Club Shay Shay - Nightcap - Unc & Gil react to Lakers getting booed vs. Suns, Melo calls out Nuggets, Shaq vs. Dwight

Episode Date: January 12, 2024

Shannon Sharpe and Gilbert Arenas react to the Thursday slate of NBA games, including LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers dropping below .500 in a loss to Kevin Durant's Phoenix Suns and Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the Milwaukee Bucks over Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. Unc and GIl also break down news around the league like Carmelo Anthony saying on his podcast that he felt disrespected by the Denver Nuggets giving the number 15 to 2-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, the Orlando Magic retiring Shaquille O'Neal's number 32, the NBA Draft reportedly moving to two nights to become more like the NFL Draft, and more! 04:50 - Suns destroy the Lakers  15:00 - Bucks beat the Celtics  21:00 - Why isn’t LeBron isn’t getting the same treatment MJ did with Wizards? 26:50 - Melo not happy Jokic wears #15  34:10 - Dwight Howard a greater Magic player than Shaq? 41:30 - Shaq didn’t train hard 51:30 - Is LeBron “clutch”? 56:30 - NBA Draft becoming a two day event 01:08:15 -  Gil a top 75 player if he stayed healthy? 01:12:30 - Embiid over Jokic? 01:15:30 - What made Derrick Rose so special?   #Volume #Club  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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See DraftKings.com slash Sportsbook for details and state-specific responsible gambling resources. Eligibility and deposit restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. Terms at Sportsbook.DraftKings.com slash BasketballTerms. slash basketball terms. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another episode of Nightcap Basketball Edition. I'm your favorite sports unk, Shannon Sharp.

He's your favorite number zero, Hibachi, Arizona Wildcats, best player all time, Gil Arena. Gil, how you doing tonight, bro? I'm good. How you doing? Man, I'm doing great. No, actually, I'm not doing great. I'm a little under little under weather tonight gail i've been grinding my ass off over the last month and it's finally catching up with me but so uh i'm gonna push through give the people a great show tonight uh we probably should have took off like a lot of these nba teams because

they bull they bull job tonight they bull job tonight 139 77 13577, 135-102, I mean, 127-109, there's only, what, the Mavericks and the Knicks turned out to be a great game. It was 128-124, and I think the Cavaliers played the Nets in Paris, and that turned out to be a great game, but other than that, the games were over a half. Yeah, we could have started this about an hour

ago. We could have. We could have just started. Please make sure you hit that like button. Make sure you hit that subscribe button because this is the way that we grow and this is the way you show appreciation to us and by in turn we grow and show appreciation

to you by saying thank you. So appreciate that. Also, I would like for you to subscribe to Gil's Arena channel. The show airs Monday through Thursday live 1130 a.m. Pacific 230, excuse me 230 Eastern Pacific. No

230 Eastern time. The show airs Monday through Thursday live 1130 a.m. Pacific 230 Eastern time. So make sure you go out there, hit that subscribe button for Gil. We've also pinned Shea by LaPortier at the top of the chat. We are back in stock. So appreciate that.

Go out and get yourself a bottle for you or someone that you love. Valentine's Day is around the corner. We got President's Day. We got the Super Bowl. Oh, man, you know, y'all get to go to the Super Bowl, especially your team get ham. And we got St. Patrick's Day. So go out and get yourself a bottle. And your uncle will greatly appreciate that. The Suns beat the Lakers. Gil said he cannot shoot the Lakers on a previous night camp. Gil, we have a video of you proving it.

Let's take a look at that. That's one man doing jumping jacks gotta get my cardio on up so that is an official height rim and that's the official distance of an NBA three quarter correct now this is a college this is college three-pointer.

Okay, okay, okay. They're just going out there teasing, messing with them all. So is that your spot, that corner key or the side pocket? As soon as I step on the court, it's my spot. Oh, that's your spot. The court is your spot. Yeah, as soon as I step on the court, it's my spot. Oh, that's your spot. The court is your spot. Yeah, as soon as I get past half court. It's just all on fire.

Gil's shootout will be featured live stream on YouTube at 1 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, January the 20th. It's a shooting competition for $100,000 featuring Gil's arena cast, influencers, and fans who qualified back in December. Gil, that's going to look real bad if you don't win that thing. I know, huh?

That's why I practice three times a day, huh? After this show, I'm going to shoot 500. You going to shoot in the dark? No, I got keys to the gym, too. Oh, okay. Listen, I can't lose, so I got keys to the gym too oh oh okay well i can't listen i can't lose so i got keys to the gym where we going yeah yeah you can't lose gail it's not the fact the hundred bands is nothing it's the fact that somebody's gonna have a bragging rights to say i'll be the former nba all-star player

in a three-point competition i'm not losing to no youtuber i'm not losing to no youtubers man i'm sorry i worked my ass off to lose to no youtubers man uh'm not losing to no YouTubers, man. I'm sorry. I worked my ass off to lose to no YouTubers, man. That was, uh, hold on just a second, Bill. I'm pulling up the Lakers. I don't know why, but they lose 127-109. Bradley

Bill had 20 points, 8 of 11 field goals, 3 of 4 from the three-point line. The Lakers starting five had just 14 points in the third quarter. Gil, what's going on with the Lakers? I put it on my Instagram. When you have, you know, we've said it, but when you have Vando,

when you have Cam in, right? As an offensive player, I know they can shoot a gun. So why am I even going to pay attention to them? I'm just going to look at LeBron. I'm just going to look at AD. As an offensive player, I know they can shoot a gun. So why am I even going to pay attention to them? I'm just going to look at LeBron. I'm just going to look at AD. Right?

That's just period. Right. So when they're in the game, I'm not playing defense. I'm just going to clog up the lane. And when I'm on offense, I get to give 100% against them. Right? It's a lopsided thing. I mean, you have Booker who don't, we don't know if he plays defense you got bill out there they got an all offensive squad and you can't take advantage

of it because you don't have anybody that can score in a game bill end up having 37 with 20 points in the third eight of 11 three or four from three bradley bill 31. KD had a quiet night, but it was a very efficient 7 of 12, 15 points. That was a bad performance. I mean, AD had 13. I mean, AD played 32 minutes. AD had 13. Torian Prince had 11. Bron had 10.

Cam Reddish ended up going out of the ballgame. He had zero points in eight minutes. Austin Reeves had 13 points. D-Lo had 13 points uh d low had 19 and uh maize had 12 oh um christy also had chipped in with 14 man he i mean he came in at the end of the game you know i mean so yeah like but the meat of the meat of it is you have guys out there who's who specializes on defense but the guy your garden's gonna he's gonna score he's gonna get his numbers but you're not gonna score right if you're on the gill if you're

a defensive guy you can't say you're a defensive guy and bill gets 37 you can't be a defensive guy and booker gets 31 and then you don't offset that on the other end. I can see if Booker got 37, but you gave us 28. Excuse me. If Bill got 37, you gave us 28. Okay, Devin Booker got 31, you gave us 25. That can somewhat offset it. But when you're not giving us that kind of reduction, you're giving us, what did Vandal,

Torian Prince had 11, Reddish had zero, Vanderbilt had six. That's not enough. And six was at the end of the game. Look, it's quite simple, right? Right before the game, you just tell them, hey, son, you don't even need to put your jersey on. You ain't getting in today.

Wow. You ain't getting in the game. Unless we get a blowout, I'm going to put you in. But there's no reason for me to put you in a game against this high-level offensive juggernaut, and you are given nothing because he is going to, by the fourth quarter, he's fresh. Yes.

Because he doesn't have to play defense against anybody. Right. He just sits there. So you're saying there should be some healthy scratches, some healthy DMPs for the Lakers? They should be playing seven players. Eight if somebody gets in foul trouble. In January, this is not a playoff deal?

