Takes

LeBron James is the face of the NBA until the day he retires

As long as LeBron's in the league, LeBron is not only the face of the league, but definitely has a weighted opinion on basketball... LeBron is the face of the league until he is no longer in the league.

The NBA Cup means nothing to me

I'm excited to watch the game. I just don't care who the NBA cup means nothing to me. ... There's no way you'll be able to be like, oh yeah, 2025. That was the year the Spurs won the NBA cup.

LeBron James is officially in his stat-padding era

My Cool Throne is LeBron because congratulations to LeBron. He kept his streak alive of scoring 10 games, which is a totally made up streak... Can we just admit that LeBron's in his stat padding time, like it's fine. It's fine.

LeBron James isn't focused on basketball because he's golfing too much

My Hot Seat is LeBron James. It's been the off season. You know, he, he's old. He, he probably should be taking more time to get ready and prepared and get his body ready... and he's just spent the whole summer golfing. He's just not locked in. He's not focused on the task at hand.

If LeBron James wins a title in Cleveland this year, it doesn't count

If he does go to the Cavs and the Cavs win in an East that is beyond depleted this year, we need to just already say this. That doesn't count. The Pacers are out of it, the Bucks are probably out of it. Coward move if he wins a title with the Cavs.

The evidence of Malik Beasley gambling on his own games is absurdly obvious

The videos that came out after the investigation came out were very bad to say the least. I don't know if it's one of those things where if you could do this for any player... but the videos that came out were absurdly obvious that he was probably gambling on games.

WNBA players being petty toward Caitlin Clark is actually good for sports

Of course they don't like her. She's better than them and she's more popular. Like of course they're petty about it. I think that's good for sports... Kaylyn Clark will have a longer career, better career, make more money. She's gonna win in the long run. It doesn't have to be like a World War II every single time there's a slight on Kaitlyn Clark.

LeBron James is a scumbag for opting into a $52 million contract instead of taking a team-friendly deal

[LeBron] opted in for $52 million. He's a billionaire. He might even be a piece of shit... he does not need, he's not even good enough for 52 million a year. He could have signed for 30... they could use the 20 million to actually make their team better. But he doesn't care about that because he's a selfish piece of shit.

Doc Rivers has won three games in a playoff series many times and doesn't get enough credit for it

When he [Doc Rivers] loses the three-one leads, he's won three games. That should be worth something. Like if you get up 28 to three against the Patriots of the Super Bowl, that should be worth something.

Caitlin Clark is paid what she is worth right now because she hasn't won a championship

I think that she's paid what she's worth right now. She gotta win the big one. ... She's never won a college national championship. Never won a WNBA national championship. ... Talk to me when she's got a chip. When she gets that ring.

Jimmy Butler is an absolute locker room cancer

I mean he's old and he's proven himself time and time again to just be an absolute locker room cancer can't even win.

The Warriors should have just resigned Klay Thompson and stayed old together

I don't even think like, this is why this revisionist history just fucking should have just resigned Klay and just gotten like, you have to pick a lane. Like just maybe just get old together. And just be like, all right. It was fun, but everyone got to stay together... if you know you're not gonna win again, just go nostalgia.

I love the NBA Cup courts and the point differential incentive

I am a full NBA cup guy... The courts I love. I like something different. I also love the fact, and this is probably because I like to gamble on overs that teams are playing for point differential. That makes it fun.

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest should be replaced by a Layup Contest

I think they should do a layup contest instead of slam dunk contest. [Ja Morant's 360 layup] was sick... I thought to myself like, with enough practice I could possibly do that. Also not true. But it still made me think.

The Celtics are attacking the next title rather than defending the old one

Joe Mazzulla, Celtics coach, was doing an interview and they asked him about how he feels about defending the title and he basically just took down the term forever. He said the phrase 'defending a title' is a very passive-aggressive term. If you look at the animal kingdom, some of the strongest animals don't defend—they're the most aggressive and they attack the most. So we're attacking the title.

Lauri Markkanen is not worth $200 million

They just gave Lauri Markkanen a five year, 200 plus million dollar contract... He's not worth that much money. I'd pay him 35 [million].

LeBron James only brought Bronny into the NBA to bolster his GOAT case against Michael Jordan

Some people could argue that LeBron, when he realized that he wasn't going to win six titles and match MJ, he's like, 'what else can I try to get that will, they'll say in my GOAT conversation' and having Bronny—playing with Bronny—will be there. MJ's son never played in the league.

