Hoops Tonight - Best Of: Luka's return to Dallas, Luka and the refs, Steph and LeBron

This week on the podcast Jason reacted to Luka's return to Dallas and how he reminded the Mavericks front office that they made a mistake by trading him to the Lakers, how the refs call games with Luka playing, and the different styles of play that Steph and LeBron have. All the and more! #Volume #Herd

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume Welcome to the Best of Hoops Tonight, futuring
my top takes from recent shows. All right, let's talk

(00:22):
some basketball. So it was such a weird vibe in
the arena because usually when we see these types of situations,
there's been at least somewhat of a case that, you know,
that is built over time, where it's like, yeah, we
might need to move on from this guy, or maybe
we should move on from this guy, and so yeah,

(00:42):
the player will come back and everyone will give them
their moment of appreciation. But then it's like, all right,
let's get down to basketball, let's compete. Screw these guys,
We're gonna get a win. And could not be a
vibe further from that, because the most absurd trade in
NBA history, the trade that set one of the most
acomplished twenty five year olds in the history of the
league away from a team that he was completely and

(01:05):
totally committed to, as evidenced by his reaction to the
tribute video, the trade has left a bad pace in
a lot of these fans' mouths, right, and the way
they reacted was to effectively cheer on Luca all night long,
to the point where you could literally see it have
an effect on several Mavericks players. I thought Anthony Davis

(01:28):
and Klay Thompson in particular, for being the competitors that
they've been for the majority of their career. There wasn't
a ton of fight there. You can tell I thought
they were affected by it. The game just had this
super weird vibe. It never kind of took on the
energy level in terms of Dallas and the energy they
play with that I think they could have won this game.

(01:49):
Dallas has some advantages. Their guards are really athletic, they
have the ability to get to the rim on this team,
and the Lakers are worn down. Fourth game in or
excuse me, third game. Four nights just had to play
a couple of really emotional games in Oklahoma City. This
could have been a game that could have gone a
different direction, but it just felt like there was never
enough like energy in life for Dallas to feed off of.

(02:12):
It was just a really strange night. The tribute. You know,
it was funny when I was watching the tribute video.
It's just a casual reminder of how much Luka Doncic
has accomplished in his brief time in a Dallas Mavericks
Jersey from the series against the Clippers, where he's just
scoring on dudes and talking shit every time down the
floor of the myriod of crazy shots that he hit

(02:34):
over the years to win games, to extend games, at
the end of quarters, end of shot clocks, the Western
Conference Finals run, with what he did to Phoenix, what
he did last year, the insane regular season high scoring games.
There's just so many things that Luca got done in
such a short period of time that even though he's
only twenty five years old, it just took on this

(02:56):
feel like this great bit of history was wasted and
you could just see it really affect Luca, and I
was just so impressed, because I can't imagine going from
a situation where you're as emotional as he was to
going into a game where the entire success of the
Lakers depends on Luka Dancich's ability to break down the

(03:20):
defensive coverage that Dallas was using, which we're going to
get into in a minute. It's a lot of pressure
you factor in not just the responsibility that he had
in that game, but the emotions at play in the
situation and the fact that they're on their third game
in four nights, and the fact that they really needed
that game. They lose that game, they suddenly absolutely must

(03:42):
beat Houston on Friday, and absolutely must beat Portland on Sunday,
which again Portland, you know, do you feel like they
can take care of business there? But that's not an
easy game against Houston. US is beating everybody as of like,
this was a very very important game. Forty five points,
eight rebounds, six assists carried the offense in the first
half when the Laker defense was a complete no show.

(04:05):
And then finally the Laker defense was able to take
control of the game in the second half, a scoring
burst from Lebron James in the fourth quarter, some cherry
on top scoring from Luca, and the Lakers ended up
getting the win that they so badly needed. Now, I
was really curious to see what kind of game plan
that we would see from Jason Kidd in this game.
He's got a bunch of drop coverage bigs on his

(04:25):
roster right and as we know, the Lakers have struggled
over the majority of this stretch of the season against
switching and one of the big reasons why has been
Luca has struggled to beat Biggs on an island compared
to what it looked like in years past. Right, what's
super encouraging is this is the third game in a row.