It don't matter. You're trying to win games. Right. You're trying to win games. You're supposed to be shorting up this thing anyway. You're supposed to be trying to win games. You don't have no leverage to be playing nine players. You don't have nine NBA to be playing nine players. You don't have nine NBA

players. Yes. Yeah, but nobody was good for the Lakers tonight. LeBron was three of 11, 0-4, 4-7 from the free-throw line, 10 points. Anthony Davis had 13, but he only took 11 shots. Torian Prince had

what, 4-10? I mean, nobody played well tonight. You could tell early on in the game, Gil, the way four of ten? I mean, nobody played well tonight. And you could tell early on in the game, Gil, the way the game started. I mean, because at one point they was down 34-19. I'm like, really, guys? I mean, y'all had a day off. It's not like they played a back-to-back. You had a day off.

And that was pathetic. I don't know what's going on, but I don't know how Darvin Hamm keeps his job if they keep looking like this moving forward much longer no i mean it's it's like if like when you say that they had a bad game 10 shots 11 shots right 28 minutes like they can't get the ball up if lebron if i know you're coming in here i'm just gonna sit in the lane and force you to pass it right so you're just not gonna get the attempts up and when you do shoot there's three or four people that's guarding you right so it's an off night because they just can't get the possession that they need it's it's like i love playing against people who didn't play no offense it's a night off for me right i love quality shots and like you said the thing is

they're going to clog the lane knowing that when lebron pass it you probably eight times out of ten they're going to miss the shot at least seven times out of, they're going to clog the lane, knowing that when LeBron passes, probably eight times out of ten, they're going to miss the shot. At least seven times out of ten, they're going to miss the shot anyway. Yeah, seven out of ten, they're going to miss it, and the other three, they're probably not even going to shoot. They're not going to shoot the ball seven out of ten, and the other three, they're going to miss it. Yeah, that's bad. There were some boos from the home crowd tonight.

That's to be expected. They're under 519 and 20. You play in L.A., you're the Lakers. There's to be expected. They're under 519 and 20. You play in L.A. You're the Lakers. There's an expectation no matter who's out there that you give it your all. And I think the fans didn't like the performance that they got from tonight from anyone. And they let them know

that this is what we think of you guys' performance tonight. We're going to boo you. Yes, we love our Lakers, but tonight was unworthy of cheers. I'm booing as soon as I see the starting lineup. Come on back. As soon as they be like, Cam, boo, get you off the court, man. God damn, man.

Like, how many games you going to go zero? I mean, let's be honest. He's probably the only starter that has the most zeros as a starting player. You're talking about? Cam. Cam Reddish, yeah. Vando coming in with these men is like, listen, they're not starters. And don't start them in the purple and gold.

Don't start them in the purple and gold. You can take these players right now, and I guarantee you can't find two teams they will start on in this NBA. And that's the problem that the Lakers are having. When you say you want to trade, trade for what? You got to have something of value that I want in order for me to make a trade because an even swap ain't no swindle.

Well, if you traded me that for some of my best players, that's a swindle. So, yeah, I don't know how they're going to get off these guys. I mean, you're probably going to have to throw that 29 first-round pick because you don't have any picks up until then, and that's the last one they're holding on to. They're going to have to throw in some of them cheerleaders, huh? Throw in some of them cheerleaders. Or a couple of those statues.

Don't Kobe have two. They might have to throw in that eight or the 24. You get one of them. Yeah, yeah. We'll get you the 24. I don't even know what number to get you. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. This was a very bad performance you the 20th. I don't even know what number to give you. Exactly. Exactly.

This was a very bad performance for the Lakers. And we thought in this situation that they got a couple of home games in there. We thought this was an opportunity for them to, like, heal up, get some wins, you know, stretch it to be, you know, three, four, five games over 500. But the way they're starting, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I mean, especially after I saw what they did to the Clippers, I said, four, five games over 500. But the way they're starting, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I mean, especially if I saw what they did to the Clippers. I said, okay, we know the Clippers, they've been playing very, very well. They beat the Clippers at home.

I was like, okay, they beat Toronto's scrappy team. And then come out here and lay an egg like this? It's the NBA. So you're going to have some nights where you're playing well but you know it's the it's the the the consistency if you're right your consistency of three of your players that play big minutes is an average between the three of them nine eleven and eleven and a half you're gonna lose more games than you're gonna win so yes you're gonna have to just say all right this thing it's shown it's not working try something else or it looks like you insane right well the thing is the lakers are playing so bad it keeps us from talking about the uh

warriors who's playing even worse even worse so uh we thought this was a matchup we still could happen we thought the celtics anducs would be a great matchup. You know, you got Jason Tatum, JB. You got Dane and Giannis. And this game was over at the half. This game was not even close. This was awful. This was pathetic.

And it was so bad. The starters didn't come back out. They didn't play the second half. Yeah, they beat their booty off their back tonight. This was a staple for the Bucs, right? Because, you know, one of their players is over there. And they had to really show that we are a better team. It might not say it on the record, but we are a better team, you know,

without you, so we're going to go out there and prove it. Right. Because, you know, the thing is where they slipped is defensively. Last year, they were the fourth-rated defensive team. Now they're, like, in the 20s. And so, tonight, what did they hold a Celtics 2 at the half? 39.

What did they hold a Celtics 2 at the half? Like 39? It was like 77, 39. Come on, man. Even the stat that's pushed out there about the defense, it's fool's gold. Right? It's fool's gold.

They were fourth last year and they're 20th this year. Well, what about the offense? Right? Right. You know, last year they averaged 116, gave up 113. Right. This year they're averaging 124, giving up 119. So they're plus two with this3. Right. This year, they're averaging 124, giving up 119.

So they're plus two with this addition. Right. So all that defense they had last year, where the fuck did it get them? First round exit to an eight. Well, we couldn't tell anything about that defense

because Jimmy Butler lit them up in the playoffs. Remember, Jimmy had that 57 points. I mean, Jimmy Butler looked like Michael Jordan and Kobe in the absolute prime. Remember, Jimmy had that 57 points. I mean, Jimmy Butler looked like Michael Jordan and Kobe in the absolute prime. And that was against Holiday. Yes. But that was the issue here. It's

like, can we get more offense than the defense? And right now it's plus two. So the offense is plus two versus what they had last year. So it's not a negative. They're just looking at the wrong stats. They're looking at, oh, the defense, but the offense is second compared to where it was last year.

So, you know, when you have Giannis out, so the problem was basically in the playoffs. When you had Giannis out, where were we going to get our points? Drew Holliday averaged 1.8 in ISO points, which is 1.8 for your second, best player when right when dame was number one in iso points so i'll take the points over the defense yeah well i don't think anybody think it was a bad trade i mean you get an opportunity to get a top 75 player all time and you give up what you might give up defensively it's more than worth because you're getting dame lillard in

return yes so i like the trade. Nobody can convince me this was a bad trade for Milwaukee. I think all the other 29 other teams, if they had a similar situation, they're taking Dame Lillard for a true holiday type player also. But for whatever reasons, Gil, it hadn't clicked as well as I thought it would by now

because, I mean, when they get on the same page, we can see they can be explosive. Yon can give you we can see they can be explosive john can give you 40 13 and 8 and dame can give you 32 9 and 6 but there's not enough of that malik beasley's plan and shoot the ball he's leading the league in three-point field goal shooting last year again with lebron he couldn't throw it in the ocean from the middle of the ocean you know what sometimes and you know you we can't we can't say that he's a better shooter without LeBron. And he's,

but what is, what happens is when you get embarrassed and people call it out, you go into the summer saying, I need to improve this, you know, and that that's, we have to give him credit for his improvement. It's nothing to do with the offense,

right? You have the same shots when you had in Lakers. You just worked on that this summer to improve your chances of staying on the floor and extending your career. Why the hell are you working on it in between practice than a shoot around? Same reason a lot of guys don't work on it. They think they're better than they really are. Right?

