Takes

Victor Wembanyama is already a massive success and will meet every expectation

He's incredible. Everything about him this year individually for him is a massive success... His personality just seems so genuine in that he's been mentally built to take on the responsibility that he's gonna have to take on for a franchise at a young age.

Joel Embiid ducked Nikola Jokic in Denver

We were robbed of Joel Embiid playing in Denver against Jokic. 15 minutes before the game, he's like, no, I don't wanna play. I wanna duck... He hasn't played in Denver since 2019. He likes to play Jokic at home and then he's an 'out' guy... when they get to Denver, his knee hurts.

The NFL rules have gone too far in favoring high-scoring offenses

The offense is so great. You can't tell me that the rule changes they've made have not forced this to just be an insane... every game is in the 240s total wise. Guys are scoring 70. You can't hold or grab anyone. You can't touch 'em. I think they've gone too far.

Adrian Griffin was fired because he failed to make Giannis Antetokounmpo like him

The only reason I don't feel bad for Adrian Griffin... his only job was to make Giannis [Antetokounmpo] like him. And maybe Giannis never gave him a shot. But if you could just get Giannis to like you, you won't get fired.

James Harden will try to score 60 points in his next game to answer Joel Embiid

I'm gonna bet on James Harden in his next game to go out there and try to score like 55, 60 points. Yeah. I feel like he's got something to prove. He's got an answer for it.

Joel Embiid will not win MVP this year because he'll miss too many games

He probably won't be able to win MVP 'cause he's gonna miss too many games this year. He's already missed 11 outta 40... it will be very funny if Joel Embiid has like an even better year than last year. But because he plays like 64 games instead of 65, that'll be the quickest that everyone will turn on a rule.

If the Celtics stay healthy, they will win the championship this year

I've said it the whole year. If, if this team is healthy in the Playoffs, they'll win the Championship. Chris Saps has been an amazing addition... Just gotta stay healthy.

Tristan Thompson took cheap steroids intended for physical appearance rather than performance

Tristan Thompson... Got busted for steroids... I went immediately to my number one source of steroids in the world that I know named Billy Football. And he said the craziest thing is that he was taking Broke Boys steroids. Oh. Stuff Frat Boys and Talkers used to bulk up... He was doing it for the look, not for the functionality.

Steph Curry belongs in the NBA GOAT conversation

I put Steph Curry up there. He's in the Go-cart. I'm putting Steph Curry in the GOAT conversation right now.

Caitlin Clark's court storming collision was an 'all-time flop'

It was a flop. I saw the alternate angle. Caitlin Clark... she leaned into the contact. The girl was just running, minding her own business, and Caitlin Clark shoved her and then just did a pirouette and fell. It's crazy. This is insane. Justice for the other girl.

Jerry Reinsdorf is a 'half-ass' owner who set the Bulls Ring of Honor up to fail

Jerry Reinsdorf being the absolute worst. ... He's a fucking half-ass owner. He's bullshit. ... he knew that [Jerry Krause] was gonna get booed. ... He set it up. ... I'm not like absolving the fans, but I think that the real blame should be Jerry Reinsdorf for putting together a half-ass thing.

NBA officiating in the Celtics-Pacers game was 'very questionable' after reversing a clear foul

Last night against the Pacers... Jalen Brown had a game tying shot attempt that they call the foul. They reviewed the tape, he clearly got hit in the head. They reversed it, gave the pacers the ball back... very questionable. Very, very questionable.

Draymond Green has learned his lesson and won't punch anyone again

I predict that Draymond has learned his lesson. He won't do this again. I think that Draymond had a brief mental error, a brief moment where he blacked out a little bit, a heated gaming moment and he, he will not be making that mistake again. Draymond's a new man.

The NBA is back to being irrelevant

Who's back? NBA being Irrelevant.

The NBA In-Season Tournament should have one traveling banner instead of permanent ones

There should just be one banner. And the team that wins it should get to have it in their arena for the remainder of that year into next year where they have to give it up and another team then gets to possess that banner because you can't have every NBA team eventually having an in season tournament banners.

