Takes

I was the one who ran Kevin Durant out of Golden State

The one that is probably closest to the truth is I ran [Kevin Durant] out of town... Because I'm not begging anyone for this. I've worked too hard in my life to beg anyone for anything.

I have a top-five basketball IQ in the NBA

I definitely 1000% have a top five basketball IQ in the NBA for sure... Myself, [LeBron], Joker... Chris Paul... and Luca.

V.J. Edgecombe's NBA debut was the best since Wilt Chamberlain

VJ Edgecombe. Absolute beast. That's how, that's how you rebuild right there... Best NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain. Wow. It's crazy. It's a crazy stat. Most points in his NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain... 34 [points] in a win over the Celtics.

Obama calls 'bullshit fouls' in pickup basketball

I heard from someone that's hooped with him [Obama]... I heard that He calls bullshit fouls... In pickup. It is Mark against his person. No, absolutely... Weak ass fouls and pick up basketball.

Nikola Jokic cares more about his horses winning than winning NBA championships

It was abundantly clear that [Jokic] cares more about his horse winning races than he does about winning NBA championships.

The Indiana Pacers were a physical and sneaky aggressive defensive team in the 2025 playoffs

I knew what it was going to be like Indiana, we knew how fast they were going to play and they were sneaky, aggressive defensively through the playoffs and nobody was really talking about it. But they were really physical.

Ben Simmons hitting threes in a wide-open gym is the official sign of summer

We have the first sign of summer and it's Ben Simmons in a wide open gym hitting threes. He looked good. He looked so good... That's, that literally means summer's here.

The Celtics are rebuilt but no longer the same core

The real NBA news though, is Hank your Celtics, the championship team that you were on a duck boat with... is no more. Kristaps [Porzingis] gone. Jrue Holiday gone. Are they done?

The 2025 NBA Finals is the 'Paul George Finals'

These are the Paul George Finals. Paul George was traded for, I think it was Sabonis and Oladipo. And then Sabonis became Tyrese Haliburton. And then also Paul George was traded from OKC that became SGA. It's the Paul George finals.

The 2025 NBA Finals is effectively the Paul George Finals because he built both rosters

We may be headed to a finals where both teams were built on the back of trading away Paul George. The Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to Oklahoma City for Oladipo and Sabonis. Sabonis developed as a player and then they traded him for Tyrese Halliburton. The Thunder meanwhile traded Paul George for SGA and seven pick swaps, one of which turned into Jalen Williams. It's the Paul George Finals.

The 2011 Miami Heat lost the Finals because they hadn't learned to sacrifice yet

After we lost in that finals, that's humbling. We all was very, we all got some humble pie very quickly... We realized we was trying to show that we could play together and we wasn't sacrificing at first, we were hooping.

NBA parity is officially back with seven different champions in seven years

Parody is back. NBA parody is officially back this now with the thunder beating the nuggets in game seven. There are going to be, it's guaranteed seven different champions in seven different years in the NBA. And we also have the chance for two franchises who've never won a title in Indiana and Minnesota.

Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player in the world and was since his rookie year

I thought he was the best basketball player in the world... I watched it and at the end of the practice they asked me, said, what'd you think? I said, I don't know who that fat kid is over there, but he's your best player. And it's not even close.

I gave my NBA MVP vote to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

I actually voted for Shai. And it was a very, very, very hard vote... The Thunder had 18 more wins than the Nuggets. Right. At some point I don't always vote for the guy who's the highest in the standings, but at some point that matters. Right.

He woke up every day in January convinced he was going to be fired

When we were that, that stretch in January where we weren't playing well, I was woke up every day and told myself I'm getting fired if we don't turn. I'm, I'm, I'm done... and I would tell the staff too, I'm like, guys, we're done. Like, you know, we don't figure this thing out, you know, like we, we just, we don't deserve to coach here.

Joel Embiid believes the current LeBron James is not the same as the dominant version from years ago

The LeBron now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago. So it's a big difference. Everybody would also tell you, and you can see for yourself, the athletic LeBron dominant that he was a couple years ago is not the same that he is now.

