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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight. Here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume, Happy Friday, everybody, Rounds two. Coverage of the

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Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs. Here at Hoops Tonight is brought to you

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Speaker 1: by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? Well,

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers went in dominating fashion over the Golden

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Speaker 1: State Warriors in Game six to end that series. I

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Speaker 1: have so many thoughts of vintage Lebron James performance, Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis magnificent defensively once again, Laker guards carrying the offense

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Speaker 1: for various stretches. Just an all around really impressive performance

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Speaker 1: from the Lakers. We're gonna dive into that. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: dive into a little bit of a look ahead for

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Speaker 1: the Lakers into the next round. I'm not gonna do

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Speaker 1: a full series preview yet, but we're gonna look ahead

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Speaker 1: a little bit and then talk a little bit about

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Speaker 1: this Steph Lebron rivalry and a brief look ahead for

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Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, which just got a little bit

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Speaker 1: more interesting because of a report that just dropped from

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Speaker 1: Sean Sharania. So lots to get into. You guys know

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Speaker 1: the joke before we get started. Subscribe to the volumes

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Speaker 1: YouTube channel, so you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you

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Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements. And last but not least,

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, you guys miss one of these videos

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Speaker 1: and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish,

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Speaker 1: don't forget. You can find them wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Under Hoops tonight, All right, let's talk some basketball. So

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Speaker 1: the reason why I picked the Lakers to win in

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Speaker 1: six and didn't go off of that pick is I've

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Speaker 1: grown very familiar with this team covering them over the

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Speaker 1: course of the season, and they have a tendency to

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Speaker 1: conserve energy for these like big defensive bursts. And Game

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Speaker 1: four in particular, was kind of concerning at first when

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Speaker 1: I was watching it live, felt like their offense really

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Speaker 1: got bogged down. They were really struggling and pick and roll.

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Speaker 1: But I'm a big believer in trusting film. The film

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Speaker 1: is where you learn more about the game because you

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Speaker 1: can stop and watch the same possession three or four

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Speaker 1: times in a row and pick up on all the

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Speaker 1: little rotations and all the little details that take place

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Speaker 1: on a possession. And when I went back and watched

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Speaker 1: Game four or again, I was super encouraged on the

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Speaker 1: Lakers front, because I did not think they brought a

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Speaker 1: great defensive effort. As a matter of fact, as we

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Speaker 1: look back through the series, they'd have these like weird

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Speaker 1: quarters and halves where they'd give up a ton of points,

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Speaker 1: but then they'd have these halves at a time where

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Speaker 1: they would lock in and over the course of the series,

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Speaker 1: after the first half of Game six, they ended up

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Speaker 1: holding the Warriors under fifty points and a half five

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Speaker 1: times in a series, and so in the series. So

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Speaker 1: when I looked at Game five and just kind of

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Speaker 1: the way they were defending in that first half, I

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Speaker 1: felt pretty good about them in there in front of

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Speaker 1: their home crowd, bringing the requisite defensive effort and closing

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Speaker 1: the deal that set they made it a Darvin Ham

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Speaker 1: had a very interesting adjustment. He moved Dennis Schroeder into

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Speaker 1: the starting lineup for Jared Vanderbilt in large part because

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Speaker 1: that was their best lineup in this series. The three

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Speaker 1: guard lineup has been an issue for the Lakers a

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Speaker 1: lot over the course the last couple of years because

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Speaker 1: of Lebron and Anthony Davis kind of coasting through games

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Speaker 1: and not really engaging themselves physically to cover for the

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Speaker 1: lack of size. But in this series that's actually been

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Speaker 1: one of the best lineups coming into the night. They

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Speaker 1: were plus five not net, but plus five total on

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Speaker 1: the scoreboard in eighteen minutes. And so he leaned on

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Speaker 1: his best lineup and that lineup absolutely dominated the Warriors

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Speaker 1: in the first shift to start this game, and then

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Speaker 1: again towards the end of the first half, and then

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Speaker 1: again to start the second half before Dennis Schroeder got ejected.

