Gil's Arena - How To Save The Clippers - FT. Javaris Crittenton

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

Trae Young Saves The Atlanta Hawks Season as Gilbert Arenas recaps the stunning upset of the Boston Celtics in the NBA Playoffs. Javaris Crittenton also joins the show to discuss the slate of the season in the NBA and matchups like Miami Heat - Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings - Golden State Warriors. Sign up for Underdog Fantasy HERE with promo code GILSARENA and get a $100 first deposit match: https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-gi... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's a big dog. SAP Concur helps your business move forward faster. Learn more at Concur.com. Welcome back to Gil's Arena presented by Underdog Fantasy. Whoa, whoa! Sorry for the technical delay. We was getting everything ready. Welcome back to Gil's Arena presented by Underdog Fantasy. Whoa, whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Sorry for the technical delay. We was getting everything ready.

We got a very, very special show for y'all today. But Gil, first I got to know, do you ever get tired of watching your own highlights? Nope. Never. No, never. Run it back! No, never, ever. Never, ever.

Well, this is Gil's Arena. We got the Legend Gilbert Arenas here. We got Rashad McKenzie. And we got a very special guest making her debut in the arena. Let's go. Currently balling with the Sparks, WNBA champion, Lexi Brown. We appreciate you pulling up. Oh, thanks for having me.

So we follow each other. I've been looking forward to this. I've been so excited to finally make it. It's nice to finally have you here and meet you in the flesh, you know. You never know what people are like on Twitter, but you're as advertised. We're excited to have you here on Gil's Arena. But sometimes on Twitter people pull up and they be like, uh, creepy

or whatever. Very normal. So excited to have you. The show is presented by Underdog Fantasy, so remember, keep us on the air. Go ahead and download that Underdog Fantasy app. Use promo code GILSARENA. They will match your first deposit up to $100. Put 100 in, you got 200.

And hopefully you don't get cooked like all of us. It ain't easy. Don't do the five days. It ain't easy. Start with two. Start with two. They will not betray you. I won $62 this week.

Here we go, here you go. 62 whole dollars. Atmo. You gonna brag? You gonna throw me under the bus? I'm just saying, your logic is, his logic is horrible. I'm right there your logic is, his logic is horrible. I'm right there.

Every time. I'm one down. Four for five. I'm one down. But you gotta take the five and then look at the one that you don't really believe in. It's your fault. Just take the insurance. What'd you do?

What'd you tell me? I've been hitting. What'd you tell me? He told me that. Don't take insurance. That's the pumps, man. And I keep losing my one. Why you gonna go into the pick'em without? You guys sure a safety see but like a comedy

Daughter pick'em no insurance when you hit to hit. And we see the chat is filling up. Damn, I didn't even mean to do that. Hey, man, when you hit, you really hit. You really hit. But we see the chat's filling up. So remember, we do mostly fans at the end of the show. Go ahead and drop in your best questions. They got to be good questions.

Remember, can't be waxed. You can't ask why I don't wear pants. That's a personal life choice that I have. You like these kneecaps. There might be a little ashy today, I'm going to be honest. Then cocoa butter. But ask those questions, they'll be featured in Mostly Fans. So we got a lot of basketball to get into and we got a special guest, which they already

put on the YouTube title. It's going to surprise everybody. But they coming. So Javaris Crean will be on this show. I think making his first interview Interview in a minute. Yep in a long while But before we talk about basketball, let's hit a little bit about football in the college football landscape so Deion Sanders

Came to Colorado. They were one in 11 last year nasty, but they had their spring game on ESPN I think it was the only college football team to have a spring game on ESPN. Others had it on ESPN, too. I think Georgia, Alabama. But primetime was on primetime ESPN. But after the game, he reportedly lost 18 players to the transfer portal. They just dipped out. So, like I said, they're coming off a 1-11 year.

And you might remember when Deion first got the job, I think his first official meeting with the team, he told them the following. We got a few positions already taken care of because I'm breaking my luggage with me. And it's Louis. It's Louis. It ain't going to be no more of a mess than these wonderful fans, the student body, and some of your parents you put up with for probably two decades now. I'm coming. And when I get here, it's going to be changed.

Now, you look at some of them dudes' faces, they was already shook. They knew it was coming. But the thing is, what Deion's doing is nothing new for college coaches. I mean, we hear stories all the time about coaches coming into programs and cleaning house. You know, it's no different than Lincoln Riley, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, in his stance with Florida and Ohio State. You know, major college coaches do this, but Deion is just louder about it. So a question for you, Gail, start.

Do people treat Deion Sanders differently because he's more upfront and vocal about the dark side of college football? I think because he's a celebrity. He is who he is, you know, beyond primetime. So when he speaks, because we know what he used to talk like, him being a coach doing the same thing kind of shakes it up a little bit. But it's important.

It's needed. Which one would you pick? Like you said, man, it's him being a polarizing figure one and then him being flamboyant out there with his words and being a superstar like he he can back it up. So for him to tell them all the stuff that he's doing, the slack he gonna get should be expected. He should expect everything that they saying they throwing at him because he's been doing that for years. He's been catching that shit for years. So ain't no different now, you know

He should expect any kind of blowback from any decision he make but he just got to show the results He go out there he win turn the program around she Yeah, I can respect that he's upfront about it because you know I know we've all dealt with coaches that do their dirt in the dark and you come out looking crazy because you're the player, they're the coach. So him just putting it all out in the open like that, like he said, like if he starts winning, then he's going to get the same type of flag if he loses games. Like it's going to be all on him because he's like, I'm changing this program around.

So he has to do it. He's got to work. But I'm glad that he's putting himself out there. He's being honest. I think that we need to see more honesty in coaches. I feel like we all have personal experiences we could probably draw from. Most coaches are haters, as we already know.

Never? No. No coach ever hated on you, Gil? No. I don't even know what they were talking about. No coach ever hated? Don Nelson. I never had no Don Nelson. You didn't have Don Nelson? He came after you? Yeah. I didn't care what they were... But I'm saying no coach has ever hated. Don Nelson. I never had no Don Nelson. You didn't have Don Nelson? He came after you? Yeah. Oh shit.

I didn't care what they were... But I'm saying no coach has ever hated him. First of all, no coach nobody want until you give it to him. All right, they can say he can... The foul was there, he can have Louis Vuitton all he want. I'm some new bitch. Real talk now. Real talk.

You ain't never had this before. I'm the only one that motherfucker like, yeah, I don't know who he talking to. I'm going to just say that. I mean, it's a mind game. He's still messing with their mind. Because you have players that are going to crumble, and then you're going to have players that are going to be like, all right, bet. You want to see some?

I'm going to do it. But then you got players who are like, I don't know. But that's the one he don't want, the ones that crumble. Exactly. He's looking at body language. He wants to see who start doing shit like this, start looking around. Nah, you the weak ones. All right, y'all out.

But you never had a coach play with your emotions? What do you mean play with my emotions? I'm just saying. Listen, no, they tried. Yes, every coach tried. Coach K, did he play with your emotions? Yeah, that bitch did. I'm trying to thank you.

He right. Ooh, we got you to admit that. You were Louie, right? He didn't want more Louie. Damn. I'm just saying. He didn't break you, though. He didn't break you.

He didn't break you. Nah, he kind of cracked you a little bit. Kind of cracked me a little bit. You know, had me second guessing my skills because I was playing behind some weak ass dudes. Real shit. Yeah. Real shit. Had me second guessing.

I had to come back to the states and realize, oh I'm him. Okay. That's the most important. And like you said, if you're really about that, if coach come in and say that, nah, I know you ain't talking to me, talking to some of y'all. I'm Louie here. I'm Louie here, coach. Everything is a test, man.

It's how you respond, right? If a coach come in and challenge everybody, he's looking at who's going to be my leader, who's going to be the one step up and say, all right, let's go, Bill. Let's go. Oh, he just said we got to run, what, 30 sprints in a certain time? He only said that to see who's really going to be like, yeah, let's go. All right. Ain't nobody going to move?

Oh, y'all out of here. So back to Deion. So after they had that spring game, the A-team players hit the transfer portal. There are reports now that Deion's not giving players access to their practice footage. Now, this is not a big deal. College coaches do it all the time.

They don't want to give. I'm not trying to give you inside access. But obviously, we're all hoopers. So should college coaches help transferring players? Do they have any obligation to do that? No. I don't think so. The fuck I'm giving you my place for?

Just don't talk down on me if I leave. That's all I ask coaches to do. Just let me go. For sure. Isn't that what they've been doing the whole time? No, that's what they do. They talk shit about you. So why wouldn't they help you?

Why would they? In this situation- Why wouldn't they help you? He's coming into a new program. He's already told these guys, a lot of you guys aren't my guys. Does he have any obligation to at least help them? No. All right, see y'all later.

So why would it be the obligation to trash them? You could talk bad about a player, you should be able to talk good about a player, right? Yeah. So if you're going to help him and he ain't never played for you, there's no reason to talk bad about him or not give him what he needs to get to the next level, right? But if you don't like the player,

you go bash him to the next team that he's trying to go to and that good morale that he's trying to move on with, that's the dynamic I see this happening. It's like we're giving the coaches the leniency to talk trash about a player that lead a program because they feel some type of way.

