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Speaker 2: All right, welcome man.
Speaker 3: It is another special episode of What's Right with Nick Wright,
Speaker 3: the podcast and the YouTube shows. We continue the countdown
Speaker 3: of the fifty greatest players of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: Today's show we will do players fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen.
Speaker 3: And this really, to me is the true NBA Royalty
Speaker 3: of the last fifty years.
Speaker 2: With respect to.
Speaker 3: Dirk and the Mailman and Berkley and KG and David
Speaker 3: Robinson and Chris Paul and the guys who we've already done.
Speaker 3: Fifteen to ten are iconic all timers and nine through
Speaker 3: one are really inarguably the greatest players that most any
Speaker 3: of us have seen with our own eyes. As again,
Speaker 3: we're not including Wilton Russell and the like on the list,
Speaker 3: so let's get right to it. We will go to
Speaker 3: number fifteen, a guy who I think, by the analytics
Speaker 3: era and by the younger generation is chronically underrated, but
Speaker 3: maybe not after.
Speaker 2: You listen to these next few minutes. Number fifteen Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 3: So, Isaiah Thomas's regular season resume is not great. Three
Speaker 3: time first team All NBA, two time second team All NBA,
Speaker 3: one time it's his champ and one time was a
Speaker 3: top five MVP finisher.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 3: So how does Isaiah Thomas, with that regular season resume
Speaker 3: come in fifteen of the.
Speaker 2: Fifty best players last fifty years?
Speaker 3: Well, quite simply, Isaiah Thomas understood how to win basketball
Speaker 3: games as well as any player in NBA history, and
Speaker 3: he showed it. We don't include what you did in
Speaker 3: college on this list, but it is worth noting Isaiah
Speaker 3: Thomas was a champion in college.
Speaker 2: Was the number two pick of the draft.
Speaker 3: And I talked to Isaiah once and asked him because I,
Speaker 3: once upon a time had underrated Isaiah Thomas historically. And
Speaker 3: my answer was like most people, is well, the numbers
Speaker 3: are the numbers, and his argument was he understood the
Speaker 3: best way for the Pistons to win games. He understood
Speaker 3: who needed touches, who needed shots, who needed the ball
Speaker 3: in their hands in order to contrive the best they
Speaker 3: could on the defensive side of the ball. So he
Speaker 3: would sacrifice his own numbers, his own accomplishments for those
Speaker 3: of his teammates, but when they needed it most, he
Speaker 3: would show up and have monster games. And when you
Speaker 3: break it down, it is inarguably true, as soon as
Speaker 3: his team's faced elimination, Isaiah was unbelievable. Further More than that,
Speaker 3: Isaiah also and this part's critical, did not have a superteam.
Speaker 3: Isaiah had very good teams, but Isaiah didn't have a
Speaker 3: single teammate that was on the NBA's original fifty Best
Speaker 3: Players of the Last fifty year or the I'm sorry,
Speaker 3: their fifty Greatest Players ever. And his only teammate that
Speaker 3: even made the top seventy five list was Dennis Rodman. Yet,
Speaker 3: as we'll get into, how did he do against Magic
Speaker 3: and his superteam against Michael, Against Bird and his super
Speaker 3: team in Boston, Isaiah consistently won so let's go through
Speaker 3: the postseason resume. Nineteen eighty four, elimination game of the
Speaker 3: first series of his career, he has thirty five and twelve.
Speaker 3: Again Isaiah, who's a less than twenty point per game
Speaker 3: career guy. First elimination game in his playoff career thirty
Speaker 3: five and twelve.
Speaker 2: Against the Knicks.
Speaker 3: Nineteen eighty five facing elimination against the eighty five Celtics,
Speaker 3: thirty seven, twelve, and nine for this series. Averaged twenty six,
Speaker 3: six and eleven against the eighty five Celtics. The next year,
Speaker 3: the eighty six Celtics might be the greatest team ever.
Speaker 3: That year's Celtics obviously ended up going on to the finals,
Speaker 3: losing to Magic and Kareem and Worthy in the finals.
