Ben Simmons' COMEBACK Ramps Up, Ant & LaMelo's Wolves Are DIFFERENT & OKC Might've Done It Again! Part 1

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0:03 That's some good clapping going on. All right.

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0:13 Roll clap.

0:14 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:15 They un-messing up in the back. Shout out to our staff and crew. This is Gil's Arena. I'm your host, Josiah Johnson. I'm here with NBA legend, 2K Unk with badges, and theater king, Gilbert Arena. Non-Zendaya. I'm a non-Zendaya. Just a regular player.

0:30 A non-Zendaya. Just a regular. I don't got the Zen. I don't got the Zen. You know, my 30 is a natural 30. You feel me?

0:39 You know?

0:40 Hey, Ronnie, man, you got to do something, dog. Another nigga shoot from half court, man. We're going to have problems, bro. Mother got 67.3 shoot from half court talking. Like, come on, man.

0:53 It's okay. You're going to get banged in the next wave. Non-Zendaya. The non-Zendaya, baby. Okay.

0:59 Trade casual. Thank you.

1:00 Hey, hey, hey. A casual. Hey, hey.

1:03 97. Brick.

1:04 All right. Yeah. I need more cap breakers.

1:09 We got four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection Demarcus Cousins back in here with us.

1:16 Also known as Book.

1:19 And we got NBA champion of the world, and when he's not here, you can catch him on his Shump Street podcast.

1:24 Amon Shumpert.

1:25 Shump Street.

1:29 Back here with us in the arena. What's up, everybody? Glory's Tuesday. How we feeling? Tuesday, man. Nice. Almost Friday. Almost there, man.

1:37 Almost Friday.

1:38 He said almost Friday. It's almost Friday. It's almost NBA season, man. Something like that. I can't wait to get that 1-0.

1:43 It's time.

1:44 What? Who?

1:45 Lakers win the first game. Oh, Lakers won the first game. 24 hours of me talking shit. Probably about 12, about 14. You got a long season, so we'll let you have your 20. That's all sometimes you need. That's all you need sometimes.

1:58 You got a long season.

1:59 Y'all got a cool schedule.

2:02 Huh?

2:02 Y'all got a cool schedule.

2:04 Yeah, we start off nice, right? You represent, baby.

2:08 This is a Kobe jersey. I know, that's 60. It's a Lakers jersey. Yeah, this is a Kobe. Is that the one I dropped 60 on? It's not a Lakers jersey. It's a Kobe. It's not a Lakers jersey. It's a Kobe jersey. Okay.

2:17 Now, is that the one I dropped 60 on? Because it got the 60 patch. Is that my 60 on here?

2:22 They made some special ones that I should. That's probably his 60. Or Rowley's 60. You never know.

2:28 But we got a lot of things to discuss. Here's what's cracking in the arena today. Thank you guys for paying attention. Wolves head coach Chris Finch says his team went from moody to giddy after their blockbuster trade for the mellow ball. But how far will that giddiness get them this season? Ben Simmons made his return to the court after taking a sabbatical last season. Is the former number one pick destined for a major comeback? And the Thunder may have struck gold with their first round picks.

2:55 Are Adai Mar and Bennett Sturtz ready to make an impact in their rookie campaigns? Ladies and gentlemen, mostly fans, back for our Super Chat. For the time being, we have some things in the work. So get it while the getting's good. Throw some in the offering plate. Drop your questions. We'll pick some of those to answer at the.

3:10 End of the show.

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4:28 Gil, we are everywhere you want to be. I like it.

4:31 But let's talk some basketball. So Wolves made some major moves. this offseason to revamp the roster, trading away Julius Randle and Nas Reed to secure LaMelo Ball in a blockbuster deal that signaled a new era in Minnesota. Wolves were in the Big Apple Monday to take on the Knicks. Before the game, Chris Finch broke down what's different for his squad heading into this season with LaMelo. So before the game, Finch had this to say. He said, Finch said LaMelo is always in a great mood and that him and Ant-Man are hard to stay mad at because they bring a reflective joy to the team. which is infectious before adding, we refer to ourselves as a moody team in the last couple of years at times, and it's probably gotten in our way. We've traded moodiness for giddiness.

5:14 So we've got to kind of get back to some sort of equilibrium, but it's fun to go to work every day. So far traded moodiness for giddiness. That's what he said. Chris French's word, not mine. So with former Wolves forward, Julius Randle, now across the river in Brooklyn, Nas Reed getting shipped to Charlotte. Finch picked an interesting time to share those thoughts Monday. But meanwhile, on the MSG floor, Minnesota was proving their coach right as Ant-Man LaMelo and Jada McDaniel delivered another solid performance in what some call the mecca of basketball. We know it's Los Angeles, but shout out to New York as well. So Wolves gave Kaminga the night off but had four of their five projected starters as the Knicks had their entire starting five.

5:55 Anthony Edwards went on a bucket-getting spree in his 25 minutes of action, scoring 20 points in the first half. put up a game-high 26 points, along with three rebounds and three assists, hitting five of his eight three-point attempts. Jaden McDaniels continued to look like a dependable third option for this Wolf squad, putting up 22 points on eight of 12 shooting. McDaniels was four for five from long range in this game, while LaMelo Ball, LaVar Ball's baby boy, served as a facilitator, finishing with 10 points and seven assists, but also a game-high five turnovers. Wolf shot 55% from the field, 63% from deep in the first half, and continued that solid shooting in the second half, hitting 18 threes.

6:38 In this game. Oh, look at that, man. You see it.

6:44 In MSG, bright lights. Knicks have not won a game this preseason. I don't know if that means anything to you guys, but have rolled out that starting unit. Man, all that tagging shit.

6:53 Don't want to give nobody no bread.

6:55 Want to play with Catterhart's money. But the Wolves cruise to an 18-point win. They're now 3-1 this preseason. Thanks in part to plays like that. Just taking turns.

7:11 On the Knicks. Who want to give a bucket on this possession? On the who? The Wolves just taking turns on the Knicks. Offensively. I heard something totally different. Damn! Ended the half with the bucket. I like the new sign language. I just love the fact that they're having so much fun.

7:36 Man, LaMelo already had Charlotte doing that. But it's like when you got that contagious, I love the game. I think his words, like, I don't want Nas Reed to ever feel like he was the reason for the moodiness. I think LaMelo kind of balances Ant's moodiness.

7:55 Mm-hmm.

7:56 Ant had a different responsibility to take on. And because of that, he was up and down. Now, he's back doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing. He knowing, I got somebody that low-key is pass first. He can shoot it, he can score, but he's a pass first guard. And I'm his favorite target. I can trust that. You can sell by the handshake and everything. He like, you know to give me that motherfucker, right?

8:22 And that feeling.

8:24 especially if you're a fan in Minnesota, I can't imagine what it's going to be like in Minnesota.

8:28 I have never said I want to go to Minnesota. It's my favorite team this year. But I want to go. Same.

8:35 I want to be a part of it.

8:37 I might wear the colors and everything.

8:40 You know what I'm saying? Timberwolves this year, man.

8:43 Yeah, like, no, no, I just want to be a part of the fandomonium. Like, I get why y'all are. Like, I wanted to be a part of Charlotte.

8:48 I need some lime green. Yeah, like, I wanted to wear the old Bobby Fields jersey. That neon joint. Shout out Bobby Fields, the legend. Shout out.

8:55 Hey, I didn't get what y'all got. Let me go ahead and get some of that. Chris, stop.

8:59 Where'd you get these two? I want to get some of that. Like, now niggas want to go to the cold?

9:05 That's what I'm saying. Let me get what they got.

9:09 I'm just saying. What they put together.

9:11 Like, fly there and land. No face down.

9:13 When they first said it, though, Mars was questioning it. Who was? When LaMelo first got traded to Minnesota, that was the talk.

9:21 No, not for me. I've been celebrating this. It was a big question mark.

9:24 I must have been on in one height.

9:26 But no, no, no. You got basketball.

9:27 You know what I'm saying? I don't expect no level.

9:29 I'm not on in one height.

9:30 You know what I'm saying? Our level of seeing the game is a little different.

9:33 What we saw was like that's going to work. Personality, everything. That's going to be great.

9:38 Yeah.

9:38 They're the new Portland Trailblazers to me.

9:41 That's the, you know what I'm saying?

9:43 That's the Sheed, yeah. That's how I feel about them. It's an excitement.

9:47 I don't know if it's that extreme.

9:48 I'm talking about the excitement.

9:50 Okay.

9:50 Where it's like, who would go to Portland? Facts. When she was over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mighty Mouse was over there.

9:57 Right, right, right.

9:58 Oh, yeah. I go see Cliff.

10:00 Come on.

10:00 Let's go, Cliff. Come on, Cliff.

10:03 Take a trip. Hey, Cliff.

10:04 I'll pull up.

10:05 And we stuck in the 3-5. Hey, y'all. Black and red. I'm a Chicago nigga.

10:09 You feel me i like a little black and red but i'm saying the pandemonium like i would have loved to be in charlotte with the big turquoise uh starter jacket puffer you feel me i love to pull up and watch the game and just be part of the pandemonium for a little bit like that's all i'm saying like mellow worth the ticket as far as i'm concerned because when you see him with minnesota now Last, every year before, which.

10:34 Man, they just missed. I don't know.

10:39 I can't put my finger on it.

10:41 I'm looking down. I'm like, Rudy Gobert, I love this. Now you love it, right? I love it. Like, Rudy, it makes sense.

10:48 I think it makes sense now. It makes so much sense. Rudy game will open up as well. Hey, Rudy, two-hand.

10:53 I need two-hand contests.

10:54 All he needs is catch and finish.

10:55 I need two-hand contests.

10:56 You know what I'm saying?

10:57 Challenge at the rim.

10:59 You know what I'm saying?

10:59 Deflect a couple passes. A couple pocket passes. Just deflect.

11:03 Get a thing on it.

11:03 You know what I'm saying? We off to the races. It's lobs. We throwing them off the glass. We doing all type of shit. Jay McDaniels, he evil. I love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

11:11 You need an evil guy. He's Anthony Mason as far as I'm concerned. He just don't like nobody. He never smiles. Like, I love it.

11:18 I love this shit. That's my type of team, man. That's my type of ball game.

11:22 He drop 40. No smile. He looks adorable.

11:23 He's the one who broke his hand like his rookie year, right? Yeah.

11:27 Punching something? Yeah.

11:29 He's bad as hell, and I love it.

11:31 He's bad in the world. Give me him. Give me him.

11:33 He picking shit up 94 feet. Yes, he don't like nobody. He going to interviews. He's going to be on this team.

11:39 That's it.

11:39 He don't like nobody else but his teammates.

11:41 I love that.

11:42 Yeah, that's a perfect harmony of personalities.

11:46 I'm like, and then you got Rudy Gobert.

11:47 You know what I'm saying?

