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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight. You're at

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Speaker 2: KD and Kawhi? Some more, debate over the lebron and

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Speaker 2: on our mail bags throughout the remainder of the summer.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, strongly disagreeing

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Speaker 2: with the Steph over Lebron ranking. The Warriors were barely

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Speaker 2: five hundred before the Jimmy trade, and Lebron was like

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Speaker 2: seven to one in games without Luca and AD. I

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Speaker 2: understand sample size is different, but Warriors without Jimmy were

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Speaker 2: still a complete roster, but Lebron without a co star

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Speaker 2: was a significantly more InCom was with a significantly more

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Speaker 2: incomplete team. Lebron is still more reliable than Steph when

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Speaker 2: it comes to availability, and was showed and showed a

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Speaker 2: higher peak than Steph last season. And all this is

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Speaker 2: ignoring the multiple single digit scoring nights from Steph last season.

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Speaker 2: I think you were doing the exact same thing that

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Speaker 2: many analysts on TV do, expecting Lebron to fall off

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Speaker 2: instead of grading him based on what we were actually

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Speaker 2: seeing on the court from him. Major fan of the

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Speaker 2: show and really appreciate how well thought it your takestar.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for supporting the show. A lot of like

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Speaker 2: individual things that I want to kind of get into there,

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Speaker 2: because there are things that you said that I agree with,

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Speaker 2: and there are things that you said that I disagree with,

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Speaker 2: and I think that some of them are less relevant

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Speaker 2: to this discussion than others. So a couple things to

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Speaker 2: kind of go piecemeal through some of the specific things

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Speaker 2: I disagree with the performance of the team. So, Stephan,

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Speaker 2: the Warriors being below five hundred, that roster was extremely limited.

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Speaker 2: Off the top, they had a depth of quality end

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Speaker 2: of the bench role player talent in the sense that

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Speaker 2: they had fourteen fifteen guys that they could play rotation minutes.

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Speaker 2: But in terms of top end talent, going from Steph

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Speaker 2: to you know, Andrew Wiggins and Buddy Healed and Draymond

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Speaker 2: Green to getting rid of Andrew Wiggins and obviously Jimmy

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Speaker 2: Butler comes in the equation, they immediately start kicking ass.

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Speaker 2: I don't really care to look at a two players

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Speaker 2: and how they rank or compare with each other when

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Speaker 2: the rosters are so incredibly different. So, for instance, like

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Speaker 2: all you got to do if you're a STEPH fan

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Speaker 2: is go, well, look, in twenty twenty two, we won

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Speaker 2: the title and the Lakers missed the playoffs. Well, it's like, yeah, that.

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Speaker 2: I don't think that Warriors roster was a world beater

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Speaker 2: by any means, but it certainly was a hell of

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Speaker 2: a lot better roster than the Russell Westbrook catastrophe roster

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Speaker 2: that that group struggled with, especially when Anthony Davis went

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Speaker 2: down with injury. Similarly, now I do think Lebron, Austin Reeves,

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Speaker 2: Ruwiy Hatcha Mura, obviously, Anthony Davis to start the year,

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Speaker 2: Luka Doncic later in the year, it is better basketball team, guys,

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Speaker 2: it's better basketball team. They were the three seed in

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Speaker 2: the Western Conference. Now, so that's going to naturally result

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Speaker 2: in differences in team records, regardless of the difference in

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Speaker 2: the way that Lebron and Steph were playing. Now, let's

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Speaker 2: get into some of the specifics that you said. You

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Speaker 2: said Lebron reached a higher peak than Steph last season.

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Speaker 1: I agree.

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Speaker 2: I thought Steph got I thought Steph was really good

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Speaker 2: down the stretch of the season. But that little stretch

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Speaker 2: there in February from Lebron was one of the best

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Speaker 2: stretches from any player in the league last year. Happened

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Speaker 2: to coincide with a stretch when Anthony Davis was out

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Speaker 2: and Luka Doncic was out. So it was perfect timing

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Speaker 2: for the Lakers because Lebron hit his absolute peak when

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Speaker 2: they absolutely needed him to, and they were able to

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Speaker 2: rattle off some wins. But if you look at the

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Speaker 2: totality of the season, I do think that Steph has

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Speaker 2: more value right now as an advantage creator than Lebron.

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Speaker 2: I want to dive a little bit further into this

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Speaker 2: concept because you even said in your question all of

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Speaker 2: this is ignoring the multiple single digit scoring nights from

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Speaker 2: Steph last season. I still believe that Steph has an

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Speaker 2: advantage creation element to him that Lebron has much less

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Speaker 2: so to this point in his career. So or at

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Speaker 2: this point in his career, when Lebron was it in

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Speaker 2: more of his physical prime, he was able to break

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Speaker 2: the defense down more. What does that mean? What does

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Speaker 2: it mean to break the defense down? When the defense

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Speaker 2: is loaded up, so best perimeter defender on you, All

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Speaker 2: the helpside is looking at you, all the game planning

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Speaker 2: is built on how to guard you. You are now

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Speaker 2: breaking the defense to where somebody is wide open that

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Speaker 2: probably shouldn't be. I don't mean like, oh, this guy

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Speaker 2: standing wide open because no one thinks he can shoot.

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Speaker 2: I mean like you have broken the defense. Like you,

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Speaker 2: Lebron gets into a post up and gets a switch

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Speaker 2: that he likes and breaks it down into the middle

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Speaker 2: of the paint, draws a triple team and ruy Hatramura's

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Speaker 2: wide open in the right corner. That's breaking the defense down.

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Speaker 2: Right Steph Curry running off of an off ball screen

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Speaker 2: or an on ball screen and drawing two to the ball,

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Speaker 2: so that now there's a four on three materializing. That's

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Speaker 2: breaking the defense down. As Lebron has gotten older, it's

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Speaker 2: been more difficult for him to do that. He's not

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Speaker 2: as capable of bullying his way to the basket as

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Speaker 2: well as he used to when his legs were stronger

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Speaker 2: and had more pop to them. Obviously the dribble drive pop.

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Speaker 2: We talked about it in the one on one numbers

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Speaker 2: when we were covering Lebron in the rankings. When Lebron

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Speaker 2: can break the defense down methodically, whether it's there's a

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Speaker 2: guard that he can attack through the post on a switch,

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Speaker 2: or if it's like a specific team that can't switch

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Speaker 2: his ball screens so that he can get downhill, Lebron

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Speaker 2: is good. Like we talked about he was a very

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Speaker 2: good pick and role player last year. That was a

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Speaker 2: big thing that carried him to being a good half

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Speaker 2: court initiator last year. But Lebron has gone from being

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Speaker 2: what he used to be, which was the one of

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Speaker 2: the top two or three offensive engines in the NBA

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Speaker 2: every single year for twenty years or eighteen nineteen years.

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Speaker 2: He's gone from that to being like a second or

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Speaker 2: third tier offensive engine.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: His ability to break the defense down isn't the same

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Speaker 2: as it used to be. No shame in that he's

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Speaker 2: literally going to be forty one years old this season,

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Speaker 2: right Steph Curry up through this to this point, and

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Speaker 2: we'll see how long he can maintain it, because now

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Speaker 2: he's entering into those years where things can start to

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Speaker 2: slow down. But up to this point with Steph because

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Speaker 2: of his shooting ability, because the league still reacts to

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Speaker 2: him as though he is prime Steph Curry, and until

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Speaker 2: that changes, he'll still be a great offensive engine. As

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Speaker 2: long as he's out there on the floor and teams

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Speaker 2: are guarding him like he's Steph Curry, he has this

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Speaker 2: element of advantage creation, the ability to break the defense

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Speaker 2: down to consistently get these really nice openings that the

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Speaker 2: team can capitalize on. And that's the thing, like we

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Speaker 2: talked about it. Yeah, like for Steph to be the

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Speaker 2: top one of the top tier guys, he needs to

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Speaker 2: combine his advantage creation with scoring and we covered that

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Speaker 2: in this Steph video. But as far as like his

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Speaker 2: night to night impact, there's a reason why guys, you

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Speaker 2: said they were under five hundred or barely five hundred

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Speaker 2: before the Jimmy trade. You talk about them fighting up

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Speaker 2: out of the play in tournament this year, think about

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Speaker 2: some of the stats that we shared from that that

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Speaker 2: is because of the roster. The roster had severe limitation.

