Club Shay Shay - Nightcap - Hour 1: KD responds to Barkley, who is the next face of the NBA, All-Star Game fixes

Episode Date: February 22, 2024

Shannon Sharpe and Gilbert Arenas react to Kevin Durant reply to Charles Barkley's comments, debate who could be the next face of the NBA, and discuss if the NBA-All Star game can be fixed. 0:00 Introduction07:45 KD responds to Barkley saying he’s not a leader10:30 Gil calls Barkley a follower based on teams he went to during career14:30 Unc talks about different leadership styles of Bird & Magic27:20 Unc responds to critics - NBA wants face of NBA to be buttoned up/married32:20 Gil talks about having to go thru image consulting during time with Wizards36:00 Gil makes analogy of players needing to wear an off white suit instead of white one40:45 Jayson Tatum wants to be face of NBA46:00 Gil breaks down Ja Morant’s impact48:00 Unc talks about importance of stars “protecting the brand”49:20 NBA All-Star game interest52:45 Mamba mentality and why players don’t apply it at all-star game like Kobe did #Club #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Volume. Shannon. New customers can bet just five bucks and get 200 instantly in bonus bets. Only on DraftKings Sportsbook with the code Shannon. The crown is yours. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of Nightcap Basketball Style. I'm your favorite Uncle Shannon Sharp. He's your favorite number zero. Wildcat legend. Wizard legend. Warriors. I don't know if we're going to say a legend in the Warriors, but you know who he is. Gilbert Hibachi Arenas.

Bro, how you been? Thanks for joining us. Hey boy, I thought y'all dropping me off. Nah, nah, nah, nah. I think I was traveling. When did we come? I was in the All-Star game, and then you had something pop up, but we'll

get to that in a minute. Please make sure y'all like, make sure you hit that subscribe button. We are now currently at 1,084,000. We're so, so very close to 1.1 million, and that's all a credit to you. Ocho, we miss you.

I'll catch you tomorrow night. Gil, also thanks to Gil because with Gil and I, we have the number one or the number two basketball podcast on Apple Podcasts. So thank Gil. Make sure y'all hit that like button, subscribe, not only to Nightcap, but to Gil's Arena. That's his channel.

And please make sure you subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed. You can get Nightcap through the Club Che Che podcast feed, but go ahead and hit that button. Might as well join them both, but please make sure you guys subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed. I want to thank you personally

and the team for selling out Che by La Portia. We hope to have it back in stock soon, but we are taking pre-orders. So we pinned the link at the top of the chat. Please make sure, and I'm thinking it's going to be like a two week or a month. I can't lie to you.

I can't say, oh, if you order it, you're going to get it in the next three, five business days, because that would be an absolute lie. But it's going to be somewhere around two weeks to a month before you get it. But I want to thank you guys for selling us out and making it such a hot cognac. I greatly appreciate

that. Also, make sure you hit that like and subscribe button to Gil's Arena's channel. He's on YouTube. His shows airs Monday through Thursday, live, 1130 a.m. Pacific time. That's 2.30 Eastern.

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Gil's YouTube page. His personal page. So please make sure y'all go subscribe to the man's personal page. Gil's doing an amazing job. I really want to thank him from the bottom of my heart because I reached out to a lot of people. They didn't seem to be as interested. And Gil said, hey, let me see if I can work some things out. He came back and said, oh, let's do this.

And so I want to thank this man from the bottom of my heart for letting me be able to have a basketball because, you know, I love talking basketball. And so Gil gives me that opportunity, even if it's only once a week. Hopefully next year, this time we can come up with something where we do a couple of days a week. But I want to thank Gil. Please make sure y'all subscribe to his personal

page. That's No Chill Gil and Gil's Arena, his YouTube channel. Go ahead and subscribe to both of them. Like both of them. Let's help get his subs up because Gil, we're trying to get Gil to a meal too. He's been great. He's a great guy, guys. And so, y'all do the right thing by Gil.

Let's get his personal page and his YouTube channel all up to a million subs so he can get one of those gold plaques. We've also been nominated for an NAACP Image Awards for the Arts, Sports, and Entertainment Outstanding Podcast. We pin the link at the top. Please, please make sure you go vote for us, guys. All right, Gil, what happened this morning? This morning was supposed to be your one anniversary,

the one-year anniversary of Gil's Arena. And unfortunately, you weren't able to air the show like you normally do. Tell the people that didn't know, that didn't watch what happened. Yeah. So around 930, the power got the power went out. So, you know, I mean, I jumped on my little scooter trying to figure out what's going on, you know. Where I? I jumped on my little scooter, trying to figure out what's going on. You know, where I live, it's none but

whites, right? It's none but whites, so I gotta be careful when I go outside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially at that time of the morning. Yep, yep, yep. So, they wasn't complaining, so I'm figuring everything is cool, right? When white folks ain't complaining, you think everything's alright. So, they said something happened last night somewhere

else, so they had to cut the power on the street. street, which affected, you know, our live, you know, so they push it back to 11 and one and three. So I was trying to scrap it the whole time, but I didn't know they had a special guest, which was Richard Jefferson. So we end up doing a prerecorded that is actually premiering as we speak. So he lost power this morning. He wasn't able to air the show in his normal time, but he was able to tape it. And now it's airing on his YouTube channel, Gil's Arena. So the one-year anniversary of Gil,

congratulations, bro. You're doing an unbelievable job. He goes four times a week, 11 Monday through Thursday, 1130 a.m. Pacific, 230 Eastern. That's what he's doing now. Come on. Help Gil get them numbers up there. Okay, time for our first segment of the day.

Gil, since you last, we got graphics, we got everything. This is called News Cap. Three, two. We got graphics. We got everything. This is called News Cap. Three, two. Barkley spoke about this. If I'm not mistaken, Gil, this was over the weekend. All-Star. Everybody knows we had the All-Star break.

All-Star game was played in Indy where i'm at right currently charles barkley spoke about kd saying no disrespect to kevin kevin's a follower he's not a leader he's not a leader he's proven that on all his stops kd respond kd responded let's take a listen to what he said. I just I'm not as charismatic as my peers. I don't have a personality that's like fit for TV like my peers. And a lot of those stories of what we talk about don't get spoken about in the media. And that's just really what it is. It's like you got to sell what you're doing as well. And I haven't sold it enough, you know, and I feel like I don't I mean, I don't I don't feel like I need to.

