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Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Draymond Green Show. This is our episode,
Speaker 1: and it's a week before the All Star Game, all
Speaker 1: Star Break for us, but obviously All Star Game for
Speaker 1: all the fans that take part in that weekend. It's
Speaker 1: always a great weekend, a lot of fun, very exciting.
Speaker 1: But um, like I said, it's a week before the
Speaker 1: All Star Game, and in honor of that, we are
Speaker 1: having another All Star, another first time All Star. Obviously
Speaker 1: last week we had Darius Garland who's also a first
Speaker 1: time All Star from the Eastern Conference as well, and
Speaker 1: we will talk about all types of stuff. This will
Speaker 1: be a dead giveaway. But we're gonna talk about um
Speaker 1: the Raptors and the Warriors in the two thousand nineteen finals,
Speaker 1: and how I know that if Clay didn't get hurt
Speaker 1: even with Kevin getting hurt, because if Kevin didn't get hurt,
Speaker 1: the reality is as we all know, the reality, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Clay didn't get hurt. Even after Kevin got hurt, we
Speaker 1: still would have one. And it's not that we didn't
Speaker 1: need Kevin, because we definitely needed Kevin, as you can
Speaker 1: see in that game five Kevin. I think we may
Speaker 1: have have forty points with six minutes to go in
Speaker 1: the first quarter when Kevin came out and played in
Speaker 1: that game. And so, like we all know, but Clay
Speaker 1: was having one of them games six is like he
Speaker 1: told me he was going to have, and he got
Speaker 1: hurt and we couldn't quite close it out. But it's
Speaker 1: all good. But we're gonna discuss that, and I can't
Speaker 1: wait for you guys to hear Fred's taking what he
Speaker 1: feels about it, but also how things changed about him
Speaker 1: as well. So I think that will be an exciting interview,
Speaker 1: very fun interview, and just a different perspective from a
Speaker 1: guy who's now an All Star and really got it
Speaker 1: out them undrafted. So looking forward to having Fred and
Speaker 1: Fleet on the show later today. But first, as you know,
Speaker 1: we got to go around the Association and the NFL
Speaker 1: and talk all things exciting from those leagues. So of
Speaker 1: course we have not spoke or I haven't gotten a
Speaker 1: chance to share my thoughts with you guys since the Harden,
Speaker 1: the James Harden and Ben Simmons trade happened. Obviously, that
Speaker 1: was one we were all wondering, like, man, it's just
Speaker 1: really gonna happen for the deadline, and you kind of
Speaker 1: heard it would, then you heard it wouldn't, then you
Speaker 1: heard it would, and then it's like, oh yeah, they
Speaker 1: broke off talks and then boom, uh there it is,
Speaker 1: um James Harden, it's trade. James Harden and Paul Millsap
Speaker 1: gets traded to the Philadelphia seventies sixers for Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first round picks. I
Speaker 1: was shocked by how much uh the seventies Sixers gave up,
Speaker 1: and not that James Harden isn't great, because just what
Speaker 1: what what felt like to me was James Harden no
Speaker 1: longer wanted to be in Brooklyn and James Harden wanted
Speaker 1: to be in Philly. All things pointed towards that, UM,
Speaker 1: and that's what the ports work, and that's what it
Speaker 1: felt like to me. It also felt to me as
Speaker 1: if obviously with all being issues UM, he's dealt with
Speaker 1: UM as far as his this day with the team
Speaker 1: and how he was treated UM by Joel, by Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers in the press conference, everybody's spoke about that, and
Speaker 1: it's been a very public thing after the playoffs last year, UM,
Speaker 1: how he felt he was treated by the fans, but
Speaker 1: more importantly his mental health. UM. And you know that
Speaker 1: goes beyond basketball when when you're talking mental health and
Speaker 1: and so most importantly his mental health, you knew he
Speaker 1: needed something fresh, he needed something new, and you knew
Speaker 1: that's that was kind of what everybody had been expecting
Speaker 1: all year. When with Ben Simmons get traded, it's not
Speaker 1: if it's just a matter of time, when when will
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia seventy six is finally except a package? And
Speaker 1: the reality is is I think they ultimately got exactly
Speaker 1: what they wanted. Darryl Morey and James Harden are clothes
Speaker 1: Darryl Morey brought James Harden to Houston. Darryl Morey believed
Speaker 1: in James Harden as a cornerstone of a franchise before
Speaker 1: just about anybody else. Did you know they have that report.
Speaker 1: They have done some great things together. They could never
Speaker 1: get past us, but they were right there every year.
Speaker 1: And so to see them, uh get back together along
Speaker 1: with Joel, along with Doc Rivers, I think that's what
Speaker 1: they wanted, and it's you know, you had even heard
Speaker 1: about it, uh when Houston, when James hard was still
Speaker 1: in Houston, that he would possibly get traded for Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons then, and that was before we had heard about
Speaker 1: the things that we're going on with Ben. This was
Speaker 1: a whole year prior. And so to see him finally
Speaker 1: get to where he wanted to be, or where it
Speaker 1: seemed as if he wants to be before and then
Speaker 1: the whole next thing kind of came up and out
Speaker 1: of nowhere. Um to see Ben get back to a
Speaker 1: situation where he could play, I mean, I'm always happy
Speaker 1: to see guys get what they want ultimately, if that's
Speaker 1: what you want, go after it. Always happy to see it.
Speaker 1: But I must say I was shocked that Philly, we're
Speaker 1: willing to give up Seth Curry and two first round picks.
Speaker 1: I was. I was really shocked by that because like this,
Speaker 1: this first round pick maybe nothing, um, you know, I
Speaker 1: mean nothing. There's great players drafted thirty like I was
Speaker 1: thirty five. So I mean the picks can still mean
Speaker 1: something depending on who's drafting and how they evaluate talent.
Speaker 1: But it won't be a top five pick, it won't
Speaker 1: be a top ten pick, it won't be a top
Speaker 1: fift team pick. And so this year, okay, but in two,
Speaker 1: two thousand twenty seven, I mean that's five years from now.
Speaker 1: At that point, James Harden is thirty seven, Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: is thirty three, thirty four, Like you don't, you don't.
Speaker 1: It's a lot more uncertainty with that pick than it
Speaker 1: is with the two thousand twenty two pick. And so
Speaker 1: I was a little shocked to see how much they
Speaker 1: gave up. And like I said, even bigger than the
Speaker 1: picks for me was Seth Curry. Like I just didn't
Speaker 1: think Philly would be trading Seth Curry, especially the way
Speaker 1: James Harden plays. Uh, you've you've seen shooters around him
Speaker 1: that can catch a knock the shot down. And with
Speaker 1: Joel Embad, I mean, you always want to pay a
Speaker 1: big man with the shooter just in case they're trying
Speaker 1: to double team in you you can't help off Sef Curry,
Speaker 1: so that takes one guy out of the picture. And
Speaker 1: so uh with them putting that team together, I was
Speaker 1: really shocked that they gave up Seth Curry, but ultimately
Speaker 1: maybe you know, and then it comes down to asociating
Speaker 1: that maybe the Brooklyn Nets new they don't want to
Speaker 1: give up Seth Curry, but they really want James Harden.
Speaker 1: So ultimately I can I can hold them hostage by
Speaker 1: just saying you have to give me Sef Curry. And
Speaker 1: if that gets the deal done, and James Harden is
Speaker 1: really your guy, what you know, he's really Phillies guy,
Speaker 1: then maybe that's how that happened, and that's how you know.