Speaker 3: In that series, I believe he outplayed Bird. His next
Speaker 3: two best offensive teammates were Vinnie Johnson and Kelly Tripuka.
Speaker 3: The next year, nineteen eighty six, facing elimination against Atlanta,
Speaker 3: what does Isaiah do thirty six, ten and twelve average
Speaker 3: twenty seven, seven and twelve for the series. But now
Speaker 3: is when we get to the meat of Isaiah Thomas's greatness.
Speaker 3: Nineteen eighty seven to nineteen eighty one nineteen eighty seven
Speaker 3: starts the playoffs off with thirty four nine nine four
Speaker 3: two swept Washington round one, got revenge over Dominique in
Speaker 3: round two, had beat him the previous year, had three
Speaker 3: thirty point games that series against Dominique. Lost to the
Speaker 3: defending champion Boston Celtics in seven games in the Eastern
Speaker 3: Conference Finals. So nineteen eighty seven to the Conference finals.
Speaker 3: The amazing to start the playoffs against Washington, absolutely fantastic
Speaker 3: against Dominique in Atlanta, and then lose a seven game
Speaker 3: series to an all time team in Boston nineteen eighty seven, Well,
Speaker 3: a team that was the defending champion. I should say
Speaker 3: the eighty seven Celtics were very, very good, maybe not
Speaker 3: an all time team.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty eight beats Michael Jordan in round two.
Speaker 3: That's gonna be a theme. He averaged twenty to ten.
Speaker 3: That series has thirty five, eight, five and four. In
Speaker 3: Game five of the nineteen eighty eight Eastern Conference Finals
Speaker 3: against Boston, that game is the unofficial in my mind,
Speaker 3: end of the bird McHale run in Boston. Isaiah ended
Speaker 3: it to make his first NBA finals. Now let's get
Speaker 3: to it. Nineteen eighty eight Finals. First game of the
Speaker 3: Finals has nineteen and twelve to steal Game one in
Speaker 3: Los Angeles, and then we're in game six the Pistons
Speaker 3: can win the title. They're up three to two on
Speaker 3: the eighty eight defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. He has
Speaker 3: forty three points, eight rebounds, six assists, twenty five third
Speaker 3: quarter points on the terribly sprained ankle. They they that
Speaker 3: gave them the lead going into the fourth. They lose
Speaker 3: by one on a phantom foul call. Kareem goes the line,
Speaker 3: makes two free throws, forces a game seven.
Speaker 2: In the game seven, Zeke's hobbled.
Speaker 3: They lose by three points. Magic gets his final ring.
Speaker 3: He was this close to having a playoff run where
Speaker 3: he goes through Jordan, then Burden, McHale, then Magic, Cream
Speaker 3: and Worthy. For this series, the NBA Finals' first Finals,
Speaker 3: he averages twenty to nine.
Speaker 2: Does he give up? They say, ah, it's not. Look
Speaker 2: at these seems I gotta go through No.
Speaker 3: The very next year, nineteen eighty nine, sweeps Burden. Round one,
Speaker 3: swept Moncreep in company that Bucksteam.
Speaker 2: We talked about earlier in the series.
Speaker 3: In Round two, down one zero to Chicago and Michael
Speaker 3: Jordan outplays MJ, drops thirty three on the Bulls to
Speaker 3: tie the series down two one to MJ, and the
Speaker 3: Bulls wins three straight, averaging twenty six, six, seven, and
Speaker 3: three for the final three games. Game six to beat
Speaker 3: the Bulls has thirty three, five, four and three and
Speaker 3: knocks out Jordan again, and then in his first finals
Speaker 3: game ever has twenty four and nine en route to
Speaker 3: sweeping the Lakers. So that year he did go through Bird,
Speaker 3: Michael and Magic. The next year beat Youing in round two,
Speaker 3: beat MJ again in the Eastern Conference Finals, this one
Speaker 3: in game seven, twenty one, eight and eleven, then beat
Speaker 3: Clyde in the finals, averaging twenty eight points, five rebounds,
Speaker 3: seven assists, two steals and wins finals MVP SO from
Speaker 3: eighty eight to ninety. From nineteen eighty eight to ninety,
Speaker 3: Isaiah Thomas played in twelve series.
