WEBVTT - PG GOAT?, James Harden Antics & Special Guest Bomani Jones 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.240 This episode is brought to you by all State. Some 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.120 people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:08.840 by checking all State first, Like you know, to check 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.440 the date of the Big Game first before you accidentally 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.480 buy tickets on your twentieth wedding anniversary and have to 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.920 spend the next twenty years of your marriage making up 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.520 for it. Yeah, checking first is smart, So check all 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:23.880 State first for a quote that could save you hundreds. 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.600 You're in good hands with All States savings. Very terms 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:39.400 apply All State Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.160 Welcome in Fresh Off Vacation, Episode one seventy two, What's 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:50.120 Right with Nick Wrighton. Before we pan out and show 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:54.279 who our special guest is today, let me tell you 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.040 about how this podcast usually works. We have done one 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.400 hundred and seventy two episodes plus the tirty of our 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.760 top fifty players of all time countdown, so we're at 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:08.480 around two hundred episodes. There has been one person that 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.600 is not either a blood relative or my wife who's 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:18.400 an essential blood relative on this show, low Wayne, and 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:20.680 so we kind of decided we don't We're not really 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:24.479 gonna do guests. We're not a podcast that does guests. However, 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.360 if it is a family only podcast, there is one 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:31.840 person who you all know who is in the sports 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:36.320 media space who just newly became able to do whatever 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.480 he wants in the sports media space. While is not 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.160 a blood relative, I've known for now ten years. He 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:46.440 is my youngest child's favorite person in the world. He 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.120 is essentially family and he joins us today on a 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.560 special appearance. He is, of course Bamani Jones, but Bamoni 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:56.880 Jones joining us on the pod. Good to see you both. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:58.840 And see man, I'm not gonna lie with you started 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:00.880 saying that everybody had been blood I thought you were 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.280 gonna say that they had been bloods and then you 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:04.760 said a little waite, and I was like, I could 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:06.680 be you know, you know what. 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.639 So that's what it was, either blood relative or blood 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:13.480 you know. That's how the podcast has worked so far. 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:17.440 So today you today's show, we're just gonna run through. 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.040 Uh will spend the first segment talking the NBA, the 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.680 second segment talking in the NFL, and third segments we 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.720 always do get to your listener questions. Bamani, how have 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:28.200 you been good? To see you doing good. 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:30.640 I'm not gonna lie. I was like actually prepared to 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.520 come here and just read to your questions. You know 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:33.880 what I'm saying, Sorry, job. 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:33.960 I go. 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.560 I can humble myself generally speak. You know that. 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.799 You know what, when people hear Bomani Jones, I think 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:43.079 the first thing they think is humble gentlemen. I think 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:46.200 that's one of the first word association things. But that's 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.399 not what we're gonna do. We're gonna do this kind 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.600 of more like your pod, where we just throw things 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:52.600 out there. And by the way, subscribe to the Right 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.560 Time with Bomani Jones that is still and not only 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.560 in existence, but that is now property of Bomani Jones, 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.400 and we'll follow him wherever Jones goes. If I may 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:02.639 say so, I hope I was the same. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:03.320 No, No, you can't. 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.040 In fact, not only are you allowed to say so, 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.880 it is almost imperative, okay, or by people like nah 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:10.240 the pods still exists, like they don't understand how that worries, 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:11.880 and I will blame him. I still got it. It's 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.520 coming back in a few right, I'll let you know. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:16.680 So subscribe to the podcast the Right Time of the 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.799 Bomani Jones that is still ongoing as Bomoni, you know, 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.639 navigates the next few months and what the space will 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:26.919 look like for him. We are going to talk about 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.440 something that is very near and dear to my heart 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:32.959 to start with, which is ranking NBA player. 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.120 So Steph Curry was. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.960 Asked by Gilbert Arenas who the greatest point guard of 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:44.680 all time is, and he understandably immediately said me himself, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.600 Steph Curry. And then if you watch the longer clip 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.400 he did ninety second tribute to Magic Johnson, it was 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.880 because he says me, He says, Steph's the best, and 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:56.920 then kind of laughs, and if you just watch it 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.120 there it seems like he's being disrespectful. He is not, 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:04.320 but he advocates for himself. So here's where I am 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.400 in a pickle. Bo. I believe both of these things 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.360 to be true, and this is where I want your take. 