Takes

Geno Auriemma is the biggest baby ever for his reaction to the 2026 Final Four loss

I don't think there's ever been a bigger baby ever than Geno. Everything he tried to say in the press conference was just immediately refuted to be false — Dawn Staley didn't shake my hand at the beginning of the game. Yes, she did. Sarah Strong got her jersey ripped. No, she ripped it herself.

The NBA regular season is currently the worst product in sports

Can I say about the NBA... I think that the NBA has never been worse in terms of regular season. It's an absolute joke. Friday, every single team was playing like a tanking team was playing a playoff team and none of the games were close. The regular season NBA is like the worst product. It just sucks.

Dawn Staley's post-loss quote — 'I can swallow the loss because we lost to a really good human being' — is the biggest loser quote ever heard

That is maybe the biggest loser quote that I've ever heard. And she's a great coach. 'I can swallow the loss because we lost to a really good human being and a good team.' She's still thinking about Geno.

Danny Hurley will be the best bald coach in sports history if he wins a third championship

I think that would make Danny Hurley the best bald coach in sports history. The only other option could be Red Auerbach, but he wasn't bald for his entire career. I think right now he's already on the Mount Rushmore of bald head coaches. But if he wins a third, that puts you in rarefied air.

Victor Wembanyama should win the NBA MVP

I think we should become a pro Wemby for MVP podcast. Oh, I mean we are... I really like Wemby for MVP because he has played enough games.

The Washington Wizards are the ones who deserve credit for Bam Adebayo's 83 points

My take is that 83 should mostly be given credit to the Washington Wizards. It should be like the Wizards allowed one man to score 83 points against them on this day. The Wizards showing up to cities and playing basketball games should not be tolerated by those cities.

Winning a Thunder NBA championship and appearing on the Pardon My Take book cover are more significant than winning the NBA Cup or the 2020 Bubble title

I think it goes: Thunder championship, book cover, NBA Cup second place, NBA Cup third place, and then the bubble championship. [74 in Tahoe] is up above the cup games. People gotta talk about it more.

The Milwaukee Bucks should not play Giannis Antetokounmpo for the rest of the season

I don't even think Milwaukee would want Giannis to come back and play... They should want to do whatever they can with this pick 'cause they don't have many of 'em. And Giannis probably shouldn't even wanna play and risk health and risk this contract extension that he can get before next fall. So the tanking is gonna get egregious.

It is hypocritical for LeBron James to complain about playing on Christmas after doing it for 20 years

LeBron's been playing on Christmas for 20 years. Like, what are you talking about? Now, you're upset? I should [mention] though... Christmas Day [games] are ruined now because they don't play defense in the league.

I think I could give Victor Wembanyama problems just by bodying him and getting physical.

I think I could probably give him a problem just bodying him a little bit. A little bit more weight than him. Back him down... If I just threw a couple bows on him, he probably wouldn't wanna come in the paint.

The New Orleans Pelicans are 'soft quitting' the season to relocate

The Pelicans are just like soft quitting and gonna probably be in like relocate... they have no promotional calendar for the season... no bobbleheads... they're just soft quitting the Pelicans.

Paige Bueckers will be better than Caitlin Clark in the WNBA

I said when she was a senior or her last year at UConn. She's gonna be better than Caitlin Clark... I think she's a better team player than Caitlin Clark. I think that she's a better winner than Caitlin Clark.

The WNBA is likely throwing dildos on their own court for ratings

I have a stay woke. I think the WNBA is throwing dildos onto their own court. Get the ratings up.

LeBron James will retire from the NBA to start his own international league and destroy the NBA.

LeBron James is just gonna start his own league. He's gonna retire from the NBA... and he's gonna start an international league and then he's gonna try to destroy the NBA.

Paul George will be the biggest bust in Philadelphia sports history

Paul George, Playoff P, Pre-season P has injured himself again... he's probably gonna go down as the biggest bust in Philly history. Him and Andrew Bynum... Ben Simmons... Markelle Fultz. Playoff P is in the running right now for biggest bust.

If LeBron James wins a title in Cleveland this year, it doesn't count

If he does go to the Cavs and the Cavs win in an East that is beyond depleted this year, we need to just already say this. That doesn't count. The Pacers are out of it, the Bucks are probably out of it. Coward move if he wins a title with the Cavs.