Speaker 2: Nine of those series we're.
Speaker 3: Against MJ and Pippin Magic and Kareem Burden, McHale Drexler.
Speaker 3: Ewing as a whole in those nine went eight to
Speaker 3: one overall when eleven and one, and the one series
Speaker 3: he lost was a game seven three point loss when
Speaker 3: he injured him in Game six nineteen ninety one, down
Speaker 3: two to MJ in the Eastern Conference Finals, has his
Speaker 3: best game of the series with twenty nine seven and six,
Speaker 3: played all forty eight minutes, but they lost and that
Speaker 3: kind of ended the Pistons run. So from eighty seven
Speaker 3: to ninety one, five straight trips to the conference finals,
Speaker 3: three finals trips, record against Magic Superteam one and one,
Speaker 3: record against Bird Superteam three and one, record against Michael
Speaker 3: Jordan three and one. So he played, let me do
Speaker 3: the math there very quickly, excuse me. Ten series against
Speaker 3: the Magic's Lakers, Magic and Kareem Lakers, Bird Celtics, MJ's
Speaker 3: Bowls did not have another top fifty teammate seven and
Speaker 3: three in those series. And then the next year, facing
Speaker 3: elimination in round one game five against Patrick Ewing had
Speaker 3: won more.
Speaker 2: Monster game thirty one, ten and six, and that was
Speaker 2: it for Isaia.
Speaker 3: But Isaiah Thomas could have won three in a row,
Speaker 3: arguably should have won three in a row?
Speaker 2: Did it without a super team? Did it?
Speaker 3: And what I'm told is the golden era of basketball
Speaker 3: the late eighties. Isaiah Thomas unequivocally deserves to be number
Speaker 3: fifteen on the list before we move on.
Speaker 2: Let's get a caller on Isaiah Thomas.
Speaker 4: There was a great scene from a movie called Back
Speaker 4: to School, which you never saw, Nick because it came
Speaker 4: out before twenty fifteen.
Speaker 5: And in it, Rodney Dangerfield is judging the term paper
Speaker 5: that somebody else wrote for him based on quit right.
Speaker 5: So the handed Timmy puts in his handy goes it's
Speaker 5: too light.
Speaker 4: It feels like a scene.
Speaker 2: Take it back.
Speaker 5: That's what I'm doing to you. With Isaiah Thomas being
Speaker 5: ranked at fifteen, it's too light.
Speaker 2: He never had a great.
Speaker 4: Number two, still won two titles. He went twelve and
Speaker 4: six against Jordan in the postseason. His pistons were a
Speaker 4: powerhouse in the eighties, and he was one of the
Speaker 4: best guests we've ever had on First Things First for
Speaker 4: those reasons, too late, Isaiah Thomas at fifteen.
Speaker 3: Sorry all right, Jenny. I appreciate the call. I have
Speaker 3: seen back to School. I believe there's a there's a
Speaker 3: diving competition in that. Also, I understand this sentiment. The
Speaker 3: problem is you're gonna find out who the next the
Speaker 3: fourteen other guys are part of. Put isaiahead of any
Speaker 3: of them. Number fourteen is still playing and number fourteen
Speaker 3: is more likely to end up at number four than
Speaker 3: to stay at fourteen.
Speaker 2: We'll do him next.
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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back What's right with Nick Wright?
Speaker 3: As we continue the countdown to the fifty greatest players
Speaker 3: of the last fifty years, We'll keep it moving. Number
Speaker 3: fourteen is a guy who has a legitimate chance of
Speaker 3: finishing his career in the top five.
Speaker 2: We were to do this list in ten years.
Speaker 3: However, where he is right now, fourteen feels right. If
Speaker 3: Chris Middleton doesn't get hurt and they win the title
Speaker 3: this year, maybe he's already to the top ten, but
Speaker 3: where he is right now is number fourteen.
Speaker 2: Number fourteen.
Speaker 3: Janis Giannis's regular season resume is unbelievable. Somehow's postseason resume
Speaker 3: might be better. Four time first Team All NBA, two time
Speaker 3: second Team All NBA.
