Takes

Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the greatest player of the 2020-2030 decade

It might be Giannis. Yeah, that was my [pick for the next 10 years].

Isiah Thomas is the greatest player I ever played with, even over Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Shaq

The greatest player I've ever played with is Isiah Thomas. And I have played with Michael. I have played with Kobe and Shaq, but the greatest player was Isiah Thomas. He's six foot and he did everything everybody else was doing.

Kyle Korver is a better 3-point shooter than Steph Curry

I actually am looking at the list right now [Big Cat speaking]... Kyle Korver does have a higher percentage than Steph. [Salley]: You guys did cheat in college. I can tell because you only looking at the cliff notes. [Salley earlier arguing Dell Curry, Reggie Miller, Dale Ellis were better than Steph].

Caucasians have only been on the planet for 6,000 years and were originally cave dwellers

Black people have been on the planet for 16,000 years. They say the Caucasian has only been on the planet for 6,000 years... light hair, light color, skin, light eyes, obviously a cave dweller. And it's because you had to come from you couldn't deal with the sun, your nose was elongated because it was cold.

Jayson Tatum will be the 2022 NBA Finals MVP

How about if you can accurately predict who the NBA finals MVP will be right now? [Salley]: Tatum. Yep. [PFT]: Oh, then Billy has to go vegan for a month.

Kenny Pickett is superior to Mitch Trubisky because Kenny followed my fiancee on Instagram

Mitch gets picked up by the Steelers show Respect immediately. DM show the wife respect. I ain't get an answer. Now, you know Kenny Pickett followed me. Kenny Pickett's a fan of mine... after dinner, you know what I got? I got a follow from Kenny's fiancee. Oh wow. Follow. Not doing that holds more weight in my book than a message. So where I stand right now... Kenny ain't coming here to take part Kenny come in here to take over man.

Kenny Pickett will win multiple Super Bowls

I ain't seen Superbowl. I'm seeing super bowls [for Kenny Pickett].

The Suns are officially dead after one of the most embarrassing Game 7 performances ever

Suns are cooked, absolutely cooked. We're calling it. This game. Suns are cooked, absolutely cooked... This is an embarrassing performance game seven at home... The Suns are playing like they have Chris Paul and four James Hardens in a game seven. That's how they're playing.

Chris Paul is a fraud and the best NBA player of all time that has sucked

I'm going to call it right now. I'm going to use a hard D-bomb. What's that? Hank? A fraud. ... Chris Paul is literally the best NBA player of all time that has sucked. ... Don't get too committed to one player who's 37 years old and chokes in the playoffs.

David Stern saved the NBA by nixing the Chris Paul to the Lakers trade because Paul is a loser

Go back to when the Chris Paul to the Lakers trade didn't happen because David Stern nixed it. I think David Stern accurately knew like, 'Hey, the league's better when the Lakers were winning championships, I'm not going to let this trade go through just because I know that [the Lakers] will never win a ring when Chris Paul's on the team.' I think it wasn't a matter of making a super team that made him step in... I think he actually saved the NBA.

The Celtics will beat the Heat in five or six games

I do think the Celtics are a better team. Like I think this should be a five or six game series. And I just, you know, Heat culture all that shit, but that was, you know, even the bubble, like the Celtics team is a much different team than they were in the bubble. They're way better.

The 76ers had better assistant coaches than head coaches over the last seven years

This is now three assistant coaches the Sixers had... they had three assistant coaches in the last seven years that have gone to a conference final. Mike D'Antoni... Monty Williams... and Ime Udoka now. As they wrestle with Brett Brown and Doc Rivers, they had three guys who... are better coaches than they've had in their former coach and their current.

Danny Woodhead is better at golf than Tony Romo

My guy Danny Woodhead... He is very close to qualifying for the U.S. Open in golf. ... He's better than Tony Romo at golf.

Drew Brees is going to return to the NFL

Drew Brees... he could be returning to football. He could go back to NBC... usually when someone ends up, they're coming back to play, they're probably going to come back.