Jason Tatum has no 'aura'

I have no aura. Perfect. Exa—great. Find it. That's, I have no aura... If you see it, you can tell, you can use, you don't have to know the definition... KG has a shit load... [Tatum] has no aura. No. Like Big Cat doesn't even, literally doesn't know what the definition of or is. He just knows... you can tell.

JJ Redick used his podcast with LeBron James as a 4-month job interview for the Lakers

He used podcasting... it's a stepping stone job... LeBron, you can have conversations with people and be like, I think this guy would be a good coach... just say what it was. Yeah. We decided, we realized that podcasting is the greatest loophole ever. And we did a podcast about the philosophies of basketball... I was essentially interviewing him for the job and then we hired him.

Draymond Green is 'going out sad' and only complaining because his career is ending

I think Draymond Green knows it's over and he's going out really sad, just complaining. He's made $177 million... for him to say that the fines are the big problem... I think there might be a small part of him when he goes to bed at night, he's like, did I call Steph like a couple rings? And it's over. He's grasping at whatever he can to try to keep it going.

Bronny James is in a terrible spot and I feel bad for him

My Hot Seat is Bronny James... I feel bad for him. Like I, I he's he's in a terrible spot. I agree. He's in a terrible spot. He is at the combine this week. People are debating whether he should even be at the combine.

Bronny James would not be drafted or at the combine if his name wasn't Bronny James

I do agree with you because it's just a simple question. Would Bronny James be at the combine and be drafted if his name wasn't Bronny James? The answer's no.

Miami Heat culture is in absolute shambles

Heat culture absolute shambles. Pat Riley did a press conference... asked about Jimmy Butler trolling when he wasn't playing and he said, if you're not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut.

Russell Westbrook looks foolish for arguing with a fan in a balloon hat

Never get in a fight with someone who has nothing to lose. Yeah. That guy has zero to lose in life. He's a diehard Hornets fan in a balloon hat... Russell Westbrook looks like a much bigger fool than the balloon hat guy.

Steph Curry belongs in the NBA GOAT conversation

I put Steph Curry up there. He's in the Go-cart. I'm putting Steph Curry in the GOAT conversation right now.

The NBA In-Season Tournament should have one traveling banner instead of permanent ones

There should just be one banner. And the team that wins it should get to have it in their arena for the remainder of that year into next year where they have to give it up and another team then gets to possess that banner because you can't have every NBA team eventually having an in season tournament banners.

Zion Williamson is not an NBA superstar

Is Zion Williamson to be a superstar? No. No. I don't think he's played enough games to be a superstar. Superstars play. He was a college superstar. I absolutely agree with that.

NBA teams shouldn't call themselves 'World Champions' if they only play in the US

My Hot Seat is the NBA. Noah Lyles... he was doing an interview where he basically asked, why do they call the NBA the world champion, world champion of what they only play in America? And there was a, you know, it was kind of an embrace debate, huh? Is NBA the world champion or are they just the US champion?

The 'World Champion' debate is dumb because all the world's best players are in the NBA

This is the dumbest debate ever, especially when you consider all the best players in the world playing the NBA. ... This is one of those cases where a guy's trying to say something deep and then he says it... and when it comes out of his mouth, he's like, yeah, take that guys.

The NBA MVP award and the discussion surrounding it are overrated compared to winning a title.

I also have a take: the MVP is just way overrated besides the team... in terms of a league-wide discussion, I just don't care who wins the MVP. I don't care who wins the title. Can you remember every MVP? ... Maybe MVPs aren't overrated, but the discussion about them is overrated because I feel like we spend a shit lot of time talking about an MVP that most people at the end of the day, then the playoffs starts, it's like, 'Yeah, this is what we're playing for.'

Russell Westbrook's shot selection is only getting worse because of the criticism

You know, that old drill tweet like keeps screaming at me. It only makes my opinions worse. Yeah. That's what's happening with Russell Westbrooks jump shot. Yeah. Everyone's telling you, everyone's booing you and trying to get you to stop shooting... it's actually just making Westbrook shoot the ball more often.

Draymond Green glorified assaulting his teammate in his TNT mini-doc

He managed to turn him almost killing one of his teammates in a disgusting move... and then has a show on TNT where he like made it, he like glorified it. Basically he glorified himself assaulting his teammate and looking so like immature, childish and just bad.

Ben Simmons should stop shooting because every miss becomes a viral mockery

I now am starting to understand why Ben Simmons just doesn't shoot because he, he can't shoot. And every time he does shoot it becomes a viral moment... why would I shoot when I know that it's not gonna go in and people are gonna roast [me]?

