Takes

The Chicago Bulls should offer Sam Presti ownership stakes to get him to run the team.

The Bulls should go out and try to say, Sam Presti, here's any amount of money. You name the number. Give him ownership. Just spend it and make a team good. I just cannot understand if I owned a team, I would spend all my money in hiring the smartest guys to do everything.

The NBA regular season is currently the worst product in sports

Can I say about the NBA... I think that the NBA has never been worse in terms of regular season. It's an absolute joke. Friday, every single team was playing like a tanking team was playing a playoff team and none of the games were close. The regular season NBA is like the worst product. It just sucks.

Victor Wembanyama is the #1 player in the NBA based on 'things' per game

He's got a new stat... it's just called 'things'. It takes into account everything: points are things, rebounds are things, blocks are things, steals are things. And Wemby leads SGA in things this season on a per game basis by quite a bit. He's the number one guy in the NBA in terms of things per game.

The Celtics will play the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs

It right now it would be Knicks Celtics second round, right. You know who's gonna be first round Celtics? Possibly Sixers. It will be Celtics Sixers.

Referee Roger Ayers is one of the greatest officials of all time

Roger's like very playful. I mean, listen, the guy is, he's one of the greatest refs ever. You know, like the guy don't, he don't mess up a lot of calls.

Alex Karaban will play in the NBA for 15 years

You know, the guy [Alex Karaban] just had such a magical career... you know, the guy's a two-time national champion... guy's gonna play in the NBA for 15 years, you know, he was the guy to go to at the moment.

Nikola Jokic has nearly as many triple-doubles as Joel Embiid has total games played since Embiid won the MVP

Jokic, since Joel Embiid won the MVP, has 87 triple doubles. Joel Embiid has played in 91 games. So Jokic has almost as many triple doubles as games that Embiid has played in since he won the MVP.

The Lakers will lose 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs regardless of their current hot streak

What's gonna happen is they're like, they're good, but the other two teams above them are better and have been better all year and younger. Right? But again, what's gonna happen is they're like, 'They're good, but the other two teams above them are better.' ... When everyone tries to tell us the Lakers are gonna win the title, I'll just be like, 'Okay, cool.' They'll lose 4 to 1.

The NBA will expand to Seattle and Las Vegas by the 2028-2029 season

NBA expansion teams. Yes. Seattle and Vegas. I think it's 28, 20 29... Little bit, little bit of a shuffle [moving Minnesota and Memphis to the East].

Joel Embiid is the only athlete who gets clowned for being injured

Is Joel Embiid the only athlete in the history of sports that like gets clowned for being [injured]... For some reason Joelle em Bead always gets hurt and it's like, ha ha ha ha. What a great athlete that's can't stay healthy. Let's laugh in his face. I don't, he's the only athlete ever that, that anyone does that.

The top NBA MVP candidates might be ineligible due to the 65-game rule

There's a good chance that like the top two guys or the top three guys aren't eligible. Yeah, we're on games missed watch. For like what Shai, Wemby and Jokic, right?

The NBA Cup would be better if the higher-seeded teams hosted home games throughout the bracket instead of playing at a neutral site in Vegas

I think it would be much better if they just did it like playoff series where they just had whatever the tiebreakers are and just have the better team, whatever team is ranked higher, host the game all the way. Maybe the championship you do neutral site... but like leading up to it, the best games in the cup are the games that lead up to Vegas.

If an NBA player knows they are getting ejected, they should go all in and get their money's worth of shouting at the ref

Lou [Dort] would've, but he thought he wasn't gonna get ejected and then he got ejected so he didn't get his money's worth. That's like, that's like NBA rule number one. Like if you know you're gonna get ejected or you know you're gonna get like a second tech, you just, yeah, you go all in. You make it worth it.

I guarantee a Thunder NBA Cup win next season specifically because I don't think it will happen

I hope we're gonna win the NBA Cup next year... I'm much more comfortable saying, I'll guarantee you. 'Cause I don't think it'll happen.

The Sixers are a bad team that loses every game Joel Embiid doesn't play

The Sixers suck. The Sixers are a bad team. Embiid's not playing. They lose—the Sixers are back to losing every game that Embiid doesn't play.

