Takes

The NBA All-Star winning team should get extra salary cap space

What if it was East versus West again and the winning team got more salary cap room for the next year? Then people would play hard? They get one extra mid-level exception. One extra guy.

Peak Julius Randle is better than peak Chris Bosh

I kind of agree with that [the viral tweet]. Big J. Oh, he said at his peak, was Chris Bosh ever as good as Julius Randle? ... Drunk with power, which I am. I kind of agree with that.

LeBron James can never match Michael Jordan's level of legendary asshole-ness

LeBron could never. Never, ever. ... MJ talks such great shit... [He] has a full staff walking around with highlights ready to go, depending on which NBA players he runs into. ... LeBron could never.

I'm going to corner the market on Lou Dort Top Shots and get rich when he wins MVP

My entire investment strategy is to corner the market on Lou Dort. Okay. So I'm putting everyone in the Dortcher chamber. We're going to buy all the Lou Dort, and then when Lou Dort wins MVP, everyone's going to be like, where are all the Lou Dort top shots?

Michael Jordan was suspended for gambling in 1993 and the league kept it under wraps

The reason why he retired originally in 93 was because he got suspended for gambling... I heard how this conspiracy goes is that they actually suspended him, but they just kept it under wraps because it would have been bad for the league.

Players-only meetings are for losers

In my mind, team meetings are for losers because right now you're floundering in the wind, you're getting ready to point some fingers, and people's feelings get hurt in team meetings. If you just talk about it on a constant basis, you get used to it.

James Harden handled his exit from the Rockets poorly

Every scenario is different. And in James' way, I think—I love James as a player, I think he handled it wrong... For them to actually still bend over backwards for this guy and send him to where he wants to go shows you how much love they have for him... You should respectfully go to the organization that's done everything for you and do it quietly.

Modern NBA stars would still be considered 'soft' in the 90s era

If these guys [international players] would have came in during my era, they'd still be soft. Because there was a different era where—guys, you know, you wasn't running over to the monitor because some guys say I got a hit in the head... It makes me so mad now when you see these guys.

1999-2000 Shaquille O'Neal was the most dominant player in NBA history

That 2019, 2000 Shaq was probably the most dominant player ever in the NBA because he was in shape. He had no injuries and, he was scared of Phil, and so he wanted to win a championship.

James Harden literally ate his way out of Houston

Yeah, that is what happened, James. You got fat. James, you got fat. You ate your way out of Houston, which is very difficult to do.

Kyrie Irving is the Tom DeLonge of the Brooklyn Nets

I think it's like Blink-182. I think that Kevin Durant and James Harden are Mark and Travis, and then obviously Kyrie's Tom. And then he's off somewhere studying aliens. And then he's going to get pushed off to the side eventually.

Jimmy Butler is a great teammate and the media perception of him is wrong

Jimmy Butler is a great teammate. I don't understand the media twist on what he is... he challenges people and he pushes people, and a lot of people aren't willing or wanting to maybe hear that. But in reality, it's just trying to achieve success... He's certainly had a huge impact on my career.

NBA officials might respect me more if I had a tattoo sleeve

I've thought that [getting tattoos]... from just a respect standpoint, you know, like whether it be officials or the opposition... particularly like in the playoffs, I got targeted a lot on defense. I figured maybe that would happen a little bit less if I had some [tattoos] on me.

The Houston Rockets are the winners of the James Harden trade

The Rockets, actually, I will say are a winner just because James Harden was going to eat himself to 300 pounds, was not going to try... they got anything for him, and they got a lot. They got a lot of picks.

The Nets will break the NBA scoring record

They're going to score 150 points a game... they already were scoring like 118 a game, I think, and giving up 113 or 12. They could break the record. I think the record's like 250.

Kyrie Irving is never coming back to this planet

What makes you think Kyrie Irving is ever going to come back to this planet?... [He has] gotten farther and farther off the reservation. And it just never happened. And he's gotten farther and farther off the reservation.

