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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Jason timp Podcast. Thank you guys so

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Speaker 1: much for taking time out of your day as usual

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Speaker 1: to come hang out and talk some basketball with me. Um,

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Speaker 1: I'm really excited for this week. On Friday at I

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Speaker 1: believe eleven o'clock California time, I have Tommy coming on

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna do a season preview. That's what I'll

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Speaker 1: give most of my thoughts about who I think is

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Speaker 1: gonna win, which conference, you know, which players I think

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Speaker 1: are gonna be you know, uh, set up for specific awards,

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Speaker 1: and and just basically all of your typical prediction stuff

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Speaker 1: for the NBA season. Like I said, Friday at about

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Speaker 1: eleven o'clock for that one, Um, today, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: be touching on this this whole fiasco with James Harden,

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Speaker 1: and then I'm gonna be touching on this Kyrie thing

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Speaker 1: with the media, and then a bunch of the stuff

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Speaker 1: that Lebron talked about in his most recent podcast with

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Speaker 1: r J and Channing on that road on the road

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Speaker 1: trip in podcast, I thought he had a lot of

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Speaker 1: interesting things to say, a lot of stuff that that

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Speaker 1: we can really dive into. And then I had quite

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Speaker 1: a few good questions um that were asked at the

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Speaker 1: tweet that I sent out earlier today, which I'll respond

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Speaker 1: to those as well. But again, thank you guys for

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Speaker 1: jumping for jumping on and and hanging out for a

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Speaker 1: little bit. Um. Let's get started with James Harden. So

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Speaker 1: this James Harden fiasco is similar but different to a

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Speaker 1: lot of the different star Power um you know flexes

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Speaker 1: in the player empowerment movement here in the last ten years.

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Speaker 1: It's similar in the sense that it's the same basic structure.

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Speaker 1: Player with multiple years left on his contract decides that

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Speaker 1: he no longer wants to play where he's playing, uh,

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Speaker 1: privately declares that he wants to be traded, doesn't really

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Speaker 1: say much publicly, and then privately releases a list of

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Speaker 1: teams that he deems are uh, you know, satisfactory to him,

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Speaker 1: even though in this particular case he doesn't have any leverage.

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Speaker 1: And so what we've heard from woaeses that he wants

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Speaker 1: to go to Brooklyn, and we know that he wants

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Speaker 1: to go to Philly. The big difference between this one

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Speaker 1: and the ones that we've seen elsewhere are that Harden

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Speaker 1: has made his own dead and that's the hardest thing

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Speaker 1: for me to try to sympathize with him on and

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Speaker 1: for the record, I am one of the biggest hardened

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Speaker 1: detractors that you'll meet on NBA, Twitter or really anywhere

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Speaker 1: that you go to talk basketball. I don't like the

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Speaker 1: guy I personally, I I basketball is very sacred to me.

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Speaker 1: Basketball has not not just as a fan, not just

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Speaker 1: as somebody wants who wants to watch the game. But

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Speaker 1: basketball has done great things for me. It's paid for

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Speaker 1: my school, it's it's prevented me from having massive amounts

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Speaker 1: of college debt. It's opened doors for me that that

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Speaker 1: have made my life easier, and I'm eternally rateful for that.

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Speaker 1: And James Harden bastardizes basketball in my opinion, Like I've

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Speaker 1: said on many times before, I think he commits basketball blasphemy.

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Speaker 1: He does things that hurt the health of the game.

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Speaker 1: And I think it's good that he has failed as

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Speaker 1: often as he has because it prevents the things that

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Speaker 1: he has done from becoming mainstream. I never have hidden

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Speaker 1: from that. So it's important for us to, you know,

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Speaker 1: start from there, so that everybody understands that where I

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Speaker 1: come from in my individual bias in that regard. That said,

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Speaker 1: even in within that lens, I still think what James

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Speaker 1: Harden is doing here is different from what these other

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Speaker 1: stars have done. If you look at Kawhi Leonard, you

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Speaker 1: know that's the team he was drafted by, and you

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Speaker 1: know he never really had a chance to be a

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Speaker 1: free agent and choose where he wanted to go. He

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Speaker 1: didn't like his role on that particular team. He didn't

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Speaker 1: like the way the team was managing his injury. Even

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Speaker 1: with Paul George, same exact thing. He had a private

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Speaker 1: agreement with the upper management of Oklahoma City like, Hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna resign here, but if I don't like it, like,

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Speaker 1: let's work something out with the trade And in the

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Speaker 1: okay See front office agreed with him on that. James

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Speaker 1: Harden willingly signed his future into uh into the Houston

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Speaker 1: Rockets organization at an extremely high salary, and he willingly

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Speaker 1: committed to them. There was no expectation that he would

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Speaker 1: want out in the middle of the contract. In addition

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Speaker 1: to that, he has dictated the vast majority of their

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Speaker 1: player movement le UHUM decisions over the last few years.

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Speaker 1: It was him that decided that CP three wasn't a

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Speaker 1: good fit. It was him who publicly went into a

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Speaker 1: press conference after that season and said, I know what

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Speaker 1: we need to fix. We need to and basically subtly

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Speaker 1: hinted at not so subtly hinted at the fact that

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Speaker 1: he wanted Chris Paul out of there. We now have

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Speaker 1: heard after the fact that you know through back channels

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Speaker 1: that Russell Westbrook was not happy with what he had

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Speaker 1: going on in UH. In Houston, James Harden has made

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Speaker 1: his own bed, and so from that, from that stame

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Speaker 1: point really difficult to sympathize with his plight. So if

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Speaker 1: I'm Houston, I'm sitting there and I'm saying I've got

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Speaker 1: him under contract for two years, and you know that

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Speaker 1: third year as a player option, that is such a

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Speaker 1: massive number that regardless of where James Harden ends up,

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Speaker 1: there's actually a pretty good chance that he ends up

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Speaker 1: accepting that player option, especially given what we know with

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Speaker 1: the stuff with China and the stuff with COVID in

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Speaker 1: the way it's impacted the way the salary cap has

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Speaker 1: gone up each year UH potentially moving forward. So the

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Speaker 1: reality is is James Harden has no leverage and he's

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Speaker 1: just throwing his he fit because he doesn't like the

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Speaker 1: bed that he made for himself. And so from that standpoint,

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Speaker 1: like I said this on Twitter the other day, you know,

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Speaker 1: I feel a great deal of vindication from the last

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Speaker 1: few years watching the way in which James Harden performed

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs and the way in which his team

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Speaker 1: fell short, because it justified the way I felt about

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Speaker 1: him as a basketball player. My basketball related takes about

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Speaker 1: James Harden, we're proven to be right based on those results.

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Speaker 1: But this incident is an example. It's vindication for the

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Speaker 1: people who didn't like the kind of guy that James

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Speaker 1: Harden was. The reality is is the reason why he

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Speaker 1: plays basketball the way he does is because of his personality.

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Speaker 1: He is a guy that cares more about himself than

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Speaker 1: the team. He is a guy that cares more about

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Speaker 1: his own personal experience as a member of the Houston

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Speaker 1: Rockets rather than that ultimate team goal. Now he's so

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Speaker 1: good that he nearly accomplished the team goal. I'm not

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Speaker 1: trying to undercut his basketball successes. I'm just saying it's

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Speaker 1: it's it's it's been refreshing for all of us who

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Speaker 1: suspected that this was the kind of guy he is

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Speaker 1: to see, you know, the comparison between the way he's

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Speaker 1: handled this, in the way that Russell Westbrook has handled this,

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Speaker 1: or the way that CP three has handled this, or

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Speaker 1: the way that all of these other stars who have

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Speaker 1: been put into circumstances that are less than ideal the

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Speaker 1: way that they've chosen to handle their circumstance. And I

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Speaker 1: think I think that, you know, I'm a big believer

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Speaker 1: that people inevitably will tell on themselves. I think that

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Speaker 1: if you're a certain type of person, you can put

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Speaker 1: forward a an image for a certain amount of time,

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Speaker 1: but inevitably you're going to reveal who you really are.