I bet on the Celtics at 15-to-1 odds to win the NBA Finals

I I did put a bet on the Celtics... 15 to one. Oh Nice. Yeah. That's huge... I swear to God I wasn't even thinking about bringing it up.

Triple Double Cocaine Bear is the greatest nickname in sports history

The best part, in my opinion, was the nickname that [Kevin Durant] gave to Westbrook. Called him Triple Double Cocaine Bear, which is the best nickname that I've ever heard.

Basketball should be moved to the Winter Olympics to give fans something to care about

I feel like the basketball should be a winter Olympic sport. It should just to get us another gold. It should give us something to care about during the Winter Olympics.

The Indiana Pacers won the trade deadline by adding Ivica Zubac while maintaining a path to a top-four pick

I look at the Pacers, you know, like you add a top five center in [Zubac]... you clean up some of your cap stuff, you bring in a top center who's gonna make you a little different... and then you have a chance at the top four pick here... I like what they did because they were doing something long-term while also making sure that they're tanking.

The Clippers made a smart pivot trading James Harden for Darius Garland

I like what the Clippers did... I don't think Darius Garland is this bad. He's a two-time all star. He's 26 years old... when he was right, he was terrific. And Harden... fourth trade request in six years. So the Clippers very quickly on the fly... you'll look at the Garland thing and go, man, they were able to land a player like that for Harden.

The Phoenix Suns' inability to execute in clutch time is a fatal flaw for their playoff hopes

When you watch [the Suns] close games that are tight, it's awful. They're 21st in clutch offense... that is the most like truthful number of a team when I watch them play because they get stuck... it feels like a fatal flaw for them.

LeBron James won't retire because he's addicted to the attention of basketball

I don't think he is [retiring]. I think he's gonna have a really, really hard time being away from the attention of basketball... He's still incredibly productive offensively... I still think there's far more positive about him, the player, but it just depends like what are you looking for next year?

Getting mad at the NBA All-Star Game is as boring as the game itself

I hate the All Star game a lot... It's just, I don't get mad at it though. Like, it's for kids, it's kind of fun... Why would you get mad about I wish the Allstar game were competitive... I actually think getting mad at the Allstar game is, is as boring as the game itself.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will never be traded

Giannis is never going to get traded. Everyone's hair's on fire, everyone's panicking and nothing ever happens. Giannis is never going to get traded.

The Bulls mistimed every single trade during their rebuild

The Bulls traded everyone when the players were at their worst value. Like they, they mistimed every single trade. And this is going back to [Alex] Caruso, [Zach] LaVine, [Nikola] Vucevic... They basically were like, Hey, what would be the smartest time to trade 'em? Let's wait a year and then trade 'em.

The Indiana Pacers are going to be a problem in the NBA next season.

The Pacers are going to be a problem next year... They're most likely gonna have a top three pick... They're gonna be a problem next year.

Scotty Barnes will have more points than Rashid Shaheed has receiving yards

Scotty Barnes will have more points than Rashid Shaheed has receiving yards.

The Celtics' trade for Nikola Vucevic is a clear sign that Jayson Tatum will be returning to the lineup soon.

I like this trade... Well V[ucevic]—it also means Jayson Tatum's coming back... because if Tatum comes back, those are minutes like Simmons has been playing, but if T comes back, those minutes are gone.

Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White will both be traded by the Bulls by the end of the deadline.

Also a sign that probably IO and Kobe White are going to be moved and they might, when you're listening to this, they might have already been traded.

Steve Kerr's offensive system, not just the individual talent, is primarily responsible for changing how the game is played.

He's the one that brought the offensive style that changed the way the game is played... he then came in and brought a system that created that. No one speaks about that. It's always like, oh man, like Steph's the greatest shooter ever... but how did Steph end up in that offense? So who, who, who did that?

The 'know-how' of winning a championship is the most underrated factor in NBA success, and it's why the Warriors won in 2022.

One of the most underrated things about winning a championship... is the knowhow. In 2022 We won because we just knew how. We knew how to do it. That is one of the most underrated things... it is the most underrated thing when coming to winning a championship.

The Seahawks will move Giannis Antetokounmpo to Golden State

Do I? I think he might go actually to Golden State... Giannis would be open to finding other teams that are interested in collaborative effort on a basketball championship.

LeBron may have played his last game in Cleveland - his body is finally catching up to him

I think he might be coming to the end here. It feels like his body is finally caught up to him. So this might be last time in Cleveland.