I don't feel like I want people to call me a leader, but i also don't want people to say i'm not one either okay gil uh i know you've been a very very ardent supporter of kevin durant and his moves uh going from okc to the golden state golden state to brooklyn then requesting a trade from brooklyn ended up in there and uh with the Phoenix Suns. So what were your thoughts on what Charles Barkley said? And then Kevin Durant's retort to what Barkley said. I was confused, you know, with Barkley's comments because, you know, Barkley calling someone a follower

with his background. And it's like sometimes the older generation forgets who they were when they played. So they're calling players something that they were themselves. Right? Charles Barkley resume didn't

scream out leadership either. Right? You had Moses Malone over there when you went to the you know Western Conference with the Dr. J and Mo yeah so you wasn't leading that team right you wasn't leading the team when you did lead the team y'all lost the first round first round didn't show up for two years. Then you wanted out of there. You went to the Phoenix Suns, who won 50-something games every year before you got there. They already had leadership. Your first

year there, you go to the finals, you win your MVP because of their record. Because they were a good team. After that, what did you do when you was there? You went to the finals, then what? First round, second round, first round. Then you hopped your ass over to Houston, following Drexler, trying for the second time. Because that's where he wanted to go when he wanted to leave Philly. He wanted to go to Portland, who went to the finals

that year. So you didn't scream leadership either for you to be calling someone this. You followed. You were a follower. You never stood your ground to lead something. So to call somebody a non-leader when you're not in a locker room. See, I can say that from your resume and you might look at me and say, that's unfair. Yeah, the same thing everybody else has said.

When we're in that locker room, you don't know who's leading what. All we see is from the court right on your football field right they can say what elway led but there's probably vocal leaders leaders inside the locker room and that's how that's how a team is made right we don't know who's leading you know just because your name is on uh you got your name doesn't necessarily make you a leader you know yes so you know i was i was like i was sometimes i get disappointed and you know some of the star players when they call people prima donnas and stuff like that it's like you were too you were too right you

were too so i i get i get a little frustrated when you know some of the older guys do that but here's here's here's look let's take what Barkley said aside. So, well, help me understand this. So, what am I supposed to do when Kevin Durant went to Golden State and said, I'm not a leader? Let Klay, Steph, and Draymond lead. I'm here to hoop. He just said in that very soundbite, I'm not a leader,

but I don't want people to say that I'm not a leader. Okay, so it's like Yoke is, right? When I remember they asked him a question, what did you tell the team? You know, when y'all got back in the locker room, he said nothing, right? They asked him again, what'd you say? I didn't say anything to him.

Right? When you're coming from one team to another, you're giving them the respect of hey you know Kirby's the leader whoever the leaders are they're the leaders I'm just here as a player I'm not coming here stepping on nobody's toes same thing that they happened in Miami when LeBron and Bosh came like Dwayne Wade is the leader. You're trying to delegate the responsibilities so there's no fringing. No matter what

Kevin Durant, what he was doing on the floor, you can see that he was demanding things. That's why him and Draymond was beefing because he is standing tall doing what he does. But he is a quiet dude.

He is a quiet dude, but I don't want to be the leader, but I don't want you to say I'm not a leader because you don't know what I'm doing. You don't know that. I, I, I show up early.

I leave late, right? I prep talk. I do this. I, I train players. I work out with players. I wake,

you know, we don't know everything he does. So he's like, well, I am a leader, but I might not be a leader. It's the confliction of just the player's personality itself. I look at it like, if Gilbert Reena says,

man, you know what? I'm a liar. I mean, I lie, but don't call me a liar. So what am I supposed to do with that? I mean, if Gilbert Reena tells me out of his own mouth he's a liar, but then when I supposed to do with that? I mean, if Gil Medarino's telling me out of his own mouth he's a liar, but then when I say, well, Gil lies, man, I just don't, yeah, I lie, Shannon.

Yeah, of course, Unc, I lie, but I don't want you to say that I lie. And I think that's the confusing part of what people are saying or having with Kevin Durant because we've heard him say on numerous occasions that I'm not a leader, and then when people say, well, Kevin Durant's not a leader, he's a follower. He gets, he's like, yeah, I'm not a leader.

But I don't want people to say that I'm not a leader. I don't believe leadership has this. Larry Bird wasn't charismatic. Larry Bird was basically the total opposite of Magic Johnson. Larry Bird. I mean, first of all, he had a little thin lip, so you couldn't tell if he was smiling or not. But Magic, you saw all 32

of Magic teeth. And Magic was so charming. He was so charismatic. And to this day, he's still the same way. He makes everybody feel that he's known him his entire life or he's known you your entire life. That's just the way he is. But I don't believe does it

help yes yes yes and because i think the thing is had shack not had the personality man people have been scared of shack can you imagine somebody that damn big and he got a frown on his face or he's scowling yeah look at shack because he was soq because he was so outgoing, because he was so charismatic as a giant teddy bear. Kobe could be charming, but, you know, he was deadly, deadly serious because he had mamba. And we know what a black mamba is. It's one of the few snakes that will bite unprovoked. Jordan, Jordan had a way about it. Jordan had a way about it. But if Kevin Durant had never said, I'm not a leader,

that would be for conjecture or speculation, innuendo, whether or not he's a leader. Because like you said, Gil, I'm not in there. You've been in basketball locker room. The outside fan base doesn't know a whole lot about what goes on unless a player from inside the locker room says so but once you reveal that you're not a leader and the problem that you have is when people say that you're not a leader after you said that i don't really see what what the qualms about i can't say hey bro you know they call you boy shea don't call me shea now but they help you

just say that when they call you and i think i call you. And I think that's what's so confusing. But I don't want Kevin Durant to... Two things can be true. You can be a tremendous teammate. You can be a great, great teammate and still not be a leader. So I don't want you to think just because you're a great teammate,

that automatically classifies you as being a leader. Because I believe two things can be true, Gil. You can be a leader and be a terrible-ass teammate, and you can also be a great teammate and still not be a leader. But I think, look, it's just hard to say. I just think that you can't have it both ways, Kev. You can't say one thing, and then when people say what you told them, that you're not, get upset when people say that.

