Takes

The one-and-done era has watered down both college and NBA basketball

And it's watered down the game a little bit. And then everyone leaving early for the NBA, I think, waters down the NBA a little bit. But it's hard to stop kids from pursuing their dream.

Super teams threaten to water down the NBA

The only thing I just hope that doesn't happen is the league becomes watered down because so many teams are trying to create a super team to where you have 10 teams of the 30 having all the best players. And then what does that do with the rest of the league? Everyone else is tanking. That just hurts the NBA at the end of the day.

The Heat are in deep water because they can't match the Nuggets' height

I think [the Heat] are in deep, deep water because they're just, nuggets are better and taller and tall. Tallness matters. Height matters. It does in in basketball.

The NBA is currently too watered down

The the the other problem is the NBA is so watered down now. Like the the the difference between the top five or six teams and then the bottom half is just just atrocious. So like if you just add two more teams, you're just gonna I mean you might as well have me play.

You should never do water bottle flips at Madison Square Garden because it is the Mecca

First of all, I just want to jump in and say this is not behavior you do at the Garden. No. Respect the Garden. You can do this at any other stadium, but you don't do that at MSG. Mecca of basketball.

Cooper Flagg is significantly better than we thought he was after watching him in Summer League

I think Cooper flag went off. I think he did too. Yeah. I think he's better than we thought he was. ... Significantly better than we thought he was.

The Toronto Raptors are the softest team I've ever watched

The Raptors are the softest team I've ever watched. And having Fred VanVleet take the game-winning shot in overtime, how do you have DeRozan and Lowry and you have these guys... they shrink in every big moment. They're so soft that they made Kevin Love look like the tough guy.

The Warriors' lack of adjustment against Peyton Pritchard in the 4th quarter was a massive mistake

I don't understand what the warriors were doing where like Peyton Pritchard was on Steph Curry because Marcus smart was on the bench and they didn't attack Peyton Pritchard the entire fourth quarter. It was crazy. Like they just didn't, they, I don't know why they didn't attack him.

The Lakers were never winning a title because their roster was the problem, not coaching.

I still think that the roster is the problem that they just don't have enough guys. And the Nuggets were a better basketball team no matter how many minutes the Lakers led. Execution and being able to win games late is what makes the team better... They were a good team. They were never a great team.

The third quarter Warriors are the most fun team in the NBA to watch

The third quarter Warriors are the most fun team in the NBA to watch. They're insane. I absolutely love them.

WNBA Finals will be the third most-watched sport in the fall

The finals of the WNBA specifically will have the third most ratings in the fall. So behind college football and the NFL. There needs to be a third place. And WNBA finals will surpass the NBA opening, will surpass the NHL and it'll be the third most watched sport. It'll battle the World Series and it will be three.

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.

LeBron James is a dickhead and I would never want him on my rugby team

Probably the last person I would want is LeBron... strictly because he's a dickhead. He's a dickhead. If I had to go with anyone, it would probably be AP, Adrian Peterson. He would be good at that.

Derek White's Game 6 buzzer-beater felt like a series-winning moment

Game six was unbelievable. Just that win and the day after did, it did feel like a Game seven win. It felt like a series win. I was, I was basking at it. I truly was.

The Phoenix Suns are better without Chris Paul

I think in a sick way they definitely are better without Chris Paul. 100%. Because if you got Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, those guys, they can both create their own shots... they're not reliant on Chris Paul to run their offense.

There is a zero percent chance LeBron James watched the WNBA draft

There's no way he watched a WNBA draft. There's a 0.0% chance. If he was watching WNBA draft, he would have tweeted it during the WNBA draft, not 24 hours later being like just a thought I've had on my mind recently.

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.

The Cavs vs. Raptors series is over and I'm not watching another second of it

This series is going to be brutal to watch. Maybe the Raptors play close for four quarters in Toronto for one game, but I don't even give them that... the Cavs are locked in. They're on a different level right now. So this series is over as far as I'm concerned.

The 'sports are better with fans' honeymoon phase will end by Thanksgiving

We're in a nice honeymoon phase where it is incredible to turn on a game and just be like, oh, my God, this is awesome... I think sometime around Thanksgiving, if you're still doing that, if you're still pointing out the extremely obvious sports are better with fans, you're late to it.

Watching a big man who can pass is the best thing to watch in all of sports.

Watching a big man that can pass like Jokic is maybe my favorite thing in all of sports to watch. I'm thinking through every single league... but I actually think that watching a big man that is just throwing no look passes over his head from the post down low... that's my favorite thing in all sports.

The Warriors are more fun to watch without Kevin Durant

The question now is, are the Warriors better without Kevin Durant? I think what you're seeing is they're more fun to watch without Kevin Durant. They are absolutely more fun to watch. They play a more interesting brand of basketball. Steph Curry is allowed to be Steph Curry.

Kawhi Leonard is gone from Toronto no matter what happens in the Finals

I think he's gone no matter what. I think he's made up his mind already no matter what. There could be a world where he's like, I really love it in Toronto, but losing or winning the finals won't change that.

The Warriors will miss Steve Kerr in the later rounds of the playoffs

Steve is the one who is able to sort of maestro all of that along. I think they will miss it in the later rounds as the competition gets tougher... it is a delicate thing over there.

I am going to miss watching LeBron James in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Everyone out there, please remind us how much fun it's been to talk about LeBron this year because I will have a moment in the first round of the playoffs where I'll be like, I kind of wish LeBron was here.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are legitimately better without Rudy Gobert

Lakers in advanced the T-Wolves, let's say, let's do, let's do some positive spin zones for the T-Wolves. Okay. One, I think they're better without Rudy Gobert. Yeah. Like legitimately, you can make the case on defense that they need somebody like that to protect the rim. But on offense, they are like, I don't think it's even a debate right now. They work better... without 'em.