11:48 Overseas guy. Let's go, guys.

11:50 Yeah.

11:51 Very positive. Put his hands together. You know what I'm saying? Really fill out the team. Yeah.

11:56 Put the mans together.

11:57 Keep everybody calm. I don't know. Rudy punching on shit, too. Yeah, he probably is mad. He can't communicate well, so you know what I'm saying?

12:05 He got to beat this.

12:06 We, we, we. You know what I'm saying?

12:08 Might have to put you in the airlock or something.

12:10 So this Wolf Squad had you guys debating jumping on a Delta flight to Minneapolis.

12:14 Oh, I'm going. This is direct. Delta's second largest hub. I'm going. Delta's second largest hub. And I ain't going to lie.

12:20 It's on Tim Conley, though.

12:21 Tim Conley got to fly me. Minnesota known. I'm not buying that. I'm not buying that. You know, Minnesota known for something. What is Minnesota known for? They got them. That's all I'm saying. They got them. They going to bring them to the game. uh uh uh lamello and.

12:37 Uh uh uh yeah they're gonna be there they're gonna be there so i'm gonna be there you know what i'm saying it's gonna be a good ticket you know what i'm saying this is like going to see the spurs you know what i'm saying like i had no reason to go to san antonio i ain't gonna lie i don't have a problem with san antonio but if we ain't playing them i'll be cool right well with me over there dealing over there i'm like yeah it's cool i like that i like san antonio.

12:57 I don't mind it they got some hidden spots up in In Texas.

13:01 Let me know. Let me know.

13:02 We'll talk.

13:02 El Paso. You know what I mean? I got some good margaritas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll talk. We'll talk. Some more hidden spots back in the back skirts. All right, let's bring it back.

13:11 Whataburger parking lot.

13:13 Jump. Basketball discussions. We'll talk. We'll talk.

13:16 So first and foremost, saw the highlights, saw the way this Wolves team has been playing so far in the preseason.

13:20 Like we talked about, the joy that Ant-Man and LaMelo bring.

13:22 But what's your reaction to Chris Finch saying the Wolves traded moodiness for giddiness with the addition of LaMelo Ball?

13:30 I don't know if he's taking a shot at the old ones or the new ones.

13:34 Wolves fans didn't know either. Some thought it might be directed at Julius Reynolds. Some thought it might be directed at Nasri.

13:38 You got a serious team who's been through some shit, like getting booed in New York. I mean, that don't put a smile on your face. You don't play the game happy when you're getting booed at home. That's a horrible feeling. Getting booed on the road, I understand that because, nigga, I'm not good.

13:57 Right. You got to boo me to help your team.

13:59 Getting booed at home means they don't like you right now.

14:03 Right.

14:03 And that happened a lot as, you know, especially him.

14:07 Right.

14:07 Tearing his pictures off the wall. So he really had nothing to smile about. So, you know, going there, you know, you got to you keep the same trait. If LaMelo came there with them to want a team still, it's a different vibe because you got a guy who just he's just he his style of play is fun. So you're going to gravitate to it. So I can't say that getting rid of those two and bringing LaMelo in, they're the reasons. If they was on a team and he's coming in and he's throwing Julius like this, he's going to be smiling again because the game became fun to him. So I don't want them to think that, oh, man, we got rid of y'all and now it's fun again. Nah, you just bring a guy over here who game is fun.

14:51 It makes you smile, right?

14:53 OKC is a serious team. Whooping everybody's ass makes them smile.

14:59 But they do have fun off the court.

15:01 Whooping their ass.

15:02 You mean the style of play. I understand.

15:04 Discipline ass whooping. Like, Drew Doherty is serious. Straight line drives.

15:08 Caruso is serious.

15:10 Without a doubt.

15:10 But when you whooping ass all day and everybody smiling, it's fun when you winning.

15:16 About 20.

15:17 So, you know, when Draymond Green is like, oh, you can't win. You know, you remember that's what the knock was on O.K.C. You can't win, smile, and everybody come up.

15:25 And they won.

15:27 Yeah, you remember? That was the knock on O.K.C. With their post-game interviews, they were a little too. Post-game interviews. Everybody was smiling. The AAU type vibes. Yeah, the Kiki Ken and all that.

15:37 And then they won the championship. We from AAU.

15:40 Right.

15:41 That's my type of speech.

15:43 If we going to war every day, we got to be able to vibe together too. I think it goes hand to hand.

15:48 And I think, you know what I'm saying, when you can have fun and you build that trust and that camaraderie and the positive moment, it only carries over to those negative moments as well. I trust these guys. I know they have my best interests at heart. I know these dudes rocking with me. So I can't agree on that part. But as far as Finch and, you know, everything he said within those comments, I don't really see it as a knock to anybody.

16:11 I just think it's a change in personality. It's a change in personnel.

16:18 We've played with multiple superstars.

16:23 Superstar or not, let's put that aside.

16:25 As a player in this league, and your life is 95% of this business, you're going to have up and down days.

16:31 That's just how it goes.

16:32 It ain't no different than the guy... checking in.

16:35 At Waffle House. Real talk.

16:37 He might be giddy as fuck one day on the grill.

16:39 Next day, it's like... His girl blowing the shit out of him. You know what I'm saying? Next day, he's spitting it. Whatever.

16:45 You know what I'm saying? That was extreme. That was crazy. Anyway.

16:49 Waffle House, you're out. Valid, but valid. Extreme, but valid. A little flame. A little seasoning. A little seasoning.

16:56 But, nah, like, I don't think it's a knocking on anything.

16:59 But what I do like that Minnesota is doing, and they understand when it comes to you, you know what I'm saying, picking your franchise guy and these young dudes coming from all type of different backgrounds. Like, first thing they try to do is go away from who you naturally are. And I think what Minnesota did was they embraced who Ant was. They realized, like, these certain type of pieces we're putting around him don't necessarily mesh well with who he is as a person. So you get that energy that's familiar, that's similar to him. And it's pre-season, we see how much these dudes are already blossoming. Like they haven't played a complete season together. These dudes rocking like they been homies since. You know what I'm saying?

17:40 The sandbox. 35 minutes of them together are going to look a lot different.

17:43 That's what I'm saying. Especially. So it's one thing to go to work with somebody you just work with.

17:48 It's another to go to work with your homie. Every day is a good day. Or it makes that environment that much better. You know what I'm saying? So I think Minnesota did a great job of just figuring out that part of it, making your superstar comfortable, putting them around people that he's familiar with, similar to. And at the same time, he they can embrace who they are as people. You know what I'm saying? So that fun.

18:13 Style to play, coming in the building every day with that joy, that's only great for everybody. And on top of that, we all know energy is contagious.

18:20 You know what I'm saying?

18:21 So if that was a stigma or something that you would consider a knock as far as moodiness, I think it's now being corrected in a way.

18:30 You know what I'm saying?

18:31 So I think it's great for Minnesota. I think it's great for the group. And then on top of it, LaMelo, He's going to make everybody around him better.

18:40 This short stint of basketball with just Ant, I'm not even speaking on the rest of the five, with just Ant might be the easiest basketball I've seen him play so far.

18:47 Straight up, right?

18:48 Yeah.

18:49 Straight up.

18:49 I've never seen so many catching shoes. Impatience.

18:53 Without a dribble, without an ice.

18:55 It's just, I'm lining it up. I'm taking my time on the shot. And then it's like, he still has his opportunity to bring the ball down the court, kind of make a play.

19:02 You see the cross-court swing. Now LaMelo. getting the easiest shots of his life.

19:06 But them extra two turnovers, three turnovers Ant-Man usually get because he OD'ing.

19:12 Because he feel like I got to pull a rabbit out the hat. That's gone. He like, ah, shorty, yo go.

19:18 That's true.

19:19 You got that.

19:19 But even with the level of comfort. But the swing, but getting it back now for a wide open number two. No, but people don't realize when you have other shooters on the court, life becomes so much easier.

19:33 Like if you don't have a.

19:35 a shooter, like Sean Marion wasn't a shooter, right? It depends. But backdooring, going for lobs, sneaking under the defense, your head was on a swivel if not Steve Nash threw it, right? So, like, even when, I remember when they got Grant Hill. I was like, oh, shit, Grant Hill can't shoot? Then they put a play in where he's on the baseline, and he'll come up the side, they catch it, and then bounce pass it to Mari. So, they'll do the pick and roll. He'll come catch it. Like, so they do the pick and roll on the right side, right? Yeah.

20:11 And he'll just come, catch it at the free throw line, and dump it back off the armory.

20:15 Like, what is this? It's basically a high low.

20:17 It's basically a high low. Like, what is this? Like, we were sagging off of him.

20:21 Now he, like, it was just like, oh, wow. You're not attached to him no more. Like, it was just, it was just. And he might.

20:28 But when you a smart, but when you a smart basketball player, and you see what they doing, and you adjust, then it's like, Let's go ahead and make those plays, put them in position. So if you can't shoot, but you're making yourself available and you're becoming part of the offense, the game becomes.

20:46 So much easier.

20:47 You know what else becomes easier for them when you watch them? When they drop back on defense. I've never been a small guard, but I can't imagine being a small guard seeing six, seven. Ant-Man 6'5, Jaden McDaniel 6'9. You know what I'm saying? Rudy out there. It's like, bro, where am I going to throw these passes?

21:10 Right.

21:10 Like, they deflect everything.

21:12 Every time it's a pick and roll and you see three of them crowd that shit, if they touch.

21:17 It, they are gone. And you so nervous. I don't know.

21:20 He might throw a turnover.

21:22 But I want to see what he do. Because it's so dangerous.

21:26 I know on the scout report it say, do not turn the ball over against them. I know it's on the scout report. Do not let LaMelo Ball throw behind the back pass. We're not allowing that today.

21:40 You know what I'm saying?

21:40 I know the scouting report is like, none of that excitement from him today.

21:44 Keep the game boring.

21:47 Real talk.

21:48 Stay solid in front of him. Do not gamble on all of his past fakes.

21:52 Nothing.

21:52 Stay down in the stands the whole time.

21:54 Just contest. We don't need nothing special out of him today. But if he plays bounce pass ball, we might win. But that's got to be the feeling against him now. And I'm like, it's so good to see. Like he was saying, it's so good to see an organization say, you know what? It's not on the.

22:15 Court that we need to look.

22:17 Exactly.

22:18 It's off the court.

22:20 You don't feel like you got no homies in Minnesota.

22:23 It's weird that the NBA gets so clouded with on the court performance.

22:34 With off the court. Because it's nerds judging.

22:37 Huh?

22:38 It's nerds that's judging. They got to protect the brand as well.

22:41 Which is fine.

22:43 But you also got to understand what you're dealing with.

22:48 And that's the big gray area. Not to cut you off, but that's the gray area. You're dealing with people, like I said, from all these different backgrounds, but you're not taking the time to understand the background.

