Takes

Carl Anthony Towns is at his best when he remembers he is seven feet tall and can drive to the rim

You know when Carl Anthony Towns is going to that next level where he realizes, oh yeah, I'm seven feet. I could just go to the rim and score on these guys. It feels like the threes happen, he can get into that groove of threes after he reminds himself like, oh yeah, I can drive on these guys. He got like a big and one and it almost like unlocked something in his brain. He's like, I'm Carl Anthony Towns. I'm big purr.

The New York Knicks are a cursed franchise

I was just in shock. Yeah. The Knicks are just cursed. 'cause like if OG [Anunoby] makes that free throw and then Tyrese [Haliburton] steps on the line and gets it too... over time Ty, you don't get the goal end now you just lose.

The 2006 NBA Championship is my favorite title

I have my own [trophies]. Got three of 'em... My born. Okay. 2006. All right. Yeah. That's my favorite one. Yeah, that was a good one. That was a real good one.

LeBron James is 'a goat' to multiple generations of fans

LeBron James is arguably a goat. He's the goat, he's a goat to, to generations. But the generation before him, it's very hard for people before him to call him their goat. But the generation after that, he's the goat to them.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the number one foul-baiter in the NBA

It pisses me off watching [SGA] play. ... I have to watch the foul baiting like three times in a row where I have to see the same non foul three times. ... [SGA] is the number one fator and he's so good. ... he has taken the mantle from James Harden.

Angel Reese definitely hates Caitlin Clark

I'm just gonna go outright and say it. [Angel Reese] hates Caitlin Clark. I think she does. And that's fine. 'cause rivalries are good. ... The issue with this rivalry is Caitlin Clark is just a lot better and more entertaining of a basketball player.

The anticipation for a Game 7 is better than the actual Game 7

The anticipation for the game seven is way better than the actual game sevens. This is making me disagree with LeBron's take... I might be a game six guy. That's the new game seven.

Aaron Gordon is a beast for playing through a grade two hamstring injury

Aaron Gordon played in game seven with a grade two hammy. And if the Lakers were in this game, LeBron would still be two weeks away from coming back because LeBron, remember when he got hurt in the last game of the Laker season, they some, for some reason put out a timetable for his return, which no one needed or asked for.

Alex Caruso is underrated because two different franchises let him go for nothing

Alex Caruso... he is underrated because two franchises basically got rid of Caruso for nothing. The Lakers let 'em walk because they were cheap and didn't wanna go in the luxury tax and the Bulls didn't get a pick for 'em. Even though they should have.

Nikola Jokic failed the 'best player in the world' standard in the series against the Thunder

I think it's fair to hold him to the standard of best player in the world. And if he was the best player in the world, game four and seven, he could have played better and they could have won this series. The conversation of Jokic is best player in the world... can sometimes be like, I'm gonna take over this series and win this series. He didn't do that and that didn't happen.

The Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese rivalry is awkward because Clark is much better at basketball

Caitlyn Clark is so much better than Angel Reese at basketball that it's not, it doesn't feel fair. I actually feel bad for Angel Reese at this point. She wants a rivalry and she has history with Kaitlyn Clark, but it's nowhere near equal footing in terms of play... Kaitlyn Clark needs a different rival because this one is just not fair.

Jalen Brunson is already a top-five New York Nick of all time

I think Jalen Brunson is already a top five Nick. I think it's the list now is Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed and Walt Frazier and then it's like, yeah, Earl Pearl and then like Mellow is somewhere in there. I think he's a top five nick of all time in the three years that he's been there.

I'm leaning towards the Boston Celtics needing a rebuild

I trust Brad Stevens with my life, but I'm leaning towards rebuild ish. Probably. Someone needs to figure out how we can keep Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum and still have good enough players around them to compete. It doesn't, not a tax guy at all. It doesn't look, I can't wrap my head around it yet.

The NBA Draft Lottery is rigged despite the league's attempts to prove otherwise

I think the media is now welcome at the draft lottery because he used to see it behind the scenes... he was laying it on thick. He was doing a lot of unrigable talk... if it was rigged, this is exactly how they would've rigged it. Exactly how they'd rig it. Exactly... you can pick and choose Max... that shit's fucking rigged and I fucking hate it and there should be an investigation.

Madison Square Garden is the most overrated venue in sports

The garden is the most overrated venue in sports.

Jayson Tatum is not a superstar

Jason Tatum is not a superstar... He didn't play on the Olympic team. He didn't play.

There are only four true superstars in the NBA: Jokic, Giannis, Luka, and the aging veterans

I have like four superstars in the whole league... so it's Jokic, it's Giannis, it's Luka, and then it's, there's like the aging group of superstars that's like Steph, LeBron, KD. It's not much. I don't go Superstar to me is if you said their name like to your mom or someone on the street, they would immediately be like, yeah, of course I know who that is.