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:15.160 I believe, in the marrow of my bones, the greatest 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:19.159 point guard of all time is Magic Johnson, and at 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:23.599 present it is not particularly close. I say at present 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.240 because Steph is still playing and he you know, see 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.279 what he does, how long he extends this extended prime. 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.320 But I believe that is currently written in stone. I 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:37.919 also believe this Almost every time I am asked to 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:42.360 do one of those exercises of create the best five 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.080 man team possible, I choose Steph over Magic. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:47.800 That wait, see it. 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.640 Whenever we are talking about like, all right, Jordan's you're two, 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.960 Lebron's your three. You know, a Kareem or a chem 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:56.719 or Shacky or five, it's like, all right, pick your 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:00.359 point guard. I'm like, all right, so Magic's better, but 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.200 this team is better with Steph. And so that's those 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:09.120 two things seeming conflict. But I believe Magic is the 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.279 best point guard ever. I believe Steph is the point 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.080 guard you would most want on almost any team ever 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:16.040 where you stand. 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.120 All right, So where that Steph thing comes up to 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.559 me is that now that we are in an era 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.280 where a team that doesn't shoot a lot of threes 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.680 shoots twenty something in a game, Steph Curry looks a 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.800 lot better. Right like the game as it currently exists, 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:31.679 it can be hard in your mind to think about 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:33.479 how you put Magic into it, and you think about 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.000 Steph as floor spacer, and so you think of him 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.680 as better player on that team. Here's the why I 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.080 think about Magic that people lose sight of he was 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:43.920 actually held back for like five years because he was 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.640 playing two guard until they got around to trading Norm 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.120 Nixon away from Barbra Scott. Right, he averaged a borderline 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.279 triple double. I want to say in year two, which 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.360 is like nineteen nine and a half and nine and 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:58.520 a half or something like that playing two guard. Yes, 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.279 they went to the finals nine times in twelve years. 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.120 And after not playing basketball for five years, Magic came 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:06.720 back in average I want to call it. 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.039 A fifteen six and seven is Listen, he missed four 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:14.880 full years and in his first game back at thirty 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:19.360 six years old overweight Magic what he did in that 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:23.240 first game back, I've got it right here. Uh my apologies. 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:24.920 I said I have it right here, but I don't. Yeah, 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:29.440 I do. First game back, he goes nineteen eight and ten. 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.400 In the first two games of the playoffs that year, 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.880 averaged twenty three, ten and four against the defending champion Rockets. 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:38.440 So Magics. 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.440 Here's the other thing. If you brought up the beginning 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:45.320 of the career, you also have to recognize Magic essentially 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.680 at a career ending injury. We don't look at it 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.440 that way because it was HIV. But Magic played twelve 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:59.360 seasons pre HIV. Those twelve seasons Magic Johnson nine times 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:05.640 First team All NBA, nine times first, second or third 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.840 in MVP voting, nine times in the NBA Finals. So 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:15.440 seventy five percent of Magic seasons he was first team 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:18.880 All NBA, seventy five percent, he was Top three MVP 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:23.880 seventy five percent he was in the NBA Finals. Steph 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.520 as great as Steph is. Step has been first Team 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:30.960 All NBA four times. Steph has been Top three MVP 0:07:31.160 --> 0:07:35.160 voting three times. Like there is there is a level, 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:39.200 and the fact that Magic the last game he played 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.240 pre HIV was the finals against Jordan. It's not now. 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:47.960 Was he still peak apex Magic? No, but he was 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.880 two years removed from an MVP, one year, one year 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.240 removed from the league MVP correct, and had just led 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.480 a team to the finals. So the idea he was 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.280 still going as a top five player in the league league. 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:05.160 I feel like Magic gets a little overlooked, or I 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.600 don't want to say overlook because he's Magic Johnson, but 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.680 I do. I am now starting to get to the 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.800 age where and this happens with a Keeme a lot too, 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:19.600 where people act as if a Keem's career started in 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.600 the finals in the nineties, right, that was a post 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.480 prime achem olage one. He was no longer at his apex. 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.760 Now he was still the best player in the league 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.160 those years. But like a Keeme in year two is 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.840 in the finals, or year three in the finals putting 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:38.840 up thirty in year three is in the playoffs, averaging 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.560 thirty seven a game, like So there's some some of 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.240 the eighties stuff gets glossed over. So I think Magic's 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:48.240 the best ever? What do you do? You think there 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.319 is a path for Steph in your mind becoming the 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:51.719 best ever? 