22:59 Especially if that's your franchise guy. Exactly. Exactly. Like, it's just a weird thing.

23:04 Like, it's like, oh, he's washed up because he got in trouble in his car by himself? Right.

23:12 Right. What? Like, I did.

23:15 What do we miss?

23:17 What do we miss in here? I can get that nigga Uber.

23:20 Like, I'm trying to figure out where the problem really is.

23:23 Like, the game is the game. I can Uber him off the court. Straight up. Right? And I've always said. I can pick him up my damn self. Because, you know, we've been there.

23:32 And I said, man, listen, if I was an owner and I'm bringing these young 19, 18-year-old kids into this world with all this money, How do I protect my investment of these 50, 60 millions I'm giving them? I'm going to treat their ass like college kids, but their lifestyle. I got a coldest set I done bought, right? First two years, this is where you're living at. 10,000 square feet, you got a Chevy, you got a mate, you got a bodyguard, right? You got all the furniture. You don't have to spend no money here. You don't have to spend no money the first two years.

24:10 This is where you live. You have a driver.

24:12 I don't want none of your homies being your driver. I got my own drivers for you. I don't need your friend being your bodyguard. I got real bodyguards, right? Just enjoy life.

24:25 Your two years.

24:26 Your two years. You stay here for the first two years and that's it. They ain't going about your business.

24:30 But now they understand how it works. How to live and how to be a professional. That's too much like free health care.

24:35 But I'm saying, but me, yeah, but, but he, he, that's what he said.

24:39 He said, he said, he said, he said, if he was, he said, if he had the money.

24:44 For you?

24:44 I agree.

24:44 That's what he said. If I done already gave you the money. I'm already giving you this money.

24:48 I could have just kept it if I was going to let you fuck up.

24:50 Or I could just get it back by penny pinching off of the shit you do wrong.

24:53 But what I'm saying is, but that's messing.

24:55 Up my business, though. But that's how they think. But that's good.

25:00 But that's messing up my... But that's messing up the.

25:03 Because now the kids that come after that, you still need more people to come through there to keep your business going.

25:08 It's going to happen. I need you to think about ball, though. But I need you to think about ball. I don't need you fucking up. Right.

25:16 Right?

25:16 I need you selling jerseys, smiling. That's what makes you winning.

25:20 I ain't gonna lie.

25:21 I ain't gonna lie.

25:23 If any older is watching, I ain't gonna lie. This sounds like a kick-ass idea.

25:28 They making so.

25:30 Much gambling money. It's like, what the fuck are y'all thinking about?

25:34 If we had an NBA block, boy, what?

25:38 Listen, there's a reason.

25:39 NBA block?

25:39 NBA block is crazy, shawty. That's nuts. When did LaMelo start getting in trouble? Or did he start getting out of it? He didn't get in trouble. He just got in traffic.

25:51 No, no.

25:52 When did all that speeding stuff happen?

25:55 Shit, when he got a car. When who sold the company? Oh, MJ? No, MJ had people.

26:03 I think LaMelo during his time in Charlotte was notorious for not obeying.

26:07 Even his first two years? Yeah, rookie year. Oh, no.

26:11 MJ made him buy the house next door to him so he could watch him.

26:16 I was next door to Mike I wouldn't be I mean.

26:20 If you get in some trouble Mike is the first is he stopping his party to tell you that Mike getting busy too you see four five cops out there you gonna slow that down.

26:31 No but he's saying Mike can wave and be like he can wave that off you know he got the force for.

26:36 Him that didn't happen that didn't happen I don't know what he did.

26:43 He was repeatedly filmed and reported for driving in a way and a manner that wasn't.

26:49 His rookie season? I mean, over the past, over his time in Charlotte.

26:53 No, no, I know over his time. I'm talking about that rookie season.

26:55 I'm seeing stuff from 2023, 2024. I like that concept. That should be added to the rookie transition. We need to come in.

26:58 COVID? Give me my swerve and hit that corner. No, you can't do that. I think it's a great idea. No, I'm saying. Owners aren't doing it. Oh, you're saying they ain't going to do it.

27:12 You know what? Because they don't understand.

27:13 No, they don't give a fuck.

27:15 After the rookie transition program, if you gave a rookie two years now to get it right, and don't get me wrong, they obviously are going to know y'all are going to mess up.

27:26 This is your first time.

27:27 Looking in your account and seeing a million dollars.

27:29 It's going to be two months, nigga, and you're going to have a million dollars in your account like, What?

27:34 You was just on zero. Well, no, they NIL'd up. It's a little different.

27:40 So they low-key should be growing a little bit. But if you get them two years, though, to be right here, everything got cameras, they're used to that. Chef, used to that. Security, used to that. Driver, used to that. There's a level of professionalism that they're not willing to drop from. Once we created that standard for ourselves, it's like, now I can't have my homie Well, that.

28:02 Might be something the NBA and the players need to do.

28:06 It might be a CBA.

28:06 It would take an owner with good intentions to do some shit like that. It takes an owner who's protecting his investment. When I had the conversation with Mark Cuban to do it.

28:16 Yes. A hundred. Do it. Do it. A hundred. He do's it. He do's it. You ain't hear about no Luke until he left. He was eating a lot of barbecue.

28:27 No, I'm just saying.

28:28 I don't know if that's in the agreement for them to do that.

28:31 I ain't trying to get nobody in trouble.

28:33 When you're older and this is my guy, nothing's coming out about my guy. But I had the conversation with the owner, and I remember I was like, hey, can we get a chef? He's like, what do you need a chef for? I said, so we can have food so we can eat. I pay you good money.

28:56 You don't eat?

28:58 And I said, oh, shit, you really don't know, like, what it is. I was like, for the most part, I don't eat my first meal until after practice, right? Maybe, I said, and after practice at 18, 19, what you think we eat? You think we eating chefs at the... You think we know about... Did you know about a chef at 19?

29:21 He was like, no. I was like.

29:23 So I was like, so if you didn't know about a chef at 19, what you think we've been eating?

29:27 What do we.

29:28 Do you think we.

29:29 McDonald's, fast food? And he was like.

29:31 Y'all was eating McDonald's and fast food? Yeah. No, stop cooking.

29:35 No, I'm like, so he's- So you ain't part with the fast food?

29:38 I mean, I have a fast food if I got to.

29:43 You been cleaning your whole life, man. I ain't been cleaning. I could cook. I was a college kid.

29:49 I couldn't pay for McDonald's every day.

29:50 I did a year.

29:52 But I'm saying I couldn't pay for food all.

29:54 The time where it's like, nigga, we just going to restaurants, eating out every day.

29:57 I wasn't doing that. Oh, yeah, no, no, no.

29:59 No, I'm getting a thing of eggs.

30:01 I'm getting some bacon. I'm eating breakfast at all types of times.

30:03 You're so responsible.

30:04 Like, what time do you eat breakfast? It's a difference.

30:07 Oh, bro. I wish I could have been irresponsible.

30:12 I wish. I wish.

30:13 So I had to break the shit down for him.

30:15 Like, I literally had to break it down.

30:17 Like, that's what we come from.

30:18 Like, what we eating, our age.

30:21 I said, we just have money. So we just buy a lot more fast food. I can buy 10 pizzas now.

30:28 Right.

30:28 And I said, so basically, We put in unleaded. We put in the worst of 89 in this car.

30:39 And he was like.

30:40 I never, he said, I never knew that. He said, I never really thought. We gave you the money. I ain't going to lie, though. Y'all crawled so we could walk.

30:47 So, no.

30:48 And then I was like.

30:48 Because, listen.

30:50 And I told him, I've been on the Knicks. They've been looking out. They've been eager.

30:54 That's crazy.

30:55 Players like the Cavs.

30:56 But that's why I talk about organizations the way I do. Because what he's saying.

31:00 I went to Sacramento. I was eager. Players like. Now, you forgot. I went there in 2007. You crawled so that I could walk.

31:05 Look, players.

31:11 You push the you.

31:13 Have to drive us we getting brown bag lunches and a pass the massage envy.

31:17 I'm so glad you know that was I'm so glad You should assume what you have When I got there that he was going to a massage partner we didn't have a massage dance brazy we got a pass the massage envy and You go to Massage Envy after, and you get your massage in there.

31:36 They don't know your injuries, your issues. Just a random ass massage. A brown bag massage. You get a brown bag lunch. We didn't have a chef. They might have a little cold cut in that motherfucker.

31:49 Bag of chips.

31:50 So when I left Kentucky, I left Kentucky.

31:54 Kentucky, they was eating good.

31:56 We had a chef. We had all that.

31:57 So when I got here, I'm like, what the fuck going on? They don't know. They really don't know, though.

32:02 He's not. That's why I always talk. It's the difference in these organizations.

32:06 But I'm saying, whatever y'all did, whatever complaining you did when you was.

32:09 There, when I got there.

32:11 My name got dragged a little bit, but we got there. Let me tell you what I'm saying.

32:15 You fought for it, though. That's what. Hey, no, no, no. No, no.

32:18 What's the funny is, if you ask the Bulls, hey, if you ask the Bulls.

32:23 When Jordan was there.

32:25 My dog had the Rorschach for me and the Goofy suits for me.

32:29 I was good. Hey, Jordan Bulls? Yeah. They had five-star everything. Yeah, I bet.

32:35 And then it just dropped off.

32:37 When that shit changed.

32:37 You said it just dropped off. It just dropped off. Nobody had nothing. That man right there with that 23 Cavs jersey.

32:46 Yeah.

32:46 LeBron Raymond, James Senior. I'm not even going to lie. I'm not even throwing no smoke. We are playing in Cleveland. Won the game. Came back whole buffet. Nigga, I looked at Coach.

33:03 Like, that's a.

33:05 Regular season from damn Coach.

33:08 Coach said, I ain't get y'all shit. Who this? Your goat.

33:14 He said, that's Cleveland now. LeBron, the young fella over there. making sure everybody eats. He's trying to recruit. Oh, yeah. I said, he doing a good-ass job, bro. So, hey, I ain't going to lie. I'm sitting here looking at the food we had, and I'm.

33:35 Like, what the fuck he got over there, though? Oh, yeah. Lebanon? He was the first person to feed the road team.

33:42 Yep. Word. And it became a thing in the league.

33:50 Whether we liked it or not, he always been, you know, but he got to play a whole different mind game because it's like, no, he at the top of the league. He got to talk to the top. So it's like he probably see the league. We sitting here still at war with each other in the offseason. And he knowing the bigger picture. You know what I'm saying? So it's like he knowing, like, man, make sure they eat. Because when I come, they should be making Sean eat.

34:15 So LeBron fed you guys. LeBron made sure you were nourished and taken care of.

34:19 Cleveland was the first team to feed the road team.

34:25 Yeah, we eat good. And we played them three times in the playoffs. How they know they see you think they still see they probably.