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Speaker 1: So it was smart for Darvin Ham to lean on

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Speaker 1: his best guys that set. It only works if you

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Speaker 1: get a vintage effort out of Lebron James to go

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Speaker 1: with the consistent effort you've been getting out of Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: And you know what's funny, And like, we don't talk

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Speaker 1: a ton about my kind of history of being a

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Speaker 1: fan of Lebron on the show. We kind of just

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Speaker 1: focused on the basketball, right, But like, Lebron is the

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Speaker 1: player that got me to fall in love with the

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Speaker 1: game of basketball, as I've told you guys before, and

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Speaker 1: for me personally, what's been so interesting about rooting for him?

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Speaker 1: And I'm sure you Warriors fans have felt a little

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Speaker 1: bit like this with Steph over the years, but I

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Speaker 1: always felt like going into a big game that Lebron

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Speaker 1: James was gonna play great. And it's been, like I said,

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Speaker 1: a super interesting experience as a fan because it's kind

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Speaker 1: of it kind of gives you like a little bit

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Speaker 1: less anxiety heading into these bigger types of games. Right,

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Speaker 1: and we're talking about a postseason run where Lebron James

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Speaker 1: is averaging under under twenty three points per game for

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Speaker 1: the first time in his playoff career. He's shooting a

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Speaker 1: percentage nine points below what he shot in the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty playoff run. He's going through an uncharacteristic jump shooting slump.

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Speaker 1: So many things not going well for Lebron. The only

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Speaker 1: thing I really noticed on tape is he's definitely trying

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Speaker 1: to conserve energy as much as possible. I think that

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Speaker 1: stems from the foot injury and him just realizing that

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Speaker 1: he's going to have to do so much down the

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Speaker 1: line and his team is talented enough to carry him

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Speaker 1: through these certain stretches of the game, so he holds

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Speaker 1: it in reserve. You saw that a lot in this game, right,

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Speaker 1: first shift to set the tone of the game. Atacking

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Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins in the post. He's getting downhill, he's scoring

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Speaker 1: at the Rami's creating shots for his teammates. Super aggressive,

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Speaker 1: twenty seven to ten lead. Rest of the first half,

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Speaker 1: he kind of just chills. And I've grown to notice

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Speaker 1: with him that that's how he kind of conserves energy.

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Speaker 1: Second half, all half, just attacking in the post, attacking

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Speaker 1: by bringing Steph up into high pick and roll, by

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Speaker 1: bringing Jordan Poole up into high pick and roll, pushing

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Speaker 1: at every single transition opportunity. He had absolutely dominating the

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Speaker 1: defensive glass and flying around just in general in his

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Speaker 1: rotations to make plays, closing out to shooters on the

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Speaker 1: weak side, offering help at the rim. It was just

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Speaker 1: an unbelievably dominant Lebron James performance. Thirty points, nine rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and nine assists on fourteen shots, his first thirty point

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Speaker 1: game of the postseason. You don't think this game mattered

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Speaker 1: to Lebron James a lot. First thirty point game in

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Speaker 1: this postseason when his team needed it most, wasn't settling

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Speaker 1: for stupid. I thought he took two tough fadeaways in

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Speaker 1: the first half. Other than that, I loved every single

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Speaker 1: shot he took in this game. And the craziest part

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Speaker 1: is that I just believed going into the game that

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Speaker 1: that's what he was going to do. How insane is

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Speaker 1: that that, in twenty seasons, with all of this mileage

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Speaker 1: and undergoing the type of circumstances he's been dealing with

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Speaker 1: in this playoff run, that I just knew Lebron was

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Speaker 1: gonna play great. And to me, that's a testament to

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Speaker 1: Lebron's greatness and what he's been able to accomplish in

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Speaker 1: this league. The most dependably great playoff player in the

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Speaker 1: history of the NBA. He's less reliant on shot variants

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Speaker 1: than anybody else in the NBA, And the most interesting

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Speaker 1: thing with this particular team is he's been able to

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Speaker 1: evolve into whatever the team needs him to be. He can,

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Speaker 1: for twenty minutes at a time just be a screener

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Speaker 1: and roll to the rim, did a ton of that

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Speaker 1: in Game four, But then when his team needs him

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Speaker 1: to take on on ball responsibilities, he can. He's done

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Speaker 1: it a lot out of the post in this series.