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.600 I mean the path would be if Steph Curry winds 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.600 up with five championships like Magic Johnson had five championships, right, Sure, 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.679 then all of a sudden we're had being a bit 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:02.600 of a different discussion. Like you and I have talked 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.520 about this with the Steph Lebron thing. It gets weird 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:07.839 if he gets to five and Lebron does not. Right, 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.040 I still think Lebron is a better player. It just 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:11.840 becomes harder to talk to people about it. 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:12.120 Sure. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.800 The thing that I think is lost though about Elijah 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:16.760 Wan in the eighties, and it is the same thing 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.720 with Magic in those in the late eighties early nineties, 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.160 loaj Bob was carrying bombs man like after eighty six 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:26.280 a lot. It was a cheme elajahwan and eleven dudes 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.520 in Houston, Right, They'd have been better off with eleven 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:30.439 dudes from Houston, because then I would know they had 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:32.920 some fight. Instead, it was just eleven dudes that happened 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.720 to be in Houston. Magic. The eighty nine, ninety and 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:40.160 ninety one teams are all on Magic's back. 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:41.560 Those are not showtime Lakers. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.320 You go look at that ninety one roster that lost 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.040 to Jordan, it's Magic and dudes. 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.360 Well and so, there's and so, and there's two other points. 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.720 That one is eighty nine. They're going for the three peat, 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.760 and Magic gets hurt and you know what I mean, 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:01.559 it's not really able to compete the in the in 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:05.920 sorry the Yeah, that's right, eighty nine gets hurt and 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:10.000 Detroit ends up running away with it. In ninety Kareem 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.360 is gone. And now all of a sudden, the scoring 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:17.000 load which magic Magic experience, I gotta carry this team 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:19.680 scoring as a rookie in Game six of the finals 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.440 and dropped forty two and then a decade with Kareem, 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.120 and then in nineteen ninety he all of a sudden 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:29.320 has back to back forty point playoff games, which again 0:10:30.080 --> 0:10:34.760 validates the idea that if he had to fully carry 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:38.800 scoring load, he could have, but was not because it 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.280 wasn't what was needed or what was best for the team, 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.679 which is also in a weird way, that run, even 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:48.800 though he didn't have a championship, was similar to Steph's 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:54.080 last championship, a validation of an already unimpeachably great career 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:59.240 of Oh. When the circumstances changed dramatically, you can even 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.800 up your game or change your game. Where I think 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.160 this should be stated is I would have told you 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.400 three years ago this will never be a discussion. And 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:16.160 the fact that Steph extended the prime poster urrant, what 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.559 he did in the playoffs in the championship run two 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.600 years ago, and honestly what he did in the playoffs 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.600 last year with a broken team that was not a 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.240 very good team, the fifty point game seven, all of 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:31.680 it to me, it has put Steph at the very 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.120 least in that top ten conversation, and it makes the 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:39.120 Steph versus Magic conversation legitimate. Even though I think it's 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:40.200 still clearly magic. 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:46.240 Yeah, like the magic thing that I think gets lost, 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.760 and I understand why it's getting lost. This hole he's 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:52.080 a six to nine point guard thing. I understand it. 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.480 Right now. That doesn't seem like the craziest thing in 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:56.080 the world to you, because you've grown up in an 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.000 arab with Lebron James. Are all these switchables six ' 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:04.640 nine guys? However, to this day, other than Lebron, I 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:05.840 can't think of how many. 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:07.040 Guys magic size. 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.800 We're not just running the break from the middle, but 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:13.400 also pushing the pace from the middle. Because even when 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.920 Lebron Lebron on the break at most dangerous is full 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.280 head of steam running on the wing, what are you 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:20.520 going to do on the three on two? 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:20.760 Right? 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.720 Magic is accelerating the pace with the ball from the 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.680 middle at six ' nine in an erow where that 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.560 honestly would have made him a big power forward, like 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.480 that was a time where power forwards are honestly not 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:36.280 even any good, and this guy was doing that from there. So, 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:40.200 like I think Steph has an argument, depending on a 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.200 few like very technical sorts of characteristics, you can say, oh, well, 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.800 you know, basically three is bigger than two. That's what 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:47.520 gets us here, is the fact that three is bigger 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.439 than two, and it's way bigger than two by percentage. 