Gil's Arena - Anthony Davis, Warriors defense, and Chris Mills BEATING GIL’S A** 😂

Episode Date: March 8, 2023

Anthony Davis will SAVE The Los Angeles Lakers Season according to Gilbert Arenas!!! In this episode of Gils Arena, Gilbert Arenas, Josiah Johnson and Rashad McCants examine the Los Angeles Lakers without Lebron James and detail how Anthony Davis has saved their season with his stellar play as of late. Then they touch on the Golden State Warriors season in turmoil, exploring why Draymond Green continues to not get along with Jordan Poole before ripping off some topics all around the NBA like Kyrie Irving on the Dallas Mavericks, Russell Westbrook and Ja Morant. Finally, Gil gives his version of a rookie training dishing out advice he wishes he had when he entered the NBA. GIl's Arena is NOW LIVE. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Brought to you by Underdog Fantasy: Sign up here for a deposit match up to $100   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. Age is zero. Change the game. Put that respect on your name. Is that water? Yep. Welcome back to Gila the Reader presented by Underdog Furniture.

Woo-hoo! Look at us. We done upgraded. We got a studio audience. We appreciate y'all, y'all splurging. Back with the living legend, Gilbert Arenas, in Gil's arena. And we got Rashad McKenz back with us.

Rashad. Oh, got me on here. Yeah, yeah. I got a little, little pause too. And you know, I check the comments. They say never read the comments, but I feel like people don't really appreciate the crown that you're wearing. They don't.

They don't. And it's a lot of hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Diabolical hating. Diabolical. Black men can't wear a crown. Y'all start acting up. I got the ghost face with me today, bro. You know what I'm saying?

I'm going to be the most fashionable co-host you've ever seen on this show. I'm going to be here with the crown on so y'all gonna have to get used to it We're gonna chop it up. We got yeah. Well, is this is this uh, what did this water come from? This come from the faucet Or did it come out of a bottle it's not what you're used to oh my god I don't drink bottled water man. This whole house is filtered bro. Do you drink you drink straight from the tap? You got it like that. Yeah, I got a $50,000 water system in there. Ah.

I can just drink. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sir. It's healthy. I don't know. I know they do that in some parts of the country. I ain't going to drink no bottled water, people. Carry on. Rich, rich.

Rich, rich. I drink bottled water. I can't drink the faucet. We don't got that filtration. Yeah. But we got a lot of stuff. I got that alkaline. I got that alkaline coming through that faucet. Wow don't got that filtration. Yeah. But we got a lot of stuff. I got that alkaline. I got that alkaline coming through that faucet.

Get your skin. Get your skin nice and glowy. We learn something new every day. We got a lot to discuss. But first, got to get into some trust issues. Ooh. Look, we're going to talk about our favorite team, these Los Angeles Lakers, Gil. I know you've been a little cool on them for a little bit. Yeah

But they're back in the playoffs Yeah postseason playing nicey, but climbing get trajectory So after a huge win against the jawless Memphis Grizzlies 32 and 34 two games out of the 50 D'Lo should be coming back soon. But here's the thing. Lakers are 8-11 this season without LeBron.

Mm-hmm. Do you trust the Lakers to make the play-in without LeBron? Yes. I mean, we already established that they have the fourth easiest schedule. Okay. Right? So, I mean, with that being said, then, you know, they they have all the advantages of actually making a playoffs. So, Rashad, how you feeling? I know you're a

former diehard Lakers fan. You abandon your Lakerdom. We're gonna bring, we're gonna reel you back in. Oh, man. Just the LeBron dynamic is gonna be, it's gonna be up in the air. You know what I'm saying? I just think that they got what it takes, but the coaching, health, that's all going to play a part. And for me to believe in that, these new pieces are going to have to start performing a little bit better, even though they won a game or two. But his leadership, AD is going to have to keep doing what he's doing. He can't get hurt. And the utility guys, somebody is going to have doing what he's doing. He can't get hurt and the utility guy. Somebody gonna have to continue to pop up. I know you love Austin. We're gonna get

into Austin but I don't think he got enough to be a centerpiece of one of those new pieces they got but I think that if they balance out the chemistry and they get it going the way they starting to get it going without Russ, they can do something. Now, we're gonna talk about Austin Reeves, but I just got to preface. I don't think he's the two piece. He's that nice accessory biscuit though. Well moisturized.

He's not the actual chicken. With the butter on? He's the biscuit? Popeye's biscuit? He's a Popeye's biscuit. You don't want to be no Popeye's biscuit. You don't rock with Popeye's. Bojangles.

We don't have no Bojangles out here. See, see, see. Popeye's biscuit? You don't like Popeye'sles out here. See, see, see. Popeye's biscuit? You don't like Popeye's biscuits, Gil. The driest biscuit on earth. You got to get it fresh. The driest biscuit on earth. You got to either get it fresh, put it in the microwave, or hit it with the honey.

Microwave. That makes it drier. Once it cools down to re-moisten it. Sprinkle a little bit on there. All right, so I'm going to double down on this. We think they can make the play-in without LeBron. Can they finish top six and be in the actual version of the playoffs? Listen.

D-Lo's coming back. When you have the fourth easiest schedule. Ooh. The fourth easiest. That means it's really easy. So that means all these should be winnable games. So if that's the case, then yes. They should be, you know, four, five.

I mean, at this point, I mean, they can probably get out of the playing game. That's what I'm saying. Top six. They chilling. Chilling against Iowa. I got it. I got it. I got it.

75. I don't trust it. I got I got 75 Fourth got fourth easiest. I know not for heart easy Lakers. Just find a way to fuck it up easy every time Every time they that means they plan with part like Houston twice That's the type of Houston twice. We don't got nobody to blame it. Like usually we blame it on LeBron. Like, but now it's like, AD don't, you know, he's like, I'm gonna do what I would do. I don't trust that, man. So that leads me to my next question.

AD's been balling since LeBron's been out. He's putting up damn near 34 points per game, 14 rebounds, three blocks. Been looking like the guy, right? You know, we talked about PG a couple days ago. AD looks like he's ready to fill in that role and be that franchise player that I think the Lakers thought they were getting when they made that trade.

So, trust issues. Will AD stay healthy for the rest of the season? I mean, to be honest, no one can trust if he will be healthy because he hasn't. You know what I mean? So I don't know if anybody's ever going to put their eggs in that basket to say he's going to be healthy. We're all praying he's healthy because we know what he looks like when he's healthy. So do we trust it?

I don't. I mean, I want him to be healthy so we can, you know, jump back on the wagon. But I don't trust that he'll be healthy because he just hasn't. You mean, I want him to be healthy so we can jump back on the wagon, but I don't trust that he'd be healthy because he just hasn't. There's always some type of freak accident. We saw Tuesday night with the nail, the rogue nail that scratched his eye. Yeah, it's always something. But he came back and he disappeared. But that's what I'm saying.

It's one thing away from okay He's done for five ten games and if you watching the game you see like the grimacing and Come on still soft ass up man And let's go this cuz I don't trust the fact that he literally plays his best basketball when the bronze not on the court He plays his best We're talking about the ad we seen in New Orleans when the bronze's not on the court. He plays his best. We're talking about the AD we've seen in New Orleans when LeBron's not on the court. And that one spurt that he had where he was like, yo, AD's back. LeBron was not out there. So I'm like, okay, is this going to be the AD

we see that we need as the Laker franchise to say this is our guy? That's without LeBron on the court. So if he can take them to top five, top six in the West, I'll trust him to just be there. Not to go anything past that, but just to be there, I'll trust him there. So is that an AD issue or is that a LeBron issue? LeBron's even said he's waiting for AD to come and take it. He's just not going to give it to him.

But is that AD's responsibility to go and take it? Say, look, Brian. Listen, that's the thing with sports. You have to take your throne. You're not going to be fucking given anything. You got to, you trying to be the lion, you're trying to be the man, you have to earn that right to sit on the throne. No one's just going to give it to you.

So if it hasn't been given to you yet, then you haven't actually earned it yet. So if a 38-year-old man is saying, hey, I'm waiting for him to prove that I can finally take a backseat and be the second option, but he just has to earn it. I mean, that's, it's coming out of your mouth. So, I mean, that's. Well, let me retract my statement that I made when I said that Tuan gave it to you. Right? I said that. Like, Tuan gave it to you. Like, nah, he didn't give me nothing.