The Wizards should draft Caitlin Clark to sell tickets

Why don't the [Wizards] draft Caitlin Clark? I think she'd sell tickets. I think she'd sell tickets. Now is, is she at the ability level to be an NBA player? No. Obviously not. But sell tickets. She can go out there, there ball and hoop. She can hit a couple threes.

Next year is the Sixers' year because the Eastern Conference is wide open

Next year is the Sixers' year. I feel like this is their year now. The East being wide open as it is. Celtics don't have Tatum. Pacers don't have Haliburton. Knicks don't have a head coach.

It is worse for Kevin Durant's legacy if he actually wins a championship with the Rockets

I think it's worse for his legacy if he wins [with the Rockets].

Game 7 is a legacy game for the Thunder and Thunder Princess

I'm calling it tonight. This is a legacy game. Game seven for Thunder and Thunder Princess. This is what it's all about. ... If the Thunder win this game seven, then they're gonna have to answer questions for the rest of their lives about how they tarnished their legacy with this NBA championship.

Chet Holmgren is not the guy

[Chet Holmgren] is not the guy... not a guy.

Netflix might have paid extra to rig the NBA Finals for the 'Starting 5' documentary

Do you think Netflix maybe paid extra to have this [Pacers vs. Thunder] be the finals matchup and a game seven? ... Netflix is two for two for getting the finals guy actually. Oh, okay. So yeah, I'm just saying, just throwing it out there.

If an NBA team wants to win a championship, they must sign me

If you want to win, you must sign Boban in the team. ... Winner. We even wait, we, we even go there. But we don't believe in that story too. It was like we just, we just, we just, we just throw the story there. And believe they'll bite.

A team of former Yugoslavia countries could beat the United States in basketball

I believe in that. We'll be really good. We'll be amazing. I know we can beat United States... I think we have big chance. It's not be like easy for [United] States to beat the team.

The Indiana Fever need to hire a Charles Oakley-style enforcer to protect Caitlin Clark

This is actually a great opportunity for somebody that's like into the bench player on the Fever, become the Caitlin Clark defender. Just start learning boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, whatever. And then just be an enforcer. Be the Charles Oakley... that just goes out there and beats the shit out of girls that try to go out at Caitlin.

Jalen Williams is currently the 'Batman' of the Oklahoma City Thunder over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

SGA was great, but it was, it was, it was the JW show. Should we, I think we, maybe we should think about having the conversation Batman robin. Last night [Jalen Williams] was Batman.

Losing this Finals series would be a 'sliding doors' moment that ruins the Thunder's future

This is it, it's kind of like the Knicks. It's like you're never gonna have a better shot than this year. If they lose this, it's a sliding doors moment. Your entire future will be miserable. And if you win this series, then you're gonna win four.

If an NBA game were only 45 minutes long, the Indiana Pacers would be a lottery team

Surely they can't do this again, right? They didn't need until 0.3 seconds left in the entire game. If NBA playoff, if NBA games were 45 minutes long, the Pacers would be a lottery team.

The 2025 OKC Thunder championship will be the worst title of their upcoming dynasty

We have gotten ahead of it and we think this actually will be the worst Thunder team to win a title in their dynasty run. 'cause you guys [Alex Caruso] are probably gonna win like six in a row. So you're saying this is the worst this year? Yeah. We just back where we'll be like, can you believe that team won?

LeBron James is a scumbag for opting into a $52 million contract instead of taking a team-friendly deal

[LeBron] opted in for $52 million. He's a billionaire. He might even be a piece of shit... he does not need, he's not even good enough for 52 million a year. He could have signed for 30... they could use the 20 million to actually make their team better. But he doesn't care about that because he's a selfish piece of shit.

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.

I agree with Jay Williams that 'cancel culture' is why American players haven't won an NBA MVP recently because coaches are afraid to coach them hard.

Jay Williams... blames cancel culture for Americans not winning MVPs. Because our coaches are too afraid to coach the players hard and getting canceled. How much of this do you think is cancel culture? I hear a lot of coaches talk about they don't feel like they can coach young kids anymore because anything they say could get used against them. I think I kind of agree with Jay Williams.

The 2025 Thunder are the worst version of a team that will win multiple titles.

There's a chance if the Thunder win the title this year, this is the worst Thunder team to win a title. 'Cause they're gonna probably win like four or five [titles].