But then if he don't lead because he feels some type of way, you're not going to talk bad about him and put him in a good position. That's all that really the players need because they're not their own agents. If they ask about the player, I think you should speak positive. You don't have anything positive to say. Just be like, he does this. Just keep it very generic and let them find out for themselves. But to give practice film, I don't think-

Yeah, that's too far. I treat everybody like my ex. Great. Amazing. Great personality. You're going to mess well. I'm big on see for yourself. See for yourself.

I'm big on that. See for yourself. You'll see. But I'm not giving you my yourself. Yeah, see for yourself. I'm big on that. You see, but I'm not giving you my film. That's plays. That get into the wrong coach's hands. You have everything that you need to have to stop me. So, no.

Here, this is what we're going to do. All right, here. Run the route. I'm going to pass it. There you go. Send it. But, Gil. Send it.

Send your own fucking film. Well, do they not have other? You are yourself a human high life. You know things without even having to have the footage. So if you're going to go to a team, you already know the playbook. I don't need footage. I know the whole playbook. I know, but this is practice though.

You know, you're talking about practice plays. We're talking about practice. Whatever. So you got your rivals. They'll bring that kid in just for that tape. I don't want you. I want the information. What you know at practice that ain't on film, you can still say.

Like, you know, oh, yeah, we got this play that we run. We don't never really run in the game. But this is how the play go. Like, it's the same as footage. The only difference is you're not going to give, the team not going to give footage to another team. But give the footage to the player. And who he going to give it to?

We don't know. To the other team. To a lot of teams. What is he going to do with the information he already know give the footage to the player. And who he going to give it to? We don't know. To the other team. To a lot of teams. What is he going to do with the information he already know without the footage? Him. He ain't nobody. That's why he transferred. Coaches are haters.

Coaches are haters, but players can be haters, too. That's what I'm saying. Players can be haters, too. So with or without the footage, he can still snitch on the whole situation. Listen, I'm going to be honest with y'all, man. The portal, there's no pros in the portal. Okay? I'm going to be honest with y'all, man. The portal, there's no pros in the portal.

Okay? I'm sorry. There's no, if you in the portal, you're not a fucking pro. Sorry. Like there'd be one. Then they become a pro.

No. Pros in the portal? You motherfucking average 16 points at some small school jumping to the portal going where? Trying to get more visibility.

More brand awareness. Well, he talking about pros, though. Pros. Like, you being a pro in the portal. Okay, but I went to the portal. And you was a pro. Well, there was no portal back then. There was a portal back then.

But you had to sit out a year. Oh, that's not the portal. Yeah, that's not the portal. Okay, so... I know this is kind of off-base, but, like, the portal. Yeah, that's not the portal. Okay, so I know this is kind of off base, but like the not sitting out, do you think they should bring that back or just leave it? I think they need to bring it back. Yeah, what you went to, that's not called the portal, what you did, where you transfer,

sit out. That's it. I mean, but that's what transferring was until what, two years ago? Yeah, no. Like now it's like, I mean, I call it free agency for the girls right now. We do too. Especially with the money. But that's what I'm saying.

It's no longer a portal. It's a free agency. Like here, I'm going to give you all some game. Listen, listen, listen, listen. No matter, if you're superstars, second option, treat it like free agency NBA players. The only way you get paid is to jump in the portal because you can go back to school. Yep, so like If you commit back there, then I don't need to negotiate with you Right if I say yo, I'm at Duke and I average 25 points and I'm out. I'm about to hit the portal

Right this school offered me four hundred thousand what you're gonna do. All right,, what you going to do? You said you could do that. It's so different now because I genuinely left. I was at Maryland first. I genuinely left because I did not like playing in the Big Ten and I missed being closer to my family. But if Maryland is like, Lexi, we'll make sure you get X amount of money and I was like, okay, Duke, and they're like, no, then of course I'm going to stay at Maryland. But it's like we didn't have that.

We'll bring your family and we'll bring home some Duke. But that's what I said, you get the leverage as a superstar. But NILs is not what people think it is. You're not going to get the money. These kids are being promised money that, who the fuck are you? No, seriously, who are you? Your platform is not big enough for AT&T to give you 50 grand. They're not going to get their money back.

Like, who the fuck are you? Like I don't give a... Unless you're Zion at the top of this game. But at that point, you going pro. Yes, it's like it's so fucking fancy. Kids are getting those bags though, especially on the women's side where it's different. You can't just jump straight through. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what does it remind you of?

OnlyFans. If you can't just set up no OnlyFans and start getting popping and getting paid. You've got to be somebody. Have a following. I saw a girl on TikTok said that. She used to make regular TikToks.

She was already millions of followers on TikTok. She came up on my scroll page once and she was like, get ready with me to do a scene. And I go to the comments and it's like none of her followers on TikTok had any idea she was an OnlyFans. No idea. And she already had like two, three million people. So she like, that was like months ago. She like came up on my page again because people were like, why did you do that? And she said that she has doubled her income on OnlyFans ever since she merged the two accounts.

And I'm like, that's crazy. Leverage your brand to get the bag you deserve. I was like, that's crazy. Well, you know, we talk football, but we are a basketball show. So let's keep this thing shaking and moving because, like I said, we got Javaris coming through in a little bit. Yeah. First, we got to talk about the other team in Los Angeles, these Clippers. Woo-hoo!

So let's go back in the hot tub time machine to the summer of 2019. Lakers. Clippers made some moves that were supposed to forever alter their franchise. Did you hear the name wrong? He said Clippers. The other team. I didn't say the brother team. He said the other. He said the other team. Oh.

The stepchild. You a real Clippers fan. But 2019, Clippers grabbed Kawhi Leonard fresh off a championship with the Raptors and traded for Paul George. Now, Kawhi and PG were supposed to make the Clippers a championship contender, but the past four seasons have been disappointing to say the least, right? And to have us all wondering what if. Kawhi played 24 games with the Raptors during their 2019 chip run. He's played 24 total playoff games with the Clippers in four seasons.

2020, blew the 3-1 lead in the bubble to the Nuggets. 2021, they made the Western Conference Finals without Kawhi. PG was averaging 29-11, but Clippers ultimately lost to the Suns. 2022, they got smacked in the plan. And now 2023, Kawhi played those first two games he was killing. I think averaging like 35 and 7 and 6 assists. Then he had the knee issue, missed the rest of the series. Paul George didn't play a game.

He was supposed to be available for the next round, but we knew they had to get there first. So Cancun on three. But after the Clippers' game five loss to the Suns on Tuesday night, Ty Lue had this to say. What else could be? I mean, yeah. Our two best players got hurt.

I mean, take Stephen Clay off of Golden State. Take Booker and KD off this team. Oh, shit. That's what we doing? Greek Freak was out two games. He's the best. Take the two best players off any team in the league and see if they can win in the playoffs. I guess the team that's picked to win it. Dang.

Prayers up for the Clippers. I mean, he was better off just saying, it's the Clippers. Yeah, he was better off saying that. It's the Clippers. For real. It's the Clippers. What you expect.

What you expect. So question for you, start with you, Gil. Was this the last dance for the quiet PG Clippers? Man, I'm not a Clipper fan. I don't care. I'm just saying, it is the Clippers. Man, I'm not a Clipper fan. I don't care. I'm just saying. It is the Clippers. No one ever, I mean, no smart individual had them doing anything positive.

Because you got the Clippers came, then LeBron and AD came also in that same summer. So, yeah. So AD came first. Lakers fans were feeling themselves. They didn't make the playoffs that year. And then a couple days later, the quiet PG news dropped. Everybody was at Summer League flexing. Jerry West was starting on LeBron.

Like, yeah, you know, we got you. But it just didn't happen. So, Rashad, what do you think about this quiet and PG Clippers? And is this the last dance we're going to see with this Clippers team? I mean, the stats that you pulled out for the four years for Kawhi and PG Clippers, and is this the last dance we're going to see with this Clippers team? I mean, the stats that you pulled out for the four years for Kawhi with the Clippers only playing 24 total playoff games, that's tough. That's tough, man.

And then looking at how PG is never really fully healthy for the playoffs. The last playoffs he averaged 29 and 11. Oh, that was in 2021. Excuse me. We got to see playoff P. They didn't have PG last playoffs. So when we see playoff P playing and engaging without Kawhi, and then we see Kawhi out there engaging without PG,

and it's like y'all ain't never together, then you bring in Russell Westbrook to be the one we blame. And I think that that's going to forever be his mantra now to pull him in, let him play and then blame him at the end. Like, oh, y'all brought Russ in and that's why y'all lost. When Russ is really the battery pack for them, it's just that the other two pieces ain't never really there. You know what I'm saying? So then if you look at Russ' performance last night, like I said, when he don't have those other two guys it's rust being rust it's rust all over again and he don't have no Steven Adams type that can get him the triple double that he need

it's tough on them it's tough on them and I I just think the Clippers like you said Clippers are being Clippers and Tyloo need to take more accountability I think that saying that about your two best players not playing that's taking the slack off you. Because you got other players on the team. No, you don't. He basically said, my team sucks. Like, what do you want me to do with this? You got 11 other players.

You got to figure it out. You want to be a good coach? Be a good coach. Coach them boys up. Coach them boys up. Man, you lost your two best players. So what? Nah.

They got one win. That's good. Niggas Nah. They got one win. That's good. That's good enough. Niggas get shot every day, B. You know what I'm saying? Man up. Put your skirt down, B. You know what I'm saying?