Speaker 2: He is a two time.
Speaker 3: MVP with four top four MVP finishes, a one time
Speaker 3: Defensive Player of the Year, five time All Defense. All
Speaker 3: of those things Giannis has accomplished already in his career.
Speaker 3: His postseason accomplishments are as follows. Had a twenty five
Speaker 3: and twelve as a twenty year old in his first
Speaker 3: playoffs ever, that was twenty fifteen twenty seventeen, average twenty
Speaker 3: five to ten and four in a Round one loss
Speaker 3: to Toronto, including thirty four and nine facing elimination. Twenty
Speaker 3: eighteen is when you started to be like, oh boy,
Speaker 3: how good can he be? Started the playoffs off with
Speaker 3: a thirty five thirteen, seven and three and average for
Speaker 3: the series twenty six, ten and six on fifty seven
Speaker 3: percent shooting, but lost in seven to Boston. And now
Speaker 3: it starts to get special twenty nineteen, forty one and
Speaker 3: nine to win his first series, A thirty nine sixteen
Speaker 3: and four to go up three to one on Boston,
Speaker 3: averaging twenty eight, eleven and five for the series. And
Speaker 3: then it looked like, oh my god, Giannis is gonna
Speaker 3: win the title already. Guy's gonna be twenty four years old,
Speaker 3: gonna be League MVP champion, all of it. He had
Speaker 3: a thirty point, seventeen rebound, five assist game to go
Speaker 3: up two to zero on Kawhi in Toronto. Game three,
Speaker 3: if you remember, was the triple overtime game.
Speaker 2: Though they lose, they don't want another game that series.
Speaker 3: The next year he crushes Round one, wins another League MVP,
Speaker 3: averages thirty one, sixteen and six. But in round two
Speaker 3: he was shaky and then he got hurt. They lose
Speaker 3: to Miami, and all of a sudden, it's like, oh boy.
Speaker 3: And then there's the twenty twenty one playoff run, which
Speaker 3: is quite simply one of the greatest playoff runs any
Speaker 3: player has ever had in any sport ever. So let's
Speaker 3: go through it. Round one, you get Miami again. They
Speaker 3: could have ducked them, they didn't. The team that beat
Speaker 3: them the previous year sweeps them, averaging twenty four points,
Speaker 3: fifteen rebounds, eight assists as Giannis started to really become
Speaker 3: an excellent passer. Round two iconic series, one of the
Speaker 3: greatest Round two series ever against Brooklyn. Remember, James Harden
Speaker 3: got hurt in the first game of that series, came
Speaker 3: back in game five. Kyrie played games one through four,
Speaker 3: got hurt in game four, was not back throughout, so
Speaker 3: as Durant was there the whole time. Kyrie was there
Speaker 3: for the first four, Harden was there for the three.
Speaker 3: Kind of they're down two O to Brooklyn and Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3: Over the next five games, he averages thirty four points
Speaker 3: and fourteen rebounds on fifty six percent shooting, including basing elimination.
Speaker 3: In Game six thirty points, seventeen rebounds, three assists, and
Speaker 3: then and then in game seven of forty thirteen and
Speaker 3: five and still had gas left in the tank to
Speaker 3: tie the game in overtime and overtime where Kadie went
Speaker 3: over six from the field. Averaged in the Conference finals
Speaker 3: thirty one to eleven and six first three games.
Speaker 2: Then he hyper extended his knee. It looked like he
Speaker 2: was going to be out a year. He was out
Speaker 2: a week. So what happened? Comes back for Game one
Speaker 2: of the Finals is not great.
Speaker 3: And then this is what he does over the next
Speaker 3: five games of the NBA Finals to.
Speaker 2: Put together you.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's the greatest Finals ever, but if
Speaker 3: you say it, I don't think you're crazy. Game two
Speaker 3: forty two twelve four with three blocks, but they lose.
Speaker 2: Now they're down zero two again.
Speaker 3: Game three forty one, thirteen and six to get a
Speaker 3: game back. Game four twenty six points, fourteen rebounds, eight assists,
Speaker 3: three steals, two blocks, and one of those blocks saved
Speaker 3: the game.