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:52.560 But nah, I can't. 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:53.440 I can't either. 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.840 I can't see it. But again, if somehow, which is 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:57.600 not gonna happen this year, though I should never say 0:12:57.600 --> 0:12:59.679 anything's not gonna happen with step because that guarantees the 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.200 day gonna happen, they're not gonna win a championship this year. 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.160 If somehow he said, jump on by back boys and 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.760 carry them to a champions changes every day. 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:10.520 There's a lot of math on a lot of things. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.560 And so the and the last thing. Your point about 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.840 the pushing the pace is I think really interesting because 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.320 when you're talking about six eight plus point guards, I 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.280 was thinking, well, Luca, but Luca's not pushing the pace. 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.079 Luca's not doing anything like what Magic is doing. It 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.720 said totally, Lucas doing just a bigger Harden and a 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.600 better hardened Speaking of Harden, that's where we're going now. 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:34.400 Sorry I'm laughing already. 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.440 So what do you what do you make of Harden 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:40.440 doing everything he's done the last week? 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:42.440 Okay, this is what I make of the hard thing. 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.520 This is why I love this so much. Right, these 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.520 are two guys, Darryl hard I mean Darryl Morey and 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:52.280 James Harden, who know each other very well and importantly 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.200 oh their successes to the other. 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:57.360 Correct both of them. 0:13:57.640 --> 0:13:59.880 Neither of them have all the money they got, neither 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.440 have all the prestige they have if not for the 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.520 fact that they came across each other in the year 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:07.240 twenty twelve, so that. 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.440 The year Harden and Maury came together is actually same 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.800 year you and I met in person. Yes, I was 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:19.840 living in Houston before he traded for James Harden. Daryl's 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:25.040 biggest moves in Houston were Jeremy Lynn and Omar Ashik, 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.920 and it was known because he structured Ashik's contract in 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:34.080 such a unique way. And I always thought he was sharp. 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:37.960 I always liked Darryl, but he had no nothing to 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:42.360 show for what I thought was a brilliant basketball mind. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:47.280 And then he trades for Harden. And I remember going 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:50.680 on the radio in Houston because it happened in October. 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.160 It was a light before the season, right before the season, 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.320 and I said, I think James Harden can by the 0:14:57.400 --> 0:14:59.600 end of this year be one of the top ten 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:05.040 guys in the league like Fringe top ten, and in Houston, 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:09.680 it was universally accepted as that is crazy. Like what 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.600 Darryl saw that Harden could be and what Harden could 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.880 become under his system was we now look back on 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.680 it and people are like, oh, obvious, It was not obvious. 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:26.080 It was not obvious at all. And so to your 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:29.840 you and obviously for Darryl, Daryl probably was without that 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:31.880 trade gonna be out of the job and then not 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.640 be Darryl Mory. So I'm just agreeing with you entirely 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.880 that those two guys coming together is what turned Daryl 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:43.480 Morey into one of the moment he leaves Houston, he's 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:46.880 one of the highest paid gms in Philly, and Harden 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:51.320 into one of the most statistically decorated players in NBA. 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:54.520 And he's nearly made a billion dollars Yes, between basketball 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.640 and Adidas. Yes, Like I would not be surprised if 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:58.880 somebody added up all the James Harden money at this 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.200 point and extactive to a billion dollars for a man 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.120 who doesn't have a personality. But anyway, it was one 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.400 of the most pressian trades ever though, but not just 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.880 from the Rocket side. But also from the thunderside because 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.440 the thunder got killed. Basically all they got was Kevin Martin, 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.240 Jeremy Lamb, and cap space when Kevin Martin's deal expired. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.440 And the pick that turned into Steven Adams, which ended 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.360 up being there's pace of the whole thing, right, very important, right, 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:23.800 But it was pressient for Oklahoma City in a way 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:27.600 that people didn't realize at the time because Presty understood 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.480 something that none of these people who've dealt with hard 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.640 and understood since, which was we got to get him 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.000 out of here, like before the season, you think, so, 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.360 you think that's what you think that he was already 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:37.040 showing this. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.440 I think he knew. Okay, this is somewhat informed, not 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.680 enough for me to say out loud, got it. He 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:44.520 knew we got to get this dude out of here. 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:45.880 I knew they had to get him out of here, 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:47.640 just because that's the nature of things, right. He wouldn't 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:49.680 be no six man right and still won his money. 