The best basketball game plan for a team that can't shoot is to stop shooting and hunt for the double bonus

The point of me saying to the guys don't shoot is we needed to get in the double bonus because we suck at shooting. Nicki Smokes just decided to take the game into his own hands... If we had double bonus, we probably would've won the game. We'd had two shots at every single one of them.

Anthony Edwards is already the face of the NBA, not just the 'future' face

Anthony Edwards is awesome. At what point is Anthony Edwards—can we just say he's the face of the league? I mean, he dropped a 55 piece... dropping 26 in the fourth. Future face, future face—no, at what point is he just it?

The Trae Young trade to the Wizards is the most 'NBA trade' ever because it's only about spreadsheets

It was the most NBA trade of all time. Oh yeah. Because neither team is doing this trade to win a title. No, they're not even really doing it to get better at basketball. They're just shuffling guys... because your spreadsheet could use a guy with that number next to it.

The Trae Young trade to the Wizards is the ultimate 'NBA trade' because it has nothing to do with winning basketball games

It was the most NBA trade of all time. Oh yeah. Because neither team is doing this trade to win a title. No, they're not even really doing it to get better at basketball. They're just shuffling guys. They're like, here you take this guy because your spreadsheet could use a guy with that number next to it... nothing happens the whole time.

Trey Young will be traded from the Atlanta Hawks in a mutual parting of ways

My Hot Seat is Trey Young. Because it looks like he is asking, demanding to be traded from the Atlanta Hawks and the Hawks are also trying to trade him. So I guess this is like a mutual parting of ways.

Jalen Brown was snubbed from Eastern Conference Player of the Month

My who's back is Jalen Brown. He was snubbed from Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December. He was statistically better than Jalen Brunson. We don't need to get into [it]... but what I loved about it is that he was vocal about it. He was like, 'this is bullshit.'

Steve Kerr is failing to properly develop young Warriors talent like Quentin Post and Quinten Post

I really don't know even that much about the Warriors, but I'm a big fan... I would understand that developing young talent is the thing... Quentin Post is a really good center and he's beginning to show it. I hope he's showing it enough that we don't just put him out for a trade.

The Warriors should trade for Domantas Sabonis because his 'nasty' style would benefit the team

We could get [Domantas] Sabonis. And Sabonis would be, he would be a nasty piece of business because I hate watching that guy play basketball. I can't stand it. He's always just poking and picking at people. I want him poking and picking on our team.

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.

Cooper Flagg is fully activated after his 40-point game

Cooper Flagg may have fully been activated. He has reached full activation. 18 years old. 40 piece in regulation. ... If we're talking just highlight tapes, he's looking good.

Victor Wembanyama is an unsolvable problem because you cannot design a system to stop him

Wemby is a problem. You can't design a system to keep the ball away from Wemby. You can't design a system to effectively attack the paint when Wemby's standing there. He's so, so fun to watch.

LeBron James robbed fans of a hater moment by making the correct basketball play

I feel so robbed by it because [LeBron James] actually made a very selfless play. A game-winning assist for a buzzer beater. I was really hoping that the situation had occurred where he was trying to force it and he cost him the game. He robbed that from us.

Chris Paul being a dickhead in his 20th season is actually a credit to his accountability

In his 20th year in the league at his age, he was still being like, 'Hey guys, we gotta be accountable.' Because I would think that if you're doing a farewell tour... I'm gonna chill with the boys. He was still being dickhead Chris Paul. It's more of a credit to Chris Paul.

I do not believe Giannis Antetokounmpo faked his calf injury to force a trade.

I don't think that [Giannis Antetokounmpo] faked the injury. ... I think he actually hurt himself. I do too. I don't think that he looked bummed when he got hurt. ... It's unfortunate timing, but yeah, the report came out yesterday that he was actively exploring other options.

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.

The rest of the NBA is in big trouble because of what Victor Wembanyama is doing.

We're seeing something that we've never seen before. And we better appreciate what this is... Big, big trouble for the rest of the league.

Ja Morant has lost his joy for basketball and is beefing with his coaches

My Hot Seat is Ja Morant... lost his joy. He's beefing with his coaches. This was like a week or so ago, but he was, you know, getting pushed in a press conference... and then last night he just said he's lost his joy.