You go in there, you take 50, 25 threes after practice, and you think that's enough. Right. No, man. First of all, if you're not a shooter coming into the NBA, you're behind the eight ball. Already. You're eight, nine years behind an actual natural shooter. So that means you have to try to make that up. That means you have to put yourself on a schedule.

Three, four, five hundred shots a day outside of practice. Wow. For it to turn around. And it might not turn around for three, four years, but it's going to turn around. So if you're not putting in that type of work, you're not really getting better. It was so bad TNT even switched off the game. Now, that's what the NFL normally does. The NFL normally

switch games. The game's getting out of hand. They'll switch to another game. I've never seen that before. But I know damn well. I know if I was on Boston, ain't no way. I'm sorry, Coach. Ain't no goddamn way. I ain't get my points yet. Ain't no way you're taking sorry, Coach. Ain't no goddamn way. I ain't get my points yet.

Ain't no way you taking me out at the half. Nah. Yeah, that's what's so impressive about LeBron Street. He's almost down there 1,200 games with double figures. And you see situations like this. Jason Tatum, now he has to start all over again. He has seven. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know who's close to him, but I don't know if somebody's going to actually break that record. You talk about the points. I mean, he's, what, 300 and something him, but I don't know if somebody's going to actually break that record. You talk about the points. I mean, he's, what, 300 and something points away, maybe 400 points away from 40,000. We're talking about nobody's going to break that record. Who the hell is going to have 1,200 straight games with double figures? It's hard.

I mean, and that's the most impressive part. The impressive part is that he's doing it still at this age, right? Someone tried to call me out on Twitter when I said it. I said, well, when Michael Jordan was playing with the Wizards and that second year and he bring in all those vests to try to win some games, they were supposed to be a playoff seed. When they were losing, no one talked bad about Michael Jordan. No one said nothing. They just let him do his thing. Exactly.

So why are y'all not doing it for this 39 year old? Why is he expected to win when the GOAT didn't? And they're supposed to win 48 games. And then, you know, when he tried to fact-check me, it was right. They had high hopes for that second year, and they fell short, and no one blamed Michael Jordan for it because his age. Because everybody said it was just a ceremony. You'll see the last two were just ceremonies.

Well, that's what you said about lebron yeah oh lebron he cares more about being michael b jordan than michael jordan okay he just excuse me he disproved that all-star all nba uh led the league in assist uh won a championship so now now because he didn't come out here for ceremony he didn't come out here for ceremony, he didn't come out here to retire, he's still playing at an elite level, you still find something to, well, he ain't this, he ain't that. The man is playing at an unbelievable level. It's still a team game.

And he needs, I mean, look, that's the same thing. That's what Yanni said. Yanni says, hey, I'm looking to move if y'all don't get me some help. Listen, this game, what the problem is for a guy like me who values players, when we're trying to convince you

someone's not good, we give you all the things they can't do. And then when we talk about the past, we talk about everything they can do. So we tell you all the good things and the accolades of the the past and then the present we tell you everything they can't do oh he can't go one-on-one he never takes a last shot he doesn't do this this is all right what about the

other guys how about them let's let's hear what their negatives are oh he couldn't go left oh he couldn't do this he could but we don't We just talk about their greatness and in our flaws. And that's what keeps this thing going. Yeah. I mean, they always talk about, oh, he's 6-0. But what about the first two? What about the year that he got bounced in the first round? So in other words, you're telling me it's better to lose in the first round

than losing the NBA final. Yeah. That's what it sounds like you're saying to me. But look, wherever you are on this argument, Gil, I don't think anybody's moving. You are where you are in this argument.il i don't think anybody's moving you are where you are in this argument some people believe it's jordan some people believe it's lebron some people believe it's kobe i don't believe anybody can put forth a compelling argument to sway somebody to move off whether it's kobe lebron or jordan no and that's and that's the thing. At this point in time, these guys submitted themselves as potential goat-like figures.

And the people who were there, who watched Michael Jordan carry an NBA league, not a team. He wasn't carrying the Bulls. He was carrying the league image. He was carrying this game. And the people who witnessed that and saw that they're not giving that up. No, giving it up. That's just,

that's just not going to happen. So no matter LeBron could have 12 rings, they're going to find there it's right. So it's just one of the things where we got the, we got, we got, we got him up there and then everybody else is going to fall short to it. Because when you say it's about rings, I say, well,

Bill Russell has more rings, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Casey Jones. If it's about rings, well, it's about the – okay. But what about a guy that played, has been an all-star, about to be 20 consecutive times as a starter? What about the guy that has the most NBA teams? What about the guy that – first, excuse me, What about the guy that has, first, excuse me, not only all NBA teams, the all NBA first team. What about a guy that won championships

in three different franchises and he was the MVP at all different franchises? A guy averaged a triple-double in the NBA finals and was, what, two rebounds or less from doing it again. But like I said, wherever you are in this argument, Gil, you're not moving. So ain't no sense in us trying to convince anybody one way or another. You're on that ledge. I'm going to let you stay.

All they're going to do is say, hey, you can't use stats. That's it. You can't use stats. Right. You know, it is what it is at this point. Right. And, you know, the best thing for me is i got to play with all three of them you know there's only a few people that can say they played with all three like so you say your

top five greatest of all time i get to say i played with all five or four out of five right right depending on who you put in there. I mean, if you start putting in the 60s and the 70s, no, then yeah. But for the most part, most of your top five ever is 80 to now.

Yeah. I mean, a lot of those guys you played against more than that. You played against Shaq. You played against Tim Duncan. Yeah. I mean, Tim Duncan don't get any credit.

They just make him seem like he was a bum. I mean, Timmy, I mean, the guy, I mean, he was a 15-time all-defensive player. All those all-star games, all those all-NBA, five rings, three finals MVP. I think he won two championships. I don't know if he ever won a defensive player of the year, but he was outstanding. Yeah. I mean't know if he ever won a defensive player of the year, but he was outstanding. He was amazing. It goes to show you what type of talent that's been in this

league, that's coming in this league. I came in as a fan. I was fanboying out there. Give me your autograph after the game. Give me your autograph. I was one of those guys. I have all three of them

in the top five, so I just like to poke and argue about all three. Today is LeBron. Tomorrow might be Jordan. Kobe might be... You know what I mean? I'm one of those guys that just... I switch every week. think you gotta you have another top five mellow said the nuggets gave nicola yokich the number 15 jersey to try to

erase what he did mellow called giving nicola yokich the same number he wore in denver is a is a petty maneuver it wasn't like oh we got a number to choose from it was like here you got 15 uh mellow yeah let me take this first mellow you do realize this guy was a second round european player that when he got drafted they was in the middle of a taco bell commercial so you really you really thought who thought nicola yokich was going to arguably be one of our top 10 player when it's all said and done because they thought that they took him number one overall exactly the guy was in the second round and plus mellow you forget you forced your way out i'm sorry you forced your

way out of relationship and i don't hold you in high regard please forgive me no no dead ass right he was the second round pick nobody knew he was gonna be it was i remember when um announcer said uh i don't know if he was playing against houston oh they'll put anybody in the game when he was posting up yeah right so they didn't know what he was gonna be he know into this unfortunately he had the same number you had and nobody's gonna remember you wore 50 i'm sorry. And nobody's going to remember you wore 15. I'm sorry, Mello, but nobody's going to remember you wore 15. He's known more, and this is so, I don't want to say it, but you're a Knick player.

Thank you. You're a Knick player. Your career is New York Knicks. Yeah. Like, we know what you did as a rookie coming in, but four-time All-Star, one-time gold medalist, three-time All-NBA.

As a Knick, six-time All-Star, two gold medalists, three All-NBA, one scoring champ. Your jersey is in the rafters in the garden. Yes. Take that. And that's just it. It hurts because that's who drafted you.

But your numbers ain't there in the bigger picture. But the fact that they have number 12 and 55 retired, which is Fat Lever

and then the Cookie Monster and then the Cookie Monster and then the Cookie Monster and Montombo. The fact that they got those two up there, you got to retire my jersey. I thought they would have Dan Izzo. They got them, but they earned theirs. Alex English earned his.

