Takes

South Carolina and Texas are safe bets to reach the Women's Final Four

If you want an easy parlay, South Carolina and Texas to go to the Final Four. It's like minus one 15. But those two teams got easy tracks.

The Celtics are completely back with Jayson Tatum returning to form

He looks so good. The Celtics looks so good. They're, they're so back. Missoula is such a good coach. And he's not forcing it and like trying to take over. 'cause when your team's already second on the east, you don't need to come back and be a superstar.

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.

LeBron James should go back to Cleveland to finish his career

I do think he should go back to Cleveland. I think he should finish it there. They still love him. The tribute videos, it's still home. He should go back to Cleveland.

The future of the NBA is in Victor Wembanyama and Sam Presti's hands

I would say the future of basketball's in [Wembanyama] and Sam Presti's hands. ... The Thunder are also in Dodger land. They are in Dodger land. ... Which is insane 'cause they're doing it with a cat.

Cameron Boozer was named after Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium

And [Cameron Boozer] was named after the stadium. ... Yeah, it's a fact.

Alperen Sengun is a problem and I really like this Rockets team.

I really like the Rockets. I think that guy [Sengun] is a motherfucker. He's a problem.

Chemistry is the most underrated aspect of sports

Something very underrated about sports in general. People always underestimate chemistry. You know, we could talk about stats and the star player and this and that, but when you enjoy playing with somebody, I think those guys look, there's eight guys scoring 10 points on the bulls.

Zion Williamson looks fantastic after completing the 'Luca diet' and losing significant weight

Zion Williamson has completed the Luca diet and looks like he lost an entire Zion. He looks fantastic.

Moses Malone is the most important person in my career

Moses Malone's the most important person in my career. 'cause he made me lose 50 pounds. I didn't realize I was fat and lazy until he told me... if it wasn't for him constructively criticizing me... I wouldn't have had the career I had.

WNBA team salary caps should be increased to $3 million

I happen to agree with the shirt because I went gut check 1.5 million feels too low. It does feel like we've been talking about them more in the past 18 months. I feel like that should be like 3 million. I don't know that, that sounds like a good deal.

The Indiana Pacers were a physical and sneaky aggressive defensive team in the 2025 playoffs

I knew what it was going to be like Indiana, we knew how fast they were going to play and they were sneaky, aggressive defensively through the playoffs and nobody was really talking about it. But they were really physical.

Nobody cares about the NBA All-Star Game

NBA All Star Game. Do not care. Do not care at all. Fun to complain about, but it's just, it's the do not care at all. No one cares.

NBA free agency is officially a dud this year

NBA free agency has started and it's a dud. I'm gonna say it right now. It's a dud.

Ben Simmons hitting threes in a wide-open gym is the official sign of summer

We have the first sign of summer and it's Ben Simmons in a wide open gym hitting threes. He looked good. He looked so good... That's, that literally means summer's here.

Chet Holmgren is a two-can drunk

How many beers do you think it takes Chet [Holmgren] to get drunk? I think it's like, I think he's a two can. I think two beers and a cigarette. Yeah. And he was puking.

NBA players should only drink alcohol when they win a championship

What I'm saying for [Jalen Williams] is he should not say he's never gonna drink again. Because you should drink just only when you win an NBA championship. I'll see you next year beer.

The Duke trio of Flagg, Knueppel, and Maluach are all special NBA prospects

I like all three guys a lot. [Cooper] Flagg... anticipation, the defense, I mean it just, his passing all this stuff is that he's a, he's a real competitor... [Kon] Knueppel iss like he's, he's gonna be very good pro... [Khaman] Maluach... he stays in front of [guards] by moving his feet... Those three guys are really special prospects.

Sam Presti is one of the best GMs in any sport

This guy [Sam Presti] is one of the best GMs in any sport. And it's cool that he finally like 18 years, I think it's, he's been there and he just won with the second youngest team his way and a pocket full of picks going forward.

The Thunder have a 'defensive intensity button' they turn on to shut teams down

The crazy part about the Thunder. I feel like they just hit, they turn up the button where it's like, Hey Lou Dort now... the way they can turn up that defensive intensity, they completely shut down the Pacers in the fourth quarter.

The Indiana Pacers will win one home game in the NBA Finals

I'm gonna say the Pacers are gonna win one at home. They're gonna win one of game three or four. And if I'm wrong, who cares?

I bet on Chet Holmgren to go over 27.5 points, rebounds, and assists in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Big Cat has Chet over 27.5 points. Rebounds assist... I think it's gonna be a big Chet series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder defense will be too suffocating for the Indiana Pacers to handle.

I just can't get over the fact that the Thunder's defense is so fucking suffocating and they have so many guys that they can throw at you and just like, even I know regular season doesn't matter. Like [Dort] is gonna make Halliburton work his ass off.

Nikola Jokic is on an unobtainable level compared to the rest of the NBA.

To me [Jokic] is unobtainable. Like you cannot get to his level right now. And there's gonna be a lot of people arguing [SGA] just because it's better... But I don't think a sane person, a real basketball person should look at this and be like, okay, SGA is now the best in the world.

Tyrese Haliburton is the most important player on the Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton is the straw that stirs the drink. Correct. He is. I mean, without Tyrese, none of this works. The instant baskets after a made layup. Those don't happen without him out-letting the ball down the court. He's the most important player, I think on the team.