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Speaker 1: But there at the end, and you saw it a

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Speaker 1: little bit at the end of Game four when he

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Speaker 1: kind of setting up Lonnie Walker on Steph Curry, but

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Speaker 1: just at the top of the key, calling the guy

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Speaker 1: that he thinks is the worst defender on the floor

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Speaker 1: into the screen and just either getting downhill or getting

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Speaker 1: the little hedge. There was a three pointer that Lonnie

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Speaker 1: hit in the fourth quarter where he brings Steph into

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Speaker 1: the screen and Steph is literally begging for Klay Thompson

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Speaker 1: to come over. As Steph is hedging and trying to recoverage,

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Speaker 1: throws it behind the back pass to Lonnie knocks down

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Speaker 1: the three. Those are little surgical things in the half

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Speaker 1: court to generate good shots against an elite defense that

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Speaker 1: make him the type of reliably great player that he

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Speaker 1: can be. And then on the defensive end, he can

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Speaker 1: switch out on to Steph Curry on the perimeter, he

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Speaker 1: can rotate on the back end of shooters, he can

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Speaker 1: control the defensive glass. He's the ultimate Swiss army knife,

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Speaker 1: and it's just insane to me that he's still He

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Speaker 1: was by far the best player on the floor tonight.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't close, and he didn't need to be that

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Speaker 1: for the first five games, but when he needed to

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Speaker 1: be that tonight, he was able to tap into that.

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Speaker 1: And I just can't believe it. And again, like I've

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Speaker 1: been critical of Lebron a lot over the course of

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Speaker 1: the last couple of years, just by nature of the

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Speaker 1: way that the show works, right, Like we're gonna talk

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Speaker 1: about the basketball. Lebron is my one big blind spot

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Speaker 1: with the NBA. Grew up a Tucson I'm not a

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Speaker 1: fan of any particular team. I root for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: because I'm a fan of Lebron. And so when we're

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Speaker 1: on the show, and what do I do with everybody,

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Speaker 1: Like every player, regardless of who they are, what team

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Speaker 1: they're on, they're playing well, gonna point it out, playing poorly,

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Speaker 1: gonna point it out. And there have been long stretches

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Speaker 1: over the course of the last few years where Lebron

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Speaker 1: is coasted or left meat on the bone. And I

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Speaker 1: think we can look back in retrospect and say that

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Speaker 1: it's just all about conserving energy for when he thinks

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Speaker 1: he absolutely needs it, because that was one of the

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Speaker 1: most dominant two way performances I've ever seen, and he's

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Speaker 1: just has not been at that level at all in

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Speaker 1: this playoff run. Before that, just unbelievable stuff from Lebron

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Speaker 1: were gonn get into him a lot more as we

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Speaker 1: get into the series preview for Lakers Nuggets that I

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Speaker 1: just wanted to give him a shout out tonight again.

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Speaker 1: You knew he was gonna be great tonight and that's

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Speaker 1: what sets him apart from really anybody else in NBA history,

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Speaker 1: and he's got a chance to gain even more ground

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Speaker 1: as time goes on. Anthony Davis I thought was the

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Speaker 1: best player in the series overall. Obviously, Lebron James demonstrated

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Speaker 1: that he can tap into that for any brief stint

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Speaker 1: that they need for one game here, one quarter like

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Speaker 1: he did in the fourth quarter against Memphis in Game four.

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Speaker 1: He's shown the ability to tap in when he needs to,

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Speaker 1: but in terms of the night in and night out,

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Speaker 1: dependently great. Like I said on a game to game basis,

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis was the best player in the series. I

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Speaker 1: told you guys after Giannis lost in the first round

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Speaker 1: that that best player in the world title is up

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Speaker 1: for grabs. To me, Anthony Davis is in the pole position.

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Speaker 1: I know Nikola Jokic has been great, but I have

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Speaker 1: a rule, don't call a guy best player in the

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Speaker 1: world until he has the Larry O'Brian Trophy. End of

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Speaker 1: story for me. And Anthony Davis has a Lario O'Brian trophy.