Now, I don't know why Barkley was saying that. But also, I don't think, Gil, that your resume necessarily says, because, okay, I'm the leader of a team, but if we don't win a championship, that means I wasn't a good leader or I wasn't the leader of the team. So I don't necessarily think just because you didn't win a championship, that doesn't make you a great leader. Because I believe two things can be true. You can be a horrible leader, you can be a terrible person, maybe a terrible leader and still win.

But you can also be a great leader and not win. See, we have to define what leadership is because everybody has their own definition of it. That's correct. So that's one thing, too. Barclay said, you know, I'm not a role model. While being a role model, right? There's a contradiction to what he's saying because in Washington, I was given a franchise. In Washington, I was given a franchise.

I was the leader until Antoine Jamerson came. And then I said, I'm not a leader because my age, he's the vet. That was my vet. He is the leader of this team. I'm the face of this team, right? No one was going to outwork me. No one was going to outstudy me. No one was going to do any, if I said something, that's how it went, but I'm not the leader. I'm telling you what I am and

what I'm not, right? So it is a contradiction, but you still got to ask that player. When you say you're not a leader in what aspect? So we can get some clarity on it. You know, so we can get a little bit of clarity on when you're saying you're you're not a leader what part of leadership are you not delegating to yourself yeah i don't think the thing i think if you said when if you said that you weren't a leader and then people analysts like barclay and i don't remember i don't can't recall like when you played who are all the analysts and they said gill's not a leader i don't think in turn you didn't get then get mad because you said the very thing that they're saying they're just regurgitating what you said gill said he's not a leader so i gotta take him

at his word that he's not the leader that antoine you said antoine was the leader because he was the veteran on the team and you said what james jameson is is the leader and so maybe like he was the veteran on the team. And you say, well, Jameson is the leader. And so maybe like he was the leader, but you were the senior official. It's like having an adjunct professor. You know what I'm saying? Okay, there are other professors that might do, but you have, your word carries a little bit more weight

because you had been there long. Even though he was the older player, you were the tenured player at Washington. Frustrated with ticket buying experience? GameTime is the only ticket app that gives you peace of mind with your purchase. They let you see the view from your seat before you buy so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive. Their all-in prices show you total upfront, so you always know you're getting a great deal. And it takes no time at all.

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for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. I think too, when he came into Golden State, because I think those are the only words we're holding, we're holding his Golden State words,

right? Where he's coming into someone's city and he's saying, hey, hey, hey, don't look at me. I'm just here to play the game. That's when he gave away leadership. In OKC, he was the leader. Right?

So, Brooklyn, right? So I think it was just that moment in time where he's like, this ain't my team. Because, you know, when he came there, everybody questioned, whose team is this? And I think he just, as a player, we all do it. This is his team. You know, when Mike Vick went to Eagles, right, and we know who Mike Vick is, he's delegating his response like hey i'm just here trying to fit

in y'all you see i'm not trying to step on nobody toes i did in orlando hey this is your mirror nelson's team it's this team i'm not i'm here to help him out right even though i have the bigger name because i don't want him to feel some type of way like yo dude's coming in here thinking he's about to take my spot like no no no i'm coming no, no. I'm coming off the bench. I'm going to be the bench player. And I'm going to work the second unit. So you cool. So we don't need to have these conversations and have these team talks.

So I think that's what he did at Golden State. So, you know, it's one of those things is, it's one of those conversations you got to have with him. One of them, you know, you just got to ask the right question of, you know, do you consider yourself a leader today? When did you consider yourself a leader? When did you delegate it? So he can give us the answers instead of, you know, do you consider yourself a leader today? When did you consider yourself a leader? When did you delegate it?

So he can give us the answers instead of us just poking. Speculating, yeah. And I think that's what Charles is going. I think the thing is, like, Charles is looking at, like, Brooklyn, like, things that deteriorated. But like you said, I can't make a grown man. The man don't want to take the jab. Kyrie didn't want to take the shot.

What the hell y'all want me to do? Y'all want me and Harden and the team to hold him down and let the doc come give him a shot? The man said he's not taking it. We talked to him. He said, James and I, I think he said that, they had a conversation. Kyrie mind was made up. I'm not taking that shot. So I don't

really know if there's only so much I can lead. This ain't the military. I can't give him a cold read. This thing, I don't have't the military. I can't give him a cold read. This, I don't have loud and downing over there to give him a cold read, give Willie Santiago a cold read. They can't do that. And so for me,

I get what Kevin Durant said. I don't really know what else y'all want me to do. So in that situation, I totally get, you could only lead, but the people that you're leading got to want to be led. And then Kyrie in that situation had made his mind up. He had done his

research, and from what he had to do, the shot wasn't for me. Ever since the Golden State, we have questioned his resume, and it's unfair because we've never done it in the past. No other player's resume's been challenged when they move somewhere, when they ask to be traded.

None of their resumes have been challenged besides the last 15, 20 years. So it's easy for people to throw jabs at their career. You know, so, you know, some of these players right now are just walking on eggshells and they don't know what to do. So it's easy for them to just be like, I just want to play basketball. I just want to hoop. You know, it's want to play basketball. I just want to hoop. It's easier to say that. I just want to hoop. I don't want to go back and forth and all hoopla hoopla.

I agree. I have a problem with that because I think the thing is that sometimes the older players forget that they ask for trades also. I understand that social media, there was no social media then but some of us are old enough to remember of you requesting a trade some of us remember

things that you did that you criticized the very players today for doing yep and so that's why look and that's why i don't i've never had a problem given the younger generation is the game different yes rules change in football uh has made the game different? Yes. Rules change in football has made the game. The guys are skilled. The guys are bigger, stronger, faster, but the rules have been put in place to allow the offensive players to produce

better numbers. And the defensive players can produce better numbers because there are more opportunities to sack the quarterback and to intercept the pass. And so, and that's not to say that, oh, these guys ain't any good. They are.

But we do have to take, you know, if they made the basket, if they made the basket two inches bigger and guys all of a sudden started averaging 40 points, we can't sit here and say like, well, that had no impact on the guy averaging 40, two or three guys averaging 40 in a season. Of course it does. And so to act like that certain rules and parameters

hadn't been put in place to make the game, I'm not saying that it's easier, but it probably is easier because I believe the guys in the NBA are more skilled. When you get guys that are more skilled and you put them in more space, what the hell do you think is going to happen? Yeah. Is it, okay, just like in football, right?

