Speaker 1: This is the final of a three part interview that
Speaker 1: I did with Jerry West at Summer Leak. He was
Speaker 1: kind enough to give me two hours of his time
Speaker 1: and pretty much nothing was off limits. In the final segment, though,
Speaker 1: he gives a very candid opinion about some of the
Speaker 1: rookies and second year players that were at Summer League
Speaker 1: that I wanted to know, really his thoughts on. I
Speaker 1: was peppering him with questions on the sidelines next to
Speaker 1: him at a game, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I think people would want to know what he has
Speaker 1: to say about Pollo and Jabbari and Jade Nivey and
Speaker 1: all these kids. So I figured I would ask him
Speaker 1: and get his evaluation on the record, so that when
Speaker 1: we find out who these players really are, we'll either
Speaker 1: have receipts or the receipts will be old takes. As before,
Speaker 1: the quick caveat is that the audio is not great
Speaker 1: because of the nature at Summer League, things are very
Speaker 1: hard to achieve the same level of success, with quiet
Speaker 1: rooms being impossible to find. There were no quiet places
Speaker 1: to sit down. We sat we set a Starbucks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we did at a convention hall inside of a hotel
Speaker 1: inside of the strip of Las Vegas, so the audio
Speaker 1: has a lot of background noise. We've worked really, really
Speaker 1: hard to minimize it. I thought there was going to
Speaker 1: be impossible. If you have a pair of headphones, I
Speaker 1: would suggest you use those and not put it on
Speaker 1: the speaker of your laptop or phone. As this interview before,
Speaker 1: like I have said, has been edited for time and
Speaker 1: for clarity. But let's get into it. I think Jerry
Speaker 1: West is the best talent evaluator in the game, full stop.
Speaker 1: I think the record of it is obvious. You've seen
Speaker 1: multiple trades go down, You've seen trains get kai bashed,
Speaker 1: You've seen picks happen that turned out to be some
Speaker 1: of the best in history, right like the Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: pick that was traded from Charlotte. Pretty good one, I'd say.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get his thoughts. It's most specifically on
Speaker 1: Chet Holmgren, probably the most polarizing player in this year's draft.
Speaker 1: A lot of people very high on think he can
Speaker 1: be a unicorn. A lot of people think that he
Speaker 1: could be brittle and break down. I want to know
Speaker 1: how his game translates to the NBA and the way
Speaker 1: that he broke down Chet, who he said, by the way,
Speaker 1: was his favorite player in the draft, which was stunning,
Speaker 1: was fantastic. I also thought him breaking down the difference
Speaker 1: between Kevin Durant and Chet was also really good. I
Speaker 1: asked him whether they were the same. His opinion, not
Speaker 1: at all. Find out why, Well, he is unique.
Speaker 2: You don't see a player of that size that can
Speaker 2: do the things he can do.
Speaker 3: He's a tough queen and he's going to get bigger
Speaker 3: and scars work here. But his knowledge of the game
Speaker 3: when his.
Speaker 2: Skill level was it's surprising when he sees Hione that
Speaker 2: but big in terms of hide and you look at
Speaker 2: his bond and say, oh my god. You know, this
Speaker 2: looked like some kid who's, you know, twelve years old,
Speaker 2: who's grown six inch in one summer.
Speaker 3: And he's a tough kid. But he's gonna be really, really.
Speaker 2: Good, and he's a player that's gonna make every players better.
Speaker 3: He's gonna block a lot of shots.
Speaker 2: So he just didn't stand there where people just drive
Speaker 2: to the basket, and he moves and he's active. He's
Speaker 2: gonna go from side to side. But he's probably was
Speaker 2: my favorite player the god because I just see that
Speaker 2: people gonna like to watch him play. They're gonna watch
Speaker 2: him get better and you're gonna watch, okay, see get
Speaker 2: better with him there. So he's again I don't I
Speaker 2: don't know the kid at all, but he's he's fun
Speaker 2: to watch.
Speaker 1: A lot of people have tried to compare him to
Speaker 1: other players that are tall and skinny and can handle
Speaker 1: the ball. You saw one up close. Uh, you helped
Speaker 1: recruit one up close, slim reaper, Kevin Durantz. How do
Speaker 1: those two players compare.
Speaker 2: Oh, they're completely different, but you know, Kevin is thin looking,
Speaker 2: but he's always been finn and Kevin's a generational start.
Speaker 2: When I was around him in Golden State with the
Speaker 2: thing of this amazing to me or just how he
Speaker 2: how professional he is.
Speaker 3: I mean, he works on his game and you.
Speaker 2: Really can't guard him unless he's the only player out
Speaker 2: there with the substance.
Speaker 3: He does everything he can defend, he can pass the ball,
Speaker 3: block shots, he's not sells them.
Speaker 2: And yet he still manages these incredible spoiling game in Brooklyn,
Speaker 2: and they did him have all the players there together
Speaker 2: with him just watching.
Speaker 3: Him and knowing him.
Speaker 2: But he's someone that I'm glad I got a chance
Speaker 2: to interact with him.
Speaker 3: But if there's a game on TV, I'm gonna watch
Speaker 3: him play. If he doesn't, he looks so easy.
Speaker 2: And the other one said always tall on this and
Speaker 2: that it's got an incrediblest goal.
Speaker 3: And let's say, I just love him as a person.
Speaker 1: Also, coming off of a of a championship, if you
Speaker 1: were still there with Golden State in the capacity that
Speaker 1: you were before, did you do whatever it took to
Speaker 1: go and get Kevin back on the team.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, speculates about where he's going.
Speaker 2: No, you know, I think the only people who look
Speaker 2: at their rosters and you know where we going when
Speaker 2: you have success, you played a player, Yeah, there's more
Speaker 2: than one or two that are that much.
Speaker 3: Better than that, too much better. And they have some really,
Speaker 3: really terrific players, but they.
Speaker 1: Would have to give up so much it would be almost.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm not even going to comment on it, because
Speaker 2: they're really good and I had an opportunity to make
Speaker 2: some great friends up there. Uniquely different ownership, and they've
Speaker 2: done a remarkable job and really one trade and one
Speaker 2: injury set them.
Speaker 3: Up for a long time.
Speaker 2: And yeah, you want to stay with if you look,
Speaker 2: they've got three young kids that are that are the
Speaker 2: Wiseman kid who is the second picker take to drap
Speaker 2: him and played.
Speaker 3: For two years. He's playing here in the summer.
Speaker 2: The now.
Speaker 3: You see great promise there. The Coamingia kid is really
Speaker 3: really a great prospect. All the time.
Speaker 2: He goes pretty fast and so he needs to slow
Speaker 2: down a little bit, but he is he can really
Speaker 2: guard for a young kid.
Speaker 3: And then also knows the meaty kid he's he's going
Speaker 3: he's a player.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And so you look at those three players and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, you know, you see the older part
Speaker 2: of the Steph Curry, but you see these young kids.
Speaker 2: It's a nice curd and uh you know they lost
Speaker 2: players that people probably would one painting attention to the
Speaker 2: two of them, but they were very important to them.
Speaker 3: The Border kid he signed somewhere else.
Speaker 2: And when Gary Payton said that time had a great
Speaker 2: job to them at thirty years of age, with all
Speaker 2: these different teams, it shows.
Speaker 3: You his determination. And I know his dad very well
Speaker 3: and I know how proud he is that he's a
Speaker 3: terrific little little player. But he doesn't play a little.
Speaker 3: He plays really big