Takes

The Milwaukee Bucks should not play Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season

I don't even think Milwaukee would want Giannis to come back and play... They should want to do whatever they can with this pick 'cause they don't have many of 'em. And Giannis probably shouldn't even wanna play and risk health and risk this contract extension that he can get before next fall. So the tanking is gonna get egregious.

I think I could give Victor Wembanyama problems just by bodying him and getting physical.

I think I could probably give him a problem just bodying him a little bit. A little bit more weight than him. Back him down... If I just threw a couple bows on him, he probably wouldn't wanna come in the paint.

Nikola Jokic will force a trade from Denver to the Chicago Bulls because of the large Serbian population in Chicago

I think Nikola Jokic is gonna force a trade out of Denver at the end of the season to the Chicago Bulls. Whoa. Number one Serbia population in America. Wow. That's just a wild one.

The Wizards should draft Caitlin Clark to sell tickets

Why don't the [Wizards] draft Caitlin Clark? I think she'd sell tickets. I think she'd sell tickets. Now is, is she at the ability level to be an NBA player? No. Obviously not. But sell tickets. She can go out there, there ball and hoop. She can hit a couple threes.

Game 7 is a legacy game for the Thunder and Thunder Princess

I'm calling it tonight. This is a legacy game. Game seven for Thunder and Thunder Princess. This is what it's all about. ... If the Thunder win this game seven, then they're gonna have to answer questions for the rest of their lives about how they tarnished their legacy with this NBA championship.

The Knicks are going to hire Rick Brunson as their head coach

There's a theory that they're crossing all these names off. They're gonna ask everybody get denied and then they're gonna go back with a Rick Brunson being the coach. That's a theory I saw out there.

The 2025 OKC Thunder championship will be the worst title of their upcoming dynasty

We have gotten ahead of it and we think this actually will be the worst Thunder team to win a title in their dynasty run. 'cause you guys [Alex Caruso] are probably gonna win like six in a row. So you're saying this is the worst this year? Yeah. We just back where we'll be like, can you believe that team won?

I agree with Jay Williams that 'cancel culture' is why American players haven't won an NBA MVP recently because coaches are afraid to coach them hard.

Jay Williams... blames cancel culture for Americans not winning MVPs. Because our coaches are too afraid to coach the players hard and getting canceled. How much of this do you think is cancel culture? I hear a lot of coaches talk about they don't feel like they can coach young kids anymore because anything they say could get used against them. I think I kind of agree with Jay Williams.

The Boston Celtics are statistically a better team without Jason Tatum

the Celtics record overall is 74%, but they're 80% without Jason Tatum. That leads me to believe that just by the numbers. And we are a Numbers podcast... they are literally better this year without Jason Tatum.

Steph Curry is the West Coast version of Joel Embiid in the playoffs

Some are saying that Steph Curry is the West coast version of Joel Embiid in the playoffs.

Jayson Tatum is not a superstar

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

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.

Jayson Tatum was carried to his championship and would be a loser on any other organization

Jason Tatum would also be a loser if he wasn't playing for the Celtics... He played horribly in that championship and was carried by the rest of his team.

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.

New Rule: If you win Game 1 of a playoff series by 50 points, the series should immediately end

If you win a game one by 50 points, a series should be over. Okay. 'cause when this game was such a blowout, it was like 30 points in half. How much more exciting would it be in the second half if the Grizzlies were literally fighting to keep the series alive... If you win the game one by 50 series over, we've seen enough.

Jalen Brunson is the next 'Can't Win The Big One' guy in the NBA

How about this one? Hank, you're gonna like this one. Jalen Brunson. Mm. Does that do anything for you? Yeah. Not clutch at all... I'm trying to predict where the narratives are gonna go next... The Knicks were built to beat the Celtics this year.

Paige Bueckers will be a better WNBA pro than Caitlin Clark because she's more athletic and explosive

I do think that she [Paige Bueckers] might be a better WNBA player than Caitlin Clark. I think she's more athletic. She's more explosive. Caitlin Clark obviously shoots better from the outside... but in terms of, I'm talking about winning.

Sarah Strong might end up being a better WNBA player than Caitlin Clark

I think [Sarah Strong] might be a better WNBA player than Caitlin Clark. What about that? Whoa... I'm a Juju [Watkins] guy, but [Strong] is a problem.