Is it, which one is coming first? Because I don't think we think about it, right? Even from when football started. The harder you hit, the bigger you get. The rules got to change. Like, oh, wait, these guys are getting too big, too strong. We got to change this up guys are getting too big, too strong. We got to change this up a little bit.

So it's the players that's changing up the rules. So it's not like oh, football, these guys are softer. No, no, no, no. Today, we can't have these guys hitting this quarterback. Because quarterback, everybody's not built like

Cam. These guys are bigger, stronger, these guys hitting this quarterback because quarterback, everybody's not built like cam, right? No, no. Right. So these guys are bigger, stronger, faster. We have to protect the quarterback a little bit more now because there's too much power coming at them. So now we gotta, we gotta put rules. So the rules is really coming because of the talent is getting better. So it looks like it's softening up, but there has to be rules for it. If not,

you're going to have some... You got Mack Trucks coming. There were too many concussions, Gil, and the league was getting sued, and they saw guys leaving the game, and we saw what was happening. Guys were taking their lives at a very young age,

and so the NFL stepped in and said, we got to have some rule changes. Well, you can't attack the quarterback. They're trying to take the kickoff out of the game, but they don't know how to because it's still an exciting part of the game. It's too impactful for you not to

have it in the game. But if they can find a way to remove it, because you think about it, now they don't let the guys get a running start. The guys can't leave until the ball is kicked. Also, you can't put the two-man or the three-man wedge together. So they've done a lot of things to try to make the game safer.

But also, Gil, is that because guys don't hit during the course of the week, you ask a guy to drive 20 miles an hour, 40 miles an hour during the course of the week, and then come Sunday, drive 20 miles an hour, 40 miles an hour during the course of the week, and then come Sunday, go 100 miles an hour. Something's going to happen. When you go to NASCAR, when they go warm-ups, they're going 180.

They don't go 25, 40, 50 miles an hour around the track, and then all of a sudden come Sunday when they get on the track and go Daytona or they go Lowe's Motor Speedway or something, and all of a sudden say, we're going to air it out. No, you got to put the car to the test. Well, you got to put your body to the test during the course of the week. But I understand what Katie is saying.

I understand what Charles was saying. But I think Katie could have dodged a lot of this blowback, Gil, had he not said anything about leadership and just leave everybody to speculate. Because once you say what you say, you kind of take the speculation out of it. Check this out, Gale.

I know you want to talk about what I said on first take about being in a steady relationship helping your image as face of the NBA. And people are like, man, this N-word mentioned magic. Magic might've been doing what he was doing, but the fans didn't know. Sponsors didn't know. There might've been doing what he was doing but the fans didn't know sponsors didn't know there might have been other players that have been the face of the league but nobody

knew what they were doing if it didn't matter why was the scrutiny so great on Tiger Woods because he sold an image he was this wholesome guy married with two kids now there's another reason we talk about that a little later. We might have to do that on another show because we know

all of a sudden that coblination didn't help him because they didn't see no coblination. They saw a black man did that to a white woman and all holy hell when there had been black men cheating on their black wives for the longest and they never said a word

and it never caused this kind of outcry so but I'm just saying what I was trying to say like the image because you didn't know that until if magic had never been diagnosed with AIDS nobody would have knew magic history

so stop just like oh we knew no you didn't just like oh if this story hadn't broke, you would have never knew about Tiger Woods, what he was doing. And some of the other guys that's been facing the NBA. So stop telling that lie like you knew because you're not day-to-day and you didn't see what they were doing. So I'm saying, Gil, that as a situation like the face of the league,

they want you buttoned up. They want you to accept responsibility. And they see normally a married guy, what? He has responsibility. He has a wife. A lot of times he has kids. So he's more willing and accepting of responsibility. Remember, I remember, Gil,

when they said the league was getting too young because they were bringing guys straight out of high school. And so they didn't have the responsibility of a guy that's already been in the league and some of these guys that are married. So that's what I was trying to say. I wasn't trying to say, oh, no, I'm just saying, as a league, as a face, we look at some of the guys,

all of them was in steady relationships. So you could say, well, Magic did this. Yeah, but you didn't know he did that. You didn't know the sponsors, the brands didn't know he was doing that. And some of the other guys. So that's all I was saying. I mean, they took it for whatever, you know, say Shannon said you had to be. That's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying, but there's a lot of things. I think now to be the face of the league, you're going to have to be like LeBron James. You're going to have to be willing to take a stand on political issues, on social issues. Are you willing to do that? Because before they never talked about it, Gil. Nobody took a stand back in the 90s. Nobody took a stand in the 2000s. Religion, politics, you didn't talk about that.

Now, when LeBron James did what he did, I think it was Tamir Rice, the guy, George, in Florida. When he took that stand, and he'd been taking stands ever since, I think that's the standard in which guys are going to have to do if you're going to be the face of the NBA. Because we see there at the forefront when it comes to these social issues more so than any other sports league. So that's what I was trying to explain to you with trying to explain, saying, OK, would it would it be better if the guy was married or does that you can say no which i don't think that carries any weight huh oh uh magic has excuse me i didn't say a i meant to say magic was hiv hiv positive not age but they made it seem like they knew what magic was doing prior to him

making that announcement, and they didn't. They tried to make it seem like they know what all these players are doing, but they don't. And so you look at Magic and Bird and Jordan and Kobe, and we know Kobe had his issues, but you didn't know until it came out.

You make it seem like, oh man, I know Kobe, man. Man, I could have told you that. You couldn't have told us, Jack. Yep. Okay, it's like this. I understood what you were saying. If we had the right descriptive, we're

image consultees, right? The perfect image is married man. Before you go, it was Trayvon Martin. That was the guy, Trayvon Martin. Tremere Rice, I think, he was in Cleveland when he was playing with the toy gun in the park

and the guy rolled up and in two seconds shot him. So it was Trayvon Martin. Excuse me, Chad. So you have a married man, wife, kids, right? Dog, right? They go to church, right? Dog, right? You get, they go to church, right? It's the family.