You tough, right? I guess. Yeah. Do you get rid of both of them or you keep one? I mean, if you keep one, who do you keep? It seems like Kawhi, that trajectory, he might be, you know... Yeah, I'm keeping Paul. Driving out to the sunset. I'm probably going, you know. Yeah, I'm keeping Paul. Driving that time to go into the sunset.

I'm going to keep Paul. I'm keeping Paul at this point. What about Russ? That's your man. I just don't have a year of peace. Yeah, it's one of those. This year was so tough for him. And I don't think he's like, he's not the type of player that deserves to have that

type of season. This far in his career, all the things that he's accomplished, the things that he's done for this season to be like that. It was very strange. From the outside looking in, I was like, why is this like, everyone's turning on Russell Westbrook like that? I thought that was very odd. And then I think he got traded and he felt a little better.

You could tell he was playing. But it was still like the damage has been done this year. Yeah. I'll keep him and Paul. Russ and Paul is better than Kawhi and Paul because you know Russ is going to come every ... It seems like Russ takes care of his fucking body. Yeah. He ain't missing bulk of games. He going to come hard.

He going to practice hard. And they play together at OKC. They got some good morale So let's pretend like our Westbrook unrestricted free agent. Do you want to come back to this franchise? It all depends. I don't I mean, I don't know the Clippers a organization But for him being home for a year It'd be hard for him to just leave again. It's hard. He. Yeah, I know. If T. Lou's saying, we want him back, and Ballmer's like, we need his energy,

he's definitely coming back. Because I don't think that the fans, the Clipper fans, dislike him as much as the Lakers fans. I think that they would embrace him more because there's nothing to lose. We got nothing to lose. Just go out here and play hard. And how he played in the series. Like, they didn't see a chance.

Like, I don't think, without PG and Kawhi. And the fact that he came every night and was trying to will them to win some games, like, that holds a lot of weight, I think, to fans, of course. A hundred percent. And now let's just flip to the Clippers side. Obviously, this was. We were just on the Clippers side. But this is a job.

No, from Westbrook. Oh. Damn, Gil. He came right here. He came right here. Get these niggas out of here. There are games tonight. Get these niggas out of here. There are games tonight. Get these niggas out of here.

Let me host. Let's fall. From the Clippers standpoint, this was like a job interview for Russ. Do you think the Clippers would want to bring him back? Yeah, I mean, I would. You're not going to find a player who does what he does. I'm sorry. He is a walking triple-double.

He is explosive. He's exciting. He's passionate. If I'm going to put my money in a guy, I'm going to put my money in a guy who's going to come hard every day, every practice. If he goes over 20, he goes over 20. But I know I can see that he puts the work in versus giving my money to someone,

and I don't know what the fuck they do in the offseason. So Russ very much seems like a guy, he's going to play his game. He hasn't really been able to adjust his game. He's going to do what he does. Does he need to adjust his game at all moving forward in and out kind of this last stage of his career? I mean, y'all talk to, you know, Lethal Shooter about, you know, shooting woes and who can shoot, who can't shoot.

And Russ is the only, like, the only thing he needs to improve and change and go into the next season in is just being a better shooter, more efficient. And if he comes back to the Clippers, it gives them a better advantage knowing that he's focused on a couple things, and that's keeping his body in tip-top shape and making sure he lasts the test of time. And shooting, shooting that shit when you open, making that shit when you open.

I've slandered Russ enough in the last two years to say, man, he's still that guy when he needs to be. Right. So triple double, like you said, a walking triple double. You can't throw that out the window. You can't just be like, yeah, we're going to pass on that because he can do it at any given moment. I want that type of asset on my team if I'm trying to make it somewhere. Yeah. I mean, yeah, he's not the best shooter, but there's like a lot of guys in the league who can't shoot, but they can't do what he does either. But I mean, for me being a shooter, like I don't, I can't wrap my mind around that mentality

of someone being that far away from me, like daring me to shoot, like how that messes with you. Like I've never experienced that. So I'm like, I can't speak on how that makes you feel. Cause I can't, I couldn't imagine holding the ball and someone's just like, shoot it. Excuse me? I'm checking that shit. I'm shooting.

No hesitation. Why are you way over there? Yeah, I'm more perplexed than anything. Maybe that's what it is. I'm shooting. And I'm talking shit too. I can brick it and you're going to be like, listen. Hey, I'm just going to keep, first of all, first of all.

Just keep the defense on. It's like at the end of the day, you shoot it, they can be going to the defense. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to keep the defense on. I'm just going to to listen. Hey, I'm just going to keep, first of all, first of all. Just keep the defense honest.

Like, at the end of the day, you shoot it, we get a rebound, we get an O-board, something. But if you're just, like, holding it and then you do something dumb, like, that's the game plan. The game plan isn't miss a shot. The game plan is make you overthink and do something dumb. The sad part is I don't know why coaches hasn't prepared for this. One, if the guy's sitting in the lane and your guard has the ball and they're sitting

there, what fucking play you think you running? The play's done. The play's dead. Whatever that guy's doing fucked up the play, so you sitting there trying to pass this. All that. This shit done. Fuck all that. Do something.

Drive. How about this? Drive to the free throw line, see what they're going to do there. This shit done. All that. Fuck all that. Do something. Drive. How about this? Drive to the free throw line. See what they're going to do there. Just don't run them over. Yeah, drive to the free throw line. Drive to the dot it.

Is he still going to back up? Motherfucker, shoot that. Float it. I don't give a shit about it. Don't be sitting here trying to run a play no more. That shit is over. Nobody's open. It's crazy how they defend him.

When we look at this Clippers, what was supposed to be this championship contender, you also look at the Nets with KD and Kyrie. Who was more disappointing in your opinion? The KD and Kyrie Nets or the Kawhi and PG Clippers? Clippers. Nets. I'm going to say the Nets. Damn!

It's KD and Kyrie. You look at Kawhi and PG compared to them two, it's not even a question. Y'all two supposed to be all the way to the moon. I feel like the Nets thing, there was just a lot of other stuff that was just going on over there that messed that up. So I'm not disappointed in them as players. I'm disappointed in that organization and everything that transpired over there. Whereas with the Clippers, they just got hurt.

They just can't stay healthy, whatever. But in Brooklyn, there was just so much mess going on. And you can't expect guys to perform at a high level when all that is going on. People talking. People don't know what they're talking about. They have no idea what goes on internally. And COVID. COVID fucked everything up for them. The mandates and all that goodness. Are they going to say sorry to Kyrie for that? No.

They need to. Because didn't all the firemen and police officers back, they suing the city for that? Yep. For what? Not allowing him to work? For mandatory, yeah. For mandatory and all those shots and stuff, yeah.

I just was just like, if y'all going to do that, y'all got to at least stick to it to the end. For y'all to just let him play anyway. What was all that for? Exactly. Thinking they were going to break him? Yeah. He was the only one standing for it.

When you think about it, they was letting Bradley Beal come into other arenas, come into Brooklyn and play and then not let him play. Yeah. That was the thing. That's what I said. There was so many other NBA players who did not have the shot. They did not have the shot, but they got to play and have fun, too. There's just no logical way for them to defend those decisions that they made about that.

And they kind of just slipped it under the rug. And that was annoying. But that's why Brooklyn is starting to get the Clippers curse put on them. All the bad shit they've been doing over the years, bad business, even for Kenyon. When Kenyon was talking about how he got traded from the Nets to Denver, he was like, yo, they've been doing a lot of dirty, snidey, leaky shit. So this is like basketball karma?

Yeah, 100%. 100%. Minnesota going through it, the Clippers. The Clippers of the East? Clippers of the East. They got the curse, too. So Clippers made it to Western Conference Finals. And that's, I think, Eastern Semis.

Losing to the Bucks, KD's big-ass foot. As far as they reach on their side. Let's talk about Paul George a little bit. He's been battling injury, but he seems like between Kawhi and PG, PG's the guy you would want to stick with as a franchise. But knowing what we know now, do the Clippers regret trading SGA and five first-round picks for Paul George? I forgot they did that.

Danilo Gallinari, too. Oh, my gosh, yes. Do you regret it? It's hard. This was after SGA's rookie season. It's hard to say things like that in hindsight knowing what we know. We knew that he was going to start hooping like that. Would we keep him in order for him to be the star back then?

Like are we saying- He wouldn't have been the star if he was- He was a couple years away still. Oh no. He's an okay- I mean I'm not saying it's not hard to be a star. He's only 24 now. I think he was like 21-ish. No, but what I'm saying is you have Kawhi, you would have had-

You wouldn't have gotten Kawhi. No, but what I'm saying is you still had pieces that were still holding him back anyway. So him going there, being by himself, was the best for him. Well, you weren't going to get Kawhi without PG. So, you know, you made that move. Thought it was a good move, but I'm saying look it back now. Of course. Ooh, the five first rounders.

I mean, five first rounders. I mean, I know SGA's happy. I mean, his game has just. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And he probably needed, to your point, he probably needed that to mean, I know SGA is happy. I mean, his game has just. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. And he probably needed to get to your point. He probably needed that to get his game to the level.

Sure. Because, you know, bringing in that other personnel, it might have been a shaky situation. Let me ask you a question, though. Is a guy like Bones Highland similar to an SGA? That kind of is kind of. I like Bones. I don't think he's there yet. You know what I'm saying?