34:31 Still doing it. That's that's standard Like nobody had massage like when nobody had masseuse and all that stuff when I came in I was the only team that had like like I Like when Mello was there? That shit is important as well. When they noticed, like you said, they know the report. Mello had massage there. Like people like in gold, like, hey, like, yo, y'all got masseuse?

34:54 They're like, yeah, we got our masseuse there.

34:55 Come to the hotel.

34:56 Like, okay.

34:58 Yeah.

34:59 Like so the Denver State had like 10 on staff.

35:02 I ain't going to lie.

35:03 You damn near, every player damn near had their own masseuse.

35:06 My rookie year with New York. It was times that, you know, they used to do the screen count for me. So I was averaging like 50 something screens that I was hitting. They was like, we got to start getting him to spin and go under and do shit because he trying to run through everything. But they like, we finna massage his shoulder.

35:23 I'm like, bro, what?

35:23 They like, you got a mandatory massage. Then I watch film, and they're like, you know, you got hit with 61 screens tonight.

35:30 I'm like, no.

35:31 He's like, yeah, you ain't going out or doing nothing.

35:33 I get it. You young. No, bro, you got to massage.

35:36 You better sit down, my nigga. And it was lockout season, so we was fucked up. I'm trying to run through all that, but it's crazy because I'm looking at it now.

35:45 Y'all was really playing without massages? Clippers play without a gym, my nigga. The Weingart YMCA.

35:53 No, this is what I'm saying.

35:55 Think about when Blake Griffin came in. My body would have broke down.

35:59 Blake Griffin came in a year before you. They didn't have a practice gym until he got there. They had the YMCA nailed on the wall. They put their shit up. They get robbed outside because it's at a regular-ass boys and girls club. That was my dad's experience with the Clippers, Gil. This is all the way. Think about it.

36:21 That's everybody. They don't have those.

36:22 News with me. All I heard was, to live and die and die.

36:27 That's all I heard.

36:30 Oh, my God.

36:32 It's so dangerous here.

36:33 Now we talk about greatness. Now think about the idea of greatness. You got drafted to the Clippers. You can't go after hours to go shoot. You don't got no gym. You can't go in 2, 3, 4 in the morning.

36:47 Y'all waiting till the rec opens. Yeah, that's crazy.

36:52 With everybody else. There's you on this side, regular people on that side. Your shit get broken in outside.

36:58 That was one of my favorite days, by the way, in college when I realized that my key card worked 24-7.

37:03 At 7? Oh, yeah. It was just like Georgia Tech should have never let me do that. Right. One, because I was abusing the shit out of them. I'm drinking all the Powerade. Yeah.

37:12 You know, I could mix the Powerade myself.

37:14 Making your own.

37:15 Your bag full of them. We going back to the room with it. Oh, no, no.

37:18 See, y'all had the bottles. Yeah, we had a bottle. You know what I'm saying?

37:21 No mixing powder.

37:22 Big Nike. Oh, you had the powder. We was rustling. You know what I'm saying? Y'all was Nike. You know what I'm saying?

37:27 I get it. It's all good. You had to make your... We was Russell Athletic. Did you use the whole squad? You gotta make Kool-Aid, right? You know what I'm saying?

37:34 He said what? What athletic? Don't start.

37:37 I'm just saying. I'm just like, who the fuck is Russell?

37:42 He must have played there back in the... Russell Westbrook. You know what I'm saying? Mixing the powder.

37:49 I even think about the situation in New Orleans to where.

37:53 You know I'm saying it almost feel like you like the stepchild as far as.

37:56 Them catering to the Saints. Same staff, part of the same staff. It's the same building. It's just most, it's a huge building.

38:16 Most of the building is the Saints and then you got this little corner building for the Pelicans.

38:20 So, you know what I'm saying? We talk about the food and things like that. Well, like I said, everything is more so, and this is my time. Shit may have changed since then. But my time there, we're eating exactly what, and I always thought about Zion in that situation from my experience. We're eating the same thing the Saints football team eat. We eating in the same cafeteria. So, They and that motherfucker feeding the linemen and shit.

38:42 Like, linemen, 300 pounds.

38:44 We walk in.

38:44 There and we're on a totally different diet. But we're sharing the exact same food as the New Orleans Saints. So, I always remember that.

38:52 And I thought about, you know, Zion and him getting drafted there and You know, it was always the weight issues.

38:57 I'm like, if it's still the same, this is going to always be an issue.

39:02 But it was the same medical staff, a lot of the same stuff, obviously the Benson family.

39:06 They fired somebody from the medical staff on the Saints for injury.

39:11 It was a lot. The Pelicans hired him right after. I said, you can't make this shit up. You can't make this shit up.

39:19 I still work here.

39:21 Motherfucker transferred.

39:22 Keep going.

39:23 Keep going.

39:20 Let's get right back to these wolves real quick before we move on so we're here all this talk now It's very early.

39:28 In the see the small sample size like you guys said Chris Finch.

39:48 This shit sounds good right now, but at some point, this team is going to see some level of adversity. Do you think they'll be able to keep this chemistry in their mind? Do you see any world where Ant-Man and LaMelo eventually butt heads?

39:58 No. But I think the joy, I think the chemistry, I think like I said, them being familiar, I think that's the part that helps them get over those type of issues. The fact that their foundation now as a team is just going out there having fun, playing the game, I think that's what helps them get over any of those type of issues. We all know with a team sport, it's going to be some type of adversity. Somebody ain't going to agree. Somebody ain't going to like somebody.

40:27 But I think, like I said, when it comes to going to battle with your homies compared to just going to battle with your coworkers, it's easy to get over those tough situations.

40:35 I think it would be like, you know how you'll be playing, like me, like I always say, I'd be like, bro, I wish I'd have played on your team because it's that same energy how I felt with JR where it's like, I know I can't yell at buddy right but if it go down right I could look you dead in your eye on the court yell at you you'll be like you right right but you'll also be like now get your motherfucking ass over there to where the fuck you supposed to be right on this next but it'd be like the media could try and spin it do whatever but we know what it is we sick in the head on the court right that nigga yelled they checked me and then I ran.

41:11 Through a wall don't even look at it like real talk it's.

41:13 Like I don't know what y'all talking about we won right I'll just If he got a yell at me, he got a punch me because I'm bullshit like it's one thing to feel like Man, this nigga can't guard nobody get him out of here. It's another thing to be like a kill man Quit letting this thing a bus show ass. I get this shit Nigga.

41:30 Going at you bro.

41:31 Go ahead.

41:32 I'm like yo go go at him.

41:33 Like what is this?

41:34 Fuck is this?

41:35 I do you my dog?

41:36 I feel like it's gonna be like that where if they get into it, it's gonna be a You.

41:41 Ant-Man, right?

41:42 Nigga. I got to remind you.

41:44 Yeah, nigga.

41:45 Yeah, do the thing.

41:46 Let's go, nigga. Do it.

41:48 Yeah, do the shit.

41:49 Do the shit.

41:49 The Adidas commercial. Yeah, gangbang.

41:51 All that shit.

41:52 Yeah, do it.

41:53 I need to see it.

41:53 Oh, bro, that was my problem. I did that with James. And James did it.

41:57 It was like he waited like three games after I did it.

42:00 Well, I yelled at him.

42:01 He waited like three games before he did it.

42:03 But I'm like, nigga, that's why I need the gangbanging. I need it.

42:05 All this.

42:07 Boom.

42:07 I need. Where's that? Like, nigga, make this shit. do it.

42:12 Like, do the shit.

42:13 Like, what the fuck? Is it going to be one of them dumb passes? But it's like, yeah, it ain't like, I ain't into it with you. That's like me playing with Gil.

42:20 It's like, Gil, I wish the fuck you would not shoot that bitch and turn around for the game.

42:25 The fuck you mean you ain't turn around? That's what I'm came to see. I ain't come, yeah, I ain't on your, I ain't finna give you this bitch. How dare you hold a follow through?

42:32 You hear me?

42:33 I don't care if you.

42:34 Miss and do the nick and it looks stupid. I don't care. I don't care. That's what it takes to wear the cape, nigga.

42:40 You might fly, you might fall, nigga.

42:42 Do it. Do the shit.

42:43 Right. Do the shit. Do the nick. Real talk. The what? Do the nothing.

42:47 Yeah, do the nick, yeah.

42:48 Don't do the nick.

42:48 Don't do the nick.

42:49 Don't do the nick.

42:50 But if you do the nick, fuck it.

42:52 We do the nick. I wish he never would have turned around and just ran back down the court. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He should have just held it. You do it, Nick. You get your ass subbed out.

43:00 I ain't going to lie. I was happy he did it, though.

43:03 Why?

43:05 Because, bro, I feel like there was times I wanted to do shit like that, but.

43:09 I was a bitch. I held my follow through. You know what I'm saying? I was Monica. You hear me? I held it. You hear me? And it went in. And it's like, bro, you should have did it.

43:20 You should have did it. Oh, shawty, you had the whole celebration. You should have did it.

43:25 Scary, yeah.

43:25 But you were scary a little bit. You ain't all the way believe. And I felt like I always wanted that.

43:32 delusion.

43:33 I never had that delusion with shooting. Like if I missed two, I'm like, yeah, I'm finna go dunk this bitch. I'm not shooting this third one. I always wanted that delusion to be like, nope, it's going in.

43:44 I never understood that. I'm like, this nigga 0 for 8. He didn't shoot another one?

43:49 Oh no, niggas will let it go like it didn't happen.

43:52 I'm like, bro, how do you do that? Like, you don't have a heart?

43:56 You playing with our life right now. Yeah, no conscience. Short term memory loss. That's crazy.

44:01 That's like doing a surgery, jagging.

44:04 You just going to kill me? You just going to keep operating. I got to get to it. Like me, I've been like, let me read a book first. Let me phone a friend before I cut his neck's vein.

44:15 What? What are we doing, dog? Like, this is crazy.

44:19 Niggas just keep shooting.

44:20 I wish I had that diluted, but it take that to be wrong. See, I think the Wolves keep this giddiness. Hell yeah, keep that shit. I think this is their identity. Didn't they lose the other way? They lost the other way.

44:31 Everybody lost.

44:33 Finch said he wants to find the equilibrium. We need a little more.

44:35 I think they're immature, too. They got to.

44:38 They got to. I don't give a fuck what Finch said. He did it that way. They lost.

44:45 Now they came in, let's try it this way. And once we start losing, then you balance us out. Don't try to balance us out now. Let us have, we're having fun.

44:54 It looks good.

44:55 Who cares what the media's all in? You think this team's a little too chirpy and having fun? Nigga, do you.

45:02 Want the interview or not?

45:04 Do you want my interview or not?

45:06 You don't like happy interviews? You want me to cuss you out? I would say this to Chris Vance.

45:12 We was just saying, everything in the media was just Jalen Brunson is a scoring guard, and that can't be the first option.