It's the family. You want to sell families, right? And that's, that is, that is the number one. If you have to write the script, that's what you want. Well, I had to do image consulting when I was in Washington. And I had to sit down with a panel and group about imaging, right? And they said this. They said, to rule this world, you need to be appealing to women first. Everything you do is for women first,

how you dress, how you talk. For women first, gays second, males third, right? So if you're an athlete, the males gravitate to what you're doing. But everything else, your appearance is for women. Gays are going to follow women, right?

Now, when you think that, and then they said, all right, look, Michael Jackson, Darnay Prince, and all these people, you start thinking, what is the biggest group in America? Single women, right? So in reality, the script we were right would be for a married man. Well, who is them single women going to root for?

See, when you put a single man that's vulnerable and clean cut, he becomes a darling to America. But it's only a few people that can do that.

You have to really be a humble dude that can be single, that can do that. Right. Right. You have to really be a humble dude that can be single. That can be put magic as AC green. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Right. You want,

cause you want the ladies to want this man. They're not going to want a married man. Right. They're going to want the single man. It can flood in there. We love you. We, so that is actually a face too.

Right. Right. If Tatum wanted to be a face and he was a single dude, right. And he wasn't married. He will still be the face and be a rock star. But the problem with a single dude is they do single things. A family man, you know, is home for the most time. So he's safe. And what do, and what do leads things exactly a family man you know is home for the most time so he's

safe that's what and what do and what do leagues try to sell family you can bring your kids you can expire bro you are here with jane sue sally no hey nate nate nate timmy no no no no marquand no we don't want you to spy to be that. We want you to be look at quarterbacks. Mahone, married. Brady got married. Peyton Manning got married. Elmay, Marino, Jim Kelly, Young, Montana. The list

goes on and on and on and on and on. Now, Broadway Jones was a different story, but that was way back then. Was Eli Manning married? Yes, Eli was married. But see, for the most part, and I think that's where, you know, when you're thinking about a publicist, most of these guys, you don't know they're married, right? You don't know they're married because we don't see their wives like that. Right.

I think just the ideal of a married man, he's safer. Yes. He's a safe. Perception is everything. Gil, a person's perception is their reality. Now, that might not be the truth. This man might be married and doing everything under the sun. But the perception is they see that band, they see that wife at the game,

they see them kids. Ah. Ah. Yep, you get them kids. Oh. Oh, yep. You get the oh. That's what. And so you could say I was crazy, but I don't think I was crazy as people tried to make me out. Because when you look at it, look at who became the face of the league.

Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I understand you because I went through those conversations. So I know what's safe. Like Allen Iverson, right? He was a hard thorn. He had all the ladies, right? But who he

was, how he acted, that's not safe for the NBA. That's something that they can't push. You know, for the most part, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, it also, your personality too. And I tell people, I say, listen, clean cut? Whoa, that's hard.

That white suit, them white gloves is hard to keep clean. Right? You might want to just make it a little beige. Just a little beige. It's even harder than I get with social media. Yeah, yeah. Just a little beige so you can

so you have a little wiggle room. You know, especially in today's world. You coming in with that all white. Everybody loves all white. It get dirty. A little dust can mess you up a little bit. Yeah, but see, that's the thing. With white, when I grew up, Gil, you could only wear white.

You couldn't wear white before Easter. You wore it after Easter. And then once Labor Day hit, there was no more white. Then they started coming out with, they started coming out with winter whites and fall white. I'm like, hold on, wait a minute. No, you wore white Easter the first time you had somebody. When I grew up, the first time you saw white was Easter Sunday.

Before that, you didn't see, you didn't see no whites in January and February and March. You didn't see no whites in October, November, December. You saw white Easter Sunday and then you wore it up to Labor Day. Normally, they put the white. Man, I got to go and see if I get one more use out of this

white before I put it up. So was it white shoes? White clothes? Yeah, when you was a kid, I mean, me and my brother, me and my mom sent us to one Easter, and I told a story in my Hall of Fame speech. We had white slacks, and I think the jackets were burgundy. I think we had white shoes, too.

We might have had white shoes. We were clean. We were clean. Man, Gill, if a fly lied on me, I'd have cut his throat. I'd say, no, I'm too clean for you to land on me. But that's the way it was but like i said a person's perception is their reality now perception is not always the truth but that's just something to say about that man especially if you don't see him and most athletes you don't see them so it's not like the guy that he works at in the office and you might know what he's doing.

These guys, you might not ever see them. And so you're like, hey, he married. He's been married five years. He's been married 10 years. He married his high school sweetheart. He married his college sweetheart. That's heartwarming. The league sells that.

They sold paper. They sold Brady. They sold, they sell Mahomes. It's hard to sell it. It's hard because you're trying to, families, it's, tickets, four tickets cost more than one.

So, that single lady, she might want to go see the single, the single, whoever the single, Dak is in a relationship now. I'm trying to think who's, I don't know who's, let's just say Justin Field. Okay, they might be, but what about that family of four that's going to see the quarterback

that's married? So that was my only part, so, only point. So if someone took it, thought I was going somewhere else other than that, I'm sorry, but hopefully Gil and I cleared that up for you. Speaking of future, go ahead, Gil. I'm no chill Gil, right? I'm no chill Gil.

Don't go outside. You ain't catching me. No clubs, no bars, no none. This is my perception is a reality, but my reality is what I sell you. Right. See, they have this perception, whether you, what you do or not.

I mean, you know, people knew in Denver, I didn't, most of my career, a lot of my career, I was single, but I wasn't out. Well, I had a girlfriend

and people thought, you know, I'm not, I'm not a public outed guy. You don't need to know what I'm doing. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. Everybody want to put

everything on social media and take a picture of your food and take a picture of this. Nah, I'm going to show you what I want you to know about my life because the more I show you, the more you're going to think you know, and then you can start forming opinions and assumptions about my life. Welcome to another episode of Nightcap Basketball

Style. I'm your favorite. What's going on? He's your number zero. That's us. Wizard legend. Backdrop. Intro is coming back through my... No, that's not you. That's us. Wizard legend. You hear that? Backdrop.

The intro is coming back through the feed. But you know who he is. Gilbert Hibachi Arenas. Bro, how you been? Thanks for joining us. Ash, what's going on? It's Gil. It's Gil's computer. It's your computer, Gil.

Okay. Is that better yet? I don't even know where that came from. Your computer. We good? Yeah, I heard it. Yeah, it was going to be your computer. I got so many screens on. My bad.