(04:47):
There wasn't as much against Okace. We saw a couple
of possessions in the second half on Tuesday, famously the
one right before he got ejected where he faced Hertenstein
on a switch. There were like three or four other
switches in that game. But okay, so he did run
a good on a drop in that game. However, between
tonight's game, the few reps against Hartenstein and then the
game on Sunday, Luca had those big, big dudes dancing.

(05:11):
They had no idea what they were doing out there
on the perimeter, and he was cooking them, cooked Heart
and Stein over and over and over again on Sunday.
A few more times on Tuesday Tonight, Derek Lively right
out the gate. Interestingly enough, Jason Kidd will run a
lot of drop with those guys. And he's a guy
who famously has liked to blitz over the years, particularly
liked to blitz Laker ball handlers in ball screens. And

(05:34):
so I was expecting them to come out and maybe
consider blitzing, But went was switching with those fives, and
Luca is just no problem at all, getting lively on
his backside and jumping straight up and down as lively
as pursuing from behind and committing fouls, getting easy dribble penetration.
I've always been amazed by Luca's ability to use just
little change of pace moves and using his size and

(05:57):
leverage physically to get drill penetration on basic everyone. But
he just demolished the MAVs in switches over and over
and over again. And then one of the other things too,
like the short range shot making isn't there yet. I
felt like he got a little closer today Today was
I feel like his short range shot making has been
off off a lot over the course of this phase

(06:18):
in the season, but I thought tonight he was just
getting a little closer. The misses were just a little
closer to going in a little bit more confidence, a
little bit more crispness in the release. I feel like
he's getting closer. But the step back three, he's got
it going over these like six four to six five dudes.
He just doesn't see him when he takes that pullback dribble,
and he's getting it off whenever he wants, just an

(06:38):
unbelievable sequence from Luca Nachi. It was so important because
early in the game the Lakers were not very good defensively.
It kind of reminded me a lot of the Oklahoma
City game on Tuesday. Lebron James has an enormous amount
of defensive responsibility on this team. Since Anthony Davis went out,
the entire identity of the defense has shifted. Now, when

(06:58):
Anthony Davis was on the team, they didn't have much
of a defensive identity. They started to play a little
better towards the end, but they had a rough defensive season.
But in years past, the identity with AD has been
Anthony Davis at the rim. That's been the identity of
the defense and his ability to at the end of
games switch on to perimeter players. Just Anthony Davis being
the wrecking ball that he is on the defensive end

(07:19):
of the floor. Since AD left, it's completely shifted to
much more of like a connective defense. Hey, we are
all in this together. We all have to fly around
and rotate, and Lebron is the captain of that ship.
He's the guy that is, you know, sussing out actions
as they're taking place and calling out coverages, anticipating things
before they happen, and so when Lebron kind of lets

(07:39):
his foot off the gas in that department, the defense
has tended to fall apart. Even going back to when
Lebron was out of the lineup entirely, how poor the
defense looked at stretches and in both games, in the
second half of the Oklahoma City game and in the
second half tonight, Lebron came out of that halftime locker
room and was like, it's time to go. And in
both games he completely took over defensively and was able

(08:01):
to re establish the team there. I thought the Lakers
had a very very smart defensive game plan for Anthony
Davis overall, big shock. JJ Reddick coach the guy, so
he's familiar with his strengths and weaknesses, and Anthony Davis
over the years has made moderate improvements handling double teams,
but historically it has not been a strength of his.