Right? And that's the dynamic that we're talking about now. You got to go get it. And that was the whole PG Kawhi thing. He's not going to hand it to you, but you bowed out. Right? So, for LeBron to say You got to come take this. Mm-hmm ad gotta had a character and the type of

Mentality to say oh, it's already mine. Mm-hmm, right, but he not like that Mm-hmm, so LeBron basically saying we got to figure out how to get somebody else and he doesn't want to take it from me. Oh So question for both y'all is the LeBron this Lakers team any better than the team that ad had with the Pelicans Pelicans way better I Mean you had Rondo you had Rondo who managed that team you had drew holiday Right true drew holiday was the fourth quarter player that you know in the last four or five minutes like what he's doing with Greek But when he was younger, I mean, a whole different dynamic. Boogie Cousins was on that team too. And Boogie Cousins.

They won one playoff series. They won one playoff series during the time with the Texans. But yeah, that AD Pelican's better. Okay. You just gotta ask. You gotta know. Where are we at? Well, I mean, we don't have D'Lo in to actually see how they look together.

But for the team I'm looking at right now, then yeah. So healthy D'Lo, does that change your opinion? It probably changes it a little bit. Just a little bit. Okay. I got to see it. I got to see it play out, though. How much?

I got to see it. Because I look at D'Lo as a deciding factor whether they go far or not, but I haven't seen him convert over since he's been here, right? The expectations of him being on this team is similar to Westbrook being inserted when he first got to the Lakers, right? It was a big expectation, like Westbrook, AD, LeBron, how could we lose, right? So now you, I'll say he took a step down to bring D-Lo in, someone who's already been there, and we know what he can do.

He's gotten better on other teams, but now that he's back, he has to show that I'm number two or number three option. And I haven't seen that from him. I've seen him show up and try to fit in. But he ain't being the guy that's... I mean, we had a small sample size, just to be fair to D-Lo, before the injury. But what's the sample size? I mean, look, when he comes size, just to be fair to D-Lo, before the injury. But what's the sample size? I mean, look, when he comes back, we can see eight to ten games. Okay.

And then we'll talk about it after. Just see, because to your point, he's coming back to L.A., re-acclimating, and it's a different team, obviously, than when they first brought him in. But, I mean, you look at the adjustment and the conversion of, like, when you get to a trade and you're on a new team like KD, he didn't have five, six games to adjust right away, right? But, whoa, he didn't have to play right away. He got to practice first.

Okay. When D'Lo and them came in, they are playing. But they was already playing. Not with them. You got to remember, if I'm playing with him and we come in, I get two, three weeks to practice with you. We establish something versus me just playing the next day with him. I don't know him.

But if you're not hurt and I don't need that time where I literally just played two days ago with my other team, the only thing I need to get reacclimated to is the plays and the chemistry. I can still play and be me and be aggressive Malik Beasley. He didn't take no like he really like soon as he hit he made an impact. Some people do some people try to they I need to fit in. I want to already see what y'all do the last point guard. What a Craig say, you know what they did to the last guard. What did they do to the last guard? I know what they did to the last guard. So, you know, I can I can see the

hesitation like, alright, let me try to, you know, figure this out a little bit before I try to hit him with the. So, D loves play four games, left the fourth game early with the ankle injury but in the three previous ones, he had 15, 16, and 21. So, not not. He was showing us some things. Is that trying though? Those are numbers for Rue. Those are numbers for Vanderbilt.

Those are numbers for Beasley to me. He's got to be 25, 26. Next to AD and no LeBron? Got to be. And you got to at least give me 10 assists. Coming in, you don't know nothing. Solid though. You are still a Hooper.

You still Hoop. You still Hoop. We throw you though. You are still a hooper. You still hoop. You still hoop, Gil. We throw you the ball, give you ice, so you're going to clam up. I've never seen a trade where a player comes in and that first game, that next game, he's don't lose a beat. I've never really seen it. Of course. It's probably happened where can't a guy You know, he come into the team for the first time, you know, Kyrie got a member. There's no Luca, right? We saw what Kyrie when there's no Luca your point. You know me so he didn't have to adjust He just hey go there was no LeBron for D. No ad

Does it there's ad there's a number one I'm saying there's no Luca there was no, okay Yes, so he just he steps in, you know. Okay, I got you. And just to mention, in their first game together with the Lakers, LeBron had 21, D'Lo had 21, AD had 28. That's not going, that's, again, a small sample size. That's what I said. I want to see what it looks like when they're all there.

You know, I don't know if he's practicing, but, you know, when you get to have a feel for it, everyone, you know, it changes versus just coming in shoot around and play was that a win for the 20 21 21 28. Did they win? Yes They want to win. I like that because I like that. I like that confirmed You know other other networks whatever they got a 40-person research team. We come real grit and grind like the Grizzlies, really get it in. You just got a lot of that stuff going on in your head. So you got to switch it.

We got a couple more questions Laker related, but got to talk about your favorite player, Austin Reeves. Okay. Are you ready to repent for your Austin Reeves landing? Yes, I am. Yes! We did it. We did it.

And I'm not saying he could be the future guy, but what he brings to this team, I think he's better than a crew. So, and I hate to say it. I feel like it's blasphemy, but he just does so much more on the offensive side. Smart elevates whenever he's on the court. Don't need to score off the bench, off the bench, off the bench. That's your whole thing. Off the bench. That's his whole thing. Get this thing out the starting lineup. Off the bench. Yes, sir. He's in his place.

Yes, sir. Off the bench. He is my man again. He's young. Do you think he could be a starter? The problem was he was a starter. He started some game. No, he started some games when Westbrook was there.

He was the starter. He was the starter. He was the starter. He was the starter. The starter over Westbrook. That was the problem. Before that team. He was the starter. There's a Westbrook. Now he's back to

reality. But we saw with that team, you couldn't really have LeBron and Westbrook on the court. I don't hear what you're... I'm just telling you. Hey, listen. If I have Shaquille O'Neal and then I have a Patrick Ewing and they both need the right block, they're both going to be in the game. They're going to both be in the game. All right? Okay?

I'm not putting Rudy Goldberg in that bitch, okay? I'm sorry. They're both going to be in the game. So, yeah, if I'm, listen, Austin, if I'm him, to be honest, I will be complaining right now. Hey, Darvin, I don't mean to be rude, but, hey, you know, when Westbrook was here, you know, that Hall of Famer, I was starting, who's this?

Who is this? Who's this? Who am I coming off the bench? My ego will be high now. Who am I coming off the bench to now? Coach, coach, coach. This is ridiculous. This is blasphemy. This is blasphemy.

This is ridiculous. You're messing up my contract. Come on, man. You're messing with my numbers, man. You're messing with my numbers. I'm here with Billy Kobe. No, that just, I was in front of Westbrook. Now I'm in front of, who is this?

That's real. So last thing Lakers related, Tuesday night, Pau Gasol got his jersey retired. Right next to Kobe, where it belongs. Some people out there say that Pau didn't do enough. And it's funny, the black community, we still call him Paul. We still put that L. But some people said that Pau didn't do enough in his Lakers jersey to get it retired. I tell them, you know, eat a dick.

Like, he did his thing. He helped resurge that franchise. I may appreciate that back there. So just from you two guys playing the league, playing against Powell, the skill of Paul Gasol and... I can't even say grit. He was just different. You couldn't bully him, but he wasn't the toughest. He wasn't like Mark.

You know what I mean? He wasn't the tough grinded out, but his skill and his intelligence helped him. I mean, I think with the Lakers, they were a four-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA player. So the answer is yes, he did deserve to get his jersey retired. there's someone that was in front of him whose legacy is more important for what Lakers was doing back then in this AC Green. You know, I think he played, what, 10 straight years, no games missed, and he was the grit and grind person. And I really believe that

his jersey should have been retired a long time ago okay and it should be retired before Paul's but I do believe Paul's jersey should be retired I love you calling Paul Paul he's American right with such conviction. He's American now. He's American now. His name is Powell, but when you come, I'll figure out who you're calling. Just like the Asian community, they have a Chinese name, they don't have an American name. You're like, Duong Van Sum, and then here's Mark. Be Mark.