LeBron James should take significantly less money to win another championship ring

If it were me, I would say I will take significantly less, as less as it helps basically to make sure that we get other people in here who can help us win. Because here's the thing, you can't buy a championship ring after you retire all that money... He's not gonna feel any difference in his life.

Nikola Jokic is the worst three-time MVP in the last 40 years

If he wins the next one, he'll be the worst three time MVP in the last 40 years. Right. Because it was like... those five were in that timeframe as Magic, Bird, Jordan, LeBron, and Jokic at that time. He's gonna rank fifth.

Jayson Tatum has officially replaced Joel Embiid as the worst playoff superstar in the Eastern Conference

I guess that a super embarrassing that Jason Tatum has now taken the crown of the worst playoff performer in the Eastern Conference... Joel Embiid for a long time was known as the worst Eastern Conference superstar to play in the playoffs. And Jason Tatum simply has worst playoff stats than Joel Embiid. And that's a fact.

If Steph Curry wins FMVP with a torn hamstring, he is ahead of LeBron James

If Steph Curry wins NBA finals, MVP by the way, with a, a torn hamstring. He has a, a torn hamstring I think... You gotta put him ahead of LeBron.

Jokic is the most skilled big man we have ever seen

He's the most skilled player in the world. He does everything at a very high level... the best floater in the league, but he is also an incredible jump shooter. And that's not even a strength. So long story short, he's just the most skilled big man we've ever seen.

James Harden stops playing in big games because he simply doesn't want to work anymore

I don't think it's necessarily even an insult to say that to him. Because I, I actually believe that James Harden is like, I don't wanna work anymore. I'm, I'm gonna get paid essentially the same if I, if I get eliminated now or if I get eliminated in two weeks... He doesn't really have any upside besides the glory of winning, which I don't think he necessarily cares that much about.

I wouldn't be worried about the Knicks even if the Celtics go down 0-2

Not worried about the Knicks. Even if we lose, I'll say it right now. If somehow we lose game one, we could lose two games and I wouldn't be worried. [Down 0-2?] Still not worried. I'll say it.

LeBron James only releases post-elimination injury reports to build a protective narrative for his legacy

With LeBron it's interesting because the, the whole like you know, build, building in your narrative. Your excuse after the fact. It's something he's done a couple times... but he always has to remind us that he's injured always. And to not play a hypothetical game, it was just so extra to be like, if game six had happened tonight, yeah. He would not be playing.

I'm excited for the Celtics to beat the Knicks because New York fans never win anything and are too loud

New York fans are the loudest fans and never win anything and it's just fun to shut 'em up. I'm excited to beat New York.

Mavs GM Nico Harrison was right about Luka Doncic being out of shape and a defensive liability

Nico Harrison's a fuckhead. But was he kind of right? Everything that Nico Harrison was standing on—Luca being outta shape, defensive liability—did kind of come into play in this game. I still would rather have Luca on my team. But it was for one night, Nico Harrison went to sleep happy.

The European basketball development system is superior to the US AAU system

Great development system out there [in France]... They coach it as a team sport. It's not the superstar thing. And if you have a shot to be an NBA prospect, you have like the top French general managers coming to your house... For the development of the game, there needs to be a change [in the US].

Tobias Harris is a pussy

Tobias Harris is a pussy. The amount of people that are pussies that can't play in Philadelphia is disgusting.

Tom Thibodeau is an idiot for his clock management in the Pistons loss

I think Tibs is an idiot. He should have called the time out... You have to fucking get those guys in the game. You can't let a minute and a half go by with both those guys standing and watching at the scorers table.

The NBA needs to cut its regular season in half and own specific days of the week

The NBA needs to be half the games. Yep. And they need to pick like, you know, Wednesday or Thursday and Sunday or something like that. Own one day of the week... it breaks my heart that basketball is just hard to follow when you have responsibilities.

Jalen Green eating chicken alfredo before a game is the worst pregame meal ever

Jalen Green was incredible... but the big story about Jalen Green, it was shared during the broadcast. His pregame meal is chicken alfredo. I can't think of a worst game meal to have before playing a basketball game... Still a belly of chicken alfredo at any point is not physical activity... I can't think of maybe gnocchi... creamy alfredo and glass of red wine before I get out there on the court. Yeah, that'll do it.

Jalen Brunson's foul baiting has made him hard to watch as a basketball fan

The foul baiting has gotten to a point where it's just hard to watch. And it's not just the foul baiting... the Knicks in this fourth quarter, they just go to straight iso ball foul baiting. No one else touches the ball. Jalen Brunson just trying to score. And it's bad basketball to watch.