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Speaker 2: They didn't bring a secondary star until the home stretch,

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Speaker 2: at which point they looked great. But if you actually

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Speaker 2: zoom out from the season for the entirety of the season,

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Speaker 2: according to Cleaning the Glass, despite playing with Andrew Wiggins

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Speaker 2: and Buddy Healed as his best offensive supporting talent for

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Speaker 2: the two thirds of the season, the Warriors posted a

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Speaker 2: one twenty offensive rating with Steph on the floor. So, like,

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Speaker 2: let's get into this. I have Steph at six, I

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Speaker 2: have Lebron at eight. Why do I still have Steph

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Speaker 2: over Lebron? Even though Lebron has been playing really well,

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Speaker 2: hit a higher short term ceiling during that February stretch

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Speaker 2: this year. And you know, obviously, you guys know how

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Speaker 2: I feel about Lebron all time, and you guys know

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Speaker 2: how I feel about Lebron when he was in his

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Speaker 2: prime versus Steth. He's not in his prime anymore.

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Speaker 1: Guys like I root for the Lakers.

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Speaker 2: Anybody who's ever rooted, like seriously rooted for a basketball

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Speaker 2: team can really get an honest feel for what it's

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Speaker 2: like watching them because you feel the pain of loss, right.

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Speaker 2: I have watched Lebron at this phase in his career

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Speaker 2: struggle to break the defense down where they'll have like

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Speaker 2: extended stretches where they can't score. And I know we've

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Speaker 2: seen that with the Warriors, but when I watch it

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Speaker 2: with the Warriors, especially when you look at the roster,

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Speaker 2: like guys, the Lakers had extended stretches last year where

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Speaker 2: they were bad on offense despite having Austin Reeves, ruey

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Speaker 2: Hatramura Lebron. And it's because Austin Reeves as good as

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Speaker 2: he is, if you switch and you keep a good

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Speaker 2: athlete on him, he can struggle to actually break the defense.

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Speaker 1: Down.

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Speaker 2: Similarly, Lebron, if you can switch big athletic players onto

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Speaker 2: him and not allow him to use ball screens in

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Speaker 2: the traditional sense, he can have difficulty breaking the defense down.

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Speaker 2: Steph Curry at this phase of his career is better

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Speaker 2: than Lebron by a pretty decent margin at breaking the

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Speaker 2: defense down. He took a roster that was utterly devoid

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Speaker 2: of offensive talent and hung a one twenty offensive rating.

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Speaker 2: Last year, Lebron had a brief stretch where everything came

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Speaker 2: together for him physically mentally, and you know what, he

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Speaker 2: kicked everyone's ass for a couple of for like five

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Speaker 2: weeks or so, right, And that's a feather in his cap.

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Speaker 2: But when I look at the totality of the last

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Speaker 2: couple of years, the majority of the time he's been

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Speaker 2: a second tier offensive engine. I think right now Steph

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Speaker 2: is the third best guy in the league behind Luka

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Speaker 2: and Jokic still to this day at breaking the defense

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Speaker 2: down at consistently through the threat of his shooting and

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Speaker 2: running around, forcing teams to overreact to him so that

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Speaker 2: people are open. And once you have open guys, offense flows.

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Speaker 2: That's why they put up a one to twenty offensive rating.

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Speaker 2: It's not about anything to do with the Lebron Stephed

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Speaker 2: debit in the big picture, it's just for the future.

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Speaker 2: Now we'll see Steph might next year lose a step

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Speaker 2: not be as capable of beating defenses, start facing lesser coverages,

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Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, his value as an offensive

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Speaker 2: engine might decrease. I'm just saying through to the point.

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Speaker 2: When he got hurt last year, I still felt like

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Speaker 2: teams regarding him like he was Steph Curry, and he

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Speaker 2: was still breaking the defense down like Steph Curry, and

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Speaker 2: he was still putting up monster offensive ratings first team

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Speaker 2: like Steph Curry. There's no shame in that he's considerably

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Speaker 2: younger than Lebron. Even though he's old, He's considerably younger

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Speaker 2: than Lebron. It's actually a good time. I go to

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Speaker 2: hop forward to a different question because I got one

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Speaker 2: from you guys having to do with the having to

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Speaker 2: do with the age piece of it and durability. Here

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Speaker 2: it is, how is Steph's longevity even remotely comparable to

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Speaker 2: Lebron when Lebron played twenty four thousand more minutes. Here's

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Speaker 2: the thing. I don't mean it's comparable in the sense

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Speaker 2: that no one's gonna go out and make an argument

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Speaker 2: that Steph has a more impressive longevity case than Lebron.

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Speaker 2: That would be stupid. Lebron has the best longevity case

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Speaker 2: in all of in all of NBA history. Even when

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Speaker 2: you look at Kareem, he just wasn't able to maintain

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Speaker 2: the level of play that Lebron has been at. Lebron

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Speaker 2: just got named second Team All NBA in his twenty

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Speaker 2: second season. Lebron's the goat to certainly the goat of longevity,

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Speaker 2: and I would argue that's one of the biggest feathers

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Speaker 2: in his in his goat cap right. What I meant

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Speaker 2: when I'm bringing up Steph's longevity has to do with

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Speaker 2: the fact that he's a small guard. One of the

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Speaker 2: reasons why Lebron can play this many minutes and still

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Speaker 2: be this impactful is that, yes, he's taking care of

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Speaker 2: his body, but he's also six foot nine, two hundred

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Speaker 2: and sixty pounds, like just like really naturally gifted athletically,

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Speaker 2: literally one of the greatest athletes to ever set foot

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Speaker 2: on the play, So it's easier for him to rely

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Speaker 2: on his physical size and strength as he ages in

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Speaker 2: a way that smaller players can't. Steph is literally a

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Speaker 2: foot speed, reliant guard, and so I do think it's impressive.

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Speaker 2: I'm not saying that he's Lebron. I'm just saying I

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Speaker 2: think it's impressive that over the course of this this

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Speaker 2: phase of his career and is entering into his late thirties,

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Speaker 2: like post thirty five, that Steph is still able to

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Speaker 2: break defenses down the way he does, that he's still

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Speaker 2: able to score as effectively as he does. Like, I

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Speaker 2: think stephs longevity is uniquely impressive among small guards. I

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Speaker 2: recently saw where Tylu said Michael Jordan would average forty

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Speaker 2: five points in today's NBA. This is a familiar theme

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Speaker 2: We've all heard. Previous NBA Hall of Fame players would

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Speaker 2: average forty or fifty points in today's NBA. If it's

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Speaker 2: not MJ, it's Alan Iverson or some other guard. I

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Speaker 2: think this is ridiculous. MJ took thirty two percent of

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Speaker 2: his team shots the year he averaged thirty seven points

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Speaker 2: per game. Today's leading scorers take about twenty four percent

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Speaker 2: of their team shots. If Kevin Durant, Lebron, James, or

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Speaker 2: Giannis took thirty two percent of their team shots. I'm

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Speaker 2: sure they would average forty points too, but today's NBA

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Speaker 2: doesn't lend to that possibility. Defenses are too advanced to

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Speaker 2: allow that players today are way too skilled. What are

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Speaker 2: your thoughts? Love your content and keep up the awesome analysis.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for the kind words. That was

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Speaker 2: a really well laid out case. I mean, guys, you

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Speaker 2: don't need to hear from me. Yes, it's incredibly dumb

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Speaker 2: to say that Michael Jordan would average forty five points

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Speaker 2: in today's game. All this stuff you broke down about

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Speaker 2: pace is extremely important. There are a lot more possessions now.

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Speaker 2: So even though the points per game totals look generally

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Speaker 2: similar to the way they looked in the past, as

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Speaker 2: we know, there's the reality that the percentage of these guys,

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Speaker 2: the percentage of their team shots that these guys are taking,

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Speaker 2: is different than it was in the past. So very

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Speaker 2: well broken down on your part. I take it a

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Speaker 2: step further, like, one of the reasons why we're never

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Speaker 2: going to see a guy average forty five points is

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Speaker 2: the reality of how basketball works. And this is what's

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Speaker 2: so like frustrating about seeing like old vet NBA legends

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Speaker 2: say this shit and like we all know what it is, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: it's just sentimentality. They are very fond of their era.