So it's Paul here. We can't downplay Powell's skillset. Before we talk about the Lakers' tenure, I look at the Grizzlies. I watched him give Kevin Garnett nightmares, bro. I had to sit there and be like, I didn't know he was this good. And he had this silent Spaniard gangsterism. Like you said, he's not the tough guy, but he's still the guy that puts in the call. Mm-hmm. I need him Yeah, chop his head off. Yeah, I need him. So I watched his grit when he was in Memphis where he would

He didn't carry that with him to the Lakers But he carried a skill set with him. He could pass. Triangle offense was perfect for him where he can facilitate, shoot his little mid-range, and do his little thing in the iso. Now we got to go to the now. And we got to talk about these Golden State Warriors of San Francisco. Been struggling on the road like the Odoio family and Billy Madison. Damn Odoio rules. Odoio

Straight off the cliff Seven and twenty five on the road have lost their last seven road games on the flip side 28-7 at home And in those home games, they have the best defensive rating in the league But in those road losses, they have the best defensive rating in the league, but in those road losses, they have the second worst in the league. We saw Steph Curry against the Thunder, 40-piece. I want to say like 84% true shooting percentage. Now, in previous years, if I would have told you Steph put up a 40-piece with those numbers, how much did the Warriors win by? They took it out. Well, Jim Baylor.

So what are the chances, 0-100, that Steph Curry can save the Warriors season? Save it on the road? Well, you know what's so funny is that stat makes sense, to be honest. If you ever looked at the Warriors when they were on their shit, they're a great defensive team at home. They actually never played defense on the road. What they tried to do on the road through all the years is try to out-shoot the home crowd.

So whenever they played on the road, when you're at home, you're more free. So they use their great shooters to entice you to play their style. So they played more of a circus game on the road that shit ain't working anymore That's the problem. It's not working how it worked in their favor then where you know at home They're trying to score about 110 on the road They trying to score 120 when usually you try to play a more conservative game when you play on the road So it's just not working for them anymore. But I went back and looked. 15th, 16th season, I want to say they were 34-7.

16th, 17th season, KD came there with 31-10. They were still doing what they needed to do. But that's what I'm saying. But look at their – what was they scoring on the road? That's a good question. Their three-point shooting on the road. They shot – you know, they tried to shoot you out of your own gym. You know, so it's kind of – it's just – that's what, that's what I said, they don't have the hogs like they used

to to just try to pull it off like they did in the past. Is that what you think? They definitely don't. They don't got it. I'm zero. I'm zero. And that's just because- They can't even get one?

Nah, because I see the dynamic out there. Right. And I see why they would lose on the road. But I see why the the crowd keeps them in the game at home. Right. But the chemistry is just blaring to me. Like every time I watched him play, even last night with the Draymond Green thing with Jordan Poole. Like, that's obvious now. They would be they was able to hide it for a long period of time,

but now you can see why they lose and why they win. Jordan's on the bench, 11 points. Could have had a chance to win, but you can tell there's a, there's just a lack of communication. There's a lack of just cohesiveness. The Oxes can't trust it. And Steph can't do it by herself. I mean, you got Klay.

Wiggins has been away from the team. He should be coming back at some point. That is a factor that we're not paying attention to, too. Wiggins is not there also. The fuck is wrong with him? What's wrong? I was about to say, what is he doing? What's going on?

He's a grown man. I ain't in his business. I mean, what's the reports? Family issues. Oh, okay. Personal reasons So, you know, let him deal with that. Yeah Okay, I mean I was yeah. How long has it been? It's been a minute a couple a month. It's been

Is he like on the bench or he's he wait? I think he's away from the team Okay, then there must be some real serious. I don't watch Warriors games like that. Warriors fans know that. But I mean, but you know, like when you're, when you're, now other people have to do other things to make up for a loss, right? So which means it takes away from your bench. So if bench players are playing like starters, then the bench is not playing like what they used to play. So that's why I said they're not, they're trying to play this, they're trying to beat you out of the gym at home

and that shit ain't going to work. So you mentioned it, but for everybody who didn't see it, during the Warriors' loss against the Thunder on Tuesday, Draymond showed some frustrations with Jordan Poole, didn't get the pass, so he decided to not get back on defense, then ended up leading to a turnover.

We've also seen Steph get attacked this season, showing his frustrations with Jordan Poole. We got the clip. Look at us. We've also seen Steph get attacked this season showing his frustrations with Jordan Poole. We got the clip. Look at us. We done upgraded. We got the good picture and picture. That clip is so bad, man, because Draymond thinks he's in the right because he looks wide open right there. But Giddy's standing right there. Right? So for Jordan, he sees what Draymond doesn't. Now Draymond goes into the whole hissy fit punk bitch shit. Like, what are you doing, bro?

Like, even for you, like, if we're playing and I see one of my teammates do something like that in the middle of the game, bro, and it leads to a turnover fast break and a point on the other end, it's timeout. Timeout, let's go to the bench. And we got to figure out what just happened, bro. But Steve Kerr is the kind of guy that's like, oh, I didn't see it, like you said. Mm-hmm. The back turned. I ain't seen nothing. Right? So Jordan Poole feels some type of way when he goes back and looks at the film. It's like, oh, shit. He turned his whole back

to me like I was doing that on purpose. So is this a big deal? We making a bigger deal than what it is? I've been on I've been on the side of both of those. I was Jordan Poole. I missed you.

And then he turns his back. I throw that bitch anyway. Right up his head. Ah! My bad. My bad. Ah, I was trying to get it to you. My bad. And it's a turnover.

Fuck off. You know, I've done that. Right? I've also been the guy who's, hey, hey, whoo! Whoo! Thinking I'm, whoo! Right? You know, you sitting there thinking you open.

And then, like, all right. Oh, this is the kind of game we playing? Mm-hmm. All right, y'all going on down there and play some beepers. I'm cherry picking. I've done both. I've been both. Been both.

So what do you see? What do you see out of that? How do we take that clip and say, ah, Draymond's wrong? No one's wrong because they both have different views of what's going on. Right? Right. So you got one player in the middle of it. You got to remember, he hits him.

Dudes fall and he's trying to, Draymond's open at that point. Everything's everywhere. Yep. Once he takes that dribble, Draymond's not open. Yep. Draymond thinks he's still open. Right? So the fact that he get it because Draymond, if you look at the play, Draymond was thinking,

I'm going to come. You're going to give it, I'm going to throw it. Right? So he was already, he was already, he had his play already moving. He had the soccer pass trying to go. So it's just the timing. And if you don't hit the timing correctly. It's a broken play. It's a broken play.

So what ends up happening, Draymond probably gets frustrated because he's sitting there and it's already it's already too late Right, right. All it took is he throw it interception, right? So he gets frustrated does that turn around he throws it Anyway, you know what I mean? It goes, you know, they try to make a hockey pass another way Let me ask you this question then this should break it Does Draymond do that shit to Steph Steph is doing the same thing Jordan's doing mrs. Draymond does Draymond go Hell no, we don't you know what he does he Shows his hand and he runs his ass to the fucking corner like he always does or he runs into a pick and roll

You know why cuz this is your fucking role Draymond Doing all this shit. Oh, because Jordan pool has the ball. You are saying that you're a hater. I'm gonna say that but everyone's done it to Jordan pool. Not to Steph. That's what I'm saying. No, no, no, no. Steph done it to Jordan pool. Clay's done in the Jordan pool. Remember he's the new but I'm saying Draymond doing it. It's Steph. If no, because they've they probably did it when they flew. We got to remember we're watching them to work. We don't watch the game to watch the game. Let's just be honest. We watch the game for them for the players. Yes.

We just watching them to watch in them. So we see that's what we're doing. It's all good. So we're catching. We're catching everything. Yes, But you got to remember, these guys have been together 2013, so they've already done that. They done went

through that. They done already went through that. I can't stand when you do it. So they've already done did that. They've already won.

So we done missed all that. If we go back and watch, we done seen it. Got to remember. Okay. You got to remember. So we don't miss all that if we go back and watch we don't see they got a member Okay, I gotta remember When Katie got there all hail Katie. Yes. Great mom was still at the same because he hasn't earned That look me off yet. Oh shit. He hasn't earned to look me off So why isn't that why is it something new when you've already went through it?

Why would we have you haven't earned it for me you I'm the I'm the I'm the I'm the playmaker here. You haven't earned it. Like if I think I see something else come on. Let's go. I'm only clapping because I think I'm open. I'm only clapping. I'm only doing this because I'm open because I see something else, right?

That's the only reason I'm clapping at you. Right. Other than that, I'm gonna just keep going and keep moving. Right. But I see something. This means let's go. Yes. Let's go. Right. Other than that, Draymond don't ask for the ball. But if I miss you, it doesn't mean go take a hissy fit because I missed you. I know but we don't know. We don't know what the frustration was throughout the game. We don't know if this is like the third, fourth time.