Speaker 1: I think Brooklyn won that battle. And so I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see Ben play with with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 1: I think, and and Seth Curry and Patty Mills, like
Speaker 1: you give a player with Ben's playmaking ability, with his speed,
Speaker 1: the way he can pass the ball, um his court vision,
Speaker 1: you give a player all of those weapons with his
Speaker 1: skill set, I'm excited to see how this turns out
Speaker 1: for him. And then you know, we we live. We're
Speaker 1: playing a copycat league when when someone has success, everyone
Speaker 1: tries to follow it, which is why the NBA is
Speaker 1: the way it is today because the Warriors have success
Speaker 1: playing a certain way and everyone follows it. That's just
Speaker 1: the way this league works. And Philly is now back
Speaker 1: to your traditional great big man, great guard, and that's
Speaker 1: what the league used to be. You think Shaq Kobe,
Speaker 1: you think Penny and Shot and like you think David
Speaker 1: Robinson and Tim Duncan was a little different story. They
Speaker 1: were two twin tours. But you know, you can go
Speaker 1: around the NBA for years, Magic and Kareem like it
Speaker 1: goes back great guard, great big man. That's kind of
Speaker 1: where you start. That's where you started building your team
Speaker 1: and then you built out from there. And it's interesting
Speaker 1: to see um the way James Harden has has typically
Speaker 1: played over the last five or six years, especially with
Speaker 1: with Darryl Moorey at the helm making all the decisions,
Speaker 1: He's played a certain style of basketball. Joel has gotten
Speaker 1: a customed plan to a certain style of basketball. Both
Speaker 1: great players, so I don't not think they can mash like.
Speaker 1: I definitely think they can match. But it'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see them go back to a great guard and
Speaker 1: a great big man and see what type of success
Speaker 1: that that they have because the league, you know, everything
Speaker 1: comes back around. You got small ball, you got two
Speaker 1: big men, Like everything comes back around. You always hear
Speaker 1: fashion like fashion never goes out of style and always
Speaker 1: come back around. And so I'm interested to see um
Speaker 1: now with them back to a more traditional look, how
Speaker 1: that works. If it ultimately works, does everyone start copying
Speaker 1: that again, because again we do play in the copycat league.
Speaker 1: So that was kind of my take on on the
Speaker 1: Hardening Semmes trade. Uh. In my opinion of Brooklyn has
Speaker 1: definitely won the trade, and not because James Harden isn't great,
Speaker 1: because the Brooklyn Ness also got an All Star and
Speaker 1: on top of that, they added probably the top three
Speaker 1: point shooter in the NBA as far as percentage goes.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if he's leading the league in percentage
Speaker 1: this year. If he's not, he's probably right up there
Speaker 1: at the top. But as you can look back the
Speaker 1: last four years, he has been one or two, and
Speaker 1: so that's what I thought really gave them the edge
Speaker 1: in that trade. And so we'll see how it plays out,
Speaker 1: but one thing for certain, it's both of those teams
Speaker 1: got way stronger through that trade and made the Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference a lot tougher. And so it's gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: to see the Eastern Conference come playoff time with the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat, with the Milwaukee I'm sorry, Milwaukee Bucks should
Speaker 1: always be mentioned first. They're the defending champion, the Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 1: the Miami Heat, the Brooklyn Nets, the Philadelphia seventies sixers. Um,
Speaker 1: you got the Toronto Raptors with championship DNA between FEV
Speaker 1: and Fleet and in Pascal Siak and o Giana Nobi
Speaker 1: and so they have that championship DNA, so you can't
Speaker 1: just count them out, and you know they're not gonna fear.
Speaker 1: They're gonna come in, they're gonna play hard and and
Speaker 1: they're always a tough matchup. And so it's gonna be
Speaker 1: interesting to see what happens in the Eastern Conference because
Speaker 1: I think that trade it really strengthened those two teams,
Speaker 1: which are ultimately strengthened the conference. And not to forget
Speaker 1: the up and coming Cleveland Cavaliers, who are last week's guest.
Speaker 1: D G said, y'all better watch out because they're not
Speaker 1: looking at the future. They're looking at now, you know.
Speaker 1: And so the Eastern Conference, man, there's gonna be some
Speaker 1: great playoff series over there. Uh. And speaking of the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference, we also saw Portzing gets traded to the
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards for Darvis Burtas and Spencer Den with it um.
Speaker 1: That was a very interesting trade for me. And the
Speaker 1: reason that was an interesting trade because number one, they
Speaker 1: brought Spencer Den within this summer as their starting point guard.
Speaker 1: And for someone that is coming off of an a
Speaker 1: c L injury just now getting back to playing, and
Speaker 1: for the mission to be aborted in like the first
Speaker 1: three or four months of the partnership, that was shocking
Speaker 1: for me because early on in the season they were
Speaker 1: playing well, you know, then you had COVID stuff, and
Speaker 1: you know we all faced COVID, but you had COVID stuff,
Speaker 1: You have people missing time due to injury, and then
Speaker 1: the mission was kind of a border, so you never
Speaker 1: truly know what it could have become. Maybe they saw
Speaker 1: something that the rest of us didn't see, but in
Speaker 1: that trade Porzingis going to Washington. I'm also interested to
Speaker 1: see how that works out because I think Kyle Kuzman
Speaker 1: is playing some of the best basketball of his career
Speaker 1: and all around basketball. He's rebounding grade, he's passing the
Speaker 1: ball grade, he's scoring the ball great. And so the
Speaker 1: group that the Scars, sorry the growth that Kyle Kuzma
Speaker 1: has had UM in his career and especially the next
Speaker 1: step that he's taken and playing for Washington this year,
Speaker 1: he's been playing the fourth spot, and and so you know,
Speaker 1: you bring Porzingis and Porsinis has played in four, he
Speaker 1: has played some five. But then you also have some
Speaker 1: good young bids. I think Thomas Brian just went down
Speaker 1: with the injury. Again, not sure how significant the injury
Speaker 1: is UM. But then you also have uh Daniel Gafford
Speaker 1: who they signed to a contract, and so I'm also
Speaker 1: I'm just interested to see how that plays out, UM.
Speaker 1: And you have Danny Aviga also there at the three spotting,
Speaker 1: so like, where does Kuzman fit in? And that because
Speaker 1: Kuzman is having an incredible year, does port Zingers played
Speaker 1: the five? Like I have all of these questions, and
Speaker 1: I'm excited, you know, even the first couple of games
Speaker 1: that's played like it's impossible to figure out then like
Speaker 1: those things will play out over the course of time.
Speaker 1: It won't happen in a week. And so I'm just
Speaker 1: excited to see what what will come of that trade.