The Big 10 needs Ohio State to be in the playoffs every year to stay relevant

We need to get another title soon. And it might be—you're probably going to have to be Ohio State. Cause I'm just being honest, I'm a very honest Big 10 fan... we gotta be in the playoffs every year to stay relevant. The PAC-12 is no longer relevant. Ohio State, as much as I hate them, they're the best chance every year.

In-N-Out burger is so overhyped

But you go in the conversation as best tasting burger. We're not talking about all the bells and whistles of everything else. And I think that's what In-N-Out does... Great service, great experience, the ingredients yes, very quality. But again, we're talking about a great taste. We're talking about the best tasting burger out there and to me In-N-Out is so over-hyped.

It is not a veteran's job to mentor their replacement

It's not Ryan [Tannehill's] job to mentor the young guy. Like he takes on the young guys. It's definitely a young guy's job they're like pick, get as much from the vet as you fucking can... You never think I'm going to go out of my way and do like, this is in my job responsibility or my job description to mentor somebody else to teach you.

Derrick Henry's long legs are detrimental in short yardage

I had this theory that Derrick Henry has super long legs for his height. ... I feel like it's actually detrimental in short yardage between the tackles, because people can wrap up his legs more. ... every time he like does well in short yardage, it's like in a sweep or he's bouncing out of the tackles.

I would have been the Defensive Player of the Year if I played the whole season

If I were playing the entire year, I'm fucking Defensive Player of the Year. Yeah. Why not? You can't prove them wrong.

The Maple Leafs getting more respect in the handshake line is a pathetic baby step

Sheldon Keefe said after the series, they got a lot more respect in the post-series handshake line from the Lightning than after previous loss. It's baby steps. He did go on to say, 'We're not in the respect game. We're in the winning game.'... But just saying, 'we got a lot more respect.' Hey, that's a win. You guys, people respecting how [you lost].

The Hurricanes will sweep the Rangers

Big Canes fan now. Canes in four. They can't lose at home.

The James Harden for Ben Simmons trade was a lose-lose for both teams

I think you go back to the trade and neither team won. It was the classic lose-lose trade, like both teams in, in a weird way, got a little bit worse from this trade.

I am the last person in the world who still believes in Ben Simmons

I'm, I'm, I'm the one sucker alive that still believes in Ben Simmons. So I'm like nets could still get some out of them. Crazy, stupid irrational. So I'm not giving up on Ben Simmons. I'm the last person in the world because I'm like six, 10 point cards don't grow on trees.

Doc Rivers has had zero impact on the 76ers since arriving

Dr. Rivers got there. He's been there for two years... they've literally just gone. It was like, they, they they've been just doing the same thing year after year after year, Dr. Rivers has had no impact on it. They were on the exact same trajectory and he's like, we were a mess when I got here, but I fixed it all to get us right back to where we were.

The 'Process' is overrated and Nick Saban is full of shit

I think Nick Saban's full of shit. I think the process is overrated. We're results guys on the podcast, right? It's oh bad. I don't care about the process... just give me the result. I don't care how we get there.

The Miami Heat are the sign of a truly elite franchise for having three different championship-contending eras in 20 years

If the Heat somehow could win a championship this year... That would be what four titles over the course of 20 years, less than 20 years with all three completely different rock busters. I mean, that's the sign of what a really, really good franchise.

The Suns are definitely going to win Game 7 against the Mavericks

I tend to agree. But now the sons are in a spot where they're playing against Lucca in a game seven where he can easily be the best player on the court...

It would be better for the future of the Mavericks if they lose Game 7 to the Suns

I'll take it one step further. How's this for take, it would actually be better for the future of the Dallas Mavericks. If they lose this game. ... if they had gotten blown out in the second round, then I feel like mark Cuban would kind of like have to go nuclear and try to put something good together and get like an awesome player to team up with Luca to take that next step.

The Maple Leafs will win Game 7 against the Lightning

The fear in the city of Toronto on Saturday morning, waking up is going to be at an all time high. ... I'm nervous for them, but I think they're going to win...

The Lightning are psychological locks to beat the Maple Leafs in Game 7

They've been there. They've experienced it. They've played as a team. They've won championships. This is the first round. ... Toronto has the pressure of a city that needs a championship and an entire country that needs a championship.

