KD Claps Back At Mat Ishbia, PG Finds His LOVE Again In Boston & SGA's MVP THREE-PEAT Chase! Part 1

0:00 Welcome back to Gil's Arena, presented by Polymarket and powered by Playmaker. We made it back, y'all. We here. Season has began. I'm your host, Josiah Johnson. I'm here with NBA legend, 2K Unk with badges, Theater King, and goaded Gilbert Arenas.

0:27 It's all delusional at this point moving forward fellas. It's all delusion.

0:32 You ain't got no cut off or nothing. You just coming with raw armpits in the jersey.

0:36 Yeah, time to play.

0:36 That's crazy.

0:37 It's hoop time. You put the t-shirt on?

0:39 Now he ready to hoop, bro. You seen this left knee? That boy ain't hooping. You wore t-shirts under your jersey? Nah, man, but we ain't hooping.

0:47 Them days done. So you got the DeMarco over there?

0:52 Alright.

0:52 I'm going straight like this.

0:54 Okay. We're joined by NBA champion of the world and creator of The Tallest Tales Network on YouTube, Brendan Haywood. Back in the arena.

1:02 Yes, sir.

1:03 Thunder up.

1:05 Thunderstruck.

1:06 One of my favorite movies. Hey, man.

1:08 They coming back this year, man.

1:09 They bouncing back.

1:10 Watch.

1:10 Watch my words.

1:11 They gonna be solid.

1:14 They bouncing back?

1:15 They gonna be good, bro.

1:16 They gonna be good.

1:17 Regular season. They ain't gonna be delusional. They gonna be solid.

1:19 Who?

1:20 Who?

1:20 He said they gonna be delusional. They gonna be good for sure. They gonna be decent.

1:24 Hey, who you work for? I was just trying to figure out, like, you know, how delusional.

1:29 You want to be.

1:29 You know, keep that job.

1:31 Hey, man.

1:31 We got somebody with one foot in, one foot out.

1:34 They're going to be solid, bro.

1:35 They're going to be good.

1:37 We got NCAA champion of the world, three-time NBA champion of the world. And when he's not in the arena, you can check out his Inside the Green Room podcast or catch him calling games. For LeBron's former team, the Los Angeles Lakers, Danny Green.

1:51 LeBron's former team.

1:54 Not Lucas' team.

1:55 LeBron's former team. LeBron's former team. All right. Good to be here.

1:57 It's still up.

1:59 But they did keep Bronny on the roster. Good job, Robert.

2:01 All right.

2:02 What up, man?

2:04 Smart man. Smart man.

2:05 Atone for your sins, Robert. We got four-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, DeMarcus Cousins. Back in the building with us. The Y Emberwolves.

2:19 Gang gang.

2:21 Gang gang.

2:21 Yeah, that's it.

2:24 The NBA regular season is finally here, ladies and gentlemen. And to celebrate the festivities, we decked out the arena with each of our talent's favorite teams for this season. That's what you can see them being.

2:34 Good job, crew. This is dope.

2:36 Good job.

2:36 Shout out.

2:37 You're fired.

2:38 Shout out to the crew.

2:40 Shout out to the crew.

2:41 I thought you was wearing a Laker hat too, Chris. I was about to say.

2:44 Almost did.

2:44 About to be smart.

2:45 Oh, no.

2:45 There you go.

2:46 Put it down. With the NBA season here, we've got a lot to discuss. Here's what's cracking in the arena today. KD and Suns owner Matt Ishbia traded jabs this weekend over the failed Suns experiment. Is Ishbia out of pocket for his comments about the KD era in Phoenix? Paul George says he's found his love for the game again playing in Boston, but how effective will the Tatum and PG duo be in a tough Eastern conference? And with the NBA season tipping off, it's time to make Some predictions.

3:16 Are the Knicks still the team to beat? And will SGA pull off the rare MVP three-peat we will discuss? But Mosey fans, it's back for our Super Chat. Appreciate you to everybody in the chat. Throwing something in the offering plate. You guys are asking great questions. We try to answer as many as we can every single episode.

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4:10 And it isn't just sports. You can trade on culture, news, and current events. Plus, they have a squads feature where you can talk and trade with your friends. Any trade a member places drops right into the chat as a card, and anyone can hit buy to take that same pick in one tap. Ditch the old limitations and trade on your terms. Download the Polymarket app and use code ARENA.

4:28 And when you deposit just $ 10, you'll unlock $ 25 in bonus funds. That's code ARENA to get $ 25 in bonus funds when you deposit just $ 10 on Polymarket. And shout out to everybody on Twitch. for watching and supporting the show. We appreciate all our Twitches out there. If you have not done so already, subscribe to the At The Gills Arena Show channel and appreciate y'all for all the subs. So, basketball season's here, but we're going to start this one on a lighter note. Jalen Brown getting set to make his debut with the Sixers tonight.

4:56 Yes, sir.

4:56 As they take on the defending champion, Ring Knight, Banner Knight, give the Knicks their first L of the season. So, Brown recently made an appearance on Lil Baby's last 10 show for a candid conversation reflecting on the past 10 years And when asked about his favorite purchase, Brown had this response.

5:13 My favorite purchase, I think my best, my most favorite purchase for me was I bought a harp. I bought like a gold harp. I got it upstairs too.

5:23 What's a harp?

5:24 Like a music thing?

5:26 Yeah.

5:26 So I bought a harp and I got a harpist that come play like twice a week while the sun is going down, while the.

5:33 Chef is in the kitchen.

5:34 You know what I mean?

5:36 Yeah.

5:37 That little baby's selling it, ain't he? That little baby's like, yeah, he wasn't feeling that. Little baby was selling.

5:44 It, though. A gold harp with his very own harpist come over twice a week.

5:47 A little freaky little motherfucker right there. That ain't freaky.

5:49 What?

5:51 Nah, he's just trying to relax.

5:53 Twice a week during dinner time when it's sunset.

5:56 That's just bored with my shit. Yeah, nah.

5:59 That's rich shit.

6:01 That's somebody coming over. He trying to, yeah. That's playing shit right there.

6:06 Hell yeah. Little harpoon playing.

6:09 You never seen that like that before.

6:12 Not a harpoon, bro.

6:13 Harpoon.

6:14 He ain't kill a whale. He got a harpist, man. What are you talking about, a harpoon? That's what he was trying to kill. Some whale.

6:24 Trying to give up that Moby Dick.

6:27 Wow.

6:29 You really got to think about it.

6:30 Playing music, he just chilling, drinking the wine.

6:35 Some real Christian grace.

6:37 Any woman that come over there, they getting that.

6:39 Some real Christian grace, man.

6:40 Romantic dude. That's romantic.

6:42 The harpist has a sunset.

6:44 It's only some billionaire shit, bro.

6:46 You know what, man? Listen, like Big Cud said, when you got a lot of money, sometimes you got to spend it on something. Sometimes you got to go outside. Sometimes you got to, when you can buy anything and everything, sometimes you got to go outside the box to make a purchase to make you feel like you still spend it.

6:59 Do you?

6:59 No, I mean.

7:00 What if he got him playing little baby on there?

7:04 That's a It's not on the heart. But do you, though?

7:07 Do you have to go outside the box to spend on some shit?

7:09 I feel like a lot of people do, though. Like, a lot of people with big money, they done bought all the little stuff that we think is important. Like, the car. You can't drive with so many cars. And so that's why you see a lot of these billionaires with these boats and all types of expensive stuff that you can't even... You're like, why are they spending money on that? It's like, that's what they got now. That's where they at.

7:27 Well, if you got a plane, like, if you're traveling a lot, if you got a plane, it makes sense. If you got a boat, you like to fish or swim or... But a harp and a harpist is just like on some.

7:35 Twice a week.

7:36 Just twice.

7:37 While the chef's making dinner.

7:39 While the son is setting too. The son got to set. I love the way Lil Baby sold it. Lil Baby's like, yeah. He wasn't feeling it.

7:45 I mean, he a musician, man. He got a little music, right?

7:48 His ass should have.

7:50 A harpist?

7:52 A gold harp with a harpist.

7:55 How much a harp cost? Not a harpoon.

7:58 A harp.

8:00 A gold one.

8:01 It all depends. Hold on.

8:02 It's gold, though.

8:04 It was gold?

8:05 It's probably just gold color.

8:07 It ain't solid gold.

8:07 So I just did a quick search. Premium harps. A gold harp you can get for about.

8:11 $ 100, 000. What?

8:12 What?

8:12 $ 100, 000 for a harp?

8:14 $ 99, 900.

8:14 Man, if you don't get the hell up out of here.

8:18 And the harpist.

8:19 You better play automatic. And the thing is, that's $ 100, 000 plus. How much the harpist cost? Let me see. Two days out of the week.

8:28 So that's 112 times a year Harpist plays for the year. 56 weeks, right? So he's probably paying a good six figures.

8:35 For a Harpist.

8:37 Anyone from $ 250 to $ 700 an hour for a Harpist. According to Al Gore's internet. So Jalen Brown, I'll say that he bought a Porsche and that was probably his worst purchase because he has a driver and he never drives the cars.

8:48 The Porsche is the worst?

8:50 He don't play the harp either.

8:56 That's the damn point.

8:58 But he listens to the harp.

9:00 I mean.

9:01 Yeah, he don't play the harp, but he listens to the harp.

9:03 I'm so mad.

9:05 What I got from this is he's bored with money.

9:07 Yeah.

9:07 Basically.

9:08 Yeah.

9:09 You got a Porsche, you don't drive.

9:11 You got a harp, you don't play.

9:13 He's got too much money, is what you're saying?

9:14 Yeah.