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Speaker 1: He did it for sixteen wins in the twenty twenty bubble,

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Speaker 1: including against Nikola Jokic, So for me, I'd be happy

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Speaker 1: to give Yokic that recognition once he has the Lario

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Speaker 1: b he does not. Anthony Davis just took the title

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Speaker 1: away from Steph Curry. In my opinion, I think you

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Speaker 1: have to call set Anthony Davis the best player in

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Speaker 1: the world right now, which is crazy, crazy redemption from

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Speaker 1: being so down on his luck with injuries, where we

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Speaker 1: were on pace for three consecutive seasons, where he probably

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Speaker 1: was like where you were as a Laker fan, you

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Speaker 1: were sitting there like he's this, dude's not going to

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Speaker 1: be available again. Going from there to being, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: the best player in the world. What a turnaround and

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Speaker 1: every again. And Colin Coward and I talked about this,

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Speaker 1: I think a week and a half ago or so,

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Speaker 1: but I think it's a super interesting concept. Every adjustment

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Speaker 1: in this series had to do with Anthony Davis. Every

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Speaker 1: Warrior adjustment was to try to pull Anthony Davis away

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Speaker 1: from the paint. Every Laker adjustment was to try to

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Speaker 1: keep Anthony Davis in the paint as much as possible.

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Speaker 1: That was the chess match of this series. Every move

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Speaker 1: had to do with Anthony Davis, and that's what made

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Speaker 1: him the best player in the series. And we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about Steph here in a minute. I thought Steph

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Speaker 1: had an extremely difficult task throughout this entire series, and

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Speaker 1: we'll get to that. But you know what, Like, I'm

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Speaker 1: a big believer in rewarding guys for winning, and Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis I think deserves a recognition for now. Laker guards

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, great defense all night, timely scoring, timely playmaking

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Speaker 1: an incredible half court heave that completely changed the tone

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Speaker 1: and tenor of the first half of this game. The

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Speaker 1: Warriors are like, just I will say this Warriors fans. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: I've never rooted against Lebron, so I don't know what

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Speaker 1: that's like. But I have never feared a basketball player

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Speaker 1: or team as with rooting interest the way I feared

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Speaker 1: that Golden State team. I was joking with my wife,

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Speaker 1: I was like the nineteen in the fourth quarter and

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Speaker 1: I'm still nervous, Like it's crazy, and I just I

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Speaker 1: have so much respect for that franchise, the number of

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Speaker 1: punches that they were down twenty seven to ten and

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Speaker 1: got it back to five. Like everything was going the

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Speaker 1: Lakers way. They dominated the offensive glass, They forced the

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Speaker 1: Lakers into turnovers, They packed a paint, forced them into

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Speaker 1: bad shots, got out, got going in transition. Dante DiVincenzo

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Speaker 1: had a run. I am just so blown away by

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Speaker 1: how good and how well run and coached that Warriors

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Speaker 1: team is. And we're gonna talk about them a little

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Speaker 1: bit more in a minute as it pertains to their future,

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Speaker 1: but I can just say definitively, I'm so glad that

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Speaker 1: that series is over because that was that was a

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Speaker 1: hell experience for the one team that I have a

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Speaker 1: rooting interest in in the NBA, which is the Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers. Man. But Austin Reeves was awesome that he

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Speaker 1: I thought changed the tone from that first half. D'Angelo

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Speaker 1: Russell up and down as he usually is, but he

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Speaker 1: made some big shots. Dennis Schroeder again one of the

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Speaker 1: worst ejections I've ever seen in the history of sports,

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Speaker 1: with him talking a little bit of trash to Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green and getting kicked out of an elimination game as

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry's primary defender, but I thought he did a

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Speaker 1: great job defensively on Steph Curry for two and a

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Speaker 1: half quarters, and then Lonnie Walker some timely three point

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Speaker 1: shots during that run after Dennis went out. Obviously not

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Speaker 1: the same defensive player that Dennis is, struggled a lot

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Speaker 1: defensively over the course of the last two games, but

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Speaker 1: made enough shots to make sure that the game kept

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Speaker 1: that tone of being kind of like stiff armed distance

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Speaker 1: rather than being really really competitive. One of the underrated

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Speaker 1: things about the Laker guards is, for instance, Lebron James

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Speaker 1: and we saw this was Steph Curry. So Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: gets targeted on defense the entire game, right, and in

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Speaker 1: that those stretches, it's easy to be like, oh, Steph,

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Speaker 1: weak defender getting targeted, you know, And don't get me wrong,

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Speaker 1: like when you're attacking the Warriors and the other guys

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Speaker 1: on the court are Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green,

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Speaker 1: like it really is your best bet, you know, to

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Speaker 1: target Steph Curry just because he's the smaller guy that's

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Speaker 1: not as good of an athlete, right, even though he

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Speaker 1: has turned himself into an average too above average defender.