(08:22):
And JJ had a very simple game plan, same game
plan that he used against Nicole Jokich earlier this year,
the same game plan he used against Karl Anthony Towns
earlier this year. They used a similar game plan against
Giannis earlier this year. They will front the post to
try to deny the catch and try to get you
to just bail on it by fronting the post and
situating a defender right behind him so that it looks

(08:44):
like you can throw that over the top pass, but
if you do, you're running the risk of that defender
from behind coming over and blocking that pass away. And
so what ends up happening is you're preying on the
indecision of the guys who make the entry passes, and
they were just in many cases looking to go another direction,
and then when they did get Anthony Davis the ball,

(09:04):
he would get immediately doubled from the baseline side, same
exact concept they used against Jokichen against Carl Towns. Soon
as they managed to successfully get the post entry, the
guy that's fronting quickly disengages overplays the middle shoulder towards
the middle of the floor to try to force Anthony
Davis to spin to the baseline or face up, and
as he does, then the double comes from that baseline

(09:26):
side and they're preying on that indecision from Anthony Davis
and rotating out of it. There was a couple of
adjustments around the way like they tried having Anthony Davis
just bring the ball up the floor himself and dribble
into a post up still ran into the baseline double
team and turned it over. They did actually get an
easy bucket for Anthony Davis on a flash cut from

(09:46):
Daniel Gafford. And this, by the way, is just a
counter that Dallas should have used more frequently with that
they just didn't go to. But fronting the post, Gafferd's
on the back line, Gafferd's man is bracketing on AD.
Gafford flashes up to the semi circle. As he does,
the backside helper has to follow him, or he probably shouldn't,
but he goes with him as he does. When Gafford catches,

(10:09):
suddenly there's no one behind Ad. He just floated over
the top. He gets an easy layup. But they just
never were able to repeatedly make the reads or the
adjustments necessary to handle that action. And then Ad just
kind of disappeared from the game. And I was talking
with our guys before we went live, like, you know,
as someone who's rooted for Anthony Davis a lot over

(10:29):
the years, and this is just something for you MAVs
fans to just kind of keep in mind as you're
embarking on this journey rooting for Anthony Davis. He is
always going to struggle with double teams. That's been a
pretty consistent thing that he'll struggle with. But he'll also
have games when he's healthy, when he's like really healthy
and in shape and has something to play for, where

(10:50):
even when he's struggling to get the ball in a
situation like that, he'll just be a wrecking ball in
every other facet of the game. He'll get like six
offensive rebounds and fly out on defense and he'll end
up with like nineteen and seventeen and like three blocks
and force deals and he'll find a way to impact
the game even when he's not playing well. Now, he
will also have games where that fight in competitiveness is

(11:13):
just not there, and that can happen from time to
time even when he is healthy. I think it happens
a lot more as I've noticed over the years, when
he's banged up, when he doesn't really feel like there's
as much to play for, and so honestly like it,
like ad got game planned out of this one, and
when he got game planned out, he didn't have any
sort of second punch to go with, and you know,

(11:36):
like as Lebron engaged things for the defense, because that's
the thing. They did a good job with their defensive
game plan with Anthony Davis in the first half. Where
they did a poor job was containing the ball and
their backside rotations on dribble drives, and so they just
got diced up in the paint. I think they gave
up like something like twenty eight to thirty something points
in the in the first half, just in the paint, right,

(11:56):
But in that second half, Lebron gets engaged, he gets going,
really helps them regain control of things defensively, and then
in that fourth quarter, it was kind of a perfect
example from Lebron of what I was just talking about
with Anthony Davis. Lebron's been struggling with his rhythm since
he came back from his injury. Lebron has been a
guy that's been inconsistent offensively in this last couple of weeks.

(12:18):
But he was just like, I'm six', nine two sixty
with still great athleticism at my, age AND i can
just play really hard and cut and crash and post
seal and drive in just do EVERYTHING i can just
through sheer force of will to impact the, game and

(12:39):
he ends up lighting the scoreboard on fire in that fourth,
quarter everything just right at the, rim and, again Like
lebron has something to play for right. Now that's the big.
Difference but LIKE i, Thought lebron demonstrated an example of
how like in defensive rhythm or when you're when a
defense gets you out of, rhythm how you can kind
of play yourself into rhythm as an athlete just by

(12:59):
playing super. Hard that's the advantage of being one of
the supreme athletes in the, game is like you can
make up a lot of lost ground just by getting
your body moving around and doing as much as you
can with. It outside of what has, variants there's variance
in running action against a loaded up, defense there's variance