Aaron Gordon is a beast for playing through a grade two hamstring injury

Aaron Gordon played in game seven with a grade two hammy. And if the Lakers were in this game, LeBron would still be two weeks away from coming back because LeBron, remember when he got hurt in the last game of the Laker season, they some, for some reason put out a timetable for his return, which no one needed or asked for.

The Caitlin Clark vs. Angel Reese rivalry is awkward because Clark is much better at basketball

Caitlyn Clark is so much better than Angel Reese at basketball that it's not, it doesn't feel fair. I actually feel bad for Angel Reese at this point. She wants a rivalry and she has history with Kaitlyn Clark, but it's nowhere near equal footing in terms of play... Kaitlyn Clark needs a different rival because this one is just not fair.

The Boston Celtics are statistically a better team without Jason Tatum

the Celtics record overall is 74%, but they're 80% without Jason Tatum. That leads me to believe that just by the numbers. And we are a Numbers podcast... they are literally better this year without Jason Tatum.

Steph Curry is the West Coast version of Joel Embiid in the playoffs

Some are saying that Steph Curry is the West coast version of Joel Embiid in the playoffs.

Jimmy Butler's era as 'Playoff Jimmy' is officially over

is this the death of playoff, Jimmy? ... He, the last two games he took 20 shots total. ... He's going to be 36 before next year. He's playoff Jimmy done.

The NBA Draft Lottery is rigged despite the league's attempts to prove otherwise

I think the media is now welcome at the draft lottery because he used to see it behind the scenes... he was laying it on thick. He was doing a lot of unrigable talk... if it was rigged, this is exactly how they would've rigged it. Exactly how they'd rig it. Exactly... you can pick and choose Max... that shit's fucking rigged and I fucking hate it and there should be an investigation.

Madison Square Garden is the most overrated venue in sports

The garden is the most overrated venue in sports.

Jayson Tatum is not a superstar

Jason Tatum is not a superstar... He didn't play on the Olympic team. He didn't play.

Nikola Jokic is the worst three-time MVP in the last 40 years

If he wins the next one, he'll be the worst three time MVP in the last 40 years. Right. Because it was like... those five were in that timeframe as Magic, Bird, Jordan, LeBron, and Jokic at that time. He's gonna rank fifth.

Jayson Tatum has officially replaced Joel Embiid as the worst playoff superstar in the Eastern Conference

I guess that a super embarrassing that Jason Tatum has now taken the crown of the worst playoff performer in the Eastern Conference... Joel Embiid for a long time was known as the worst Eastern Conference superstar to play in the playoffs. And Jason Tatum simply has worst playoff stats than Joel Embiid. And that's a fact.

Jayson Tatum was carried to his championship and would be a loser on any other organization

Jason Tatum would also be a loser if he wasn't playing for the Celtics... He played horribly in that championship and was carried by the rest of his team.

If Steph Curry wins FMVP with a torn hamstring, he is ahead of LeBron James

If Steph Curry wins NBA finals, MVP by the way, with a, a torn hamstring. He has a, a torn hamstring I think... You gotta put him ahead of LeBron.

The Knicks have 1986 Mets magic to beat Boston

Very reminiscent of the 86 Mets. And how they, and how they beat the Boston Red Sox. It really is reminiscent of that. A New York team just rising from the ashes, like a phoenix to destroy Austin sports. It is, it was so much fun.

Luka Doncic is too fat for the NBA and it limits him on defense

He's slow on defense. He's slow to the basketball and then yeah, he looks like he's overweight... it's fair to say it's limiting him, particularly on the defensive end of the court and at the end of games.

James Harden is the biggest choker in NBA history

Is he the biggest choker? I don't know if it's choker or just Bright lights scares him away guy of all time because at this point it is now four different teams that he's done this with. It is, he's great in the regular season. He can be great in the beginning of a series... But then when the Bright, the lights get the brightest and it's game seven, he's a complete no show. And it's, it's not even, there's not even a debate anymore. I think he is [number one all time].

Tobias Harris is a pussy

Tobias Harris is a pussy. The amount of people that are pussies that can't play in Philadelphia is disgusting.

The NBA should stop the Eastern Conference playoffs because the Celtics are just going to eat everyone

Can we just stop with the Eastern conference playoffs? Can we just not do 'em? Because what's happening is every team is just kind of getting fattened up to get eaten by the Celtics and a delicious snack. Like that's what's gonna happen.