Fat Lever, come on. The fat was a triple-double before Russ. Yeah, you wasn't better than goddamn Melo and Mutombo. Stop nuts. I mean, come on, man. Mutombo been all over the place. He was in Philly. He was in Atlanta.

He was at Houston. So, I mean, it's not like he's known for the nuggets. No. So, you know, the fact that you have his jersey retired, you know, I will feel some type of way. But, you know, I as a player didn't I didn't do that much there to to to really have a problem when I know my body of work is in New York. Yeah. I mean, it's not like, Mello, you had like a Tom Brady career and then all of a sudden they give somebody 12. They gave a guy they gave a backup. I mean, he was a second round pick.

The guy got drafted in the middle of a Taco Bell commercial. Nobody could have foretold that he would be this. Nobody. You can't say that. That's even worse. You can't give my number to the dude in the second round.

You can't give my number to the second round pick. But here's the thing the second round big hunk but here's the thing gil the fact of the matter is is that the guy turned out and people won't remember him but my thing is they don't it doesn't matter who they put in 84 the people in there are gonna remember i wore number 84 people gonna say that's shannon sharp number now they must write it and let's just say that was grunt or or Travis Kelsey. People are like, man, I don't remember who wore that damn 84 before Gronk or Kelsey got it. That's just

the way it is. That's just the way it is. But when you take a basketball player, okay, it's more likely a guy in the second round in the NFL makes it or plays well because we've seen a lot of those. It's not likely that a second round NBA player is going to have the type of career that Nikola Jokic just had. That's right. It's not. It wasn second-round NBA player is going to have the type of career that Nikola Jokic is ahead.

No, no. They're right. It's not. I mean, it wasn't expected. They probably didn't. I mean, they didn't foresee this, man. And it's just one of those things that happened, right? You know?

But at the end of the day, you don't have the resume. I mean, if you had the Knicks resume over there, you know, then we can talk. But his legacy is a New York name. Yes, it is what it is. And the guys, the guys are NBA, a two time back to back MVP.

He's a finals MVP. And when it's all said and done, we're going to see where we're going to see where it ranks. Yeah. I mean, right now he's going to be ranked one in that franchise. Oh, for sure. That's easy.

That's done. That's done. He ain't got to play another down. He ain't got to play another game. That's it for him. Yeah. Two MVPs, a finals MVP, and the numbers that he's putting up, the dude has, what, 112, 113 triple doubles?

Yep. And he's less than, what, 10 years in the league? Maybe 10 years. No, he was drafted in 2015 so eight years yeah i'm sorry mellow and i know that look when a guy worries your number you're like oh man this joker ain't worried than having my number you know he's more than worse and what's gonna happen is that people in denver will have forgotten that you actually wore that number i mean the black people remember you know it's just it's the black people remember i mean it's just one of those things you you like my jersey um finally got used this year you know a lottery pick um will he do the things i did i hope hope not. But if he do damn, I hope

he don't. But, you know, the fact that, you know, that I thought my jersey was being hidden for, you know, you know, they're frowned upon. Right. You know, so the fact that

they let someone wear it, it kind of makes me proud like okay finally shit i thought i would just burn zero out of the archives yeah i have my um my number at savannah state retired and even before i got retired my coach bill davis said nobody as long as i'm the head coach ain't nobody wearing that number because nobody had ever had their jersey retired and um i think in 2009 is when they finally retired retired it but from 80 from when i left at 89 nobody had even wore it from 89 to 2009 so 20 seasons nobody even had that jersey now can't no one wear it unless i unless savannah state and i we both

have to give consent to let somebody wear it and uh I know my thing is, why would you want to a three time All-American, a conference player of the year, offensive player of the year, three time Georgia's player of the year. Why would you want number two? You won't. You don't. Nobody. Nobody's dumb. Nobody won't.

Nobody wants that pressure, man. You know what's happening. The Magic will retire Shaq's number 32. There's no question. He's the best player in Magic history. Follow closely behind Dwight. Oh, you got Dwight? In Magic history?

Who you got? He was only there four years. That's it, right? Like, we're not talking about, you know, Shaq's body of work. We're just saying Orlando, that's four years. I mean, yeah, you was breaking

back and stuff, but, you know, three-time All-NBA Defensive Player of the Year. You know, you got, you know, rebounding champ, all-star, six All-NBAs, and six, like, his resume is just bigger than Shaq's in that jersey. I mean, the better player, of course, talent-wise, Shaq,

but in that jersey, it's white. Right. Shaq made a statement earlier, winning Rookie of the Year, averaging 23.4 points, 14 rebounds in his first campaign as rookie of the year. He led the Magic to the NBA Finals in 1995 and posted four All-Star seasons. Okay, let me ask you this. Where do you have Shaq in your all-time rankings? I have him.

I have him. I bounce from four to five. You got him that high? Between him and Magic. Yeah. Because I seen seen him up close You know what I mean? I've seen him up close That's high kill

I've seen how he talked to the defense And what we had to do to try to stop him I have him 4-5 It's between him and Magic at the 4-5 But he's my number one draft pick. I'm drafting him number one. He's my fourth or fifth. But if I got the first pick, I'm grabbing Shaq every time.

Wow, that's very interesting. Because you know the number one overall pick that gets voted all the time is LeBron. Yeah, yeah, no. I know who's going to get voted number one. But I know what happens when you get voted number one, but I know what happens when you have Shaquille O'Neal in the game, right? And you're going to have to

draft players. You're going to have to, like, hey, hey, you. Hey, hey, you know how to play basketball? You know how to lift weights? Come on. They got to go to Gold's Gym for Shaq. Yeah. I got football. Who want to come? Come on, Shannon. Can you run? You got to go get a Miles

Garrett. You got to go get some defensive line with some 6'5", 275 to deal with Shaq that's used to that physicality because there's not an NBA player that's ever been physical enough to deal with him one-on-one. That's why they created the hack of Shaq because he was

just unstoppable you got one and he's gonna punish you on the block he's gonna clear it out he's gonna drop step and he's gonna dunk it he ain't laying nothing up i don't know if i've ever seen shack lay the ball up no and he ain't trying to and what's so funny is i had baron davis on today and he said the same thing that i i i was always alluding to. Because how physical Shaq was, he didn't block shots. But because he was so massive

and his defense was, I'm going to hit you so hard, you're not going to come in this lane no more. Which made everybody else look like they were great defensive players. Because back there, when I want to drive, it's like, oh, no, I don't want to get hit by that dude. I'll be injured.

Like, I'm, you know what I mean? So, that was his presence too. The defensive presence of LeBron ain't driving. Dwayne, we ain't driving. Like, you know, AI come in there, but, you know, AI gonna get hit. We were scared to go in there and get hit by Shaq.

We didn't want that first Shaq hit or second shack it right that guy the third all right if i can get the fourth on him yes at the half who other than that hell no yeah you better not let him have one or two uh uh coming out in the half oh no yeah because he gonna say hey let him let him come on here and drive i got something for for him. Right. Yeah. I mean, but, you know, early in his career, Jack was a shot blocker. I think he averaged over three blocks a game. He was rich as evil. Yeah, he was. I mean, when he was agile, but when he got to L.A.

and he realized that I would not get dunked on if I give an example, and that's what that example was. I'm just going to go like this, and I'm going to use my hip and hit you out the air. Yeah. It's interesting. I don't have him in my top five. Before I give you my top five,

Giannis, guess what number Giannis is wearing in Milwaukee? 34? Who wore 34 in Milwaukee? 34? Who wore 34 in Milwaukee? Ray Allen? I mean, nobody thought, hello, if they thought Giannis was going to be this,

they took him earlier. He was a skinny kid. What did he go, like 13 or 14? He was a skinny kid out of Greece. Yeah. I mean, you don't know. It's, it's, you, okay, what you look for in our draft.