I just wanted to hear you twice. Okay, check this out. Speaking of future faces of the league, Jason Tatum said, give me that. He said, I feel like it's mine to take i do feel like if we win a championship it will be more distinguished and clear but i understand i'm i'm on the show i'm i'm in that short list for sure and i love to hear him say that i love to hear him says i want that responsibility i want to be the face of the

league and everything that comes along with it, good, bad, or indifferent. I love when guys say, give me that. Give me all that. Whatever it is that comes along with it, I'm willing to take it. See, and he is the, from the studies that I got, he will be the perfect guy for it, right? He has the charisma. He has the style. He has the play. He has the look. We don't know if he's single or not. We know he don't get in trouble. He doesn't go outside. We see him with his son all the time.

That makes him a great dad which appeals to a demographic of people that's like, okay, I can get behind him. It's the guy. get behind him. Yeah, it's the guy, like, you got him, right? We know Jokic doesn't have, he doesn't check off a lot

of boxes. Nope, but he's just married. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Right? Even with someone like Luka, right? That's hard. I'ma just be honest and I'ma say it. I've never seen American

push European it's just not a thing as much as we want to Giannis and all this is the best player in the world they're still going to put that American brand to the American brand and it's going to be that

Tatum Ant-Man has the personality. You know, he still, you know, he have a little trouble and he has to get a great team around him to keep all that outside noise. And, you know, to be in the face of the league, it comes with preparation. Comes with a huge responsibility too.

Like you're talking about, you don't have. Like you're talking about you don't have a life. Oh no, you don't have a life because when you're the face of the league you have to be able to understand that when you walk outside your door you are the face. Yes.

In your car, somebody pulls over to you. Somebody honks at you. You have the NBA now in your car, somebody pulls over to you, somebody honks at you. You have the NBA now that you carry in. So everything you do now is magnified so you really have to have a strong supporting task

to really understand how to keep that image intact for the league itself. And plus, it doesn't help Giannis' case when he says, well, I don't know. I don't even watch no film of the basketball player. I don't know. It makes it tough. Why would you ever say that? Bro, I just want you to know

ain't nobody say, oh my God, you see that? Yeah. I mean, most guys, you hear Jordan, and you hear Jordan talk about how he studied. You hear Magic say how he studied. You hear Kobe, LeBron, all the greats. But somehow Giannis thinks that, you know what,

I'm going to endear myself. I'm going to say I love to make it hard. I don't study. That might explain why you have four coaches in a year. Little does he know that's got to play some role in it. And I said the same thing. It makes sense why he didn't get, he hasn't gotten better. The same reason

he hasn't gotten post-up, mid-rangerange because he don't watch his flaws enough to clean them up, right? So sometimes it, you know, you have to be careful on what you say, right? We don't know if it's true, but we can say we believe it because we can look at the totality of it. You can, you can use, we won rings and I got an MVP. Okay. But do you have a post-up that you never came in here with? Did you, do you mid-range? Two to three, any better? No. Right?

So we can say, well, maybe you don't, you know, really watch film on yourself to understand how to get better. We can say, you gave us the, you gave us the, the window, the throw rocks at it now. Yes. Yes. And he can't get mad. Because what he does

is that when he has a bad game, everybody's going to say, had you studied film, you'd have known what was coming. You know what the hell to do. That's all you do is that you open yourself up, you subject yourself to criticism that you probably wouldn't have gotten. Now, you're going to get some

criticism because you're a great player. You're a top three player't have gotten. Now, you're going to get some criticism because you're a great player. You're a top three player in the league. And so you're going to get some criticism. But now you're going to get more criticism because the first time you lose a game and they're going to say, well, see, hey, hell, if you had studied, you'd know what the hell was coming. You'd know that double team was coming or you'd know where to kick the ball to. But since you didn't study, this is what happens to you.

Hey, hey, hey. Miami been whooping that tail for a long time and we can see why you've struggled against them every single year. It makes sense. Yeah.

Hopefully, John comes back from that injury. I think he's done for the year. But I think this is a great opportunity for John to have some time to himself, to take to himself. Hey, you know what?

They keep talking about they need a face for the NBA. Hell, why can't it be me? Let me clean it because we love an underdog story. We love a guy that was here, that came, but that went down to the bottom and sprung back up to the top. Yeah, we see. Listen, both times he came back,

we shut the hell up. Right? Both times he came back, we was mesmerized by his game. What he did, it took a backseat because what he does on that floor is just dynamic basketball. Like, those games he came back, it was so impactful. The game, winner, this and that. We're not hearing the outside noise anymore. That's the type of game he has.

The problem with Ja is everybody around him. They're nice kids. I met them this summer. When you hear, oh, these are nice. These are very good kids. They just haven't been programmed

to understand what they have. Right? They don't know. Hey, they don't know these Jordans they got on is actually worth 20 grand. Take them off. Right? They don't know that. They just, hey, I just got me some new Jordans. I'm going to go out there and wear them. Right? They got a

Ja Morant. They don't know that's a Ja Morant. They don't know what this Ja Morant is. So they have to really sit there and say, okay, wait, hold on. I need to smarten up so I know how to teach him and teach him how to move. So, you know, that's something I told them, you know, this summer. Y'all have to be better.

Y'all have to understand LeBron is LeBron, but there's a Maverick, there's Rich Paul, Randy, you know what I mean? Randy and his wife, they had to do their part too for the king to step into that role he's going to play the game

they have to do their role too, that's what you need, that's what all stars need they have, we don't have friends when you a star, you don't have friends, you have employees you have employees. You have employees and business partners to your image. Well, LeBron, Ja, is that any woman that I've dealt with in the last umpteenth years,

the number one thing I tell them, your number one rule is not to love me. It's to protect the brand. Protect the brand. Because you can't love me enough if you're willing to damage the brand. So it means nothing. Your love, if you protect the brand,

you're telling me that you love me. And that's what y'all homeboys need to understand. Protect the brand. Because without the brand, all this goes away. The bottle service, the private jets, the whole VIP area, going wherever you want to go, anytime you want to go, the private chefs and all that, if you don't protect the brand. That's the number one.