Speaker 1: Port zingis teenure in Dallas wasn't the best. UM this
Speaker 1: kind of felt like he was gonna be on the
Speaker 1: mood the last couple of years. And to finally see
Speaker 1: him um traded, I hope to see him get back
Speaker 1: to the player that he once was. It felt like
Speaker 1: that that Portzingis was coming back to start this year,
Speaker 1: and then COVID happened for him and some entry stuff,
Speaker 1: and so interested to see if he'll get back to
Speaker 1: the level that we saw him at after New York Knicks,
Speaker 1: you know, when he earned the name of the Unicorn,
Speaker 1: because he was playing some incredible basketball. And you always
Speaker 1: want to see guys at their best and and and
Speaker 1: and being able to get back to that, to to
Speaker 1: what was the mountain top for them, you know, and
Speaker 1: and their peak their peak form, and so it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to see and and and Dallas obviously added another
Speaker 1: guard um short Spencer. Then Widio come off the bench
Speaker 1: for Dallas, but they added another quality guard off the bench,
Speaker 1: and then they added another shooting big and Burtens. And
Speaker 1: with the way Luca Dante's plays, Luka Dante's has the
Speaker 1: ball a lot He's created for everyone. You can't help
Speaker 1: off David birth Davis, Davis, Burtens his he has one
Speaker 1: of the purest jump shots in the league. And so
Speaker 1: I thought that was a great add by Nico Harrison,
Speaker 1: new GM of the Dallas Mavericks. I thought that was
Speaker 1: an incredible trade, um trade of a guy who still
Speaker 1: has some value and didn't quite work out for them.
Speaker 1: Um he didn't. I think one thing that you see
Speaker 1: in great gms around the league, and obviously this is
Speaker 1: Eco's first teare but one thing you see in great
Speaker 1: g ms is they know when to move on, Like
Speaker 1: you don't hold on to the problem and compound the problem.
Speaker 1: Not that I'm saying Porzingis was a problem, but he
Speaker 1: was a problem in Dallas. Not that he was a
Speaker 1: problem child like it just wasn't working, Like it wasn't
Speaker 1: working for him, it wasn't working for them. But yet
Speaker 1: they still have a thing that can works, and he
Speaker 1: still has a game that can work, and so to
Speaker 1: see the two officially part ways. I thought that was
Speaker 1: a great job by Nico, And like I said, you
Speaker 1: just see some people hold onto things way longer and
Speaker 1: then they lose value. And so they got some pieces
Speaker 1: that they can add into an already good basketball club.
Speaker 1: I thought that was a great move by them, and
Speaker 1: we'll see what comes of it, uh for both of
Speaker 1: those teams, but I thought it was a pretty good
Speaker 1: move by both of them. And then finally before we
Speaker 1: get to the to the Fred van Fleet interview, as
Speaker 1: we spoke a little bit about briefly the St. Louis Psyche,
Speaker 1: the L. A. Rams won the Super Bowl. It was incredible.
Speaker 1: So first off, I want to talk about the champs,
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl Champs to L. A. Rams. There's been
Speaker 1: a lot of talk that Aaron Donald should have won
Speaker 1: the m v P. Cooper Cup had one of the
Speaker 1: best seasons statistically that a wire receiver has ever had
Speaker 1: and so and he had a great game. Can't take
Speaker 1: anything from him, but I personally thought, and especially as
Speaker 1: a defensive guy, I personally thought Aaron Donald should have
Speaker 1: won m v P. Uh. He controlled the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: which if you know anything about football, controlling the trenches.
Speaker 1: It's just as important as a quarterback playing well. We've
Speaker 1: seen guys control games, and only a select few of
Speaker 1: guys control games from the defensive end spot. We've seen
Speaker 1: von Miller do it and go to it and win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos, and obviously they
Speaker 1: had to go one of the goals paid many as quarterback,
Speaker 1: but that was also and pays later years. Von Miller
Speaker 1: really could control the game from the defensive end spot,
Speaker 1: and he's starting to get back to that forum as
Speaker 1: you can see uh in the Super Bowl and in
Speaker 1: his time with the Rams this season. Reggie White obviously
Speaker 1: could control the game from the defensive in spot. Lawrence
Speaker 1: Taylor could obviously control the game for from the defensive
Speaker 1: in spot. Aaron Donald is a defensive tackle and he
Speaker 1: can control the game from the defensive tackle spot, as
Speaker 1: he did in that Super Bowl. I mean he had
Speaker 1: three sacks, and I mean, like, let's let's put that
Speaker 1: into some basketball numbers for those that don't understand football.
Speaker 1: Him having three sacks in the Super Bowl is like
Speaker 1: him having two sacks in the Super Bowl. It's like
Speaker 1: having points. Him getting that third sack to close the
Speaker 1: game out. It's like having thirty four points and the
Speaker 1: game winner. If a guy have thirty four points in
Speaker 1: the in the game seven of the NBA Finals. Now,
Speaker 1: granted it's a little excue because there's more games in
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals, but let's say that guy has had
Speaker 1: a pretty good NBA Finals and then he finished the
Speaker 1: game with thirty four points and a game winner in
Speaker 1: game seven, that guy is gonna walk away with Finals
Speaker 1: m v P. That's what Aaron Donald just did. He
Speaker 1: finished the game with thirty four points and he hit
Speaker 1: the game winner, and he did not walk away with
Speaker 1: the m v P. Because it's so hard for defensive
Speaker 1: guys in any sport to get the recognition that they deserve.
Speaker 1: And so I um, like I said, I can't take
Speaker 1: anything from from Cooper Cup away because he had an
Speaker 1: incredible year and incredible game so well deserved. But I
Speaker 1: definitely think Aaron Donald should have and could have gotten
Speaker 1: m VP. And the reality is you're not gonna see
Speaker 1: that often, Like the next time we'll see a defensive
Speaker 1: guy other than Aaron Donald control the game like that
Speaker 1: and actually be deserving them m v P. Like, who
Speaker 1: knows when we'll see that again? Like you gotta reward
Speaker 1: guys when it's there, and so I don't know. I
Speaker 1: I thought that there would be a high chance that
Speaker 1: he wouldn't get it, because that's how people operate. But
Speaker 1: and it actually happened. So I will see another year
Speaker 1: goes by another defensive guy. Defensive guy can't can't get
Speaker 1: the m v P out of Super Bowl, but they
Speaker 1: got the most important thing was which was a ring.
Speaker 1: And I want to send a bunch of love to
Speaker 1: O b j Um. I spoke about this before, like
Speaker 1: some guys need bright lights. Like a lot of people,
Speaker 1: you put them under the bright lights, they fold. There's
Speaker 1: a very select few of guys that you put them
Speaker 1: under the bright lights and they get better. And oh
Speaker 1: b j is one of those guys. You put him
Speaker 1: in the brightest of lights and he shone like the
Speaker 1: brightest of stars. I mean he had to uh two
Speaker 1: receptions for fifty two yards in a touchdown, was about
Speaker 1: to have another fifteen or twenty yards on the reception
Speaker 1: that he dropped way towards. They see up that right there.
Speaker 1: I think it was still the first quarter, would have
Speaker 1: been three catches seventy five yards in a touchdown. He
Speaker 1: was also very well on his way to m v P,
Speaker 1: but just in a bunch of love, a speedy recovery.
Speaker 1: Uh to O b J. You never want to see
Speaker 1: a guy get injured. And for a guy who's went
Speaker 1: through what he's going through and seems as if he's
Speaker 1: found his purpose, he's found himself, he's found a woman
Speaker 1: for him, he's about to welcome a child into this
Speaker 1: his first child into this world with with his woman,
Speaker 1: like so many things going for him. And to see
Speaker 1: him even flourishing at him in that moment and for
Speaker 1: the abruptly end like that, it sucked. Um, it definitely sucked.