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Speaker 2: I don't blame them. They should be. It'd be weird

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Speaker 2: if they weren't, right, so, like, it's fine that they

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Speaker 2: are that way. I think it just comes from a

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Speaker 2: defensive nature wanting to promote their era. I don't have

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Speaker 2: a problem with it. But anybody who's ever played basketball knows, like,

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Speaker 2: if you go down to your rec center, for God's sakes,

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Speaker 2: and you play pickup and you lose two or three

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Speaker 2: games because a dude's torching you from the three point line,

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Speaker 2: running off of screens, what are you gonna do? You're

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Speaker 2: gonna start reacting to it and sending multiple bodies, Like

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Speaker 2: there's literally a natural competitive defensive reaction from a team

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Speaker 2: when a guy's you up. Okay, it's a one on

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Speaker 2: one thing. This guy is torching his man over and

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Speaker 2: over again for bucket, bucket, bucket. He's beating you off

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Speaker 2: the court each time you step on. What are you

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Speaker 2: gonna do the next time? You're gonna be like, can

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Speaker 2: we please get a double team over here? Can we

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Speaker 2: send a second defender over get the ball out of

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Speaker 2: his hands? Like you can lean into it as much

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Speaker 2: as you want and teams will eventually react. Look at

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Speaker 2: James Harden. I think James Harden is the player in

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Speaker 2: NBA history that most try to gimmick his way to

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Speaker 2: the highest points per game total in the league, meaning

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Speaker 2: absurdly high usage. The offense was literally, just give the

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Speaker 2: ball to James Harden. He's gonna call for a ball screen,

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Speaker 2: and he's gonna play out of the ball screen, and

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Speaker 2: if he switches it, he's gonna ISO and then at

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Speaker 2: the last second he might throw it to you in

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Speaker 2: the corner for a three. He leaned so far into

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Speaker 2: that he became a caricature of himself, and it was effective.

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Speaker 2: He scored a lot of points very efficiently. But what

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Speaker 2: happened the league reacted. Guys started literally just sitting with

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Speaker 2: their hand like remember the Lakers that one game did

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Speaker 2: that comical hands behind their back, literally just like sidling

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Speaker 2: on his left hand, funneling him into triple teams in

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Speaker 2: the paint. There there were teams who quite literally played

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Speaker 2: behind James Harden like they positioned their on ball defenders

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Speaker 2: on the opposite side of James from the rim and

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Speaker 2: tried to force him to drive into all their help.

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Speaker 2: The point I'm trying to make is James Harden literally

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Speaker 2: played basketball as though his ultimate goal in that phase

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Speaker 2: of his career was to put up the highest points

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Speaker 2: per game totals ever. And he got to thirty six

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Speaker 2: points per game. Why because the league reacted and they

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Speaker 2: started guarding him that way. I'm a big Michael Jordan guy.

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Speaker 2: Do I think he could get up to where Shake

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Speaker 2: Gildess Alexander is maybe a touch higher, where he's averaging

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Speaker 2: thirty five thirty six points per game.

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Speaker 1: He certainly could.

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Speaker 2: But James Harden is a basketball player that played a

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Speaker 2: style that kind of has been proven not to work

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Speaker 2: over the course of playoff series.

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Speaker 1: He would fatigue.

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Speaker 2: Over the course of playoff series, defenders would figure out

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Speaker 2: what his moves look like and start getting in front

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Speaker 2: of them. He started not getting as much separation as

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Speaker 2: he used to. He started not doing as well playing

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Speaker 2: every possession as though the goal is for you to

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Speaker 2: score in the same two or three ways is just

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Speaker 2: going to make you easy to guard over the course

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Speaker 2: of time, which is why James Harden struggled so much

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Speaker 2: at the end of playoff series. Over the course of

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Speaker 2: his career, Michael Jordan is a competitor that wants to

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Speaker 2: win championships at all costs. Very different type of competitive

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Speaker 2: approach than James Harden. Certainly it would have manifested in

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Speaker 2: high points per game totals. He would have probably ended

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Speaker 2: up close to thirty five thirty six points per game,

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Speaker 2: just because he's better than all these dudes at scoring.

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Speaker 2: But it wouldn't look like a caricature of basketball. It

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Speaker 2: would look like Michael Jordan from his prime, with a

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Speaker 2: lot more three point volume, running into on and off ball,

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Speaker 2: pull up jump shots and movement jump shots and post ups,

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00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:29,800
Speaker 2: and it would be high variety, like incredibly detailed scoring

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Speaker 2: in the modern NBA, done very effectively. And guess what

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Speaker 2: if he ever got into a crazy hot stretch where

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Speaker 2: he averaged forty five points per game for a four

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Speaker 2: game stretch and he was lighting the world on fire

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Speaker 2: by game five, they would come out from the opening

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Speaker 2: tip double teaming him and it would cause his point

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Speaker 2: totals to eventually go down. It's like Kobe had a

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Speaker 2: stretch where he had what fifty points in four consecutive

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Speaker 2: games and had a few sixty point games in there.

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Speaker 1: Remember that, did he do that?

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Speaker 2: All season or did eventually, they're a basketball reality form

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Speaker 2: around that, because teams aren't just gonna let the best

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Speaker 2: scorer in the world light them on.

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Speaker 1: Fire over and over and over again.

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Speaker 2: Could Michael Jordan's score forty five points per game in

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Speaker 2: today's NBA. Maybe, but it would be incredibly ugly basketball.

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Speaker 2: That would be bad for the team, and quite frankly,

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Speaker 2: Michael Jordan would never do that. And to take it

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Speaker 2: a step further, there are several guys in the league

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Speaker 2: today that could do that. Like Jokic could average forty

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Speaker 2: five points per game in today's NBA. It wouldn't be

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Speaker 2: good basketball. It wouldn't be good for his team. So,

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Speaker 2: like I just every time I hear that, it just

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Speaker 2: disappoints me because, like I understand where they're coming from,

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Speaker 2: but it like straight up doesn't make any basketball sense.

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Speaker 2: No one's gonna average forty five points per game anytime soon.

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Speaker 2: It's not gonna happen. Like, it's just not gonna happen. Hey, Jason,

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Speaker 2: out of curiosity, what actually prevented you from making the

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Speaker 2: NBA draft or six to six? And you said before

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Speaker 2: that you were blessed with good athleticism and you clearly

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00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:09,960
Speaker 2: have a love for the game and a willingness to

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Speaker 2: To make a long ster short, I just wasn't nearly

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00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,720
Speaker 2: good enough. There's I think there's two elements to it.

422
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 2: On the one hand, like I'm just not good enough.

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Speaker 2: Like I'm six six, that's decent size for a wing.

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00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 2: It's certainly they not bad size of his six to

425
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,879
Speaker 2: ten wingspan. That's not bad. I was a good athlete

426
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 2: for like Juco and Naia hoops. But trust me, I've

427
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:11,080
Speaker 2: met a lot better athletes than me in my life.

428
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Speaker 2: That played my position. And that's the thing is like

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Speaker 2: there's a version of my life where I could have

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Speaker 2: gone and played overseas for a while and made it.

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Speaker 2: I'm I feel very confident that I could have gone

432
00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,160
Speaker 2: and played overseas and played for a while, just because

433
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 2: I competed with and against those guys my entire life,

434
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:27,679
Speaker 2: and it was just the pathway of my life that

435
00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 2: didn't go that way. But like I I've played with

436
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,200
Speaker 2: NBA level talent, there's a there's a whole other level

437
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 2: there guys, even high level overseas talent, like the dudes

438
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,240
Speaker 2: who are playing in like the top leagues in Europe

439
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 2: or in the NBL. Like there's a guy in Tucson

440
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,239
Speaker 2: who plays in the NBL, has won multiple MVPs over there.

441
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 2: His name is Bryce Cotton. He comes home and plays

442
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 2: in the summertime and Tucson. I've competed with him dozens

443
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 2: of times over the years. Every time he comes home,

444
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 2: I'm reminded there's another level. There's another level to this

445
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,720
Speaker 2: that you can get to. Like, so on the one hand,

446
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 2: what the talent, Like if I was six six and

447
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,920
Speaker 2: six ten and a substantially a six ten wingspan and

448
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 2: substantially more athletic. Maybe there's something to be had there,

449
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 2: but like the reality is is I'm a mediocre sized

450
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 2: wing that is athletic for the dudes you're gonna meet

451
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 2: at your rec run, but not athletic compared to NBA players.

452
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 2: There's always levels to this. Like you guys have probably

453
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,200
Speaker 2: seen videos of me playing basketball, and yeah, I can

454
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,959
Speaker 2: put a put forward a reasonable fact simile of a

455
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 2: pro level wing that you know that looks like he

456
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,679
Speaker 2: takes basketball very seriously, but it's it's just not the

457
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 2: same as playing at.

458
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 1: That NBA level.

459
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:45,480
Speaker 2: Now, why didn't I end up playing a longer career overseas?

460
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 2: To make a long story short, I was a very

461
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 2: late bloomer. I didn't get to the point where I

462
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 2: was what I would consider to be a good basketball

463
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,439
Speaker 2: player until I was like thirty years old. I didn't

464
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,920
Speaker 2: play at all growing up. I played for the first

465
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 2: as a junior in high school and was like the

466
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,119
Speaker 2: worst player on the team.