Just like SGA, though. He wasn't there yet. No, he's not that. You don't think he got the type of game? No, he's more like Bones. I don't think he's there yet. You know what I'm saying? Just like SGA, though. He wasn't there yet. No, he's not that. You don't think he got the type of game? No, he's more like Barbosa, that type of six man that comes in. Got you. Yeah. Yeah, SGA's like 6'6".

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, that's different. It's a no-knock to Bones. I love Bones. I love what he was doing in Denver. I'm glad that the Clippers started to actually utilize him, obviously, under unfortunate circumstances. But he got that dog in him.

He don't back down from nobody. He's not afraid of anybody. But when we talk about this Clippers team that's looking forward, we got a new CBA that's looking to punish owners like Steve Ballmer for spending big. Ballmer's easily the richest owner in the league. I think the other nine owners beneath him combined still don't have as much bread as he does. Wow. He bought the Clippers for $2 billion back in 2014 from that shithead Donald Sterling.

But now the team is valued at close to $4 billion. You know, things haven't gone in the way they wanted to on the court, but off the court

business is booming. So do you think that Steve Ballmer has any buyer's remorse? I'm pretty sure he don't have buyer's remorse because the team

value went up, but I'm sure that motherfucker should leave Los Angeles. Damn. I'm sorry. Go where? They got a new arena coming in Inglewood.

They don't give a fuck who's... It's a stepson. Listen, you're never going to be it. I'm sorry. I feel like them moving makes them more stepson-ish. They're like, get out. No, they can Get their own thing. Here,

LA Lakers will get all prime everything. Prime stars, prime women, everything. Even the dancers, the prettiest dancers come to the Lakers first. If they don't make it, they go to the fucking Clippers.

It don't matter. You want the yellow and gold first. The porn stars go to the Lakers first. If they don't make it, they go to the fucking Clippers. Money's the same, yo. It's the same color field. You want the yellow and gold first. The porn stars go to the Lakers games. Yeah, you want to go Lakers first, then if we get rejected here, then we'll come over here. I mean, have you seen, like, I went to the Clippers game last week, and I was just, like, looking at the crowd and who's courtside. It's, like, night and day with, like, Clippers and Lakers. Like, you're at the Lakers, you'reide. It's like night and day with Clippers and Lakers. With the Lakers, you're at a Hollywood party. With the Clippers, you're at a

basketball game. It's crazy. They put in different lights. They do. They put in different lights. Who? Clippers? That's how trash they are. They need to just move to San Diego or close to Mexico somewhere.

Close to Mexico. You know what I'm saying? Get your own identity. You're not welcomed here. When they were playing at Anaheim at the Pond, those games actually used to be turnt up and jumping. Obviously, the Pond is a janky facility, but it felt like you got your own crew, your own crowd.

But what I'm saying is you're in Los Angeles, right? There's already a pecking order here. It's never going to... It's like the Raiders and the Rams. There's a pecking order. You're never going to get over... If you're trying to win championships, it would not be in Los Angeles. So how does a rich...

No one's going to be like, oh, let me go to the Clippers. No, no one fucking does that. Reasonable price point, though. No one does that. Tickets are always cheaper. When you got other teams coming into town, I want to see other guys perform. I get that ticket for about $12. That's what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying ticket for about $12. That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, $12. That's what I'm saying. You are a board. That's your franchise. You can get a suite for about $18 on any given night. You're a slumlord. They treat you differently, though. Like, when you walk to the door and you say you're a Laker player.

Where's the Clipper player? That's... I want a security treat. Like, because it's the same crypto. They look at you different. You play for who? Clippers party. Check in. They check it like crypto. They look at you different. You play for who? Clippers party. Check in.

They check it like this. All right, going on in. All right, here you go. Going on in. Well, let's talk about Bomber a little bit. How does the richest owner in the league fix a broken franchise? We talked about the Clippers' woes. It seems like he has enough bread to throw at it.

What about Vegas? Yeah, I've never even thought about that. They need to move. When people are like, I want to play in L.A. Like, you know what I'm saying? You're not trying, I don't want to go play for the Clippers. I want to go to the Lakers and play in L.A. So, it's like, even though the situation with Russ, he went from the Lakers to the Clippers.

I mean, he's still in L.A., but it's like, less fanfare, less everything. Like, I know the situation was different. But a completely different shift for less media, all that stuff. We stopped seeing Russ on Twitter every day. That's exactly what I'm saying. You get the less of everything. You're the less. You're the bottom feeding. That means you're...

How can you be prime if you get all bottom feeding everything? That means you got to wait in line. Even when the Clippers were the better team, it still don't matter. Shit. Yeah. I think like, Lakers, right? Name Clipper greats.

Marcus Johnson. That's it. They just name one. You are so nice. Shout out to Pops. Shout out to Pops, man. It's just one of those things where if you're really trying to take this thing seriously, go somewhere else.

Like, go to Seattle. Go to Vegas. Start your own. So when players are in free agency, they're like, Vegas? Oh, shit, I can go to Vegas. Like, you can get a KD to Vegas. You can get a Ja Morant in Vegas. You're not going to get a Ja Morant here if the Lakers are still here.

Right. And if you do, he's going to be salty that he's not playing. First of all, you're not going to get a John Moran here if the Lakers are still here. Right. And if you do, he's going to be salty. Right. That he's not playing. First of all, you're not going to get a John Moran. I'm just saying. But hypothetically, if he did come, he's going to be salty that. He's not a Laker.

He's not a Laker. They got selfies covering the banners. So let's talk about Ty Lue a little bit. This will be our last thing on Clippers. I can already see it on your face. You're getting annoyed with it. Sign a five-year extension with the Clippers this past October. Wait, when? October 2022.

Five years. Give the man his bread. But there are reports the situation between him and the Clippers front office is a little tense. Is Ty Lue the right coach for this Clippers team? How long has he been there? Why are we doing this? Yeah, we are a basketball Bro, it's the Clippers. Why are we doing this?

Yeah, we are a basketball show. It's the Clippers. Who gives a fuck what the coach is? It's a coach, right? It don't matter what coach you have. It doesn't matter. It's an avatar, eh? It doesn't matter what coach you have, okay?

You just put a coach in, put the suit on, just say run up and down. That's the Clippers organization. That's the type of job I think he's doing too. Just an avatar. Just sitting there and just blah, blah, blah. They made the playoffs. This is a successful season. This is success. You done had success. If I'm the coach and blah, blah, blah, y'all look, go out there. You know that stupid shit coaches say, go out there and play hard. Coaches ever be like, go out there and play like shit.

Fuck it. Nah, like go out there and play hard and then snap a couple of what's-the-names like you really care. Ah! Time out! Time out! Other than that, it's just fucking Clippers, bro. Damn.

Bad news bears without the winning at the end of the movie. Will we ever see winning at the end of the movie with the Clippers? No. How long have we been saying that? We've been here. We've been out of changes. We've been here. We lived here this whole time It's got to change. I thought they was gonna get closer this year. The thought it was gonna be the year I thought if they were healthy This is my only year that they look their best meeting. Yes doing with the healthy with PG coming back second round Kawhi last in first round.

But we talked about all this. The reason why, I'm like, I've got trust issues with these motherfuckers because these niggas ain't never healthy. Pray for the Clippers, y'all. If you have a friend who's a Clippers fan, check in on them. It's a down time for them right now. They have beat the Lakers 12 times in a row. No, I can't.

Listen. Exactly. I can't. No. Name the banner. Listen. Like, exactly. That's crazy. That's crazy. Like, that's a better L.A. team and no one cares.

No one gives a fuck. Clippers? No, Clippers fans right now, this is a great ass season. Right. They beat the Lakers the whole time. They're fucking in there. This is amazing. Bragging rights.

For them, this is amazing. Bragging rights. This is amazing. This is an amazing year. Well, let's keep this thing moving, Gil. I think you have. Oh, on the call? Yeah, we're gonna hit that. Okay. Make that call. Gil pull out the... What kind of phone? What is that? iPhone what? 13, 14, 12, 11? New. New.

14, which one? I just got the same one. It's just in the box at the crib. Until I retired the bronze slayer right here. My trusty iPhone 8. Y'all ready? So this is Gil Gavino. Uh oh. Uh oh.

Uh oh. That's how we do it. This is a live show, ladies and gentlemen. So you know, we go through technical issues. And it's a black show. So you know, it's not funded like the Caucasian experiences. But this is Gills Arena, so you know to already expect the unexpected.

There it is. Hold on, hold on. Oh wait, that's so cool. You can't hear me? Oh no. You hear me? I can't hear you. White people, man.

Somebody get fired! Where did the white people come from? They were doing their best in the control room. You know those black people always blaming it on white folks. Go ahead and do it. Go ahead and do it. This is a live show, ladies and gentlemen. You get to inside look at what goes on behind the scenes at Gil's Arena, presented by Underdog Fantasy.

While we're here and while we're waiting for this interview to get started, go ahead and download the Underdog Fantasy app. It's a perfect time right now. Yeah, I can hear you. Uh-oh. We did it. Can you hear me, Gil? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can hear you. Uh-oh, we did it. Can you hear me, Gil? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you hear me?