But you got to – he doesn't – we're not talking about Draymond who's going to shoot the ball. Right. He's looking to I see something now. So let's go. Let's get off of – god damn it. So you're saying this is a – This – you know what I mean?

This is not something new when it comes to Draymond and the Warriors. They've kind of filtered these type of things out. Yeah, you can see when Draymond does it. It's new players that hasn't, you know, they he's it's buck. It's the buck against the new players because he's already established that with the Iggy's and all of that. They already they already understand their behavior. If he does make this if he does do this They already know he sees something

He's not gonna just normally do it. He ain't gonna be on the weak side with his hands up. Oh, he's not got him He's not trying to shoot the ball. So it's not like he's doing it for himself. He's doing it for someone else So he sees something else. So if we're playing together and I know anytime you be like, yo, I know you're open. So if we're playing and I hear that yo, I'm like, okay, I can just throw it. So if I just got there and I'm sitting here and you hit me with the yo and you don't hit me with the yo 15 times that game and I ain't respond yet, you know what I mean? At some point you're going to have to, hey out of a little hold on home boy, but we Mean hit me out there. We tomorrow after the knockout. We talk about all that the message has been sent now, but that

Pass you the ball Listen, you know, I don't we haven't went through any kind of boom. Hey, know your place, young fella. Know your place, right? I've been beat up plenty of times after that. After the beat up. After the beat up. We shouldn't have to go through a new. Chris Mills.

Ooh, L.A. legend. All the time. Chris got the hands on you? Arizona brother. I got hit by the car. Chris don't play. I got hit by the car. I've been choked out on the plane. I mean, I deserved every single one of them. But the fact that I got choked out, I got hit by the car. I've been choked out on the plane.

I mean, I deserved every single one of them. But the fact that I got choked out, I got beat up, I did all this. All Chris Mills? Is he your D-Bow? Yeah, he's my D-Bow. Damn. You better grab that brick, dude. And he didn't get the ball in the game.

Chris, leave this man alone, Chris. Nope. Chris, my man. Didn't get the ball in the game. And that was usually why I got beat up. Didn't change the behavior. Leave this man alone, Chris. Nope. Chris, my man. This is my OG, man. And that was usually why I got beat up. Didn't change the behavior. I'm still going to play my game.

So that's why I said it. Like, it's one of those things where it's just, you know, it happens. I've done it. I've done it plenty of times where somebody just flashed through the lane and was like, ah, I missed you. Like, I missed you, right? I missed the opportunity. So I'm not going to pick it up. I'm just going to keep finishing my move.

So is Jordan Poole a little Gilbert Arenas? Probably. Okay. That's what I'm saying. It looked like he was in the middle of finishing his move when Draymond hit him with the open. And by the time he realized it, Draymond wasn't open. And so he decided to say, all right, you're not open from my angle.

I'm going to hit it there. And then that's why Klay hurried up and threw it. And he already said, fuck it. But my thing is, why fuck up the team morale with that part? Just to send him a message like, I'm open, I'm open. Like, I know he was open, bro. Like you said, I'm doing my thing. You're being open, nigga.

Listen, there's been plenty of times where I was straight by a tree. These things. Ah. Ah. I got you. Y'all play defense by y'allself. Fuck it. All right, let's keep this thing moving.

That was a beautifully spirited discussion. Have you ever done anything like that? Because I'm pretty sure you didn't get the ball a lot. Yeah, come on. We've been working together two years. I just sit on this couch. You got to talk about it, though. I had some decent moments. Nah, I'm trying to think. I was

more of a, you know, a peaceful guy. You was a black hole. You weren't passing it out. I did my fights on the streets of Westwood. Westwood. Calaboo, host wanted! I might have to beg somebody or choke somebody out. But my older brother now, yeah, my older brother Chris definitely,

he was more in line with that Draymond. But I saw how he moved, and I didn't quite have the hands like him, so I had to temper my shit down. We'll just say that. But now let's move on. Let's talk about Kyrie Irving. Got to give some love to Kyrie, what he's doing out there in Dallas. I'm going to give you all a stat. Kyrie is the first and only player in NBA history with 275 plus points, 50 plus rebounds, 60 plus assists in his first

10 games with the franchise. Here's the thing, he's done it twice. Did it with the Nets, done it with these Mavs. What are the chances, zero to 100, that Kyrie has found his forever home with the Mavs? He said he likes Dallas, hasn't really been out on the streets too much, but seems to be enjoying his time now. You know, Kyrie is the one player that's really hard to read because it's how he feels.

It's his vibe, right? Where he feels he's going to be at peace playing basketball. And that's really where it's either there or here with the Lakers. It's where can he play basketball, and that's all he can play. I will lean towards Dallas because it's more of a relaxed area versus L.A. where it's going to be poking at him again for no reason. I would say

51-49 that he's with Dallas just because of what happens when big media starts messing with him for everything outside of the game. That's the thing. We want him to come to the Lakers, but that's the part that we don't really talk about. You've got to deal with him to come to the Lakers, but that's the part that we don't really talk about.

You got to deal with Lakers fans now. Great fans, but... I'm not worrying about the fans. They go hard, but then you got to deal with them. The media circus. That's the media... I think that magnifying glass on him will be bigger than any other place he's been.

Not Cleveland, not Boston, not Brooklyn. Now, if he was with the Knicks, it would probably have been different. But now you come to L.A., that that's just on you at all time Yeah, because it's like no one pays it to like we're his his knock is not what he does on that hard floor And that's the problem. Yes the hard floor is If you just judged him on that hard wood then you will realize how magnificent this man is. Yes.

But you want to throw in that. You know, you want to throw in all this and that's what's, everyone's like, oh, why would I want him on my team? Oh, because what he do right here. What he does when he does when them lights come on. That's all I care about. I don't want a 50-40-90 guy on your squad. I was questioning your...

I would say that the major element for him staying in Dallas is if the players in the locker room can accept him saging. Right. Him having energetic, spiritual acceptance. You know, you guys got to let the sound bowls come in. Right. Shamans. Spell on the junk. He's surpassed

the Hooper phase of comfort where he's had his stamp on everywhere he's been but now, like you said, it's about peace. It's about how he feels the vibe. How many of us Hoopers can go into a locker room and say that we can demand our vibe in the locker room?

Right? Whether it's music, whether it's how I want to dress. Mark Cuban's going to have to set the tone for that comfort level, and Luka's going to have to be okay with it. Yeah. If he goes to L.A., are they going to accept him like they accepted Russ? When players... Do you really pay attention to someone else's vibe or are you just in yours? Because it can fuck with my vibe.

If you're doing some crazy shit in the locker room that ain't got nothing to do with your headphones on your own, and you're playing the loud music and it's like... Someone actually irritated you in the locker room? Just because I didn't feel like they were preparing for the game. They were just fucking around. It's like, you're just fucking around. But see, that's what it is. I think we only pay attention when we look at it, and then we realize that shit ain't

working, goddammit. You did all this over here, and you had four fucking points. Stop that shit. I got to get that point. You did all this over here, and you had four fucking points. Stop that shit. I got to get that point. Put that little shit away, man. But we know, as hoopers, that everyone has the thing they do, right? And we're only going to judge it when it's not working.

When it's not working, we're going to be like, ah! Hey, man, come on with the goddamn music, man. Them same six songs, man. You don't have, you averaging four with the same six songs. We, because we pick up. We all do that. But we can see his, he ain't really, I don't think no one's questioning, is it working? But since he's won, he's been on this spiritual tip.

After he left, well, let's just say after Boston. When he left Boston, he went into the spiritual enlightenment, right? But he hasn't been the same Kyrie since. We don't even know that to be honest. If you look at the history- We ain't even see him in Cleveland though. Because it's Cleveland. We don't know what he was doing over there. We really don't know how he- We don't know what he was doing.

Damn. Don't nobody know nothing. You got to talk to Cleveland. It's Cleveland. Nobody's paying attention to goddamn Cleveland, man. He could have been in that fucking stadium. We don't know nothing. We don't know what the movements were like.

When we talk about Kyrie, is it fair to say that he's clutch? Yeah, he's a clutch player. He's a clutch player. 100%. So we always hear people talking about being clutch. Okay. I want, I want Iguodala. We don't get the timing right.

We was like Chris Rock, the joke was there, but we just, you know. I want Iguodala. There we go. So we always hear people talk about being clutch, but what does clutch actually mean in your opinion clutch means? You can you can hyper think when the game is fast you can slow it down and you can you can make shots in moments that's supposed to be difficult for the average person or the average hooper. So being clutch is an actual skill.