467
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:04,600
Speaker 1: And like I've.

468
00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 2: Told this story before, I literally like was like not

469
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 2: doing what I needed to do in school, but just

470
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 2: playing basketball every day my first two years of college,

471
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,439
Speaker 2: and it like led to me getting all these bad grades,

472
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 2: which came back to be a problem when I was

473
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 2: trying to get eligible. But it got me good enough

474
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 2: at basketball to where I was able to play, and

475
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 2: I was good enough to play at the JUCO level,

476
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,440
Speaker 2: and I was good enough to like get a scholarship,

477
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 2: and I eventually was able to rectify my academics and

478
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,240
Speaker 2: get out onto the court. But like, by the time

479
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,280
Speaker 2: I was like twenty three and coming out of my

480
00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 2: last year at Arizona Christian I had really only played

481
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:42,800
Speaker 2: three years of organized basketball, like real, like I'm playing

482
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,520
Speaker 2: rotation minutes organized basketball. I had only played three seasons

483
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 2: in my entire human life. So like I was just

484
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 2: a super late bloomer and so over the Yeah, like

485
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 2: by the time I was twenty four, I was a

486
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:57,280
Speaker 2: lot better than I was twenty three. When I was

487
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 2: twenty five, was a lot better than I was twenty four.

488
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 2: And then during the early part to COVID, I really

489
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,280
Speaker 2: put in a ton of work. I was selling real

490
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:05,240
Speaker 2: estate at the time, so I had a really flexible job,

491
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,680
Speaker 2: and I you know, obviously didn't have kids at the time,

492
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:09,159
Speaker 2: and I was like I'm just going to work my

493
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,560
Speaker 2: butt off at basketball, and like they're in my thirties.

494
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 2: I got to the point where I was like, Okay,

495
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,960
Speaker 2: I can really shoot the ball, I can really handle

496
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,680
Speaker 2: the ball. I can actually read that high level basketball

497
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,920
Speaker 2: as it's happening around me. Like, but it's like, what

498
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 2: am I going to do?

499
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:22,679
Speaker 1: Go?

500
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,080
Speaker 2: I was married and had a job and responsibilities. I

501
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 2: was trying to make this happen, So like what was

502
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 2: I going to do? Like be like, hey, honey, I'm

503
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 2: going to go take a low level gig overseas to

504
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,359
Speaker 2: work my way up and maybe one day play in

505
00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 2: one of the top leagues in Europe. Like it just

506
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 2: was a completely unrealistic a goal for me at that

507
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 2: point in time. To make a long story short, when

508
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 2: I was young enough to actually go overseas to play,

509
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 2: I actually wasn't good enough. I was big and athletic,

510
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 2: but I didn't have the polish that was necessary. And

511
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,359
Speaker 2: by the time I got to the point where I

512
00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 2: actually felt like I was good enough to go over

513
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,199
Speaker 2: and play, it just didn't. But the thing is is

514
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,160
Speaker 2: it was I was okay with that. Like it's hard

515
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 2: to explain, but like there was a time when I

516
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,240
Speaker 2: was like twenty seven, twenty eight where I finally was

517
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 2: just like I'm at peace with the fact that it's

518
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 2: in my basketball journey is not going to manifest in

519
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 2: this way. You know, there will always be a part

520
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,919
Speaker 2: of me that wonders, like, had I picked up a

521
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 2: basketball when I was ten and like played YMCA hoops

522
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,120
Speaker 2: and like played club basketball, and then a dude who

523
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 2: played all four years of high school and was in

524
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 2: the rotation all four of those years, and like learning

525
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:39,120
Speaker 2: the game at a faster pace earlier in my life. Like, yeah,

526
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:40,919
Speaker 2: there's a version of that where I go play at

527
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,040
Speaker 2: a mid major D one, or maybe, if I'm lucky,

528
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 2: a high major, and maybe I end up going to

529
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 2: play overseas and I do it for seven eight years

530
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 2: and then I come home. But like it's you know

531
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 2: how it is when you start thinking about life that way.

532
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 2: It's like it all, it all is dependent on each other.

533
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,639
Speaker 2: Like I look at it on the flip side, and

534
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 2: it's like, Okay, I didn't pick up a basketball until

535
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:06,359
Speaker 2: I was very old, and I was I wasn't nearly

536
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 2: good enough in time to accomplish some of my basketball goals.

537
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I was lucky enough to

538
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 2: get my school paid for and even though I was

539
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 2: a flawed college basketball player. I was like athletic and

540
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 2: got to have some memories and you know, had some

541
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,760
Speaker 2: hot shooting stretches and had some big dunks and had

542
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,480
Speaker 2: you know, I had thirty one points in a game.

543
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:24,880
Speaker 2: I had a half dozen games where I had over

544
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 2: twenty points. And I know what it's like to be

545
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,640
Speaker 2: in a real college basketball game and score thirty points.

546
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 2: It's cool feeling. I wasn't good enough though. I wasn't

547
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,320
Speaker 2: good enough to go do the things that I wanted

548
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 2: to do after I played. But then you start to

549
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,640
Speaker 2: think it through and it's like, okay. So right after

550
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 2: I was done at Arizona Christian, instead of going to

551
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,720
Speaker 2: play overseas, I went home. When I went home, I

552
00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:48,160
Speaker 2: met my wife. I love my wife. We are incredibly

553
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 2: happy together. We're literally up here in Colorado. She skis,

554
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,840
Speaker 2: she played college basketball herself. She's athletics, she's in great shape.

555
00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 2: She like, we work out together, we go skiing together.

556
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 2: She's the love of my life. I feel incredibly blessed

557
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 2: to be with her. And like, if I would have

558
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 2: accomplished those basketball things, I'm probably not with my wife right.

559
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 2: A second piece of it, like what about this, Like

560
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:17,200
Speaker 2: my love for basketball and my competitiveness manifests in this job.

561
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 2: There's a version of this where like if I got

562
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,920
Speaker 2: caught up playing overseas for six or seven years, I

563
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,000
Speaker 2: might have come home and not been in a position

564
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,680
Speaker 2: where I felt mentally ready to do something like this,

565
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 2: because maybe I scratched that it's in a different way

566
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 2: playing overseas, and then maybe I'm not lucky to be

567
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 2: in the position where I am right now working for

568
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 2: the volume and having this platform and having this opportunity

569
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,680
Speaker 2: to literally be around the game every day of my life. Right, So,

570
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 2: like when I was like twenty seven, twenty eight years old,

571
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 2: I reached a point where like I was looking at

572
00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 2: my wife and I was looking around at my life,

573
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 2: and I was like, I'm happy, Like I'm happy with this, Like, yeah,

574
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 2: sucks that I didn't get an opportunity to accomplish some

575
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 2: of my basketball goals. And there'll be a again. Every

576
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,600
Speaker 2: once in a while. You get the itch a lot

577
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,080
Speaker 2: of times, like like often when I'm just competing against

578
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 2: really high level talent and I'm playing well, and I'm like, man,

579
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 2: like I just wish I could have followed this more

580
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: through to conclusion. But it's just now it worked out.

581
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:18,520
Speaker 2: I'm at peace with it. I'm very very happy to

582
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 2: say that I get to be around the game every

583
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 2: day in my life.

584
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:21,720
Speaker 1: Like literally, I.

585
00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 2: Played basketball today. I played five on five basketball today

586
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 2: for the first time in a month because I've been

587
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 2: dealing with some injuries and I you know, I had

588
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 2: re injured my ankle like four times over the course

589
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 2: of a month ever since I turned thirty two. I'm

590
00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:38,440
Speaker 2: thirty four now, but ever since I turned thirty two,

591
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,280
Speaker 2: it's just been this like unending. First it was my achilles,

592
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 2: and now it's been this ankle issue, and I've had

593
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 2: various other little nagging things that have popped up along

594
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 2: the way. But like it's taken me away from the game.

595
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 2: Like I straight up couldn't play for the last month.

596
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 2: And so then over the last thirteen days, I did

597
00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:58,880
Speaker 2: thirteen consecutive days of shooting workouts and then lifting with

598
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,880
Speaker 2: my wife at forty five, and I was like, all right,

599
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go play some basketball today. And I went

600
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,280
Speaker 2: and played, and I fucking had the time of my life.

601
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 2: I love playing basketball, and so it's like I still

602
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,960
Speaker 2: get to experience that joy of playing and I just

603
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 2: have come to a good, healthy spot with it all.