Kawhi Leonard is the Brooks Koepka of basketball

Kawhi is is the Brooks Koepka of basketball. He, when, his peers will be like, he's the best. Like he can be the best. He can beat the best when he is on his a-game. He just doesn't care about like, you know, maybe like starts or, you know, playing the regular season. It's just when the time matters the most.

NBA teams should not wear alternate or city edition jerseys in the playoffs

I think that you shouldn't wear your alternate jerseys. Especially like, I think those are the city version for the Pacers in the playoffs. Because someday you will look back and if like the Pacers go to the NBA finals and they have a historic run in 20 years from now, you'll be like, man, I wish they were wearing the old school like pin stripes.

Rudy Gobert's defensive value to the Timberwolves cannot be overestimated

Rudy Gobert is just so impactful on both sides of the ball. I think, you know, Rudy is a very polarizing player in the league, but, having been with him now for three years, like he just, his value cannot be overestimated. It's just so important to everything that we do.

The Chicago Bulls are a joke of an organization with no path forward

This franchise [the Bulls] is a joke and it should be called out as a joke and stop pretending that March and April basketball means something and actually pick a lane and go for it. They do not know how to tank. They do not know how to win.

A 71-47 score is the largest possible 24-point deficit in basketball

The halftime lead for the Heat was 71-47 and that is pretty much the largest 24-point deficit you can have... It feels like 30. If you can jump over multiple digits of 10, that's when it appears so much larger.

Kawhi Leonard is currently playing like a machine

I watched Kawhi go through some pre-game shooting routines where he was as impressive... all Kawhi does is look like a machine. I remember watching him make like 96 out of a hundred 17-footers. That's what Kawhi looks like right now.

The Bulls are currently rebuilding and don't even realize it

The Bulls are in a rebuild and they don't know they're in a rebuild. And that's almost the worst position to be in... If you don't have the dude, you're not going anywhere. You gotta kill yourself to get the dude and the Bulls aren't doing things to get the dude.

Zach Edey needs to stop bringing the ball down on rebounds to avoid being stripped

Zach Edey, he shows me like he's improved still... but that guy, somebody needs to pull him aside and be like, youngster, you need to quit taking the ball down on rebounds. You put that ball up higher, you're taller than everybody else. 'Cause he's addicted to it. He does it every single time to get stripped.

Nico Harrison is 'so lost' and delusional as the Mavericks GM

He's [Nico Harrison] so lost. It's insane. Yeah... Such a coward move to do. No, no video, no no recordings. What a fucking loser. And we stand with Mavs fans. The guy's a fucking loser. He needs to get outta town.

The NBA Play-In tournament is a ploy for owners to convince fans they made the playoffs

I've said from the beginning it is a ploy for the Jerry Reinsdorf type owners to convince their fan base that they've made it to the playoffs when they have not. I hate the playing tournament... it sucks.

The Clippers are a threat as long as Kawhi Leonard is healthy

The Clippers scare me as a Nuggets Fairweather fan. Anytime Kawhi is healthy. Yeah. You have to be scared of the Clippers because he still will like the Clippers could absolutely beat the nuggets.

Stan Van Gundy is wrong about Knicks and Sixers fans being fairweather

I couldn't disagree more living in New York for whatever we did, six, seven years. Knicks fans love their team. They just fucking expect, they want them to be good... what Stan Van Gundy is describing. That's just fans.

Mavericks GM Nico Harrison is a coward for not sitting in his real seats since trading Luka Doncic

I also was made aware that Nico Harrison has not sat in his real seats since the trade. You fucking coward. Go back and sit in your seats... You can't make that trade. And they'd be like, oh, I don't sit in my seats anymore.

You cannot fire Michael Malone if he wins two NBA titles in three years

If he then comes back and wins a second NBA championship in three years and your team's never won one before... That is a good thing. Yeah. No matter what like concerns you have about his coaching style or whether it's built for long-term success. If he wins two in three years, you cannot fire him.

The Nuggets firing Michael Malone right before the playoffs makes no sense

I would keep the coach that you're winning right before the Playoffs... your NBA title coach, the only one you have in your history of your franchise Right before the Playoffs. Makes no sense.

Ja Morant's addiction to fake guns is the best addiction of all time

Ja Morant can't quit holding fake guns. It's the, it's the best addiction of all time. I respect the hell outta that... the NBA coming down on him for his fake guns is bullshit. Just ignoring all the history of Ja Morant with real guns. I love that shit.

Any NBA team that plays well in March is a 'fake' team because the month doesn't matter

March NBA does not fucking matter because half the teams are not even trying. So when you say, oh man, look at this team so hot in March. Turns out that's all Fools Gold. If you start playing well in March, you're just a fake team. That's really what it comes down to.