He was taking 15th. I think he was like right outside the lottery. What happens, what happens in the NBA when you have someone who's 18, 19, right? You're going off of the skill set, the potential, long arms, right? Yes.

Can they run up and down? And then you hope that they have the work ethic to want to get better. Yes. But for the most part, you're looking at measurements. And his measurements was like,

okay, we can do something with this. Yes. And you know what? And that's, if they know this is gonna be him and he's gonna gain 30 something 40 something pounds in the next two years and be the MVP number one pick yes but they're not looking at those men they're looking at okay we can guide him and he looks like he can be 15 maybe one time all-star we can deal with that

the mere fact that we have to debate Shaq being in the top five of the travesty because of his size, his athleticism, had he as he worked his tail, let's just say he had a third of the work ethic as Kobe or Jordan or LeBron. Shaq's

supposed to have 35,000 points. Yeah, yeah. If the refs called the game like they were supposed to, he would have had 35,000 points. Yeah, yeah. If the refs called the game like they were supposed to, he would have had 35,000 points. Right. You know, it's one of those things, where in the NBA,

the stronger players cry the most because the stronger players are getting hit the most. Yes. Right, and that's just how the game is. If Shaq is coming down there to post up and he's posted up on me, trust me, they're going to allow me to do whatever I

can. Yeah. Yes. To try to get him out of this lane. So imagine what people were trying to do to get him off that spot. Right. Two hands. We sitting here doing this. Hey, you got six hands in the back and Shaq is just come on, come on down here. Come on and and it was one of those things so the fact that if they just called

the game fair which you can't right right you can't he will be the 35 free throws a game because you got a few you have to foul him or you can yeah yeah i think the thing is is that when you look at shack and you see the athleticism i mean mean, he's a bigger, more Shaq is more athletic. I'm talking about just athletic. I'm saying you don't have the touch to feel like a Joel Embiid. But as far as just running drop step, Shaq had it all. People don't realize how big Shaq was and how athletic he was to get up and down the court. But he didn't take training series. He didn't take his diet series because had he taken that

serious, maybe he could have warded off some of those injuries because, you know, that's a big man. That's a big man. That's a lot of weight that you're asking to get up and down the court playing 35, 37 minutes a night at 335, 345 pounds. And you're asking

him to play at least 70 games a season. That's asking an awful lot, Gil. And so had he taken care of himself, put the time in the condition, put the time in to eat right, even without the, because a lot, he missed a lot of games because of injuries. So even

without the fouls, just being on the court, just think about he just being on the court, go get you 20, 24, 25 a night. What they know today, they didn't know then, right? Even today, you tell Giannis, hey, you need to work on your

jump shot to extend your career to make the game easier. It's an MVP and a champ, right? Right. We look stupid telling them that. Just like people will look stupid telling Shaq who got MVP finals, MVP three rings,

that, hey, man, you need to get in shape. He going to look at you for what? Yeah. Right now, I'm the best player in the league. Right now. You give me the guy that's eating salad, I'm going to bust his ass. Yeah, so.

That's how Shaq thought. But you're right, because once it is hard to convince somebody when they've had success doing it their way to convince them to change it, Gil. Like, change what? I'm a two-time league MVP. I'm a finals MVP. Shaq is like, bro, do you see how dominant I am? Yeah.

Yeah, but just think about how dominant you could have been. Because, see, the thing like, see, this is the thing that you love about Kobe, Mike, and LeBron. No matter what you think about each player, there's no doubt in your mind they emptied the tank. They got everything out of their God-given ability.

There's nothing. When LeBron probably just going to be in the middle of a game and just pull him side to roll. Hey, I'm done. Just like you got a car and all of a sudden you're not paying attention. That red light come on, you out of gas. And all you can do is just hopefully you're not on the pull five, in the middle of the pull five,

but you can just get on to the side and get on off. That's how LeBron is. I mean, he's taking care of his body and everybody that's coming in. I'm not saying you're going to have a 20-year career like a 20-plus career like LeBron's. Like LeBron, but it greatly increases your chance

if you take care of yourself, if you get your risk, if you train, if you get your shots up, try to get better every year because LeBron is not as athletic as he once was because that's what I tell guys. When athleticism starts to wane, then what are you

going to do? Because when you can't outrun somebody, you can't outjump somebody, then what? This. My mind. It's just it's your purpose too. The purpose is Yeah, it's just, it's just, it's understand, it's your purpose too. Okay.

You know, the purpose is, Jordan's purpose was to be the greatest ever, right? Yes. So with that being said, that's him getting better into like, okay, this is what I need to bring in. So when he went into the summer, he self-checked himself. He didn't go off the glory of the accolades itself it was just he was a hard worker yes right yes that was the motto Kobe followed him yes right I'm chasing that I'm not chasing that the NBA players here they're not on my they're not on my planet I want want that dude. Guess who LeBron is looking at? Because they're looking at the same

two men, they have to keep going. I tell a lot of players that. Do not follow someone that's not on the planet. When you look up, you can see how far you can keep

moving forward. Right. You start looking in real time, you know, this guy's here. No, no, no. Look at Michael Jordan. Look at Kareem. Look at these guys that they look like they're in. It's impossible to catch them. And when your career's done, even if you didn't get to them, you're going to be far better than the people you was on the same planet with. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL daily with Greg Rosenthal, five days a week of get all the latest news, previews,

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Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I think the thing is, Gil, what Michael did, he was the first player to give other players someone to chase. Yeah. He was the rabbit that they were chasing. Because prior to Mike, I mean, Kareem, it wasn't Will. It wasn't Russell. Mike gave somebody like, OK, I need to be like Mike. Those commercials, those shoes, the blueprint, the way. I mean, Mike, you ain't see Mike unless he was impeccably dressed.

Yeah, you see Mike in a sweatsuit. Michael, how that ain't going to have that hoop in his ear. Mike, don't be a Michael. Be happy that Sue had a more big suit on that. They will be they will be fitted. But Mike going to be having that suit, have them suits on. Now, they ain't going to be fitted. But Mike going to be impeccably dressed. So he gave you the blueprint of how to build a brand. And so he gave you the blueprint. This is the way you need to conduct yourself.

This is what you need to do. For the first time, they had someone to chase. They gave you... He was the idea of what a star is supposed to look like. Walk, talk, score. When people think about the knock on LeBron, he's not clutch. He don't take the game away. That came because of Michael Jordan. That wasn't in the

Wilton, all those guys. That wasn't in their resume. You didn't use that against players, but when you sat there and said, I need one of those, it was everything he brung. But you know what, Gil?

LeBron has more game winning shots than Jordan. Yeah. So this notion that he isn't clutch, you know, people started that myth. It got perpetuated. See, people feel if I tell a lie enough, people are starting to believe it, even though it's not the truth. And so, you know, repeating a lie doesn't make it true. But if you

tell a lie long enough, people are starting to believe it as the truth. Go back and look at LeBron in the playoffs. Look at LeBron against Indiana. Look at him against Chicago. Against us, too. Y'all, look at that team he got to the NBA finals against the Celtics.

That was a 104. You mean to tell me he wasn't clutch? You know what it is? It ain't about the clutch. It's about how that clutch shot looked. when you think about all of jordan's clutch shots they just looked like it looked like movie scripts right he held a pose you remember the double clutch against craig elo yeah because craig lelo's got to block it he moved it to the he moved it back this way. Like shot it. It's it's it's the whole

that's why I said he was meant for that spot. Right. When you go back in the archives and you start looking up game winners, his game winners just look better than everybody else's. Yeah. And that's what it was. I mean, the tongue hanging out, you know, he had the baggage shorts. He had the

the knee sleeve pulled out of his calf. He had the he had the wristband on his elbow. He was slightly pigeon-toed. He kind of dabbed when he was walking. And when they came out, I mean, I think it was Gatorade that came, be like Mike. That was it. That was it.