(13:22):
in jump. Shooting there's not variance in how big and
Strong Lebron james. Is that's going to be there every single.
Possession AND i thought that fourth quarter stretch from him
was a classic case of like he was obviously, tired
he was budgeting in his energy all. Game he stepped
it up, Defense like it almost made. Sense luca carried

(13:42):
things offensively Earlier lebron carried things defensively late in the,
game and then he just was, Like i've noticed this
a bunch Since luca came to the, Team but you,
know it used to be That lebron led the early
fourth quarter, unit even When Anthony davis was. There it
was a very similar type of. Rotation lebron would lead
the early fourth quarter, unit and he would come out
of the game with, like you, know seven or eight

(14:04):
minutes left in the fourth, Quarter Anthony davis would come back,
in and Then lebron would come back in for the
last four to five minutes to. Close and in times,
Past Lebron james would manage that early fourth quarter shift
with more of an emphasis towards conserving, energy and he
would do his thing and he would try to help
the team as best as he. Can but he, knew,
like WHEN i come back in with five minutes, Left

(14:24):
i'm the guy that has to try to make all
of this stuff. Happen And Luka dancic has just alleviated.
That And i've just seen so many examples now where
it looks Like lebron starting that early fourth quarter shift
with a completely different. Mentality that's Like i'm going to
let EVERYTHING i have in the gas tank go right,
here right, now Because luca's coming in with seven minutes,

(14:45):
left And i'll be playing with an advantage the rest
of the, game or just a handful of touches here
or there When luca needs a rest or When luca
has gets his first action shut, down or something along those.
Lines and so THIS i like that kind of you,
know pattern that we're seeing From lebron in terms of
the that early fourth quarter. Aggression AND i do think
when we get to the, postseason we'll see more consistent

(15:07):
defensive engagement from him when he doesn't have to do
something absurd like play three games and four nights and
deal with some of the scheduling. Quirks, like you, know
we got to cut The lakers a little bit of
slack in terms of just how many games they've played
Between march first and. Now it's kind of. Crazy they've
played like twenty something games literally in the last you,

(15:27):
know five six, weeks and it's you can tell it's
wearing on them a little, bit but they're just finding
ways to get as much done as they need to get.
Done you go into that road trip with two games In,
okce in a game In dallas that's got all the
weirdness surrounding the situation With luca and for you to
go two and one and to have a one point
lead When luca gets. Ejected in THE okc, GAME i

(15:47):
thought they played some, really really impressive. BASKETBALL i thought
the defense in general was super encouraging over the course
of this three game. STRETCH i thought they looked awesome
start to finish in The sunday. GAME i thought they
looked awesome in the second half against Okay see On.
Tuesday AND i thought they looked awesome in the second
half tonight Against. Dallas the so call that. What that's

(16:09):
four good halves out of six on the defensive end
of the. FLOOR i don't think they played four good
halves of defense in the previous ten. Games so like
it's a really good sign that they're starting to regain
some of that defensive identity that they had earlier on
Before Lebron james hurt his. GROIN i thought it was
really nice to have Heard Hotcha murda. Back he was
a little bit out of whack early in the game

(16:30):
as the game was a little bit, Faster but they're
in that second half he just kept getting these wide open,
looks and to his, credit he just kept trusting his
work trust in his release and hit several big ones.
There he's just so important for the physical profile of
the team. TOO i didn't even think he was particularly
great tonight as a defensive player and in some of
his read and react, situations but just having another guy,

(16:52):
who's you, know six' nine and big and strong and
can move a little bit just changes that physical profile of.
THE team a couple of big picks things With. The
MAVs as, i Mentioned The anthony davis process will look
different from matchup to matchup teams. That switch there is
a Tendency With anthony davis to either post up and

(17:14):
struggle with double teams or to settle for a lot
of contested mid range, jump shots and then when he
doesn't have it, going offensively it's kind of like a
fifty to fifty shot whether or not you're going To
get i'll still be an athletic wrecking ball or. I
WON'T and i think that's going to be a just
kind of part of the process of learning how to
Build Around anthony davis and finding ways to cover for

(17:37):
him on. That front that's one of the THINGS that
i like about having him in some of those two
big looks is that it allows him to kind of
change the way he wants to play defensively depending on
how he's feeling on any. GIVEN night I Thought najie
marshall was. Great tonight now she's consistently been one of
my favorite players in the league as a. ROLE player
i was a big fan of the signing when it happened.