Can you hear me? Yeah, can you hear me? Hang up and call back. Okay, we're gonna get it right. It's Prestine though. Uh-oh, they're gonna text though. Cover up. Real life.

You didn't hear me? Okay. Yeah. What's up, baby? There we go. What's up, homie? We got your former teammate, Javaris Critton, in the building. Yes, sir.

Javaris, can you hear all of us, too? What's going on, brother? What's up, brother? Hello, hello. Hi. This is TV history right now. This is very cool YouTube history laser jump. So Javar My man 100 grand Javar's how you doing? How does it feel to be home? Can you hear

You gotta ask the question. Is it, how does it feel to be home? Oh man, it's a great feeling. It's a blessing, man. God is merciful. Not taking it for granted at all. I'm super ecstatic. Just enjoying the most simple things. Enjoying my family.

Being able to watch games in a comfortable environment you know thank you are you glowing man should i even go live man i'm supposed to be all right what's your next one oh so so next week right javar can you hear me too can you just hear gil okay you can't hear me so just talking about this- It's just light skinned. What's up? So I mean, we all know about that situation in the Wizards locker room in 2009. Many people have assumed that there was beef between y'all. There was beef between y'all though.

But y'all remained very close. So I was asked, what have you been like as a teammate to DeVaris and just helping him out throughout these past few years? You heard him? So now repeat that for me, Gil. So he was basically saying, you know, how the media thought we were like enemies in that, during the locker room situation. And what was our real relationship like?

Man, it's crazy to have killed this thing for such a long time and have had the media correct their own narrative of the situation. You know, just not being able to speak about it. But, man, you were super close. You were my partner. We used to hang out all the time. Sometimes I would go out to Geek's room and we would just talk. We would just kick it. Talk about random stuff.

Sometimes we would hit the club together. You know, this was a friend. friend, somebody I really hung with. And the media created a completely different narrative because of the situation. And they just took it to a whole other level, man. Yeah, I remember like... People really had no soup. I know. It was weird because like when we wasn't talking, we were just looking the paper, right? And like, this nigga said this?

Oh, man. And it seemed like that's what was going on, that, you know, most of the things that was, like, getting misconstrued was the paper, not us. Yeah, I think we were both dumb. And, I mean, the media controls the masses, man. They can manipulate a lot of people. And we were too, you know, I was younger than you, but you were still young at the time. And like you said, picking up the paper

or looking at something online, and they're twisting words and making it seem like this person is saying this. And now we kind of have this to have this false grudge. You know what I mean? Like, man, I can't believe you did that. And it never happened. This person never said it. So it was almost like we allowed the media to divide us. But then the people could see how close we used to be, man.

And just the camaraderie, the conversations we had, the things that we shared with each other. I was just talking to my cousin Woody. I don't know if you remember him, but, you know, sometimes we'll hit the club and it'll just be me, you, and him. Like nobody else. No other teammates. Just us two and my cousin or just us two sometimes or us two and a trainer or us two and a masseuse

or something like that, you know? Yeah, no, it's crazy because even though, like, we were going through that situation, we were still talking, even though, like, the lawyers was like, oh, don't talk to him right now. We were still doing our thing. Yeah, we were still communicating, man. It just messed up how it all played out, man. People could have just thought of truth, like like I said and not twit words and twisted stories because you know

negativity is sick of those drama serum and so they did their job they created chaos and unfortunately it ended up in a bad way for the both of us but if they had painted the truth I think think the outcome, I think everything would have been completely different. True, true. It would have been a different understanding. Yeah, true. Like the last time I seen you,

it was at 360 working out. Oh yeah. Yup, yup, 360. Yeah, it was at 360, we had a long conversation. We sit outside talking for like, what you say, like hours? Yeah, yeah, about an hour. Yeah. So we had random guys walking by like, talking for like hours. Yeah, yeah, about an hour.

So we had random guys walking by like, man, I'm proud of you, brother, man. Oh, how did we stay connected? Oh, just over the years? Yeah. I mean, we found some type Just over the years? Yeah. I mean, we found some type of way to keep in contact, you know, whether it was me having your number saved in my phone or even when you switched numbers out.

We just knew the same people, and they knew that we needed to talk, so. You know, we stayed connected. Back in my corner, you know, we found our ups and downs, too, though. You know, we've had our ups and downs too though. You know, I won't sugarcoat it. But overall we stayed connected, man. And then, you know, look at this now, we here.

Yeah, like usually like if we did have a problem, it was Karan that put us back together. Yeah, Karan put us back together. Somebody that's close to both of us, they be like, man, y'all need to talk, man. Yeah. It was always me. We had our times where we'd bump heads about certain stuff. I'd get mad at you about stuff, but we'd always come back around. That's how brothers are, man. We'd bump heads, but

come right back around to each other. That was really our, over the last few years, whenever we got, like, we had disagreements, it was because I did some shit on Instagram. Right? I'll do some shit on Instagram. And you're like, that's that shit I'm talking about. Lose my number. Matty, you such a prankster and a joker, man. I mean, you held it funny funny don't get me wrong

The funny it should be like you like you like lose my number Like that that used to be funny man, but how's the family though for real? Now everybody's gonna put up to everybody thankful i'm home um i mean it's just as ecstatic as i am you know so everybody's glowing everybody's cheese and so super thankful everybody's family is everything are you watching uh have you been watching playoffs of course you know i gotta in two of my Lakers, man. You think I got your head on some kid's balls? This ain't got nothing to do with me getting drafted by the Lakers ever fast. I'm a real Lakers fan, for real.

So, Lakers, Grizzlies, what you got? That's over with. We don't need to talk about that no more. Dylan Brooks, we don't need to talk about him no more. Get ready for next season. You think we going to the chip? I definitely do. I'm not being biased. I just think we now have all the people that we need.

You know, at first, like, people trying to stack, you know, big threes and big fours, which I feel like Boston created, you know, with Ray Allen, Trevor Garnett, Paul Pierce, and he ended up being a big four because I don't think anybody except for Ray John Rondo can count it as the year of the future Hall of Famer. But, you know, everybody kind of stepped on that bandwagon and felt like that was – you needed that to go to the championship. You needed that to win the championship. And, you know, when they traded Westbrook, we got a lot of pieces.

A lot of valuable pieces. A lot of talent. So I think we got all the pieces in place to do it. Okay, okay. Did you, were you on the prison team? Yes, well, man, I love basketball so much, bro. How could I not be? Was it like that shit on TV, though?

Motherfucker just fouling? Yeah, but not when you're playing under the whistle. If you're playing on the guard or something like that, like, yeah, you're real sizzled. You got people that are lost teeth. You know, God's been merciful in a lot of ways. I still got all my teeth. Thankful for that.

But under the whistle, it's a lot better. People will miss calls just like they used to be, but it's just, it's something for the guys to be a lot of talent in that place. A lot of talent, a lot of people that just made mistakes. You know what I mean? They never got the opportunity, but a lot of talent. You thinking about playing in the Big Three this year?

Or in the future? Yeah, I definitely would consider that, man. I love the game. I can still fight. I can still move. So, I think I end up putting the ball down. I can't move no more. I'm that slow, you know,

but right now, I can still go. Okay, okay. Okay. What would you tell your younger self? Oh man. I don't even think we got enough time for that. But, um. Leave that nigga Gil alone boy.

I would have been more humble. I was always a hard worker, but I would have been more humble. I was always a hard worker, but I would have been more humble and just more patient. Patience is key when you know, I think that, you know, you come in this city and most guys are one and done. And you're trying to compare yourself. Like if you were ranked top 10 in high school and then you go to college one year and you get drafted and you're looking at a person that was probably like ranked 30th or in the top 50 get more playing time than you and it's like man I know I'm better than you and it's the opportunity

and you start comparing yourself to other people like man, what's going on? Sometimes you just got to be patient. You got to wait your time, you got to stay down and keep grinding. I think that was one of my problems. I wanted to play right away. I was on a team with Kobe and Derrick Fisher, the Mark Alderman. You know, like greatness

but I still wanted to play. I would get frustrated and start down myself, losing my confidence. You know, that's not good. You start losing your confidence, as a pro athlete, it's never good. But definitely, you know, patience. Patience and humility.

And the reason I say humility is because I had a situation with Kobe. Loving to death, man. But when I came in, I didn't speak to him. And I walked past him like seven times and didn't speak to him. He probably was looking at me like, who the hell is this kid not speaking to me, I'm Kobe.

But it was more so like to show him that, man I'm here to play with you. I used to be a fan, but now we're on the same team. You know what I mean, I'm here to play with you. And he hit be a fan, but now we're on the same team. You know what I mean? I'm here to play with you. And he hit me on my chest and he was like, what's up, young fella? He spoke to me first. And something like that can come off as arrogant. You know what I mean? I was just young. I wanted to have so much approval. I had a chip on my shoulder. And me and Kobe used to go at it in practice. No exaggeration. Elbows, cursing. I was only 19 though.

So if I could talk to my youngest, I was like, show Kobe that you got heart, but don't go too far. Like, steal Kobe, you know? Don't do too much. Even with me and you, like, you was a big brother to me. Like, go. Go at Gio and talk trash to him. That's still Gio now, like, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, you know, since we do reflect, you know, when we get old.