9:14 He's single, too, right? He not married with kids or nothing like that?

9:17 We don't know.

9:17 A romantic single, nigga.

9:18 He's just crazy.

9:19 Yeah, yeah. I spent my money wrong.

9:22 Huh? I really spent.

9:24 Like, I spent a hundred thousand.

9:27 Nah, nah, nah.

9:27 Blowing that on bottles in the club. These niggas buying heart, baby.

9:31 But hold on now. You had some dumb purchases, too. Exactly. The heart, I can resell that.

9:37 Yeah.

9:38 I can't resell them bottles with a... Hey, yo. Try to impress fucking... Oh.

9:44 At least he can resell his.

9:48 He can resell the heart. Some of the stuff this dude, like when he first got his new contract, dog, remember when you had that big bangle look like the Prince of Egypt? He brought a bangle like this. little bracelet.

10:01 Like the mummy shit?

10:02 Looked like the mummy on the rock. The bracelet was like from here to here. Solid gold with like diamonds and rubies. I'm like, where are you wearing it? He wore it to the club one time. Whole hood staring at him. I'm like, hey man, you want me to take that off, man? You're going to get us robbed. You're going to get us robbed. Yeah. He wore it one time. You never wore it again, did you?

10:21 Hell no.

10:22 Bro, where is that? You still got it? Nah. Hey, how was the hood looking at you? Hey, man, the hood was in the club. So when they seen all that right there, like, yeah, as soon as he leave.

10:36 Because you don't know, you'd be like this.

10:39 I'm 21. Listen, because I.

10:42 Got there, that's when my money kicked in. Them first two years, struggle. No club, no nothing. So now I get to go to the club. I'm hurt, too.

10:50 Mm-hmm.

10:51 Oh, my God.

10:52 No, you wasn't hurt.

10:52 Huh?

10:53 No, that's when you first got there.

10:54 When I first, oh, yeah, when I first got there.

10:55 When you first got your big brand, you showed, because we went out, I forgot what club it was.

11:00 1223.

11:00 Was it 1223?

11:01 All I know is you showed up, and I was like.

11:03 Oh, VIP.

11:03 Yeah, you just had, like, this big piece of jewelry. Like I said, this big, like, Prince of Egypt bangle, like, bracelet that was, like, this big with diamonds and rubies. And I just remember all the hood dudes staring at us like we fooled. I'm like, yeah, we might want to leave.

11:17 And then Dave's like, eh, eh, champ, eh, eh, eh.

11:20 I'm a dance machine.

11:23 I wasn't even running. But because it was in my drinking hand and I mean, got the watch and I left the drink. Yeah.

11:28 And everybody just.

11:32 Oh, he think it's sweet.

11:33 I'm like, baby, we'll call our head of security. Jackie Miles, man, we got to get out of here, brother. How are they looking at you?

11:41 Jackie was there then, too.

11:42 Jackie Miles, yeah. Jackie Miles, head of security for.

11:44 The Wizards, man.

11:45 He was there for a long time. He was there to help clean up.

11:46 All guilt and silliness.

11:47 I really did not like that, and I never wore jewelry after that. Yeah.

11:49 That was a horrible feeling. So you wore that one time.

11:51 I wore it one time.

11:52 I wasn't wearing that shit no more. How much did that bracelet cost?

11:54 200, 300, what?

11:57 1,000?

11:57 Brother, he had real rubies.

12:02 So I don't want to hear you say nothing about this man, Harp. I see you with a bracelet that costs two. That he wore once.

12:09 Brother, I just got money, brother. I've been struggling to eat struggle meals. My girl cheated on me for the first two years. I was celebrating.

12:16 That's a hell of a celebration.

12:17 Bro. Bro. Huh?

12:23 Just in case she's seen it. That's what I got now.

12:28 All right, well, let's go around the couch. Jalen Brown said you got to go hard with a harpist, but Boogie, I want to start with you. What's your favorite purchase from when you were in the league? My favorite purchase was my first one. I bought moms a crib straight out the gate.

12:44 I felt like I mean, I feel like I accomplished something in my life just in general, being able to correct the situation, put us in a comfortable environment. I had younger siblings, so they grew up a lot different than me. So, I mean, outside of that, that was my favorite purchase.

13:06 I mean, that's kind of probably the thing for everybody, right? People get their parents something. Everything else don't really last. All the jewelry, like you said, I didn't keep a lot of that stuff. Some watches are nice. Didn't really buy a bunch of cars and no shit like that. Buying pops of crib. When you get older, your favorite purchases become very... different. It's like shit for your body.

13:28 You know what I'm saying? The wifey got me a Normatec.

13:31 That's a good woman right there. That's a good woman right there.

13:34 The wifey got me a red light therapy. Them shits is like favorite purchases.

13:38 Hold on, what was the first one?

13:39 Normatec.

13:40 Normatec. No, you said red light therapy. That's two different things. Yeah, two different things.

13:46 I caught that. I just wanted to let you know.

13:48 The little tape you sent me at the table, the red light bed. Red light therapy and.

13:52 Red light treatment is I don't know the difference.

13:56 It's two different extremes.

13:57 Damn, what kind of life you living? Them motherfuckers over there living good.

14:05 Hurry up and buy.

14:06 Favorite purchases is probably getting your parents a crib. Always real estate. I think recently trying to figure out things for the little ones. Finding not just real estate, but a space that they can grow up in and play. Building that and the process of building that.

14:23 Let's shift over to this side. Brendan. Favorite purchase from when you were in the league?

14:30 I basically agree with both these guys. Like, favorite purchase, buying moms a house. You know, took a lot to get me to where I was and then to be able to walk out there and give Mom Dukes a crib, give it to my mom that she recently passed. So, she sacrificed everything for me to make it to the league. So, that was big time. And then, my second favorite purchase was probably after I was done setting up my children's annuity. Like, Knowing that my kids are going to be millionaires when they're in their 20s, it's a dope feeling. I probably shouldn't have said that because I don't want them to know.

15:03 I probably should have said it. My 16-year-old might not do nothing now. I know I got it. Being able to set up something so that your kids are so far ahead of it, that meant everything for me. I thought my highlight moment of my career was winning a championship, but the day I set that up and I sat back, I was When they hit like 21, like, they set.

15:27 They hit different. Message!

15:33 Let's shift over to you.

15:34 Oh, God.

15:34 I feel it's going to be a little bit different of an answer.

15:37 Why am I going to be different? Because we know you.

15:39 You got a lot of different purchases, man. Yeah.

15:42 Okay. This is a good purchase when you really think about it.

15:47 Oh, God.

15:50 It's about to be bad. I know it's about to be silly. I know it's about to be silly. Playing bees. I knew it.

15:56 I knew it.

15:56 I knew it. Everybody talk about their mama and their kids. He come out here with the anti-kids. We all talk about our mamas, our kids. He talk about the anti-kids. I know what people say.

16:10 You don't supposed to be paying for stuff like that.

16:14 Woo!

16:15 You're going to save a lot of money in child support. Listen, I got five right now. Could have been eight. it could have been they could have hit me early back then early come on man boy he's at.

16:29 100,000 you ain't got a better purchase than plan B you got.

16:31 To have a better purchase than that you get snipped yet I got snipped then unsnipped okay so was that a great purchase at the time which one when you got snipped the first was like one of your best investments.

16:47 No my best investment was a farm A what? Farm. Farm, gotcha. Yeah, got about 1,000 acres.

16:54 Oh, you like Varnell Hill?

16:55 What about the set, bro? I think the set is like... Nah, it was pretty good.

16:58 You got a real farm?

16:59 Yeah.

17:00 What's on it? You really like Varnell Hill? You got Lake Varnell in the back? Catfish delicious? Catfish delicious? Hold on, brother. You got a real farm? You got a lake, brother? You got somewhere where they can swim?

17:14 I think it's a different type of farm.

17:18 There's a stream on it. Christmas tree farm. Brother, you said farm. I thought you meant... That's farm. Old McDonald's. That's how I use it. Oh, you mean a green farm?

17:26 Yeah.

17:27 I thought you meant a different type of farm. I thought you had like a... Who's that guy with the spurs that got a big farm? George Hill.

17:32 Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've looked at some of his stuff.

17:36 Yeah, I thought you meant a form like that.

17:37 He got a wrench.

17:38 He got a whole wrench.

17:39 I mean, I apply it. Okay. I apply for a whole bunch of stuff just to get the licenses.

17:45 There's parts and parts and parts. I stopped.

17:47 I stopped.

17:51 Yo, this show is live. You know that.

17:52 I stopped. Don't say nothing where you can be prosecuted.

17:57 I stopped.

17:59 Actually, I stopped when this started.

18:01 Okay.

18:02 So this is your best purchase right here.

18:04 Yeah, this studio is dope. Let's just keep it here. The studio was your best purchase. Let's forget about it.

18:09 No! No, insurance on my kids and most of the people that owe me money.

18:19 How many people owe you money?

18:22 I'm just saying, you know, there's just, you know, if you owe me money, but you know what? Let me just take life insurance out on you.

18:27 You know, and me and your child can split it 50-50.

18:30 You know what I mean? Because you're going to pass at some point one day. Somebody need to get paid is all I'm saying.

18:37 Where did y'all find it? That's all I'm saying.

18:39 Life insurance out on the people that owe you money is crazy.

18:43 Oh, y'all sure?

18:43 Y'all just letting that debt go? Yeah, I just eat the loss. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

18:48 We're not doing that because most of them, if they owe you money, that means they don't have life insurance on themselves or no other kids, right? So, hey, listen, I'm trying to look out for your family. Let me put life insurance out on you, right?