(17:58):
Last summer, to me he's like one of the more
versatile role player guards that you have in the league
in the sense that like he can be a spot,
up guy but he can also run some action. For
you he can beat switches against smaller guards because he's
a good athlete that has like a pretty underrated handle
compared to a lot of role player guys that you
have in. The league and then he's a, pretty big
strong athlete for the guard, position too which gives him some.

(18:20):
DEFENSIVE utility i thought he had a really fun, game
tonight and he was one of The Few dallas MAVs
tonight that really brought the competitive energy in a game
that so desperately needed it On the. Dallas front big
win For, the lakers though they got an even bigger
one coming up Here. On friday, that game we will
have an instant reaction to her work on the weekend

(18:40):
this week to make. That happen, so essentially the way
that the schedule will work out is we are Going
on saturday morning to Cover the friday. Night slate we
will hit multiple games from, that Slate Including. Lakers rockets
the WAY that i WOULD Expect jj reddick to handle
it is to go to his guys and, be like
Here's the if You beat, houston tonight you guys can

(19:03):
have the Weekend Off, saturday sunday fly out of Town on,
friday night Go to cabo if you want spend some
time with, your families get. A break we'll. Come back
this coaching staff will spend the weekend prepping, you guys
get ready to come Back on monday. And work if
you Lose, to houston sol you got to come back

(19:23):
And beat Portland on sunday and we're starting our prep.
Right away maybe You get, monday off but no one's
allowed to go on vacation because they got to be.
In town we start Practice. On tuesday find some way
to motivate. Those guys and create more of a must
win environment Around That houston, rockets game because then you
get the three seed no, matter what and you can
allow yourself to effectively Punt that sunday game or not

(19:46):
have to worry about it at. All whatsoever and you
get seven full days off guaranteed before your first round,
playoff game potentially eight if you end up Playing. On
SUNDAY so i think that should be the plan heading
Into That houston. ROCKETS game i also just think it's
a another Opportunity for Luca, and lebron specifically to get
some reps against their. Perimeter guys houston is high risk

(20:08):
for a first round upset because they have so many
you know issues on the offensive end of. The, floor
however there is a pretty decent chance that We Get
lakers rockets in the, second round at least a chance
that's worth, you, know, Considering right and so if it
ends Up Being, rockets lakers that was a, matchup where
even Though the lakers won, last time they had some

(20:30):
difficulty dealing with, their, bigger stronger. Perimeter defenders it's not
the same type of MATCHUP. As okac, their bigger their
perimeter guys are bigger and they have more of a
size in position on the front line as Well with Shangun,
and adams so it might be another opportunity For the
lakers to get some reps against that team so they
can get some more footage to improve their game planning

(20:50):
heading into a. PLAYOFF series i think they should go
for it entirely In that. Houston game the, COUNTER case
i guess, would be these guys play, crazy physical we
don't want to. Get hurt let's save It. For PORTLAND
but i think you're messing with the basketball gods if
you do that sort of. THING too i would try To.
Beat houston now on the refs for, a minute Let's

(21:10):
take luca's element to this and set it aside for,
a SECOND because i think there's a conversation to be
Had about luca's relationship. With refs why do we have
refs at? Basketball, games like why are they there? At
all they're there to facilitate the flow of. Basketball games.
THAT'S it i heard these Comments From mark degenel after,

(21:32):
the game a Rare marked degenal COMMENT that i don't necessarily,
agree with and he talked about how a while back
he got a TECH From jt or the official Who.
Ejected luca he GOT a tech From jt or for
what he said was a. Mild, comment okay So he's
mark's freely admitting up front that jtor was. Being. Ridiculous okay,

