Takes

LeBron James is the face of the NBA until the day he retires

As long as LeBron's in the league, LeBron is not only the face of the league, but definitely has a weighted opinion on basketball... LeBron is the face of the league until he is no longer in the league.

The Clippers made a smart pivot trading James Harden for Darius Garland

I like what the Clippers did... I don't think Darius Garland is this bad. He's a two-time all star. He's 26 years old... when he was right, he was terrific. And Harden... fourth trade request in six years. So the Clippers very quickly on the fly... you'll look at the Garland thing and go, man, they were able to land a player like that for Harden.

The Knicks' usage of Karl-Anthony Towns is becoming a real issue

The Knicks, as much fun as they are... the imperfections with them. The cat [KAT] stuff here... He's now sixth in minutes in the fourth quarter for the Knicks... since January 1st. So you're seeing his minutes decline... Mitchell Robinson's so good... I wonder if [Thibodeau] like bails on Kat in specific matchups? 'Cause he's already starting to do it in the regular season.

Getting mad at the NBA All-Star Game is as boring as the game itself

I hate the All Star game a lot... It's just, I don't get mad at it though. Like, it's for kids, it's kind of fun... Why would you get mad about I wish the Allstar game were competitive... I actually think getting mad at the Allstar game is, is as boring as the game itself.

The Bulls mistimed every single trade during their rebuild

The Bulls traded everyone when the players were at their worst value. Like they, they mistimed every single trade. And this is going back to [Alex] Caruso, [Zach] LaVine, [Nikola] Vucevic... They basically were like, Hey, what would be the smartest time to trade 'em? Let's wait a year and then trade 'em.

The Wizards fleeced the Mavericks in the Anthony Davis trade

I think that this is a great trade for the Wizards. I do. I think this was an absolute fleecing of the Dallas Mavericks... The two first round picks aren't really two first round picks. We didn't give up two first round picks. We gave out one that's protected that we're gonna keep. And then there's another one that could end up being like the 30th pick.

Matthew Dellavedova stinks and has zero athleticism

I have a ton of respect for Deli. 'cause he's so, so hard-nosed, but like both things can be true. Like I can have a ton of respect for him and he stink... The man was like guarding the hell outta Steph Curry... He has zero athleticism.

LeBron James should go back to Cleveland to finish his career

I do think he should go back to Cleveland. I think he should finish it there. They still love him. The tribute videos, it's still home. He should go back to Cleveland.

Anthony Edwards is the future face of the NBA

Anthony Edwards is awesome. How, at what point is Anthony Edwards? Can we just say he's the face of the league... I mean, it was, it was, it was two future faces of this league. It was Victor, Victor Wembanyama and, and Ant going back to back.

The Trae Young trade to the Wizards is the most 'NBA trade' ever because it's only about spreadsheets

It was the most NBA trade of all time. Oh yeah. Because neither team is doing this trade to win a title. No, they're not even really doing it to get better at basketball. They're just shuffling guys... because your spreadsheet could use a guy with that number next to it.

Jalen Brown was snubbed from Eastern Conference Player of the Month

My who's back is Jalen Brown. He was snubbed from Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December. He was statistically better than Jalen Brunson. He was vocal about it. He should have been player of the month.

The NBA Cup means nothing to me

I'm excited to watch the game. I just don't care who the NBA cup means nothing to me. ... There's no way you'll be able to be like, oh yeah, 2025. That was the year the Spurs won the NBA cup.

Cooper Flagg is fully activated after his 40-point game

Cooper Flagg may have fully been activated. He has reached full activation. 18 years old. 40 piece in regulation. ... If we're talking just highlight tapes, he's looking good.

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.

Chris Paul being a dickhead in his 20th season is actually a credit to his accountability

In his 20th year in the league at his age, he was still being like, 'Hey guys, we gotta be accountable.' Because I would think that if you're doing a farewell tour... I'm gonna chill with the boys. He was still being dickhead Chris Paul. It's more of a credit to Chris Paul.

LeBron James is officially in his stat-padding era

My Cool Throne is LeBron because congratulations to LeBron. He kept his streak alive of scoring 10 games, which is a totally made up streak... Can we just admit that LeBron's in his stat padding time, like it's fine. It's fine.