Losing a preseason game to an NBL team is bad for Chris Paul's legacy

The sun's lost their first games. Good for us. They lost an NBL team, an Australian league team... How did Chris Paul do though legacy wise? [Hank:] I mean, that's bad for your legacy. [Big Cat:] I'm gonna count that as another 3-1 lead blown.

LeBron James is a coach killer who has gotten six coaches fired

LeBron has been freed of another coach... LeBron has gotten six coaches fired in his career... I don't know why we don't talk about LeBron James as a coach killer more because Frank Vogel got overall raw deal.

Zion Williamson is a better player when he is fat

I'm going to say something controversial. I think that Zion Williamson is a better player when he's fat. I want him to get fat. Well, in fact, well he D he doesn't play right now. He's a better players to get fatter. Yeah. He just needs to get so fat that they roll them out there.

LeBron James got off easy with a one-game suspension for punching Isaiah Stewart

LeBron James basically owns the NFL [sic], which we already knew, but the fact that he got suspended one game for assault is fucking ridiculous... He looked him dead in the eye and then punched him in the face. Like if you watched the replay, he knew exactly what he was doing.

LeBron James is an absolute fraud for how he handled the Alex Caruso departure

Last night was a perfect encapsulation of how LeBron is just an absolute fraud. The story came out that the Lakers basically asked Caruso to take less money... LeBron is the GM. Everyone knows this... then it's all over him hugging them on social media like 'love you bro'.

Scotty Pippen is doing a great job promoting his bourbon because his controversial takes are keeping him in the news

I actually think he's doing a great job of pitching this bourbon... because everyone's talking about Scotty Pippen, but calling Phil Jackson racist for drawing up a winning play to Toni Kukoc... it goes against everything that everyone knows... he's on a scorched earth tour just getting back at everybody.

I am officially counting LeBron James out

So, well, let's just do a quick straw poll. Are you counting [LeBron] out? ... I want to count him out. Yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to count him out.

LeBron James never would have won the 2020 title if fans were in the stands

LeBron. Because he never would have won a title if there were fans. Seriously.

Kevin Durant has actually become more likable by being more online

Kevin Durant is the most online person of all time. I think he has done the impossible. Usually when people are more online, they become worse people... Kevin Durant has become more likable by being online more.

The 76ers new City Edition jerseys are the worst of all time

My hot seat have a few first one is the 76ers. They released the ugliest probably the worst Jersey reveal of all time the NBA yesterday. They like had new City theme jerseys that are just disgusting... objectively ugly uniforms.

The Warriors' 'Oakland Forever' jerseys are total bullshit since they left town

They released jerseys for this year that say Oakland on them... It's like the Oakland forever jerseys and it got Warriors fans really mad because they left Oakland. Apparently there's like a lawsuit going on... it's messed up that they did that.

LeBron James is the second-best player to be born in Akron, Ohio

[LeBron] is the second best player to be born in Akron, Ohio behind Steph Curry, correct? That's our compliments of LeBron.

The LeBron vs. MJ debate has evolved into whether LeBron would be a better #2 than Scottie Pippen

LeBron James has been Quoted as saying that he would like to have played with MJ not against them... now the debate has shifted to would LeBron James be a better number two than Scottie Pippen is. So now we're comparing that now we're saying would LeBron be a better number two than Scotty was to Jordan.

If Zion Williamson is truly 300 pounds, he is the most impressive athlete of all time.

If Zion is 300 pounds, he's the most impressive athlete of all time. He's doing this as a 300-pounder... Better numbers than rookie LeBron. It's incredible watching him.

Jim Boylen is the worst coach in the history of basketball

Yeah, he is the worst coach in the NBA. He might be the worst coach in the history of basketball... He called a timeout with 33 seconds left in the third quarter to stop the run... there is a timeout that's naturally [between quarters]... He's such a fucking idiot.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant's relationship is a Jay and Silent Bob dynamic

I kind of like that Dynamic though. It's a little Jay and Silent Bob ish, right? So you've got Kyrie that never says anything and then you got Kevin Durant that just says everything, right? Yeah, I'm fine with that. Yeah. This is sounds like it's going to be a good buddy cop type thing.

Shaquille O'Neal won the diss track battle against Damian Lillard

The problem was that Shaq's diss track went harder and Shaq has the power of Inside the NBA... lyrical M3 time Finals MVP MVP candidate. You are not one.