So that's the last three, four minutes where it doesn't matter what the first three quarters, none of that means. It's what you can do in the most pressurous moments in the game is when you excel. There's not a lot of clutch players. So fourth quarter, in your opinion, is more important than the first three? Last five minutes. That's the clutch time.

There's clutch players who haven't been starters, who are six men. There's clutch players that... I mean, Robert Orr, I think, comes to mind. Talk about it. Yeah, so he's a clutch player.

You can consider him a clutch player. Lou Williams is a clutch player. Ginobili's a clutch player. I was about to say Ginobili, too. So, you know, they're more clutch player than Hall of Famers. Because it's just something in your gene where big shot Chauncey's a clutch player. Big shot Bob. I mean, you can get into the Hall of Fame not being clutch.

There's a lot of players that's not clutch players because it's something that you do, you know, in the fourth quarter that you can just hyper-focus and make big shots, and you make it seem you don't get rattled. It's just things you do in the fourth quarter. I'm sure you both have teammates. I don't need names. We're not trying to catch no strays today, but guys, quarters one through three, 20, 30,

can get you locked in. As soon as that fourth quarter come, and now it's, all right, we need these shots to really matter, they disappear, and vice versa. Guys, I might be shit first three quarters of the game, but, oh, damn, we're playing for something now. I can really go out there and get it. Yeah, like, it's a thing where, like, when,

I remember when Lou came, when Lou came to the Clippers, that was one of my big things. Doc is going to have a real problem on his hand because he has a clutch go-to guy at the end who's done shown that he can hit big shots year after fucking year. And then you have Kawhi coming in, who's the franchise and the faith, who had a great playoff run, won a championship, hit some big shots. And it's like, who are you going to get the ball to?

Who do you trust more? Yeah, who do you trust more at this point? And it was going to be Lou. It was going to be Lou at that point in time because that's who he's done seen do it over and over. So, you know, over and over. So you know, clutches are real. You have to be able to spot who's a clutch player because if you're a coach and you don't

know what a clutch player is or who has it on your team and he's sitting on the bench, that could be that can. Let me give you a prime example of a clutch player right now in today's game. Damian Lillard. example of a clutch player right now in today's game. Damian Lillard. That's a clutch player. We're talking about embodiment of the moment, right? And not just like we were talking about earlier, like Giannis has clutch moments, but he's not a clutch player, right?

The consistency of showing up when the time is neat. So I think Dame is a guy we've seen hit crazy clutch shots, tie games, give me the ball. I got it. Right. And when you ask for it like that, like, nah, it's me. It ain't going to nobody else. That's the Kobe. That's the Mike. That's that mentality that we all talk about. So I like the fact that a guy like Dame can embody what it means to be a clutch player and give the younger generation examples of that. Like, why is Dame considered that? First four, the first three quarters, he's getting his teammate involved.

He's getting the flow of the offense execution, but he knows where he's going to dominate the game in the fourth. I know where my spots are. I know where my comfort zone is. You've got to foul me here. I know that this corner-to-corner swing-swing is going to come back to me and ISO at the top. I got all my spots ready to go.

Now it's all about Chauncey putting me in the position to do this stuff, right? So I love that part about trying to figure out how to tell this younger generation what a clutch player looks like. And for both of y'all, in your opinions, clutch, just being able to score, I'll give you two examples. Jordan hitting Steve Kerr, having the confidence in his teammate to know you have a better shot to score.

And LeBron, game seven, 2016, saying, nah, I'll give it to Kyrie right here. What was your question? That's my question. Is it just scoring related, or is that a part of it too, being able to know? Scoring related. Gotta get buckets. Scoring related. Got to get buckets.

Scoring related to the head. So you're just trying to give credit to LeBron? No, no, no, no, no. You talk about Jordan being clutch, you talk about LeBron being clutch. LeBron has more game winners in the playoffs than Jordan, but the knock on LeBron is he's not clutch. But there's a difference with Jordan.

Jordan was the ultimate clutch player. So you had to convince him. Yes. You had to convince him, like, hold on. He will be had to convince him. Yes. Yeah, you had to convince him like hold on He will be open trust him. Yeah enjoy this. I alright LeBron is the field Jackson

He's the clutch player. We're gonna draw it up for him. Yeah, you know, that's the difference I don't I don't think that but that's I don't think There's one thing that they don't give LeBron credit for. Understanding who's who on his team. Yes. Right? He understands that I might not have the clutch gene like Kyrie. I had to sometimes, if I'm feeling good, I'll take it. Other than that, this is who, this is who I trust to take these shots.

You know what I mean? That takes another type of skill. And I don't think we credit him for that skill. I wouldn't necessarily call that clutch, but just being in that moment. Being smart. It's called being smart. We critique that moment, though. No, I didn't.

I usually used to critique that moment because I felt like there was him being afraid of the moment, but that was, like you just said, him being smart enough to take himself out of that moment and being able to say, nah, he's better suited here. It does take a whole other set of fucking cojones to fucking say, Kyrie's better at this than I am. Let him take this. See, that is it. Some superstars, you got to remember, some franchise players will fail to try to prove

to the world that they're franchised versus saying if I'm a star player and he has a gene that I don't have, I'm the selfish one that actually keeps trying to do his job. That's his job. That's his job. It don't matter if he averages eight. If he averages eight in the last three minutes, that's what he's good at. So I'm going to make sure. That sounds like PG handed it over to Kawhi.

I'm here. I'm here when you need me, but I'm not going to keep trying to say, this ain't, nah. You sitting there like, damn, all right. Because you ain't going to say nothing, but you know what I mean? I'm like, hey, I got you next time. I'm going to be just 0 for 16. Exactly.

I look like the idiot, but that's a lot of stars have hit their head against that. Trying to be clutch instead of being smart. Trying to be clutch when that's not your game. We just had that conversation though. We just talked about the PG handing it over to Kawhi. That's not to say that PG won't take a clutch shot, right? But we know PG not a clutch player. You hear me? We know he's not a clutch player, and we know Kawhi has clutch moments.

Clutch moments. So it would make sense for PG to say, here, bro, you be the guy responsible for the clutch moments, and when you can't do it, you got to do it to me and I'll get credit without pressure. But I mean, you can be an option one, then turn to option two. Instead of saying, I'm jamming to option two and two. Like Antoine. Okay.

So with Antoine Jamison, you know, there was a point where he realized that young fella at the end of the game knows how to do it. Yeah. So it's like, all right, last four minutes, you know, just we're going to do pick and roll, pop and come again. You know, that's how it was. Yeah. You know, it wasn't more of, you know, me just really being bullheaded.

Right. It was more of once he realized he can score when the game counts, and that's just going to relieve pressure anyway. It's Hooper understanding. We understand. And it's that moment, like, you know what? This thing is really pretty fucking good at this shit at the top. But the only thing that get in the way of Hooper's moments is media.

Creating that riff. Creating a riff that's already, oh, why is he passing the ball? And now I got to sit there, yeah, yeah, why am I passing the ball when we've already established the understanding? So you're talking about PG Kawhi. Let's keep it on these clippers. We got to talk about Russell Westbrook. We got to talk about Westbrook.

Look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look, look. See how Gil's face turned? He's going to protect him. He's going to protect him at all costs. And this is the thing. When you look at how the media portrays Westbrook, how casual fans portray Westbrook, they treat him like he's the worst basketball player on the planet, which is wild to me. But when you talk to Russ's former teammates and current teammates, all they do is sing his praises. Yep.

Beloved by Bradley Beal with the Wizards. Paul George had one of his best seasons, as you mentioned, in OKC. PG lobbied the Clippers to bring Russ in and sign him. You know what I mean? Despite the narrative and whatever around him. But here's the thing. Since Russ has been the starting line of Clippers and 1 and 5. Well, don't do that.

Not Russ's fault. I'm just saying. Don't do that. They're going to try to pin it on Russ. Of course. They're going to pin it on Russ. He's 3-9 in his last 12, including with the Lakers. When he came to the Clippers, they were the 4th seed. Now they're the 8th seed.

That's what's up. It's the Clippers. So is it? It's the Clippers. So what are the chances, 0-100, that Westbrook turns into wins for the Clippers? This ain't about Russell turning into wins for the Clippers. It's the Clippers still, though. The real stat is this.

How has Paul George and Kawhi been playing since Russell's been at it? Where are their numbers? Are they playing better? Is the game easier? Because you have this bulldog coming down the lane and everybody got to stop it and he's making easier plays for them to just be able to play one-on-one. That's all I care about. That's all I care about when I'm moving forward because the Clippers is the Clippers. All right Clippers is always gonna be the Clippers It's can't get rights. All right, they got that clipper tag Can it change them? They got an owner who seems invested in winning?