Chemistry is the most underrated aspect of sports

Something very underrated about sports in general. People always underestimate chemistry. You know, we could talk about stats and the star player and this and that, but when you enjoy playing with somebody, I think those guys look, there's eight guys scoring 10 points on the bulls.

Ja Morant needs a trade to find his joy for basketball again

My Hot Seat is Ja Morant... he's lost his joy. He's beefing with his coaches... last night he just said he's lost his joy... it feels like he needs a trade very badly. Just get him out of there, get him a new place.

Ben Simmons' career is over now that his agent has dropped him

My Hot Seat is Ben Simmons... He got dropped by his agent... if you're getting dropped, you're, you're, you must be bad, bad. You just not care. Yeah. At all. He just literally doesn't care even enough to like take a contract, bad sign. So he's just not, he's he's not represented currently.

LeBron James is only playing another season to avoid retiring in the same year as Chris Paul

I think the only reason he is not gonna play, or he is gonna play another year is 'cause Chris Paul's gonna retire. He doesn't wanna retire the same year as Chris Paul because Chris Paul would overshadow his retirement.

LeBron James isn't focused on basketball because he's golfing too much

My Hot Seat is LeBron James. It's been the off season. You know, he, he's old. He, he probably should be taking more time to get ready and prepared and get his body ready... and he's just spent the whole summer golfing. He's just not locked in. He's not focused on the task at hand.

LeBron winning in the bubble didn't feel the same as a real title

When we won, won in the bubble. I've said this before, but like, I like looked into my heart like 30 seconds later I was like, it doesn't feel the same with him [LeBron]. Yeah. It really doesn't feel the same with him.

The Celtics should give Joe Mazzulla a job for life

Signed a multi-year extension back with the Celtics. They should just give him a job for life.

Luka Doncic's weight loss makes him the epitome of male fitness.

Luca is skinny. He looks great. He looks awesome. Credit to Nico [Harrison]... He is on the cover of Men's Fitness right now. So he went from being traded because he was too fat to play sports to being the epitome of male fitness. Good for him.

WNBA team salary caps should be increased to $3 million

I happen to agree with the shirt because I went gut check 1.5 million feels too low. It does feel like we've been talking about them more in the past 18 months. I feel like that should be like 3 million. I don't know that, that sounds like a good deal.

LeBron James desperately wants to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron's getting a little desperate. Did you guys see the latest? Kobe Altman, the president of the Cleveland Cavaliers, got a contract extension and LeBron James quote tweeted it... He wants to be a Cav so bad.

Nobody cares about the NBA All-Star Game

NBA All Star Game. Do not care. Do not care at all. Fun to complain about, but it's just, it's the do not care at all. No one cares.

NBA free agency is officially a dud this year

NBA free agency has started and it's a dud. I'm gonna say it right now. It's a dud.

The NBA should rename the 'Second Apron' to 'Prison' to make it easier to understand

They gotta get rid of the apron word. I'm so sick of it. If they just called it jail and prison, I think it would make a lot more sense because that's really what it is. The second apron is prison. They basically, for people who don't understand what they've done with the salary cap... they restrict you. They put you in prison.

The NBA should have a random one-hour window where the salary cap is turned off completely

It's essentially video game rules. And Adam Silver just says for the next hour salary caps off. You turn off salary caps, you could do any trade ever. And you have to get your players signed in that window... And then he is like, boom, salary cap's back on.

LeBron James no longer runs the NBA league

I think LeBron thinks he still runs the league and he doesn't run the league anymore. I think he was expecting every team to be like, oh shit, LeBron, we could trade for LeBron. And everyone's like, why would we wanna trade for a one year retirement tour at $53 million for a guy who is gonna basically hijack our entire franchise?

The evidence of Malik Beasley gambling on his own games is absurdly obvious

The videos that came out after the investigation came out were very bad to say the least. I don't know if it's one of those things where if you could do this for any player... but the videos that came out were absurdly obvious that he was probably gambling on games.

WNBA players being petty toward Caitlin Clark is actually good for sports

Of course they don't like her. She's better than them and she's more popular. Like of course they're petty about it. I think that's good for sports... Kaylyn Clark will have a longer career, better career, make more money. She's gonna win in the long run. It doesn't have to be like a World War II every single time there's a slight on Kaitlyn Clark.