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Speaker 1: And that's what James Harden is doing right now. But again,

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Speaker 1: like that that that's just my opinion on the actual

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Speaker 1: Harden saga in and of itself. The reality is that

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Speaker 1: James Harden is a top ten player in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: I think he I think I put him at eight

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Speaker 1: in my list, so I had him above Yokich and

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Speaker 1: um Dame I believe at nine and ten. And so

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Speaker 1: the reality is this, here's a top ten player in

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Speaker 1: the NBA who realistically can be had in a trade

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Speaker 1: this season, and so it's time. If you're one of

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Speaker 1: those teams who has never really had an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: sign a star. If you're one of those teams that

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Speaker 1: when big free agent money is available and big free

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Speaker 1: agent classes are available, you're incapable of signing those players. Uh,

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Speaker 1: this is the kind of guy that can be had,

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Speaker 1: And so too. I think there's two my talk surrounding

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn and Philadelphia as the inevitable trade destinations for James Harden,

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Speaker 1: ignoring the fact that Houston's gonna trade if if you

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Speaker 1: know anything about Tillman for Tita, if you know anything

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Speaker 1: about this new general manager that's in the situation who

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Speaker 1: would probably like to start fresh, They're not beholden to

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Speaker 1: trade James Harden anywhere. They can trade him wherever they

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Speaker 1: want to trade him, especially considering the fact that he's

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Speaker 1: tied up for two probably three years. So from that standpoint,

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Speaker 1: you've got to learn from the history of the NBA

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Speaker 1: in the sense that risks are the only way to

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Speaker 1: eventually accomplish your ultimate goal, and our last two champions

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Speaker 1: are the best example of that. The Los Angeles Lakers

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Speaker 1: traded away a great deal of draft control. The Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers traded away almost all of their young talent.

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Speaker 1: The Los Angeles Lakers traded all of that away for

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Speaker 1: a player who had missed the playoffs five of the

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Speaker 1: previous seven years, who had had some injury concerns, and

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Speaker 1: you know, just in general was oh, he's only locked

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Speaker 1: up for one year. You only had one of remaining

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Speaker 1: on his contract before player options. So there was a risk.

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Speaker 1: The Los Angeles Lakers took a risk trading for Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: and it paid off because what we've learned about NBA

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Speaker 1: his in throughout NBA history is if you can put multiple,

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Speaker 1: you know, top ten NBA players on the same team,

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Speaker 1: you have a chance to win an NBA championship. And

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Speaker 1: that's what happened. Go back a year further here we

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Speaker 1: have Toronto. It's an even crazier risk when you factor

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Speaker 1: in Kauai's situation. He hadn't played basketball in over a year.

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Speaker 1: He was dealing with what a lot of people thought

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Speaker 1: was a degenerative knee issue. He was dealing with you know,

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Speaker 1: Popovich and a lot of his teammates saying he was

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Speaker 1: a bad leader in the public, that that that uh

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard situation was a much worse situation than the

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis situation. It was a much bigger risk than

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Speaker 1: the the Anthony Davis trade, and Toronto pulled the trigger anyway.

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Speaker 1: And I mean now in retrospect we can parse out

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Speaker 1: whether or not san Antonio got hosed in that deal,

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Speaker 1: and I think we can all agree that they definitely did.

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Speaker 1: But the reality is is they could have lost Kawhi

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Speaker 1: Leonard for nothing the following summer. Kawhi Leonard could have

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Speaker 1: come in and gotten hurt again. Kawhi Leonard could have

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Speaker 1: come in and been like, Hey, my knees still messed up.

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Speaker 1: I think I'm just gonna sit out for the entire

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Speaker 1: season and then blame it on an injury. Or he

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Speaker 1: could have been healthy and just pulled the straight up

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Speaker 1: boycott like he threatened to at one point in the media.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember whether it was his uncle or his agent,

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Speaker 1: but he basically privately threatened, Hey, if you don't trade

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Speaker 1: me to l A, I might sit out this season.

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Speaker 1: So the point being is Toronto took a big risk

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Speaker 1: in going after Kawhi Leonard and it paid off and

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Speaker 1: then winning an NBA championship. So your last two NBA

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Speaker 1: champions are teams that took significant risks and it ended

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Speaker 1: up paying off in them winning a title. Now that

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Speaker 1: also comes with another side of the coin that means

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Speaker 1: you can very well trade for that guy and it

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Speaker 1: might not work out. But my question for you if

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Speaker 1: you're in that fringe contender list and the and the

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Speaker 1: list that I've it out today was Denver, you know,

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Speaker 1: Toronto Philly. Teams like that that are you know, they're

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Speaker 1: really really good, but they're not good enough to beat

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. They're not good enough to beat you know,

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Speaker 1: the other top tier teams around the league. The reality

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Speaker 1: is is you're probably gonna lose with whoever your core

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Speaker 1: is right now anyway. So you have to ask yourself,

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Speaker 1: would I'd rather lose by pushing all my chips into

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Speaker 1: the middle and taking a legitimate, you know, potential path

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Speaker 1: to a title that may may go off the rails,

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Speaker 1: but maybe it doesn't. Maybe we get to hoist the trophy.

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Speaker 1: Or do you stick with the status quo with the

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Speaker 1: team that you know isn't enough to beat the more

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Speaker 1: talented teams in the league, but you know, maintain your

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Speaker 1: culture all those things that you keep telling yourself as

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Speaker 1: the reason why you won't go after James Harden and

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Speaker 1: so from that same point, Like if I was one

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Speaker 1: of those French contenders, if I was one of those

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Speaker 1: teams that had a lot of talent and you know

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Speaker 1: it wasn't really going anywhere these last few years, I

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Speaker 1: would be I would be more. I would be looking

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Speaker 1: really really hard at what I have and whether or

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Speaker 1: not this is feasible, And I would throw something at

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Speaker 1: James Harden because he's locked up under contract for like

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Speaker 1: I said, probably three years. If you look at that

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Speaker 1: massive I think it's almost fifty million dollars he's gonna

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Speaker 1: get paid in that third year. I'm guessing he's gonna

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Speaker 1: take that option. So the reality is, you could lock

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Speaker 1: up James Harden long term and give yourself a legitimate

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Speaker 1: chance to win a title, and if it goes poorly,

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Speaker 1: if he comes in and tries to ruin your culture,

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Speaker 1: you get to trade him again. You can trade him

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Speaker 1: again after this season. He's gonna have just as much

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Speaker 1: value with one year left on his deal as he

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Speaker 1: does with two two years left on his deal. Somebody's

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Speaker 1: gonna want him. I think it's I think it's a

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Speaker 1: risk that somebody out there needs to take. M HM.

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Speaker 1: And the reality is, like I said, You're not winning

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Speaker 1: the title unless you take some kind of risk. So

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Speaker 1: whether it's you know, whether it's Denver trying to throw

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, because like if you swap Jamal Murray for

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Speaker 1: for James Harden and you know, give up Michael Porter Jr. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're giving up some young talent. You know, Jamal Murray.

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray is is a is a star level player

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Speaker 1: who is locked up under contract. It's kind of thing

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Speaker 1: that Houston has been asking for. You give up some

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Speaker 1: draft picks, You give up Michael Porter Jr. Sounds like

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Speaker 1: a lot. But now I've got your kitchen Harden on

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Speaker 1: the same team. Now I've got two of the most versatile, skilled,

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Speaker 1: uh you know, offensive creators in the league on the

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Speaker 1: same team. That's something that's something that I can build around.

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Speaker 1: That's something that has a legitimate chance to win a title.

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Speaker 1: You know, But it's a risk. You could potentially ruin

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Speaker 1: your culture, you could potentially set yourself up for failure.

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Speaker 1: But the the truth of the matter is, ask yourself,

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Speaker 1: if you're a Nuggets fan, am I winning a title?

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Speaker 1: Whichamal Murray and Nicola Yokich And the answer is probably

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Speaker 1: not unless there's catastrophic injuries to several teams in the league.