Speaker 2: That's the DeAndre eight Valu block.
Speaker 3: Game five thirty two points, nine rebounds, six assists and
Speaker 3: the game winning value.
Speaker 2: And in Game.
Speaker 3: Six, if you want to say this is the greatest
Speaker 3: Finals game ever played, it's it's certainly on the very
Speaker 3: short list.
Speaker 2: Fifty points, fourteen rebounds.
Speaker 3: Two assists, five blocks to win the title. Average thirty
Speaker 3: five to thirteen and five on sixty two percent shooting
Speaker 3: for the NBA Finals last year against the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 2: Phoenix Suns no fluke their sixty.
Speaker 3: Four win team this year this year twenty twenty two
Speaker 3: Round one in Chicago averages twenty nine, thirteen and six
Speaker 3: on fifty seven percent, but Chris Middleton goes down Round
Speaker 3: two against Boston, throws up a twenty four to thirteen
Speaker 3: and twelve to win Game one, throws up a forty
Speaker 3: two to twelve and eight to go up two to one,
Speaker 3: throws up a forty and eleven to go up three
Speaker 3: to two against the Celtics team that by the time
Speaker 3: this aers maybe they're a route to winning the title.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 3: And then in a chance to move on without Middleton
Speaker 3: Game six against Boston.
Speaker 2: Forty four twenty and six, but they lose.
Speaker 3: They end up losing in seven. He averages. Everyone felt
Speaker 3: like Boston defended him well. He averaged thirty four points,
Speaker 3: fifteen rebounds, seven assists for the series. So Yannis one
Speaker 3: of the only guys in league history with a regular
Speaker 3: season MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year award.
Speaker 3: I think that list is mj Akeem and Yannis. He
Speaker 3: did it in the same year.
Speaker 2: By the way, I.
Speaker 3: Think he should have more than two regular season MVPs.
Speaker 3: He was a guy who was like, oh, can you
Speaker 3: rely on him in the postseason? And now he averages
Speaker 3: thirty five in a series where it feels like people
Speaker 3: slowed him down.
Speaker 2: Ooh, can you rely on him at the free throw line?
Speaker 3: He wins seventeen of nineteen from the free throw line
Speaker 3: in that fifty point game to win the title.
Speaker 2: He is a selfless.
Speaker 3: Teammate, an absolute iron man, the best defender in basketball,
Speaker 3: the most dominant scorer in basketball, the best player in basketball.
Speaker 3: As we record this today, he's the fourteenth best player
Speaker 3: of the last fifty years and rising.
Speaker 2: Gianni Son Denocumpo. Let's go to a caller on Yannis.
Speaker 7: Yannis at number fourteen. I can live with that for now,
Speaker 7: but obviously the feeling is that he's gonna move up.
Speaker 7: I think you feel the same way. Look, it's gonna
Speaker 7: come down the rings. His numbers are gonna be out
Speaker 7: off the charts. And the thing about Giannis is as
Speaker 7: good as he already is, he's probably seventy to seventy
Speaker 7: five percent of the player he can be. If his
Speaker 7: mid range and three point jump shots continue to improve
Speaker 7: and really get to the point where he's a good shooter,
Speaker 7: it's over. But again, you know this, it's gonna come
Speaker 7: down to how many rings he can win. I do
Speaker 7: think he's got got potential. I'm not saying he'll get there,
Speaker 7: but he's the guy that if he really maximizes individual
Speaker 7: potential and one enough rings, probably at least four, then
Speaker 7: you can start thinking about him. Maybe in that conversation
Speaker 7: we'll see, but not bad right now at fourteen.
Speaker 3: I think he's gonna get in the conversation, and I
Speaker 3: don't think he needs a three point shot. I think
Speaker 3: if he can just get a mid range, a bit
Speaker 3: of a mid range shot, maybe the Dirk one legged
Speaker 3: kind of fade away that we've seen him trying out
Speaker 3: and a bit of a baby hook, he becomes totally unguardable.