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Speaker 1: He's just your best option. But the bigger part of

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Speaker 1: it has to do with his workload. The only chance

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Speaker 1: the Warriors ever had to generate a quality shot against

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Speaker 1: that Laker defense was through Steph Curry. That's an incredible

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Speaker 1: amount of pressure offensively and an incredibly large workload offensively,

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Speaker 1: and so he needs to save energy and he's doing

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Speaker 1: that on the defensive end. I mean, a lot of

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Speaker 1: people have been critical of Lebrono with that over the years,

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Speaker 1: but I've said the same thing with Lebron, Like on

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Speaker 1: some of these teams where you know, Anthony Davis is

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Speaker 1: hurt and Lebron's out there playing like he has to

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Speaker 1: conserve energy defensively because he's their only hope to score

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Speaker 1: on the other end. So I'm not going to be

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Speaker 1: critical of Steph in that specific situation, but Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: and Lebron that's the opposite form of that dynamic. Austin,

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Speaker 1: Dilo Dennis and Lonnie bring enough offensive punch that Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davison Lebro James can literally focus on the defensive end

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Speaker 1: of the floor. Anthony Davis was pretty much not involved

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Speaker 1: in that game offensively, so he was able to save

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Speaker 1: all of his energy for the defensive end. That's a

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Speaker 1: luxury brought on by a really talented guard corps from

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Speaker 1: the Lakers looking forward. For the Lakers, like I talked

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Speaker 1: about with Denver, they just check a lot of boxes

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Speaker 1: that I look for in championship contenders. I'm going to

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Speaker 1: pick them over the Nuggets probably in six games. I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna do a deeper dive into the film before I

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Speaker 1: finalize that, but that's where I'm leaning, and the main

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Speaker 1: reason why is they literally check all the boxes. They

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Speaker 1: have an outstanding perimeter defender and Dennis Schroeder, an outstanding

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Speaker 1: wing defender in Ruy hatch In Jared Vanderbilt, a power

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Speaker 1: wing defender in Ruy hatcha Murray that you can throw

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Speaker 1: a bigger, stronger guys, and they have the best defensive

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Speaker 1: player in the league and Anthony Davis in a Swiss

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Speaker 1: army knife in Lebron James alongside him and the other

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Speaker 1: guards just do good enough right, kind of like what

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray does for the Nuggets. They just do good

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Speaker 1: enough defensively. On the offensive end of the floor, they

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Speaker 1: generate high quality shots through rim pressure, which is consistent

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Speaker 1: in something you can generate from game to game, and

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Speaker 1: they have two different types of complimentary superstars. They can

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Speaker 1: run action together similar to Murray and Jokic. They both

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Speaker 1: can operate out of the post to get shots close

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Speaker 1: to the rim, and as Lebron James is demonstrated, when

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Speaker 1: the chips are down, he is able to go to

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Speaker 1: a level offensively that allows him to run the offense

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Speaker 1: almost entirely. And so they check a ton of boxes

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Speaker 1: and they have every bit as good a chance to

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Speaker 1: win the title as anybody else does remaining in this field.

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Speaker 1: Looking at the Steph Lebron thing. So I tweeted before

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Speaker 1: the game, I joked that this was the talking Head Bowl.

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Speaker 1: And the reason why I said that is this game tonight.