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Speaker 1: So those are the kinds of risk that I'm talking

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Speaker 1: about that I think teams need to at least look

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Speaker 1: at as it pertains to James Harden. Alrighty, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about Kyrie here in a second. So, um, Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irving came out a couple days ago release the statement

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Speaker 1: basically said, you know, because of this incident recently where

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Speaker 1: I feel like the media has been twisting my words,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be releasing a statement to convey, you know,

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Speaker 1: my thoughts on this season. And it was very you know,

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Speaker 1: like uh even kosher and very safe, very safe statement.

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Speaker 1: Then that same day, Brian Windhorse comes out and says,

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Speaker 1: Kyrie has made it clear that he's not talking to

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Speaker 1: the media this year. And as is usually the case,

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Speaker 1: Kyrie kind of reminds me a little bit of LaVar Ball.

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Speaker 1: Not the same kind of guy. They're totally different stories,

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Speaker 1: but it's a similar dynamic in terms of the intellectual

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Speaker 1: conversation surrounding the two guys in that they have undisputed success.

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Speaker 1: LaVar Ball has put three kids in the NBA. One

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Speaker 1: of them, we'll see if he actually makes the opening

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Speaker 1: day roster. But he's put three kids in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: Three kids have signed NBA contracts. Like that's undeniable success

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Speaker 1: his brand, I'm not I'm not sure how big baller

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Speaker 1: brands doing anymore, but I'm sure he's made a great

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Speaker 1: deal of money. LaVar Ball is a success story, and

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Speaker 1: a lot of times that is you used to cover

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Speaker 1: up the fact that he's done a lot of stuff

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Speaker 1: that I don't think is okay morally. I think he's,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's he's There's been some examples of misogyny.

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Speaker 1: There's been some examples of I, in my opinion, taking

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Speaker 1: you know, the spotlight off of his children in a

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Speaker 1: way that I didn't think was uh necessarily the right

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Speaker 1: thing to do. But the truth of the matter is,

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Speaker 1: like I wish people were more honest and when they

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Speaker 1: were talking about LaVar Ball to cover both sides. Yes,

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Speaker 1: he was a success story, he also did some stuff

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Speaker 1: that I think isn't right. I think that should be

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Speaker 1: the way that we discussed this stuff. Kyrie kind of

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Speaker 1: falls into that same boat. He's an undisputed success story.

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Speaker 1: He's got a Nike shoe deal. As Lebron was saying

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Speaker 1: in that road trip in podcast. A Nike shoe deal

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Speaker 1: is nothing to slout chat. It's an extremely uncommon thing

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Speaker 1: that Nike gives out. Not only does he have a

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Speaker 1: Nike shoe deal, his shoe deal is doing. It's his

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Speaker 1: shoes performing extremely well. Kyriees are one of the most

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Speaker 1: popular basketball shoes out there. Although funny side story, for

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Speaker 1: whatever reason, I've never owned a pair of Kyriees. Don't

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Speaker 1: have any idea why. It's just just kind of you know,

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Speaker 1: by happenstand But anyway, the point is is, you know,

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Speaker 1: he's doing very well in that department. He's one of

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Speaker 1: the best ball handlers in the history of the league,

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Speaker 1: if not the best. He's hit arguably the biggest shot

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Speaker 1: in NBA history. Kyrie Irving is an NBA success story,

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Speaker 1: but because of his incessant, you know, flapping of the

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Speaker 1: gums and not thinking about what he says before he talks.

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Speaker 1: On various occasions throughout his career, he's put his foot

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Speaker 1: in his mouth and he's done stuff that has made

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Speaker 1: him look bad. And in addition to that, he has absolutely,

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Speaker 1: flat out, unequivocally been a bad teammate in several instances,

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Speaker 1: not always, He's been a good teammate sometimes, but he's

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Speaker 1: his you know, his personality is flaky, and it's kind

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Speaker 1: of an emotional roller coaster in the respect that on

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Speaker 1: any given situation, if he goes into one of his

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Speaker 1: you know, moody seasons, like he can pull away from

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Speaker 1: the team, he can make questionable comments to the press,

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Speaker 1: He can, you know, do things that fracture the chemistry

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Speaker 1: and culture of a locker room. That is a fact

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Speaker 1: about Kyrie, and it bothers me that with Kyrie we

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Speaker 1: can't have that honesty and just focus on the good

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Speaker 1: and the bad. You know, I would like to think

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Speaker 1: that if if a couple of my friends, for whatever reason,

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Speaker 1: sat down and had an honest conversation about me, they

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Speaker 1: could sit and talk about the things that they like

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Speaker 1: about me, and they could sit and talk about the

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Speaker 1: things that I do that they disagree with for whatever reason.

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Speaker 1: You know that that that's a normal part of human conversation.

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Speaker 1: No one's perfect. Everybody brings things to the table that

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Speaker 1: are positives. Everybody brings things to the tables that are negative.

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Speaker 1: And and the reality is is that Kyrie Irving has

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Speaker 1: made some mistakes in his career, and so that's what

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Speaker 1: bothers me so much about this most recent saga because

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Speaker 1: one of my biggest pet peeves is people who think

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Speaker 1: they're above the struggle. The reality is is everybody experiences

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Speaker 1: some amount of struggle. It's not equal. Some people experience

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Speaker 1: more struggle, some people experience less struggle. Not really going

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Speaker 1: to dive into that, but it bothers me when people

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Speaker 1: think they're above that in their particular path in life

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Speaker 1: that they chose. Being an NBA player is awesome. You

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Speaker 1: get lots of money, you get lots of fame, you

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Speaker 1: get to literally play a game for a living, you

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Speaker 1: get to do all of these things that that that

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Speaker 1: seemed like a dream existence for all of us working

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Speaker 1: folks out there, or you know, doing a lot less

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Speaker 1: fun thing for a limit. But the truth of the

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Speaker 1: matter is an NBA player's life is not all perfect.

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Speaker 1: It comes with downsides. You know. It comes with Ricky

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Speaker 1: Rubio getting traded. You know, Uh, he signs a multi

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Speaker 1: year deal with Phoenix, wants to settle his family there

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Speaker 1: and bam they ship him off to Okay. See who

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Speaker 1: bam shifts him off to to Minnesota. That's a negative

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Speaker 1: part of the NBA player experience, you know, there's wear

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Speaker 1: and tear on your body, There's risk of injury, there's

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Speaker 1: you know, most NBA players end up dealing with joint

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Speaker 1: problems when they're older. There's a lot of downsides to

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Speaker 1: choosing this path in life, and one of them is

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Speaker 1: the intricate relationship between the NBA media and the NBA player.

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Speaker 1: The reality is is that the m A media is

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Speaker 1: part of what makes the n B a a cash cap.

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Speaker 1: The reason why the NBA generates so much revenue is

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Speaker 1: because of the power of their stars, and their stars

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Speaker 1: have a great deal of power because they're marketed so well,

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Speaker 1: and they are marketed so well as a combination of

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Speaker 1: the media and just their on court performance. But the

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Speaker 1: media is part of that experience. And so I'm not

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Speaker 1: an expert on the way the player contract works, but

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Speaker 1: as far as I know, I'm pretty sure there are

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Speaker 1: there's terminology in the contract that requires these players to

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Speaker 1: communicate with the media. Why Because the NBA knows that

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Speaker 1: they need Kyrie Irving's face in interviews on camera, doing

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Speaker 1: these sorts of things to try to be uh, to

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Speaker 1: try to expand his profile and make himself a larger

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Speaker 1: figure in the NBA landscape. And so from that standpoint,

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Speaker 1: it bothers me. The Kyrie Irving thinks he's above that,

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Speaker 1: and the reality is as it comes with the downside,

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Speaker 1: every single NBA player in the entire league, at least stars,

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Speaker 1: have had something they said or something they did covered

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Speaker 1: unfairly by the media. It has literally happened to every

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Speaker 1: single star. Kyrie is not unique in that regard. He's

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Speaker 1: had some recent instances that are not really fair. But

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Speaker 1: the truth of the matter is that's part of the

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Speaker 1: NBA player experience because in the same way that NBA

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Speaker 1: players are not perfect, in the same way that Kyra

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Speaker 1: Irving has made mistakes in his career, the NBA media

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Speaker 1: is not perfect, and they have made mistakes in their careers.