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.400 They had to get him out of here. So Mary 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.920 saw something in Harden that nobody else saw, and Presty 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:01.280 also saw something in Harden that nobody else has seen yet. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:05.400 So you fast forward to now and Harden, whatever lie 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:07.199 he feels like he was told, it may have been 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.520 a couple of lies, but whatever lie he felt like 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.959 he was told, he felt like he was told. Darryl Mourray, 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.760 on the other hand, felt like, I'm not giving James 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:16.320 Harden away. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:16.680 Right. 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.520 Both of them knew that's how the other acts. 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.840 Right. Everybody knows James Harden's gonna act up when it's 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:23.359 time for him to go if you won't let him go. 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.960 And everybody knows that Darryl Moury is not getting beat 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:29.280 in a trade. But each of them looked at the 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:31.840 other and said the same thing. Like I see it 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.200 like a movie where you imagine they show one person 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.320 talking and then they show the other person talking about 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:38.080 the same thing, and then it comes together at the 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.439 end and they both are saying the same line, and 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.359 that line is but I know he ain't gonna do 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.760 me like that, not after everything I did for him. 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:49.080 And here we are, here we are. 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.560 They both thought the other would not be the person 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.199 that they were because he wouldn't do me like that. 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.040 So so much of this is fascinating to me. I 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.720 want to talk on the lie part for okay, So 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:07.000 Harden and I don't think it is. I I think 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.600 it should be mentioned. And I understand Harden has a 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:15.040 massive economy in China that the that's really his only 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:19.200 fan base left is China, but it also should be notes. 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:24.000 So I and he has events there, him torching Maury 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:31.480 in China. Yes, when if you remember Darryl's tweet supporting 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:35.040 Hong Kong, it was something that almost it's it seemed 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:35.840 like might cost. 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.400 Daryl his career best every he cost the NBA about 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.679 as much money as COVID. Correct, that's not an exaggeration, 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:46.800 or at least that's what people say. And and so 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.159 there's that kind of under tone to it. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.080 Then there is what is he saying you lied about? 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.520 Because if he's saying you lied about you're gonna trade me, 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.320 you're not trading me. There's no problem. If he is 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:05.080 saying what I think he wanted people to believe. He 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.640 was saying, you told me last year when I gave 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.400 back the fourteen million, that there was a MAX deal 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:15.000 waiting for me, like everyone speculated, and to be fair, 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.399 like the NBA did launch an investigation last year about 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:21.800 found that it was not true. And then the rockets 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:25.520 or the Sixers got docked for early contact PJ and 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.040 House the guys they were able to get with the 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:31.879 money from the Harden thing. If that were true, it 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:36.879 would be catastrophic for the Philadelphia seventy six ers, for 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:41.280 Daryl Morey, for everybody. I do not believe that's true. 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.840 I do not believe Daryl, and the NBA doesn't believe it. 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.000 And now Harden is saying he didn't do it. But 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.760 I know some people do believe that that's what happened here. 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.600 There was a handshake deal. So let me ask this 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:55.560 question to you, because I don't think this point's been 0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.199 made enough. Bill Simmons did his credit, tweeted about it 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.600 when the story first broke. He and I are in 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.000 somewhat lockstep about it. But well, I shouldn't say we're 0:20:06.040 --> 0:20:08.280 in lockstep because I'm not gonna say exactly. I don't 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:10.960 want to say what Bill believes. But let's just say 0:20:11.000 --> 0:20:14.560 for a moment they did have a handshake deal. If 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:17.000 you're and people are like, oh, well, if that's the case, 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:21.800 Darryl broke his word. If I'm on the side of okay, 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:24.479 take less money. You got a max contract waiting for 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:29.760 you once you make clear to every NBA reporter in 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.879 the world, you plan to go to Houston this offseason? 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:35.639 Do I have right to say, well, I guess the 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:39.439 deal's off. Do I have every right to say whatever 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:44.040 handshake deal we had? If you are from Christmas Day 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:50.280 through May telling everyone that'll listen you're going to Houston. 0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:53.400 Am I still supposed to then be like, well, if 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.000 they don't want you, I've got you. Or does that 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.320 nix whatever deal we had? Because I would Again, I 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:01.720 don't think there was deal, but if there was, and 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:03.880 I was in the Sixers case, I would be like, well, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.240 I guess he doesn't think there's a deal, so I 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.800 guess we're off the hook. Isn't that legitimate? 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.240