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.

The NBA In-Season Tournament is a win for Adam Silver

The in season Tournament has been very fun. It is a win for Adam Silver 'cause it's games that no one would care about. And now we care about him. Right. Like I, I watched him, I was like, this is fun.

Nikola Jokic is the best player in the world

Yoic. Did you know that He leads the NBA in points, rebounds, and assists right now. Jesus. It's fucking insane what Yoic is doing. He's so good. I think, I feel like we're in the trap of not appreciating how great Yoic is. Yeah. He's the best player in the world.

The NBA In-Season Tournament is a success

My Cool Throne is the NBA in season tournament because it kind of rocks... It was an awesome crowd. The crowd was awesome... I was critical at first. It didn't make sense in the beginning, but now that it's more organized... I'm a fan.

I don't give a rat's ass about your parlay

Don't dmm me about your betts. I do not. That's fair. I don't give a rat's ass about your bet. I understand that, but that's your fault for betting... It's getting outta hand. It's like 10, 15 people at a time like every game. And they going crazy too.

Greg Popovich's move to stop fans from booing was great sportsmanship

My who's back is sportsmanship. Oh. Last week in San Antonio, Greg Popovich during Kawhi Leonard's free throws... he hopped on the mic and he told the fans to stop booing... It was sportsmanship at its finest.

Zion Williamson is not an NBA superstar

Is Zion Williamson to be a superstar? No. No. I don't think he's played enough games to be a superstar. Superstars play. He was a college superstar. I absolutely agree with that.

The NBA mid-season tournament courts are an abomination

I fucking hate the NBA mid-season tournament courts. Hate them. Don't understand why they do it. They all look gross. The suns was one of the most disgusting courts I've ever seen.

Tyrese Maxey is currently the best player in the NBA Eastern Conference

Tyrese Maxey is the best player in the Eastern Conference. Fact or fiction? ... hang the banner of the week. Hang, there's only been one week. If the MVP was given out today, he would win it.

Dylan Brooks is successfully embracing the villain role in the NBA

My who's back of the week is Dylan Brooks being a villain... I think he's embracing being the villain. I think it's good.

Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time

I have met mj obviously he's the goat, you know, he is my goat. If you go to Carolina, I think you're wrong if you don't, you know, think he's a goat and obviously y'all are in Chicago so hopefully y'all think the same.

Victor Wembanyama looks like he's going to be the greatest player of all time

Victor Wembanyama has been playing in the preseason and he looks like he's gonna be the greatest player of all time. I've never seen anybody the way he plays basketball. He's crazy... He puts like a dome over the rim. It's insane.

Giannis Antetokounmpo will eventually play for the Knicks

I still think Giannis is gonna end up on the Knicks... I asked him, because Giannis after the benefit was like, 'You a Bucks fan?' I was like, 'Fuck the Bucks, I'm a Knicks fan.' ...He goes, 'Well you never know where I end up next free agency.' and his brother kind of was like nodding. They wanna be in New York.

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.

The Celtics are back to being the favorites to win the NBA championship

The Celtics today acquired Jrue Holiday... And they're back to being the favorite to win the NBA championship. It's an elite defensive back court with him and Derrick White. Tatum, Brown, it's gonna be exciting.

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.

Damian Lillard is past his prime

I think Damian Lillard's a little old, a little past his prime. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are in their prime. Damian Lillard's washed up.

If the Bulls were healthy, we would have beaten LeBron's Heat

I really felt like if we were healthy we would've got 'em, you know? But it was cool 'cause it wasn't, it wasn't, it was a thing where it wasn't just Chicago that was rooting against them. It was the whole, the whole country was rooting against the heat. Yes. And we were the team that kind of had a shot. We're going up against, you know, the other side of just free agency and super team we're like, yo fuck all that shit.

