense because they
Speaker 1: would have to give up too much. But I thought
Speaker 1: a New Orleans would have made a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: If you flipped a brandon Ingram for Katie, they're instantly
Speaker 1: a contender. If you flip as I and Williamson for Katie,
Speaker 1: there instantly a contender. If with the Toronto Raptors, if
Speaker 1: you would have flipped a Scottie Barnes in a Fred
Speaker 1: van Vleet for Kevin Durant, you're instantly a contender. There
Speaker 1: were teams in there that would have been able to
Speaker 1: get Katie and still vide him with a significantly better
Speaker 1: basketball situation than what he would have had if he
Speaker 1: stayed with the Nets. So I did push back a
Speaker 1: little bit there, specifically with Boston, like that was just
Speaker 1: a no brainer, Like Boston could have given up a
Speaker 1: player that would have been a great option for Brooklyn
Speaker 1: to rebuild around, but also have plenty around Durant and
Speaker 1: Tatum to easily be the most talented team in the
Speaker 1: league this year. I thought Boston would have been a
Speaker 1: runaway favorite had they made that trade. So I do
Speaker 1: disagree with Steph in the sense that I think Kevin
Speaker 1: Durant did perceive that there were some options out there
Speaker 1: for him. It just didn't realize I did. It didn't materialize.
Speaker 1: So Joe, like, what really happened here is Josiah made
Speaker 1: a gamble. He gambled that if he effectively passively refused
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant's request, not by outwardly refusing it, but by
Speaker 1: just making a ridiculous asking price, he figured he might
Speaker 1: be able to get k D to recommit, and he did. So.
Speaker 1: It was a gamble that Josie took, and it paid off.
Speaker 1: I don't think this necessarily was Kevin Durant misreading the
Speaker 1: landscape of the league. I just just I disagree with
Speaker 1: that specifically. But Steph is correct in the sense that
Speaker 1: there is sometimes in life a tendency to think that
Speaker 1: the grass is always greener, and I do think that
Speaker 1: overall ideology makes sense. But Kevin Durant had some real
Speaker 1: options there. They just didn't materialize because of Joe sigh,
Speaker 1: not because of the other teams around the league. And
Speaker 1: you know what's gonna be really interesting. There's training camp.
Speaker 1: You know, I We're gonna be starting training camp with
Speaker 1: the NBA here what in like two weeks maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit less. I can't remember exactly for sure, But
Speaker 1: the reality is is like that's everyone's gonna be meeting
Speaker 1: there for Brooklyn, Steve Nash, you know, Sean Marks, Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving. They all got to come together and make
Speaker 1: this thing work, and I'm really curious to see how
Speaker 1: it goes. We're gonna be doing our power rankings basically
Speaker 1: up until uh, preseason games start, and then as soon
Speaker 1: as preseason game starts, it's all and if it's all film,
Speaker 1: it's all straight up NBA basketball. Even if it's preseason,
Speaker 1: we're gonna deep dive into lineups. We're gonna deep dive
Speaker 1: into offseason acquisitions and how they look on the basketball court,
Speaker 1: playing real basketball. It's something I'm very very excited for,
Speaker 1: and specifically with Kevin Durant the Nets, I'm just interested
Speaker 1: to see how it all comes together. Um, the most
Speaker 1: interesting part of this article that I wanted to touch
Speaker 1: on was Steph's attitude and the way that it exuded
Speaker 1: out of the piece, just to show us exactly why
Speaker 1: step is as successful as he is and as is
Speaker 1: was as successful as he has been in the past
Speaker 1: as well. So I wanted to read one quote before
Speaker 1: we get into this so quote, so all those things
Speaker 1: were true, And it started with me wanting to play
Speaker 1: with Katie at the beginning. Yeah, it's about winning, it's
Speaker 1: about having fun playing the game of basketball. And that
Speaker 1: was part of the reaction of yeah, be amazing. What
Speaker 1: does that actually mean? Steph does not care what any
Speaker 1: of us think about how much talent has been on
Speaker 1: his teams, who deserves the most credit and when the
Speaker 1: trophy is handed out it being about him. He just
Speaker 1: genuinely does not care. I believe it. I think it's authentic,
Speaker 1: and I think it's served him well throughout his career.