Speaker 1: And so but he's a he's a he's a super
Speaker 1: Bowl champion, and I'm looking forward to to him getting
Speaker 1: back out there next year and reproving all over again
Speaker 1: who he is, why he is who he is, because
Speaker 1: he's just a special talent like that, and like I said,
Speaker 1: when the lights get the brightest, he shine like the
Speaker 1: brightest stars. And some guys just need that. And I
Speaker 1: respect guys that when that level raised up, their play
Speaker 1: go to another level because it's a very rare thing
Speaker 1: in sports. But in saying that, um, I, like I
Speaker 1: said before, we have another All Star, another first time
Speaker 1: All Star, as we did last week. UM, I am
Speaker 1: excited to welcome him to the show, and I am
Speaker 1: excited to hear his take on the two thousand nineteen
Speaker 1: finals and if he really thinks they would have beat
Speaker 1: us if we didn't get hurt that way. Man excited
Speaker 1: to have this next guy on from from from Rockford, Illinois.
Speaker 1: I know most of y'all won't know that, and what
Speaker 1: you will know him as is guy who absolutely destroyed
Speaker 1: us in the NBA finals. UM who. I still don't
Speaker 1: appreciate that I and say that I do cost cost
Speaker 1: me a ring, but I definitely appreciate his road to
Speaker 1: becoming who he's become. Undrafted out of Wichita State. UM.
Speaker 1: I wasn't undrafted, but I definitely understand the mindset that
Speaker 1: comes with being looked over. You're talking to guy who
Speaker 1: lad his team to the Final four as a freshman, UM, which,
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, I think they became the fifth
Speaker 1: team with the seed hired in the a C to
Speaker 1: actually play in the Final four, and then the following
Speaker 1: year came back. UH sophomore year led his team to
Speaker 1: the first thirty one, an old record. UH in n
Speaker 1: c A history. UH. He finished college as a three
Speaker 1: time AP Honorable Mentioned All American UH, two time m
Speaker 1: VC Player of the Year, and three time first team
Speaker 1: All NBC player. Fred Van Fleet of the Toronto Raptors,
Speaker 1: what's up, my brother, man? Thanks for having me. You
Speaker 1: do you do a good intro, bro. I might take
Speaker 1: you in a row with me. I appreciate it. Man. No,
Speaker 1: And obviously we just spoke about you being undrafted and
Speaker 1: you came out, you played summer league with the Raptors.
Speaker 1: What was your mindset and coming out? Cause I know
Speaker 1: from me, like I won National Player of the Year
Speaker 1: and then I got drafted, and I know what that
Speaker 1: how that few of me? What was your mindset coming
Speaker 1: out and into that first summer league with the Raptors. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was real similar. You know, it's been a student
Speaker 1: of the game. And it's funny that you say that
Speaker 1: because I actually remember you speaking on like having a
Speaker 1: list of the guys that went before you, you know,
Speaker 1: and and and remember and you probably still remember those names,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So like it was the
Speaker 1: same for me. I just I put the guys that
Speaker 1: that went before me at my position, and I kind
Speaker 1: of looked and said, you know who I gotta be
Speaker 1: better than? Who do I have to outperform? And I
Speaker 1: just went into it with that mindset. But from day
Speaker 1: one after I didn't get drafted, it was just like,
Speaker 1: let's make the team, Let's get the camp, let's make
Speaker 1: the team. And I know that once I'm on the team,
Speaker 1: I know what I'm gonna doing practice every day. I
Speaker 1: know that I'm gonna continue to get better and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have a chance to grow. So I was just
Speaker 1: focused on, like what would it take to actually make
Speaker 1: the roster. And your rookie year you played thirty one games.
Speaker 1: But your second year, uh that's when you kind of
Speaker 1: started to break out. You shot over fort from three
Speaker 1: and you were nominated for six Man of the Year.
Speaker 1: How was that growth for you going from your first
Speaker 1: year to your second year and actually starting to come
Speaker 1: into your own. Yeah, well, making the team a rookie,
Speaker 1: we had three point guard. It was Kyle, Corey, Joseph
Speaker 1: and then the line right, So I was I was
Speaker 1: kind of stuck in that where, you know, I think
Speaker 1: I was good enough to play my rookie year. I
Speaker 1: just I needed to get better. I needed some experience,
Speaker 1: I needed to become a better shooter, and those are
Speaker 1: the things that I did. Um. And then my second year,
Speaker 1: we had a chance where we had a good bench
Speaker 1: and that bench unit got some you know, sustainable minutes
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the year. I started picking up
Speaker 1: guys full court, made some shots, and um, casey actually
Speaker 1: like having two point guards out there. So I started
Speaker 1: finishing some games, you know, my second year where I
Speaker 1: was playing in the fourth quarter, get the opportunity to
Speaker 1: make some shots, I get a chance to guard some
Speaker 1: of the better guys. So as as my opportunity just
Speaker 1: you know, kept growing, I just try to you know,
Speaker 1: keep getting better along the way, and it allowed me
Speaker 1: to take advantage of some of those moments. Absolutely, and
Speaker 1: I want to continue to talk about your pro career,
Speaker 1: but I have to ask you. And I know we
Speaker 1: just spoke on this a little bit, but as someone
Speaker 1: UM that was overlooked, Like do you coming out of
Speaker 1: college you're one of the most decorated college players ever,
Speaker 1: Like you had one of the better careers ever. Do
Speaker 1: you feel like you get enough credit for that? Oh? No,
Speaker 1: because it always gets twisted as the undrafted. So it's
Speaker 1: kind of like once you say undrafted, people forget that,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of what I went through and what
Speaker 1: I put on the table at my four years of school,
Speaker 1: and um, there's you know, the narratives in the perspective
Speaker 1: of how we look at pro players has changed so much.
Speaker 1: But um, you know, once upon a time, going to
Speaker 1: school for four years and going to the tournament every year,
Speaker 1: going to final fours and winning trophies and cut down
Speaker 1: nest that meant something. And it definitely meant something to me.
Speaker 1: I think I'm better for the way that you know,
Speaker 1: I had to go through. I was so mature and
Speaker 1: just ready to be a pro once I, you know,
Speaker 1: became an NBA player. But I definitely don't get that
Speaker 1: look or that now because when I was in a
Speaker 1: smaller conference and two, once you put the stamp of undrafted,
Speaker 1: it's just like, Okay, he must not have been very
Speaker 1: good before he got to this book. Absolutely, and in reality,
Speaker 1: some of these talent talent evalue whether it's just not
Speaker 1: just talk about side. Yeah, they don't know, they don't
Speaker 1: know everything, absolutely, and you know you don't know what
Speaker 1: you don't know. But you also, you just spoke about
Speaker 1: having four point guards on the roster when you when
Speaker 1: you made the team with the Raptors, And I want
Speaker 1: to talk about one of them, and specifically a guy
Speaker 1: who I've had the opportunity to play with and win
Speaker 1: a goal medal with, Kyle Larry. What benefit they're playing
Speaker 1: next to a guy like Carl Lowry have on you? Well,
Speaker 1: we're so similar in so many different ways that without
Speaker 1: even knowing each other, you know what I mean. Just
Speaker 1: obviously I studied this guy, but as a as a kid,
Speaker 1: like you know, I'm I'm tending you know, Kyle got
Speaker 1: a few years on mean, y'all, y'all a little bit.
Speaker 1: So I was watching him in college. I was watching
Speaker 1: him studying the game, studying guys around my size and stature,
Speaker 1: and and so for me to get next to him,
Speaker 1: I kind of already knew like how he played, and
Speaker 1: he learned how I played. And I'm watching them every day.