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Speaker 1: And while there are some guys in the NBA that

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Speaker 1: you know, make dirty plays or or have bad attitudes

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Speaker 1: and fracture locker rooms and all the different bad things

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Speaker 1: that they can do, it's also possible for a journalist

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Speaker 1: who works in the NBA to misrepresent a statement or

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Speaker 1: to flat out lie in some cases. But you do

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Speaker 1: the same thing that every other NBA player does. When

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Speaker 1: that stuff happens, you refute it and you tell them

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Speaker 1: why they're wrong, and you defend yourself and then you

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Speaker 1: understand that for the most part, nine plus percent of

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Speaker 1: the time him when you say stuff, the NBA will

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Speaker 1: the NBA media will treat you fairly. That struggle that

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Speaker 1: Kyrie has experienced is the same struggle that every other

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Speaker 1: NBA star deals with with the NBA media. So that's

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Speaker 1: why I don't like in his you know, insistence on

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Speaker 1: feeling like he's above that. And so, you know what,

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Speaker 1: go ahead, if you want to skip on press conferences,

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Speaker 1: if you want to release statements and do it that way,

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Speaker 1: that's fine. I just think the NBA is well within

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Speaker 1: their rights to you know, find him, to find some

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Speaker 1: way to to try to hold him to his player contract.

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Speaker 1: It's a similar thing to the James Harden thing. James

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Speaker 1: Harden can hold out all he wants, James Harden can

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Speaker 1: miss training camp all he wants. The reality is, though,

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Speaker 1: per the contract, there's recourse, and I think the teams

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Speaker 1: are well within their rights to find them and to

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Speaker 1: do whatever it takes to get them to stick to

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00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,840
Speaker 1: their original agreement per the contract. That's just part of

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Speaker 1: being a grown up. It's literally part of how a

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Speaker 1: life works, and and it just like I said, it's

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Speaker 1: just I'm not not cool with him being viewed as

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Speaker 1: above that. And you know what's fun is the NBA

430
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:05,479
Speaker 1: media relationship. There's all of there's always a focus on

431
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 1: the examples where a player says something and it's misrepresented,

432
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,840
Speaker 1: but we always just forget about the times when the

433
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:18,639
Speaker 1: NBA media says something through good reporting and then the

434
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:23,360
Speaker 1: player denies it publicly, and then time ends up showing

435
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 1: that the original reporting was correct. How many times in

436
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:32,159
Speaker 1: NBA history have you seen star A requests to trade

437
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:37,600
Speaker 1: you know, journalists reports it, you know, whoever it is

438
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 1: that reports it. Star A then immediately goes on a

439
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: social media account denies it, and then all of a

440
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 1: sudden we find out it's true or it's abundantly clear

441
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 1: to all of us who are watching the situation, like, oh,

442
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,880
Speaker 1: these two guys don't like each other. Report comes out,

443
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,440
Speaker 1: these two guys don't like each other. These two guys

444
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,439
Speaker 1: then go on their social media and go, we are brothers,

445
00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: we love each other. And the next thing you know,

446
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:00,920
Speaker 1: they get traded a from each other and they look

447
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 1: way happier when they're not around each other. So there

448
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 1: that relationship goes both ways. Players lie, players are dishonest.

449
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: That's just part of that dynamic if if you know,

450
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 1: the media is always going to be an imperfect system

451
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 1: and and and no one is immune to that struggle.

452
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 1: Like I was saying earlier, Alright, we're gonna talk about

453
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: Lebron's podcast with our Jane Shanning on the road trip

454
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: and podcast. Alrighty, so there was all sorts of good

455
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,879
Speaker 1: stuff in that Lebron podcast with r Jane Shanning. That's

456
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: what happens when you get some tequila flowing. And that's

457
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,800
Speaker 1: what happens when you get guys like our Jane Shanning,

458
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 1: who are you know, very They don't take themselves seriously.

459
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:51,600
Speaker 1: They're very uh, easy going, relaxed, funny, you know, lighthearted,

460
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 1: that sort of thing. That sort of thing always finds

461
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,280
Speaker 1: a way to get people around them to kind of

462
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:02,119
Speaker 1: meet them at their level. It's say, it's contagious. I've

463
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: always people are contagious. If we spend time around people

464
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: who are who are condescending and rude and talk a

465
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,640
Speaker 1: bunch of ship, chances are you're gonna like eventually kind

466
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: of delve into that a little bit yourself. Spend time

467
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 1: around people who are really happy. It will it will

468
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: inevitably rub rub off on you. That's what happens with R.

469
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:19,600
Speaker 1: Jane Shannon. You get it. You get into a room

470
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 1: with those guys, and these stars just lighten up. They

471
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: become the funny, free flowing, you know, locker room version

472
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 1: of themselves, and then all this good stuff comes out,

473
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:29,800
Speaker 1: and it'll led you a lot of good stuff from

474
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: from Lebron. But I want to start with the Kyrie

475
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 1: comments because I think it's actually super interesting and I'm

476
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,680
Speaker 1: gonna call Lebron out on a little bit of hypocrisy here,

477
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 1: because Lebron goes on this long speel where he basically

478
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: says that you know, Kyrie uh made his comments saying

479
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,879
Speaker 1: that Kevin Duran was the first player he played with

480
00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: who he trusted to make a last second shot. So

481
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: Lebron says that he wants to find the full transcript

482
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 1: to find out exactly what he says, and then he

483
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,160
Speaker 1: calls his people and then he finds out that it's

484
00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:00,680
Speaker 1: it is as bad as it sounds, and then he go, damn,

485
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 1: I was really upset. It hurt me a little bit.

486
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 1: I can't believe that, you know all I did was

487
00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 1: trying to help Kyrie and lift him up and and

488
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: this is the way he's treating me now. And then

489
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,199
Speaker 1: later on in the same podcast, he basically did the

490
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,360
Speaker 1: same thing to Janice. And I know they're not teammates,

491
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,439
Speaker 1: but the point is is like it's it was a

492
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,440
Speaker 1: little bit hypocrisy in my opinion. So Janice just got

493
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,120
Speaker 1: done an interview in Greece where he's saying Lebron's praises

494
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,240
Speaker 1: like we've never seen, calling him the best player in

495
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,879
Speaker 1: the world, calling him the player he'd most likely would

496
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 1: want to win m v P if he didn't win it.

497
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 1: A guy he roots for, a guy he looks up to,

498
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: a guy he looked up to a lot when he

499
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:39,000
Speaker 1: was younger. Janice just absolutely just showered Lebron with love

500
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: in that interview with Greece, and then in his podcast

501
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,679
Speaker 1: with r J and Shanning, he goes out of his

502
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 1: way to basically defend Shanning fry By for saying that

503
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,239
Speaker 1: Janice can't score, and in the reality is just like

504
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 1: I agree, honest can't score, at least in the context

505
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,400
Speaker 1: of what Channing was trying to say, which is which

506
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: is playoff half court scoring, which is extremely difficult, and

507
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,479
Speaker 1: Janice definitely has a weakness there. But the point is

508
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 1: is Lebron went public with the fact that he believes

509
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 1: that you're honest can't score or at least he understands

510
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:11,439
Speaker 1: what Channing was trying to say when he was saying that.

511
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 1: So my point is is, like, you can't really necessarily

512
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,080
Speaker 1: get mad at Kyrie for saying something that bothered you,

513
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: uh you know, that you thought was disrespectful and inaccurate,

514
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 1: and then you kind of turn around and go do

515
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,760
Speaker 1: the same thing to be honest. You know that that

516
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: that's the hypocrisy in that regard. But again that's like,

517
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 1: that's that's part of that uh NBA media relationship. Players

518
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: make mistakes too, you know, Like Lebron is the kind

519
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: of guy he says, I found it uninterrupted to make

520
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 1: sure that my words don't get you know, parsed out

521
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 1: and and taken out of context and all this stuff.