Okay, you may help. You know, we do reflect on when, as we get older, like, if you had to, you know, tell, you know, like, somebody like a John Morant or some of the young kids that's, you know, looking at hip-hop in a way that's not healthy for their careers, what would you tell them? Looking at hip-hop? You know, like, we're really influenced by, when I say music, like, when we're listening, you know, in games, when we're getting ready for games, right, we have that music that get us right, right? So, you know, trying to live, you know, as a basketball player, trying to, you know, live that style when it's really not us? Like, what would you tell somebody, you know, that's coming up, you know, of the hoop side? You just got to separate. Honestly, some people come up in that environment for real.

I was a person that grew up in that environment for real. Come up in a project, I was wrecked a wrecked by the way you know what I mean so you have to have a separation from that become a professional you know I mean it's hard for young guys but when everything is going good for you it's hard to tell who's who everybody's jumping but everybody's a yes-man all the women are there. So you the influence comes from the outside. It might come from somebody in your old neighborhood. You know what I mean? But what I would tell somebody like John Moran is just stay focused, man.

You know, he's a world-class athlete, world-class talent. He's reached a level that a lot of people dream of. You know what I mean? Like, my son loves John Moran. When I tell you love him, you love john moran when i tell you love him you love john moran and steph curry love him and my son asked me about the situation when we was like dad is he in trouble is he bad like no he's not a bad person he's the person that made a mistake he'll look up to him you've been looking up to him don't let anything the media put out change your mind on that.

He's still a good person, a great kid. He just made a mistake. We don't know where it came from. We don't know whether it was the influence of rap music in our culture or something he was going through or somebody in his camp. You never know. We can't get into his mind, but I really wish him the best.

He's going to do great things, man. I think this is something that people are going to sweep under the rug and forget about. It's something that he learned from. He'll never make them a second chance. And I'll be glad when people get off his back on it. Yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right. We've got one more. Oh, how did Kobe's death affect you? How did what how did Kobe's death affect you?

How did what now? Kobe's death affect you. Man, that hit me hard, man. I was actually in the hole when I found out about it. And it was a guy, like, talking out loud. Like, you know, you have people talking out the door, saying all types of crazy stuff. Sometimes people lose their mind back there in the place that i was at when i found out and uh a guy was like oh we did it was joking like he said in a different way and i laid down like this guy was crazy but then i when i laid down something told me to get up. And the officer was walking by, man, and he knocked on my door.

He was like, man, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the man gone. And I shared real tears, man. I thought about the times we shared. It was brief before I got traded. We were close, man. He was a good dude. Like I was a rookie. He could have treated me like a rookie

or treated me like I was a nobody, not speaking to me. He would always, like, teach me about the game. If he was coming out of the game, he'd be like, hey, you see how his feet planted? You see why I attacked him that way? You see why I guarded him this way? And he would just, you know, he'd embrace me.

So it really hit me hard man and i remember um one of the good memories i had with him is that i got a chance to ride to the airport this is a big thing with kobe because kobe is kind of like i won't say anti-social he he hangs around like-minded people so he don't have a lot of friends and he'll tell you you just not gonna hop in the car with him and go anywhere or go to the airport and uh i was able to ride with him to the airport and uh we just had to talk about basketball about working on my jump shot about uh like if i stayed down like it was great to start me stuff like that i can never forget. I'll remember it for the rest of my life. I hate that he's gone, but his legacy lives forever. All right, all right.

You got any more? I think we're good, bro. Okay, everybody, everybody say bye. Tell them we appreciate you. I appreciate y'all having me. Wow, that was deep. My man. Welcome back.

Good job, man. Get at me, bro. Welcome home, man. You know we got old shit to talk about, my nigga. You know. Oh, yeah, for sure. He's wild, man. Hey, that's my man right there, though.

I know. I know. He cool as shit, man. They tell them kids I said hello, man. And I'll hit you after this. All right. All right, baby. Damn, welcome home, man. Welcome home. On right, baby. Damn.

Welcome home, man. Welcome home. On Gil's Arena. We got to get him to pull up to the show. His PO won't let him do that right now. Okay. I mean, it's just... But when?

You know, he's on house arrest, my man. Yeah. I don't know if he's on house arrest, but he on stay your ass in Atlanta arrest. We'll bring the show... Stay your ass in Atlanta arrest. We'll bring the show to that. He's got this money.

Nah, but Javaris Green, we appreciate you pulling up, but now we've got to keep this show moving. It's time for a little hibachi time. Let's go. Tee-tee-tee-tee. Hibachi time. So we already talked about the Clippers. Let's talk about the Clippers some more, Gil.

Come on. I'm just fucking with you. I'm just fucking with you. Let's talk about the other side of that Clippers-Suns series, the Suns. The Suns advanced to the Western Semis after the Game 5 win over the Clippers. And despite the addition of KD, Devin Booker is showing that the Suns are still his team. And bringing pride back to the light-skinned community. Look at that.

So D-Book capped off the series by dropping 47 points, 10 assists, and 4 rebounds. He shot 70% from the field, 57% from three in this closeout game. The Suns had like a 20-point lead. Clippers came back. D-Book put the team on his back, got them to that next round. So question for you, we'll start with you Gil. Has Devin Booker been the best player in the playoffs so far? So far in the playoffs?

Actually probably. I mean in the playoffs? Yeah, yeah. He's been the most consistent one. I put Jimmy Booker up there. De'Aaron Fox, Steph, I mean guys have been doing it. And it's tough because he's going against the under man Clipper squad. Whoa. But two 40 point games, a 38 point game, I mean. He's been doing it, and it's tough because he's going against an undermanned Clippers squad. Whoa.

But two 40-point games, a 38-point game, I mean. He's doing his damn thing. Yeah, he's doing his thug thistle. Still pros. They're still pros. They're still pros, but he's doing still very impressive. Shai, what do you think? There are a lot of guys performing,

but I go back to a lot of the points that I said before. Like, this was Book's team. Everybody was like, nah, any team KD come on, it's his team. I'm like, nah, man, he got drafted to this team. It's his DNA. It's a part of him. He needs to show that, and he's been doing that. Like, just because KD come here don't mean that I got to stop doing what I do. And I love that about him and his game because he looks unbothered.

He's not tripping on, oh, well, I should make this pass to KD because he opened. That's what the Warriors were doing when they were trying to get him acclimated. But like, nah, I got a job to do. Because when he seen that confetti coming down, he was like, fuck. Fuck, I missed my shot. This time he's like, I'm not trying to miss this shot this time. How much is having KD on this team made D-Book's job even easier now? I mean, of course it makes it easier.

Yeah. I think it puts a spotlight on his real talent. You over there sitting in Phoenix, no matter what your numbers were, nobody was respecting it anyway. The fact that KD's there, it forces people to watch. Now everyone can see that,

oh shit, you might be one or two best shooting guard in this league. Now we need to start recognizing it. I think that's the importance of KD being there. Other than that, you know, them two playing together, you know, this series might be books, next series might be KD. You know, they both might be, you know, double team in, you know,

Western Conference Finals. So it all depends. You know, right now this is book series and he's playing well. I mean, yeah, we were saying that earlier. Like people are talking about, oh, KD's not really being utilized. KD did, but he still was scoring 30 points in these games. It's not really a bad thing that KD doesn't have to assert himself completely 100%. They still got all these games to play.

They still trying to play till June. It's April. So I think it's been great. And like you said, D-Book, he's not playing any differently than he's ever played. Like, I just think he's just more at ease. I think he doesn't play for the fanfare, for the media. I think he's one of the few players that just kind of just hoofs. And now everyone's just watching because KD's on the team.

So I think he's just, he's always been solid to me, in my opinion. Yeah. So we're going to talk KD in a second, but let's talk about the Suns team just a little bit more. So once Kawhi, you know, no PG, once Kawhi went down after game two, many thought the Suns would just roll through the Clippers. They did. The score that game didn't really tell the full,

like when you look at the end of a game and the score, like that score didn't like tell the story. But even the game five, up 20, you think, all right, we're going to put them away. It's curtains. I mean, listen, it's easy to come back. I mean, we're up 20 for a reason. Without quiet PG?

It don't matter, bro. It don't matter. Gil. He hate the Glovers. Let's know what I'm saying. He hate the Glovers. Listen, it's easier for them other guys because we didn't scout them. We don't know who they are.

They come in here just playing AAU basketball, bro. I don't know who this man is. Who is you? Who is you? You got to start looking at shit on the is. Who is you? Who is you? You gotta start looking at shit on the back. Who is this guy? Where you come from?

Yeah, you know what I mean? So it was easy for them to come back. So are the Suns still the favorite to get out of the West? Mmm. Yeah. Now, oh. Listen, my Lakers is here, man. It's the Lake Cho.

I don't know. I just. You pushing the Lakers to the favorites? You? Oh Lord. Bro don't know. I just. You pushing the Lakers to the favorites? You? Oh, Lord. Bro, Lakers always my favorites. But are they the favorites?

The Lakers? Are the Suns the favorites? You think the Suns? Use your vowels. He's not here. He's not listening. You see how many times we got there? I think the Lakers have played their way into the favorites. Over the Suns?

Yes. Who? The Lakers. I think, well, they still got a win I don't they start a witness or just a kind of way you saying come out of the way I was already there It is through Gil we're playing in Memphis tonight That trick I hope they play that that chick is that's what we doing over there I think the Grizzlies might fuck around and get one. It's 3-1?