I could have played D1 basketball for Auburn if I had focused on it

I would like to think just my competitive nature that I could have gone and played D1 basketball. If I put as much time and effort as I did into baseball, into basketball, I felt like I had a really good chance at doing that. And being an Auburn fan, I would've loved to go to the Auburn Tigers and play basketball there.

The Boston Celtics championship parade was the biggest in NBA history

Biggest, biggest parade in NBA championship history. Is that a fact? 1.5 million people.

I wasn't going to fake a celebration for the cameras just because the Celtics won the championship

I just don't know really. Like I was thinking that what should I do? And I kind of knew that that was gonna be the reaction, but I also wasn't gonna fake it. Like I wasn't gonna drop to my knees and be like, you guys knew you were gonna win after game three.

A bad shooting day in an empty gym for an NBA pro is still making 65-75% of shots

A bad shooting day for me, I'm probably making 65% of my shots. And that's like a's like a bad, like I'm bricking nobody in the gym, empty gym. ... If we go do we do a hundred threes a bad day, I'm making 75 outta a hundred. That's like a terrible day... A normal day 80 plus out of a hundred... [Normally] 90, 92, 93 out of a hundred.

Kyrie Irving has never lost a closeout game

Kyrie Irving has never lost a closeout game. That's interesting. Yeah. So just remember that if you're new to DraftKings, listen up.

Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player in the world, and that's a fact

I am so happy that I'm alive, that I am blessed to be able to do a sports podcast while Nikola Jokic is playing basketball because holy shit, he is the best. ... remind everyone that yes, I am the best player in the world. And that's a fact.

A wrist injury has turned Josh Hart into a lethal three-point shooter

Josh Hart said when he took a half court heave to end the second quarter... he felt his wrist click and it almost clicked back into place. Said he went to Brunson at the half and told him 'I can shoot threes now.' It is basically the plot from Rookie of the Year... Josh Hart is now just a lethal three-point shooter because his wrist clicked.

The Phoenix Suns' 'all-in' move is an all-time disaster

This has maybe been one of the greatest, like rich guy buys a team who thinks he's the smartest guy in the world... does a bunch of all-in moves and it blows up in record time. They have zero first round picks from 2025 to 2030. They have zero second round picks... They have one pick in the NBA draft between now and 2031. That's insane.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have never won a playoff series without LeBron James

Fun fact, little fun fact. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert has never won a playoff series without LeBron James.

Approximately 27 to 30 NBA players could lead a 16-seed to a National Championship

I was gonna go like triple. Way more triple, triple that maybe. 30, maybe 40... guys in the NBA are so good, man. Yeah, yeah. Like you gotta automatically think bigs have an advantage 'cause it's college. So like the big is back, right? Yeah... We'll go with this. 27. 27.

The worst shooter in the NBA would be the best shooter on any college team

I've seen JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard go shot for shot from the three point line to five spots... and y'all would never trust them to shoot like outside in the game... the worst shooter on the NBA team would be the best shooter on a college team. Yeah. And like that's even including big men.

The NBA investigation into Jontay Porter for prop betting irregularities is a bad look

My Hot Seat is Jontay Porter. Raptors center is under an NBA investigation into irregularities on his prop betting involving him. There was a couple times where he basically started a game, took himself out because of a eye injury. And on those games there was a bunch of action on his prop bets. Unders... This is bad.

Caitlin Clark currently faces ten times more hate than Duke.

I don't even know how, how people have found this much hate in their heart for [Caitlin Clark] again. She she has like Duke Times 10 hate. Yeah. It's crazy.

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.

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.

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.

Only Jokic, Luka, and Giannis are untradeable for the Wembanyama pick

Jokic, you'd hang up. Luka, you'd hang up. Giannis, you'd hang up. Embiid, you'd trade him. Tatum probably [trade him]. Booker... the list is probably like three guys. ... Normally I'd go, well wait, I don't wanna trade a guy who I know has already done it for somebody that I've never seen actually do it. But that's how special Victor is.