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Speaker 1: This series is inevitably going to be used as fodder

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Speaker 1: by you know, debate shows, everybody in your social media feeds,

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Speaker 1: just when you're talking sports at the bar, at the

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Speaker 1: water cooler. This is going to be the series that

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Speaker 1: colors the way that this rivalry is discussed. Now. For me,

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Speaker 1: it was already said in stunt I thought Lebron James

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Speaker 1: was a better basketball player than Steph Curry in twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, like I, the only time I ever thought

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Speaker 1: Steph surpassed Lebron was in that brief window there from

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one forward, after Lebron started to decline a

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Speaker 1: little bit physically, right, I just thought Lebron was better,

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Speaker 1: and I thought that the Warriors won because they had

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Speaker 1: better teams, and then Lebron obviously got twenty sixteen from

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Speaker 1: them before Kevin Durant joined the town. I thought that

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Speaker 1: was pretty clear. I think most people outside of the

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Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors fan base agree with that, but Steph

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Speaker 1: fans feel differently. I know most Steph fans think that

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Speaker 1: Steph was better than Lebron in twenty fifteen, as good

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Speaker 1: as Lebron in twenty sixteen, as good as Lebron in

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Speaker 1: twenty seventeen eighteen, better than Lebron in twenty nineteen. Better.

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Speaker 1: Since I know and look like everyone, this is not

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Speaker 1: something that's just really easy to measure. Every Everyone's got

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Speaker 1: their own beliefs, right, But for me, it was already

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Speaker 1: set in stone. So the way I was always going

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Speaker 1: to remember this Steph Lebron rivalry is that Lebron was

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Speaker 1: the better player in the era and during those years.

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Speaker 1: But at this phase, now that Steph is thirty five,

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Speaker 1: I think he is the better player. And you know,

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Speaker 1: like when you actually look at the schemes and what

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Speaker 1: was taking place in that series, Steph played better basketball

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Speaker 1: in this series and Lebron did for six games. Now

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Speaker 1: in game six, Lebron is best player in the four

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Speaker 1: by mile, and he deserves all that recognition. But to me,

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Speaker 1: whatever happened in this series was not going to change

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Speaker 1: that dynamic. But on those debate shows, it was going

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Speaker 1: to change everything. If Steph wins this series, it's he's

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Speaker 1: four and one against Lebron. You know, that's your talking

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Speaker 1: point for the end till the end of time. Right.

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Speaker 1: Whereas Lebron wins the series, it's Lebron's two to one

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Speaker 1: against Steph without Kevin Durant and his one loss was

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Speaker 1: when Kevin lov and Kyrie Irving both got hurt. Right,

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Speaker 1: So that stupid low brown analysis. You guys know how

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Speaker 1: much I hate that stuff, But that's how this game

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00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:06,000
Speaker 1: was always going to color that rivalry. Inevitably, whoever won

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00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,880
Speaker 1: was going to have those bragging rights. So what really

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Speaker 1: happened here. Like I said, I believe Lebron James, the

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Speaker 1: second best player of all time, was better than Steph

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Speaker 1: throughout the Warriors dynasty in the late two thousands tens.

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Speaker 1: Right since then, Lebron has aged a lot, he's injured,

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Speaker 1: not the same player. I think Steph's a better player

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Speaker 1: than Lebron now. But now Lebron has a better team,

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Speaker 1: and you saw that the better team won the series.

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Speaker 1: And that's why it's so stupid to make those arguments

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Speaker 1: during those years when Steph has Kevin freaking Durant and

390
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,679
Speaker 1: Andre Gudala and Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and all

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Speaker 1: those guys on the team. It just doesn't make sense

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Speaker 1: to make those arguments because you put yourself in a

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Speaker 1: situation where now those arguments come back to bite you

394
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,280
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three when Lebron James, when he's oldest shit,

395
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Speaker 1: has a better team and he beats you. That's why

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Speaker 1: I hate talking about this stuff on the show. That's

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Speaker 1: why we don't do that. What do we do on

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Speaker 1: the show? We talked about the past catball, the better

399
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,160
Speaker 1: basketball team won this series, just like the better basketball

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Speaker 1: team won in twenty fifteen, seventeen eighteen, and I thought

401
00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:10,399
Speaker 1: the better team won in twenty sixteen when all the

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00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,879
Speaker 1: Cavs players were healthy. It's a team sport. Lebron and

403
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,280
Speaker 1: Steph have both contributed to those teams a great extent.

404
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,800
Speaker 1: I think Lebron's a better player, brings a great deal

405
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:25,679
Speaker 1: of offensive manipulation and scoring, and he can dominate games defensively.