Scottie Pippen definitely had a migraine in the 1990 Game 7 and shouldn't be questioned

Listen, when you have migraines... you can blow worry. You can't see the Noah's is crazy. There is no waste guy that could be a function that there will be migraine. And he did have a migraine men. And for, for us, it's, I mean, for the people who sipping guests that, I mean, I don't know if you can say, you know, the, you know, it, you can kiss my ass. You know, that's, that's crazy, man.

My famous defensive stop on Steph Curry was actually a bad defensive possession

When you say it was actually, you know, I played great defense, but as far as the defensive scheme and play, it was actually a bad defensive possession because I wasn't supposed to let it was supposed to deny the ball back to Steph and I let him get the ball back. So Draymond had caught it kind of in the corner. It was like, okay, I need, I'm going to need Steph to, to make this play because he's done the time and time again.

The James Harden trade sweepstakes won't move until a team gets truly desperate

They have to wait for a team to be desperate. And how long is that going to take? ... The reason I say that is to get a Paul George type package to get an Anthony Davis type package for in trade, which is what you want if you're the Rockets... until someone gets desperate, I don't see James Harden moving.

The Brooklyn Nets season is a success if they reach the conference finals, it's not championship or bust

If they get to the conference finals and lose to Milwaukee or lose to a Boston, I think that's a great season. I don't think it's championship or bust, even if they have championship goals... when you have a new group together, it's not a one-year championship or bust.

Giannis Antetokounmpo cannot be your best player in the final two minutes of a playoff game

Giannis might be when it comes down to the last two, three minutes of the game, he can't be your best player because of the style of game that he has... not a great free throw shooter, not a great jump shooter, everybody packs the paint... if you put James Harden on that team and late game where you need a bucket, you need free throws... he would be a perfect fit.

Championship teams don't need to be friends, they just need to respect each other

There is no championship team that are just holding hands and skipping their way to the finals. There's going to be moments where you don't want to talk to each other... you have to respect each other. You don't have to get along. I think that's been proven time in and time out.

Giannis staying in Milwaukee is a major victory for NBA parity

I think this is actually great for the league. It's a win for the league because you have a little bit more parity. You have the small market teams like teams drafting a superstar and be able to hold on to them is important for the league.

Giannis will eventually want out of Milwaukee if they suffer more early playoff exits

If they get bounced, like for years in a row, he'll be like, yeah, I'm out. He still has an out because it's the NBA and any player can say, I want out at any time.

Kyrie Irving is the 'basketball Steve Jobs'

I think I've decided to just become a Kyrie guy... what's the harm in going with everything that Kyrie Irving says and believes? I'd rather believe him and have him be wrong than not believe him and have him be right... He thinks he's the basketball Steve Jobs.

Coach K will pull Duke from the season if they continue to lose bad games

I would not be surprised at all if after, like, a month and a few more bad losses, Coach K pulled his team from the season... once he gets a little losing streak going, he is definitely liable to be like, listen, we're not going to go through the motions. The most important thing is keeping these kids healthy.

The Rockets and Wizards both lost the Russell Westbrook for John Wall trade

The John Wall-Russell Westbrook trade was hilarious because it was a trade where I think both teams lost. It's essentially the status quo.

Michael Jordan will make LaVar Ball cry when they finally play one-on-one

Oh, that is awkward that [LaMelo Ball] is going to Charlotte and LaVar Ball said that he can beat Michael Jordan one-on-one. I mean, they've got to play one-on-one. They have to play one-on-one. And Michael Jordan will make LaVar Ball cry.

The 2020 NBA Draft might be historically bad at the top

It's a bad draft at the top, and it may be historically bad. I know the closer we get to this, it happens every year where it'll be a bad draft... But at the top, you always hope every year there's maybe one or two guys that can really impact a franchise... And this one has a chance to have zero.

James Wiseman is the best player in the 2020 NBA Draft

I like Wiseman... I like him this much in comparison to everybody else... The thing I like about him is yes the size and all that stuff he catches everything... Wiseman also has another level that I don't know if he's going to get to, but he'll show it with his handle. He'll show a really soft touch where he almost has some of these offensive small forward skills that you start to get really, really excited about.

