Takes

Kevin Durant has officially eclipsed LeBron James as the best player on the planet

He [Skip Bayless] says that Kevin Durant has now eclipsed LeBron as the best player on the planet, and Fox News tweeted out the torch has been passed... officially KD is the torchbearer, according to Skip Bayless.

The first three Christmas Day NBA unders will always win

I bet the first three Christmas Day unders every single year, and I think it's won every single year for like 15 years. The only year it didn't win was the lockout year when the first game of the season was Christmas Day. And it's basically because everyone's full... And they wear those stupid jerseys... Take the Christmas Day Unders first three.

Shaq was the 'Robin' and Kobe was the 'Batman' during their championship runs together

Shaq needed Kobe more than Kobe needed Shaq... Shaq needed the wing scorers to be Shaq. He needed Dwyane Wade to be unbelievable Dwyane Wade. Shaq was Superman, and Kobe was Batman. [But] Batman isn't a superhero... he's just a rich guy with a bunch of gadgets.

The 2012-13 Lakers with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard was the most stacked team of all time on paper

That team, though, the Steve Nash, Dwight Howard team, that's my favorite Lakers team of all time... When that cover came out, it was like, who the fuck would beat the Lakers? ... When that happened, I was like, oh, my God. This is the most stacked team of all time.

The Celtics will win five championships after LeBron James leaves for the Lakers

[Gordon Hayward] is going to beat LeBron, then LeBron's going to leave, go to L.A., and Celtics are going to win, like, five championships.

The Rockets and Celtics will meet in the NBA Finals

Rocket Celtics calling it right now. [Warriors?] No. [The Rockets beat them] in seven.

LeBron James will join the Lakers in six months

LeBron and Lonzo had a very secret out-in-the-open meeting... it's either one of two things. One, LeBron just being like, yo, dude, just hang in there because I'll be there in like six months, which I think is probably the case.

The Celtics are saving the NBA

NBA viewership's up like 32%. Celtics are the best team in basketball, so basically the Celtics are saving the NBA.

LeBron James got ejected from a blowout to stat pad and hit the showers early

LeBron got thrown out for the first time in his career for using foul language, complaining about a call in the fourth quarter of a blowout win. Why would he even care at that point? Stat padding? Question mark, question mark, question mark, question mark.

The Celtics have officially overtaken the Patriots as the heart of Boston

My hot seat is the New England Patriots. They're no longer the best team in Boston anymore. The Celtics have won 14 straight. They've captured the heart of the city.

Kyrie Irving is significantly better than Isaiah Thomas

I think we need to find every single person who thought that the Kyrie trade wasn't good and ban them from ever watching basketball again. Because Kyrie Irving is so fucking good. And all the people that flipped out about Fultz... Kyrie Irving is... he was finishing at the rim in ways that it took my breath away.

Kevin Durant is currently like a divorced dad with visitation rights to the torch in Oklahoma City

So Kevin Durant did an interview today, and he said that when he hit that three in the NBA Finals, that to him felt like a pass the torch moment. But also in the interview, he says that he's still OKC. So his blood is still Oklahoma City. So the way I'm reading this is that the torch now, it belongs to Kevin Durant, but it resides in Oklahoma City. So Kevin Durant has visitation rights to the torch at his old place. He's like a divorced dad.

The WNBA offers the biggest advantage for professional sports bettors

What's the sport with the best advantage for the gambler? [Big Cat asks] It used to be college basketball. It's getting harder and harder. Right now, it's probably the WNBA. Ooh, yeah. It's a huge one for professional bettors. They love it. The bookmakers don't pay that much attention to it, so the wise guys feel like they get an advantage.

The Boston Celtics are officially back

My who's back of the week is the Boston Celtics. Oh, great. They won 12 in a row. They're in first place in the Eastern Conference.

Players who airball a three-pointer in the NBA should be sent directly to the bench

Jeff Van Gundy had a Mike Greenberg's Dumb Rules that I fucking love. If you airball a three-pointer in the NBA, you should have to go directly to the bench. Yeah. I love it. It should just be a penalty box or something.

Rudy Gay is the most apathetic star in basketball

There's no one who is as good at basketball but cared less about playing basketball than Rudy Gay. That guy was just so apathetic to who won or lost a game.