Speaker 3: As is, he's pretty damn unguardable. It's the fourteenth best
Speaker 3: player of the last fifty years, and if we were
Speaker 3: to do this list again in two years, he'd probably
Speaker 3: already be in the top ten. Janna Sontenokumpo. We'll get
Speaker 3: to another active player next.
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick? Right,
Speaker 2: fifty GRD.
Speaker 3: Next players of the last fifty years and the player
Speaker 3: we're about to do, I will admits one of the
Speaker 3: hardest to rank because a he's still playing in space
Speaker 3: on just what you've done. But also if someone comes
Speaker 3: to me and says, Nick, you have him two spots
Speaker 3: too low or two spots too high. I understand the arguments.
Speaker 3: I understand the Giannis versus this guy argument. I understand
Speaker 3: the Steph versus this guy argument. I think right now,
Speaker 3: as we sit here today, he's right between those two.
Speaker 3: He's number thirteen. He's one of the most gifted scorers
Speaker 3: and one of the most naturally graceful basketball players we've
Speaker 3: ever seen.
Speaker 2: Number thirteen. Kevin Durant. Regular season, what's it looked like?
Speaker 3: Six time first Team All NBA, four time second Team
Speaker 3: All NBA. He's won one MVP, He's coming second place
Speaker 3: in MVP voting three times. He's been in the top
Speaker 3: five six separate times. He's a fifty to forty ninety
Speaker 3: club guy. He's a four time scoring champ. He is
Speaker 3: tied to the tenth of a point with Lebron James
Speaker 3: in career points per game, second most of the last
Speaker 3: fifty years, behind only Michael Jordan. In the postseason, there
Speaker 3: is some lows, but a whole lot of highs. So
Speaker 3: he's a two time champion, obviously, a two time Finals MVP,
Speaker 3: and a four time finalist.
Speaker 2: So let's go through it. Because Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3: Much like Lebron basically kick dass in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: As a child and never stopped.
Speaker 3: Twenty ten, first series of his career, Down oh two
Speaker 3: to the twenty ten Lakers, who obviously had gone to
Speaker 3: win the title, he throws up a twenty nine nineteen
Speaker 3: and four average twenty five and eight for the first
Speaker 3: series of his life. He's twenty years old when he
Speaker 3: does this. They lost in six to the Lakers, who
Speaker 3: had gone to win the title. Twenty eleven agains his
Speaker 3: second playoff series ever, forty one points to open the
Speaker 3: playoffs and then forty one points to close Round one
Speaker 3: and knock Denver out for his first career series win.
Speaker 3: Averaged thirty two points per game for the series in
Speaker 3: the next round, thirty nine to nine in Game six
Speaker 3: against Memphis to advance to the Western Conference Finals or
Speaker 3: Game seven against Memphis.
Speaker 2: Pardon me again? Is twenty was he twenty one years
Speaker 2: old to the conference finals in his first career Western Conference.
Speaker 3: Finals game scores forty average twenty eight to nine in
Speaker 3: those Western Conference Finals, but that was against Apex Dirk.
Speaker 2: We talked about.
Speaker 3: Dirk in that series had the forty eight point on
Speaker 3: fifteen shot game. They end up losing to Dirk in
Speaker 3: six games that year. But he's twenty two years old
Speaker 3: twenty twelve, or he's twenty Yeah, it's twenty two years
Speaker 3: old twenty twelve.
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3: Round one sweeps the defending champion Dallas Mavericks out of
Speaker 3: the playoffs. Round two beats Kobe in five Western Conference Finals.
Speaker 2: Brilliant.
Speaker 3: The entire series averages for those Western Conference Finals thirty
Speaker 3: eight and five. The Spurs, keep in mind, were up
Speaker 3: too Oho in that series, had won I think the
Speaker 3: final eight games of the regular season, then swept round one,
Speaker 3: swept Round two, went up two. Oh, they were on
Speaker 3: something like an eighteen game winning streak. And then Durant
Speaker 3: and people should go back and look at what Russ
Speaker 3: did in those Western Conference finals. What Russ was doing,
Speaker 3: You know, at this really Russ from twelve to fifteen
Speaker 3: in the playoffs, but that's either here or there. He
Speaker 3: was excellent, but the thunder beat him four straight times.