Andrew Nembhard is an elite defender based on his playoff performance against Lillard, Mitchell, and Brunson

Andrew Nembhard... was incredible... he was playing ferocious defense on [Brunson]... through the playoffs, he, when he, he's a primary defender. Damien Lillard... 23.3% field goal percentage... Donovan Mitchell... 23.3% field goal percentage... And then against Jalen Brunson, 38.2% field goal percentage... He was awesome.

Nikola Jokic is immovable and possesses the strength of an NFL offensive tackle

the dude is like, he's like offensive tackle strong. Like, he's like immovable, right? And then he doesn't like make these super aggressive moves to get into the post. He just like takes, takes a foot bumps you, takes another foot bumps you.

Tyrese Haliburton needs to be more consistent to take the next step as a superstar

This is kind of the knock on [Haliburton] is that he has nights like Tuesday, which are out of this world good... and then you have nights like tonight where he doesn't really, like, can't really tell that he is out there. I think to take that next step, you can't have nights like tonight.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are significantly better than the Minnesota Timberwolves

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA finals. Absolutely curb stomped the Timberwolves in Game five completely. Like that series wasn't really competitive... the Thunder are significantly better than the Timberwolves.

Alex Caruso is the smartest player in the league and will be a great coach one day

The guy's a crash dummy man... He's one of the smartest dudes. He's going to be a great coach when he's done... he would help lead some of our meetings [in Chicago].

OKC will win the NBA title

If I were to, you know, guess... I'm going with OKC.

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.

Aaron Nesmith went into 'God mode' during the Pacers comeback against the Knicks

To say the next [Knicks] choke though does a disservice to Aaron Nesmith going into God mode. That was God mode. What he did in those three minutes or whatever it was, maybe a little more was insane.

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.

Erik Spoelstra is safe in Miami for as long as he wants

Pat [Riley] let everybody know that you'll get outta here before [Spoelstra] leaves. Well now he got time to become a great coach. Yeah. Because he has the comfort, he is comfortable sitting in this seat... Nobody works harder than Spo.

The trade involving Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle was a rare win-win for both the Timberwolves and the Knicks

I think that both the Knicks and the Timberwolves both got a lot better by doing that trade. The rare win-win trade where, I guess, who was it? The Hornets. The Hornets lost that trade. Yes. The other two teams won. Both teams got a whole lot better.

The Celtics will win the NBA Championship

Before the season I picked the Boston Celtics. With the Boston Celtics down two to one in this series, I still pick the Boston Celtics... they're the best complete team and they just won last year.

Cavs fans poking the bear by calling Tyrese Halliburton overrated was a dumb move

Then you poked the bear to start the game. That was the dumbest move that the Cavs fans could have done is to chant overrated at Halliburton before it got started. Why would you do that? He already knows that his fellow players talk about him being overrated. You don't have to remind him of it, that's gonna piss him off a little bit.

Nikola Jokic is the best player playing basketball in the world

Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world. He is the best player playing basketball right now in the world. He had 42, 22 and six. It was an MVP performance.

The Thunder lose their home court advantage by wearing dark t-shirts that don't pop on TV

You're taking away your t-shirt advantage when you wear a dark muted color. Like was it navy blue or was it, was it black? It was a very dark color and it didn't pop. Usually you get either the white or the blue... and you know that it's a t-shirt game. I didn't even know it was a t-shirt game at first.

NBA Finals prediction: Celtics vs. Thunder

I'm sticking with the Boston Celtics, Bing bong hanky. I still support the Celtics and you know, I'm sticking with the with the thunder and I'm a little bit nervous today. I think Boston has a much easier path to the finals than OKC.

The Cavaliers will still win the series against the Pacers despite losing Game 1

I don't think the Cavs should panic... I think the Cavs are still gonna win the series.

Despite losing to the Knicks, the Pistons have a very bright future because Cade Cunningham proved he is a playoff-level star

The Pistons have a very bright future because Cade Cunningham stepped up, stepped up like that level playoff series, young team getting their first taste of it. It sucks to hear, but the Pistons have a very bright future.

LeBron James will not retire silently; he will have a massive farewell tour

LeBron James is not going to retire outta the blue and just walk off the court and that'll be it. He is going to have the retirement tour. Yep. He's going to go across the country and there's gonna be like a documentary crew that follows him everywhere.

The Cavaliers will beat the Pacers in six games

I'm gonna say Cavs in six Cavs are really good. I think the Cavs I respect the hell out of the Cavs.

Nikola Jokic is definitively the best basketball player in the world

This game was [Nikola] Jokic just reminding everyone that he's the best player in the world because he was... he had 36, 21 and eight, which is just insane.

Steph Curry demolished and ruined the Houston Rockets franchise twice in two different eras

Steph Curry broke and demolished the rockets. The James Harden Rockets... The Rockets then bottomed out three years in a row... And guess who's still there demolishing these new rockets, Steph Curry. Yeah. It's very, that's so brutal. They literally went through an entire rebuild and the guy who who who, who tore them down the first time is still standing there tearing them down this time.

The Lakers versus Timberwolves series will be a battle that goes six or seven games

I think the Lakers Wolves is gonna be a, a six or seven game series and I, I expected the Lakers to win tonight and I expected what we saw.

Winning a playoff game signals that all of Detroit sports, besides the Red Wings, are trending in the right direction

This is something that Pistons fans should enjoy and revel in and be like, yes. Like it is now trending towards the right way. All of Detroit sports, by the way, besides the Red Wings, like think about it, the lions have been bad forever... Tigers were bad... and now the Pistons.

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.