18:58 You must be loaning people a lot more money than I am. No, I don't give a fuck.

19:01 Life insurance on you, I'm going to make it a million dollars.

19:03 I'll pay it.

19:04 Don't even worry about it. And then if you pass, somehow, you know, your child gets, you know.

19:08 Somehow.

19:09 Yeah, somehow, you know, life. Sound like a setup, but I'm going to let you cook. All right, I'm just trying to say, hey.

19:19 What you got, Joe? What's next? Let's keep this thing moving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're getting in trouble over here.

19:25 Hey, Joe, you got insurance?

19:27 Don't worry about me, brother.

19:28 You know what?

19:30 I need to talk to Nick, man.

19:32 Joe don't need to borrow no money.

19:33 I got host insurance. Apparently, no love lost between the Suns owner Matt Ishbia and Kevin Durant. Ishbia bought the Suns back in February 2023. Same day, he made his first blockbuster trade, acquiring KD from the Nets in exchange for Kel Bridges, Cam Johnson, four unprotected frontrunners, and a first-round pick swap. KD spent two and a half seasons with the Suns, teaming up with Devin Booker and Bradley Bill.

19:57 Trio had championship aspirations, but injuries in other factories made them fall way short of those goals, with the Suns winning just one playoff series during Durant's time in Phoenix, getting swept by the Wolves in 2024, missing the playoffs entirely.

20:09 2025.

20:12 That summer, Durant was traded to the Rockets for Dylan Brooks and Jalen Green, plus other assets in a historic seven-team deal. So Ishby had made an appearance on CNBC recently and had this to say about his decision to trade for KD and how that move shifted his approach in building a culture with the Suns organization.

20:28 The team was, I think, the eight or nine seed when I bought the team. And we had some good young players like, can we get over the top? And I basically was told, like, hey, as an owner, stay out of it and give them some money. And so I said, hey, listen, we'll go into the luxury tax. Go do whatever it takes to try to win a championship.

20:42 And so we did that, but it was more going and getting Kevin Durant, which good player, done a lot of great things, and won a championship before or two championships before.

20:51 But it was not aligned with my vision.

20:53 We had a couple years, and it did not.

20:55 Succeed, as we're well aware of at this point.

20:58 After that year, I decided to trade Kevin Durant, bring in my GM, bring in a coach, and get extremely involved personally with the type of guy and type of person we want in our organization, not just on the court, but off the court. I'm not saying it's Kevin Durant or not Kevin Durant, but here's what I'm going to say.

21:14 It is Dylan Brooks. It is Jordan Goodwin. It is Colin Gillespie.

21:20 It is also the guys that we have. Of course, Devin Booker. I'm not going to go to name every one of my players, but We've defined what matters to us. We have a thing called the Suns DNA, the type of player that we believe in, that we want. And it's a team that the fans will be proud of. Everyone thought we were going to be the worst team in the league last year. We made the playoff 145 games.

21:38 We're going to build on that.

21:39 And so what I've learned, my biggest lesson to kind of come back, one is it's not positive or negative like Kevin Durant.

21:44 What it is is we have.

21:45 To define what we're about in Phoenix and then stick with it and believe in our vision and our path. And I didn't do that at the beginning. I kind of just threw money at the problem. There was not a defined culture in North Star where we were going, and therefore, bringing in super talented players like Kevin Durant doesn't necessarily lead to championships, right? You've got to find guys and people that are aligned with the vision of where we're going, the work ethic, the attitude, the care factor around winning, the grind every single day, and that's what we're looking for in Phoenix. And whether it's Kevin Durant or not, it doesn't really matter. It's all about the type of players that we have, and now we've

22:19 defined it, and so now we only get those type of players.

22:23 That man talk fast, boy.

22:24 Talks fast. Give me 35, 45, 45, 45, 45. Interesting words there from HBO. So naturally, KD clapped back at his former owner this weekend for the perceived disrespect with the following tweet. He said, Hashtag blame. KD, even though KD stayed on top of his game at 36 and got you back this culture you love so much. Hey, Matthew acts like I got arrested for a DUI or something.

22:47 That's a shot.

22:48 Back to threat.

22:49 That's a shot right there.

22:50 I like KD tossing the third one.

22:51 He threw that grenade. That was a shot at Dylan Brooks right there. That was a shot.

22:55 DUI line appears to be taking a shot at Dylan Brooks, who was arrested for one back in March. So we'll get back to that in a second. But first, there was another back and forth between KD and Ishmael. Let's take a look at that if we can, please, Paolo. So. Ishbir responded, you obviously didn't watch the clip. Laughing emoji.

23:11 Didn't blame you, Kevin Durant, but I'm happy with the culture we are building here in Phoenix. We got the right guys and right focus now and are excited for this season. Good luck this season in Houston. That led to this retort from KD. He said, you should be giving thanks every chance you get. You don't have to pay me an absurd amount of money to play for another team. So that appears to be another shot, this time at Bradley Beal, who got $ 99 million buyout from the Suns in July 2025 using the wave and stretch. revision.

23:37 But now let's get back to Dylan Brooks, who's never one to miss an opportunity to troll. Brooks posted this on his IG story. Let's take a look. He said, Thanks, Matt, for cleaning up that stench in the locker room before I came. Hashtag culture. So a lot to unpack here, but let's get to unpacking. Brendan, we're going to start with your reaction to Matt Ishby and KD beefing over Ishby's comments about KD's time with the Suns.

24:01 I don't like Ishby's comments. I understand why KD's a little upset because Matt can say that, yeah, I wasn't taking a shot at you, but when you make all this culture talk and then you put KD on the other side of it, whether it was accidental or on purpose, you make it seem like, hey, you weren't good for the culture. And so I don't know that to be true.

24:21 I look at KD. I think KD is an incredible player. We know he's first ballot Hall of Famer, one of the best scorers, probably the best scorer in NBA history with how easy he makes scoring look. And then if I just put on my, if I just, Think back to that Phoenix team. That Phoenix team that lost to the Denver Nuggets, they played the Denver Nuggets better than anybody else in the playoffs that year. If you think back, they won two games, KD, Booker were cooking, and then they made the move to bring in Bradley Beal. I thought that was the big mistake. No disrespect to Bradley Beal.

24:57 I just thought when I looked at that team, they didn't need more scoring. They need more of the other intangibles, the three and D guys, the rim protection, defense, things of that nature. And so that was what really messed the team up in my mind. is that when you brought in Bradley Beal off a team that took the champs, that pushed them harder than anybody else, it's not a KD culture thing or the fact that they signed KD.

25:20 KD was incredible. He was also hurt that year, too. And he still came in and popped off in the playoffs. So I just think that the main move was they made a decision to try to throw money and offense at the problem. And from there, things snowballed. And I mean, Matt Ishby can say what he wants to say. But Katie, I think that Katie has a point. And I think that I agree with him popping off and taking his little subtle jabs in there. I like petty Katie. I like it. And like I said, when I've been great for your organization, I ain't got in trouble off the court.

25:50 When you mention my name, the first two to three paragraphs after you mention my name need to be positive. Yeah. If I've been averaging between 25 to 30, whatever it is, for your organization, I ain't been in no trouble. I get my buckets. I do what I was brought here to do. When I'm gone, when you mention my name, like I said, the first couple of things, they need to be all positive comments. This seems like subtle hate for Matt Ishmael.

26:14 I agree. And according to a report from Shops, KD actually recruited Bradley Beal to come.

26:20 That was KD's fault then.

26:21 He does have some part in that. But like you mentioned, Chip and Chris Paul, the rest of that crew over there, After they got knocked out by the Nuggets in that first season, KD played eight regular season games that season and played in the playoffs. But, Boogie, let's shift over to you, Matt Ishbia. Mentioned KD's name several times. It appears to not be taking a shot, but I think KD obviously took it a certain way. What are your thoughts about that?

26:42 I think I.

26:45 Understand Kevin Durant's frustration because, one, this is a team thing. Kevin Durant didn't fail the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns failed as a group, starting from top to bottom. One, I think it was a horribly put-together team. When you have a prolific scorer like Kevin Durant, you have to have a guy, and this is my opinion, I feel like you have to have that point guard on the floor that makes the game easier for him when he gets to those points where he needs that. Naturally, KD's going to do whatever he wants, but it becomes points in the game, playoffs, crunch minutes where he needs that set-up guy. So I think In that aspect alone, I think that's where they failed. You got three scoring guards

27:29 trying to play together. It's just not a good recipe. And I understand it worked in Golden State.

27:34 Who did they trade for? Was it CP they traded for you?

27:37 Yeah, exactly.

27:38 I think they should have kept CP. But that's besides the point. And I get what they're trying to create. Kevin Durant had so much success in that Golden State system where it was that three-headed scoring monster. That was Golden State, and that's a unique group players it's only one step and it's only one play so to try to recreate that that's just NBA laziness in my opinion but when you sit here and start talking about the culture shit and and your next thing is to brag about what's in there now and Kevin Durant being there never getting in trouble never causing the issue off the court being a true professional which he's always been at every stop and then for you to start talking about culture well for me If I want to follow a

28:24 blueprint when it comes to being a professional or creating a culture in this league, I'm going to follow a Kevin Durant, somebody that's done.

28:32 It at the highest level everywhere he's been.

28:36 So to sit there and try to create a narrative of one guy destroying a culture or not fitting in, I understand the frustration because, like I said, it's a group thing. If I fail, we all fail. Bradley Bill played a part in that. Devin Booker played a part in that. These are the three highest-paid guys on the team, and only one is getting singled out as far as the culture.

29:01 Couldn't Matt have just brought up the fact that he likes the culture that they have now without even mentioning Kevin Durant at all?