Speaker 3: And then he gets to the finals as a kid
Speaker 3: against Lebron in the heat thirty four, fourteen and five,
Speaker 3: by the way, thirty four to fourteen and five to
Speaker 3: get to the finals, playing all forty eight minutes in
Speaker 3: Game six against the Spurs. Now he's in the finals,
Speaker 3: first finals game ever, thirty six, eight and four in
Speaker 3: a win against Lebron. Average for the finals as a
Speaker 3: twenty three year old thirty.
Speaker 2: One and six on fifty five percent.
Speaker 3: Shooting for the playoff run twenty nine to seven and
Speaker 3: four on fifty two percent. Is twenty three years old.
Speaker 3: So then the next year, though, Russ gets hurt. That's
Speaker 3: when Beverly runs into him. They lose in round two
Speaker 3: to the Grizzlies. Drants excellent though. He's thirty one to
Speaker 3: nine and six for the entire playoff front twenty fourteen,
Speaker 3: averages thirty in Round one against Memphis, averages thirty three
Speaker 3: to ten and five in Round two against the Clippers,
Speaker 3: including an epic thirty nine point sixteen rebound, five assist
Speaker 3: game to eliminate the Clippers in six. In the Western
Speaker 3: Conference semifinals, that was the best Lob City team. They
Speaker 3: beat him in six, and Durant was sensational. But then
Speaker 3: in the Western Rounds finals he was okay, not great.
Speaker 3: They lose to the Spurs fIF teen. He's hurt, and
Speaker 3: this is where Durant's career gets a little complicated twenty sixteen,
Speaker 3: down two one to the Spurs, has a forty one
Speaker 3: point game and then thirty seven and nine in a
Speaker 3: clinching Game six, get back to the conference finals.
Speaker 2: Up three to one on.
Speaker 3: The Warriors to seventy three win Warriors Game five. I
Speaker 3: was actually at this game in San Francisco. Durant scored
Speaker 3: forty and in those final three games, three losses, Durant
Speaker 3: averaged thirty two points per game, but it was on
Speaker 3: thirty nine percent from the field twenty seven percent from three.
Speaker 3: They blow a three to one lead, then obviously he
Speaker 3: goes and joins Golden State. Now no one can take
Speaker 3: any issue with what he did in Golden State thirty
Speaker 3: two and eleven in his first playoff game ever with
Speaker 3: the Warriors, average thirty five eight and five on in
Speaker 3: the finals with the Warriors again thirty five, eight and
Speaker 3: five to win his first title on fifty six forty
Speaker 3: seven to ninety three splits. So forget fifty forty ninety,
Speaker 3: that was fifty five to forty five ninety for the finals,
Speaker 3: and of course the huge three right over Lebron to
Speaker 3: essentially clinch his first title. The next year, the Warriors
Speaker 3: finally face a little bit of adversity. Game seven Western
Speaker 3: Refferends Finals against Houston, Durant has thirty four, five and five,
Speaker 3: and then in Game three the following year in the finals,
Speaker 3: the one game where the Cavs are trying to make
Speaker 3: a series. They were never going to be able to
Speaker 3: make a series after losing Game one the way they did.
Speaker 2: Neither heard or there.
Speaker 3: Durant has forty three, thirteen and seven, and another series
Speaker 3: clinching three averages for these finals twenty nine to eleven
Speaker 3: and eight on another fifty to forty ninety for the finals.
Speaker 2: So two finals, two finals, MVPs.
Speaker 3: But everyone kind of feels uncomfortable about it, right, They
Speaker 3: run it back another year though, twenty nineteen. You guys
Speaker 3: remember the It's like, oh, the Clippers solving Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3: He has the I'm Kevin Durant press conference and then
Speaker 3: a meet scores forty five and fifty and averages forty
Speaker 3: one the rest of the series. Scores forty five in
Speaker 3: game five and fifty in game six, had forty six
Speaker 3: in Game three against Houston Round two. Two games later,
Speaker 3: he hurts his calf was out until Game five of
Speaker 3: the Finals. Had eleven points in twelve minutes of that
Speaker 3: Game five of the Finals, and then popped his achilles.