604
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,160
Speaker 2: But to come back to the after that super long

605
00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 2: random DYA tribe, to come back to your question, I

606
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,760
Speaker 2: didn't make it because I don't have the natural gifts

607
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,240
Speaker 2: for it, and I was way too late to the game.

608
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 2: I think, I do think that I was good enough

609
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 2: to potentially play overseas, but it just didn't work out

610
00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 2: that way. And I have a ton of respect for

611
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 2: those guys who have done that. I've gotten to meet

612
00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 2: several of those guys, and I sit down and I

613
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:45,120
Speaker 2: talk to them, and I hear about the grind, and

614
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:47,720
Speaker 2: I hear about how like, like, I had a buddy

615
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 2: who played D one and went and played overseas for

616
00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,120
Speaker 2: the last seven or eight years. I worked out with

617
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 2: him a couple summers in a row, and like, I

618
00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 2: would talk to him and he'd be like, yeah, man, I'd

619
00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 2: come home and I would meet a girl, and then

620
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,360
Speaker 2: like I'd be like, but I have this contract, so

621
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 2: I'm leaving in two months, and then the relationship would

622
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,600
Speaker 2: just end. And then and he ended up actually meeting

623
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 2: somebody over there, and I think I think they moved

624
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 2: back to the States. So thankfully, that story has a

625
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 2: happy ending. But like when I was hearing that story,

626
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, that that's tough. That's a tough life,

627
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 2: you know. So I have a ton of respect for

628
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,520
Speaker 2: the guys who've gone over and done it. I think

629
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:23,680
Speaker 2: it's so cool when I hear about it. I'm lucky

630
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 2: to say that I've gotten to work out with and

631
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 2: meet many of these really high, high level players that

632
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 2: have come out of my hometown. It's a life that

633
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,200
Speaker 2: I kind of like, part of me wishes I could

634
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 2: have experienced, But at the same time, I'm.

635
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: At peace with it all. Right.

636
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 2: Next question, So you dismissed the point about Lebron having

637
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 2: a negative point differential by pointing to previous seasons when

638
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 2: he was better. Your argument boils down to Lebron had

639
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 2: an awesome career and his last season was bad, but

640
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:52,480
Speaker 2: also an outlier.

641
00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,480
Speaker 1: Therefore he's number eight. Cool.

642
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 2: Okay, So what I I think there's this misconception here,

643
00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 2: because I want to be clear, I'm not discounting the

644
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 2: on off percent, the on off numbers with Lebron just

645
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 2: simply as a statistical outlier, separate off any context.

646
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: We have to dig into it.

647
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 2: Right when I dug into it and I go, Okay,

648
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,800
Speaker 2: Lebron did have a rough stretch. He had a stretch

649
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 2: there to start the season where I was like, he's

650
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:26,120
Speaker 2: not playing very well. He wasn't bad, he wasn't like

651
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,400
Speaker 2: actively hurting the team on every single possession, but he

652
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 2: wasn't playing very well. Then in the middle portion of

653
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 2: the season, like he legit was kicking ass, like there's

654
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 2: there's that's not a bad basketball player, that's a player

655
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 2: that's kicking ass. And then towards the end of the

656
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 2: year he was more in that second tier as he

657
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,560
Speaker 2: was coming back from his groin injury. But as I

658
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,000
Speaker 2: look at it, so it's like, first of all, Lebron's

659
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:53,120
Speaker 2: playing better basketball. Lebron's playing better basketball than he did

660
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 2: last year. That is part of this. Secondly, the lineup data,

661
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,560
Speaker 2: when you dug into it, Lebron was second on the

662
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 2: team in minutes behind Austin Reeves. So like, Lebron was

663
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:06,800
Speaker 2: on the floor for most of the season, Lebron was

664
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 2: on the floor against the starters. Lebron was on the

665
00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:13,200
Speaker 2: floor closing those games, and the Lakers won fifty games

666
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 2: and were the three seed. So like, if if let's

667
00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,920
Speaker 2: just follow the path of the Lebron hater here to conclusion. Well,

668
00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:26,879
Speaker 2: you're insinuating is that Lebron James, the player who had

669
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 2: a positive on off differential every single year of his

670
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,239
Speaker 2: career before then the majority of the year's massive on

671
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 2: off positive differentials. You're saying that this guy who more

672
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,920
Speaker 2: or less looks at least as good as he was

673
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:43,160
Speaker 2: the year before, if not a little better, but like

674
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,880
Speaker 2: made second team All NBA, made thirteen the year before.

675
00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:50,319
Speaker 2: Obviously no tangible drop off, Like there was nothing we

676
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,359
Speaker 2: were watching Lebron with last year where it's like, oh,

677
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 2: he sucks at that Now, No, like he's fine. He

678
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 2: looks more or less the same. He's on the floor

679
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 2: for all the pivotal moments of games. The Lakers are

680
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 2: winning all these games. You're trying to convince us that

681
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 2: the Lakers won fifty games in spite of Lebron even

682
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 2: though he looks like more or less the same player,

683
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:15,920
Speaker 2: And it's an obvious statistical outlier when you compare it

684
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:19,800
Speaker 2: to previous data. That's what I'm saying here. I'm saying,

685
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,880
Speaker 2: if I was looking at it all, let's say that

686
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:27,000
Speaker 2: he had a negative point differential, like all these positive differentials,

687
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 2: negative differential. But I'm watching the TV and it's like,

688
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,799
Speaker 2: awesome Lebron, Awesome Lebron, Awesome, Lebron, awesome Lebron. Oh bad

689
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,000
Speaker 2: Lebron bad. Point differential where it's like the eye test

690
00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,840
Speaker 2: is matching up with the numbers and the team's not

691
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 2: performing well and all of these different things come to fruition.

692
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 2: Then we can look at it and go, yeah, we

693
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 2: need to have a conversation about how Lebron's hurting the team.

694
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 2: But there you will find noise like that throughout this

695
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 2: sort of thing. I've pulled up a lot of on

696
00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,279
Speaker 2: off plus minuses there over the course of this Over

697
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,839
Speaker 2: the course of this UH player rankings list, I can't

698
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,240
Speaker 2: remember exactly what it was, but there was an offense

699
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 2: one with the Knicks with Jalen Brunson that didn't make

700
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,000
Speaker 2: sense a year where they were like the same or

701
00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:13,920
Speaker 2: better when he was off the floor on offense. It

702
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,759
Speaker 2: was either like last year in the playoffs or last year.

703
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:19,920
Speaker 2: I can't remember exactly which which UH two years ago

704
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. I mean, I can't remember which exact

705
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,160
Speaker 2: data set it was. But I saw it and I

706
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:28,200
Speaker 2: looked at the others and it was like they're clearly

707
00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:30,320
Speaker 2: way better on offense when he's on here. They're clearly

708
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 2: way better on offense when he's on here. They're clearly

709
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 2: way better when he's on offense when he's on here,

710
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,920
Speaker 2: and here and here. This is clearly a statistical outlier. Like,

711
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,640
Speaker 2: clearly something funky was going on here. It's not like

712
00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:43,239
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson was fucking the team up on offense during

713
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,160
Speaker 2: that time. Like that's the whole point is Like, if

714
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 2: you're what it is, in my opinion, super revealing that

715
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:55,840
Speaker 2: you guys just don't like the guy, and like, look whatever,

716
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,160
Speaker 2: you don't like the guy. But like, when you cling

717
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,360
Speaker 2: to one single piece of data irrespective of all of

718
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 2: the surrounding information we have, you are revealing your bias. Okay,

719
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,640
Speaker 2: when we have a piece of data and the surrounding

720
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:14,759
Speaker 2: information leads us to believe that that piece of data

721
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:19,160
Speaker 2: should be taken very seriously. Totally different conversation. But we

722
00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:22,360
Speaker 2: had the Bestlaker team in years, the best Lebron season

723
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,319
Speaker 2: in years, Lebron more, Lebron was on the floor for

724
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,399
Speaker 2: all of these pivotal moments, and you're trying to tell

725
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,640
Speaker 2: us that he was hurting the team last year, like

726
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 2: because of this one piece of data that very clearly

727
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,600
Speaker 2: has a lot of noise involved, and it just it's

728
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,640
Speaker 2: just your again. I think you're just I think you're

729
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,319
Speaker 2: just allowing your dislike for the guy to come through

730
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:51,960
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, which leads perfectly into this next question. Hey, Jason,

731
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,320
Speaker 2: the reason people hate Lebron isn't because he's Steph's rival.

732
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 2: It's because Steph is much more likable as a human.