Speaker 1: Making decisions based on outside pressure as opposed to making
Speaker 1: decisions based on what you want will kill you everywhere
Speaker 1: in life. Like my wife and I are thinking about
Speaker 1: having kids soon, probably in the next year or two,
Speaker 1: and we sure as hell are not going to do
Speaker 1: it because we've been told to do it. We're sure
Speaker 1: as hell not going to do it because some of
Speaker 1: our other friends are doing it, We're gonna do it
Speaker 1: because we want to have kids. And way too often
Speaker 1: in life I feel like we allow outside pressure to
Speaker 1: affect our decision making. Kevin Durrey did not leave Golden
Speaker 1: State because he did didn't like it there. He didn't
Speaker 1: leave Golden Say because he didn't like the basketball. He
Speaker 1: left Golden State because of everyone in the NBA Twitter
Speaker 1: community and the way they were able to muscle a perception,
Speaker 1: a public perception of his accomplishments while he was there.
Speaker 1: That is why he left. He responded to outside pressure.
Speaker 1: He built that project with Kyrie in Brooklyn because he
Speaker 1: thought you guys and me would elevate we would elevate our,
Speaker 1: our whole impression of him if he accomplished something in
Speaker 1: that regard. And it's just it's interesting to see how
Speaker 1: in those two situations, Steph Curry, a player who through
Speaker 1: his entire career hasn't given a damn what you think,
Speaker 1: hasn't given a damn what I think, and a player
Speaker 1: in Katie who seemingly covers caters a lot of his
Speaker 1: decision making towards public perception and things along those lines,
Speaker 1: at least until recently. I think he's been a little
Speaker 1: bit more open minded now, Like I think his trade
Speaker 1: request was a big middle finger to basketball fans. I
Speaker 1: really like, like, hey, I want to go, because I
Speaker 1: want to go, Like who cares? This Brooklyn thing was
Speaker 1: a mistake. I think Katie is authentic now, but in
Speaker 1: the past I believe that he cared too much about that.
Speaker 1: And look at where their paths have diverted. Steph Curry
Speaker 1: has one Finals MVP. He doesn't give a damn. I
Speaker 1: think he's the fifth best perimeter player ever since nineteen
Speaker 1: in the modern iteration of basketball, since nineteen eighty like
Speaker 1: for the for a ton of basketball fans, for a
Speaker 1: huge percentage of basketball fans, he's at a minimum a
Speaker 1: top ten player of all time. So tell me how
Speaker 1: much him teaming up with Katie has affected his perception.
Speaker 1: Tell me how much him teaming up with Katie has
Speaker 1: hurt his standing all time in NBA history. Hasn't hurt
Speaker 1: him a bit? But then k D making decisions based
Speaker 1: on what people think has actually hurt him in that
Speaker 1: regard hard. And I think Steph is such a great
Speaker 1: example of how authenticity wins. Be exactly who you are,
Speaker 1: do exactly what the heck you want to do, and
Speaker 1: if you're great at it, the rewards will come regardless
Speaker 1: of what circumstances change around you. That's why he was
Speaker 1: willing to partner with Kevin Durant. That's why this summer
Speaker 1: again he was willing to partner with Kevin Durant. He
Speaker 1: just doesn't care what you think. He just loves playing
Speaker 1: basketb I'll read it again. He loves winning, he loves
Speaker 1: having fun, and he loves playing the game of basketball.
Speaker 1: How does how stacked his roster fact into that factor
Speaker 1: into that not at all, and I think it helps
Speaker 1: him on the winning front. How does teaming up with
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant hurt him in that regard? It doesn't, And
Speaker 1: I just I admire the hell out of him in
Speaker 1: that regard. Lebron has been my favorite player growing up,
Speaker 1: much less so now that I've gotten older, But like
Speaker 1: when I was younger, like I've worshiped and he got
Speaker 1: me to fall in love with the game of basketball.