(21:54):
After that mark said that he appreciated that jt held
the law line on the respect for, the game the
integrity of, the game something about the respect for. The
game AND while i Agree with mark because, he said
he went on to say that like at a, certain
point you got to set, a line and if someone crosses,
that line you got to be consistent. About IT and

(22:15):
i agree. With that there's a. Certain line Like if
luca had gone up To jt or in that situation
and got in his face and started being really boisterous
and demonstrative in his face after he already had a
tech earlier in, THE game i would have found it
to be a. Defensible ejection you do have to have.
A line there is a decorum element, To this there

(22:36):
is a respect to the. Game, element however if you
are going To Eject luka doncic from a one point
game in a very important game For the lakers on
the seating front and kind of important for the thunder
in terms of their mental confidence in this matchup and
us potentially getting to see seven minutes of crunch time

(22:58):
basketball between the two best teams In The way conference
in a GAME that, i mean it was a league
pass game that a lot of eyes were. On it
if you're Gonna eject, luca there you better be damn
sure that whatever it is that you're. Upset about. He
Did and luca had been talking trash to, a fan
was clearly talking trash to, a fan was backpedaling away

(23:20):
and walking up the court and just looked back and
said something towards. The Fan jt or happened to be.
Standing there he, got sensitive he got. Worked up He
kicked luca out of, The game and that really is, The,
thing like you have to understand that if we could
have it, our way you wouldn't even. Be. There officials

(23:43):
you're there because we have to have you there to
facilitate the flow of. These games but you are Not
the you are not. The show go REF some ymca
games and see how many people pay to show up
and watch. You ref you are not. The show the
show is. The players all of us wanted to see
what happened in THAT game i would have preferred to

(24:03):
get to also get some crunch time sampled data from.
This matchup we didn't get that Because jt or got
sensitive over a comment that wasn't even directed. Towards him
and that is An issue i've seen time and time
AGAIN from nba officials ego thinking it's about them not

(24:25):
being able to handle the emotion of. The environment basketball
is an. Emotional sport trash talk is a part of,
the game especially between fans. And, players yes there are
certain decorum elements you've got. To WATCH like i Thought
the vando tech was. Perfectly fine you can't let guys
block each other and then run up on each other
and get in each. Other's faces you have to stop

(24:47):
that because you'll end up getting guys punched in, the
face like it will end up in. Physical altercations there
are certain things that you have to step up on with.
Trash talk but fans sit courtside and talk shit all.
Game long players talk back to them all. The, time
yes there are times when players and refs get, into
it and a ref has to have a line in

(25:08):
terms of the way that he's being. Spoken to but
like you've got to have a read for the emotion of.
The environment that's an. Intense Game the lakers. Needed it
luca was. Fired up he just got another Bucket torching
hartenstein on. A switch he was, talking shit he was
having his moment in the emotion of, the game And
jt or got sensitive and couldn't. Handle it and there's

(25:30):
just way too much of that IN the nba that
needs to be resolved now Looking, at LUCA as, i
said it is a league wide problem with refs having
ego and not being able to manage their emotions in
these intense. Competitive environments so one of the most important
things that you have to learn how to do as
a basketball player is manage your relationships with. The refs

(25:54):
if we all agree that they can, get sensitive if
we all agree that they have, an ego then. You
can you can't sit there and berate him all game
long from, a distance towing, that line towing the, tech line,
talking shit but keeping your distance and finding a way
to not necessarily get yourself, thrown out but you're still.
Antagonizing it THERE was i saw someone say Something on

(26:18):
twitter That jt or during the game had Said to,
lakers players anyone can talk, to Me. But luca why
did he, Say? That luca he said that because you
talked a bunch of shit to him throughout the, entire
game and he's sensitive. About it, so like at a, certain,
POINT yeah i, Believe, you luca that you were talking
shit to, the fan but you put yourself in a