That might be the greatest look. That might be the greatest because now people associate it back. That's who I want to be like. And the shoes just took it to a whole new level because people actually believe that I ain't you. That's them shoes that got you doing that. Man, let me go get me a pair and I have me a 40-inch vertical. Hey, everybody, you had light-skinned men out there cutting their heads, trying to look like Mike. Yeah.

And it didn't matter what color your team was. You could be green and gold. You could be black and gold. You had a red and white shoes on. Bro, that don't even match. You didn't get a black uniform. You got to get an all black uniform, man. I mean, you saw guys with probably all different kinds of colors

and they had the Jordans on. And that's what I'm saying. Nobody, I don't care how good the shoe is. There might be a shoe that comes along, it might add three or four inches to your berth. It ain't passing the Jordan.

It ain't that too big of a lead. It's the ideal of perfection. Right? It's the idea of perfection. And if it don't, if it don't look like it, right, it's never going to measure up.

And there's nothing that's going to come into the league that has everything Jordan had. Not in our lifetime no no it's not going to happen and so uh that's that's where we are i mean he came up and the thing was gill i remember there are a lot of guys that had shoes magic had the uh the weapons he and bird kareem had the top 10 of zetas uh dr j had the cons but once the player. Dr. J had the cons. But once the player retired, once the player retired, the shoe line went away.

They didn't make the weapons anymore. They didn't make the Dr. J's anymore. Jordan was the only one who retired. They kept making the shoe. And it's bigger. Listen, nobody got beat up over no goddamn Magic Johnson's and Larry Bird's. Nah, hell nah. Nah. I had them. I had the weapons. I had the Magic and Larry Bird's. Nah, hell nah. I had them. I had the Webbers.

I had the Magic and the Bird's. I had the Jordan's too. My mom, I got the Jordan 2's. Ended up backtracking and getting the Jordan 1's. I had the Spud Web's, the City Wing Ponies. I had the Dr. J's. Yeah, but there was something about that shoe. You felt special.

Yeah, you did. You felt special with that shoe. That was a nice, I mean, just to be honest, it was one of those things where we stood in, it was like when the Jordans dropped, it was a kid's event. Yes.

I remember they used to drop it on, what, Tuesdays? Tuesdays, 10 o'clock. We ain't in school. We at the footlocker and as soon as I get them we running to lunch. I got them. We didn't get robbed going back to school.

If we didn't get robbed going back to school, we got dragged because we had them first. But they used to drop them during the weekday and we used to get them at 10. We're going to get the shoes first, and we used to get them at 10. We're going to get the shoes first, then we're going to come to school. Then they put them on the weekend.

And then, Gil, you know, man, I ain't paying no $100 for no shoes. Don't worry about it. There are a lot of people that will. You won't get a pair. Man, $100? Because most of the time, the shoes are like $25, $50. He doubled the price. He doubled the price. He doubled the price. $100 for a pair of shoes back in the

mid-80s was crazy. But we had never seen anything like it because the shoes were just basically one colorway. So now you got a double or triple colorway. Red, black, and white. Red, the red,

the black and the red. So that changed the game. And Nike knew it. They said, don't worry about the fine. David Stern said, we're going to fine you $5,000. Nike said, don't worry about it. We got that. $1,000?

They was fining him $5,000. But the publicity that they were getting for that. Where else are you going to get that kind of attention, that kind of eyeballs? Because that's what advertisers want to see. Well, who's looking at it? How many impressions is he getting? Well, that shoe got millions and millions of impressions even before we knew what impressions

were. But they knew what that Jordan shoe was, and it hadn't looked back. The NBA draft is moving to a two-night event. Do you like the NBA draft trying to be more like the NFL draft? night event. Do you like the NBA draft trying to be more like the NFL draft? The NBA draft is moving to a two night event.

Do you like that they're trying to be like the NFL? One is dumb because this ain't the NFL, right? You ain't going to find Tom Brady's in the seventh round. No one's watching the draft after lottery, so unless it's going to find Tom Brady's in the seventh round. You'd like it. Right. No one's watching the draft after lottery. So unless it's going to be the first day, the first five picks. Right.

Then the second day, everybody else after the lottery pick, we not watching no more because after the lottery pick, how many superstars are we getting? Yeah. How many superstars are we getting? Yeah. I mean, in the last, what, since 2015, the only all-stars is what? Pascal and Jokic. Wow.

After the lottery. So what the hell are we watching the second day for? Exactly. And that's the thing. And here's the thing, Gil. A lot of it has to do with we never heard of these guys. These guys that come from overseas, unless you're the diehardest of the NBA fans, you've never heard of these guys. So it's not like the NFL. You've heard all these guys that are coming from Alabama or Ohio State or Michigan.

They're coming from teams that you've heard. Yeah. And the NBA does a great job of leading up to the draft talking about said individuals that could be in the first round and the second round so i don't look i get it everybody's trying to keep up but the nfl look the nfl has cornered the market they've cornered the market there's a reason why they're doing 25, 30, 50 million viewers in a game. The NBA would like, how do we do that? You can't.

You can't. Because, no. Go ahead, Gil. Go ahead. You just can't. You can't. I'm sorry. Unless you're going to go backwards.

Unless you're going to go backwards, right? We're going to start with the last pick. You get the first. Other than that, why am I watching the second round? Who wants to see Mark Tatum come up? Is that part of, is that Tatum's uncle? Who the, no one knows him. He's calling my name.

And the second, not the commissioner, right? David Stern didn't call my name right right i don't even know who called my name i'm pretty sure it's adam silver the one who's doing it now this right now mark tatum he coming up there no but no get off the stage man right this is like watching the second round is like watching destiny's child without beyonce it'll be honest not coming tonight yall. Well, we ain't coming either. Exactly. And so, I mean, I understand.

I mean, it's a situation that the NBA is trying to like, and plus, you know, you advertise, you stretch it out, but the NBA have cornered that market. They know, think about what they did. They sold the Saturday night game, put it on Peacock, and guess what game they put on Peacock?

The Kansas City. Why? Taylor Swift. Guess who watches the game? Those young girls. Eyeballs that you normally wouldn't get. But in order for them to get it, you got to have Peacock. Peacock paid, I'm seeing they paid $110 million just to televise one game.

But we're going to get eyeballs that we don't normally get. That's why they show on Taylor Swift. I'm not bad at them. I'm not. This is a business. And Taylor Swift bring young girls that doesn't normally watch football. They bring those eyes. And the NFL understands that.

That's why they keep showing them. And y'all can take it. Y'all can say, oh, I didn't watch the game. It's not like you turning. So I'm not mad at the NFL. I'm not mad. But what you wanted to do? You don't want to come to the game and support our man? Seriously. I mean, they milking it. They know how.

But that's not the NBA. NBA second round is 2B. It's the 2B. Yeah, nobody watching that shit. Right. Someone named Chad Ocho Cinco Johnson just donated $400. I beat Shaq

when he was at LSU one-on-one. Bro, everybody saw you running to Ray Lewis and get pancake. You pancake your damn self. Pop this Ocho goddamn! Bruh. and get pancake you and kick your damn self pop this old show god damn bro boy you like a mosquito on a rhino ass he wouldn't even felt you back there actually we might take you with the we might take you with the lakers

throw that out there damn bad bad Man, Ocho, man. Shaq would have punished Ocho. I mean, you got to be – first of all, he don't know how to play defense down to the block. All Shaq going to do is just drop step, and when he swing his elbow there, he going to be in the second row. Ocho's the funniest, man. Man, that dude, I don't know what he got going on.

Charles Barkley tonight said his New Year's resolution is to give up Diet Coke. Gil, what's your advice,ley tonight said his New Year's resolution is to give up Diet Coke. Gil, what's your advice and what's your New Year's resolution? I don't have New Year's resolutions. The reason is, one, it's

just another day, right? And when you do resolutions, to me, it seems like you have a flaw in something. I need to give up. You need a new year to do that. Just get it up. So I don't usually have those.