It's 3-1. I feel like Memphis is either going to win or they're going to lose by 30. Yeah, it's one of those. Dylan Brooks bounce back game, Gil. He saw the comments. Dylan Brooks is out of here, bro. He saw the comments. He's out of here.

He saw yesterday's show, Gil. Son's got to go through Joker and him. Them boys playing well, so that's what I'm saying. They're going to beat each other up. This is going to be a seven-game series. So who's next for the Lakers? Huh? Who's next for the Lakers?

Probably like old-ass Golden State Warriors. Oh, it is Golden State. Oh, but they still got to be Sacramento too. They got to be Sac. So that's the matchup. I mean, I was looking forward to a Golden State Memphis series. I really was. For what?

Because it's just so petty. Because of Jermon Green. It's so stupid. I really was. For what? Because it's just so petty. Because of Draymond Green. It's so stupid. I always wanted just to see the drama. Warriors-Grizzlies over Warriors and potentially Lakers? Warriors-Lakers. It was before. Yeah, before.

Everything kind of imploded. I feel like the rise and fall of the Memphis Grizzlies this season needs to be studied. They went from everybody's favorite to most hated in six weeks. Yeah. And it was insane how that all played out. Warriors versus Lakers is going to be amazing. It's going to be trash.

What do you mean trash? You said Warriors, Lakers. Because Draymond loves him some LeBron. Ain't no heated challenge there. It's all wine and cigars. They going to chill together after games. Right. That's a mature series.

Yeah, I'm cool on that. Ain't nothing... It's too mature. Golden State of Memphis is childish and petty and it was going to be fun to watch. On TV, right? It was going to be entertainment. This shit is going to be... 60 Minutes?

The Lakers might watch this. This is going to be one of the most highest watched playoffs series. I mean, it's going to be the highest watched watch playoffs, I mean it's gonna be the highest watch for sure You know in a cool minute just we gonna see if writers at work What I'm not gonna be stepping on a chest. Yeah, he gonna try something Draymond gotta guard what ad brawn you can go abroad head up. Yeah, that's when brown gonna have his 50 points We've already seen him try to punch Bron, you know, give him one of those pat-on-the-dick punches.

Oh, man, I'm cool. I want to see sack. Sack Lakers. Okay. Then you want us in a championship. I don't mind. I don't mind. We already know he don't like Draymond, nor does he like the Lakers.

So this is a horrible season. This is a horrible. I fuck with Draymond. Rashad, what's it going to take to get you back on the Lakers bandwagon? Man. Austin Reeves' contract? Coming back? Or you want him gone?

Hell no. Because if he signs anything more than, like, 35, he going to be gone. He going to be gone. Austin Reeves is about to get 100 from somebody. He going to get 100 from He's going to be hot. Austin Reigns is about to get a hundred from somebody. He's going to get a hundred from somebody, but look. Whatever. Fuck it. Austin, keep fucking balling, though.

Keep balling. He hates everyone. Keep balling. We don't even know who he actually likes. You don't even know who I actually is. We don't even know who he likes. I'm a whole different alien. This is the first time he hasn't had his crown on, to be honest.

Man, I just feel. He's right there, though. I feel extra cute today, man. I just want to put it on the side. Oh, okay. So we all know. You got a female on the team. No, no.

Everyone knows. When he puts it on, he feels ugly. I feel real ugly, man. Put that bitch on distract all y'all. Okay, okay. We got it now, man. We know. But let's talk about KD.

We mentioned solid series. 28, what? Eight rebounds, six assists. But let's talk about KD. We mentioned solid series, 28, what, eight rebounds, six assists. But let's be real. He hasn't really looked like that KD that we know he can get to in the playoffs, which, you know, if I'm the Nuggets, I'm probably a little concerned about with this series getting ready to start. So heading into this Suns and Nuggets series, will the Suns need to rely on KD more moving forward in the playoffs?

It's whoever has the advantage. You know, the playoffs is not about you necessarily. It's about who has the advantage in this series. Book and KD. More Book. Round two is going to be Book still.

You don't really have a defensive shooting guard that's going to be checking them. If you do, then KD's free guard that's going to be checking them. And if you do, then KD's free. So it's going to be one of those two where, you know, even, you know, any given day, one of them is going to go off. One's going to have 50 this final. A hundred percent. I'm rolling with the breakdown of it all, right?

So you break the series down, like you just said, what shooting guard on denver defensively is going to be able to hold book switch off on kd and hold kd you're looking at murray brown pope and uh mp so between those three michael porter don't want that match up with kd so kd already licking his chops like I'm about to cook this young fella because he don't know when to show up. Then you got Pope and Brown, hard-nosed defensive players who are going to have to chase Book around. But Book already know he get to my spots, going to pick and roll with the bigs, switch off, do my thing. You look outside of that breakdown, man, Denver don't really got nothing that's going...

You know what I'm saying? Like, they're not matching up. So, I'm definitely rolling with the Suns. What about the Nuggets on offense? Joker. It's all Joker. Aiton going to have to show up and play some damn defense. And he don't like Aiton, so it's already like. Because the only thing I don't like about.

He's an Arizona guy, Gil. No, no, no, no, no. On defense where because Joker passes the ball also, now this is when Book and KD got to really pay attention. Because they're going to get backdoor like shit. Right? And, you know, they're going to get, you know, those guys, they might have 30, but they're going to be giving up 17 to 25

just because, you know, those players on Denver knows how to move. Right. So. It'll be interesting. Everyone says defense wins championships, but I don't think necessarily the one-on-one matchup is going to be the scheme, the game plan. Like you said, Joker's such a good passer.

He gets those guys so loose all the time. But, I mean, KD and Book, they could go for 30 each game, but you have Jokers in the middle, triple-double any given night. What are they going to do? How are they going to adjust to that? I'm not high on eight either. Like at all, actually. Not even a little bit?

Not even a little bit. Never. What's the issue? I don't know. I just don't like him. You don't know nothing. He's just so big. Why do you play like that?

You're huge. But even like what you said with Denver, them being able to run the Suns around through Joker, making KD and Book play defense, tiring them out. Yeah. That's really the only chance. I used to hate, the only person that was kind of like Joker but not to the extreme was like Chris Webber. Oh yeah. Right?

Who passed him and Vlade that passed the ball. So when they had the ball, that's when you had to actually like focus on defense because Mike Bibby then was coming off screens, passing. When Mike Bibby had the ball, like he was easier to guard because you know, if he looks at his shoes, he's going to shoot the ball. Right? Shoes that shoot, you know. Other than that, when he didn didn't have the ball that's when he was back doing stuff like that so he was much harder to guard when Chris Webber and Vlade had the ball.

So you got a big who's capable of doing the stuff that Joker's doing like those guys from you as a guard that makes that shit even that much harder. Yeah because you was like let's say the ball went in the shack. I ain't got to get the rest right? That's you. That's the day. Worry about yourself. I'll be like just fake digging down the rest. That's you. Worry about yourself. I do a little fake dig down.

Just fake dig. I ain't really trying to get down there. He passed the ball back to my guy. It was guys like Scola, Brad Miller. Guys that sit on those pinch posts and pick you apart. So knee-jerk predictions, early predictions. I'm going to start with you, Lexi. Suns, Nuggets. Who's winning the series, how many games?

Who has the first home games? Nuggets has home court advantage. I'm going to say Suns in seven. Ooh. Gil? Suns in seven. Rashad? Suns in six.

Okay, you think it's not even going to get to that seventh? Yeah, I think they figure it out. They figure it out after game three. After game three, they win in game one. Who, Sons? Yeah. Yeah, they win one. They split.

Then they go back home, win two, finish it out in Denver. Nah, game six would be a- They split one, two. Okay. No, no. It's Denver is the- Yeah, they'd win one in Denver, win both in Phoenix, but then they'd have to win- Come back and win- That would be seven.

I told you he- In Denver. No, five. This is why I don't want to smoke. That's six. So if they- Split, one, one. Yeah, that would be five. Come back- Lose and then come back and win. So then they would win in- So they lose in Denver- They would win in Phoenix. And come back in Phoenix in game six. Come back and then come back and win. So they would win in Denver.

They would win in Phoenix. Come back in Phoenix. Yeah. No, for sure. We'll be accurate at some point. I know. We know what you meant. We know what you meant.

We're talking about the altitude in Denver. How much of an issue is that for y'all coming in as players? Are your lungs burning? What is it like playing in that? I went to one USA training camp and I thought I was going to die. No, no, it's a serious thing.

It was, okay, it was so serious that I had put that, I had the chamber in my house. Yeah. I was training with a mask on getting ready for USA basketball.

Did it help? It helped me a little. I mean, I wasn't dying as bad as other players, but it was fine. See, mask only closes for breathing itself. So the tin itself, you sleep in it, where it cuts off the oxygen so your heart's beating faster.

So you get in shape faster. It helps. It helps.? So, it helps. It helps. I mean, you know, it helps. Like, it's one of those things where when you get there

in town, you know, you need to run some line sprints and shit like that, like the night of, the night before. I mean,

the night before, just get it out, you know, so that we ain't getting that shit in the game. So, should the Suns

maybe consider going early and get some work in? I mean, if you a hooper, man, you hoop. Nah. But shit. This is what I felt about Denver. Like the first three minutes, if you can get past that first three minutes

and get your second win, you good. But if you out of shape and you ain't really used to just going hard, period, it's gonna be tough. Like my toughest challenge was the basketballs were cold. And it was always, my hands were cold. Adjusting from Utah and Denver was the only two that was like, my hands were freezing. The balls are cold.