Putting up bread. No no arena and going on me Single would tons of bad. Have you seen that? Are we making this useless for us? I'm not making this I'll make this is for Westbrook. Okay, how about this? If you was averaging 22 Have you seen that? So are we making excuses for Westbrook again? I'm not making an excuse. Are we making excuses for Westbrook again? Okay, how about this? If you was averaging 22, right, doing it your way, and I come and you averaging 29, right, and we losing, are you blaming me? Nah, nah, I'm not. But that's what I'm saying.

That's the stats that I want to see if Paul George Stats are being hurt. Kawhi stats are being hurt because of it. Uh-huh, then you can sit there and worse But if everybody's playing well, and they just horrible defensively There's you know what I mean? I got it. I got it That's what I said I want to look under the hood versus saying oh we're gonna look at the record and this and then this guy is over here And they they undefeated. That motherfucker is averaging four points.

It ain't because of him that they're undefeated. You know what I mean? So I guess we need to look at the elephant in the room, which is Tyrone Lue. If Ty can't put them in position after having this, we're going to let Russ be Russ. We want Russ to be Russ. Okay. Now, Russ hasn't converted to wins. Now when are you going to step in? Because you just said that he's making them play better, Kawhi.

That's what I said. I need to see. So if that don't convert to wins, we just stroking ego, right? Russ is here to stroke their ego so they feel better about losing, right? So if that's not the case, Ty needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out a system where Russell Westbrook can convert to wins while playing on this team, whatever offense

they running. It ain't to convert them into winning basketball game. Hold on. They might be playing better, you know, PG might be, you know, 42 here 30 something, but that ain't a win. No, hold on. Hold on. Because I don't even think they played teams they can actually beat yet. Hold on. They played the Grizzlies without Ja.

And they won that? No. No. Didn't they win it before? They couldn't beat the Grizzlies? They won in five. Sunday, they lost. They won in five, boy.

No, no, no. I know that. But the teams that they played, the teams that they played, the teams were better anyway. But they're still a winnable game. Nah, I am. It's the Clippers. You're not playing the top five teams.

No, I think they were playing. Oh, they did beat the Grizzlies. I'm high. That was the only one, right? Yeah! Without Josh. Without Josh. Then go.

Then who else? I'm off the Edibles too. So uh, loss of the Kings in that crazy. 176, 175. The Kings are not a top five team. Yes they are. What are you talking about? They're top three.

They're two now. Because the Grizzlies have been tricking. So they lost to the Kings, lost to the Nuggets, lost to the Timberwolves, lost to the Warriors, lost to the Kings again, beat the Jollish Grizzlies. Yeah, that's what I said. They haven't, they, that was, they didn't, the only winnable game was probably the Golden State Warriors. The fact that the Kings are that high?

Two. Oh my God. And before that, they were three. Oh my God. Them boys is running. We're going to talk about the Kings on this. We're going to light the beam. They're trying to run you, but they're trying to run you out of the gym.

But is that the case or are all these other teams just discombobulated? Oh, bro, they're trying to run you out of the gym. Listen, I had to get a reality check because I was like, Kings? Who watches the Kings? Wow. They running. We got some breaking news, fellas, in the middle of the show. John Morant.

50 games. Glendale, Colorado police closed this investigation to grievely star John Morant with no charge or crime. There was not enough available evidence to charge anyone with a crime. Of course it was not. He's back. Let y'all play. I think Gil has something to do with that. You told him all the rules and regulations.

Think about it. What is the local police going to do to something that they're watching after media? By the time they get a hold of it, they're motherfucking L.A. What are we talking about? Something flew out. What they going to do? Hey, Mr. Jha, I want to ask you a few questions. All right.

Did you have a go at it? No. No. I didn't. What are you talking about? Like there was no, like I said, it's a club. You think the club themselves? Jha was at Shotgun Willie's in Colorado.

What I'm saying is Shotgun Willie's. It's called Shotgun Willie's was the spot. So I feel like he was on brand. You're at Shotgun Willie's. You got to hold the pizza Willie's was the spot, so I feel like he was on brand. You're at shotgun Willie's, you gotta hold the peace up. You gotta remember, that's their club, that's their establishment. You think they're gonna say, oh yeah, that was, we didn't check John McGrath, you really, no. Like, oh no, we checked him before, he didn't have nothing, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, come on. This is just the Glendale, Colorado police report. As you previously mentioned, and I think this is advice that anybody could take, don't say shit.

I mean, we all, like, it's, you got to remember, you've already left. You're already gone. So everyone that asks questions after that, there's no evidence of nothing. So what are we talking about? Well, we've seen on the social media. Yeah. Give me my freedom. Well, look, you beat the case.

Cool, my mans. But let's have an intervention about never being in this position again. Which one? With the shirt off? All of them. The only question I really do have is how much fun was he having to have his shirt off? There's only a few players I've seen that gets that sweaty in the club with his shirt off. He was high That boy was high. You ain't got a drug test to look forward to man. That man is out his mind out there He he didn't think about that till they happen a lot. So after it happened, he's like man. I was fucking faded man

What was I thinking? No, I know players who didn't even have a shot and they had their shirt off. He's holding the gun like he found it. I know players who drink cranberry juice, shirt off in the club. He's holding the gun like he found it in his mama's closet, bro. Shirt off. I didn't see. Put that gun back in your mama's closet, boy. That was a filter.

Put that gun back. That was a filter. I got the same filter. The gun filter? Yep. It's the GIL filter? It's the GIL filter. No, it's this app.

That's what I said. That's what I said. You know the filter? For real, no. I'm dead ass serious. That wasn't no damn filter, boy. Why you think when you do the filters, you got to pretend to hold it like this?

But why was he holding it like that? Because it's fake. It's a filter. So he got to pretend that he got the whole thing. So he's like, yeah, it's a filter. What's wrong with y'all? I got that saying. I got it from Taiwan.

Taiwan. Taiwan filters. You already showed that shit. So to Rashad's point, Gil, how hard are you pushing back now that this investigation is concluded? Are you just laying low? Just chilling. I'm relaxing. I'm just relaxing.

And I'm just going to keep training, keep working out. Because it does have my eye open to really just start looking at my surroundings. Because I watched how fast the world turned. Yeah. Right? It's like getting in a car accident and you see your life flash before your eyes. It really makes you like, okay, hold on, whoa.

Yeah. Right? You know what I mean? I got to really sit here and think about, you know, my moves because I almost lost everything. You know, I almost lost everything and I need to really just buckle down and just really, you know, really grow up. That's why I almost lost everything and I need to really just buckle down and just really,

you know, really grow up. That's why I said it's one of those moments where it's like, all right, you caught me. Y'all caught me. I need to check myself a little bit. I need to check myself. I was out there wild. I was out there wild. That'd be my thing too, though.

I don't think any of our podcasts, any of these players broadcasts to really mash on players or make them feel a certain type of way, but we do have to have accountability amongst each other. As a brotherhood, like, all right, y'all look, we shouldn't even be talking about this shit, bro. There's been enough examples for you to bypass this level, but now that you're here, let's learn from this.

Let's not come back to this situation, and let's not have us on here joking about your ass. I don't want to joke about... You were one of my favorite players. We don't want to come on here and joke about you being in a predicament where you can lose something. We want everybody to win. I think it should be a learning lesson for him not to even put itself in any other player. Like, learn from this.

You know what? We need to start talking to the crews, too. You know, the crews, too. The crew orientation. The crews orientation. The crew orientation. If you are a friend of a successful person, you have to protect them from themselves also. Because you got to remember, to be successful, you have to have a certain type of mindset.

That's what got you successful, but that can also get you overboard. So, you know, it's the competitiveness of how you think that can just have you go from zero to twenty So you have to as a friend an assistant whatever you have to protect him from himself also, which means Riding around Drinking in the car, you know, that's illegal. Don't do that shit, right having weed in the car That the money bag should never have nothing. He should be in a car that has, it's clean. Clean as fuck. There's nothing involved.