I have goals just set. I'm trying to be 50 million views overall. That's just the goal I'm trying. There's no time on it. This is where I want to get to. Because all these New Year goals do is, oh, I need to get in shape. You got 31 days in your ass

back to normal because you didn't have the discipline. You didn't create the habits to do what you're trying to do the next day. The thing is, Gil, is that when you look at it, when you say a goal or you say a diet, they have a start and an end time. So let me ask you a question. Once you reach your resolution, then what?

Hopefully you go back. Do you go? Do you go back to the OK? I did it and start eating or whatever, whatever, whatever you wanted to give up. So once you accomplish that, then what? So I had a soda habit. And I was like, I need to break this habit.

And because I understand... How many sodas you were drinking today, Keel? Seven. Seven? Oh, what? God. When they hit the... Like it was barbecue.

I'll finish just like that. I was drinking seven. Wow. But because I broke the soda habit how I train, right? I had to create the habit first. So the habit was if I'm doing seven a day, this first week, get it down to six a day. Then the next week doing seven a day this first week get it down to six a day then the next week three a day then it would be days like towards before I gave it up I'm just taking a sip throwing it out sip throwing it out and then it became two sips a week right now I haven't drinking any soda

right and that's how I do stuff like if I want to if I want to get in shape, I wanted to lose 50 pounds. And I was 270 last year. And I was trying to lose- What? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what'd you get down to now? The soda's up. That's a lot.

That's a lot of caffeine. That's a lot of sugar. A lot of sugar. I'm a sugar guy. So I got down to- I'm 220 now been to 224 but eight months now but that started seven month journey where it was my goal was wake up every day and leave the house i need to do that for a month right right wake up every day leave

the house right then once i got that under my belt wake up every day go to the gym not necessarily work out just get to the gym right if i worked out 12 days too hard and then eventually i just started adding on to it but i had to create those everyday habits first and most people try to just say i'm gonna go in and i mean i'm gonna work out and do this And then you go in there. And then because that's not your natural habit and you haven't created that habit, you always fail to it. So set little goals first that you know you can do. Wake up every day and make the bed. Once you got that, check. Wake up every day, get out of the house.

But you got to make the bed though, Gil, because you don't shut the covers full dark. So the bed all messy. You don't shut the covers full dark. But you got to create those habits. People don't want to create the habits first. So if you don't have any habits that you do every day, then you can't be successful anyway. This is just life goals. Yeah.

I think the thing is, Gil, the thing is that my grandfather used to tell my brother and I, he said, boys, never mistake habit for hard work. Sometimes people feel like just because they do something over and over, they work hard. We've seen people go to the gym for five years, 10 years, and their body never changed. But see, that's a habit. That's a routine in which you've established going at 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, but you're not working hard because your body hasn't changed. So what it tells me is that you're not working hard or you haven't changed your eating habits. Whichever the case may be, it's a habit. Some people are like, man, I wake up at six o'clock in the morning. Okay, and do what? Man, I just get, okay, so I mean, hell, bees are busy. That don't mean you're doing a damn thing.

At least bees, they have, you know, they moving stuff around, they building, you know, a hive or a comb or whatever the case may be. So this notion, just because you've established a habit that you're working hard, you're fooling yourself. Too many people mistake habit for hard work. And so that's why I don't do diets because diets have start stops. They have end dates. I have a lifestyle. I eat a certain way. And then when I eat too much of that one thing, now all of a sudden I get back and say okay I gotta cut this out I gotta get back on my uh I gotta get back on the cardio I gotta get back on the roll machine

get back on the soft bike um and that's on me but uh these people they be fooling themselves Ocho I mean uh damn I wanna call you Ocho hey man when you do hey hey listen you do four shows with Ocho god damn it I'm Ocho okay but people people be people be thinking they working working hard, Gil,

and they're really not. But that's self-checking, man. That was me, too. I was going in the gym a lot and just sitting there. I was booty watching, not going to lie. Everybody know I was booty watching. You know what I mean? I got that to do. They had a little tiny shorts on. Look, I'm in Woodland Hills.

That's like the club. You're coming in there. Makeup, everything on. Yeah, you're coming in there, makeup, everything gone. Yeah, you ain't trying to work out, you're trying to catch somebody. I'm up there judging, like, ooh, hey, hey, you wore that yesterday, girl, you must've been going home. Right. I'm in there just booty watching, I wasn't in there trying to lose no weight,

and then eventually it start packing up, I start looking fat on TV, then I'm like, ah, let me go ahead and take this serious. Let me get this off. Rodney, my homeboy Rodney Dinkins. Rock, what's up? I got my fourth bottle of Fortier on the way. Also, I asked Ray about needing to reach out to your team about trying to come on your show for the Olympics.

I was pleased with his response. That's my homeboy. His dad used to coach me when I was on a, I probably, how old was I? I probably was like nine. I probably was nine. So I've been, he's from my hometown. We call him Rock. And so I appreciate the support, Rock.

Yeah, if they've reached out back at you and gave you a response, they own it. 213 Sniper said, hey, Uncle, I'm about your big fan. This is for gill if you could take injuries out how how do you think you would have reached an nba greats top 75 top 50 to be honest i mean i would have been top 75 for sure um you know what i was doing at that time was unheard of right you know um i was a three- All-Star, three-time All-NBA by the age of 25. That's not a big list, being dominant that fast, averaging 28, 29. So I was going to win a scoring title. With the way my metrics was running, I was going to win a scoring title. Dwyane Wade

ended up winning one with 30. So once everyone started getting their teams better, I was going to be one of those guys that led the league in scoring. I had the advantage. Everyone thought AI was the guy who changed the point guard position. It was me.

Because they moved him to the two. When I came in, bigger guard, a shooting guard, played the point. I didn't have a big man to pass the ball down there to. Right. So I had the advantage over the Baron Davis, the Stephon Mulberry, the Steve Nash. So, you know, you giving, you know, 15 and 14 assists, I'm giving 30 points and six assists. Right. I'm pushing more points than you. Right. Right. Total points. I'm pushing more than you at this point. So I got injured, you know, and it's one of those things, but

my impact was so, so, so huge and fast that I'm still relevant today. What injury did you have, Gail? And what happened? Did you come back too soon? Did you come back too soon? Did it not fix it properly to begin with? I was boxing out. I don't know why the hell I was boxing out.

I was boxing out. I don't know why the hell I was boxing out. I was boxing out. Gerald Wallace faked the jumper. I thought he was going to take it, but I should have known it was Gerald Wallace. He can't shoot shit. I should have known there was going to be a pump fake and drive, but he pump fake drove. I'm boxing out, thinking he shot the ball. Then he ran into me

and then tore MCL, PCL, meniscus. And then because I never knew what an injury was, I didn't really rehab the way I was supposed to. So I came back, you know, came back as soon as the season started. Eight games into the season started, I'm injured again. So I had three knee surgeries in 14 months. And all that trauma built up all this scar tissue.

And you were the same after that. Nah. And I think I really messed my hand up on LeBron, that Cavs series. Because I needed to come back and play. Because my contract was coming up and because my name was still hot and they still had I'm still good in their eyes, I had to come in and play two games

to show that, hey, I'm back. And what happened is LeBron ran into my wrist and I couldn't shoot. So they gave me one of those tortles, shot to my ass. I had to bend over. And I hyperextended my injured knee. I couldn't shoot. So they gave me one of those tortles shots in my ass. I had to bend over. Right.

And I hyperextended my injured knee. Right. Which, that took forever to rehab. Right. Being ignorant, thinking I'm Superman. Yes, yes. And plus, I think the thing is, we know more now.