The Pelicans' trade from pick 23 to 13 was the worst trade ever

Pelicans. Oh boy. Yep. That was the worst trade ever. They traded from 23 up to 13 and they gave away their unprotected first round pick next year. Actually worse than that... they gave whichever one is better, is higher. And if the Bucks trade Giannis, that could literally just be two shots at getting the one pick.

The Wizards must change their name back to the Bullets to fix their culture

They need to change their name so bad. They gotta go back to the bullets. I think you go back to the bullets day one, culture change, different mentality. Your shooters again.

Chet Holmgren is a two-can drunk

How many beers do you think it takes Chet [Holmgren] to get drunk? I think it's like, I think he's a two can. I think two beers and a cigarette. Yeah. And he was puking.

Houston is a great fit for Kevin Durant

I think it's a great fit for him. [Kevin Durant]... Stone is on an absolute heater now. I mean every single move this guy makes, it seems like usually you're just gonna get run wrong because of the way sports work... they desperately what they needed on offense. Like go get us those closing playoff moment buckets.

Bradley Beal has the least competitive pride relative to talent in the NBA

I mean 'cause [Bradley Beal] is just so checked out. He's totally, I think the scary thing about him is that, you know, I think anybody you think like if you're this good then there has to be some competitive pride in you. And he may have the least, there may be the biggest gap between just talent and how much he doesn't care. Yeah. Of any [player].

Whoever won the Thunder-Nuggets series was going to be the NBA champion no matter what

I think whoever won that Thunder-Nuggets series, that was going to be the champion no matter what. That was going to be the champion no matter what.

Sam Presti is one of the best GMs in any sport

This guy [Sam Presti] is one of the best GMs in any sport. And it's cool that he finally like 18 years, I think it's, he's been there and he just won with the second youngest team his way and a pocket full of picks going forward.

The NBA season is too long and the speed of the game is causing the recent spike in Achilles injuries

There's gonna be a big conversation about the length of the NBA season and are these guys too big, strong, fast? Because we had how many? We had Dame, Tatum, Haliburton all wear the number zero, all tore their Achilles in these playoffs. Season maybe goes too long.

The Pacers lost Game 5 because Rick Carlisle didn't play TJ McConnell enough down the stretch

I feel like that Rick Carlisle, I don't know, maybe this is just one of those situations where he obviously knows his players better than anyone else. But TJ McConnell was a problem. I think he could not, the thunder did not know what to do with him. And he should have kept with him... they took him out for the last, like six or whatever, the crucial six minutes when they lost the game.

SGA has officially proven he is the best player in the NBA Finals

[SGA] basically was like, I have to win this series myself. And he did it in that fourth quarter... This is why he won the MVP. This is why he's the best player in this series.

Kevin Durant's legacy will be dinged if he doesn't win a title with his next team

I'm gonna say it. He needs to win a championship with whatever team he goes to in this trade... because he's cherry-picking the teams. If he doesn't do it, then his legacy in my eyes takes a ding.

Winning a title with the Lakers would actually hurt Kevin Durant's legacy

If he went to the Lakers and they won... with Luca and LeBron, it actually would take his legacy down more.

I officially believe the Pacers are going to win the NBA Finals

I believe in the Pacers throughout the Eastern conference playoffs and then the finals came and I was like, I think the thunder are gonna win. And I know that it's obviously now that they're up, but I they just, there's something about 'em, like they just have more guys... something about this team is special.

Pat Bev has a more Hall of Fame-worthy career than I do

I actually do not disagree with that at all. I you look at the scope of work... just the way he took players under his wing... I respect his opinion. I actually, I think I agree with him. I think he probably gets the nod over myself.

James Dolan getting involved again will ruin the Knicks

This would make me nervous as a Knicks fan because James Dolan, they're like little run here where they've gotten back to being a good team. Feels like James Dolan took a step back. Now he's maybe taking a step back forward and he's a shithead owner that will ruin something.

The Indiana Pacers' game plan is to lull you to sleep and then fuck your world up in the last three minutes

The Indiana Pacers have done it again. They stole game one in Oklahoma City. These pacers, they just keep doing it... The Pacer's game plan is to lull you to sleep, being giving you a 10 point lead and then in the last three minutes, fuck your world up.

Michael Jordan is the GOAT over Tiger Woods

[Big Cat]: who's better? Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan? [Wright]: Michael Jordan.