Whoever has a light, you should be moving like he is the president. Because in your world, he actually is. Yep. Yep. He actually is. So there shouldn't be nothing that will violate if you get pulled over. When they pull the car he had, it should be clean, everything. He should not be, put his ass in an Uber, whatever you got to do, you should be protecting

the bag like what it is, the bag. So let's give an example of that. Guys, the example of this is LeBron James, Rich Paul, Maverick Carter, and Mr. Randy. They were the small assets around the big asset. They made sure LeBron James moved like the president. And as the entourage, they knew. If LeBron liked to pop pills, if he liked to smoke weed, he ain't never going to do it where you can see it. If he's doing this with this and that, you never going to see it. If he in the car, ain't no weed,

ain't no drinking, ain't no nothing. He just now started just drinking wine and allowing us to see that. Smoking cigars before that, it was squeaky clean. And they probably said, hey, hold on, man. Ah, damn. Hold on, man. Doing too much. What kind of wine?

Are you sure people can drink wine? You know what I mean? I know they're innocent. I know they done had that conversation. How many games you get for that? Are there no games you can do? Are we allowed to drink wine? I don't know if that's part of the protocol of an NBA player. So, and that's really how you're supposed to, you know, really move when you're, you know, surrounding them. Like, all that, you know, we had the club. You should already know what time to leave the club.

What? You should already know what time to leave a club if you're the friends. If you didn't get the things that you were trying to get when you first got there, motherfucker, next time. Next time. There ain't no sitting when the lights come on. You know how stupid you look being NBA

and the money and the lights come on and your goofy ass is still sitting there trying to holler at girls. Why? What is wrong with you? Because you Why? What is wrong with you? Gil, Gil, Gil. What is wrong with you? As soon as you got in the club, boom, boom, boom.

Hey, I'll hit you later. I'll hit you later. I'll hit you later. Then I'm going to have fun. I'm not sitting here three, four, five, six hours, and then when the club open, I'm trying to figure out what to do. The only argument I'll make, though, when the clubs be dark, they look different than when them lights come you got a flashlight

That's the moment of Being offensive I've been at least in your words click We don't sort it out when we get outside. First of all, the lights on outside, baby. Ooh. Moment of truth. You got to go. You got to go. Hey, bodyguards got the little camera.

Hey, man, it's flashing in the eye. Flash it, flash it. You know what I mean? But that's what I'm talking about. Even with me, when I was in the club, right, I got drunk or I was drinking at home. That's a good move. At home. When I got to the club, I don't need to drink in front of nobody. I drink water, Gatorade, sober up.

And I respect that because when you get to the club, you get the bottle whores and all these people that come out the woodwork. The middle groupies hitting the bottle. I'm still buying the bottles. I'm just not drinking it. This is a smart way. This is Gil Savant. This is Gil Savant because I didn't even think about that. Get drunk before you get there.

Allow everybody else to drink the bottles. You ain't got to do nothing. You're coherent. You're just sobering up. You're sobering up. So when you're leaving the club, you good versus drinking, right? And you have undercover cops. You got media.

You don't know. And they just sitting here like watching you that you don't hit done 15 and then you get in the car. Oh, yeah, that's it. They look at they look old Adam that's got them. That's the blueprint. You think it's just be random when celebrities be getting caught drunk No, they did. I don't seen you just hit down 12 shots man. They don't get when you get outside Let it get letters when you get outside. Let his ass get caught. Let him get behind that wheel. Got him.

Got him. But that's what I'm saying. But that's understanding your surroundings, though. That's understanding your surroundings. And, you know, the friends, they got to smarten up, too. This is longevity games, man. All this quick shit y'all trying to do. Like, even simple stuff like this. Hey, Hey, you see old shorty in the DM

You hit her You hit it you holla You know deal for me so you go blast new who I'll see you when I see you I I ain't making a burner account. I got a friend Here's a solution the NBA does their orientation, right? But I've heard a lot of people say it's not up to par So we need to do the gills arena NBA rookie transition program and we'll get them all together. You can tell them the real shit that they need. Okay, the reason the reason It doesn't translate is because the people they have is cornball. Yes.

Meaning one, we don't know who the fuck they are. Two, usually Caucasian. Okay. Three, they black but they Caucasian, if you know what I mean. Dirt men. Dirt men are feeling them. They black but they still Caucasian. He not know what I mean. Dirt men. Dirt men are feeling them. They black, but they still Caucasian.

He not with us. So it's these proper people that haven't, you can't relate. There's no story with what you're talking about. So it's like, think about it. We're NBA players. We're being drafted. And you have some guy who looks like he hasn't had a vagina in probably 20 years easily talking about hey we need to stay away from the group allegedly groupies you need to

stay away from the groupies they bad yeah you should so you look like you've been doing a great ass job man and that's that's what that is versus someone who's going to really tell them, hey, y'all know me. I done had, I got six baby mamas. I got nine kids somehow, right? I pay this, this, this, this in child support. You know, I retired. You know, this is where all my money went. Boom, boom, boom.

Like, damn. Damn, man. That's a reality check. I ain't trying to be like him. You know what I mean? You start hearing stories from actual players that we done watched, we done seen. You know what I mean? So it's one of those things where, like, I need to really see, like, the person you're talking about.

Like, when you're talking about pitfalls, you can't tell me a pitfall story if this player has never had one come on So AC green if I couldn't I don't want to listen to AC green no cheeks No, no, thanks like like think about it. He comes in here. What would he like you show time like Oh show time They're like what here's the show time stories and then they bring in AC green. Yo It's a show Yo. This ain't Showtime. This is church time. This is church. I don't want to, like, bro, I'm trying to, where's Magic? Where's Magic?

Where's Magic? I know you got some stories for me. Like, I want to hear about the parlay. That's what I'm saying. It's just the wrong people trying to explain the stories, and the kids do not want to hear it. They do not want to hear it. They do not want to hear it because they can't identify with it.

And that is usually the problem. That's why I don't translate. I can tell you right now today, there's kids right now today in the NBA who's paying, and I'm going to tell you, kids, some of y'all are paying 4% to your agent, but your agent is really only charging 2% because he's giving the 1% or the 2% to a whole nother person. Someone done set you up with an agent, and you are losing money to someone else

that has nothing to do with your talent. Y'all have been handicapped from the beginning. Yep, 100%. From the beginning. Those are the things that if someone can tell you, hey, listen, when you talk to this agent, he's charging you 4%. You better ask who else is in your pocket. You want to see everything that's going on with him. First of all, none of y'all should charging you 4%. You better ask who else is in your pocket. You want to see everything that's going on with him. First of all,

none of y'all should be paying 4%. Not your first contract. It's all slotted any fucking way. We already know what you're going to get when you get drafted. You want 4%? Get me on my second contract. That's what I'm saying. That's what I

would be telling all of them at the what's the name? Orientation? None of y'all should be... If you in the first round, you're supposed to be slotted anywhere from one to 20, none of y'all paying 4%. Y'all tell them if they want your services, 1%, 2%. If you want four, it's on my second contract. Because that's the one you got to work for. That's the one you got to really negotiate for.

You don't got to negotiate shit right here. But they not working no more. And that's what's going on in the NBA with the agents is they want that money first so they don't have to work for it in the second contract. That sounds like rich people problem. I mean, you know. I know we don't talk about football for somebody like,

you know, I heard Lamar Jackson is his own He's getting he's getting his bag finagled right now. No, no what he's his own agent and since I was my own agent The problem with being your own agent is if you don't act like an agent and you act like Lamar That's what a problem is going to happen. Right? You know, when you're negotiating with them, you have to act like you're talking to one of your friends sometimes. When you're talking about your money, like, yo, I'm worth the max,

and they say some shit, and you're like, well, who do? You don't know who I am? You have to really do that when you're talking to these teams. If you're going in like, hey, yeah, I'm worth $100 million. Ah, we don't thank you. For real? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm out.

You got to pull that because that's what your agent will do. He will be offended because they're going to lowball. You're going to say some shit. You have to be able to say some shit. If you don't speak up for yourself and willing to risk it all for yourself, because you're your client. Because that's what an agent is going to do. That's what an agent is going to do.