You probably became my better miss in the whole year. Mm-hmm. Probably became my better miss in the whole year. Probably came out better missing the whole year, came back the following year, but I get it. Understand that your contract was up. Like you said, you wanted to parlay that into another big contract, not

knowing you're probably doing more harm than good. It was one of those, I risked my career for that next contract. Yeah, you did. You absolutely did. Jordan asks, would you rather have Embiid or Jokic on your team? Shaq recently

said on his podcast, we know Joel Embiid is the best big man when it comes to numbers and all that. But Joker went to the big dance and got the thing done. We know what you can do, but can you do it at the big dance? Can you get the phone number at the big dance and take home and close the deal?

Who you want? Who you want, Gil? I'm going to take Embiid. The reason I'm going to take Embiid is because if I don't have anyone on my team, I know he can dominate. Right. He can dominate by himself. Right. And it's my job to find pieces that work with him.

Well, Jokic, you're going to need guys who can shoot the ball that he can pass the ball to. You got to treat him like Jason Kidd Magic Johnson you have to put other guys around that can make plays when he finds them so if he has a whole bunch of guys who can't shoot the ball who can't do anything else then you're just left with 22 and 12 rebounds right you take away his assist his assist comes because vision. If he can't use his vision, if he can't use his vision, then in a sense,

he's just an average double and double guy. And that's why he went in the second round because when he's working out, he's not working out with five other players where he gets to use his passing skills. Right. Go ahead. I would need to be smarter

as a general manager with Jokic. I had to put the right pieces around Jokic. With Embiid, I can fuck up a couple times in a draft, and he can carry us for a little bit. That's how I look at it. Yeah, I think the thing is I'm going to take Jokic because I think the thing is that the way they built their team in Philly and the way, I mean, look, they built their team, Philly and the way they built their team so

Joel Embiid, everybody runs the offense because there have been times Nikola Jokic can impact the game and only take 10 shots. Joel doesn't have the same impact without those attempts because he's getting to the foul line. So for me to watch him be able to

go give me 40, 20, and 15 and like they said, every big game, every big shot that they needed me to watch him be able to go give me 40, 20, and 15. And like they said, every big game, every big shot that they needed last year, in that moment, Nikola Jokic made the shot, or he made the perfect pass. I mean, that's what I said. His value

comes because he can pass that ball. Right? And that's why I said I would have to be... Calvin Booth, we were teammates. You have to create. That's why I said you have to be smarter as

a general manager when you have Jokic. I can be done with Embiid. I can be Maury. I can be Maury with Embiid. When you have someone like Jokic, you have to put the right pieces to make sure that he's at that high level every single night.

When he's not scoring, he can get you 20 assists. Yes, for sure. You know what I mean? It's one of those things that I will have to be very smart when I have a player like yokich aaron owens asked i think d rose would have won two or three rings and been top 25 if he never got injured what do you think gillian uh what do you think d rose would have ranked had he not gotten it right yes oh i mean i mean when you're talking about dynamic guards, wow.

I mean, Rose, he was different. He was Russell before Russell Westbrook. He was John Moran before John Moran, the explosive guy that played above the rim. And so they weren't point guards. That was explosive as D. Rose from end to end. And he played above the rim, which we had never seen a point guard play above the rim like D Rose could. Now we see what Russ has done. We see John Morant finishing at the rim and stuff like that. But before those guys, D Rose was it.

Yeah. Even even like when you're talking about above the rim. guys d rose was it yeah even even like when you're talking about above the rim yeah you had like small guards back in the day but not impactful like d rose did right right you know his uh his quickness and his speed with his explosion up was just different it was just that he was just a different dude um you know he could have argued if he would have stayed healthy of course he argues for you know best point guard ever you know it's just one of those things that he was just different seeing something different um the way he played the game hard knew how to right knew how to get to the lane um you know those type of guys you just get you just you look back and say what could have been what could have been right yeah yeah we're gonna make this in a different category because he was

six seven six eight yes yeah he was that magic johnson he was more of a magic johnson type yeah but could score the basketball and then he did have Shaq. It's kind of like what Magic had with Kareem. So, I mean, sometimes people forget that Magic came into the league and Kareem was the MVP. Now, let that sink in. Just imagine if Joel Embiid is the MVP and they get Victor Wiminyama.

Yeah. That's what happened with the Lakers. They got Magic and Kareem was the MVP. Yep. And then they won a championship and got worthy. Yes. In 82, they won the championship, and guess what?

Yep. That's what happened. Yeah. So with that being said, Gil, we're going to cut it short tonight, man. I'm under the weather. Hey, man, I just want to give you your flowers, man. And just for the audience out there, look, we're going to cut it short tonight, man. I'm under the weather. Hey, Unc, man, I just want to give you your flowers, man. And just for the audience out there, look, listen.

Y'all see Unc out here struggling, right? And the fact that he even hit the live, it just lets you know how dedicated he is. So when you sit thinking about dedication, the fact that he hit the live, been working all week, and he's ticked, you can see it. And the fact that, you know, that's whated you can you can see it in effect you know that's

what greatness is yeah that that is jordan in the flu game you know what you're doing tonight you you know we we can see you we can hear it and the fact that you even hit the live to even come out here it lets you know how dedicated you are and this is for people who's really trying to see what it takes to be great there are no excuses you still give the fans what they deserve even if it's for an hour hour and a half minutes man so hey i looked at you as number one before uh this is your championship for me yep you know what i mean in the fact that you're still going that's another level of dedication man like so when i get sick and i don't want to do something,

this is what I'm going to think about, man. Uncle's out here struggling, man, doing his thing. So I can't, no, let's let the party go. I had a professor in 1987 named Norman Elmore, rest your soul, Dr. Elmore. And it was cold. I'm talking about really, really cold that day. And the heat wasn't working. And so it was probably

only three people that showed up for the class. And I remember him walking in. He never had a book bag. He had all these books. And if you went to Savannah state and you was taught by Dr. Norman Elmore, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And he came and had all these books and he threw them on the desk. He said, you know, I almost didn't show up today, but I thought somebody might want to learn something. I thought someone wanted to be educated, be informed. And so that's what I said. I almost like, man, I'm, I'm, I'm struggling today, but I thought someone wanted to be entertained. Someone won't be educated. Someone want to be informed. And so I showed up and gave you my best. Hopefully the medication that I've received over the last couple of days would take effect.

And, uh, Saturday I'll be a lot better, but I don't make any excuses. I got some nurses that do the things for you. No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to get them sick. Uh-huh. What's them, y'all? What's them? Y'all don't know about that. I told you. Those are better than them

jump mans you deployed our last week. Man, go ahead over there, Gil. Come on, man. Let that go. Stall him out, Gil. Stall me out. Hey, this episode is unk flu game, man. Yeah, yeah. That's exactly what it was. All right.

Enjoy your night. We'll see what's happening. We will. Thank you for joining us. Make sure you hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. You can join our YouTube cast, our Nightcast podcast feed feed you can also get it through the club shea feed but nightcap does have its own feed also like and subscribe to gill's arena channel on youtube the show airs monday

through thursday live at 11 30 a.m pacific two-third eastern 2 30 eastern pacific remember 2.30 Eastern Pacific. Remember, again, Monday through Thursday, live at 11.30 a.m. Pacific, 2.30 p.m. Eastern time. So go to Gil's channel, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. We've also pinned the Shade by La Portia at the top of the chat. Thank you for selling us out,

but we're back in stock. So with the holidays right around the corner, we got the Super Bowl. We got, what else we got? We got St. Patrick's Day. We got Valentine's Day. Hey, I'm telling you. Hey, buy that man. Buy your man some of that LaPorte. Women, you won't regret it.

Hey, ladies. All my ladies that's in the chat, y'all know who y'all are. Y'all know what I want for Valentine's Day. Oh, yeah. Hey. Maybe harder than the times of 29 years. I'm telling you that you won't be disappointed. Thank Gil. I'm telling you that.

You won't be disappointed. Thank you. I'm your favorite dog, Shannon Sharp. He's your favorite number zero, Arizona Wildcat legend, Gilbert Arenas, Mr. Habaji himself. We're out. Peace. The Volume.

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