45:18 We've only seen Isaiah Thomas do it.

45:20 Mm-hmm.

45:21 And Curry. They win.

45:23 Mm-hmm.

45:24 Yeah, but Kyrie, like you were.

45:26 Saying, Kyrie wasn't number one on the scouting report because Lebanon was there.

45:31 Mm-hmm.

45:32 Lebanon James. Lebanon James.

45:34 Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying?

45:35 Like, dude, buddy was over there. So, it's like, I can't give. He could have won eight.

45:39 You know what I'm saying? He wasn't one, though.

45:41 You know what I'm saying?

45:42 Like, but that was the rap on people.

45:45 So, it's like, we can't sit here and say, like, we haven't seen this version of a team really win.

45:51 I would say, okay, see, they play with a joy.

45:55 Not like this. Yeah, early, yeah.

45:58 I think it's just more personality, but I think their foundation was playing with a joy. We just got way more personality between A.A.U.

46:05 We got A.A.U., Denied.

46:07 It's just two people that kind of got the joy.

46:09 And we got Yogo, Mygo. Mm-hmm.

46:12 This is Steve Francis and Katina Mobley now.

46:17 Katina Mobley, yeah.

46:18 This is Yo-Kill. Yo-Kill. You ain't got it?

46:21 Throw it back over here, sweaty. All right, let's get up. This is Damian Lillard and CJ. You know what I'm saying? Where it's just back forth terror.

46:28 I think it's more.

46:29 Because there's a lot of this.

46:32 It's terror, bro.

46:34 It's a lot of ways that you could get called for two fouls and your night is over. Yeah, man.

46:39 That's a nightmare.

46:40 There's no hiding no more. That's a nightmare for a back four. You hiding on Rudy Goldberg. Ain't no hiding them to the other foe. The mother foe? You ain't hiding the mother foe. No, we giving him his name back, man. Rudy Gobert, Joe. Rudy Gobert. Jalen Brunson ain't going to keep guard Rudy, man.

46:57 I ain't going to lie. Jalen Brunson ain't letting nobody hide. That's what it dribbles. That's what it dribbles. But that's the problem.

47:06 When you're playing against Jalen, you got to remember, his job is not the foul. His job is to stay in the game as long as possible. Now, if you don't want to see him in the fourth quarter, you got to target that man, too, because he's targeting you. So when that game starts, Melo go.

47:27 If he switches, go at him. Go at him.

47:29 We need fouls on this man to get his ass down.

47:32 I do need him to figure out.

47:35 Grand Theft Alvarado. He's going to have to figure that out. LaMelo. Man, he can do that to everybody, though. No, but he ain't like it. Oh, I don't need a dribble. Don't nobody like it.

47:44 I don't need a dribble.

47:45 I know. Huh?

47:46 Huh?

47:47 Hey, man, you got it up.

47:48 You got to figure that out. Jose do that to everybody.

47:51 Figure that out then. Put him in the post. Just figure that out.

47:53 That's to figure it out.

47:54 Okay.

47:55 I don't got a dribble.

47:56 He got a Sam Cassell.

47:57 Hey, yeah.

47:58 Hey, that's cool. Do it. No. Because he ain't like it. No guard. That's what Jose does. I love it.

48:06 That's the value he brings to it. All I'm saying is.

48:09 The film now shows.

48:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

48:11 I saw it.

48:11 You don't like that. I saw it.

48:13 I didn't know LaMella didn't like that. I saw LaMella.

48:16 Nobody do.

48:17 No guard likes that. There's a lot of people that like that. I had Marcus Bengar. I had... Oh, you're saying just a smaller guard.

48:24 A small guard that's... I thought he meant just period, like nobody likes that type of pressure. I'm going to say because Darius Acuff loves it.

48:33 Oh, yeah, because he can.

48:33 He's just going to put that shoulder in front of you. You like it to a certain extent if somebody has your.

48:40 If they can counter what you are.

48:43 Because LaMelo was long, getting under him, now he got to dribble. All you do with that guy is give up the ball.

48:51 They tried bigger guards on Darius Acuff.

48:54 Picking him up full. It don't bother him. Watch when little men guard him. Oh, Jose?

49:00 Yeah.

49:00 He going to spin him. He going to spin him like a top.

49:02 I watched him in college. It don't fucking matter. I watched that nigga get 50.

49:08 Oh, no, no, no. You going to spin him.

49:09 I'm like, bro, I was exhausted playing UNC and getting 30.

49:14 I was exhausted. I'm like, this nigga's.

49:15 Playing in double overtime getting 50. getting picked up, full court.

49:20 You know, in college, you're seeing two, three, four, five defenders.

49:24 College, two, three. They're going to keep it going, but they can keep the energy up.

49:27 You done saw five defenders, and you ain't came out but two minutes in this game.

49:31 It ain't Jose's on every time, Steve.

49:33 Jose come in for a speed burst, too.

49:35 All I'm saying is.

49:36 But Jose is unique in what he brings to a game.

49:39 I love it. He went to Georgia Tech, shorty. I'm not beating down on my dog.

49:44 No, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying you won't.

49:45 I love him.

49:46 I'm just saying you got to highlight more so what he's great at and why he's in the position he's in. It's not one of those on every college team. So the point I'm trying to make, Darius Acuff getting... You know, dealing with that in college compared to dealing with a Jose in the league, that's two different experiences.

50:01 I ain't going to lie. I want to see it. I want to see it.

50:03 Because I just watched Darius Acuff. He makes too many people pay for their pressure. But he makes you pay immediately. There's two different types of guards, though.

50:13 What's that?

50:13 There's guards who are half-court dribblers, and there's full-court dribblers. He's a hybrid.

50:20 You pick up Luka.

50:21 He don't dance.

50:22 Know what I'm saying?

50:23 He go. If you pick up Luka full-court.

50:26 He don't have handles for that. For that.

50:30 Right?

50:30 Like, some guys don't have handles.

50:32 Because they need to be able to show the shot to where you back the fuck up.

50:36 Like, so I got to be here.

50:38 Show the shot. Now you come out your stance.

50:39 Now I can get down here.

50:40 Here's to somebody who can dribble. That's what I'm saying. Like, you pick Steph Curry up.

50:45 If Steph get the ball on the inbound, you pick him up, he's much easier to deal with before he steps over half.

50:51 Right.

50:52 Once he steps over half and starts staring at the rims, you can't do that.

50:57 All that pressure. Like picking up Chris Paul is pointless.

51:00 Oh, it's dangerous. It's picking up pointless. What are you doing?

51:03 Like Jamal Tinsley, picking him up full court is pointless.

51:05 There's nothing you can do.

51:06 Jamal Crawford, why are you over here?

51:08 Yeah, he can bop you, but there's guards. Like Brunson, you can pick him up full court. And turn him.

51:16 He can't. He don't.

51:18 Yeah.

51:18 He'll turn him all over.

51:19 Yeah.

51:20 Because that's not.

51:21 That's not his expertise.

51:23 What's the game plan? Huh?

51:25 No, of course.

51:26 It's for a reason, though. I'm saying, didn't nobody snatch that? Yes. Yeah.

51:29 It still slowed him up and had somebody else bring the ball.

51:32 Who snatched that bitch and went and dunked that bitch?

51:34 Because that's not his.

51:35 That's not his. Nobody. You got to remember, he don't have the speed like Aaron Fox.

51:38 Nobody. He was getting ripped in. Ooh.

51:43 Name it. Pull the clips up.

51:44 Anybody who picked him up full court when Indiana was picking him.

51:46 Up full court. When did they poke him up?

51:48 But that's what I'm saying.

51:49 They're poking. Yeah, they're poking. You're not doing none of that.

51:51 Pokemon.

51:52 Yeah, I'm. Ha, ha, ha.

51:53 Ha, ha.

51:53 Saw a fight. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha. Turn my back. Okay, you ready? Hey, man.

51:58 It was some pressure.

51:58 It was some pressure. You can put pressure on him. What I'm saying is it ain't no kicking the ball. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Ain't no kicking the ball off the foot. Yeah. But you're still making him uncomfortable.

52:08 Half court and full court is different. We still taking 10 off the shot clock.

52:12 I think y'all forgot the run that they just had.

52:15 Nobody forgot shit.

52:16 No, no, no.

52:16 We talking. Is it because it's New York?

52:18 I ain't even from New York. I just played over there.

52:20 No, no, no.

52:21 But the whole point of guard-to-guard full court is to slow them up and make them uncomfortable.

52:25 Which is what they did. I'm saying, I just think... If they didn't pick them... Maybe Jose was.

52:30 Sparring him too much and he was used to it. But wasn't nobody snatching that ball from that fella.

52:34 They still did their job.

52:35 Niggas was picking up with heels on the three.

52:37 Remember, what team was picking up full court?

52:39 Spurs.

52:40 No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

52:41 Yeah. Yeah.

52:43 Indiana did it too.

52:44 When Indiana put the full court pressure on everybody, you realize niggas couldn't dribble. You'll realize everybody couldn't dribble that basketball like that.

52:56 I'm just saying, why are we going two years?

52:57 No, but I'm just saying because that's the only team who actually picked up full court. And so let me see you dribble full court. We know you can dribble half court because you're the scorers. Let me see if you can dribble full court. Turn them, turn them, turn. Oh, these niggas can't turn because you don't practice.

53:12 We don't practice getting picked off. And then? That's hard.

53:15 You got it.

53:16 Here we go.

53:17 Brunson, that bitch like, wait a minute. But even with that, with Brunson being your closer, with Brunson being your go-to scorer, if you're using the game, tire him out to make him bring up the court. That's what they do. It don't matter if they don't pick.

53:30 It don't matter.

53:30 That's what I'm talking about.

53:31 Let me finish.

53:31 Let me land.

53:32 Let me play. Let me play. Go ahead. You the pilot? He's trying to shoot that bitch out of the air. You the pilot. Yeah, you the pilot.

53:39 So this is your closer. This is your finisher at the end of the game, and he's been working for four quarters just bringing the ball up.

53:44 Yeah.

53:44 What type of player do you think he's going to be in that fourth compared to if he's just bringing it up freely, regardless if they're picking them or not?

53:50 This is why Cat needs the extension. This is why we need to extend Cat. Why is he not extended? What's the problem? These people don't remember that they tried this already.

54:06 They picked him up full.

54:08 I used to say it.

54:09 I was on ESPN saying this shit.

54:12 I'm on it. Not McBride. This is why we got him. This is why.

54:18 Real talk though, because we forgot. Niggas did this. So they said, bring Cat. They threw him on that pinch post. Cat did the cat scan.

54:27 Cat scan. He looking around. He throwing bowling balls and all that.

54:32 He putting cheese on it. You hear me?

54:35 Spins and all that. Oh, Jesus. Everybody eating. Josh eating. Everybody eating. It's like, ooh, you can do that all game. But at the end of that game, what Jalen going to do?