You probably won't hear a real number from your agent to probably the fourth negotiation. Because he don't want to offend you with the first one he offered. When I was negotiating my, like I got offered my when I was Negotiating my contract I got offered

86 million my Fuck don't do that My man is 127 that's what I figured right max was 127 Their first offer when they slid they did one of these like cool. Yeah, you know, we believe in you you are guy You've done everything good. You know, this is we gonna reward you Yeah They said to me I like yeah Let's see if this never match my number and it said 80 I did this

Missing the one here missing the way is this 86 or 186? Yeah Yeah, like I'm like I was confused like oh they missing the one cuz this there's a one is this three numbers So I hit him with oh, oh yeah, this is up. Baron Davis just opted out of his contract and already got offered the max from Warriors. You know, they offered me

101 for five years. Five million dollar house with a helicopter pad, with a helicopter pad with a helicopter so um i'm out i hit y'all later you know i'm gonna think about this this 86 and um you know i'm about to go to china in the morning and i'll be gone for 11 days so we'll talk about this again in 11 days right and just walked out because i scheduled I scheduled my agent zero shoe release in Asia on

the first Because you gotta remember I'm hurt. I only play two games and I'm trying to get a bag so I Have to be skillful in my negotiation So if we can't finish negotiation till I get back, that means I'm holding you hostage for 11 days. Absolutely. Letting everybody's money just, right? It was one of those things like, because you got to remember, whoever's behind me has to wait too.

Whoever's in front of me, you know what I mean? They just jump in the bag early. So I'm just sitting there, and they're like, but they didn't even let me get to the morning. As soon as I got to the airport, you know, Abe Poland was like, oh, no, no, the match is yours. Don't pay attention to what he said.

He was bullshit. We can fire him. We can get rid of him. We can get rid of him. That's why you look at him like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, the match is yours. Just let me know if you want it all. Whatever you want to do, it's yours.

127. Whatever the max is, it's yours, and you do what you want with it. You know what I mean? So, Lamar, you have to really go and you got to play chess. Oh, yeah. Play chess. Football is a little bit different, a little bit grimier. The franchise tag's a...

It is. I mean, it's grimy. It's not like boo-boo. It's grimy, but you know... The message should be for players to just get their shit in order, be ready to do their own business, and become more fluent with the technical side of the business, right? So if you're going to be your own agent, and you don't take the RTP, the business, right? So if you're gonna be your own agent and you not,

you know, you don't take the RTP, the Ricky transition program serious enough to really learn something from the guys who really don't really know the culture, right? Cause a lot of us don't know none of those dynamics of negotiation, right? So when you do present that, today should be a real lesson to a lot of players like you gotta have your shit in order

You got to know your stats You got to know comparables players who got this and that and where my numbers look compared to his I remember um Ty Tyrus Tyrus Thomas, he got a bag off of nine points six rebounds Yeah, right, but it was more so about who else had the similar numbers Right, and then it was like yeah, he needs the most Yeah, once he got the most everybody who has similar numbers started get paid the same way You gotta remember like what we have now is you know how we were using algorithm is it?

No, we're not using that we're using statistics to to to manipulate, you know how a player looks same thing with your contracts. You know, like, oh, I played seven minutes. But if you did that times three, if I played 21 minutes, oh, I'd be averaging 15. If I was averaging 15, I would be this and that, and he got paid this, and you can do all that shit all day. They dumb.

Come on, man. They not that fucking smart. I don't even know why we it's not like we're dealing with Elon Musk and motherfuckers like that. We're dealing with friends of friends, right? We're doing with fans and fans and you can trick these motherfuckers easy. Joe, that's why I was saying earlier when you asked me the first episode about the Kardashian thing.

I said I was worth 65 million for my stats and for four years I averaged 10 points a game. So I deserved a bag going into that summer because I'd done the analytics about who else had the similar numbers. If I would have played more minutes, give me a couple more minutes, put me in the starting lineup, oh, that's a 60, 80 bag, back when that was the max, right? And I'm looking at that like, okay, these are metrics that I know I'm going into the summer with. But then, you look at who your agent is and leveraging all those things, and if he don't

see me as a star guy, he not going to fight for those star minutes, those star points, none of that. So I see that dynamic now, like, damn, man, I could have been this guy with these points if I may have negotiated myself. Here's a real important thing, too. Having an agent is no different than picking a college right you want to make sure the agent you pick don't have the same players up for the same year wow right so if he has a two shooting guards up y'all won't y'all get fucked 100 because he's gonna bank all his money on getting one, and then whatever's left over, you're going to get it.

Right? And that's usually what happens. So if I have, you know, this guy got this shooting guard, he got that shooting guard, and like, I'm not. Because we all competing for that same bag. Wow. And this is under the same umbrella. Like, this is, you know what I mean?

This is the same umbrella. I need to be with somebody else and then it's me versus you and then we can see who can talk the best you know I mean but if if I got three of you guys and y'all all are looking at the same money in the same year like what one of y'all gonna get screwed out of that you don't want to be that person so it's like picking a college you're not gonna you're not gonna go be you're not a point guard you're not gonna go to a college where they already have a freshman point guard.

That's dumb. You know what I mean? That's just a dumb move. It really doesn't matter how good you think you are if you're coming in and taking that spot. Especially in college, they're going to play you against each other. Even if you win it, he's still going to play. Exactly.

That's what I'm saying. I want to go in a situation where that guy's a senior and he's leaving and I'm coming in by myself. Boom. And it goes back to Jerry Maguire. Forget the name. Go back to Jerry Maguire, though. The reason why Jerry branched out and only represented one player

is because you need to give that player that attention. Right? When you got multiple, just exactly what you just said. When you got multiple players, some it's the same position, it's colluded, it's crowded. It's like, man, you not gonna get me the deal I need because I know he's up.

I know he's up. He's one of your favorites. Cause he gets endorsement deals. That's where you get your 15 from. Like you're not even looking for endorsement deals, that's where you get your 15 from. You're not even looking for endorsement deals for me. I need an agent who's going to give me 100% of his time because I know he's going to give me 100% of this deal. That's real talk. Obviously, I don't deal with NBA-level contracts, but advice I think

that anybody can take in their world. If a company wants you, they want you. Be able to negotiate, ask around, have people that you can trust in their world. If a company wants you, they want you, right? So be able to negotiate, ask around, have people that you can trust, people that you feel safe talking these numbers with. I do a bunch of stuff on the social space. Anybody who comes to me in that space, I always tell them what it is. Like, nah, this company's trying to hoe you.

They lowballing you. This is what your numbers look like. This is what you should be asking for. Oh, they want to travel you? Make sure you ask for first class. Make sure you ask for this shit. They may say no, but these are standard shit because if you don't do it,

they'll have your ass on a spirit flight and won't think twice about it. And then you'll be on that spirit flight, pissed as fuck, not realizing that somebody else in the same spot got the Delta One or whatever it is. So seriously, learn how to negotiate that shit, especially black and brown kids out there, I think. Especially.

Try to play you. And even with Lamar, they try to use it. Who gives a fuck who Lamar's agent is I like everybody's an MVP number same thing in basketball, but they try to play you. Are you not an agent? You don't know this side of the game Actually, I just don't exist without jaw as the talent, right? Just always remember that and when you're in that spot listen at the end of the day and this today You can go look at any player's contract.

So when I was negotiating my contract, I went and looked at Kobe's deal, Tim Duncan's deal. I looked at the lockout, see who got paid during the lockout. I was seeing if there was any players that got, because I heard Sean Kemp during the lockout in his years, he was the only player getting paid.

So I'm looking at every, because I'm about to have a hibernated goddamn contract. For sure. Sean Kemp during the lockout in his years, he was the only player getting paid. So I'm looking at Avery because I'm about to have a hibernated goddamn contract. For sure. So, you know, so in my contract, you know, I've seen that, you know, Kobe had an upfront deal where he gets the majority of his money in like, it was like September. He got the majority of his money in september tim duncan got uh like 80 85 of his money um before training camp so that was part of my deal like i won i won um you know 11 million 11.5 october 1st right october 1st i want you I want all sweets if the presidential suite is open It's mine, and then whatever follows after that. You know I'm I'm putting all this shit. I'm

Genius But that's me. I'm looking at other people's stuff for sure And I'm looking at other people's stuff, and I'm just adding what I like what I don't like Looking at the word is trying to change a little bit, you know, because you got to remember, I am, I do get stupid sometimes, so I got to find clauses that protects me from me. Yeah, for sure. There's some things you can do. Oh, you got a felony.

Yeah, I'm probably going to get one of those one day. Let me go ahead. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Against felony, I still keep contract. I still keep contract. I'll keep it all. This shit in there, I try to get every day. And that's just how I did.

And I just, you know, looked at, glanced over, then had a lawyer. That's real. And that's a lesson for all y'all. Well, look, man, this was a great episode. Kind of took a turn we weren't expecting. But y'all kicked a lot of great knowledge out there. Hopefully guys in the league, but people in other professions, too, can really take something from, you know,

and this is what it is. But this has been another episode of Gil's Arena, presented by Underdog Fantasy. We'll be back tomorrow, Thursday with more. Last show of the week. We appreciate y'all.