29:06 Yeah, and I agree with that part, too.

29:08 Yeah. I mean, he could have mentioned other names instead of just... He only mentioned one.

29:11 He just could have been like, hey, man, we overachieved last year. I really like the culture and where we're headed, and just not brought up KD? I agree with that.

29:19 And then on top of that, the coaching changes.

29:21 Like, that's... They're paying coaches that aren't there right now.

29:24 It's a rotating door of coaches.

29:25 So that doesn't necessarily equate to a championship. So it was a lot of different factors that went into why that Phoenix project failed and to sit there and just try to put it on Kevin Durant, that's just, that's laziness.

29:39 You hit on something though. You said something that doesn't get talked about enough. You said NBA laziness. Oh, teams see something work and they think, I'm just going to do, we're going to be that. Dog, like you tried to create Golden State.

29:54 You don't know how many times they've tried to create a Steph, Clay, And it's just like, dude, they are great because that's who they are. To sit there and think it's 20 more Steph Currys and Klay Thompson, you're lying to yourself. It's NBA late to think it's another win. Now we're going to go draft every seven-footer that can run, shoot, and jump a little bit. Oh, it's the next win.

30:18 Same thing with Kevin Durant. Every 6'9, we ain't come out, man.

30:21 He Kevin Durant.

30:22 It's an epidemic in the league.

30:23 Come on, bro.

30:24 They see something, and then everybody's like, I want that. It's the copycat effect. Like you just said, they try to create Golden State. But Golden State did it behind the three-point line. They did it with three guys that actually all get it done from the mid-range. Bill, KD, and Booker are all mid-range mavens. Exactly. But that NBA laziness, that's something from a front office standpoint that we don't talk about a lot. So many teams are out here pocket-watching, saying, ooh, I see how that team plays. We want to be that.

30:50 But you ain't got them type of players.

30:52 Nope. I'll never forget.

30:53 We were going through the draft process, and I feel bad for.

30:56 The kid because I think it put A crazy amount of pressure on him as an individual and just his development in general.

31:04 But it was a kid by the name of Nick Stauskas that played.

31:06 I remember Nick Stauskas. Yeah, from Michigan.

31:09 Coming out, our ownership said he was a combination of Steph and Clay.

31:15 Steph who? Wardell. Wardell. Clay who?

31:21 That was Waldo.

31:23 Where is he?

31:24 He was a combination of the two. They said that to you?

31:27 They told me that.

31:28 Wow.

31:28 And I'm like, he's going number seven? This sounds like the number one pick without a doubt. He's a combination of Steph and Clay. So to hear them say something like that and have that expectation for a number seven pick, you just only imagine the type of pressure that this kid is walking into so if he underperforms just a little bit with those type of comparisons like how is that setting him up to grow in any type of way so the point I'm trying to make.

31:56 Is it's a very lazy it's a very lazy league.

31:59 It's a copycat league and at the end of the day one thing I will say I commend about Ishba is he wants to get involved to understand the game a little more, which I can respect, because there's a lot of owners out here that won't even admit that part.

32:13 He said the first year I just threw money, I didn't try to fix it. That's most owners.

32:17 Then it's like, I'm going to get a little more involved so I actually know what's going on. Not me, not saying I'm taking complete control or it's my way or no way. I'm going to get involved so I can understand what I'm investing my money into. That part of it I can respect, because there's a lot of owners that'll never.

32:32 Say those type of words. I think you see that a lot too. You see it like most of the time when a billionaire comes in with a new team, They always think, I got this figured out more than everybody else. They got the smartest guy in the room. Because guess what? They're billionaires in some other aspect of life.

32:46 But in this NBA world, you on the bottom. You don't understand this business. Money don't help you in this. Exactly. Yeah, you're talking about... Nah, you got to understand culture. You got to understand... coaching staffs you got to understand training staffs you got to understand the supports that all the little things we we were talking about off air sacramento you would tell y'all were going to massage envy like come on man like it's just some of these different things and these sometimes these billionaires come in and they don't understand it so i will give ishby his credit he's like listen i thought i knew i did what i did what a billionaire normally does i threw money at the problem and then i realized hey this ain't that.

33:23 Right so in ishby's defense he was asked about kd.

33:27 He still could have worded it differently.

33:30 It still became where it was like culture and the reason the culture is fucked up is we.

33:34 Removed the guy that disrupted.

33:37 It sounds crazy when it's other people involved.

33:40 That's what I don't like. We have, especially media, you have these guys that are bigger than life and you use them for clicks.

33:51 When shit gets boring.

33:54 Hit the KD button, right? So he's about to start, oh shit, let's hit the KD button. Hit the LeBron button, right? That's what it's always been. So when you talk about, oh, they lost. When he went over there, they lost. It was Kevin Durant. Kevin has never fucking failed. When you go down and look at what Kevin Durant has done on every team, A plus student. He's an A plus student.

34:20 He's playing.

34:21 He's doing teamwork with everybody else. But you guys don't want to judge those grades. Right.

34:26 Right?

34:26 So he came there and played eight games.

34:29 Eight games the first year after the championship.

34:30 First year they went to the second round. Lost to the Nuggets. Lost to the Nuggets who won the championship. Who won the championship. They were the only team that year to get two games off the Nuggets.

34:40 And what ended up happening is what happened game was it six or seven?

34:45 Who didn't show up?

34:46 The nigga who's supposed to stop Jokic.

34:51 DeAndre?

34:51 He didn't play that game.

34:53 Got sick. Leg hurt. Cramps. He a wizard now. We support him, man.

34:59 I get it.

35:00 But we talking back then. We talking back then. Oh, not now.

35:04 Not now. Back then. Continue, dog. Oh, hey.

35:07 Not that new.

35:07 Continue.

35:08 Hit a triple-double.

35:09 Hit a triple-double. My knee hurt.

35:11 He don't want to show up. So, obviously, Jokic has.

35:13 No defense back there. A deep rib contusion, I believe, as well.

35:16 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

35:17 One of them little elbows. Yeah, yeah. I get it.

35:18 You know what I mean?

35:19 So, obviously, they lose that. Now, you're this close. You won 45 games, the same shit you're bragging about. Your team that year won 45 games, and y'all was competing. The decision-making after that, you traded the big man, right? Brungan, was it Nurkic? Brungan Nurkic, right?

35:47 Yeah.

35:50 Then you bring in Beal. In hindsight.

35:55 Beal, KD, and Booker.

35:58 Don't fit.

35:59 Isolate. Depends on what offense you're at. Depends on what offense you're at. If you had our offense, a moving offense, everyone's just moving and shooting.

36:07 Yeah, in the 90s, triangle offense.

36:08 You put a triangle offense, nobody's like.

36:10 They're all mid-range shooters.

36:13 They all can catch and shoot.

36:14 They all can get off the dribble.

36:15 You needed a system for them. You can't just say, all right, you go one-on-one. All right, you don't got it right now? Bill, you go one-on-one. That's not the office you put for them. You do what Golden State did. Hey, I got some of the same type of guys.

36:30 Let's motion them.

36:31 Let's move them. Let's get the defense moving a little bit so these guys can catch the shoot.

36:35 We got a post-up guy. We got an ISO.

36:37 You let everybody move. Right now, you're just sitting here.

36:39 You're playing.

36:40 It's like three Lucas on one team, right?

36:42 So that was a mistake.

36:44 And the guy you brung over for, was injured Kevin Durant second team all NBA average 27 he passed Bradley Bill didn't pass he got hurt didn't play right so when you look at where Kevin Durant has went you're blaming him for the supporting cast being hurt oh it failed over in New Jersey or Brooklyn yeah not because of him The supporting cast that was coming to him to whop everybody, they got hurt. If he would have went to Golden State, why didn't they go.

37:23 To Golden State? They got hurt.

37:25 If they would have got hurt, if Clay and them would have got hurt that first two years, they wouldn't have won, but you would have blamed him. You got to really blame the people who's responsible. Stop just throwing darts at someone's... It's.

37:37 A shared blame.

37:38 It is.

37:39 It's a shared blame.

37:40 And that's the issue I have with the... But y'all know why that is with KD, though. You know why that is.

37:46 He's the biggest name.

37:49 Nah. He's still paying for the sins of going to Golden State.

37:53 Oh, 100%.

37:54 No, no, no.

37:55 Think about this. That's where the hate train started.

37:57 Because so many people didn't like that decision. Me personally, I believe, listen, if you hit free agency and go where you want to go, I don't believe that you have to adhere to this 1990s, 80s basketball of I can't team up. That's fine.

38:09 Whatever.

38:10 But that is why KD is criticized the way he is. Like, oh, look, he hasn't won this since he left Golden State.

38:16 Guess what?

38:16 When he was in Golden State, he wasn't a corner boy. He was a two-time MVP. He was still lethal. They would have won three championships if he didn't tear his Achilles. And people don't like that he chose them. So guess what? He gets criticized more harshly than anybody else. So now when it don't work out in Brooklyn, Look, it's KD fault.

38:35 Only two guys get criticized like that. And it was basically based off the decisions they made.

38:40 Exactly.

38:40 Him and Braun. Exactly. And they both made those decisions that people felt like they broke the unwritten rule of you can't take control of your career and go play with who you want to go with. So now, Braun and KD... get graded a little bit differently. It ain't right. That's why they're trying to blame everything in Brooklyn on KD.

39:00 If he would have wore a size 15 instead of a 17, they might have been NBA champions. At least they would have went to the championship. And when the team fell apart, Harden quit on the team and all that other stuff happened.

39:11 This.