The Jets will finish between 7-10 and 9-8 this season

So I just want to talk about jet schedule, my prediction, what? ... Well, it's either going to be low level seven and 10 high level nine and eight.

There will be a quarterback controversy in New England where Bailey Zappe challenges Mac Jones

Maddie. Think about this magic Mack Jones gets benched for Bailey. ... I think there's going to be a court quarterback controversy in new England. That we're is going to actually like really tank them. I'm just saying why they draft Bailey just saying,

The NFL intentionally scheduled its best games on Christmas to sabotage the NBA's marquee day

What they did for the for the Christmas day schedule is so mean because they did... They literally just picked out the best NBA teams. I think the, I think the Bulls and the Knicks are gonna just have to play five times on Christmas day... They just took. They just completely cocked the NBA on their day.

The Over for the Bills-Rams kickoff game will be my biggest bet ever

I've never done a game of the year, but I, I think I'm in advance calling that my game of the summer... the over is going to have her and I'm going to... make this my biggest bet ever.

The Celtics are still going to win the series against the Bucks despite blowing Game 5

It was a devastating loss. I still think the Celtics are gonna win the series. ... I think they're going to win tonight. It's a must win.

If the Capitals win this Stanley Cup and the next, they are officially a dynasty

I did say when they were up three, nothing. I was like, if we win this Stanley cup and the next Stanley cup, does that count as a dynasty taking into account the 2018 Stanley cup that they have?

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.

A bone bruise stings at first but then you are fine because bones don't move

Yeah, no, like a bone bruise. Just like stings at first. ... And then it's like, it's a bone, so it doesn't really move. So it's like not really sore. So just to go with it. ... bones move, but muscles are moving the bone, the bone doesn't actually move

There might be as few as one intelligent civilization per galaxy

I think there's a good argument that there might be a very few of those. And actually there's a reasonable argument we might assume there's about one per galaxy on average, any one time, which means that we're it.

The universe appears to be a hologram where reality can be represented by information on 'the walls'

Everything that's going on in the room can be perfectly represented by a quantum theory that lives on the walls. So the universe appears to be in some sense, a hologram, right, it's called, it's got a fancy name. It's called the ADS CFT correspondence... you can characterize everything that's going on in a regional space, by a theory that just lives on the edge.

Information is never truly destroyed by a black hole and could theoretically be reconstructed

It seems now that's what happens in black holes. So you throw the book in, and then at some point in the distant future, you could collect all the Hawking radiation that comes off and reconstruct the book... if some sufficiently clever, super advanced civilization, if they could collect all the Hawking radiation and put it into some quantum computer would actually reconstruct you.

Fridays are better than Saturdays because the weekend feels like it will last forever

I'd take Fridays over Saturdays, but that's just me... there's no better feeling than Friday after lunch. There's just, it feels like the weekend is forever.

The winner of Game 5 in a 2-2 series wins the series 83% of the time.

Here's a fun stat... 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.

The Heat and Suns will both win their Game 6 matchups.

And honestly, like, I, I would bet that both of these teams that won tonight are probably going to win game six.

Skip Bayless definitely has burner accounts on Twitter

This is proof. Skip Bayless has burners. I've got a mission now for the next three weeks, which would be to find, skip Bayless's burners and see what the takes that he puts out on the burn. The ones that like, he doesn't think are ready for prime time yet the ones that he's testing out.

Deandre Ayton is the one guy in the NBA who should be able to dominate any game he is in.

I think [Deandre] Ayton might be the one guy in the league right now where he can, when I watch him play, I'm like, why is he [not] always just play like this? It feels like he should be able to dominate any game that he's in.

The Leafs are perfectly set up to lose to the Lightning in Game 6

The Leafs are back, which means that's where they're perfectly set up to lose. And I mean, we might have to game of the year, the Lightning in game six.

Al Horford is Batman and Jason Tatum is Robin

[Al Horford]'s Batman. Jason Tatum's Robin, Jaylen Brown the Joker.

Tom Brady's Fox broadcast will be better than Peyton Manning's because he'll have a better staff

I think that that Peyton Manning as an individual is going to be better than Tom Brady. But Tom Brady is going to have a much better staff around him. And so on a whole, his broadcast will be much, much better known as a dynasty.

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.