Oh, you need to make a shirt. You need to do something with that. Oh, don't love me. Protect the, oh, I can't wait. I can't wait to tell them girls that. Y'all need to make a shirt you need to do something with that I can't wait I can't wait to tell them girls that y'all need to love me just protect my brand because if you protect the brand

you love me because I've seen people I love you I love you and do some things and get people involved and now people never look at them the same

yeah so that's how you show me that's how you show me. That's how you show me you love me. Protect the brand. Yes. I love that. I'm not even going to.

That's a good one. The NBA All-Star Game viewership was up this year, but it's steadily declining since 2003. Gil, what do the ratings say about the interest in the All-Star Game? Gil, what do the ratings say about the interest in the All-Star game? Listen, I think we're confused on what the numbers are, because if you thought about the numbers the first day everybody wrote it, you know, everybody wrote 5.5, 4.6.

We've seen the numbers, right? You know, people don't understand. The reason that is since 2002, 2003. That's when it turned to TNT. Before TNT, it was CBS, right? It had NBC once and then it was CBS for a while. And if you look at CBS numbers, you're going to be like, Jesus Christ, 2003 was a downfall. Like, what happened?

Because it was 22 million, 18 million, 17 million, right? NBC, TNT. Well, the reason our numbers are blurred, you can't say we having these big TV deals and our numbers are down. The problem is this. Back then, we had to watch it. We didn't have T-Bowen. We didn't have... We didn't have that. We had to watch the game live. If you didn't watch it live, you missed it. Therefore, we had to schedule our day around

all-star events. Today, we can do whatever we want. Them views, that 11 point, that don't have the cell phone in there. That have the house. That don't have the cell phone. That don't have the computer.

That don't have none of those new devices that we all have today. Back then there was no international. See, right? Do we have the numbers from Paris? From Wimby's country? Watching Wimby? No, that comes in the next day.

So it's global now. Even though last year to America says 4.6, the real numbers overall, the totality that's seen last year's all-star weekend numbers was 1.3 billion people. You're not counting China. So the game is way bigger. It's just diluted because we got better shit to do. We got better shit to do in real time. Yeah, and look,

I think the thing is, Gil, also, is that people are interested because they're like, y'all not playing. If you don't care, why should we? So why should we take two and a half hours out of our day if y'all going to. Say, if you don't care, why should we? So why should we take two hours or two and a half hours out of our day if y'all going to go out there and just jack up threes and horse ass around?

So you telling me you don't care, so you want me to take time out of my day to care about this? The same thing they did with the Pro Bowl. They got tired of fans, got tired of saying, man, y'all playing two-way in touch. This is not football. And I know, look, they shoot a lot of threes in regular season nba games and it seems like a

dunker layup because guys are so skilled and guys you know you guys are getting beat and so now the help defender comes and now the guy kicked and he's wide open i get all of that i get it but and you play in a game like this and and I read where they had Larry Bird, they had Andre Iguodala, and they had Dr. J to go talk to the player. But I find it ironic. Everybody, everybody for the most part would talk, oh, Kobe.

Woo, Mamba mentality. Oh, we love Mamba. And get out there, what they do in all-star games, Gil. Now, all I know is that I saw Kobe for 18, 19 years in all-star games. It played like it was a know is that I saw Kobe for 18, 19 years in all-star games and played like it was a playoff game. But all these players, they talk about,

oh, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, Mamba, Mamba, Kobe, Mamba mentality. Y'all get out there and bulljab around. You know why Kobe took it serious? Because he was, it was the only time that he was vulnerable to his fears yes see you know and i talked to some of the guys back in the 80s and back in the 90s and said why was

like i don't i look at something and ask the question why right so i don't have i don't have a narrative i want to know why first right so they said, okay, this is why it was more competitive then. Michael Jordan, you have Michael Jordan, you have Drexler. Drexler played against Michael only two times. Now, if he didn't play him twice before All-Star break, when he got into that game in front of this national television. Everybody didn't have national TV games then.

Everybody wasn't on TV. So the guys that wasn't on TV, this is my opportunity to bust somebody's ass and be seen nationally for the first time. I'm representing our team, so I got to go out there and do my job.

Some of those guys, they didn't even want to be in a dunk contest, but they had to represent the team because the team itself, this is our first chance. This was more competitive because people had... I got a point to prove now. Well, today's game,

I'm on TV 20 times before weekend. So, I already bust your ass a few times, brother. I gave you 50. I gave you 48. Right? So, when I see you, it's, well, Cole

was different. Cole was saying, well, I don't have my team. I don't have my structure. I don't know what you on. So, I don't know what you on. I know what I'm going to be on. I'm going to hit you first because I don't have my team. I don't have my structure. I don't know what you on. So I don't know what you on. I know what I'm going to be on. I'm going to hit you first because I don't know what kind of time you on. Because I did give you 81. I did give you this.

I don't know when you coming into this building and you thinking everything is saucy. You're going to try. I guarantee you, y'all heard. There's a sound bite. I'm in layup line. And I said, said hey first opportunity i get i'm about the yank code i'm about to give him get over here i airballed i hit all backboard but you can see what kind of time i'm on and that's the time he knew so when he went into that

he was he was protecting his brand from looking bad because he knew he was vulnerable because I don't have my team defense. I don't have that help because I know everybody's going to be joning. I don't want to give you no confidence. I was talking to Time and Time said, look here, in practice we've had a pro bowl. I ain't letting you catch

nothing because I don't want you to think you can do something over here and take your butt back to the main lane and think you can do it over there. So I ain't going to let you catch nothing over here. Guys wouldn't let you catch the ball. I mean, you really had to work and practice to get open and catch the ball. I mean, it was like, I'm like, bro,

there's a... Nah, Sharp, you ain't because I already know. Yep, you right. I would talk cash into practice. Yep, sure is. But that's the mindset guys had back then. Is that I'm not, you're going to work. And I want to see, I want to see my skills.

Because there's a chance that I didn't get a chance to play against the guy that's in the Pro Bowl. So I wanted to see where I racked stacked up against it. Because, you know, a lot of times we didn't play a lot of those guys. I mean, like you're in the division. But sometimes we didn't play a lot of those.. We didn't play, I mean, like you're in the division, but sometimes we didn't play a lot of those. There were years we didn't play the Cowboys. So I wanted to see why I stacked up against some of the defensive players. I want to see against Woody, some of those guys.