Speaker 1: We're working out together. He's let me shoot with him
Speaker 1: in the morning and join his workouts and just staying
Speaker 1: next to him, talking to him in time out. So
Speaker 1: I'm sitting next to him in the locker room like
Speaker 1: I'm just a spunge. I'm trying to learn as much
Speaker 1: as I can from and then once I was able
Speaker 1: to get out there on the court with him, I
Speaker 1: think we just made our lives easier for each other,
Speaker 1: and we kind of could read each other without even thinking,
Speaker 1: especially after we had some time in so defensively offensively,
Speaker 1: like I knew what he was to do, he knew
Speaker 1: what I was gonna do, And it was just a
Speaker 1: huge bonus and and just benefit to be able to
Speaker 1: play with that guy. Absolutely, And I want I want
Speaker 1: to talk about this uh just daunted two thousand nineteen
Speaker 1: playoff run that she was a part of before we
Speaker 1: before we get into the NBA finals. Um, your first
Speaker 1: two series of that playoffs run, you couldn't throw the
Speaker 1: ball in the ocean. You then have a son, and
Speaker 1: you have your son, and I don't think you've missed
Speaker 1: a shot since, And it seemed like everything flipped for you,
Speaker 1: Like if you just and I knew about the time
Speaker 1: and of it then, but for anybody who don't know,
Speaker 1: like if you go back and you can follow it
Speaker 1: along in the articles, if you go back to that
Speaker 1: run and then you go and look at the date
Speaker 1: of Fred just had a son, and you see what
Speaker 1: happened from there, like dude, you feel like that change.
Speaker 1: So for you, was it coincidental? Was it just the
Speaker 1: energy that little friend brought? What was it? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's definitely all of the above. Like I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm not that proud to say that. You know, it
Speaker 1: definitely is all of the above, because I have an
Speaker 1: explanation for why it wasn't going that way, you know,
Speaker 1: as we could always explain why we're struggling, and you know,
Speaker 1: coach and calling the right place and the rotation short
Speaker 1: and you know, again it's matchups. That Philly series was
Speaker 1: not a good series for me to be in. That
Speaker 1: was a big, nasty, physical team. You know, he wasn't
Speaker 1: running a lot of ball screens. But I had some
Speaker 1: pressure them. You know what I'm saying, My girls pregnant,
Speaker 1: I'm out here trying to play in the playoffs and
Speaker 1: I can't be with my family, and they was home.
Speaker 1: I was in Toronto. So it was a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff going on. But once, you know, everything clicked at
Speaker 1: the right time, and him being born was like the catalyst.
Speaker 1: It was like the start of my son being born.
Speaker 1: I went home. I got to hold them, I got
Speaker 1: to see my my my daughter. I got to be
Speaker 1: around my family for a second fresh mind new series,
Speaker 1: uh new. We started playing different, like like we got
Speaker 1: better throughout the playoffs, and you know, we once we clicked,
Speaker 1: it was like we you know, we were pretty much
Speaker 1: playing like excellent basketball for the rest of those what
Speaker 1: three or four weeks that was left. So it was
Speaker 1: a perfect storm for sure. Absolutely, And speaking of Philly
Speaker 1: and that team, I've I've watched that shot over a
Speaker 1: million times, uh in part due to I feel like
Speaker 1: if that shot didn't win, didn't go in the championship,
Speaker 1: and it is what it is. So I've gone back
Speaker 1: and watched that shot and you were actually on the
Speaker 1: bench when when that shot happened, Which is crazy because
Speaker 1: if you think about if you think about that that
Speaker 1: finals run and the run that y'all had to go
Speaker 1: on and win the championship, one wouldn't be able to
Speaker 1: see you not being in the game at the end
Speaker 1: of the game at any point in that run. But
Speaker 1: it kind of just goes to show what you're saying
Speaker 1: about your rotations. But you're right in the corner of
Speaker 1: Kauai shot with you and what were you thinking on
Speaker 1: that play? Because I had I didn't think it was
Speaker 1: a chance that was going in. No, it looked off left.
Speaker 1: It looked off left because I'm looking at it and
Speaker 1: you can see it go and look off like it
Speaker 1: was gonna go off to the left towards the middle
Speaker 1: of the lane. And once we saw a bounce bounce twice,
Speaker 1: it was like, oh, this ship going in. It's going in,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It was just like, Bro,
Speaker 1: that was the craziest amount of motion. Because for me personally,
Speaker 1: I'm like, yes, I get another series, like I get
Speaker 1: another chance to play better. I didn't want my season
Speaker 1: to end, you know what I mean with that performance
Speaker 1: on the table. So I think we was all just
Speaker 1: relieved just to get out of that series and and
Speaker 1: move on to the next room, because that was a
Speaker 1: really tough series. I mean, we blew them out, they
Speaker 1: blew us out. We had to go there and play
Speaker 1: like that was a that was a that was a
Speaker 1: hard fu series. Absolutely, And and talk to me a
Speaker 1: little more about um, like the pressure that you're feelings
Speaker 1: Like you just said, I don't want this to end
Speaker 1: on serious And I know what most people don't understand
Speaker 1: is this ain't this is not fred Fred van Fleet,
Speaker 1: the hundred million dollar player. That's whee trying to make it,
Speaker 1: worrying about what that next contract is gonna be. Like,
Speaker 1: talk to me a little more about that pressure that
Speaker 1: you was feeling and playing and having those first two
Speaker 1: series that you had and then getting another opportunity. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: just back then, I knew what I could do, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. We always know what we can
Speaker 1: do as players and our confidence and you know, you're
Speaker 1: thinking about who you can be, but you still have
Speaker 1: to show that. And at that point in time, I
Speaker 1: hadn't really shown that I could be a starting point guard.
Speaker 1: I hadn't shown all of these different moments. So I
Speaker 1: was just frustrated that this is the performance that I
Speaker 1: was putting out. You know, nobody's harder on myself than
Speaker 1: I am. Toronto is one of them cities where if
Speaker 1: you're playing bad, you're gonna know about it, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. M We we definitely have those type
Speaker 1: of fans where they will they will cherish you and
Speaker 1: worship you forever, but they're gonna let you know you're
Speaker 1: not playing well. And so I was at up in
Speaker 1: that for the first time in my professional career, like
Speaker 1: reading comments and I had to go through all of
Speaker 1: that type of stuff. Um, so all of that was
Speaker 1: just a learning experience from me. But I was lucky
Speaker 1: enough to come out on the other side of it. Absolutely. No,
Speaker 1: that's that's incredible. And and speaking of um those playoffs
Speaker 1: NBA Finals, because you'll, y'all going to win the next
Speaker 1: series NBA Finals roll around. We're coming into that series
Speaker 1: without Kevin Durant and we then go on to play
Speaker 1: the first four games without him. You guys take a
Speaker 1: three one lead, then Kevin comes back for game five.
Speaker 1: When Kevin comes back for Game five, what's going through
Speaker 1: your head? I just remember being in the locker room.