733
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,120
Speaker 2: Steph fans are used to humility when it comes to

734
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 2: their favorite player versus Lebron fans who are used to ego,

735
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 2: so it's much easier for them to respect a player

736
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:05,399
Speaker 2: that's humble and fun.

737
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: Here's the thing.

738
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:10,000
Speaker 2: And I know that I'll have some Lebron fans that'll

739
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,280
Speaker 2: get super pissed off at me about this, But Lebron

740
00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:13,880
Speaker 2: fans are crazy, So what are you gonna do? So

741
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:19,080
Speaker 2: are Steh fans sections of them? I should say Steph

742
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:20,320
Speaker 2: is more likable than Lebron.

743
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:21,719
Speaker 1: He just is.

744
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 2: Lebron is a showman. He has a massive ego. I'm

745
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 2: not even saying that Steph doesn't, but Lebron has a

746
00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 2: massive outward ego. He's very melodramatic. He Lebron is just

747
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:40,440
Speaker 2: a very unique type of human that comes off in

748
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:45,839
Speaker 2: this very like like, uh, it's hard to explain. It's

749
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 2: like charisma mixed with it's not cockiness, but it's like

750
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:55,200
Speaker 2: this outrageous amount of outward confidence in charisma and showman shit.

751
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,359
Speaker 2: Like this is the guy who will like literally look

752
00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,160
Speaker 2: at the crowd and like ask for the applause and

753
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 2: do that kind of stuff. And I know Steph has

754
00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,840
Speaker 2: played to the crowd before, but Lebron just did it

755
00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,600
Speaker 2: a lot more over the course of his career. Steph,

756
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 2: on the other hand, is psycho competitive, will do some

757
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:14,040
Speaker 2: of that stuff, is a showman, but he's much more

758
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,879
Speaker 2: like tempered down compared to Lebron. I do think there

759
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,400
Speaker 2: is a natural like this kind of attitude that rubs

760
00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,400
Speaker 2: people the wrong way. Like if you go around to

761
00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:30,959
Speaker 2: literally anybody who has like a big personality that's out

762
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,880
Speaker 2: there and not afraid to carry themselves with confidence, it

763
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:41,320
Speaker 2: comes with being polarized, like polarizing, right, like Steven A Smith.

764
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:44,719
Speaker 2: A lot of people hate that dude, right, A lot

765
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:46,879
Speaker 2: of people love him, but he's got a big group

766
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,440
Speaker 2: of detractors because he's Stephen A Smith and he carries

767
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 2: himself the way Steven A.

768
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:51,239
Speaker 1: Smith does.

769
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:55,879
Speaker 2: He just has big energy, big confidence, big charisma. Some

770
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:58,520
Speaker 2: people like it, some people don't like it. Right, Like

771
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 2: a lot of people here Aaron Rodgers talk and immediately

772
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 2: don't like the guy like it because of the cockiness

773
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 2: and the bravado that comes off of him. Steph is

774
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:13,799
Speaker 2: just a more relatable, naturally behaving human and that I

775
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,279
Speaker 2: think resonates with more people than it does with Lebron, Because,

776
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 2: like you know, this is the ultimate question, right, why

777
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 2: do so many people hate Lebron? Because there is legitimately

778
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 2: a substantially larger group of people who hates Lebron than

779
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 2: the group that hates Steph. And you got to ask

780
00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 2: yourself why it can't just be because of winning, Because

781
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 2: even though I think Lebron obviously has a higher place

782
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 2: all time than Steph. Steph's a prettydamn accomplished basketball player,

783
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 2: has done a lot of winning in his life, But

784
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,800
Speaker 2: like Steph, for whatever reason, just doesn't have that army

785
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 2: of haters. And I think it just stems from the

786
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,839
Speaker 2: fact that for Lebron just rubbs some people the wrong way.

787
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:49,600
Speaker 1: It is what it is.

788
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:54,799
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't care I'm a basketball fan, so

789
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,680
Speaker 2: I look at both of them and irrespective of what

790
00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,839
Speaker 2: their personalities bring to the table, I like to look

791
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 2: at them as these two different, completely unique basketball players.

792
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 2: But there are a lot of people who cannot see

793
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 2: past that with Lebron, and so they just hate the

794
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,440
Speaker 2: guy and it clouds the way they view him as a

795
00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 2: basketball player. Like I'm that part frustrates me. I agree,

796
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:16,920
Speaker 2: but I tend to agree that I think Steph is

797
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:24,120
Speaker 2: a more naturally likable person. All right, Hey, Jason, I

798
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:26,480
Speaker 2: was wondering what your take on the recent Warrior System

799
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,319
Speaker 2: narratives floating around that both stars and role players don't

800
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:31,359
Speaker 2: want to come to the Warriors because they don't want

801
00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:33,720
Speaker 2: their only job to just be passing the ball to Steph.

802
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:36,400
Speaker 2: Do you think players are indeed diminished in the Warrior

803
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,120
Speaker 2: System compared to others. Do you think this perception has

804
00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:43,359
Speaker 2: affected their ability to acquire players. No, I think that

805
00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,080
Speaker 2: anybody would want to play with Steph, or would want

806
00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 2: to play with Luca, or would want to play with

807
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 2: these guys. I do think that there is a natural like, oh,

808
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:55,880
Speaker 2: my game fits with this type of person attitude that

809
00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:59,160
Speaker 2: you'll see out there, right, So, for instance, like if

810
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:03,760
Speaker 2: you're a guy who can like shoot on the move

811
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,960
Speaker 2: and do more stuff off the bounce, you're gonna probably

812
00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:10,920
Speaker 2: want to play in a five out system because if

813
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,640
Speaker 2: you're gonna go and I'm talking about role players, I

814
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:15,839
Speaker 2: should say people who are not stars, you're gonna want

815
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,640
Speaker 2: to go play somewhere where you can play off the bounce,

816
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 2: and so like, yeah, you may not want to go

817
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:25,479
Speaker 2: play alongside Luka Doncic and stand in the corner, right,

818
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:27,000
Speaker 2: But then if.

819
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:30,440
Speaker 1: You're a shooter, like a spot up shooter, you.

820
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,439
Speaker 2: May not want to go play somewhere where you're gonna

821
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:35,360
Speaker 2: have to put the ball on the floor and make decisions, right. So,

822
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,439
Speaker 2: like here's the thing, Like the Warriors run a very

823
00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,439
Speaker 2: exaggerated version of five out offense compared to other teams

824
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:42,840
Speaker 2: in the league just because they have a guy that

825
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,680
Speaker 2: comes off of screens more than anyone else and just

826
00:42:45,719 --> 00:42:48,759
Speaker 2: in general, they just have a roster that is like

827
00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,800
Speaker 2: tailor made for that offense. But there are other systems

828
00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,040
Speaker 2: around the league that run similar actions, so does Indiana,

829
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 2: and Indiana runs a lot of like Chicago action and

830
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:03,600
Speaker 2: like split cuts, like all these different things that are

831
00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:06,320
Speaker 2: natural five out concepts, and again five out. All the

832
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:11,360
Speaker 2: five out basketball is is you don't have anybody permanently

833
00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 2: occupying a space under the rim. They'll drive to the rim,

834
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:15,560
Speaker 2: they'll cut to the rim, they'll roll to the rim,

835
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,640
Speaker 2: they'll you know, relocate under the rim. But for the

836
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,480
Speaker 2: most part, everyone's moving around, and five out tends to

837
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,080
Speaker 2: have more side to side movement and more ball and

838
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:28,479
Speaker 2: player movement and more actions run per possession, whereas four

839
00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:31,440
Speaker 2: out is more of like a spacing principle. Guy in

840
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 2: the left corner, guy in the right corner, guy on

841
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:36,799
Speaker 2: the right wing. I'm dribbling on the left wing, They're

842
00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:38,800
Speaker 2: going to come set a ball screen and then roll.

843
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,200
Speaker 2: Or that guy's gonna sit in the dunker spot while

844
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:43,399
Speaker 2: I ISO and I'm gonna try to break the defense down,

845
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,520
Speaker 2: he'll be staying there. I'll throw the lob right. There

846
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:47,400
Speaker 2: are all these different sets you can run out of it.

847
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:52,239
Speaker 2: But obviously a four out approach is more catered to

848
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 2: a small amount of ball handling. So a couple of

849
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,560
Speaker 2: guys who are gonna handle the majority of the ball

850
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,919
Speaker 2: handling responsibility and then play finishers. You're either gonna shoot

851
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:03,479
Speaker 2: at drive a close out or finish at the rim right,

852
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:07,319
Speaker 2: Whereas in a five out system there's a lot more demanding.