Speaker 1: And I think his attempts two inauthentically control the narrative
Speaker 1: of situations has hurt him in the long run. There's
Speaker 1: an army I venture to guess half of you who
Speaker 1: watched this video dislike Lebron to some extent. You know,
Speaker 1: maybe you respect him and as as a basketball talent,
Speaker 1: but a good half of you probably dislike him. And
Speaker 1: I guarantee you one of the main reasons why you
Speaker 1: do is that him trying to tell you what happened
Speaker 1: instead of trusting you to be able to figure out
Speaker 1: on your own what happened just by watching. And I
Speaker 1: thought that was my big takeaway from that article. I
Speaker 1: just I really appreciated seeing Steph just reminding everybody why
Speaker 1: he wins. And it's because there's an order of operations
Speaker 1: winning basketball fun. That's it. I don't care about anything else,
Speaker 1: and and and that's why he is where he is.
Speaker 1: On a On a final note, I do think that
Speaker 1: for the Warriors in particular, that specific trade idea trying
Speaker 1: to flip call it, you know, Wiggins and Pool or
Speaker 1: something whatever, the deal would have been and probably would
Speaker 1: have included Wiseman, Kaminga, and Moody, if not more. Um
Speaker 1: I I do think that for the Warriors in particular,
Speaker 1: they were the one team it made sense to hold off,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that they did. And the main reason
Speaker 1: why is because of continuity this team throughout its in existence,
Speaker 1: this era from call it two thousand three, when Steph
Speaker 1: really started to take off, excuse me two thirteen, when
Speaker 1: Steph really started to take off, to now in this era,
Speaker 1: it's always been Steph clay Dre and since two thousand
Speaker 1: fifteen it's been Steph clay Dre and Steve Kerr. And
Speaker 1: that dynamic is one of their biggest advantages over the
Speaker 1: rest of the league. To be clear, I won't reveal
Speaker 1: where they are my power rankings. If they had Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: I'd still have them very close to the top. But
Speaker 1: having the continuity, having the depth that they have, I
Speaker 1: think serves them well. Steph said in the piece. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't have a quote in front of me,
Speaker 1: but Steph is. Step said in the piece that he
Speaker 1: felt confident that if they brought everybody back, that they
Speaker 1: had enough to get it done. And he's absolutely right there.
Speaker 1: I won't reveal it, but they're in the very top
Speaker 1: tier of my teams and his power rankings without any trades.
Speaker 1: Even though they lost Gary Payton, even though they lost
Speaker 1: out of Porter, I am very confident in what they
Speaker 1: could do, and and and then and continuity benefits them.
Speaker 1: Flipping it all for k D is not a thing
Speaker 1: that they needed to do. And I think that's why.
Speaker 1: I bet you when Steph was exploring it, when he
Speaker 1: was being consulted by the team about exploring that option,
Speaker 1: I bet you he looked at them and was like, Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you can do it without massacring our depth, sure,
Speaker 1: But I like this group, and I think we can
Speaker 1: do this, and and and and I just I really
Speaker 1: enjoyed the article. And there's a there's a full length
Speaker 1: piece from The Rolling Stones that released either this morning
Speaker 1: or it's coming out soon. It was hinted at in
Speaker 1: the piece that I was referencing, and I'm really excited
Speaker 1: to read that because Steph is uh. It's very good
Speaker 1: that he's probably the face of the league right now,
Speaker 1: him and Lebron, because his authentic approach, I think is
Speaker 1: the best approach for young basketball players coming up in
Speaker 1: the league, young basketball players coming up in youth basketball.
Speaker 1: He's the guy to emulate. He's the guy you want
Speaker 1: to be like. He's the guy that that his formula
Speaker 1: I believe is proven to work. I think Lebron's formula
Speaker 1: has worked because of how damn good he is at basketball.
Speaker 1: Same thing goes for Kevin Durant. With Steph, it's that
Speaker 1: and more because authenticity wins, and Steph has one with authenticity.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for today.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be moving off with the power rankings this
Speaker 1: week at least three or four more teams. Like I said,
Speaker 1: we'll be doing power rankings through to the start of
Speaker 1: preseason on sept and then we're just doing game breakdowns.
Speaker 1: Just for nine months. We're gonna be doing game breakdowns
Speaker 1: and you know the occasional trade stuff that happens in between.
Speaker 1: But you guys know, my favorite thing to do in
Speaker 1: the world is to break down basketball. And we are
Speaker 1: this close to getting back into daily basketball and very
Speaker 1: excited as always. I sincerely appreciate your guys support, and
Speaker 1: I'll see you in a couple of days. The volume