Speaker 1: I remember being in the locker room before game five,
Speaker 1: and it was like a little buzz, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like was he coming back? It was it
Speaker 1: was whispers that he was gonna play, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. I felt like he was gonna play, Like
Speaker 1: if he was close enough to play, we knew he
Speaker 1: was gonna try it out. And I just remember like
Speaker 1: the uh, the conversation being like, all right, like he
Speaker 1: coming back, We're gonna we're gonna go at him, like
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, We're gonna see what he
Speaker 1: got And he came out and hit them first four shots,
Speaker 1: and I remember, like I was just remember being like damn, like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, this dude special. And I had a
Speaker 1: move on him one time, and I've seen him. He
Speaker 1: was a little gimpy. And then the next time I
Speaker 1: think Serge went by him is when he went down.
Speaker 1: And then man, it was just it's just sad as
Speaker 1: a basketball fan. But we was like, all right, bro,
Speaker 1: we can't. We can't get no better gift than this.
Speaker 1: We gotta, we gotta. We don't win this. We're gonna
Speaker 1: we're gonna have to live with this for the rest
Speaker 1: of our life. And I think that kind of gave
Speaker 1: us a little extra motivation to get it done. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And that happens in game five. Game six, Clay is
Speaker 1: catching fire. And it's funny because Clay came to me
Speaker 1: right before that game and he's like, I'm going to
Speaker 1: have one of them games six is just make sure
Speaker 1: you give me the ball train one of them games
Speaker 1: six is. I feel it six plays right like he
Speaker 1: he's totally bought into of this Game six, Clay things
Speaker 1: like that, everybody, He's totally bought into it. Like Game six, Clay,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, like, just give me the ball and
Speaker 1: then he's catching fire. Uh. I don't know a lot
Speaker 1: of people say Clay don't get hurt right there, y'all
Speaker 1: don't go on to win that that NBA Championship. I
Speaker 1: don't know how true that is. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about that? I mean, I know what I think, but
Speaker 1: I do want to hear I don't. I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't agree with that. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: could see that argument, you know what I'm saying. I
Speaker 1: could see that argument. He like him and those games
Speaker 1: six is he got a super catalog of like those
Speaker 1: crazy games where it's hard to beat him. I felt
Speaker 1: like we were a much better team than y'all without
Speaker 1: Kevin Um because you know, we had the depth and
Speaker 1: there was just certain matchups that we could pick on,
Speaker 1: and like some of the guys that y'all was playing
Speaker 1: in those moments wasn't like what we was used to
Speaker 1: seeing from the Warriors dynasty. Like y'all was bringing some
Speaker 1: of those guys up to speed, whether it was like
Speaker 1: Alfonso McKinney, Quinn Cook Boogie like those was new guy
Speaker 1: to what I was doing. So we had we had
Speaker 1: specific things that we was hunting for in some of
Speaker 1: those situations. But yeah, who knows, nobody will have nobody
Speaker 1: will ever know. Okay, y'all can argue that, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, Gemen came over to our staff. I always
Speaker 1: talked talked junk to him about it, like, man, if
Speaker 1: we didn't get hurt. But the reality is this, if
Speaker 1: we win that game six, which I what I do
Speaker 1: believe is if Clay doesn't get hurt, we do win
Speaker 1: that game six. I don't think there's no questions asked.
Speaker 1: We win the game six, but you go to game
Speaker 1: seven and it's just a coin flip, Like you just
Speaker 1: kind of know that from the history of Game seven
Speaker 1: as you get the game seven's a coin flips. So
Speaker 1: the reality is I don't necessarily think, oh, man, we
Speaker 1: won game six, we were for sure winning the championship
Speaker 1: because Game seven, I don't care what happened the rest
Speaker 1: of the series. Game seven you flipped a coin and
Speaker 1: whatever Game seven, anything could happened. I just felt like
Speaker 1: at the time we was winning most of the quarters
Speaker 1: Game five, I felt like we should have won, and
Speaker 1: we was up start going crazy, and then y'all made
Speaker 1: it come back late. So you know, we're gonna feel
Speaker 1: this way. You're gonna feel that way, is what it is,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no. And I you spoke about my intro
Speaker 1: to the show. I I purposely I wanted to talk
Speaker 1: about your college resume because I do think it get overlooked.
Speaker 1: I think I always talk about the basketball minds and
Speaker 1: how a lot of them don't really know what the
Speaker 1: hell they're talking about, and you're another example of that.
Speaker 1: I'm example of that. So I purposely did that and
Speaker 1: purposely did not mention first time All Star number one.
Speaker 1: I want to say congratulations on that, Um, well, well,
Speaker 1: well fucking deserved. And number two and yours, and I
Speaker 1: know you gotta go, so I'm gonna get you out
Speaker 1: of here on this one. But with the season that
Speaker 1: you've had, you've put together and becoming an All Star
Speaker 1: and carrying your team the way you've carried your team,
Speaker 1: there has been a lot of speculation coming up now
Speaker 1: whether Pascal will be traded at the deadline, and obviously
Speaker 1: we're we're recording this before the trade deadline happens. But
Speaker 1: how are you maintaining your focus with like Pascal is
Speaker 1: important to what y'all do. How are you maintaining your
Speaker 1: focus to continue doing what you're doing, regardless of that
Speaker 1: talk that's going on around Pascal and what could happen
Speaker 1: at the deadline or not. Yeah, I mean what we
Speaker 1: all been through, right, So I think for me as
Speaker 1: I'm coming in, I'm in my sixth season now, I
Speaker 1: think the best feeling to have is to be playing
Speaker 1: good around the trade deadline and be playing well. Everybody's
Speaker 1: feeling well, feeling good, feeling excited about things, and then
Speaker 1: the pressure to make some of those drastic moves is
Speaker 1: not there. I think you gotta look at the market
Speaker 1: and see what's out there. I don't know if any
Speaker 1: of those moves make sense for us right now in
Speaker 1: terms of something major. Um, I think we like our core,
Speaker 1: we like our situation where we have, and we're playing
Speaker 1: good basketball. So I think you just got to try
Speaker 1: to control what you can control. UM Me personally, listen, bro,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm from a place just like where you're from,
Speaker 1: and you've got some of the similar backgrounds. All of
Speaker 1: this is a blessing, and you know, once you get
Speaker 1: into all of that extra stuff, you know, you kind
Speaker 1: of you set yourself up for for disaster. So I
Speaker 1: just focused on leading this team, trying to win as
Speaker 1: much as we can, and whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen,
Speaker 1: no doubt, no man. Uh. Like I said, I know
Speaker 1: you gotta get out of here. I appreciate you coming
Speaker 1: on the show. I must say, um, this guy was
Speaker 1: second in m VP voting when they beat us, so
Speaker 1: anywhere anywhere, Pasca why and then beating us, you have
Speaker 1: to look no further than Fred VanVleet. I don't appreciate that,
Speaker 1: dectually respect it. I love it. I man, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: a big fan of yours, Bro, and your journey. I
Speaker 1: love the whole bet on yourself mentality and how you
Speaker 1: own that, like you didn't just sit behind the scenes
Speaker 1: and say I'm betting on myself from the from the
Speaker 1: very beginning and something betting on myself and you've embodied
Speaker 1: that nothing but love and respect, Bro, and I appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming on like wise, Bro, thank you, Yes, sir
Speaker 1: so for all of you that say you love the
Speaker 1: game of basketball, you love the basketball conversations that we
Speaker 1: have on the show. Obviously we're only here once a week,
Speaker 1: which we could do more, but the NBA is a
Speaker 1: little too bit taxing and it requires just a little
Speaker 1: amount of time that you know, I kind of gotta
Speaker 1: stick to that in four games in a week. But
Speaker 1: if you are looking for more basketball conversations, then you
Speaker 1: must check out the Jenkins and Jones podcast, also on
Speaker 1: the Volume Podcast Networks. Ironically enough, it's like a hilarious
Speaker 1: mix of basketball and comedy and like some of the
Speaker 1: most random Internet topics, uh you can imagine. So definitely
Speaker 1: check that out. From all your favorite NBA Twitter personalities,
Speaker 1: Legittro Jenkins, dragon Fly Jones. To make sure y'all download
Speaker 1: the Jenkins and Jones podcast whenever wherever you get your
Speaker 1: podcast only on the Volume Podcast Network. Man, that was
Speaker 1: an incredible interview. Uh. As you see, Fred had had
Speaker 1: a different take on the two thousand nineteen finals than
Speaker 1: I had, but that was to be expected and to
Speaker 1: be quite frankly, as much as I feel like, um,
Speaker 1: we would have one if if our guys didn't get hurt,
Speaker 1: the reality is that's that's just how it works. Health
Speaker 1: it's just as important, if not more important, than anything
Speaker 1: else when trying to win an NBA championship. And sometimes
Speaker 1: you have the good luck, sometimes you don't, and you know,
Speaker 1: in that situation, we didn't, but it happens. Uh. They
Speaker 1: were a great team. They have been through a lot
Speaker 1: to get to that point, and the cars felt how
Speaker 1: they should have. Um, they won and and that was that,
Speaker 1: and you know, I gotta get them a lot of credit,
Speaker 1: you know, but I'm still a little upset about that.