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00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 1: He was just a level above what Steph could do.

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00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,640
Speaker 1: I think Steph is my second favorite player ever. He's

408
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 1: been the second best player in this era. I think

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00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,880
Speaker 1: he's clearly better than Kevin Durant, for instance. So it's

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Speaker 1: not an insult to Steph. He's just up against the

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Speaker 1: dude who's in the same conversation with Michael Jordan. How

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00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,440
Speaker 1: many guys are in conversations with Michael Jordan's zero except

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Speaker 1: for Lebron. So there's no shame in the way this

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00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: all went down. But I'm not going to be making

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00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:56,600
Speaker 1: sweeping declarations about this rivalry because to me, the rivalry

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00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,000
Speaker 1: already was what it was. Lebron's a better player of Steph.

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00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,200
Speaker 1: I've had better teams like that. To me, that was

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Speaker 1: the rivalry. And here's the thing too, I'm not going

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00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:06,800
Speaker 1: to convince you, guys. I've never had a conversation with

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Speaker 1: a Steph Curry fan. I talked with the half dozen

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Speaker 1: Warrior fans or so on Twitter that I've met over

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Speaker 1: the years and never had a single one of them

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Speaker 1: have a conversation with me and then go, oh, you

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00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 1: know what, You're right, Jason, Lebron's better. I'm not changing

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00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,439
Speaker 1: your mind. You guys feel the way you feel you

426
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,919
Speaker 1: should rooting for Steph. Rooting against Steph was freaking terrifying. Like,

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00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,639
Speaker 1: I get it. I understand why so many people are

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00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,480
Speaker 1: a big fan of him. I'm a huge fan of him,

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00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:33,439
Speaker 1: but no one's changing anybody's minds. I'm just glad for

430
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,439
Speaker 1: Lebron's sake that he won this series, because I do

431
00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:38,800
Speaker 1: think it would have provided fodder for people to try

432
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,160
Speaker 1: to misrepresent what happened over the course of this era.

433
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,800
Speaker 1: All right, looking forward to for the Warriors. Like I said,

434
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,120
Speaker 1: I was terrified the whole game. Steph Curry's ridiculous. I've

435
00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:49,800
Speaker 1: never seen a player of Warp of Defense the way

436
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:54,399
Speaker 1: that he does. But they need some help. I know

437
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,959
Speaker 1: that's the random word that we throw out a lot

438
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,679
Speaker 1: in this debate, but It's just the truth. You couldn't

439
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,280
Speaker 1: get anything out of Clay Thompson down the stretch of

440
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,199
Speaker 1: the series, couldn't get anything out of Jordan Pool in

441
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,640
Speaker 1: the entire series, and too often the Warriors were stuck

442
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,720
Speaker 1: in a predicament where they had to play defensive personnel

443
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: at the expense of their spacing. We also know, beyond

444
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,479
Speaker 1: a shadow of a doubt that if you give Steph space,

445
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,439
Speaker 1: no one can keep him in front without throwing multiple

446
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 1: defenders at him, and no one can take away threes

447
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,240
Speaker 1: from him without throwing multiple defenders at him. So moving forward,

448
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 1: for the Warriors, you have to understand the value of

449
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,880
Speaker 1: what you have there. Like Anthony Davis is the best

450
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:34,280
Speaker 1: player in the world, now, Steph is right there next

451
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: to him. So if you have that guy and you

452
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,920
Speaker 1: have the pieces with which to build a roster around

453
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,640
Speaker 1: him that makes him a championship contender, you were obligated

454
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:48,200
Speaker 1: to do so in my opinion. Now, Shamsherrannie reported immediately

455
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,800
Speaker 1: after the game that the Warriors are leaning towards bringing

456
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:54,399
Speaker 1: back Draymond. Great news. Guess what you did, Straymon? You

457
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,679
Speaker 1: immediately lose your championship contention. Been talking about that all season.