54:45 I'm going to dribble this thing all the way up.

54:48 Y'all going to clear this whole side out.

54:51 And I'm going to go to the basket.

54:53 You cut me off, I'm going to step back, I'm going to shot fake, get you on the rocker step, your dumb ass going to jump, I'm going to lean in and shoot it.

54:58 I don't know how he be making that shit.

55:00 He lean in forward, he lean in right, he lean over here to the left.

55:04 I'm like, bro, what the fuck is y'all going to do at the end of the game? Because I've seen them sword fight. Y'all can't beat them.

55:11 But that's what got him tired in that next game.

55:14 Because he is the offense, and he's picking on football. I was like, yo, put McBride. I said, yeah, Josh is cool. Pick McBride up because what happens is you're picking someone up full court, and everybody's up.

55:28 Take one from his legs for three.

55:30 He's so fast that... He's going to keep getting to the bucket. You picking up full court, and you're denying full court, and he's going to beat his guy, and he's sitting there at the rim.

55:42 It's going to back everybody up. Now you can give it to your guy.

55:45 But you need someone to break the press and get an easy lay for the coach to say, oh, hold on, hold on, bring it all back, bring it all back.

55:52 Didn't Atlanta do it to him as well? Yeah, they tried. They tried. I'm just saying. They attempted. I mean, they probably had the best. No, they won two games. The Knicks was bull. Like, I'm not picking up somebody.

56:03 I'm not picking up Fox or anything.

56:06 Y'all know y'all was bullshit. But they shouldn't have.

56:08 I don't know why Atlanta was doing that. They just was like, fuck y'all. They just pulled up that game and was just like, fuck you. And them niggas was hitting threes.

56:17 They didn't care. They like, bro, y'all already think we can't win?

56:21 ACL lit. They was going crazy. But it wasn't like, they just wasn't playing well. And that's when they calmed it down.

56:28 Like, you know what, Cat?

56:29 Get to this pinch post right here.

56:30 Damn, bro, they won. You want to just take credit from Atlanta?

56:32 It's not even a credit, though. They won, bro.

56:35 You can give Atlanta their credit for them, too. They just didn't play well, huh?

56:39 Did you? We all watched.

56:40 That's why I said what I said, because I saw Atlanta do the same thing, and they got two wins out there.

56:44 But you were saying it like... It was convincing wins. We was just like, y'all bullshit. How y'all ending the game like this?

56:51 How the fuck it ain't convincing when they won two games in the playoffs? How it ain't convincing?

56:54 Did you see the Knicks end game?

56:56 That's what we was complaining about. We was like, why are y'all doing this? Like, this looks terrible. Then the next game, fixed it up.

57:02 Fixed it up.

57:03 Blowout.

57:04 It obviously worked, though. They got two games compared to.

57:07 I'm not taking away from Atlanta.

57:08 All right, cool. That's all I'm saying. No, no, no, no. I wasn't saying that.

57:10 The game plan worked in some way, shape, or form. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Jason Johnson and them, they coming.

57:16 I ain't say that.

57:17 I live in Atlanta. You know what I'm saying?

57:19 They coming. It's Atlanta, bro.

57:21 They coming.

57:22 Man, Atlanta like that.

57:23 Huh?

57:24 Atlanta like that. They coming. They like that. They starting to... I'm telling you, that.

57:28 Fuck you come in, once that fuck you creep in, where it be like, hey, bro, we don't care about y'all. And it's lit here.

57:34 Y'all went out last night.

57:35 Hey, man.

57:37 I know y'all went out last night. It's lit. I know y'all probably wasn't. You was probably.

57:41 Yeah, you was in the league.

57:42 You probably your rookie year.

57:43 When the Joe Johns and they had that team.

57:46 Yeah.

57:47 Yeah, that team was on the rise.

57:49 Then Atlanta does Atlanta.

57:52 I mean. We start training players. We start doing this.

57:57 It's Atlanta.

57:57 You're not building nothing. They got a squad.

58:00 If they wanted to, they can. Since the 80s, this nigga's been sorry. Since the 80s? We just going to diss Dominique like that?

58:10 That was it?

58:11 Listen, though, every franchise that hasn't won outside of the main cities that pay for their championships and their players, outside of them, every team before they finally get a ring is, they ain't.

58:24 Won since OKC.

58:26 Man, they ain't shit.

58:28 Shea come over there. They ain't shit.

58:30 This ain't going to work.

58:31 Then it works. New York.

58:32 Y'all ain't won in 50 years. These niggas, every year they organization going to do this. Jalen Brunson come.

58:38 It works. Everybody in. No, no, no. We know Atlanta. Atlanta can do it.

58:42 Dominique Wilkins.

58:43 And then from there. Here you go. Any team with a Jalen don't win.

58:47 Here you go, man.

58:48 You know what I mean?

58:49 It's just Dominique and then Joe Johnson.

58:53 We remember Jeff Teague.

58:54 Who's between the two of them?

58:55 You don't remember Jeff Teague, Al Horford, and Kyle Corbin? That's what I was going to say. They was a one seed. You playing. They did get fucked off. They was all all-stars. You love those personal accolades. You love them.

59:07 You keep that stuff up. He love it.

59:09 You love it. It ain't what it's supposed to. I was going to say, this guy's 12. It wasn't supposed to. I know. It's a fact. No, I know. It's a fact. It happened. I'm not saying I'm mad.

59:28 But don't act like the team was good.

59:29 Did Damari make one too? Who? Damari Carroll. Probably. Probably. That's what I'm saying.

59:34 They were just giving him out then. Don't give him out. Don't move the needle down.

59:37 I know they were moving the needle.

59:40 They were moving the needle.

59:41 They wasn't.

59:41 Nobody was scared of that one seed. They were moving the needle down. They probably lost first round.

59:45 Shaq, Shaq, get on him. You didn't move the needle.

59:47 You couldn't move the needle with Mike and Brian and them.

59:51 We was moving the needle. Now you're moving the needle.

59:53 No, I'm saying we got Dominique Wilkins and then Joe Johnson. Who do we know between the two?

1:00:00 Oh, you're talking about like rock star, rock star status. Dominique. Dominique. Joe Johnson. Who's in between?

1:00:09 We know Joe, too. No, I said we got Dominique, and then we got Joe.

1:00:14 Who's in between them? Al Horford.

1:00:16 No, uh-uh.

1:00:17 Josh Smith.

1:00:19 Josh Smith?

1:00:19 Fuck is you talking about? Josh Smith dunk contest. Stop playing with dudes. Josh never made an all-star.

1:00:25 Stop playing with my ass.

1:00:27 I don't care. He was dunking shit. And then we had that... We just had to deal with that. Huh? We had Trey. And then we had the monster.

1:00:34 Yeah, you got Trey. Stop playing with my ass. I said between Joe Johnson.

1:00:37 That is. All right, let's get back on track here. Ow, ow. Let's get back on track.

1:00:51 Matumbo.

1:00:53 No, no, no.

1:00:55 Let's get back on track here and talk about some current.

1:00:58 Hey, Joe.

1:00:59 No, no, no. Yes, yes, yes.

1:01:02 Let's talk about some current NBA hoops. You guys mentioned Darius Aikman. So let's talk a little bit about the Kings while we can before the season starts.

1:01:09 And they go to.

1:01:11 After sitting out last season to get his mind and body right, former number one pick Ben Simmons back in the league after signing a vet minimum, prove it deal with the Kings. This weekend, Simmons made his return to the floor in the Bay as the Kings hit the road to take on the Warriors, gave his new squad some reason for optimism. Let's take a look at the highlights if we can. Please, Paolo, cue him up for me.

1:01:31 So Simmons displayed his versatility from the opening to handling the jump ball for the Kings, actually winning the tip. So Ben Simmons only played nine minutes in the game.

1:01:41 That's it. Right at Draymond.

1:01:43 Only played nine minutes, but looked more aggressive offensively than he has in recent seasons. Finished with seven points on two or four shooting. He also went three for four from the line.

1:01:52 That's what I'm talking about right there. This is the first time I'm owning Key's jersey.

1:01:59 Light-skinned excellence is back in Sacramento, ladies and gentlemen.

1:02:02 As if it ever left.

1:02:04 Don't his godpappy do something with his godpappy?

1:02:08 Yeah, I'm sold.

1:02:09 That's how he got his opportunity with the Kings.

1:02:11 Somebody's really his goddaddy. So Scott Perry's Kings GM, I think, travels. Somebody on the Kings, yeah. Scott Perry traveled to Florida to watch him work out, and Ben Simmons said he was back. He's ready to go. He loves basketball. He was healthy for the first time in a long time.

1:02:25 You're laughing at seven points, nigga, in nine minutes?

1:02:28 Seven points or not. Aggressive, though. Is it? Aggressive.

1:02:31 Super chat. Super chat.

1:02:33 Chat, yeah.

1:02:33 We ain't fucking with y'all right now. You're looking at the broke chat, dude.

1:02:37 We ain't fucking with you now.

1:02:38 We're talking about nine minutes.

1:02:39 A healthy 6'10.

1:02:42 Freight train.

1:02:43 If you could do that, you see him at the point. But you're acknowledging the broke chat. They didn't even put that in the super chat. This is just the regular rank and file chat. What's the broke chat?

1:02:51 Our chat ain't broke. They don't put nothing in the offer. Our chat ain't broke. Our chat ain't broke.

1:02:54 They didn't even do that to the chat. Hey, yo, y'all might need to bring back the thumbs. He didn't like the thumbs. He said his face looked like a thumb.

1:03:03 He said his face looked like a thumb. No, he said his face looked like a thumb. And it does. It does. But guess what, Chad? You know I love you. After the game. After the game. If only you knew, Chad. It was the follow-up sentence.

1:03:22 Like, he ain't like the thumb.

1:03:24 He ain't like the thumb.

1:03:26 Most men don't. Neither did Brunson. So after the game, Simmons reflected... Simmons reflected on being back on the court for the first time in nearly 18 months.

1:03:36 It felt really good.

1:03:38 I think when you're out for a year and come back, you know, it's a good feeling to just be out there and compete and get the.

1:03:46 First one out of the way. But I felt good. You know, with the limited minutes, I felt good.

1:03:52 When you're coming back from a break like this, do you come into the year with any, like, differences that you're looking to add to your game, or are you just trying to get back into the real thing?

1:04:00 Yeah, I think a lot of it.

1:04:01 I think a lot of it is just being healthy and being able to do what I do and also adding to that, being more aggressive.

1:04:09 And I'm older now.

1:04:10 You know, I'm about the same player I was a few years ago, especially given that I'm healthy. Ben, along those lines, you mentioned you're older now. What is it maybe that you have to almost be more cognizant of or aware of.

1:04:23 When you're on the floor that is so different from when you were young? Overall? Yeah.