853
00:44:07,680 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 1: There's a lot more demand.

854
00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:12,719
Speaker 2: On other ball handling, Like more people are going to

855
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:17,080
Speaker 2: touch the ball in every possession. Interior playmaking is more important.

856
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:19,080
Speaker 2: Guys who can play on the role, Guys who can

857
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,200
Speaker 2: play on the short role, that sort of thing. So

858
00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:23,839
Speaker 2: like I do think that there are players that look

859
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 2: at Golden State and go that's not the right system

860
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 2: for me. But then I think there are players who

861
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:30,759
Speaker 2: look at Golden State and go that is the right

862
00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:33,920
Speaker 2: system for me. I saw the name Ben Simmons floating around, Like,

863
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,040
Speaker 2: do I think Ben Simmons is a substantial needle mover

864
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,160
Speaker 2: for the Warriors. No, But like Ben Simmons is a

865
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:45,839
Speaker 2: guy that, in theory could kind of be a functioning

866
00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 2: big in Golden State system. Because what is Golden State's

867
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 2: system tax bigs to do to pass to guys running

868
00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,279
Speaker 2: in and out of split cuts as they have the

869
00:44:56,320 --> 00:44:59,759
Speaker 2: ball in the post, to short roll off of steph

870
00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 2: to run dribble handoffs with their guards as they come

871
00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:04,800
Speaker 2: running off of action, and then to roll into space.

872
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 2: Like all of that kind of aligns with what Bensimmon's

873
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:11,279
Speaker 2: skill set is so like to me. To me, it

874
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:13,719
Speaker 2: just kind of depends on the player. And similarly, like

875
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:16,960
Speaker 2: you know, let's take Dorian Finney Smith with the Lakers.

876
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:18,880
Speaker 2: I think he's a four out player. I think he

877
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:20,879
Speaker 2: needs to be playing where he's catching the ball wide

878
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,799
Speaker 2: open in the corner, wide open on the wing. I

879
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,440
Speaker 2: think if you ask Dorian Finney Smith to play in

880
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:30,080
Speaker 2: the Warriors system, you'd find out pretty quick that he's

881
00:45:30,200 --> 00:45:33,080
Speaker 2: too small to be a big and he doesn't handle

882
00:45:33,120 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 2: the ball well enough to really function in their high paced,

883
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:39,080
Speaker 2: read and react offense. So like, I think that kind

884
00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:42,000
Speaker 2: of dictates it more than any sort of like like

885
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 2: vendetta that any one player would have against a team.

886
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:48,880
Speaker 2: I saw a discussion on Twitter about a hypothetical one

887
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:50,959
Speaker 2: on one, and I'm curious about your take Kawhi Leonard

888
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:53,439
Speaker 2: versus Kevin Durant. The assumption is, of course, that both

889
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:55,680
Speaker 2: are healthy and at their peak. We saw Kadie drop

890
00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:58,040
Speaker 2: fifty on the Raptors back in twenty nineteen, but Kawhi

891
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:01,080
Speaker 2: wasn't consistently guarding him every possession to his offensive role,

892
00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 2: So I'm curious how Kawhi's strength and defensive instincts counter

893
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:08,240
Speaker 2: Kd's length and offensive craftsmanship. Kauhi is still an underrated

894
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:11,319
Speaker 2: scorer while KD is an underrated defender. My question is

895
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 2: how big is the gap between the two KD on

896
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:18,120
Speaker 2: offense versus Kawhi on offense and UH and vice versa

897
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:20,919
Speaker 2: on defense. As a biased Kawhi fan, He's got my vote,

898
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:22,719
Speaker 2: but would love to hear your input. This one is

899
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,000
Speaker 2: really interesting because you said hypothetical one v one, So

900
00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:28,680
Speaker 2: I do think that Kawhi would beat.

901
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,239
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant in one on one. The reason why is

902
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:33,920
Speaker 1: Kawhi has.

903
00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:39,360
Speaker 2: Such a physical strength advantage, So like when he's guarding Kevin,

904
00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 2: he's going to be able to put his hands on

905
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:43,799
Speaker 2: him and really hold him physically in place and force

906
00:46:43,880 --> 00:46:47,960
Speaker 2: him into extremely difficult over the top jump shots. On

907
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,440
Speaker 2: the flip side, Kawhi, whenever he wants to get to

908
00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 2: his spot, can just drop his shoulder and hit KD

909
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 2: and create the separation he needs to get to his

910
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 2: short range shot making, which is going to be really

911
00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:03,160
Speaker 2: both with his ability to get separation there, it'd be close,

912
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:06,120
Speaker 2: but I could see Kawhi beating Kevin Durant in a

913
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:08,800
Speaker 2: strict one on one. But I do think Kevin Durant,

914
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 2: when he would was at his peak, was a better

915
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:15,000
Speaker 2: basketball player overall than Kawhi Leonard because basketball is not.

916
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:16,640
Speaker 1: One on one.

917
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:18,880
Speaker 2: I talked about a game when I was doing our

918
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:23,880
Speaker 2: Greatest Peaks video after the Anthony Edwards episode, if you

919
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:26,720
Speaker 2: guys remember, just literally on Wednesday, and I talked about

920
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:31,239
Speaker 2: I talked about Kevin Durant's best game, which was Game

921
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:34,560
Speaker 2: three of the twenty eighteen NBA Finals, and it was like.

922
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:35,480
Speaker 1: He had.

923
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 2: Forty thirty points and thirteen rebounds and seven assists. He

924
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,200
Speaker 2: dominated that game as like a floor general, And there's

925
00:47:44,239 --> 00:47:48,279
Speaker 2: a level of like running five on five offense that

926
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:51,640
Speaker 2: I think kd was better than Kawhi at kad as

927
00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 2: his best, at his best as a passer was a

928
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:57,640
Speaker 2: substantially better passer than Kawhi ever was. I think Kadie's

929
00:47:57,680 --> 00:48:00,239
Speaker 2: ability to play in and out of action is better

930
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:03,000
Speaker 2: than Kawi's ability to play in and out of action. Like, yeah,

931
00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:05,279
Speaker 2: give me Kawhi post ups and high post ups and

932
00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:09,319
Speaker 2: ISOs sure, but like kt is a guy that like

933
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,320
Speaker 2: is legitimately a high volume off of screen shooter and

934
00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:13,920
Speaker 2: a guy that can play pick and roll at an

935
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:16,759
Speaker 2: extremely high level when he was at his peak. And

936
00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,920
Speaker 2: so yeah, like, sure, Kawhi Leonard could beat KD one

937
00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:22,640
Speaker 2: on one just because he could physically maul him, But

938
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:25,480
Speaker 2: in five on five basketball games, I think KD was

939
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:27,680
Speaker 2: the better basketball player even looking at a defense like

940
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,719
Speaker 2: Kawhi's value as an on ball defender can only be

941
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,680
Speaker 2: used in one spot, like Kd's value as a rim

942
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,759
Speaker 2: protector and rebounder when he was at because KD was

943
00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:40,520
Speaker 2: a really solid rebounder when he was at his peak, right, Like,

944
00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:45,120
Speaker 2: I think the gap between KD and Kawhi defensively is

945
00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:47,840
Speaker 2: actually pretty small. In the team context. Kui is a

946
00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:50,640
Speaker 2: better defender, but KD makes it pretty close with all

947
00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:52,400
Speaker 2: of his versatility on that end of the floor. And

948
00:48:52,400 --> 00:48:53,839
Speaker 2: by the way, KD was a pretty good one on

949
00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 2: one defender as well. Right on the offensive end of

950
00:48:56,560 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 2: the floor two e lead scorers, KD maybe a much

951
00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:03,240
Speaker 2: better at just like physical bullyball one on one stuff,

952
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:06,520
Speaker 2: but in versatility of scoring and the ability to play

953
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:08,759
Speaker 2: make and pass at a different action and score off

954
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:11,400
Speaker 2: the move out of different action that to me, it

955
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:14,120
Speaker 2: gives him a pretty substantial gap as an offensive player

956
00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:19,799
Speaker 2: over Kawhi two more quick ones. How do we contextualize

957
00:49:19,800 --> 00:49:22,120
Speaker 2: Wemby's lack of playoff experience when it's a huge part

958
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:24,360
Speaker 2: of the road to the title. As per your criteria,

959
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:26,279
Speaker 2: you want a player from October to June, but we

960
00:49:26,320 --> 00:49:28,080
Speaker 2: have little idea of what Wemby would look like in

961
00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:30,279
Speaker 2: that environment. And if his offense is robust enough to

962
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:33,080
Speaker 2: handle the intensity in the defense of the playoffs, well,

963
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:35,120
Speaker 2: I think he's easily a top ten regular season player.