458
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,680
Speaker 1: You cannot win a title without legitimate rim protection. Draymond's

459
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,119
Speaker 1: that guy. He's done it four times. It's not his

460
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:04,960
Speaker 1: fault that this series went the way it did. It's

461
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,400
Speaker 1: the rest of the roster. So you got to bring

462
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,879
Speaker 1: Draymond Green. Draymond Green back, and I'm glad the Warriors

463
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: have noticed that Klay Thompson apparently is considering taking a

464
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,200
Speaker 1: pay cut to stay on board. That's great news. I

465
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 1: still think Klay Thompson can help. I just don't think

466
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,120
Speaker 1: you can run your offense through him against higher tier

467
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,440
Speaker 1: defenses as you saw like you wouldn't really get in

468
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: good looks in this game. But you know, if you

469
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 1: can get him to stay on at a discount, and

470
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: makes sense to keep him there. Andrew Wiggins obviously still

471
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 1: a vitally important piece. So who are the odd men

472
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:38,280
Speaker 1: out there? As we look at the young guys. I

473
00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:40,920
Speaker 1: think Moses Moody demonstrated that he can be an impact

474
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,400
Speaker 1: role player in the NBA playoffs. Defends at high level

475
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 1: play super physical was just dead eye with his corner threes.

476
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 1: Moses Moody I think is worth keeping. But Jonathan Kamina

477
00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,920
Speaker 1: and Jordan Poole are the two guys that I come

478
00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: back to. Look, Jordan Poole was amazing Lastro's postseason run.

479
00:23:58,080 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: As Klay Thompson said, you don't win the title without Geordan.

480
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: I want to give those guys, you know, I want

481
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: to make sure that he's remembered properly as a champion.

482
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,159
Speaker 1: That said, he's declined, especially on the defensive end of

483
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,960
Speaker 1: the floor, and by virtue of the way his salary

484
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 1: is structured, he's your best bet to try to bring

485
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 1: in higher quality role players. So I think the move

486
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,920
Speaker 1: is you got to package any draft compensation that you

487
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 1: have and Jordan Poole and Jonathan Kaminga and bring back

488
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 1: two way role players, players that can both shoot and

489
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,879
Speaker 1: defend at their position, so that you can give Steph

490
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,680
Speaker 1: the space to operate. If you this tiered system where

491
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,480
Speaker 1: you always have one big on the floor, either Looney

492
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: or Draymond, that works. It's when they have multiple non

493
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: shooters on the floor that the Lakers were really able

494
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: to stagnate them offensively. There were possessions in this game

495
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,400
Speaker 1: where like Ad would end up on Moses Moody and

496
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,560
Speaker 1: Steph is getting a Jordan Poole's beating dudes off the

497
00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: dribble and making layups. You can space good defenses out.

498
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 1: You just need the right personnel. So I'm glad to

499
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 1: hear that they're prioritizing the right guys. But it's time

500
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,880
Speaker 1: to go all in. We talked about after last year

501
00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: they held some chips back because they thought they had enough.

502
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 1: At the time, I didn't think they had enough. I

503
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,320
Speaker 1: was wrong. Joe Lacob is right. They won the title,

504
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,879
Speaker 1: but this year it has been become clear that they

505
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 1: don't have enough. So if you've got one of the

506
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,399
Speaker 1: best players in the world and you've got assets at

507
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,480
Speaker 1: your disposal, you're obligated to surround them with the talent

508
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 1: he needs to compete for a title, and so I

509
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 1: hope that they do so this summer. You know what,

510
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,160
Speaker 1: I'd love to see Lakers Warriors again in the playoffs

511
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,119
Speaker 1: next year, and then maybe we can have one more

512
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 1: giant legacy debate on all the talking head shows for

513
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 1: a full day. All right, guys, that is all I

514
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: have for right now. After I record this, I'm gonna

515
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: be recording a video on Nick's heat that'll be up

516
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,679
Speaker 1: tomorrow morning when you guys wake up, So keep an

517
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:49,360
Speaker 1: eye on that. And your feeds. As always, I appreciate

518
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 1: you guys. Sunday, we're going with Colin after Game seven

519
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: of Celtics Sixers, and then probably sometime on Monday morning,

520
00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: I'll have your first series preview in the Western Conference

521
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,119
Speaker 1: and for the Conference Finals involving the Nuggets and the Lakers.

522
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: I appreciate you, guys, and I'll see you tomorrow. The

523
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: Volume