39:13 A Phoenix team. They like you just said, they weren't put together properly. Like we want to criticize Katie for everything. But the main thing he keeps getting criticized so harshly because people are still holding on to that Golden State hate. They didn't like that. He made the NBA basically kind of unfair for like three to four seasons.

39:32 But even then, I think he's still the guy. You're going to grade him differently. When you're the guy, you're supposed to be the leader.

39:36 We don't grade Steph the way we grade KD. If Steph don't make the playoffs, don't nobody say nothing.

39:41 Hold on. I said that.

39:44 I didn't even see that. We be linked up because you're a great basketball player.

39:49 That's what we agree on.

39:50 Hey, listen.

39:51 Jokic just lost to those Timberwolves in the first round with Anthony Edwards hurt, Dante DiVincenzo hurt. Somebody else was hurt.

40:00 Ayo was hurt.

40:00 They got put.

40:03 Imagine that was KD. We talked about that for maybe two or three days and then it was on to the next.

40:07 And then they'll come back and say this is the best player.

40:10 In the league.

40:11 It makes no sense how we judge.

40:14 Certain guys and we let other guys just kind.

40:17 Of get by. KD and Bron don't get judged the same way as everybody else.

40:20 It's not even close.

40:21 The world's not fair. Life's not fair.

40:23 You're right.

40:23 Fuck it about being fair.

40:24 That's basically what I'm... If we're judging guys off.

40:28 off this one sport then how was it how was it how was it different for different guys i think.

40:33 A lot of things comes into account especially what steph steph is able to win before katie got he's won four so he probably gets a pass on a lot of things.

40:40 He won four no he won he won.

40:42 One before and then one after one without him cool so again they're trying to grade katie can you win on your own but what does that mean Without that.

40:52 Type of help.

40:52 Nobody can win on their own. Nobody wins on their own. Everybody know that.

40:55 Everybody. Like, it's the weirdest.

40:57 Anything in that hoop in this game, no.

40:59 You can't win by yourself.

41:00 For sure. I know that.

41:00 I'm not saying.

41:01 I don't know where this mythical-ass narrative came from where you're Superman and you just go win against five.

41:08 That's not real. That's not a real.

41:10 Nobody has done that in.

41:11 The history of this game.

41:12 But they're saying, can you do it as the guy, like, in the driver's seat? That's why they graded him.

41:15 And he was in the driver's seat.

41:16 And he won.

41:17 See?

41:18 Some would argue that Steph was.

41:20 That's the problem. You can argue it, but it's not real. He was the best player on the team.

41:28 When Bill Russell got drafted to the Boston Celtics after they got the number one pick, he was the number two pick somehow that got there.

41:37 With the... Top two, five players on the team.

41:42 Bob Cousy was number three that year. And was it Sherman? Who was the other All-NBA first team player? He got drafted there on that team.

41:54 They had a squad. They had a squad.

41:55 He missed half the season. They're still number one. They're stood up by a long shot. They win a championship his first year. He was a rookie of the year. He was in the All-NBA. That's how good the team was.

42:10 Rigged up to win a legacy.

42:13 Right? Lakers.

42:18 Kareem.

42:20 Yeah.

42:21 MVP year. They did magic.

42:23 Magic, yeah.

42:24 They win a championship.

42:25 Right?

42:26 Oh, two number one picks.

42:27 Right? And a MVP.

42:30 Magic get hurt the next year. Oh, guess what? Number one pick again. We got James Martin. Team so good.

42:37 The step in rule.

42:39 He didn't even start on the team. That's how good the fucking team was. The number one pick player of the year wasn't even a starter on a team. Then we get to the end of Detroit when they win their championships.

42:54 Who do they get?

42:55 God damn it. The number one pick of Isaiah Thomas as a number two pick. Nobody wants to say he got traded there to help out. The number one pick in your draft joins forces.

43:11 All of it has been the same. For sure.

43:14 People forget.

43:15 Drexler going to goddamn Houston.

43:19 It just depends on how you tell the story.

43:21 It depends on who remembers telling the story.

43:24 Who's telling the story.

43:25 Everybody grades differently.

43:27 No, it's not. It's the same people doing the grading. but they're not grading on the same playing field.

43:34 We grade them differently than they do.

43:36 That's basically what I'm saying. Because Steph and LeBron, not Steph, because KD and LeBron broke this unwritten rule of stars aren't supposed to team up and take control of their own legacies, they grade them a certain way. They look at them a certain way. Like I said, we're talking about this situation with KD. Listen, when he was in Golden State, he was one of them ones. He won the MVP of the finals twice. Have you ever seen that game in Cleveland when Steph got mad walking out because he knew he wasn't going to win the MVP?

44:09 He was salty because he knew, man, KD going to get it again. You know what I'm saying?

44:14 He was pissed.

44:15 They about to win a championship.

44:16 He pissed.

44:16 I want that damn trophy. You know what I'm saying? The reason why KD is judged the way he is, he is still judged off that Golden State residue. People want, they low-key want to see him fail because they didn't like what he did.

44:27 I agree with all of this.

44:29 But that's a problem because you're rewarding another, you're rewarding three people.

44:35 That benefited from his greatness.

44:37 That's what I don't like.

44:38 You're killing one's career to put up another one because you're giving him the height even though he wasn't technically the best player.

44:46 KD ain't great, but.

44:47 That's what happened to Draymond.

44:49 Adding those two rings puts him closer to Matthew Johnson. Some people.

44:56 Take a little bit off because they say Steph had a lot of help with those two.

44:59 They put some second to Magic Johnson.

45:02 Fighting for number one.

45:03 They say it was the Steph era, Danny.

45:06 Either way, I don't disagree with it. The only thing that I do disagree with, Matt was asked the question about KD. Now, I didn't have a problem with anything he said except for the part where He said something about championships. He goes, no disrespect to KD, but, like, that's not how you win championships. Go out and get a guy like KD. Yeah, you do. Yeah, that, to me, I disagree with.

45:28 I threw money at the problem initially. I thought making this blockbuster trade to get KD was going to solve all the problems.

45:33 It did solve a problem.

45:35 That sorry-ass team made it to the second round.

45:38 Like, you solved it. You still have to build on it.

45:41 I think that team was probably best before they went and got, like.

45:44 What?

45:44 I don't think... They went to the finals the year before.

45:47 Oh, you're talking about when.

45:50 They had Bridges in the finals.

45:52 A lot of things played out.

45:53 They traded those guys to get KD. Mind you, you said they were trying to recreate Golden State. To me, I thought they were trying to recreate Brooklyn. Like that didn't work.

46:02 Kawhi got hurt.

46:03 Why would y'all recreate Brooklyn? That didn't make sense to me. Like try to get the three with Bradley Beal. But when you traded that team, which was really good, went to the finals to get KD. I was like, okay, they were still good.

46:13 You need a CP.

46:13 You should have kept them.

46:14 You should have kept CP.

46:15 You should have kept the people they had. They're still in a good spot. Even though the guys with Cam Johnson, Kel Bridges, that team was more of a team. But when you trade for Bradley Beal, that's where the mistake happens.

46:25 I agree.

46:26 That was the mistake.

46:27 But KD lobbied for apparently.

46:29 A corner first recruiting.

46:29 Yeah, but that's the same guy.

46:31 How many pieces did you get? you give away for a guy who don't play. Like, an injury means, like, if this person is guaranteeing me 20 points.

46:40 Even if he was healthy, I still don't think they were a good fit.

46:42 But 20 points and he's gone, that hurts the team. Right? Because you're investing so much in certain players. If these players don't play, it hurts. If Giannis plays 40 games, Miami's done.

46:55 Yeah. Right. So you're you're investing in the health, too.

46:59 So.

46:59 Yeah. So the moves is going off of.

47:02 Yeah.

47:02 In hindsight.

47:03 OK.

47:03 Going at the bill is bad because he's been he's been injured the whole he was injured the whole time. Hey, listen, getting rid of Aiden, getting rid.

47:10 Of Chris Paul right there.

47:12 Like once you got Katie and y'all went and face your kids, it's minor tweaks.

47:16 Yeah. Matt. Matt Ishby is tripping when he's talking about. Going to get a player like KD ain't how you win a championship. That's the one thing I disagree with. That's exactly how you win a championship.

47:23 Exactly.

47:24 You go get a Hall of Famer that creates a Hall of Fame problem for the rest of the league, and then what you do is you build around him correctly.

47:31 Yeah.

47:32 Because they're talking about all this culture and what the Phoenix Suns have right now. Don't nobody think Phoenix coming out the West.

47:38 Right.

47:38 Don't nobody think they beating the Spurs or OKC.

47:41 Or Houston.

47:43 I don't got them making the playoff.

47:46 I don't give a fuck what you did last year. I don't give a fuck what you did last year.

47:51 They still playing book at the one.

47:53 That ain't going to work.

47:54 It's not going to work.

47:55 That's what I'm saying. You can have all the... Listen, I love culture when you got players. People be acting like you can win with... I love the Spurs culture, but that culture wasn't going to win nothing without Tim Duncan and Manu and David Robinson and the Hall of Fame players winning. It's got to be a combo. Now, Phoenix, they got culture. They don't got enough championship players to win it. They not coming out. I tell you this, don't nobody on this couch think they coming out the West.

48:24 No.

48:26 I know the Phoenix Suns fan base is not going to like me, but they can clip it. I'm going to be here at the end of the year. Phoenix ain't coming out the West.

48:33 Not a bold take, I think. The Suns fans know that they're.

48:35 Not going to like me. People will slide in your DMs and get real aggressive. You know what I'm saying?

48:45 So you're talking in a sense of the team is supposed to be where you think it's going to be because they all get along.