522
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: But the truth is is, like Lebron, sometimes you contradict

523
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 1: yourself to That's part of the game. No one's perfect,

524
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 1: but like it goes, it goes both ways. That's part

525
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 1: of that relationship. You know, you're not perfect, you know,

526
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,800
Speaker 1: Dave McManaman is not perfect. Brian win Horse is not perfect.

527
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:58,840
Speaker 1: Adrian mor Zanowski is not perfect. Those guys are gonna

528
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 1: make mistakes. That part of that relationship. You guys all

529
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: need each other, the players in the media need each

530
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 1: other for the league to succeed, Alright. So the last one,

531
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,399
Speaker 1: there's obviously so much to talk about from that podcast,

532
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:11,720
Speaker 1: But the last one I really want to touch on

533
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,679
Speaker 1: is this Katie and Steph thing. So r J basically

534
00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: brings up the Katie Lebron relationship, the fact that there's

535
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: a lot of mutual respect there and the fact that

536
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,439
Speaker 1: the two of them, you know, push each other in

537
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 1: a similar way to the way that Magic and Larry

538
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 1: Bird pushed each other. Now, this isn't the first time

539
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: we've seen this brought up. This was originally brought up

540
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 1: by Lebron and Kadie themselves, I believe in the fall

541
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: of two thousand seventeen. No, it was All Star Break

542
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,200
Speaker 1: two thousand. In that two thousand seventeen two thousand and

543
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,439
Speaker 1: eighteen seasons, so Kevin Durant had just won his first

544
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,400
Speaker 1: title with the Warriors, and in All Star Break, Lebron

545
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant went on a taxi ride with Carrie Champion,

546
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 1: and in this taxi ride, Lebron and Katie basically we're

547
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 1: talking with each other and carry Champion about the fact

548
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,119
Speaker 1: that they viewed themselves. This is the two best players

549
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:04,960
Speaker 1: in the league in a tier by themselves. Now, part

550
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 1: of this, I think is, you know, positional similarities. You know,

551
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 1: Lebron and Katie are both small forwards. Lebron and Katie

552
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,240
Speaker 1: are both like, you know, versatile basketball players. Lebron and

553
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: Katie are have faced off in the finals at that

554
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: point twice. There's a lot of mutual respect there. But

555
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,200
Speaker 1: the truth of the matter is, and this is something

556
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 1: that has bothered me for a long time about the

557
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 1: about the Katie moved to Golden State, is that Katie's

558
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 1: claim to that tier with Lebron is flawed and there's

559
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 1: actually a player that has a much better case to

560
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: be in that tier, and that's Steph Curry. You know,

561
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 1: there's a tweet that I sent out a long time

562
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: ago that kind of encapsulated this. But you know, in

563
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 1: two thousand, fifteen and sixteen, there were two players who

564
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,760
Speaker 1: were clearly better than everyone else in the league. It

565
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: was Lebron and Steph Curry, and they were both on

566
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 1: teams that were, you know, reasonably similar levels of talent.

567
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 1: The Golden State I thought I had a little more

568
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 1: talent in that two thousand and sixteen years just because

569
00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 1: Kevin Kevin Love wasn't playing super well. But Kevin Durand

570
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 1: also had a very good team in that year. Him

571
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,840
Speaker 1: and Russell Westbrook was peaking as an athlete and Uh

572
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,680
Speaker 1: entering his mental prime as well. And Sergebaka was on

573
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 1: that team as a shot blocker. Stephen Steven Adams was

574
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: on that team. There's a lot of athleticism, and they

575
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 1: really overwhelmed Golden State, and they're athletically and defensively in

576
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: the two thousand sixteen Western Conference Finals. But the point

577
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:24,959
Speaker 1: is is that all three of those guys, Lebron, Stephen,

578
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 1: k D, We're on the similar level, with similar level teams,

579
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:34,080
Speaker 1: pursuing the similar goal. And there was a clear result.

580
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,480
Speaker 1: Steph beat k D and then Lebron beat Steph. The

581
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: hierarchy was very clear. You know, Lebron is clearly the

582
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 1: best player in the league. Staff is right there behind him,

583
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 1: and Katie is right there behind Steph. But then KD

584
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: decides to leave the thunder and go to Golden State,

585
00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 1: which inevitably led to success. You know, there there was

586
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,360
Speaker 1: oh conceivable method for that team to lose. With the

587
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 1: amount of talent that they had and with how boughten

588
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,760
Speaker 1: they were to start that season. They absolutely obliterated everybody

589
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 1: they played all season long. And yet, for whatever reason,

590
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: after that season, we landed at Kevin Durant and Lebron

591
00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: at the top tier of the league. We landed at

592
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant outplayed Lebron in the two thousand seventeen finals.

593
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: We landed at this concept that Kevin Durant had somehow

594
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:31,080
Speaker 1: leap frogged possibly both, if not just Steth to that

595
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 1: top tier of the league. And to me, that was

596
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: always illogical. It didn't make any sense to me to

597
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,480
Speaker 1: begin with. You know, my favorite example is just the

598
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: efficiency numbers that you look at. Kevin Durant is frequently

599
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 1: called the greatest scorer in NBA history by a lot

600
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: of people, not something I agree with. I think that

601
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: guy's MJ. But you know, he's a guy who gets

602
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:50,880
Speaker 1: a lot of credit as a score. But you look

603
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: at two thousand sixteen, Kevin Duran's sufficiency was tanking. Why

604
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 1: because he was the focus of the defense. Anytime Kevin

605
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,240
Speaker 1: Durant was dribbling with the basketball, they're running around off

606
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: the basketball. The defense was keyed around stopping Kevin Durant,

607
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,239
Speaker 1: and it led to his efficiency tanking. When he went

608
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 1: to go play with Steph, every team strategically, you know,

609
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: directed their defense towards stopping Steph, and it left k

610
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 1: D in single coverage almost every single time he had

611
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,600
Speaker 1: the basketball, and as a result, his efficiency went way

612
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 1: way up from not mistaken he went it was something,

613
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: it was over double digits. He went up like sixteen

614
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: and affected field goal percentage from two thousand and sixteen

615
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 1: two seventeen in the playoffs. There's some absurd number like that.

616
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,479
Speaker 1: That is the natural progression of things when you go

617
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,360
Speaker 1: from playing with a traditional contender to joining a team

618
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 1: that is already a traditional contender as the third or

619
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:46,880
Speaker 1: fourth best player in the league or whatever you think

620
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant was at that point, and it always it's

621
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: been one of the most confusing things that I've seen

622
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: in terms of you know, honest basketball discourse. In the

623
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:58,120
Speaker 1: last decade, Steph earned the right to be the guy

624
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 1: who's measured against Lebron Steph earned that right for a

625
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:07,360
Speaker 1: long time, for several years with flawed rosters, with teams

626
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: that weren't your traditional drug or not contender. There. There,

627
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:14,400
Speaker 1: Lebron and Steph Curry are the only two players that

628
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 1: belong in that conversation. Kevin Durant might belong in that conversation,

629
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 1: but it's based on you know, subjectivity or whatever your

630
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 1: aesthetic thing is that you love about Kevin Durant. None

631
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,520
Speaker 1: of it ever really made sense, you know, logically, none

632
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: of it ever really made sense in the results and

633
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 1: the stuff that we were actually seeing on the court.

634
00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 1: And so I feel I feel bad for step in

635
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,480
Speaker 1: that regard, and honestly, like I'm confused by Lebron's methodology there,

636
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 1: because if your case is that you know you're better

637
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,440
Speaker 1: than Steph or that if your case is that the

638
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:49,240
Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen Finals is the greatest accomplishment in NBA history,

639
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 1: and if your case is that you know you lost

640
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,480
Speaker 1: because Kevin Durant joined that team, then your case needs

641
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:57,800
Speaker 1: to be that Steph Curry is that guy your Steph.