Victor Wembanyama can defend the basket and the three-point line at the same time

He can defend the basket and the three point line at the same time. And I tell that to people and they go, you are out of your mind. Why would you even bother saying that? Because I'm telling you, I saw it. He'd be in the protecting the front of the rim. Kick it out to the corner and he would get out there in time to block it.

LeBron James and Nikola Jokic are incredibly similar players

I think LeBron James and Nicole Yoic are very, very similar. Hmm. And when and the eye test you say hell no. Like one's a great athlete freakish and the other guy can't jump over the Sunday newspaper. But you get away from that. Both those guys, their iq, their unselfishness, their ability to make everyone better and impact the game.

Doc Rivers has the worst record in NBA history with a chance to clinch a series

Doc Rivers is now 17 and 33 straight up with a chance to clinch a series. That means 33 losses is the most of any coach in NBA history with a chance to clinch a series. So 34% when his team has a chance to clinch a series.

The Warriors are nearly unbeatable when Klay Thompson scores 30 or more points

Klay Thompson, when he scores 30 or more points... 64 and 10. Pretty good. When he has, when he's the perfect amount of high for a game, when he takes his edible and times it out perfectly before the game and he goes off, the Warriors win those games.

Marcus Smart will never have another shooting performance as good as Game 2

Marcus Smart will never shoot like that again. That's fact.

Every great tournament run includes a scary moment early on

It seems like every big run when you look at national champions, when you look at Final Four participants, usually out of their first four or five games, they had one really scary moment... Fortunately for us, we didn't have to bank in an 80 footer or anything like that.

Kevin Durant is having the greatest mid-range season in 25 years

Kevin Durant is... arguably having the greatest mid-range season in the history since we've been tracking this for 25 years and he's breathing life into it and it's beautiful to watch... Kevin's almost 60% right now. It's incredible.

Nikola Jokic is giving up more points on layups than any player in the tracking era

He's giving up more points per game on layups as the closest defender of any player in the player tracking era, which is now 10 years. And so I brought that up because it's in the heat of this... chance for the Nuggets to finally get out of the Western Conference for Jokic to be a three time MVP.

No team has won a title with a defense ranked 11th or worse in decades

No NBA team has won the championship with a defense that's ranked 11th or worse in the regular season in a very long time... The Denver Nuggets are not checking that box. So... you get exposed if you play Giannis in a seven game series.

The James Harden to Houston rumors are true

Harden says quote, 'I don't know where you found that report.' ... He was being so wishy-washy, but it was like, 'I don't know where you found that report.' And then it's like, yep, that's it. [The rumors are true].

Kenyon Martin's comeback from a broken leg is one of the greatest feats in sports history

It blows my mind that a guy could like him, could break his leg and come back and play 11 years in the NBA... I'll bet you nobody's ever done that in the history of sports. With a broken leg and come back and... that's a lot of running, that's a lot of jumping and pounding.

NBA players are often targeted on defense based on their appearance

When you look like the slow white guy, that's kinda like the, the worst is when someone's like pointing at you and the other guy runs up and the guy's like, no, no, no him. And if you're on the other end of that, it's it sucks.

The Warriors would have made eight straight NBA Finals if not for injuries

I'm willing to make a giant excuse for the Warriors for the two out of the eight years that they did not make the finals. It's all because of injuries. Like the Warriors should have been in the finals eight years in a row.

Eighty-three percent of the time the winner of Game 5 in a 2-2 series wins the series

If you look at it, that that is a correct, but the more important stat is 83% of the time that a series is tied 2-2, that winner of game five goes on to win the series.

James Harden plays worse in cities with high strip club populations

You know the stat that we were talking about a couple of years ago with James Harden and how he demonstrably plays worse in cities that have high strip club populations.

My live-betting strategy of taking teams down by 15-20 points in the first half is a winning system

It's a strategy though. It's a system. If a team is down by like 10 to 15, 20 points and it's still the first half, there's a live bet moneyline the other team. It's a simple system... no lead is safe in the NBA, especially in the playoffs.

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.