So that was the mentality we had. I don't know where it went sideways. I honestly don't, Gil. I don't know in the Pro Bowl where it went sideways. I don't really know in the NBA where guys just thought it was cool to just let a guy just move out of the way. I mean, I've been watching old clips. Hey, them guys ain't giving Charles nothing.

They're like, uh-uh. They really guard down there. Gil, they had 289 shot attempts on Sunday. They had three blocks, and one of them was by Steph Curry. Like, I was a part of three, right? When people look back and say, these games were still good, right? Now, before the game,

we all had that conversation. Hey, we're going to go out there. Let's go. Let's play hard. Give these people a show. Right? It's five on five. Plus, all you need is one person to do something dumb.

Once somebody shoots it from half court, everybody want to do it. Everybody. You know what I mean? If everybody is shooting for that MVP, you miss three shots, you uninterested, right? Kobe had 14 in the first quarter. He won it, I'm done, right? There's things that go on in the game where you can see people be like,

all right, all right, Kobe, MVP, let me just go and enjoy the environment. You know, and now it really seems like I've seen a few bad ones from some stars. You remember the year where Giannis is coming down the lane and Steph Curry laid flat on the floor.

Like, it was little things like that and I said, all right, man. It's about to go south. Right? I jumped off the trampoline. I treated it like what it was. Man, I'm here to enjoy myself, right? You know, this is my first three-day weekend, four-day weekend.

You know, I'm enjoying myself, enjoying the festivity, be around some superstars, get these conversations. Hey, man, how do you work out? You know, I was a fan and a student, right? At the same time. You know, trying to watch the mannerisms

and how people carry themselves. Because for the most part, to be honest, All-Star Weekend is a measuring stick and a learning experience, right? We hear the stories. Now I get to see them, right? I get to see, you know, Allen Iverson, and I got three reporters sitting to me,

and then Allen Iverson got the whole damn gym. Hey, man, let's go over there. Let's go there and see what he's talking about. I'm watching, seeing how he answers questions. Go to Kobe, see how he answers and does this. Watch Tim Duncan, right? It was studying what superstars did. How did they move? How did they

sign when they're going in autographs? Y'all signing y'all real autographs, right? I didn't know they was fake ones, right? Right, you know, now, you know, Kobe and this is one thing you gotta love Kobe for this, man. He never cheated the game. and this is one thing you gotta love Kobe for this man he never he never cheated the game

and I mean that from every aspect of it the autograph signing balls right you got players on there that wrote they just initials right I don't want to say no names but I got three balls that ain't your goddamn autograph

right it's your initials because you don't want to say no names, but I got three balls. That ain't your goddamn autograph. Yeah. Right? It's your initials because you don't want to be there. There's so many balls and you already mentally checked out. Let me just sign CB, CB or whatever. Right? Cole wrote his signature. Right? You don't have a whole bunch of all.

So there's a bunch of all-star balls out there with just letters on it. So he didn't cheat nobody. And that's what I got from it. The game itself was the game. I was there to learn how to be a star from the stars itself. Because I'm never going to get that anywhere else. Right? So, you know what I mean?

So mentally, I wasn't there. The game itself, I wanted the experience to understand how to be at this level because these are the guys that we look for, right? I'd never been in a locker room with Kobe. Besides ours on a weekend because I walked my ass in there. Hey, how y'all doing up in here? Hey, how y'all doing up in here? You know what I mean?

I started sitting down in the chairs. Shit, I'm never going to get this opportunity. So let me go ahead and sit down here with Dirk Nowitzki, Cole. You know what I mean? You know, Shaquille O'Neal. And that was my stance on it. You don't want to get embarrassed, Gil. I mean, those guys start coming hard.

I said, okay, you keep coming like that. Now, if you want to treat it like a real game, I'm going to treat it like a real game, and I'm going to cut your ass. So I know it's an all-star game, so how are we going to do this now? And so, look, I just approached it everything, okay, we're going to go hard. I'm going to do everything except cut. The last thing I want to do is cut somebody in an all-star game and possibly put them out because I can easily do it. But I said, no, I just wanted you to know.

I just wanted them to know that I could cut your ass. But I'm not. I'm going to stay up. But the guys took it serious enough. Now, did we play the first three quarters like we did the fourth quarter? No. No. But they just stopped playing altogether.

They just stopped playing altogether. They just stopped playing altogether. And you're right, when Steph, you know, laid down, it's just like, man, I don't know. But I just knew this year. When they got the 200 points, I said, Adam Silver is seeding. This is not a good look. Four quarters of at least 50 points, Gil? It's not a good look because of how it looks, too, right?

We can't say this is a great game, this is a great product because people are hitting shots. Yes. You guys are just, this doesn't even look like a practice. This doesn't even look like an all. This doesn't even look like an all-star practice. Shooting from the half point. Yeah, this shit's cute. Yes. But that's not

good for the game itself. This ain't a run at UCLA. That didn't run at UCLA. And they smell competitive in this. No, no, no. No games at UCLA is damn near, uh, um, like, one, because we're games at UCLA is damn near playoffs. One, because we're getting in shape, right?

And two, there's guys out there who don't get no time on their team, and they feel this is my time right here, so they're going to go ham at you. Right? So UCLA runs damn near like playoffs. How do you fix it? Easy. Don't have it. Because as long as you allow them to go out there and play,

they're going to go out there and protect their interests. Now, here's something that you're never going to hear the owners complain about the All-Star game looking the way it's looking. Because one thing they can count for sure, my guy ain't going to go out there and get hurt yeah so you won't it's a double-edged sword here too because i jumped off the trampoline and my coach eddie jordan was the coach and i went out there trying to entertain and the look on his face sit your ass down like i'm not playing you no more right it was it was one of those hey hey oh no no no right hey this is all fun and games god damn it but we trying to make the playoffs i i had to go back to washington have a conversation about what i did right you know so you know for so for the most part as as much as we wanted entertaining, there is still an entity that does not care.

And that entity is the owners. We can say whatever we want. You can say whatever you want. But if you're on the other side as an owner. Oh, yeah, for sure. You do not care about no all-star game. You care about me having that guy for 82 games, 65 games, 55 games. That's all you care about.

You don't care about Embiid going out there throwing a bunch of half quarters up there. What you do care about is him going out there averaging goddamn 35 on my time, on my dollar.