Chris Webber was definitely betting on the Thunder-Spurs game

Chris Webber, I'm pretty sure Chris Webber was betting on this game because I've never heard anyone so emotionally invested in a game... It was clear that Chris Webber had money on this game.

Jalen Brunson's foul baiting has made him hard to watch as a basketball fan

The foul baiting has gotten to a point where it's just hard to watch. And it's not just the foul baiting... the Knicks in this fourth quarter, they just go to straight iso ball foul baiting. No one else touches the ball. Jalen Brunson just trying to score. And it's bad basketball to watch.

Golden State is better with Kevin Durant than without him

So you think that they're better with Kevin Durant? Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think they were better this year than they were.

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.

Replay review has ruined the watchability of basketball

Review in NBA and college basketball has ruined the watchability of basketball games because it just the last five minutes take forever. And they look at every little piece of the game and did it go off this guy? It was unwatchable. They need to dial it back.

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.

I attempted to recruit Jeff Green to the Pistons in 2019 free agency but he signed with the Jazz 30 minutes later

I did a few calls, a few texts... his name rhymes with Schmeth Breen [Jeff Green]... I texted him, and literally, I think like 30 minutes later, it was like, Jeff Green has signed with Utah Jazz. I was like, all right.

Joel Embiid will stop being funny on Twitter when he starts playing poorly or getting hurt more

I predicted like a month ago how Joel would not be so funny on Twitter when he starts fucking up. So this is the first one. He's injured like every other day. He's got a lot of time to go back and forth. Take away his umlaut over the Joel. You're just Joel now.

The Knicks have been playing better without Jalen Brunson this series

For some reason, the series, [the Knicks] are just playing better without [Jalen Brunson]. This series. They have been playing better without him when he is off the court.

The Lakers vs. Timberwolves series is going seven games because Adam Silver wants LeBron's numbers

I think that this is gonna go to the distance though... I think that this is an Adam Silver situation. Oh, interest LeBron game seven numbers. If it goes seven, that means that LeBron is still the face of the league.

Analytics and the three-point shot have made the NBA tough to watch

It's analytics. I blame analytics... That too. Three point shot. That too. Dunk should be three... Imagine if they made dunks threes. Everyone was just trying to fucking yam on each other constantly. That would be sick.

The Grizzlies might actually be better without Ja Morant

We have a new narrative. That's very fun. Are the Grizzlies better? Without Ja Morant? ... the stat is the warriors or sorry, the Grizzlies are now I think 21 and six without Ja Morant.

Draymond Green's $50,000 fine for recruiting Devin Booker was worth it

Draymond get fined $50,000 for saying Devin Booker needs to get out of the Phoenix on the set of TNT. Well, so people are saying that there shouldn't be these tampering laws anymore like $50,000 of Draymond Green is absolutely nothing. It's actually probably worth it in terms of just the message that he was sending to Booker.

Everything will fall apart for the Celtics later in the series

And then the Celtics will go back to, like, Terry Rozier won't be able to hit a shot anymore, and Jason Tatum will look like a rookie, and Al Horford will be with a Kardashian or something. Everything's going to fall apart.

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.

LeBron James' tears after winning the Cleveland championship were fake

I'm not a huge LeBron fan. I feel like he's very calculated. I felt like when he cried after he won it for Cleveland, he felt like he had to cry because MJ cried when he came back and did his thing and it made it emotional. Fake tears.

The specialized NBA Cup courts are bad for casual fans and confusing to watch

I do not like the court. Okay. I don't like, I don't, I think for a casual fan it's gonna take a while for them to get The NBA a cup. It just doesn't help. It's like, what is wrong with this court? Then you have to explain this whole long NBA cup thing. Not a fan of the court.

The take that the Warriors are better without Kevin Durant is starting to look true

The kernel, the little fucking seed that got planted a few weeks ago, has now become a full tree, a take tree. Are the Warriors better without Kevin Durant? It is a full-blown take tree. It's the tree that's dropping shit on your car now because you can't go anywhere without seeing this take. And it's starting to look kind of true.

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.

Cooper Flagg should go to the NBA this year no matter which team drafts first

Cooper, this is why you gotta go to the NBA. No matter who drafts you, no matter who is in position to the lottery, you're risking injury... If the Wizards get the first lotto pick, don't even think twice. Go to the NBA.

SGA's style of play is frustrating to watch when he's fishing for fouls

I still stand by the take that I don't like watching him [SGA] when he is foul baiting... I still get pissed off when he, when he embellishes. I think the Timberwolves are at their wit's end with it too.

I would love to watch a WNBA matinee game on a summer afternoon

I would especially love it if they had a game this afternoon a little matinee with the play in the summertime when kids go to camp. ... I would love to watch the Sky and Mercury.

Watching the NBA makes you realize how bad college basketball players are at shooting

You watch college basketball for three straight weeks, and then you switch back to the NBA, and you actually wonder if the NBA has bigger rims, because every shot seems to go in. It's like, oh, hey, that open three-pointer, they made it. Oh, wow, a guy didn't just throw one off the backboard when the shot clock's expiring.

The Golden State Warriors are better without Steph Curry because Klay Thompson can finally shine

I think the Golden State Warriors are a better basketball team without Steph Curry... Thompson can really shine now. [Clay] will actually get to shoot. And he's actually a better shooter than [Steph].

Reggie Miller was right about resting Kevin Durant and James Harden in Game 6

Reggie Miller was right. If you forgot, Reggie Miller basically said after game five, rest Kevin Durant, James Harden for game seven. Don't even play them. They played. They lost.