48:53 Usually losing ass teams get along too. Hey, man, we used to get along just fine.

48:57 We got more fun in the ballpark.

48:59 You see us? We had a great time. Great time. Call Swaggy P. We all used to kick it. Have fun. Great dinners.

49:06 I think another thing that got ignored, like, obviously, you know, these guys invest in certain type players, but I.

49:13 Don't think they take their truth as a truth.

49:16 Like, I feel like Kevin Durant has been on record before saying, like, you know, I lead in a different way. I'm not the leader that most teams expect me to be. Like, I lead in the way that I lead.

49:27 He knows who he is.

49:28 Which is more so by, he knows exactly who he is. So, you think about the situations where he was successful. It was always, Kevin Durant's going to be the best player on any team he's a part of. But just because you're the best. And I'm not saying this in a negative way. I think this was the same thing as far as me. Just because you're considered the best player doesn't automatically make you the leader.

49:49 You know what I mean?

49:49 So I feel like he's said that. And instead of people taking his truth for truth, you try to force him to be something he's not, which I also felt doesn't. doesn't create the right environment for Kevin Durant to succeed. Like he, you may need Kevin Durant can be the leader by example, but he may not be the vocal leader or the guy that speaks up in the moments that you need that. So when it goes to that roster construction, again, when you think about the group that was there, who was that person?

50:19 Again, I, I, Not to side with Matt, but he did take... You sound like you're siding with him.

50:24 You sound like you're siding with him, dude.

50:26 I just don't... He also went back and said, I'm not blaming you. They asked him the question. He's just saying we went a different route. Certain of the comments he said, I was like, I don't agree with. But everything else was like, I'm not here to blame KD. Talked real fast, said a lot of different things. And he took the blame for certain things he did.

50:45 He didn't bring up Brad or Book.

50:47 All he brought up was Kevin Durant.

50:49 They asked him about KD. That was a question.

50:51 Of course.

50:51 But that's still a conversation with Brad and Book. Because people want to blame KD for something. You know damn well he was the best player on the team. But you want to blame him like it was his fault. So, oh, yeah, we got to give him. Now we got a whole bunch of players that play good together. Okay. Oh, we thought we was going to lose last year, and we ended up winning. So this must be a good team.

51:14 All right, so if you win 30 games this year, then what? We did the same shit last year. You're happy because you didn't fall where you thought you was going to fall because you have players that actually know how to play basketball, too?

51:27 I think he also took the blame by saying he threw money at it because I think part of him throwing money at it was saying the Bradley Beal situation. Like him just trying to get... Yeah!

51:35 But you got to understand.

51:35 Without saying his name. But the thing is, they're talking. And then the coaching changes, too. He had a bunch of coaching changes.

51:40 That's a lot of factors.

51:41 But you're talking about KD's leadership, right? And like you said, KD says he's not a vocal leader. You said you weren't a vocal leader.

51:48 We know I wasn't a leader.

51:50 But I was vocal.

51:52 Right?

51:52 I was vocal.

51:53 I wasn't even going to get to you.

51:54 I wasn't a leader.

51:55 I wasn't even going to get to you. First of all, who was our leader?

51:57 Not you.

51:59 Antoine?

51:59 Not you.

52:01 I'm just saying, was it Antoine? Anybody but you. But it was quiet. Like, our leaders was quiet, too. Antoine was quiet. Larry Hughes was quiet. Flagging your leader. No, not him. Our leader was probably Antoine or Karan Butler.

52:12 Yeah, okay, when Karan... CB, for sure.

52:14 Yeah, yeah.

52:15 I can see CB.

52:15 Not you. Yeah, we know that. My point was going to be, I won a championship in 2011. Dirk was a quiet leader. Dirk ever said nothing to you on the court? dirt like dirk is dirk ain't the guy that come in the locker room and getting everybody's faces yeah yeah yeah yeah we want all our leaders to look like kobe bryant michael jordan some guys are just really good at now what dirk did he led with his work ethic exactly and man he worked on that one leg fadeaway jumper from every single spot on the court every single day you could set your watch to it after practice so now it's like Couple of days, I'm like, yeah, man, me and some of the young guys, like, yeah, we're going to slide out of here. We got to

52:54 wait until Dirk finish shooting. That's leadership. Now, it ain't vocal. Now, when it came time to say something, Jason Kidd was the guy that would say whatever needed to be said in the locker room and that and the third. That's part of building a team. Your front office got to realize, I got a guy. But when it's time for maybe a tough combo to be had, he ain't that guy.

53:15 So let me bring in somebody that can do that type of leadership for Jason Kidd was way past his prime in 2011, but his leadership, his mind, he was going to say the things that Dirk wasn't. And that's the problem when you start talking about KD and culture. You had to know coming in, KD's always said, I just want to hoop. I will lead by getting buckets.

53:37 I will lead by staying after shooting a thousand jumpers or however many he shoots to get that jumper crispy. But if you want me to come in here and police the locker room, that ain't my personality. Quit trying to make me Kobe. Quit trying to make me Michael Jordan because it's been proven. You can win if your star ain't vocal. You just got to understand how to build it.

53:56 27-6 rebounds, 5 assists in his 145 games with the Suns.

53:59 I think.

54:00 What are we talking about, man?

54:01 I'm with you. I like Petty Katie sometimes.

54:02 And the Suns are going to take a step back this year.

54:04 Some things he don't need to. No, he does. Everything?

54:06 Why not? Yeah, this generation needs to stand up.

54:10 Because these motherfuckers.

54:11 Always got something to say.

54:12 Phoenix ain't going nowhere.

54:15 But why should he be allowed to speak on my name like that publicly?

54:19 It's no more shut up and dribble, bro.

54:21 I'm with you.

54:23 If you're brave enough to put it out there, you're brave enough to take whatever I decide to say in response.

54:28 Eddie played with two Hall of Famers. You have to play with the Hall of Famers while they're playing Hall of Fame basketball. I have a rookie or a second-year player who's coming off the bench. He's not a Hall of Fame basketball player right now. He goes and he develops into a Hall of Famer.

54:44 You don't use that to say, God damn.

54:46 It, I played with a Hall of Famer. I didn't. It's just weird information that gets put out to discredit.

54:57 But I can say this.

55:01 Those guys only get attacked Because they're touching someone's greatness. LeBron was closing down on Jordan. So you got to nitpick it. You got to cut it before it gets to the mountain. Katie on Larry Bird or Jordan. You got to cut them down from the beginning. You got to throw in the negative parts of their game so people can remember it. You got Shea right now. He has two MVPs.

55:29 As a point guard. He's a flopper.

55:32 He is touching. He is damn near going to second. He's already going to second or third. He's kind of damn near right behind Isaiah Thomas or in front of him. They have to start throwing rocks at the goddamn resume.

55:50 Oh, he does this.

55:50 Oh, my God. Because it's one of those things. There's people that built This NBA, and when you think of them, you think of greatness, you think of everything you can think of, and only positivity was pushed back then. When you think about Michael Jordan, right, you smile because it was a happy time. When you think about Magic and what Magic did, right, Bird, the rivalry, nobody told you Magic lost that many times in the finals.

56:21 Because, ooh, they was competing, yeah.

56:22 Yeah. It was competing.

56:25 Ooh!

56:25 How many times was Magic the number one option? I'm pretty sure Kobe was like, hey, hold on. Motherfucker, are you going to put him in the same category as me? He had an MVP, MVP. He had them on the same team. Y'all not penalizing him for it. So the new guys, they have complaints. But because... The masses have already made the decision on what's what. The old generation get to live with their secrets of how they play.

56:59 Plus, we're in a different era.

57:00 Bird didn't win all his finals MVPs. His first one, he didn't win it.

57:06 Why are we allowing the squares to create the rules of our game, though?

57:09 That's the issue.

57:10 No, I think the NBA. No, no, no.

57:12 The NBA did that. Don't create the rules to this game.

57:15 No, no.

57:15 Hey, speak on it.

57:16 Keep going.

57:16 Keep going. I don't want to go too hard. Hey, man, when you cook it, man, I'm going to go in there and tell you.

57:21 I don't like that shit, bro. And that's one of my main issues when it comes to the narrative of the game. It's just like, one, like you said, it's an unwritten set of rules. There is no rule book to this game. It's all perspective based. But at the same time, we allowed the analytic nerds and all these motherfuckers in our game that would never be a part of this game if it wasn't for the numbers part.

57:45 They wouldn't even be allowed.

57:46 You're not even allowed at the park, motherfucker. Like, sit on the side and watch what the athletes do. So we allowed these motherfuckers in the game, and now they get to determine what greatness looks like, how you get to greatness, and they couldn't.

58:02 Perform it theyself.

58:03 And they determine how teams are built.

58:05 Yeah.

58:06 Coaches are now coaching from a piece of paper. They flash the camera to the coach and he's doing this every 30 seconds. He's coaching from a piece of paper. It's no longer feel. It's no longer momentum. It's no longer, oh, this guy got the high hand tonight.

58:23 We're going to go through.

58:23 It's no more of that.

58:24 It's a different game.

58:26 A motherfucker can make three shots. Oh, shit, we're supposed to sub out at the 11-minute mark.

58:31 Coach, I'm rolling. What you doing?

58:32 Come on. That's not basketball. That's not basketball.

58:37 You got to shoot a certain amount of threes. You got to play a certain way. Like I said, the analytics game, like I said, like, no, I'm not anti-analytics. I'm not telling everybody, I want everybody on the team to take a bunch of mid-range jumpers, right? But it has taken over who we think is great, who's making decisions on how teams are built, what we should be doing, what we should be working on in practice. We're just going to work on shooting a bunch of threes. No one even, no one even, we don't even talk about this.