The Bucks trading multiple unprotected first-round picks for Jrue Holiday is irresponsible

When you look at the Bucs and say, wait, in 2027, part of that Drew Holiday deal is a 2027 unprotected pick? That, to me, is insane slash irresponsible... To think here we are seven drafts from now, there's this pick that's completely unprotected... I don't understand why people think this is like normal.

James Harden's production is inflated by about 25% due to the Rockets' system

I also think Houston's style is almost like the best Instagram filter... where when you go play in Houston's system when it's Harden... you're 25% better... it's very clear, at least to me, and I don't know why more people don't say this, that you almost have to shave off like 25% of it [Harden's production].

Kyrie Irving might not want James Harden on the Brooklyn Nets

I'm wondering if Kyrie is signing off on this. Because you would – I mean, look, I can never forget trying to figure out Kyrie, but I could actually see him not loving it at all because now all of a sudden he's going to be off the ball a lot more.

James Harden joining the Nets would be a complete disaster

James Harden apparently wants to come to Brooklyn and play with the Nets, which would be a complete disaster. It would destroy the entire... Yeah, what the hell? Yeah, that's not going to work. There wouldn't even be a super team.

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.

Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porziņģis are cornerstones; the Mavs need one more piece for a title

We've got two cornerstones in KP and Luka... one one more piece, I think really gets us to competing for title just a question of whether or not we can get that player... defending really good Wing players, you know, the Bron's, the Kawhi's, the Paul George's... we need better Defenders that can also score.

LeBron James is officially the second-best basketball player of all time

I still think MJ's better but like LeBron is incredible. Yeah, he's won four titles. What can you say? ... He's the second best player of all time. That's really nice honesty.

The Heat would have won Game 4 if Goran Dragic had played

I'm not going to make excuses and say this doesn't count as a finals win for LeBron, but you got to think that if [Goran] Dragic played this game, the Heat would probably win. Absolutely. I mean we can all agree on that.

The Lakers might be better without LeBron James based on his plus-minus

LeBron James -2. We're not cherry-picking that, that's an actual stat. Are the Lakers better without LeBron? That's what many are asking. I don't know, if you put in Rondo instead of LeBron, he's a +8, they probably win by a hundred.

The Heat will win the NBA Finals in seven games

They did not [win Game 4]. However, they're going to win the series in seven games.

Doc Rivers will never be able to successfully ditch his nickname for 'Glenn'

He is going to get rid of the Doc Rivers nickname and just go by Glenn and somehow he thinks that that's just going to happen. Yeah, that doesn't happen. You don't go from a Doc to a Glenn because of anything.

The Lakers will win the NBA Finals in five games

I still think the heat will or the Lakers will probably win in five, but it was good the Jimmy Butler reminded everyone like it's not a fluke that they're here.

The Lakers are actually Anthony Davis's team

All I got right now is it's Anthony Davis's team. I think we can all agree on that.

The Lakers will win the NBA Finals in 5 games

Shoot, Lakers in five, Friday night. You know what, let's do it.

I am betting a front-runner parlay on the Yankees and Lakers to both win titles this month

I might put a front-runner parlay down and go Yankees, Lakers, the Cowboys, Alabama football, and Duke basketball this year. We're going chalk.

Lavar Ball needs to be put on a boat and pushed out to sea so he doesn't ruin LaMelo's career

Lavar Ball is on the hot seat. LaMelo basically has to convince teams to just drown him out. They just have to put him on a medium-sized yacht, push him out to sea, no Wi-Fi, and just send him out until it's an appropriate time where he can't ruin your career.

Erik Spoelstra is the only reason LeBron James won championships in Miami

Spoelstra's a very good coach. Honestly I'm a huge advocate of Spoelstra and he's the only reason that LeBron James ever won those championships in Miami in the first place.

Jimmy Butler is a top-five player in the NBA right now

Jimmy Butler could be top-five player ever ever. I thought I'd play right now. Absolutely.