1:04:30 I think the games have slowed down a lot for me. And I see a lot more now, so... I think just being around and having a lot of years under my belt, the games just slowed down for me, and I can make better decisions, obviously. I haven't played in a year, but I still feel confident out there to take the right place.

1:04:50 We see Ben Simmons there. Looking good, feeling good. Sacramento. Give the chat. Hey, on that nine.

1:05:00 Minutes of action, seven points, though, and did have one assist as well. We showed that in the highlights. What did Ben Simmons show you in his return to the court with the Kings?

1:05:07 He showed us who the all-NBA player was.

1:05:12 When you're talking about 6'10, as the point guard, Draymond sagged off to the free throw line. The Ben Simmons that was hurt and questioned himself would just sit there looking for somebody to pass it to, realizing that same one guy is blocking all these curls, right? Now he's he's physically saying, you know what?

1:05:39 You can't move.

1:05:39 You can't. Man, you're going to sit right there. I'm coming to you, and we're going to bang right here. Now you don't have nobody that can protect you now. So watching him be aggressive again.

1:05:50 And right away. Right away. As soon as he saw the attack, he attacked.

1:05:53 This is the first couple plays of the game he got seven points.

1:05:57 Attacked. Seven points in nine minutes. I don't think it's against. But that's what he. Warrior starting. Against Draymond Green. That's a big point, though. Who's a defender. Who's talking this shit?

1:06:05 Oh, you watched. You know he's saying it.

1:06:08 But it's like he said, the coverage changes because. Draymond is already that guy that if he sees somebody going and you're about to have a bad matchup, he'll switch you. He's one of those style players. So you take his freedom away. It makes them worse.

1:06:23 You know what I'm saying?

1:06:24 Like you take their quarterback away. Because now he got to defend. So now somebody got to talk to him. And that's just.

1:06:30 He's like, yeah, I got Ben. I help everybody.

1:06:32 Yeah.

1:06:33 Oh, shit.

1:06:34 Straight up. Oh, he's being aggressive.

1:06:36 And it's like.

1:06:37 He switch off.

1:06:38 He jump off either foot. Like, he going this way, going that way. It's like taking the shoulder this way and being able to get to this side.

1:06:45 It's like, bro, he moving.

1:06:46 Like, but... Physically, like.

1:06:49 That core gotta be tight.

1:06:50 You know how that is. You out of shape, you hit the... Here, right here. It be.

1:06:56 Y'all think he did it? Man, that injury, man, like, it was lower back, man. Like, I watched Dwight. I really watched Dwight in Orlando. I seen a super, like, unreal. He was Superman, dog. Like, I remember we playing Miami, and they beating.

1:07:15 The shit out of us. I think they up like 18 at the half. He's like, hey, man, don't even worry about that. Don't even worry about them two over there.

1:07:22 First one, Turk, whoever got LeBron or D-Wade, open up the floodgates. I'm going to pretend I'm not looking, and I'm going to hit the ass out of the air. They're going to shoot jumpers the rest of the night.

1:07:36 Boom! Hit that wall. Real talk. Came back and won. Can't deal with that. I used to attack, attack, attack.

1:07:46 I'd go in there once in a while and get cleared out the air and be like, oh, he don't get no fuck. He don't care what happens after I hit these cameras.

1:07:55 Let me set up a floater for this man. You know what I'm saying?

1:07:58 That's a part of the game. They did it to win being a player.

1:08:01 Yeah, he's changing. He's changed, man.

1:08:03 When you have the confidence, when that back is finally healed, You see it.

1:08:10 You can see it.

1:08:11 Like when Dwight got the Lakers, he ain't ready yet. You see them in Houston, and it was like, you can't.

1:08:19 Get up off the ground.

1:08:21 It's not reckless. The jump ain't reckless. Yeah, when it settled in and he kind of got his power back, then you can see. Like you can see the difference between this Ben Simmons and the last time.

1:08:33 You seen him with the Clippers. It was also the mind game.

1:08:36 Right? But you still seen it. Like, just the movement itself. Like, you can't, if you physically can't do something, you're going to hold yourself back.

1:08:42 For sure.

1:08:43 You can see he looks, like, freely clear. Yeah.

1:08:47 Like, he's just, all right. Like, you didn't see none of that shit in the last two years.

1:08:51 Yeah.

1:08:51 That nigga, when he was a hero, he was a hero for shit.

1:08:54 I never knew that that's what they meant when they be like, yeah, you ain't ready yet. But they can see.

1:08:58 That's literally what a coach is evaluating.

1:09:00 They see you actively.

1:09:01 Your aggressiveness, your comfortability.

1:09:03 Yeah, they like, if I.

1:09:04 Put you in the game, dude, is he playing safe or is he just trusting the shit.

1:09:08 Out of that man?

1:09:09 Is he just stomping on that leg and taking off? If he doing that, like, he ready. But if he ain't doing that, it's like, that indecisiveness, yeah, you might fuck your leg.

1:09:18 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Overthinking the movement. Straight up.

1:09:22 Yeah.

1:09:23 So, Boogie, watching Ben Simmons, Kings jersey, what was your first impression seeing him back on the court after missing all of last season?

1:09:28 For me, it was more so just seeing him healthy, moving up and down, moving comfortably, and being aggressive off the attack, which he showed, you know, as soon as the game started.

1:09:38 I think that was a question mark for everybody.

1:09:40 Was he going to come back being the aggressive Ben Simmons that we were accustomed to, attacking the rim, creating gravity for others, creating plays, getting to the paint? Or was he going to be that passive guy that was limited in his movements, you know, not really getting to the paint, not really creating those opportunities? So I think he answered that question right away. I think that was the purpose, you know. He did it in a really short stint, nine minutes.

1:10:03 Perfect.

1:10:03 So I think he came out and did exactly what he was supposed to do. And I think that's what everybody was looking for, just seeing aggressiveness, seeing him healthy. And I think he checked both of those boxes. So, you know, as far as moving forward, as long as we get that version of him, I think it's a win for him. I think that's an improvement. It shows that, you know, whatever he went through in that offseason, it helped.

1:10:24 That's all we really want. We're not expecting him to come out average 25, 20. We know who Ben Simmons is. He's that 15, 16, 17-point-a-game guy that's going to create for others.

1:10:34 So we get that version of him. It's been a successful year.

1:10:37 He is still not in that point guard position anymore.

1:10:42 So it's like– I think he's naturally that, though. Yeah, he's a natural point guard. He may not be Ben Simmons. Like you see him, they got the ball in his hand. But he could play that point guard role Lamar Odom played.

1:10:51 I'm just saying I want to see his gifts show because this is still Ben Simmons.

1:10:58 You know what I'm saying?

1:11:01 I don't know if we'll ever see him blossom if he's not going to be in that role. I don't know how good he is being Draymond Green, but that's the role he's in.

1:11:09 No, like he's catching up. They're outlifting it to him. They're not.

1:11:13 They wasn't outlifting the young fella. They're outlifting him. Since he's faster, get it up. If he don't got nothing, all right, half-court guy, do your thing.

1:11:22 You get a ball, A-cuff, then he got off the rock, half-court. It's the preseason, sir.

1:11:27 We're trying to make sure he still got it. Who are you?

1:11:30 When the games really start, Darius A-cuff is getting that rock.

1:11:35 And the half-court. And the whole everything court.

1:11:38 And the Kyrie him. You're going to have on the break who you want. You want the guy who can get to the rim in two bounces? Once I get there, half court, go.

1:11:50 Do your pick and roll. Darius Acuff is also a rhythm guy.

1:11:53 Yeah, but you're going to always give it to your fastest guy who can get up to court.

1:11:58 That's what I'm saying.

1:11:59 Give it to Darius Acuff.

1:12:01 I'm just letting you know, we're not going to see Ben Simmons running the point.

1:12:04 That's all.

1:12:05 We're going to see him more in the point forward, Draymond position.

1:12:08 Go get a rebound. Get a rebound. I'm dead serious, though. I'm happy he's healthy.

1:12:15 I think one of his advantages that never got talked about, he used to be able to guard the point guard.

1:12:22 Yeah, he's going to do that.

1:12:24 Darius Acuff is considered a bad defender, so I think they complement each other in that form.

1:12:31 I think it's more of an open court position. playmaker type of guy. Who guards the three now?

1:12:37 He gonna guard all.

1:12:39 Who keeps the three off the board?

1:12:41 I think you're missing the whole point.

1:12:42 This is a development year for Acuff and a comeback year for Ben. As far as the team creating this thing to win. That's his only way of success.

1:12:52 If he don't prove himself, he going to find his way out the league.

1:12:57 He don't prove himself through the Kings winning game.

1:12:59 Because if that's the case, it's over.

1:13:00 I'm talking about him playing well. Him playing well.

1:13:03 I think he can still play well. But like I said, I think when it comes to Ben, he's more that open court. playmaking type of guy, create a pace. If nothing comes from that, we get in the half court and I'll be giving the ball to Acuff to become the half court scorer.

1:13:16 We better get a rebounding-ass Ben Simmons. I think you will. I'm 6'11.

1:13:21 But that's part of him being who he is.

1:13:24 I hope so.

1:13:24 But I'm saying that's how I will be able to say he's all the way back.

1:13:29 I think he's going to do that anyway.

1:13:30 That's naturally who he is. I know.

1:13:31 But when Gil was talking about him being at the top, being all nervous and shit, that's what went away.

1:13:37 Yeah. It's like you ain't picking shit up, fool. You ain't locking shit up. There ain't no deflections to run outs and finishes.

1:13:43 He used to be able to left hand, left foot.

1:13:46 Finish on the breakaway.

1:13:47 Moving full speed.

1:13:48 I think all that's going to happen, though.

1:13:49 I hope so. I'm just saying that time... He's still gaining himself back. I'm going to evaluate him. 1688 at his peak.

1:13:54 Pressuring the guards. If he's pressuring guards and then he's getting rebounds to runouts, I'll be like, you know what? He's going to stick back in the league. If he come out this motherfucker and.

1:14:04 Be.

1:14:04 Focused on just trying to get a quick bucket here and there and prove that he can shoot.

1:14:08 I don't think that's who he is naturally. I'm just saying he was putting up shots and shit. He's a pastor, dog. He's a pastor. All right.

1:14:15 I'm just saying if he come out here and try and prove to us he can shoot, he going to be out to leave. So that's never what we wanted him to do. I don't know when he fell in love with trying to show the league he could shoot.

1:14:26 I mean, I think that's what the narrative became. But I hate that part of the league.

1:14:31 That ain't why you drafted him.

1:14:32 I agree.

1:14:33 I get it.

1:14:34 They always put a narrative on motherfuckers. It's so dumb. At one point, they had that narrative on Braun. He couldn't shoot.

1:14:40 I don't know why they had that narrative.

1:14:42 I don't know either.

1:14:42 It's a narrative driven me. It's a narrative, meaning it ain't real. Yeah.

1:14:49 That's what narratives is.