642
00:32:57,920 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: Your case needs to be that Steph Curry is the

643
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 1: guy who is at your level because it lifts up

644
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 1: your accomplishment in two thousand and sixteen. It doesn't make

645
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,720
Speaker 1: sense to marginalize Steph because it takes some of the

646
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 1: gloss off of your accomplishment in that two thousand sixteen

647
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,800
Speaker 1: finals come back with the Cavs, in two with the Cavs,

648
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 1: and in that three one come back. I I just

649
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: don't understand the methodology of it. If I was a UH,

650
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 1: if I was Lebron, I would be talking all about

651
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 1: how great stuff is, because that's the guy that is

652
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 1: your pathway to, you know, solidifying your hold on the

653
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: goat debate. You know, I I played Steph Curry. It

654
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,719
Speaker 1: was a bona fide top ten player all time, at

655
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,040
Speaker 1: the absolute peak of his powers in an under an

656
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 1: undisputed m v P season, and I beat him. That's

657
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 1: the guy that you need to to to UH to

658
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: cling to. And I, you know, I went at length

659
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 1: in the in My Player Hierarchy pot a couple of

660
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: weeks ago about why I think k D is behind

661
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 1: Stepp and it all just stems from the similar stuff

662
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,800
Speaker 1: that I've talked about, you know, with aesthetics being overvalued.

663
00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,760
Speaker 1: You know, Kevin Durant makes it look so easy when

664
00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 1: he scores that people ignore the results, which are that

665
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: every season that Kevin Durant played away from Step, you know,

666
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,959
Speaker 1: he was less efficient and when push came to shove

667
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 1: in late round playoff series, he couldn't get in. He

668
00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,279
Speaker 1: couldn't do enough to get his team over the top,

669
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,320
Speaker 1: even though he spent his entire career playing with perennial

670
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,879
Speaker 1: MVP candidates. And you know it's from that same point

671
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 1: I've never really I've never really understood, you know, why

672
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: a guy who has bona fide results based evidence that

673
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,640
Speaker 1: he is better than k D and Step, and why

674
00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:33,120
Speaker 1: that always gets put on the back burner. Alrighty, So

675
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look real quick at our questions that we have.

676
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 1: I wrote a few of them down that I want

677
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:38,480
Speaker 1: to respond to when I would see if any new

678
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 1: ones popped up. And we have one from the uh

679
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 1: the live comments here. Do you think Harden gets dealt

680
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,880
Speaker 1: before the season starts? I do. My guess is that

681
00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,880
Speaker 1: he ends up in Philly. Um that's where my That's

682
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,920
Speaker 1: what my gut tells me. I think the trade makes

683
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 1: you know, I think the trade it makes absolute sense.

684
00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: I think Darryl Moorey is a really smart guy. I

685
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,839
Speaker 1: think Daryl Morey is cutthroat. I don't think Darryl Moorey

686
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:08,880
Speaker 1: is scared to hurt any feelings. And I know Darryl Moorey,

687
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: deep in his heart of hearts, knows damn well that

688
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,400
Speaker 1: James Harden is a much much better basketball player than

689
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:16,840
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons. I like Ben Simmons. He's good players probably

690
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 1: like I probably haven't around sixteen or seventeen in the league.

691
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 1: But the truth of the matter is, you know, James

692
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 1: Harden is a bona fide top ten player who is

693
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,800
Speaker 1: has famously in his career always stayed healthy. He is

694
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,240
Speaker 1: he's like, you know, a little bit of a uh,

695
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 1: you know, an iron man in that regard. It's in

696
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,359
Speaker 1: And it's also a much better complimentary piece with Joel

697
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: embiat you know, instead of having two players that operate

698
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:42,080
Speaker 1: in the paint who caused major problems for spacing, why

699
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: not swap one of those spacing concerns for a player

700
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 1: like James Harden, who's a you know, bona fide clear

701
00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,480
Speaker 1: uh fit with Joel embiid and it just makes a

702
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 1: lot more sense. And so I think I think you'll

703
00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:57,440
Speaker 1: end up seeing I think uh uh if I think

704
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,960
Speaker 1: if Philly was patient, they could get James Harden for

705
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 1: just Ben Simmons. I just think that I'm a big

706
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 1: believer in continuity. I'm a big believer in training camp mattering.

707
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in, you know, getting lots and

708
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,799
Speaker 1: lots of reps with your guys so that when they

709
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: get to the postseason they know how to play together.

710
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,759
Speaker 1: I think the smart tactical move is, if you're gonna

711
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:17,799
Speaker 1: go after James Harden, go after him now, even if

712
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:19,759
Speaker 1: you have to overpay a little bit, because you're better

713
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,359
Speaker 1: off getting a veteran minimum. You know, uh, buyout guy

714
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:26,000
Speaker 1: to fill out whatever other pieces you have to lose,

715
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 1: and and give James Harden and and and Joel Embiad

716
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: as many reps as possible to learn how to play together.

717
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: And I'm also a big believer in James Harden as

718
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,160
Speaker 1: a winner. If you surround him with all the guys

719
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,960
Speaker 1: you can make up for his shortcomings. If you put

720
00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,600
Speaker 1: James Harden around a really, really good defensive team, if

721
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 1: you put James Harden around an alpha who can go

722
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:47,439
Speaker 1: toe to toe with other stars, which I really believe

723
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,360
Speaker 1: joe El Embiad is just like CP three was and

724
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:52,839
Speaker 1: if you give him enough shooting, I think James Harden

725
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:57,600
Speaker 1: can succeed Joel embiad is that alpha you know, uh,

726
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: if they if they surround you know, Matisse Thyble and

727
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,239
Speaker 1: with Joel Embiide, you could that's the Tobias Harris, that's

728
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,560
Speaker 1: the core of a good NBA defense. If you get

729
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,440
Speaker 1: James Harden to buying in that regard, and as long

730
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,760
Speaker 1: as Seth Curry, you know, remains a serviceable defensive player,

731
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 1: you could have a team there with pretty good spacing

732
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:19,719
Speaker 1: because Tobias can shoot. Because Seth Curry can shoot you,

733
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: and you have the good like Yin and Yang with

734
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 1: with embiating Harden, that makes sense. And then you've got

735
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: em beats alpha mentality to make up for when Harden

736
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,520
Speaker 1: can kind of fade later in postseason games as he

737
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:34,960
Speaker 1: has a tendency to well the league find hardened for

738
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 1: his behavior. Are they're even able to so? From what

739
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 1: I understand, and again I'm not an expert in this stuff,

740
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,799
Speaker 1: From what I understand, this falls to the team, So

741
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:50,239
Speaker 1: the league, uh doesn't necessarily have recourse here. However, the

742
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,560
Speaker 1: player contract with the team gives the team the ability

743
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 1: to find a player for not showing up to practice,

744
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 1: or to suspend a player for not showing up to practice.

745
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:05,319
Speaker 1: But there's another side of that coin. M and I

746
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:07,400
Speaker 1: believe it was Zach Low that talked about this in

747
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 1: his pot the other day. There is a fear that

748
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:17,239
Speaker 1: exists between you know, teams and the agent pool that

749
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 1: if you punish a star player for misconduct, it might

750
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,120
Speaker 1: scare other stars away. And I heard that today when

751
00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:26,839
Speaker 1: I was actually today when I was listening to the pod,

752
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,399
Speaker 1: and I actually I kind of disagree with that ideology.

753
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 1: You know, I would feel confident if I was a

754
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:36,480
Speaker 1: general manager and I had to find James Harden for

755
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,840
Speaker 1: not showing up to practice, I would feel confident that

756
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,399
Speaker 1: in a free agent class in the future that if

757
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:46,880
Speaker 1: I had, you know, Bradley Beale sit down at a

758
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:48,640
Speaker 1: table with me and he's like, all right, tell me

759
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,880
Speaker 1: why I should come to Houston. You know what the

760
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,320
Speaker 1: heck happened when you find James Harden. I look Bradley

761
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,719
Speaker 1: in the face and I'd say, look, man, I'm trying

762
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,640
Speaker 1: to run a tight ship here. You know, I am

763
00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,200
Speaker 1: a leaver that you know in this organization, we have accountability.