964
00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:36,720
Speaker 2: I have a hard time putting him ahead of players

965
00:49:36,719 --> 00:49:39,320
Speaker 2: that are slightly worse regular season players like Brunson or Mitchell,

966
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:42,239
Speaker 2: but have already shown themselves as elite playoff performers. Great

967
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:44,880
Speaker 2: episode as per usual. Thanks for the breakdown, Thanks for

968
00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:49,080
Speaker 2: supporting the show. Here's the thing, Yeah, there's some question

969
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:52,000
Speaker 2: marks regarding Wemby as an offensive player in the playoffs.

970
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:54,600
Speaker 2: There's a version of it where in his first playoff

971
00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:59,600
Speaker 2: series he averages sixteen points per game on forty nine

972
00:49:59,600 --> 00:50:02,160
Speaker 2: percent shooting because he just gets physically mauled and double

973
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:05,200
Speaker 2: teamed then and he struggles with it, and he's also

974
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:09,080
Speaker 2: going to dominate that series on defense. Wemby has an

975
00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:12,200
Speaker 2: extremely high floor in the playoffs. Because he's the best

976
00:50:12,200 --> 00:50:15,759
Speaker 2: defensive player in the world and can We've actually seen

977
00:50:15,840 --> 00:50:18,120
Speaker 2: this where like guys can actually leverage that up a

978
00:50:18,200 --> 00:50:21,040
Speaker 2: level like Yannis being able to all of a sudden

979
00:50:21,080 --> 00:50:23,080
Speaker 2: be two places at once and he race a lob

980
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:25,680
Speaker 2: when he's guarding the damn ball and pick and roll, Like,

981
00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,000
Speaker 2: there is a level that Wemby's going to be able

982
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,840
Speaker 2: to get too defensively in the postseason. That makes his

983
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 2: impact already pretty close to the top guys. And so yeah,

984
00:50:35,239 --> 00:50:36,960
Speaker 2: if he can if he can get to even just

985
00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:39,800
Speaker 2: twenty points per game on fifty six percent through shooting,

986
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:43,480
Speaker 2: he's already a top ten playoff player. And if he

987
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:45,839
Speaker 2: can that, if he gets up to the point where

988
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:48,239
Speaker 2: he's scoring effectively in the postseason while being the best

989
00:50:48,280 --> 00:50:50,239
Speaker 2: defensive player, that's where we're talking about a guy who's

990
00:50:50,239 --> 00:50:51,840
Speaker 2: a candidate for the best player in the world, And

991
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:53,719
Speaker 2: that's where I think he can get in the next

992
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:57,439
Speaker 2: couple of years. Last one, Hi Jason loved the show.

993
00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:00,239
Speaker 2: I had a question relating to NBA fans. I can't

994
00:51:00,239 --> 00:51:01,960
Speaker 2: believe some of the comments I see here. Makes me

995
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,800
Speaker 2: wonder if people come to podcasts like this to actually

996
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:07,440
Speaker 2: enjoy their time or not. Do you ever get discouraged

997
00:51:07,480 --> 00:51:09,960
Speaker 2: doing rankings like these? No matter how you rank them,

998
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:14,000
Speaker 2: people will be upset. So you just get better at it.

999
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:16,120
Speaker 2: It's hard to explain. It's honestly, it's encouraging to me

1000
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:20,719
Speaker 2: because like obviously the negativity got to me more when

1001
00:51:20,719 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 2: I first started doing this. As I always say, like

1002
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:27,080
Speaker 2: it never stops getting to you, like every once in

1003
00:51:27,120 --> 00:51:29,279
Speaker 2: a while, like I'll just get it a you know,

1004
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:32,640
Speaker 2: when I'm looking through for a mail bag, I'll just

1005
00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:35,080
Speaker 2: see someone it's just being an asshole. And it's like

1006
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:37,200
Speaker 2: every time you're like it just bums you out right

1007
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,760
Speaker 2: because like I'm sitting on the couch, like my dogs

1008
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:42,080
Speaker 2: are sitting next to me, you know, I'm enjoying a

1009
00:51:42,080 --> 00:51:45,240
Speaker 2: cup of coffee, just working, and then all of a sudden,

1010
00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:49,120
Speaker 2: someone just talks some crazy shit like like right to

1011
00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:52,040
Speaker 2: your face, right, like it's weird, and that part never

1012
00:51:52,120 --> 00:51:54,120
Speaker 2: goes away, but you just get better at it, and

1013
00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:57,680
Speaker 2: like it bothered me a lot early on, but like thankfully,

1014
00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:01,040
Speaker 2: like I'm three years and three and a half years

1015
00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:04,279
Speaker 2: into doing this for the volume, and even in just

1016
00:52:04,360 --> 00:52:06,439
Speaker 2: three and a half years, I'm so so so much

1017
00:52:06,480 --> 00:52:08,480
Speaker 2: better at just like rolling with the punches and not

1018
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:10,920
Speaker 2: letting that stuff get to me. Again, I've told you

1019
00:52:10,960 --> 00:52:13,719
Speaker 2: guys this before, but the rationalization is pretty simple, Like

1020
00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:18,120
Speaker 2: why would I get upset about you know, a dozen

1021
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:21,840
Speaker 2: trolls under each video and maybe one or two really

1022
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:25,680
Speaker 2: mean comments when the video has, you know, in the

1023
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:29,680
Speaker 2: NBA playoffs over fifty thousand views on average, right, Like,

1024
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:32,280
Speaker 2: I'm just not going to get overly worked up about

1025
00:52:32,320 --> 00:52:36,360
Speaker 2: that when it's just a small number of bad actors,

1026
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,840
Speaker 2: when the majority of you guys are just normal dudes

1027
00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:42,520
Speaker 2: like me who love the game who are coming in

1028
00:52:42,600 --> 00:52:46,360
Speaker 2: for some basketball analysis. I know the feeling. I like,

1029
00:52:46,640 --> 00:52:50,400
Speaker 2: I've listened to basketball pods, especially before I did this

1030
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:53,000
Speaker 2: for a living, Like I most of you guys are

1031
00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:56,000
Speaker 2: just people like me who love basketball and who are

1032
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:59,600
Speaker 2: good people who are living normal, good lives in our

1033
00:53:00,239 --> 00:53:03,880
Speaker 2: you know, managing a relationship and maybe raising a family

1034
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:07,120
Speaker 2: and dealing with your own family whatever stuff you've got

1035
00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:10,040
Speaker 2: going on. Like we're all just in the grind, being

1036
00:53:10,120 --> 00:53:13,240
Speaker 2: normal people. And then there are just these bad actors

1037
00:53:13,280 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 2: out there, and like you just have to kind of

1038
00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:18,600
Speaker 2: find a way to compartmentalize them by reminding yourself that

1039
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:23,120
Speaker 2: there's just so much more normal behavior going on. But again,

1040
00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:25,120
Speaker 2: the truth of the matter is that it never gets

1041
00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:29,400
Speaker 2: not weird. It always is like a little jarring to

1042
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:32,120
Speaker 2: read someone being an asshole, but like, you just get

1043
00:53:32,120 --> 00:53:33,920
Speaker 2: better at it. And the fact that I'm doing this

1044
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:35,920
Speaker 2: well at three and a half years makes me feel

1045
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:38,800
Speaker 2: optimistic that, you know, ten years in it should be

1046
00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:41,440
Speaker 2: something that bothers me very little. But the truth of

1047
00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:43,480
Speaker 2: the matter is, just like anything else in life, you

1048
00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:45,680
Speaker 2: just get better with reps. Every time you do something,

1049
00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:47,600
Speaker 2: you get a little better at it, and that's kind

1050
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:49,440
Speaker 2: of more or less what it's like dealing with trolls.

1051
00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:51,360
Speaker 2: All right, guys, that's all I have for today is

1052
00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:53,320
Speaker 2: always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and

1053
00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:55,760
Speaker 2: supporting the show. I hope you guys have an amazing weekend.

1054
00:53:56,040 --> 00:53:58,160
Speaker 2: Next week's gonna be a little different. No mailbag next weekend.

1055
00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:01,120
Speaker 2: We're gonna do number four on Monday, number three on Wednesday,

1056
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:03,960
Speaker 2: and the number two and number one on Friday, So

1057
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:05,360
Speaker 2: player rankings Pact week.

1058
00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:06,759
Speaker 1: I will see you guys then,