Speaker 1: I can't even lie now. But you know, obviously you
Speaker 1: can see the interview was a little shorter than normal.
Speaker 1: Fred didn't have a ton of time, but we had
Speaker 1: an opportunity to catch up with him for twenty minutes.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't pass up on an opportunity. Number One, you
Speaker 1: don't know when it comes back around. And I always
Speaker 1: think that it's important for the fans of this show
Speaker 1: to hear from the people that they want to hear
Speaker 1: from the people that are doing great things. Champions FOREV
Speaker 1: and Police a champion, he's an all star, and so
Speaker 1: it would have been remissed to pass up on the opportunity,
Speaker 1: even having for twenty minutes. And I thought it was
Speaker 1: an incredible twenty minutes. I truly enjoyed it, and I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed it. And because the interview wasn't that long,
Speaker 1: U this week we will add a few male bad
Speaker 1: questions to the show. So my producer Jackson, will ask
Speaker 1: me a few questions. I'll give you guys a few
Speaker 1: answers of what I think, and then that will be
Speaker 1: a rap for episode thirteen. All right, let's start it
Speaker 1: off in honor of All Star Weekends. Yeah, the Dunk
Speaker 1: Contest and the three point Contest. You have a teammate
Speaker 1: in the Dunk contest, so let's get your adictions on it.
Speaker 1: Who is going to win the Dunk Contest between Want,
Speaker 1: Jalen Green, Cole Anthony, and Obie Topping. All right, so
Speaker 1: check this out. The sexiest pick um. The guy who
Speaker 1: everyone's going to expect to win is obviously Jalen Green.
Speaker 1: Kid has crazy bounce. You see him flying all over
Speaker 1: the place in the game. Probably should be the expected win.
Speaker 1: The reality is is that guy never wins. The guy
Speaker 1: who everyone expects to win because he has to do
Speaker 1: stuff so crazy to beat the expectation that everyone is
Speaker 1: already set for him. The only guy we've really seen
Speaker 1: being successful at that exact Lavine Who's who We've also
Speaker 1: had uh as a guest on The Draymond Green Show.
Speaker 1: But that guy never really wins. So as much as
Speaker 1: I think Jalen Green is capable of winning and probably
Speaker 1: should win, I don't think he's gonna win for that reason.
Speaker 1: Obie Topping is tall. Uh, you know, you just don't
Speaker 1: really see tall guys when the dunk contest, Now, we
Speaker 1: saw Dwight Howard as much as Dwight Howard could fly,
Speaker 1: it was also the Superman Kate and it was also like,
Speaker 1: you know, a little different situation for Dwight to win.
Speaker 1: But guys that tall don't really win because they're so
Speaker 1: tall that you're dunk. Like, if Obie Topping goes and
Speaker 1: goes and go out there and do the same dunk
Speaker 1: that Cole Anthony does, Cole Anthony's is going to look
Speaker 1: better because he's smaller, and so it just looks better.
Speaker 1: And so for Obie Topping, he's fighting against his dunks
Speaker 1: may not look as crazy bounced as he has because
Speaker 1: he's probably just as bouncy, if not more bouncy than
Speaker 1: anybody in the dunk contest. As crazy as his bounce is,
Speaker 1: his dunks aren't gonna look as cool as there's just
Speaker 1: because he's taller, and so he's fighting against that um
Speaker 1: And so for that reason, I don't Obie Topping wins, although,
Speaker 1: like I said, his bounces insane. So now moving Cole Anthony,
Speaker 1: who we all know is bouncy. Um, you've even seen
Speaker 1: more of that, like through social media over the years,
Speaker 1: and then you haven't necessarily in games, but you know
Speaker 1: how creative he isn't Duncan. And so the reality is
Speaker 1: I think he's the dark horse. Um, well, he's not
Speaker 1: the dark horse, but I have Cole Anthony in the
Speaker 1: final versus Wan Tuscono Anderson, and one is the dark
Speaker 1: horse from nine Avenue in Oakland, Golden State Warrior. I
Speaker 1: think this is his second year in the NBA, um
Speaker 1: second or third year in the NBA having an opportunity
Speaker 1: to go out there on the biggest stage number one.
Speaker 1: Regardless if he do great and win it or he bombited,
Speaker 1: he already won. Like guys undrafted, playing in overseas, played
Speaker 1: in Mexico, played in the league, paid for a trial,
Speaker 1: worked his way to the Golden State Warriors. He on
Speaker 1: that stage, he already won. But I do think that
Speaker 1: the final two will come down to Juan Tosconod Anderson
Speaker 1: and Cole Anthony. And then I think Cole Anthony is
Speaker 1: gonna try to get way too freaking on his last dunk.
Speaker 1: He's gonna Miss jan is gonna give us a good dunk.
Speaker 1: He's gonna take it home, and he's gonna bring the
Speaker 1: Dunk Contest back to Golden State. First Dunk Contest, UH,
Speaker 1: first Dunk Contest champion and Golden State since the great
Speaker 1: Jason Richardson from Saginaw, Michigan from Michigan State University. So
Speaker 1: that's who I got winning the Dunk Contest. The three
Speaker 1: point Contests Potty Mills, Luke Kannar, Zach Levine, Trey Young,
Speaker 1: Dasmond Bang, C J mcculloll, and Carl Anthony Towns to
Speaker 1: two guests of The Draymond Green Show. By the way,
Speaker 1: Fred Van Vleet and Zach Levine absolutely two guests of
Speaker 1: The Draymond Green Show to All Stars. Um as we know,
Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Towns another All Star, not a guest at
Speaker 1: a Draymond Green Show, but another All Star. This field
Speaker 1: is interesting because obviously all these guys can shoot. I'm
Speaker 1: actually tell y'all who who I think is going to
Speaker 1: win and why who I think is gonna win? This
Speaker 1: three point Contest is Carl Anthony Towns. Why I think
Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Towns is gonna win a three point contest
Speaker 1: because he has the least amount of movement and his
Speaker 1: shot than anyone else on this list. I mean he
Speaker 1: literally he doesn't jump on his shot, So him picking
Speaker 1: that ball up and just launching, it's a normal shot
Speaker 1: for him. He don't jump, so uh, it's target practice
Speaker 1: for him. And so I could see Carl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: winning the three point because that's who I have win
Speaker 1: the three point contest just because it's such little motion
Speaker 1: and it's shot and so obviously all great shooters and
Speaker 1: as you can see, I'm trying to pick this winner
Speaker 1: on like some technicality type stuff because I mean this, like,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a tough count. This. All these
Speaker 1: guys shoot the light side of the ball. So I
Speaker 1: got Cat Um. I think Kat wins it because he
Speaker 1: does not move much when he shoots the three ball.