59:05 They don't really even play a lot of five-on-five in practice no more.

59:08 No.

59:08 Do you know how hard it is for a young player to ascend? Because basically, once your coach says you're here, it used to be. Think about when you were coming up. You could fight. Our practices used to be real practices. You could be like, yo, so-and-so been practicing good the last month. Maybe we should throw him in and see what. Exactly. Hey, maybe we should throw him in. You could earn a spot.

59:27 You can't.

59:27 Young guys can't even earn a spot in today's NBA because they don't practice like that.

59:32 Yeah.

59:33 You can't see the improvement.

59:35 Yeah.

59:35 It's hard.

59:36 You can't see the development.

59:37 It's hard when you can't even develop against real NBA talent because you don't scrimmage no more. Nah, you just develop against individual workouts.

59:43 Or in the G League.

59:45 G League, yeah. Hard to prove yourself against some cones.

59:47 Yeah.

59:48 That brings us to our next topic. Okay.

59:50 Where we at, Joe?

59:51 Take control of the show.

59:51 Segway, Jay. My bad. We got a little long window. No, we love this. That's what we do here on Gills Arena. We have elaborate discussions on all things basketball. But Lakers had 16 players. Under contract, Lakers had 16 players under contract needed to cut down to 15 by Monday's 5 p.m. Eastern deadline. Former 2024 first-round pick Dalton Connect, odd man out, 6-for-6 win, got waived by the team. So both Connect and Bronny James were excused from practice on Monday prior to the Lakers making their final roster decision. With reports both players were battling for that final roster spot. Konek began his Lakers career with four 20-point games in November of 2024, including a career-high 37 points on a rookie

1:00:36 record tying nine threes, finished his rookie season averaging nine points per game while shooting 37% from three. Those numbers dropped in his second season as he moved out the rotation. He was also part of a rescinded trade to the Hornets in February of 2025 for big man Mark Williams. And it was clear Konek's confidence never recovered as he found himself in J.J. Redick's doghouse henceforth. So in four preseason games, Connect averaged three points on 25% shooting. He was shooting 14% from three.

1:01:04 That'll do it.

1:01:05 12 minutes per game. So Lakers are trying to trade Connect before the roster deadline. Unable to do so.

1:01:10 Of course.

1:01:11 Forcing them to eat his $ 4. 2 million salary. for this season. Gil, we will start with you.

1:01:16 See, I wish I can sub you guys out right now.

1:01:20 Sub who out?

1:01:21 Y'all right now.

1:01:22 Why? Because this is not y'all fight.

1:01:24 It's a basketball conversation.

1:01:26 It's not y'all fight.

1:01:27 When I said this shit was going to happen, you drafted a motherfucker who's too old And I got debated about an age. And I said, the NBA already did this in the 90s with young players. They didn't want them old motherfuckers no more. And we was the first draft. If you came in at a certain age, and we talk at 22, 23, you better be performing at the age group of the peers, not your draft class.

1:02:03 That's real.

1:02:04 So I said, if you're pushing 23, and you remember I said it, when I seen him the second year in that summer league. Damn, he already 25?

1:02:11 Hell yeah. It's all to connect, 25 years old.

1:02:14 I didn't know that.

1:02:14 But it's year like three for him, right?

1:02:16 I didn't know that.

1:02:18 He came in at 22.

1:02:19 Yeah, so when he had that average to nine, I'm like, damn, you're playing like a rookie. You don't want to look like Bronny James in a rookie. That's not what you want to look like at your age. So I said, so when it came back that next summer league, And I'm like, yo, you're the oldest nigga out here. You're supposed to be dominating these dudes.

1:02:40 You look below average.

1:02:42 Yeah, you're not making it. It's over for you. Because you're not, you didn't jump up. And this is what happens. You come in at a certain age, you better be gone. You have to play to the, my peers, my peers is 25.

1:02:58 25 means what?

1:02:59 Four-time, five-time all-star player. If not, I'm averaging 16, 17. So if you're not performing at that level, it's easy to cut that fat. I'm going to go with the younger kid.

1:03:11 Like, I'm doing my numbers.

1:03:13 Okay, he's going to score 200 points, more than Bronny. Well, at the end of the day, Bronny has, what, three more years of age to catch these. That's how they do that math. And it's just this thing that is a, that's an unspoken rule.

1:03:31 I agree with you when it comes to the age part, but I still think it's like a case-by-case situation. And you say a guy like the next supposed average 16 with his age, but it's like, 16 where?

1:03:47 He playing behind Luka, Braun, AR.

1:03:51 Yeah, I'm with you.

1:03:52 So I'm like, where's his opportunity? And then on top of that, they drafted at his position every year.

1:04:00 So.

1:04:01 To his defense, and with those numbers in preseason, you can't overlook that. You play like shit, you were going to get them results anywhere in the league. So to hold him accountable for what he's done, yes, he was going to get cut based off those numbers. But leading up to that, one, I don't think the opportunity was really in front of him.

1:04:20 Two, when he came out, he came out firing, bro.

1:04:24 He was hooping.

1:04:25 And once that trade situation happened, As a young kid in the league trying to figure out, it don't matter if you're 19, 18, 23. Coming into the NBA, it's a process of figuring this shit out. It's a process of figuring out the business. It ain't nothing you can learn in college at 22, 23, 24 that's going to prepare you for the business of the NBA.

1:04:47 It's just not realistic. You have to be here in order to experience it.

1:04:52 So with all that being said, once that situation happened with the trade and resend, that'll kill anybody. You do that, then on top of it, I'm drafting at your position every year. On top of that, you give AR all this money to kind of solidify that. So for this kid as an individual, I just don't really see where the situation was put together to benefit him or help him succeed.

1:05:20 So to see these results now, I would expect this.

1:05:23 Plus you see a lot of guys like Dalton Gannett struggle in the league.

1:05:28 100%.

1:05:28 Because what happens is, first of all, he's at, I think, northern Colorado. Getting all the shots. Every play is run for you.

1:05:37 Mm-hmm.

1:05:37 Has great success there. Goes to Tennessee. Cooking. Everything's run for you.

1:05:43 Cooking.

1:05:44 You get all the shots. You walk in the summer league, in the league. You get all the shots. Then the NBA hits.

1:05:51 Yep.

1:05:52 Danny, you are what they call a corner boy. Been one.

1:05:56 Since day one.

1:05:57 Because guess what? It's easier for a guy that's like, yo, I have that skill set because you're going to be able to play off-bron. Now a guy that's used to getting the ball, he done had the ball the last three years. Hey, man, I need you to go stand in the corner. Wait, what? Like, I need you to be what Danny Green was for the Spurs, knocking down. Well, I'm not a catch-and-shoot guy. I got to get that thing, get a feel for it. I got to get in the pick-and-roll and start feeling good and get my confidence, get to the free-throw line. And now they say, nah, homie, we got Bron, we got Luke, and guess what? We got AR, too. We need you to stand in the corner, and when they call your number, be efficient, knock down shots.

1:06:32 We might also need you to play some defense. You know what I mean? That ain't what he did. So you see, like, that is a hard transition to go from a ball-dominant college guy to a role-playing official member of a winning team. That's a hard transition. A lot of guys don't make that transition. And I agree with you.

1:06:52 So my question to you is, with that hard-ass transition and the situation that he was in specifically, knowing how the modern-day NBA is now as far as practice, development, all those things, Where is he supposed to learn to transition from being a ball-dominant guard to being that guy that's able to play next to Bron?

1:07:11 Where is he supposed to learn?

1:07:12 And that's exactly what the problem is.

1:07:14 That's the problem where the fact that they don't– the new NBA doesn't play a lot of five-on-five.

1:07:18 And that's what I'm trying– where is he going to get that opportunity to, one, show that I can do it, or, two, show that I can develop into that guy?

1:07:27 These young players now have to develop In front of 25,000 people live and millions watching.

1:07:34 Yep.

1:07:35 Because like you said, like, it's not like when we all came into the league back when practice had a lot of scrimmaging.

1:07:42 Oh, yeah.

1:07:42 So like you just said, you might not be playing the first month of the season, but the coaching staff can look at you and be.

1:07:47 Like, ooh.

1:07:48 You got film from practice.

1:07:49 Hey, man.

1:07:50 Yeah.

1:07:50 Man, Danny, have you seen Danny? You've been charting Danny's shots. Danny done had a strong three weeks. Now all of a sudden, somebody picks up a quick two fouls, he'll give Danny a shot.

1:07:58 Yep.

1:07:58 Then next thing you know, bam, it takes off.

1:08:00 Yep.

1:08:00 But now, but guess what? You've been working on everything the Spurs need you. Hey, them corner shots. I've been working on those shots when we're playing the first team. Yeah, the first team is mopping us, but I'm looking good. I'm developing my confidence. I know what you need me to do. A player like Dalton connect that has to transition his game. Like, that's tough. Like, a guy like myself going into the league, I was always going to be a role player.

1:08:23 It's easy to be a role player, go to role player.

1:08:25 A role player going into the league being a role player, that's an easy transition. A star player going to be a role player? Ooh, that's different. I'm used to getting 15, 16 shots. 16 shots in college is a lot of damn... Did you get 16 in Kentucky?

1:08:40 Fuck no.

1:08:41 Exactly. So you get 16... Don't connect getting 16 shots at Tennessee. Not including the free throws, the assists. That ball's always in his hands. Now we want him to be a corner guy and he can't fit in with that and then he don't get any practice reps either. That's a tough way to live. That's why we see a lot of guys that are scorers transition to the league, grand opening, grand closing, and they're right back out.