The NBA is officially the emo league

I'd like to just say I'm done with the word petty to describe the NBA. We passed petty like a year and a half ago. I think emo is now the correct answer.

Gordon Hayward would have stayed in the game if he were a hockey player

You gotta think that that Gordon Hayward coming back for the third period if he's a hockey player. I mean you have to snap it back in, dude. He's at least going for the twirl to see if he can give it a go. You tie the skates up real tight. You use a fucking stick as a splint.

Dwayne Wade is serving as LeBron James' ventriloquist for callouts

I like what Dwayne Wade's doing because now we see AI, the evolution of technology. LeBron no longer has to subtweet. He can just use Dwayne Wade as a little ventriloquist.

UConn Women's Basketball expects to win the national championship every single year

We expect to win the national championship every year. We know it's not possible... You're trying to put yourself in a position to have a shot every year, not to have these, you know, well, this is a rebuilding year.

Men's college basketball is more physical than the NBA

Every NBA coach will tell you that men's college basketball is more physical than the NBA... they still let you beat the shit out of each other instead of calling the fouls that they call in the NBA.

Steph Curry would not be as successful if NBA refs allowed the physicality of college basketball

You think if they let – If they let guys in the NBA handle Steph Curry the way they handle college kids in college, he'd be able to do what he does? Absolutely not.

I would coach the New York Knicks

[Big Cat]: The New York Knicks... would you coach them? [Geno]: Sure. I love New York.

I would have easily beaten Skip Bayless in a game of one-on-one basketball

[Skip Bayless] is in good shape. But if we're shooting, then I would steal his lunch money. I would have lit up Skip Bayless.

Pardon My Take broke the news that the Sixers' first pick would be injured before the draft even happened

I think we reported this news first. We broke this news the day before the NBA draft saying that the Philadelphia 76ers' first pick was going to be injured at some point this season. Credit to us. First reported by [Pardon My Take].

Lonzo Ball will have 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists tonight

I'm going to go ahead and say Lonzo Ball tonight, 24 points. Eight rebounds, six assists.

Kyrie Irving telling a fan to 'suck my dick' was worth the $25,000 fine

Kyrie got fined 25,000 that's not that much totally worth it to say suck my dick to fan yes absolutely yeah... Saying suck my dick in Philly is like the nicest thing you can do. That's the Philadelphia hello.

John Calipari will be the next coach of the Phoenix Suns

Now that they fired their coach and there's trouble in paradise, you think of what I'm thinking? Coach Cal. Brandon Knight, Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Tyler Ulis... All went to Kentucky.

85% of The Ringer's basketball podcasters are 'hipsters' who rely too much on stats

85% of the people that are on the Ringer podcast discussing basketball, they're hipsters. In terms of the stat, stat, stat... I want an eye test. I don't want geometry. Can you play or can you not play?

Tobey Maguire is the worst basketball player I've ever seen

The worst basketball player I've ever seen is Tobey Maguire. That motherfucker. Stick to the poker tables, you nerd.

Any NBA coach who picks up their landline desk phone is a bad coach

I would fire Jason Kidd if I were the Bucks... what coach is at their desk just picking up their phone? Their landline. If you're an NBA coach and you've picked up your landline in the last 10 years, you're a bad coach.

Kevin Durant lacks the clutch gene and cannot win a championship as the alpha on a team

Kevin Durant lacks the clutch gene. Doesn't get the ball off on time. [He will never win an NBA championship] where he's the alpha on the team. Beta ball.

The Bulls' practice fight is a result of a failure in leadership from John Paxson

This starts from the top. This is leadership from the top. This is John Paxson, who has famously gotten a choking match with Vinny Del Negro... It's a good culture that the Bulls have.

Joel Embiid is a bad contract because his knees won't let him play

They just paid Joel Embiid like $150 million, even though his knees are terrible and he's probably not going to play.

I hate the new NBA All-Star Game captain draft format

They're now making the all-star game where two captains pick the teams, which I fucking hate. I hate when they do this. My brain can't figure it out. I can't figure this shit out when you switch it all, when you swap it all off. They did it with the Pro Bowl, and Pro Bowl's never been the same.