764
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:08,319
Speaker 1: And it's my opinion that by setting that culture, it

765
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,359
Speaker 1: makes our team better, you know, by showing that no

766
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,759
Speaker 1: one is immune to to you know, uh, you know,

767
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:18,359
Speaker 1: disobeying the rules of our team. I I'm setting a

768
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:21,279
Speaker 1: culture that will lead to good things for the team

769
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:23,560
Speaker 1: in the future. And you know what, if Bradley Beal

770
00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 1: looks back at me in that situation and he goes like, well,

771
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:28,920
Speaker 1: I don't want to be a part of something like

772
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 1: that where you're not going to have my back, then

773
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 1: you know, maybe that's not the kind of star that

774
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,520
Speaker 1: I want. The truth of the matter is is that

775
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,800
Speaker 1: this is a guy who is blatantly violating his player contract.

776
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,759
Speaker 1: In any sort of punishment that you lever levy on

777
00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:43,680
Speaker 1: him is not a sign of weakness in my in

778
00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 1: my opinion, it's a sign of strength. And the kind

779
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,040
Speaker 1: of guys you're gonna turn away who might be offended

780
00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 1: by that aren't the kind of guys that I want

781
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,839
Speaker 1: to be in my organization anyway. And I'm not saying

782
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,720
Speaker 1: you have to make some big public thing. Maybe it's private,

783
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,320
Speaker 1: but you you you you punish James Harden for obeying

784
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:04,040
Speaker 1: his player contract, you know why, so that if the

785
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,439
Speaker 1: tenth man on the bench, you know, sleeps in in

786
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,239
Speaker 1: in skips practice some day during the season, and you

787
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,960
Speaker 1: have to find him. You don't have him like sulking

788
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:14,719
Speaker 1: in the corner and or going to the press or

789
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:17,360
Speaker 1: doing something to complain about how he doesn't obey. It

790
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:20,160
Speaker 1: doesn't have to, uh, you know, follow the same rules

791
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,120
Speaker 1: that James Harden does, and that that's the tightrope that

792
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,440
Speaker 1: you walk when you start giving special treatment to players.

793
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:29,799
Speaker 1: All right, let's look at what other questions we have here.

794
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,000
Speaker 1: How excited are you to see Lebron play more off

795
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,879
Speaker 1: the ball this season with Dennis and Gasol being able

796
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:44,680
Speaker 1: to initiate the offense. So I talked about this a

797
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:48,440
Speaker 1: lot with the Clippers last year. I hope that things

798
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 1: still stay with Lebron on ball as much as possible.

799
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:53,520
Speaker 1: And the reason for that is is that I'm a

800
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,960
Speaker 1: big believer in rhythm and flow, and I'm a big

801
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 1: believer that you know, with exception of fatigue related uh,

802
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 1: you know, his civity, you need to keep the ball

803
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:03,839
Speaker 1: in the hands of your best players as much as

804
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,120
Speaker 1: you can. You know, when Lebron is on the bench,

805
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 1: when Lebron is on the court and resting, you know,

806
00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:10,759
Speaker 1: as he likes to do especially when he, you know,

807
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 1: starts to step up his minutes. I'm a big believer that,

808
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,040
Speaker 1: you know, you want to put the ball in someone

809
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,520
Speaker 1: else's hands because he can, because Lebron can spot up, shoot,

810
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,320
Speaker 1: because Lebron can cut, because Lebron can do the stuff

811
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,960
Speaker 1: off the ball. But when Lebron is feeling good, and

812
00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,879
Speaker 1: when Lebron's on the court, you need to run the run,

813
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,400
Speaker 1: run the offense through him as much as possible because

814
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,239
Speaker 1: he's the second or first or second best player ever

815
00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 1: and he's the best player in the world, and you're

816
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,359
Speaker 1: you're doing your team at disservice if you don't have

817
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:38,440
Speaker 1: him be aggressive, you know. So, I'm excited for what

818
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:41,239
Speaker 1: Dennis can do in the second unit. I'm excited for

819
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,080
Speaker 1: what Marc Gasol can do as a high i Q

820
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 1: off ball player. But the truth of the matter is

821
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:50,239
Speaker 1: is that, you know, uh, those guys don't need to

822
00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:52,799
Speaker 1: be taking your too many of the touches away from

823
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:54,640
Speaker 1: Lebron and Anthony Davis. They need to they need to

824
00:41:54,640 --> 00:42:00,640
Speaker 1: remain aggressive. Of the teams that made a eeper playoff

825
00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 1: run in the bubble, do you think there's any team

826
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,480
Speaker 1: that may have actually benefited from the short turnaround, So

827
00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,400
Speaker 1: the one to look at for me would be Boston. Um.

828
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:11,080
Speaker 1: The reason why is because Kemba is gonna be sitting

829
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:14,239
Speaker 1: out anyway with the stem cell injection that he got

830
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:17,520
Speaker 1: in his kneecap. So from that standpoint, like your only

831
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:21,600
Speaker 1: real veteran player on the roster is resting. Your other

832
00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,320
Speaker 1: old guy on the roster, Gordon Hayward has been shipped

833
00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:27,680
Speaker 1: off UM and Tristan Thompson, the guy you brought into

834
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,279
Speaker 1: play center is has had a ton of time off,

835
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,200
Speaker 1: and uh Jeff Teague has also had a ton of

836
00:42:34,239 --> 00:42:38,200
Speaker 1: time off. So you're starting lineup fatigue. Marcus Smart, Jason

837
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,560
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, and and uh M Jalen Brown and Tristan

838
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,719
Speaker 1: Thompson are all either young guys who are capable of

839
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,080
Speaker 1: having a quick turnaround because of their youth, or guys

840
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:51,440
Speaker 1: who have had a lot of time off. So Boston

841
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,239
Speaker 1: is a team that I think has a good chance

842
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 1: to come in and attack the season early on and

843
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:58,320
Speaker 1: have a lot of success early that the teams that

844
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,239
Speaker 1: are gonna struggle early are going to be your older

845
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:03,880
Speaker 1: veteran teams that take distance from basketball in the short break.

846
00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:05,080
Speaker 1: You know a lot of teams You've heard a lot

847
00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:07,920
Speaker 1: of talk from Clippers players, Lakers players. I've heard it

848
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 1: from a lot of like veteran players that you know,

849
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,879
Speaker 1: they stopped stribbling a basketball and just for their own

850
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:16,680
Speaker 1: mental health, just got away from the game over these

851
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,000
Speaker 1: last two months. And I think those guys are smart

852
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: to have done that, and I think that those uh,

853
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 1: it will hurt them in the short term. They're gonna

854
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,360
Speaker 1: see teams like that suffer some early season losses to

855
00:43:27,480 --> 00:43:30,560
Speaker 1: more zealous teams, to more you know, uh, you know,

856
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,360
Speaker 1: to hire effort teams, younger teams early in the season,

857
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:35,920
Speaker 1: but it will benefit them in the long run. And

858
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,920
Speaker 1: then teams that like Boston who have young talent and

859
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,800
Speaker 1: influx of newer players that haven't been dealing with the

860
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,000
Speaker 1: bubble turnaround, those are the teams that are going to

861
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 1: have some success early in the season and jump to

862
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:48,120
Speaker 1: the top of the standings. Don't be surprised if Boston

863
00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:51,120
Speaker 1: is the one seed, you know, a ten fifteen games

864
00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,359
Speaker 1: through the season. All right, see what else we got?

865
00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:57,640
Speaker 1: All Right, this is the last one I'm gonna do.

866
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:02,200
Speaker 1: Dark Horse m VP candidate and dark Horse Championship contender.

867
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,280
Speaker 1: So I haven't dug too much into my m VP stuff.