Speaker 1: It'll just be target practice. Yeah, I got Cat as well.
Speaker 1: But I think I'm gonna go with Jalen Green for dunk.
Speaker 1: Go on, Jalen Green, I hear you that, you see
Speaker 1: I told y'all I'm gonna think Jalen Green and that
Speaker 1: guy doesn't usually win it because he gotta get so
Speaker 1: freaky to get the fifty And did they miss? It's
Speaker 1: a good point, all right? Next one, who is a
Speaker 1: player or a couple of players in the NBA outside
Speaker 1: of John Rap Not gonna let you picked John Moran
Speaker 1: because we've talked a lot about John Morrenn already on
Speaker 1: the show. But who's the guy outside of John Rand?
Speaker 1: Do you think has uh has made a leap this season? Um?
Speaker 1: Hm hmm. Guys who I think made a leap this sea?
Speaker 1: Is it? I think I'm gonna pick two guys and
Speaker 1: um for very different reasons. The first one is has
Speaker 1: been a guest on The Draymond Green Show, which is
Speaker 1: Darius Garland. I think the leap that he's made from
Speaker 1: last year to this year the leap and due to
Speaker 1: his leap, his personally the leap that their team has
Speaker 1: made from last year to this year. He's been incredible. Um,
Speaker 1: and I it's been beautiful to watch and like, I
Speaker 1: can go go around the list, but I'm going to
Speaker 1: stick to what I said. I'm gonna pick two guys.
Speaker 1: And although there's a long list, I mean, you got
Speaker 1: Myles Bridges, you can go all of those guys. I'm
Speaker 1: going to go to Mark de Rosen, who a guy
Speaker 1: who's already been an All Star, uh several times, a
Speaker 1: guy who's been a household name for years in this league,
Speaker 1: was written off for the last two three years since
Speaker 1: he was traded from Toronto to San Antonio. Um, everybody
Speaker 1: picked apart of this game and how the mid range
Speaker 1: is dead and he don't shoot threes and blah blah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. I mean, look at the amount of
Speaker 1: suitors he had in free agency this this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if if all, if everybody knew he would played like this,
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody would have been not beating down his
Speaker 1: story's playing at m v P level. He should be
Speaker 1: top three and m v people right now for sure. Um.
Speaker 1: I think his last his last six games, he's average
Speaker 1: and almost forty. UM. And so I have to go
Speaker 1: to Marta Rosen because of his resurgence, because regardless of
Speaker 1: what the naysayers has said, Uh, he's stuck with his situation.
Speaker 1: He's gone through things in his personal life that no
Speaker 1: one knew about until they came out that his father
Speaker 1: had passed away. Um, you know, and recently just saying, like, man,
Speaker 1: I was flying home after games to spend time with
Speaker 1: my dad in the hospital, and then flying meeting the
Speaker 1: team and playing the game to day of like all
Speaker 1: of those things, you never know what a guy is
Speaker 1: going through. And yeah, he's right back in a better
Speaker 1: spot than he was when they actually thought he was.
Speaker 1: He was on his way, And so I have a
Speaker 1: have an appreciation for the way guys bounce back, Like
Speaker 1: you can get to the top, but when you get
Speaker 1: to the top, it's hard to stay there. If you
Speaker 1: leave the top, it's almost impossible to get back. And
Speaker 1: yet that's what DeMar has done. And so for that reason,
Speaker 1: I gotta give it to DeMar. DeRos love that DeMar
Speaker 1: has been been unbelievable this year. Let's do one more.
Speaker 1: Who's a player in the league that you think most
Speaker 1: fans don't appreciate how good they are? Player in the
Speaker 1: league that I think most fans don't appreciate how good
Speaker 1: they are other than me. Um, let's see player in
Speaker 1: the league that fans do not appreciate how good they
Speaker 1: actually are. Mm hmm. That's a good one. That's a
Speaker 1: really good one. And I'm going to have to go
Speaker 1: with I stumped here, that's a good one. I'm going
Speaker 1: to have to go with Clay Thompson. And the reason
Speaker 1: I go with Clay Thompson it's obviously he's just back
Speaker 1: from injury, so I'm dating back past these fifteen games
Speaker 1: he's played. Um, I'm just talking total body of work play.
Speaker 1: Thompson not being on the seventy top seventy five team
Speaker 1: is ridiculous. Obviously that wasn't the fans that voted on that.
Speaker 1: It is utter ridiculous. It's disgusting to basketball is discussing,
Speaker 1: to winning is discussed, is disgusting to a player of
Speaker 1: being the absolute or one of the absolute best at
Speaker 1: their craft and at performing a certain thing within that craft.
Speaker 1: And when I say that, I'm talking one of the
Speaker 1: best shooters we've ever seen, a guy who would go
Speaker 1: take the opposed best guard on the team out of
Speaker 1: the game, guy who's won three championships, UH, five time
Speaker 1: All Star and and not on the top seventy five lists.
Speaker 1: The fans has that same appreciation. Now their appreciation has
Speaker 1: changed for Clay a bit due to the injury. And
Speaker 1: and so it's also more from a sympathetic standpoint than
Speaker 1: how great Clay Thompson is and that pisces me off.
Speaker 1: And so if there's one guy that I think the
Speaker 1: fans don't understand and truly how good he is, is
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson Now. But Jackson, I appreciate the questions, my
Speaker 1: brother that those were definitely some fun questions to ask.
Speaker 1: And you definitely have me stumped for a little bit
Speaker 1: there because and and and stumped from the standpoint if
Speaker 1: I could have went so many different directions with that
Speaker 1: um but in saying that, it was very hard to
Speaker 1: come up with one answer, I mean with one guy
Speaker 1: and kind of roll with that guy, which is why
Speaker 1: I wrote with my guy Clay Towns Now. But until
Speaker 1: next week, don't forget subscribe to the show and to
Speaker 1: the Volume YouTube page. And next week we have another
Speaker 1: amazing guests, one of the best guards in the NBA.
Speaker 1: Obviously we've been around this whole All Star thing. That'll
Speaker 1: be post All Star, but he is an All Star,
Speaker 1: not this year due to injury, but we'll have one
Speaker 1: of the best guards in the NBA, one of the
Speaker 1: most clutched players, not in just the NBA but in
Speaker 1: NBA history. And so tweet the Volume and you guess
Speaker 1: who it is, and we may have a signed jersey
Speaker 1: or or Draymond Green shoe or something for the first
Speaker 1: person to get it right. So that I I said, for
Speaker 1: this week, see y'all next week from the Draymond Green Show.
Speaker 1: That's a rap piece.