LeBron James moving to the Lakers is just him copying my move to LA

I love Ohio. A lot of people say that. But when LeBron leaves Ohio for L.A., he's going to be copying me. I'm just getting out ahead of it a little bit. I'm the first person to ever move from the Midwest to Los Angeles for career opportunities.

Michael Beasley knows too much and is officially 'too woke'

Michael Beasley, I'm following him officially in the category of knows too much... We finally figured out 12% is the point where you reach too woke.

Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade will turn into a pile of dust if they collide in practice

I would say, man, I'm really looking forward to those practices where Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade just, like, accidentally run into each other and turn into a pile of dust.

OKC Thunder are the first ever 'World Super Team' due to Olympic medals

I think that Oklahoma City Thunder will be the team with the most Olympic gold medals now. So that's pretty big. I mean, that's tough. Super team. A world super team. First ever world super team.

The OKC Thunder will get swept by the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs

Who gets the shot at the end of game four when they're getting swept by the Golden State Warriors? Russ, triple team.

Kyrie Irving requested a trade because he didn't want to be left in Cleveland when LeBron leaves for L.A. next year

My theory is that Kyrie basically said LeBron's going to go to L.A. next year, and I don't want him to basically control my destiny, where it's like, if I have a chance to get to a team that can compete right now, instead of being left in Cleveland when LeBron bolts in a year... I don't want to have that happen to me.

The NBA is better than any other league at staying relevant through drama during the off-season

The best thing about the NBA is they have done a great job of never having it end. So as soon as the NBA season ends, then you have the draft... free agency starts... summer league... then Kyrie demands a trade... it's a soap opera. It is the best.

Michael Jordan is the GOAT, followed by LeBron, Kareem, Tim Duncan, and Magic Johnson

I'll go MJ 1. I'll go LeBron 2—still counting, though... Then at three, I would go Kareem. Four, I would go probably Tim. Then five, I would go Magic. Magic and Kobe are really, really close.

Magic Johnson is the face of the Lakers and the best Laker of all time over Kobe Bryant

I would still say Magic is the face of the Lakers. I think from a personality standpoint and just generationally, like Kobe was amazing what he was able to do... but I would still say Magic is the face of the Lakers.

I want to play one more NBA season after the 2017-18 season

God willing, body willing, I would like to play one more season after this one coming up.

Kevin Durant is an internet troll and a disturbed individual

[Kevin Durant] is an internet troll, but I think more important than that, he is a disturbed individual. And this most recent spur of activity that he's been doing from getting caught responding to himself to his apologies that he's been issuing... I've swung 360 degrees.

LeBron James is the hardest working player I have ever been around

LeBron is the hardest working guy that I've ever been around. And I've played with Dirk, Tim Duncan, Steph Curry, Jason Kidd... the amount of time that he takes on his body... i'm just saying when I look at how hard the guy works, then I think a lot of that has to do with why he has avoided injuries.

LeBron James is the best player of our generation

LeBron to me is the best player of our generation. LeBron is the best player that I've ever played against so over my 17 years in this league. But it's weird because he is the best player I've ever played with. I played with Tim Duncan, I played with Jason Kidd... I've seen Tim do some absurd shit. Jay Kidd I got to see every day... but LeBron is the best.

Steph Curry's comments about the Cavs' locker room smelling like champagne were disrespectful

That's why Steph made those comments about, 'oh, I hope their locker room still smells like champagne.' He said that after they won the first championship and they beat Cleveland in game six. And it was kind of a shot. It's a little disrespectful to say that. I love Steph, I don't know if he meant it to be really disrespectful, but yeah, you say that, it's like, 'hey, it was a good win.'

NBA players are unfairly criticized for moving teams compared to teams trading players

Kairi [Kyrie], what Boston did to Isaiah [Thomas], you know, it's just a part of our job... and yes it personally connected and it hurts at times. But when players decide to leave in free agency, it's 'let's burn a jersey.' No, this guy we gave you... when KD decided to go and do what he wanted to do with Golden State... we aren't allowed to do it without being criticized. But team can trade the players. They can play chess with us as much as they want.