868
00:44:06,280 --> 00:44:08,120
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be doing that on Friday, so I'm gonna

869
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:12,240
Speaker 1: leave that one. But I really do think that Philly

870
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:17,040
Speaker 1: is an interesting dark horse championship contender. The idea there

871
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,399
Speaker 1: is if they make a trade for James Harden. And

872
00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:23,239
Speaker 1: I know I'm down on James Harden, but I do

873
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 1: believe that there is an opportunity in the Eastern Conference

874
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:29,319
Speaker 1: because of the lack of high end talent. You know,

875
00:44:29,760 --> 00:44:31,840
Speaker 1: there is high end talent there now with the influx

876
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,360
Speaker 1: of Kevin Durant and and James Harden in this theoretical

877
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:39,440
Speaker 1: situation where he gets traded to Philly, but the Eastern

878
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:43,040
Speaker 1: Conference is being duked out by Jimmy Butler, Jana Santana Coombo,

879
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:47,359
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum, really flawed stars, stars that you know. Joanna

880
00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:49,480
Speaker 1: Santana Coopo, I think is the sixth best player in

881
00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,880
Speaker 1: the league, but he has some big holes in his

882
00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 1: game that make him a less you know, imposing playoff player.

883
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:57,279
Speaker 1: And then Jimmy Butler is kind of the opposite of that.

884
00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 1: He's not that talented of a player, but he has

885
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:01,040
Speaker 1: so much playoffics variants that he brings a lot to

886
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:04,880
Speaker 1: the table in that regard. So from that standpoint, you know,

887
00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:08,480
Speaker 1: there's there's an opening in the East for an alpha

888
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:11,080
Speaker 1: type personality to step in and have a lot of success.

889
00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,319
Speaker 1: There's an opening in the East for someone to do

890
00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:17,080
Speaker 1: what Lebron did in two thousand eighteen, is what I'm saying.

891
00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:22,080
Speaker 1: And I have my doubts about Brooklyn strictly stemming from

892
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: Katie's health, Kyrie's health, the weird personality mix in that

893
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:29,800
Speaker 1: locker room, the lack of guys who do dirty work,

894
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:33,920
Speaker 1: the lack of your traditional championship level role players, and

895
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:37,800
Speaker 1: that roster. Philly's already got all of that seth Curry

896
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,200
Speaker 1: is an awesome to guard, one of the highest percentage

897
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:43,120
Speaker 1: three point shooters in the league, a really really solid

898
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: role player to put along to two stars. Tobias Harris.

899
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,839
Speaker 1: Is massively overpaid, but he's a really good player. He's

900
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:53,239
Speaker 1: massively overpaid, but when he's your third best guy, that

901
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,640
Speaker 1: kind of works. And then Joel Embiid and any given

902
00:45:56,719 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 1: night can be the best player in the world. And

903
00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:02,279
Speaker 1: so James Harden is kind of in the perfect situation

904
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:06,440
Speaker 1: there to vault a flawed team that's the middle of

905
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:09,439
Speaker 1: the pack. Eastern conference team into a team that could

906
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:13,200
Speaker 1: just as easily win that conference. James Harden can go

907
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:14,960
Speaker 1: toe to toe with any of those other stars in

908
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,919
Speaker 1: that conference except for maybe k D and can beat

909
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:23,040
Speaker 1: them and his The supporting cast around James Harden in

910
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:27,760
Speaker 1: Philly under those circumstances is better than the supporting cast

911
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:30,120
Speaker 1: that Kevin Durant would have in Brooklyn. And I think

912
00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:31,440
Speaker 1: if it pushed came to shove and you had a

913
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:34,440
Speaker 1: Philly Brooklyn Conference final or a Philly Brooklyn showdown, that

914
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: would lead to the team that would inevitably win the East.

915
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:38,560
Speaker 1: I think James Harden can come out of top of

916
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:41,080
Speaker 1: that matchup. Then in the NBA Finals, anything can happen.

917
00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:44,120
Speaker 1: It's about injuries, it's about fatigue. It's a war of attrition.

918
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:47,359
Speaker 1: You know, look at last year with UH. You know,

919
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:51,360
Speaker 1: Miami brings it to one and if you guys remember

920
00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:54,160
Speaker 1: UH in the I think it was in the close

921
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,760
Speaker 1: out game and when it was three one, but Anthony Davis,

922
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,400
Speaker 1: you know, looked there for a second, can might to

923
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,719
Speaker 1: towards Achilles. Now he didn't. He was fine in the

924
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:05,080
Speaker 1: in the in the Lakers one. But the truth of

925
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,560
Speaker 1: the matter is like something like that happens, and you know,

926
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:10,080
Speaker 1: I think Lebron still would beat Miami, but who knows,

927
00:47:10,120 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 1: anything could happen. An injury like that could swing things,

928
00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:14,920
Speaker 1: you know, and a lot of times injuries happened in

929
00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,440
Speaker 1: previous rounds and then they drag on and then fatigue

930
00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:20,400
Speaker 1: can play a role. So if you're James Harden and

931
00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:22,480
Speaker 1: you can get to if you can get to Philly

932
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:25,799
Speaker 1: and that amazing supporting cast there in Philly, all it

933
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:27,839
Speaker 1: is you gotta knock out Kevin Durant. If you do,

934
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:29,360
Speaker 1: you've got the best team. You're gonna get it to

935
00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:31,640
Speaker 1: the You're gonna get to the finals. And then who knows,

936
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 1: you know, the two l E teams beat the ship

937
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 1: out of each other. Lebron's fatigue, Lebron's hurt. Who knows

938
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:39,279
Speaker 1: what the deal is there, but there's an opportunity there.

939
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:42,560
Speaker 1: And so my dark horse Championship contender is Philly under

940
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:46,840
Speaker 1: the circumstance where they can trade for James Harden. Alrighty,

941
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:49,759
Speaker 1: that's all I have for today, guys. Like I said, Friday,

942
00:47:49,960 --> 00:47:53,560
Speaker 1: eleven am Pacific Standard time, we're gonna be doing the

943
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:56,840
Speaker 1: season preview with Tommy. Um. I know a lot of

944
00:47:56,880 --> 00:47:58,759
Speaker 1: you guys get annoyed because he can be an anti

945
00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 1: Lebron guys sometimes. But first of all, like we're all fans,

946
00:48:02,239 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 1: we're all biased, we all have our issues. If you

947
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:07,600
Speaker 1: have a you know, Tommy is just a guy like

948
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:10,279
Speaker 1: you guys. He just feels differently. And most importantly, it

949
00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:13,200
Speaker 1: makes for fun discussion. I'm a pro Lebron guy, so

950
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,279
Speaker 1: it leads to more debate. It's no fun to just

951
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,440
Speaker 1: have someone come on here and agree with me on everything.

952
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,080
Speaker 1: And most importantly, it's not that serious. It's bad. It's

953
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:23,279
Speaker 1: not that serious. It's basketball discussion. And so Tommy's gonna

954
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:25,879
Speaker 1: come on, We're gonna disagree on some stuff. It's gonna

955
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:29,800
Speaker 1: be fun. If if Tommy says something that is unfair

956
00:48:30,239 --> 00:48:32,440
Speaker 1: and that you disagree with, chances are I'm gonna be

957
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:34,759
Speaker 1: there to advocate for whatever your side of of that

958
00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:37,439
Speaker 1: debate is. So it should be fun. Like I said

959
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:40,560
Speaker 1: Friday eleven am, thanks again as always for you guys

960
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:42,840
Speaker 1: to support I really, really truly appreciate it. If you

961
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:46,520
Speaker 1: haven't done so yet, you know, subscribe, if you could

962
00:48:46,560 --> 00:48:48,360
Speaker 1: write a review, if you could drop a rating for me,

963
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,760
Speaker 1: it would mean a lot to me. But as usually

964
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:52,719
Speaker 1: appreciate your guys to support and I'll see you guys

965
00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:53,240
Speaker 1: on Friday.