(26:41):
position with the way you managed your RELATIONSHIP with jt
or that he was a quick trigger to, eject you
and he did not give you the benefit of. The
doubt as Far as, I've seen lucas never argued his
way into getting a. Better whistle he gets the calls
when he gets fouled it when, he doesn't and when

(27:02):
he bitches, and moans it actually makes the refs less
willing to give him the calls that. He wants so
a big part of his development in the next few
years is going to be learning how to manage his relationships.
With refs we could be in a big playoff series
series tied, at two big game, fourth quarter And if
luca is talking a bunch of shit to, the refs
he could put be in another situation where one is

(27:23):
a little sensitive on the verge of kind of losing
control of, his emotions and you could cross the line
and end up in a situation where you're not available to.
Your team that is the. Bottom line the bottom line
is regardless of what the. Circumstances were your team had
to try to beat the thunder last Night Without luka
doncic when they were Already, without rui and because of

(27:43):
the back TO back jj wasn't about To push. Lebron's
minutes you ultimately put your team in a compromising position
and it led to. A loss so control what you, Can.
Control luca you can't control jt. Or sensitivity you can't
control the sensitivity of many of these refs Around The.
World league you can control the way that you manage
your relationship with refs over the course. Of Games, all

(28:07):
right before we get out of, HERE today i want
to talk a little bit About The steph. Lebron Debate
so steph fans reinstigated this discussion over, the weekend basically
trying to paint the Picture that steph is the defining
player of, this era the greatest player of, this era
and they had a better Career Than. Lebron james steph

(28:29):
fans have felt this way since. Twenty fifteen this is
not exactly a new idea many of you might Remember
The steph better the hashtag that used to go around all.
The time and to, BE clear i don't Blame more
yours fans for feeling. This way he's, their hero he
brought them. Four titles it'd be weird if they weren't

(28:49):
relentlessly advocating for him in the all. TIME context i
also find debates along these lines to be somewhat boring
because no one's changing. Their mind There's no warriors fan
that is going to budge based on this Take that
i'm about. To unleash you guys have your way that
YOU feel, i RESPECT that i have my WAY that
I feel i, respect THAT or i would ask for

(29:12):
the same. In. Return RIGHT but i have literally never
heard a basketball person who Isn't a warriors fan or
an Outspoken anti lebron guy make the Case that steph
was Better, than lebron because. It's absurd let's set aside
the obvious stuff Like that lebron Had a Hall of
fame Career before steph even entered, his prime And that

(29:33):
lebron is still every bit as good, as him Or
that lebron has four times as many finals MVPs or
twice as, many MVPs Or that lebron is one of
only two PLAYERS in nba history with four MVPs And four.
Finals MVPs let's set that. Stuff aside just the Narrative
that warriors fans are trying to build. Is absurd steph
won his first Title against lebron in a series where

(29:56):
both of his co stars. Were injured lebron literally Received
MORE finals mvp Consideration than steph after. THAT series i
disagreed with that line of THINKING because i don't believe
in rewarding. THE loser I think steph should have Won AT,
finals Mvp but lebron literally got more Consideration FOR finals
Mvp than steph. That Season then lebron beat him in

(30:17):
spectacular fashion in twenty sixteen back to back or two
forty point Games in game Five and game six to extend.
The series in that twenty, Sixteen series lebron Badly outplayed
steph on both ends of. The Floor Then kevin durant joined,
the team And the warriors were so insanely talented that
they had a negative odds on sportsbooks before the season

(30:40):
to win. The title you were going you bet a
dollar On the warriors to win the Title. In october
those years in seventeen, and eighteen you'd have made less
than a dollar at the end of the season because
it Wasn't just Katie. And steph it wasn't just the
second and third best players in the league. Joining forces
It Was, klay thompson the second shooter of, all time
one of the best perimeter defenders, in basketball with great

(31:03):
size and strength at, his position an awesome role player in.
This League draymond green arguably the greatest defender of. This
era andre guodalas such a versatile forward that he Got
THE finals mvp in, twenty fifteen and during that era
was a do everything player. For them i'm a Big
Fan kyrie Irving And kevin love AND. J, r smith