Victor Wembanyama is the real deal but will face early growing pains

He got the whole, you know, he's like, kid's the real deal, you know, left pull up everywhere. Left. Right. You know, handle seven foot three. I mean, we haven't seen anything like that. I think there's gonna be, you know, some growing pains. But he got the perfect coach with Pop who's gonna just sit him down and be like, yo young fella, just take it easy.

Jimmy Butler once went an entire summer without watching TV to focus on his game

Jimmy's probably the toughest competitor I've ever been around. And you know, it started right away. He worked his ass off and you know, the sacrifices that he made in the summers were just unbelievable. I mean, people don't know this, but he was going whole summers, no tv.

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.

NBA teams shouldn't call themselves 'World Champions' if they only play in the US

My Hot Seat is the NBA. Noah Lyles... he was doing an interview where he basically asked, why do they call the NBA the world champion, world champion of what they only play in America? And there was a, you know, it was kind of an embrace debate, huh? Is NBA the world champion or are they just the US champion?

The 'World Champion' debate is dumb because all the world's best players are in the NBA

This is the dumbest debate ever, especially when you consider all the best players in the world playing the NBA. ... This is one of those cases where a guy's trying to say something deep and then he says it... and when it comes out of his mouth, he's like, yeah, take that guys.

The NBA should adopt tackle rules and change point scoring to mimic the NFL

The NBA needs to learn a lot about sports from the NFL namely like allow tackling and that sort of thing... make your goals worth three points. Make penalty kicks worth two. Boom. It's very easy to do. And you get the illusion of higher scoring.

James Harden is still the better option for the Sixers compared to the alternative

I think [Harden] is better than the alternative, but I think Daryl Morey's just gonna do this thing... I'm just going in. We're gonna do the whole Ben Simmons thing again.

Michael Jordan is the GOAT of basketball, shoes, and coolness

And it's Michael Jordan. Easy. Okay. Easy pick. Mike, mj, the goat. He's the goat in basketball. He's the goat in shoes. He's the goat in coolness. He's the goat.

LeBron James is on the Mt. Rushmore of GOATs

We're going with LeBron James... I like our list. It's a team effort. I value, I value my teammates picks.

The massive Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum contracts will look like great deals in five years

When [Jalen Brown] is making $68 million in four years, it still will be a lot of money. But if we have two or three rings, it's worth it. In five or 10 years, when Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum are only 30, it's gonna look like two great deals because the cap is going up.

The city of Philadelphia will never win a championship in any sport ever again

My Cool Throne is the city of Philadelphia never winning anything ever. Joel Embiid, our prince... made comments the other day that he wants to win a Championship in Philadelphia or anywhere else... It seems like if he doesn't win this year in Philly, he's probably out.

Victor Wembanyama is a bust

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

It would be extremely funny if Victor Wembanyama turned out to be a bust

I know that we're a Victor Wembanyama podcast. We've staked our reputation on it. Everyone will remember this. It would be so fucking funny if he was a bust.

Using a Bardic Inspiration early in D&D is like using a coaching challenge in the first quarter of an NBA game.

It's like using your challenge in the first quarter. Okay. Even if you can win, win it. But if you win your challenge, you get you, you keep it. I mean three points true. It's three points in the matter.

The Jeremy Grant contract was the straw that broke the camel's back for Damian Lillard

The biggest loser in free agency is Jeremy Grant. Jeremy Grant got 150 million to return to the Trailblazers. Now on paper you're like, wow, that's a great deal. But the contract was the straw that broke the camel's back for Dame. He was like, this is, this is what we're doing in free agency. We're resigning Jeremy Grant. Yeah, fuck you guys. I'm out.

The theory that Portland should treat Dame Lillard 'correctly' to attract future free agents is the dumbest theory in the world

The the theory that the Blazers should treat Dame correctly so that they could get future free agents is the dumbest theory in the world. They're not gonna get future free agents. They should get whatever they can get.

The Houston Rockets are paying $128 million for Fred VanVleet's 'culture' more than his on-court talent

Houston did a lot of things in free agency and they did the most with VanVleet... Three for 128... He's a culture setter. They're paying for the culture. It is like paying $123 million for m and m's if he was actually good.