LeBron James' best dad move ever was getting Bronny drafted into the NBA

Lebron is a better father than he is basketball player? Yeah, I think, didn't we we determin that on Friday. Yeah. The fact that he got Bronny drafted. Yeah. No basketball player has ever done that before. But I do think he went up to him [Stephen A. Smith] like Stephen A. Smith played the role afterwards.

The NBA internally sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers to stop LeBron James from starting a rival league

What if the NBA forced Luka [Doncic] to the Lakers to basically like forced LeBron to stay? Because the Luka thing still doesn't make any sense. ... LeBron is clearly like doing something, like something's going on where he is protesting... And maybe the NBA knew about this internally and they tried to send Luka to LA to, to somehow stop LeBron from doing what he's trying to do [starting a new league].

Paul George is essentially just Tobias Harris with better branding

Paul George is Tobias Harris with better branding. Whoa. Yeah. I mean they're all back tonight... Paul George, Paul George, I know he had a better January, but like off key, he, he needs to be a dude while MB is out through all of this. And instead he's totally comfortable getting his ISO 17 footer up.

The Mavericks trading Luka Doncic is absolute malpractice

Nico Harrison — this guy should be in person... Malpractice. Malpractice. Yeah. The only guy literally deserves to be in prison. The only — it was, it's malpractice. The only way you could reasonably get over it is if like, Luca ends up being like 320 pounds.

LeBron James was born without a clutch gene

The poor man was just born without a clutch gene, and we see it again and again and again. MJ or LeBron? Stop it. Don't even go there because it's offensive to me. You would put those two in the same sentence because LeBron could not carry Jordan's sneakers.

Ben Simmons is back to playing at an All-Star level and is set for a massive bounce-back season

Ben Simmons reportedly is in camp and or at least training. He says Ben Simmons is back to playing all star talent level basketball. Get ready for this boys big season loading. This is the year for Ben.

Kobe Bryant is overrated relative to the all-time elite tier

I don't want to say what I think—Kobe's, he's very overrated. Because he is rated so high. Like he gets talked about like LeBron or Michael Jordan. I don't think he's in that spot. He wasn't the best player on the three-peat team... Shaq was an absolute monster.

LeBron James is on steroids because of his size and longevity

I will go with LeBron James. I mean, how is he not on steroids? That big. I'm not throwing a flag. That's probably an honorable mention. I mean there's, that's probably an honorable mention.

Joel Embiid is the worst player in the entire Olympics

[Joel Embiid] is the worst player on the fucking team, probably in the whole Olympics.

Caitlin Clark is officially on the 'can't win the big one' list until she wins a professional title

Caitlin Clark can't win the big one. She has not been able to win the big one. She literally college cannot win the big one and I don't know what else you could say about it. That's gonna get people real mad. Angel Reese can win the big one, she's a better winner.

LeBron James is just a Brian Windhorst merchant

I would make the argument that LeBron is just a [Brian Windhorst] merchant that [Windhorst] made LeBron not the other way around.

I was a better basketball player than Ray Allen

Ray Allen... I'm not saying Ray wasn't great but... I'm a basketball player. I wasn't one dimensional. I just didn't shoot, I just didn't play defense. I did everything. So I look at myself as different than a lot of these guys that were one dimensional... I just felt like I was a better player.

Coach K is using his role as a Lakers consultant to force Dan Hurley out of college basketball

Coach K did all of this... Coach K sees Dan Hurley win his second national title back to back. He looks around, he says, look, there's a lot of, a lot of guys in, in college basketball that will never reach where I'm at. They won't be the old school. Tough style Like Dan Hurley. He's a throwback. He's a relic. I gotta figure out a way to make sure that Dan Hurley doesn't surpass me as the goat... He's getting Dan Hurley to go to the Lakers. So Dan Hurley can't take everything from John Scheyer and Duke and Coach K and all his legacy and stuff.

Jalen Brunson is a better player than Jayson Tatum and would never lose an NBA Finals

Jalen Brunson. Say what you want about—he would never lose in the finals. Yep. Yep. Yes. He will not lose in the [finals].