Speaker 3: So then obviously he misses twenty twenty and then twenty
Speaker 3: twenty one. I don't want this postseason to be forgotten
Speaker 3: to history.
Speaker 2: For KD.
Speaker 3: Not only was I had a bunch of these games,
Speaker 3: but one of them was one of the finest basketball
Speaker 3: games anyone's ever played. Round one of twenty twenty one,
Speaker 3: he averages thirty three, seven and three on fifty five
Speaker 3: fifty ninety splits just looked so easy. In Round two,
Speaker 3: averaged thirty five, eleven and five in that series against Jan's,
Speaker 3: the one where Harden got hurt then came back.
Speaker 2: Kyrie got hurt in Game four, didn't come back, but
Speaker 2: he had two epic games.
Speaker 3: Game seven, in which they lost, he had forty eight,
Speaker 3: nine and six, playing all fifty three minutes, ran out
Speaker 3: of gas in overtime, foot on the line in what
Speaker 3: could have been an all time NBA history shot at
Speaker 3: the end of regulation.
Speaker 2: Everyone remembers that.
Speaker 3: I really hope people don't forget Game five, because, in
Speaker 3: my opinion, the three best basketball games anyone, any human
Speaker 3: being has played in the last call it ten years
Speaker 3: at a minimum is Lebron's fifty one to eight to
Speaker 3: eight in Game one of the twenty eighteen finals, Giannis
Speaker 3: is fifty points to win the title and Game five
Speaker 3: of Round two twenty twenty one by Kevin Durant with
Speaker 3: no Kyrie with a compromise James Harden when he went
Speaker 3: forty nine points, seventeen rebounds, ten assists, three steals, two blocks,
Speaker 3: playing all forty eight minutes to essentially stay alive.
Speaker 2: In that series. It felt like they then went on
Speaker 2: to lose the next two. I told you what he
Speaker 2: did in Game seven.
Speaker 3: In his career, he is seventy one career thirty seventy
Speaker 3: one thirty point playoff games.
Speaker 2: That's the sixth most all time.
Speaker 3: He has fourteen career forty point playoff games, that's the
Speaker 3: fourth most all time. He is twenty nine points per
Speaker 3: game in the playoffs, that is the fourth best all time,
Speaker 3: behind only Michael Luca and Alan Iverson. I think he
Speaker 3: will move up slightly over the rest of his career.
Speaker 3: I'm not sure how much higher he can move up,
Speaker 3: and I think Giannis will pass him eventually. But the
Speaker 3: thirteenth greatest player of the last fifty years one, Kevin Durant.
Speaker 3: Let's have a caller chime in on Kevin Durant before
Speaker 3: we wrap up.
Speaker 8: All right, next Na, Sorry, list mostly good except for
Speaker 8: the part where you had one of the greatest scorers
Speaker 8: of all time, Kevin Durant ranked unreasonably low.
Speaker 2: I mean, don't get you wrong, Moses long.
Speaker 8: Great career, back to back MVPs, but you really can't
Speaker 8: make case for him over Durant unless you would count
Speaker 8: for one statistic, which is a number of times Katie
Speaker 8: has done on you on Twitter.
Speaker 3: Oh Mina first of all, the wonderfully talented Mina times
Speaker 3: glad to see her on the podcast.
Speaker 2: It is nothing.
Speaker 3: There is no biases against Kevin Durant Duncan coming on Twitter.
Speaker 3: I actually enjoy that quite a bit. Moses Malone, though,
Speaker 3: Mina spoiled it, so I will continue to spoil it.
Speaker 3: Moses Malone is going to lead off this list next week.
Speaker 3: Moses Malone was actually the inspiration for this list. If
Speaker 3: Isaiah Thomas is not the most underrated player in modern
Speaker 3: NBA history, then it's Moses Malone. Why Moses Malone deserves
Speaker 3: to be exactly where he is at number twelve. We'll
Speaker 3: get into that next week as we continue the countdown
Speaker 3: of the fifty greatest players of the last fifty years
Speaker 3: on What's Right with Nick Ray