1:14:51 It means it ain't actually real. We got to get you motherfuckers to read this shit. We need a narrative.

1:14:57 You got to remember, I'm just saying it's not a good book.

1:15:00 No, think about it. Why the fuck is you reading that book? No, no, but that's what makes it fun.

1:15:04 It's a narrative. It's not a good book.

1:15:06 Think about it. I want nonfiction.

1:15:10 Give me the nonfiction.

1:15:12 Now, before we.

1:15:13 Came in, remember, they're not in the locker rooms.

1:15:17 So, I can't talk.

1:15:19 Basketball, basketball. What I can do is say, hey, who's a better shooter?

1:15:24 I can do that. Who's a better shooter?

1:15:25 Michael Jordan or Bob? Who's the better player, Michael Jordan or LeBron? Have you ever noticed that's where the comparison is?

1:15:30 I don't think they ever compared these niggas as shooters. Neither one of them was shooters. No, you just do it.

1:15:35 Because I can't talk the game like this, so all I do is compare.

1:15:40 Oh, gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. You know what I mean?

1:15:41 I just compare it. If Shaq was in this hangar, how much he would score?

1:15:46 That's all they can do. Nigga, how the fuck are we supposed to know?

1:15:49 It's not like one of.

1:15:50 Us can be right.

1:15:51 I don't give a fuck what kind of notes you got.

1:15:54 You can't prove it. Them not even real conversations in our locker room. No, we don't have that.

1:15:58 We don't sit here and be like, man, what you think Shaq look like in today's game?

1:16:01 At all. We don't say that shit.

1:16:03 We talking about a nigga that just bust her ass. We're not having that conversation. You think Jokic could have played in the 60s? Oh, bro. We don't give a fuck.

1:16:12 Y'all do got to stop doing that, man. Stop getting mad at players for not being born when somebody else is born. We can't put certain players against certain guys.

1:16:23 You don't know no ball.

1:16:25 You ain't never seen something.

1:16:27 I was born in the 90s. But that's the only conversation that they could have back then before players came in. I can't have the day-to-day conversation about the X's and O's, who's supposed to drop, who's supposed to do this. So all I can do is compare and then let everybody debate about it.

1:16:46 Yep.

1:16:47 That's all I can do.

1:16:48 I ain't gonna lie, though.

1:16:49 I ain't gonna lie.

1:16:50 People starting to catch up, though.

1:16:51 I've been able to start talking the game with people and they know about certain shit.

1:16:55 Yeah, but it's in this, girl.

1:16:57 I'm talking about just random people that come up and just be like, because they watching the pod or they watching, but it's like little by little, especially with these podcasts. It's like, dog, they starting to understand. Like, I see it. Like, he do be in a drop every time. Because we're letting them know what it is. Like, think about it real.

1:17:17 But that make it cool, though.

1:17:19 Like, think about it. I mean, it is more players in the media.

1:17:21 I love it, though. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. I don't want him thinking we just wasting our words no more. Like, I ain't going to lie.

1:17:27 I got to talk a hedge ball screen with a fan. We sitting down at a restaurant just chopping it, dog. Like, you see him hedging the ball screen right there. That's why he can't get right. He's like, so what are you saying when you say two removed?

1:17:38 You know what I'm saying? I'm like, hey, this nigga trying to learn.

1:17:41 Hey, I love this.

1:17:42 Let's take a shot, brother. Let's take a shot.

1:17:46 On you. On you.

1:17:47 You know what I'm saying?

1:17:48 Like, yeah, what you say? How many kids?

1:17:51 Yeah, I got three girls.

1:17:52 Oh, bro. Yep.

1:17:53 They said a lot of players never played. No, a lot of players never played, but they're in practice every single day.

1:17:59 Like, think about a media who's writing.

1:18:01 Where's his view?

1:18:03 Behind the basket.

1:18:05 Or on the side or up top.

1:18:07 Up top, right?

1:18:07 And can't hear nothing.

1:18:08 You looking from the TV, you got a better view than him.

1:18:12 Yeah.

1:18:12 Right? Now, if I throw a pass back door and a guy, and it goes out of bounds, you'd be like, oh, that was.

1:18:21 A horrible pass. You don't know the play. Real talk. You don't know that. You don't suppose.

1:18:26 If you're going to go back door, you go all the way through.

1:18:28 Real talk. He didn't finish his cut.

1:18:29 He didn't finish his cut.

1:18:30 You don't know that.

1:18:31 You blaming the guy who threw the ball.

1:18:32 And we finna sub him out.

1:18:33 Yeah, we finna sub him. Yeah, so there's a lot of things that's going on, but we can see that in real time.

1:18:39 We know, okay. Was you one of them guys, by the way?

1:18:42 What?

1:18:42 That would take the turnover to say that's what you were supposed to do?

1:18:45 Hell no. I'm not taking turnover for shit. This motherfucker.

1:18:49 Yeah.

1:18:50 Insane.

1:18:50 I'm not taking the first part.

1:18:52 Shout out Raymond Felton.

1:18:53 I am not proving the point.

1:18:55 Shout out Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd because they would both take a turnover. Especially early on in the season.

1:19:02 Well, J.

1:19:03 Kidd ain't getting in no trouble for it because you got to take his turnovers with his assists.

1:19:07 Without a doubt.

1:19:08 But I'm saying, like, he'll do some shit where he knows you're fucking up. So he'll just throw it. And that bitch will go out of bounds. And he'll just stare at you.

1:19:20 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:19:21 Like, see, you're not doing it because you think I'm not going to throw it. So I just threw it in advance. You know what I'm saying? Because you're lazy as fuck. No, no, yeah, because now you're thirsty.

1:19:31 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:19:32 Yeah, you didn't even see my face. Look at you.

1:19:34 You got to just do that. But that makes sense for somebody like Jason Kidd. Because he needs his weapons. I need my weapons to move. So I've seen him a couple times where the job is when the ball goes up, Kerry Kittle's takeoff.

1:19:48 I don't need you trying to get a rebound. Takeoff.

1:19:51 I want you to show and go because I'm throwing it. that rebound go and he gets it he's blindly throwing that knowing you're already on that side if he if Kerry Kittles didn't take off.

1:20:06 Yeah it's a turnover it's a turnover I'm in that bitch like oh you said he did every time I'm trying to catch it trying to catch a fall.

1:20:13 God damn it you playing DB but.

1:20:17 You know what you know what ended up happening it became defense for them because now you can't crash you gotta get back think about the shooter Think about the lesson that he's teaching you. If the guy who's closing out on you just keeps running, what type of shot you shooting?

1:20:33 Because you kind of worked.

1:20:34 Yeah, you sitting here trying to shoot to get back because you know that rebound, he's already under the basket.

1:20:40 He had my mother just shoot real fast.

1:20:44 What were we talking about yesterday? That quick flip?

1:20:48 You had my.

1:20:49 Mother just like shooting and trying to run back.

1:20:51 I made a living on making sure if I saw somebody shoot a shot that they could finish their shot. I always said, finish it. If you raise up, Don't try and quick-dive nothing because as soon as you do this, my brain is already saying, who back? If there's one guy back and I don't trust who that is, I'm sorry to all the people I play with that I ain't trust, but there were certain guys that I had to look and be like, nope, move.

1:21:15 Just move.

1:21:16 Let me handle it because you ain't really trying to play defense for real and I ain't trying to get scored on. But that is a big-ass problem for the league. There's so many niggas that will see somebody that run them out They run them off the shot, and their problem is they either looking down at, like, I.

1:21:33 Don't want to land on them. Yep, landing on your feet.

1:21:35 Which I take advantage of that, too.

1:21:36 I'm not really going to land on y'all feet.

1:21:38 I'm not even close, for real.

1:21:40 But I make that route look like that, so where your feet just do something different, or your eyes just, for one second, you just look down.

1:21:46 Take your eyes off the rim. That's it. That's all I need. That's all you need, yep.

1:21:50 That's a huge point, though, that Boggs don't like that. It's a lot of people that leak out with no reason to leak out. Like, I don't know you leaking out. You just doing it. Like, if you do that, you cherry-picking for real. Like, you know what I'm saying?

1:22:02 You're a cherry-picker. But if you– That's great easy offense, too. Who was a– Yeah. You got two rebounders? If you got a passer. Yeah, I don't– If I.

1:22:10 Got a guy that can make that pass, a J-Kid, a K-Love.

1:22:12 Oh, yeah. K-Love is the best. Hey, contest elite.

1:22:15 Elite.

1:22:15 Overhead. He do the overhead joint.

1:22:17 K-Love.

1:22:18 No offense.

1:22:18 We ain't got cross-air court.

1:22:22 Absolutely. Who played at Minnesota that.

1:22:25 Used to leak out? Corey Brewer. Cory Brewer. I was going to say Ronnie Brewer for a second. Shout out to Cory Brewer. It's the Brewer. Oh, bro. Go out here, contest you, do all that. You've been doing this since Florida.

1:22:35 Gone.

1:22:36 Gone. Winner.

1:22:37 But it's like he don't do it how people think he do it. People be thinking he just be. No, because he corral a lot of rebounds as well. But he knew, especially if it was one of them swing, swing, breakdown situations.

1:22:50 Yeah, he like, y'all ain't got nobody back. I'm gone.

1:22:53 Cuz my whole team know I'm doing this, you know, I'm saying it's different if you tell a nigga at the free throw.

1:22:58 Line I got a 50 ball off that shit You got the right guard if I got a speedy guard, I don't need your office rebound I mean, I don't need your defense rebound. Take your ass off go every time go. Why you five six five seven What the fuck you doing down here? I don't I don't need you to bring the ball up I'm trying to throw it to.

1:23:15 You down there real talk. I Outlet. Move them little feet.

1:23:19 Yeah, get a little fast break. Let whoever chase you down there. The year me and I.T. played together, we were great at that.

1:23:26 I.T. was great at that. Yeah, take off. I.T. got so many of those fast break layups.

1:23:30 I.T.

1:23:30 Played so many mind games with people. I'm on my outlet at the half.

1:23:32 I rebound, I'm just throwing them.

1:23:34 I.T.

1:23:34 Finishing at the, like, yeah.

1:23:36 He used to be doing the two-foot two, where he'll get you a free throw two out of that business.

1:23:40 Mm-hmm.

1:23:41 Heavy as hell, even though he was short. People don't know he was doing the mellow where he'd jump up quick and put his body on top of you so you can't lift.

1:23:49 Little sandbags.

1:23:50 And then it looked like you.

1:23:51 Found the shit out of him as soon as you tried to race through. It looked like you just threw this man.

1:23:55 He flopping. Ugh, lay up. Little English bulldog.

1:23:58 Oh, bro, strong tail.

1:23:59 Like, bro, you ain't come on.

1:24:02 IT ass, man.

1:24:03 Shout out IT, dog. I hate the way they play with you, man.