Kyrie Irving became a better teammate because of the solar eclipse

I could honestly see Kyrie Irving becoming a whole new man after an eclipse. I could see him experiencing that and being like, 'you know what, this is post-totality Kyrie, I'm gonna be a good teammate.'... Dallas was like heart of the totality path, right? I'm telling you, I think something flipped in Kyrie.

LeBron James should retire because every season he doesn't win a ring hurts his 'GOAT' case

I wish [LeBron James] would retire because at this point I'm looking at it, what else is it for LeBron to accomplish?... every single season that you're playing and that you don't win a championship... you give more animosity or more arguments to come at you about the goat debate.

The Celtics should intentionally lose two games to the Cavaliers to get battle-tested for the finals

I stand by my take. I still think they should intentionally lose some games to the Cavs... I think two. That way when they get to the Finals they're like, yeah, we've had our battles.

LeBron James isn't that special because he merely lived up to the expectations we set

LeBron's actually not that special because we kind of called it... he just kind of lived up to his expectations. He was the chosen one. He didn't do anything that we didn't predict. We were right, man.

The NBA All-Star game should be changed to a 'White vs. Black' format

What about the Rashard Mendenhall rules? What if we make the All-Star game white versus black. So who's the white starting five? Luca [Dončić], Jokic, Caruso, Kristaps [Porzingis] and Grayson Allen. I'd put that five up against [everyone else].

Bronny James will win an NBA Finals before the Patriots make the playoffs again

Bronny James will win an NBA finals before the Patriots make the playoffs again.

James Harden will do something so egregious that he ends up in jail by the end of the week

I think that James Harden will end up in jail by the end of this week. I think he's gonna do something. He's gonna do something so ridiculous that someone in the front office is gonna call the cops on him. Like I think he may just like show up on the court naked.

I would understand if the 76ers decided to trade Joel Embiid

It's not that I want to trade Embiid, but if we were to get like a very great offer... The Sixers are nowhere near [winning a title] right now... If that did happen, I wouldn't be like devastated. It would make sense to me.

Baron Trump will eventually be the first overall pick in the NBA Draft

How awesome would that be if Baron Trump was the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. We were right. It was gonna happen.

Joel Embiid deleted Philadelphia from his social media specifically to mess with Max

I actually think this is a high possibility that Joel Embiid knows who Max is and did this just a fuck with him.

Victor Wembanyama is a bust

Victor Wembanyama from France. The Frenchman not played in Summer League. Bust. Oh, okay. I like that take.

Chris Paul is going to win a championship with the Washington Wizards.

I don't think that this is a buyout situation. I think that Chris Paul's gonna win a championship in DC.

Ja Morant flashes guns on Instagram Live as a safety precaution to deter potential threats.

I kind of get why he's flashing a gun on Instagram live. Because his location is revealed. He wants anyone watching his Instagram live to know that he's strapped. It's a safety thing.

I will relinquish my integrity and have a testicle removed if the Nuggets don't win the 2023 NBA Finals.

I will give up all my integrity. I will relinquish my integrity as a sports journalist. As a dean of the SJL, I will give that all up and... I will get a ball removed. I'll get a ball removed cosmetically if the Nuggets don't win.

The Celtics need to blow the team up

First is stop talking about that video because Celtics lost and it doesn't matter. First they, you gotta blow it up. You gotta blow it up. How many times can you get close? I mean, as a Celtics fan, I cannot stand watching this team get so close year after year and then falling short. It's bullshit.

The Celtics will become the first team in NBA history to come back from down 3-0

They [the Celtics] just need to win two and if they win two, they're winning four. And everyone in this room knows this... It was exactly reminiscent of the Yankees and Red Sox game three. They lost like 19 to eight. Got absolutely blown out... They came back, they won. They shocked the world First team to ever do it. Why not us?

The Celtics would not have fired Ime Udoka if they knew how bad Joe Mazzulla would be

If they had known how bad Joe Mazzulla was gonna be and how bad the season would end, they would not have fired Ime [Udoka]. They'd be like, 'Okay, I'm gonna look the other way. He just fucked one person.'

The 1990s Rockets would have beaten the Bulls even with Michael Jordan on the court

They would not have won eight in a row. They would have been a small team trying to defend Dream [Hakeem Olajuwon] and us. We would have beat them. Now if you ask me the same question and go, can you beat that first three-peat team or the second? I don't know... But those teams, that how they were constructed and just add Mike to it, we would've beat them for sure.