1:09:02 Cam Thomas, Rob Dillingham, all these talented guys that have had the ball their entire career.

1:09:08 They've had the ball their whole life.

1:09:10 You know what it is? You said it and this is the arguments that I always have. You in college Playing college basketball, learning how to play basketball in college does not teach you how to fucking play NBA basketball.

1:09:29 Different game. I can swim in a fucking swimming pool all fucking day. That doesn't help me get ready for the ocean.

1:09:35 Right?

1:09:37 So just like the.

1:09:38 GMs and everybody thought, hey, 22 in college? 18 in college, throwing both in the NBA, they're swimming at the same rate. By the time they both learn, what I will know is the 24 are going to be what? 27. The 18 is going to be what?

1:09:59 21.

1:10:00 Who has the biggest upside? The fucking 21-year-old. Because he's not stuck. And that's what all of it. So when you say, Dalton, what should you have done?

1:10:11 Everything.

1:10:12 Everything.

1:10:15 Fucking when LeBron came work out with LeBron Luka work out with Luka. You're supposed to be in there Advancing I don't give a fuck what this.

1:10:22 Sheet says you take it.

1:10:23 They say oh you're gonna take 200 shot You can't take the same shots as body You can't take the same you have to take a lot more you got a makeup you got an advance You're behind the eight ball. This was never about you and Bronny James. Yeah, you're not the same age. I You are battling everybody that was in your high school class, and you got to.

1:10:48 Catch up with them.

1:10:49 So you don't have time to fucking sit. You got to work up at 5, 7, 9. Your summer workout got to be your NBA workout.

1:10:57 The age thing is real because, like I said, it's the upside.

1:11:00 Yeah.

1:11:01 It's like, like I said, if Don't Connect's 22 and somebody else is coming in at 19, I'll give you an example of, Let's go all... Shit, Yaxel this year.

1:11:12 He's coming prepared.

1:11:13 Ready to go. It was the draft where Jamal Murray and Buddy Hill were coming out. Remember Buddy Hill had that run? Buddy Hill was about 23. He was killing. So my man worked in the front office, right? I'm like, man, y'all got to take Buddy Hill. He's like, nah. I'm like, why not? He's like, Buddy's cold. He's like, but man, the upside of Jamal Murray, he is this young. He is still ascending. And Making that move, obviously, Buddy's had a great career, but he's not what Jamal is. And at the time, yo, Buddy Hill had a better college career than Jamal. He had a better college career, but it's like, yo, you don't just walk in there and look at, okay, college.

1:11:50 No, no, no.

1:11:50 Like you just said, like, hey, Buddy Hill's 23, averaging 23. This kid might only be averaging 10 or 11, but he's at Kentucky with a loaded team. He's only 18. By the time this guy gets to 23... Thank you. He has a good chance to be here.

1:12:07 Yep.

1:12:07 Because when you get to about that, this guy at 23, he's close to maxing out what he's going to be.

1:12:13 You're about three years from your prime.

1:12:14 He's close to maxing out what he's going to be. So that age thing definitely matters when you're making a decision. It shouldn't be the only factor, but it should be a major determining factor.

1:12:22 But basically what y'all saying is, and I brought up Yaxel from Golden State.

1:12:27 Like, they drafted, well, one, Stephens. Steve has shown a history of not doing well.

1:12:33 He don't like young.

1:12:34 They drafted a more older guy that's more so NBA.

1:12:35 Polished and mature.

1:12:42 Yaxel coming in, you know, fitting into the system, doing exactly what he does.

1:12:46 But his approach is he's already game ready. They could throw him right in the fire.

1:12:49 And I'm assuming that's what the Lakers were expecting from a Dalton connect.

1:12:54 But they were calling Yaxel the next face of the franchise recently under Draymond Green.

1:12:58 Oh, he a bad motherfucker. Yaxel is a bad motherfucker.

1:13:01 But, again, I mean, I covered the Lakers a lot last year and this year. And I agree on all points, which I was saying.

1:13:08 But.

1:13:09 I think the biggest determining factor between the two, Bronny and Dalton, was the confidence factor. Like, I've watched Dalton. When he first came in, he was hooping. And, yeah, of course, but it was kind of, and I've watched him in the G League. Like, he's supposed to be, like you said, in the Summer League, G League, supposed to be killing these guys. He didn't show that. Like, that was his opportunity to show that. And I think once that trade failed or didn't go through, you could see a big regression in confidence, mostly.

1:13:36 Knocked the air out on him.

1:13:37 And, again, before that, big fan of him. Like, college, he was nasty. He did us at, like, Carolina. He killed us. I was actually a fan of him coming out of here. I thought him a good pick. Even when they first got him in L.A., like, he was getting buckets. But after the trade went through, sometimes certain things just kill a kid's confidence, and he just never regained that. He never showed, like... the persistence of wanting to get back to, like, and being aggressive in developing.

1:14:01 You probably felt like they gave up on you.

1:14:03 Possibly, but again, you could see that, like, both numbers, Bronny's numbers weren't great pieces. They didn't have a lot of opportunity. But even though, Bronny, you could see Bronny is still getting, like, he's still getting better. He's getting more confident. He's handling the ball. He's handling ball pressure.

1:14:15 And so he's not putting up great numbers, but he's running the team. Dalton didn't look as confident. I think that's why the decision was made. It's like, his confidence had broken. He probably needs a fresh start somewhere else.

1:14:24 Mm-hmm.

1:14:26 No, I think he'll be.

1:14:27 I actually think he'll do great in Golden State.

1:14:31 I think Golden State will be a great spot.

1:14:33 Man, there's one thing you can do.

1:14:35 What's that? You can lie to the people. You can't lie to yourself.

1:14:41 Damn, yeah.

1:14:43 You know if your ass didn't study for the test.

1:14:47 Right?

1:14:47 Going in there, you can be happy all you want. You know you didn't study. You know what your fucking grade is. You know what your grade's going to be after the fucking test is done.

1:14:56 You can't have faith. Right?

1:14:57 So if you know you didn't put no fucking work in and you ain't what you thought you.

1:15:04 Was, it's going to show.

1:15:07 I don't give a fuck you tried to trade me for somebody and now I'm back. I know what I'm going to do. Oh, you niggas ain't touching the ball. Yeah, nah, y'all stuck with me until y'all trade me.

1:15:20 Y'all know I'm like that. You know he can't do that with LeBron and Luke on the team. As long as you put me in the game.

1:15:25 He also had opportunities. There was a lot of injuries last year.

1:15:26 He had opportunities to play.

1:15:27 You put me in the game.

1:15:28 You put me in the game, you can't take me out. They threw him in the playoffs. Bronny played in the playoffs. They had opportunities, but his body's out.

1:15:34 You're comparing him to you, but you're also, like I said, pre-knee injury, you're one of the more confident players I've ever been around. But that's working.

1:15:41 He was like that too at one point.

1:15:42 But what I'm saying is the confidence comes from the preparation.

1:15:46 I agree.

1:15:47 So if I'm sitting there literally putting in thousands of.

1:15:51 Shots, fuck your workout. Your workout is.

1:15:54 Designed for team shit. Right?

1:15:56 I'll get my own trainer. I got my own fob.

1:15:59 I'm going to come in here and shoot till my fucking fingers bleed. My confidence in shooting that ball is going to be to the fucking roof.

1:16:06 When you put me in, give me that bitch. That's how it works. So you don't think he put it into work?

1:16:10 Fuck no. Oh, man.

1:16:11 Not to the point of gaining your confidence.

1:16:13 Your confidence comes from the work.

1:16:15 Yeah, it didn't show that.

1:16:16 Ain't no way around it.

1:16:17 If your confidence comes from the outside, it's easy to lose it.

1:16:21 Your confidence got to come from yourself. I played against Toronto. I was doing a little five-man rotation. I went in. Carlos Arroyo Embarrass the shit out of me.

1:16:33 Carlos was low-key cold back then.

1:16:38 I found out first.

1:16:40 He made me throw that ass in the circle. I was sitting there. He saved one way. Somebody go find the clip.

1:16:49 Somebody go find that clip. Listen, I got benched. We started, what, November? Yeah.

1:17:00 I didn't see the floor again until January. I went through depression. And then Mark Jackson said, hey, man, look, you're going to get another shot. You better be prepared, though. So we worked every single day, pick and roll. He's teaching me the game.

1:17:18 Big Mark. Big Mark.

1:17:19 Big Mark. Big Mark's like, I'm not letting you fail, dog. I can see you have something. So we worked every single day. took the taxi to the gym. We running up the bleachers because he's trying to get in shape too.

1:17:32 So we're running up.

1:17:32 The bleachers every single day. That's a good bet, man.

1:17:35 That's a great bet. We talked about that off air the other day.

1:17:37 That's a great bet.

1:17:37 So when I got put in, I'm going from not playing to damn near starting. Larry Hughes gets hurt. Bobby Sura don't.

1:17:46 Want to start.

1:17:46 He's like, no, I just want to put the rook in for a couple minutes, then take me out.

1:17:50 So I'm playing against fucking San Antonio.

1:17:52 My first starting game.

1:17:53 I'm going from IR to Spurs.

1:17:59 I held us within like six of those first three quarters.

1:18:01 They didn't even play me in the fourth. Next start, double-double. From there, Larry couldn't get a spot back.

1:18:07 My confidence was up here because I put so much work in. I had to be better than that bullshit that happened in Toronto. Sometimes you got to go underground, man, and you got to break that old shield and get back to it.

1:18:23 That's real.

1:18:23 Amen. When you write, you write.

1:18:25 You're not writing much, but when you write, you write.