(31:24):
but it was a different level of talent that was
on those. Two rosters the way that whole four year
saga is now being retroactively rebuild as a one on
one Rivalry between Lebron and steph is. Fucking Outrageous when
lebron was at, his best he was the best Parts

(31:46):
of Steph and draymond. Put together he was one of
the most prolific offensive engines in the history of, the
sport and one of the best defensive players to ever play.
The game what happened in the twenty sixteen finals is
kind of the perfect encapsulation of the difference between the two.
Of them lebron in that fourth quarter surgically Took the
warriors apart in A way steph was not able to

(32:07):
on the other end of, the floor and yet still
at the end of, The game lebron saved it by
leveraging his athleticism to make a superhuman Play when kyrie
on the other End attacked steph because he was the
lesser athlete on the court and a player he could
get easy. Separation from that's the difference between the two
two all time great. Offensive engines i'd Even argue steph

(32:29):
was a little bit better as an offensive Engine, than
Lebron but lebron Brought that draymond level of playoff defensive
impact while also being a Five Time First TEAM All
Nba First Team all. Defensive player lebron was one of
the great defenders to ever play. This game think back
To the spurs series and the low man Possessions On
tim Duncan And thiago splitter at. The rim think about

(32:52):
him in twenty sixteen on the famous Brick that steph
Shot Over kevin love at the top Of the lebron
was lurking in. The paint he blocked nine Shots over, game,
five six and seven of. That series think about The
level lebron was able to get to defensively in twenty
twenty as he helped anchor one of the great DEFENSES

(33:14):
in nba history as he won his fourth championship the
Year After kevin durant Left. The warriors there was A
level lebron could get to in terms of his athletic
Imposition that steph could never, get to, and that, to
me is why they are on. Different tiers i'm A huge.
Steph fan he's you gotta take my word. FOR this i.

(33:35):
Get it he's legitimately my second, favorite PLAYER and i
actually like him more as like a Dude. Than lebron
half The time lebron opens, his mouth it drives, me crazy.
Super corny there are a lot OF things i don't
like about. The guy, To me steph is a more
steady leader and a much, more likable. Just guy i'm

(33:58):
A big, steph fan but when it comes down, to
basketball he's just not on the same Tier. As lebron,
all Time it's LEBRON and mj at. The top then there's,
a gap and Then, it's Kobe, it's Magic, it's steph
And it's bird in that. Next tier, FOR me i
Don't think steph is even capable of entering into the.
Next tier he's never even had an undisputed hold on

(34:20):
the best player in the world title the Way that
lebron did back in twenty thirteen Or that. Jokic does
now we Can celebrate steph without rewriting history and journeying.
To fantasyland that guys like it was an awesome rivalry
Between the Cavs, and warriors and it was fun in

(34:41):
a stretch of the OF the nba history where we
got to see these teams face over and. Over again
but if you're painting that As like Steph versus lebron
playing one, on one that's dishonest and it's just not it's.
Not reality SO LIKE i i like like that athletic
imposition element we're. Talking about do you want to Know
why lebron's never had single digit points and, you know

(35:03):
god knows how, many games Or that lebron hasn't had
three points in a Game since december of two thousand,
and four because there's a certain floor that comes from
being six' nine two hundred and sixty pounds and big
and strong and being able to leverage yourself in ways
that don't strictly tie. To, Shot making now steph has

(35:24):
a gravity Element in the rockets, game last, night for
instance he only. HAD three points a lot of plays
On film Where i'm watching steph are on off, of
an action someone slip out of it. And get open
steph has value that, goes beyond it but there's more
variance in his singular output on the game because he's.
A jump shooter sometimes the shots. Don't go in sometimes
he goes one for eight from three instead, of you know,

(35:46):
Twelve for twenty and that's the up and down that
can come from that. Type, of experience again, Like to
me steph is one of THE greats. IN nba history
i have, HIM at five i have him have the
top FIVE player, In NBA history but i just don't
think he was on the same Level AS on and
i thought it was just kind of hilarious the way
that that was attempted to be made. As a case
over the course, of the weekend the volume