I don't know what's going on. But the breathing side, first five minutes I was over it. Like, all right, I'm good. Catch a little sweat. You're good to go. The ball cold? I never heard of it. The ball cold? I never heard of it. The ball is cold.

I heard the ball. Freezing. Utah, the ball wasn't cold in Utah? My hands is cold, not the ball. Ball, freezing. Brick. Interesting. Brick.

The only time I felt something similar to that was when we played at Wisconsin on top of, it was on top of ice. Yeah. That was probably one of my worst games in college. But you said that Big Ten, like going to Michigan State and winning. Everything is cold as hell everywhere. The hockey season is over when they start.

You don't get that ice. So like the NBA, the coldest arenas is fucking Phoenix. No, because it's hot outside. Yeah, it's hot outside. Yeah, and they have hockey, so they have the hockey under. So it's really cold in arenas sometimes. Boston too. Huh?

Boston is just cold because they had the ice. Yeah, when you have ice under there, it's just- It's horrible. Yeah. Staples, same issue or no? The balls being cold? No. Yeah. Staple, same issue or no? The ball's being caught. No. He had a staple.

He had a staple. That was special when they put those boxing lights in. Yeah. Okay. When they darkened the crowd and then the spotlight was on. Okay. See, this is stuff, I mean, from my perspective, obviously that is amazing just to know going in, because you hear about all these things and playing in altitude, it feels like shit.

You come fresh off a blunt, like lungs is burning. But it's an advantage, but after the league, you're not really thinking about that. But for these dudes to be able to adjust in just how long, because that lung burn in altitude is unlike any, you do it out here, no big deal. But I don't think they use the altitude to their advantage. Nah. How should they their advantage. Nah. How should they? Press.

Ooh. I'd be pressing the fucking... You said that shit fast. They got to play that. They got to play there. They're pressing the shit out of the team. That's why a lot of people are like, how is Joker in such good shape? He plays in Denver. He goes anywhere else.

Yeah, he goes anywhere else. He can play 48 minutes. He'd be running and he'd be moving. He'd be running. I'd be like, this is crazy. Wait, in that last game when he got that and one, like he- Full time. Who was it?

Whoever's post player was down there. I heard. I think it was Gobert. Gobert. Gobert was still talking about he was still in the paint on the other end. Just running, running. So you say press the ass and endeavor. The first three, four, five minutes, I press the fuck out that team.

Just to see. Just pick them up. I'll be picking up- You said that first three minutes. You can get down 18. Yeah, I'll pick up. Easy. Three minutes. That's a tactic, bro.

I'll pick up Chris Paul. Full court. Turn him. Turn him. Get him fucking tired already. Wow. I didn't even think about that, bro. They never use that shit to their advantage.

Damn. First five minutes, too. They're going to be trying to sub. They're going to call that time out quick as shit. We're going to take this one and the TV. All right, so let's move to the east We got to talk about get one of your favorite guards in the league Trey's one of the most hated players in the NBA by fans and some of his peers They voted him the 12th best guard in the East the all-star snubbery. I

Thought it was just like-skinned hatred, but it feels like it's even more than that. Yeah, it's the drug policy. They all get high. They smoking crack! But after the first two games of the Hall Celtics series, Trey was getting a lot of criticism for his performance, and it wasn't Trey-level, let's just be real.

But last three games, he's averaging 35 points per game. He capped off game five, that 38-point performance with the the three. I know the Celtics are ready to get this shit over Hawk said the name no to that. Do we have that game winner? Let's watch it. This is it. Oh look at him Jaylen Brown on a lock up from deep like that We rewind it Ballsy from me like that. Fuck you down Down down one. No, that's a Step step back

Bam we got some replays coming for y'all too Y'all said the gardens cold, but if it's like That kind of looked like that Damien Lillard three on PG. Gotcha. I need those shoes now. Oh, hey, Trey's got some nice shoes. I will say that. I do like his shoes.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say that. His pops blessed me with a pair. I appreciate it. They were size 13. I wear a 14. But I still rocked them with a no-chill. I think that Al Harrington episode, out of love and respect for the Young family. But does Trey's performance in this series change anything in your mind

or your opinion about him as a hooper? No. Not in my mind. I mean, he's one of the top guards in the game. He's just not getting the love. it's just you know you know just when you're arrogant when you're arrogant and you really you know do this shit you know I mean like players players don't like that's not players just don't like trash-talking like they want you to bust their ass in silence yeah they really they want you

to just if you don't go score 60, just score it silently, right? When you start like doing this shit right here, players hate that shit, right? I don't know why. It's just a little, just little things just irritate players and then that's when you're overrated. Like, I just had

fucking 50 on you, bro. It didn't look cute. It's the punk players though, man. It ain't the real hoopers. We love that shit. To see you out there, and I'm playing against you, and one of my defensive players is guarding you, and you out there. I said, man, switch, man. Switch.

Let me knock him down a couple times. Because I like that this nigga's turning up. But it'd be the heck. If you not built like that, and you mad because another nigga built like that, that's turning up. But it'd be like, if you not built like that and you mad because another nigga built like that,

that's just different. It's a different type of hate. We had this conversation in one of our episodes about Trey being that guy and they just hate because he got that air to him.

You know what I'm saying? And they just hate me because I still got that air to me. You feel me? So it is what it is. That's why I look at the chat and a lot of them will try to climb your game, but they just don't realize because it's coming up. I'm a little bit older than you, but we all knew about Rashad McKiss coming through, winning the 90, the bucket getting,

throwing up the X in the M. All of that, man. All of that. But we're not going to go down memory lane just to prove a point. I like Trey Young because he that guy. Just like Gil was that guy. Just like Lex was that lady. Like, when you can shoot that thing and play, the hate don't come. I love shooter. I love threes. I'm so happy the Ws kind of, we're kind of making that pivot.

Like, valuing three-point shooting more than, you know, post-up, just back to the basket, you know. We're kind of, that pivot, valuing three-point shooting more than post-up, just back to the basket. We're on the way. We're not there yet, but that's why I always was... Growing up, DT, she's really the only one who played beyond the three-point line as much as a lot of the NBA guys do. Now we have more players, even at the college level now, playing behind the three-point line. I've always been a fan of Trey's game. I think it's funny how much people hate him.

Like, he's this little light-skinned, adorable thing, and he just rips your hat out on the court. But I remember whatever year that was when they played the Knicks, when they had all those videos of the fans outside, like, talking about him. You still have Knicks fans to this day. Oh, my gosh. Trey's not even playing the Knicks right now, and the fuck Trey Young chants will ring out all through Madison Square Garden.

Those videos are the funniest videos. But that's how you know you was that dude. Yes. That is how you know you was that dude. He embraces it. When a whole city can think about you years later. They're in the playoffs playing another team and they thinking about you. Nobody's talking about Trey.

This right here, this right here probably freaked them out. Here you go. They need to be worried about your girl. They still have- They still have- They still have- They still have- They still have-

They still have- They still have- They still have- They still have- They're in the playoffs playing another team and they thinking about Trey. This right here, this right here probably freaked them out. Here you go. They need to be worried about Trey. And they still worried about Trey. I'm not a fan of Trey Young's slander. I'm friends with the family. But I will say the photo, the lollipop with the little hair dangling off of it. This shit is funny.

That lets you know the level of, like, the greatness of someone, just a culture fear in you. Yeah. Right? That's, like as a hooper, that lets me know. You going out your way to show me that's how much you hate me, lets me know that I was impacted. What he say, he was like, they don't do that to everybody. That's his mentality. They're not like, oh, they're bothering me.

Like, well, they're not bothering anybody else. What that say about me? That's why I like Trey Young. I think because Trey's undersized, he talks that big shit, he backs it up. It's even worse. If he was like 6'5", 6'6", doing it, I think there would be like... It's just the shit. It's antics, right?

Just little antics. Like, that's where Hibachi, when I used to do this shit. When I used to do this shit or I can't feel my face, right? People actually, like, people hate that. I remember Tyson, no, no, not Tyson. Tayshaun Prince. Tayshaun Prince, I hit the shot. Like, he switched on me and hit the shot.

And I said, Hibachi? The fuck you talking about? Yeah, Tayshaun. Yeah, oh, y'all, he was mad. He was mad. Just one shot. It and hit the shot. And I said, Hibachi? The fuck you talking about? Yeah. Oh, y'all. He was mad. He was mad. Just one shot. It was just one shot.

Just one. All I needed was one shot to go in. I don't give a fuck. If I'm 0 for 9, one shot and I'm on fire. It's a way of getting yourself going. So the antics, it's needed. It makes the game enjoyable. 100%.

The early part of the Hawks Celtics series, nobody really gave a shit. Now I have reason to watch. Yeah. Yeah. I was feeling that way too. Why are we watching this? Do it go further than where we at? I think, and the fucked up part is they're going back to Atlanta.

I think Atlanta's going to win this next game. You think they're going to win game six? DeJounte was at home like ready. Yeah, he was hype. He was hype. He was on Instagram hype. I think the comedic part is though that Atlanta thought they were going to get packed up. They had Janet Jackson concert at State Farm Arena scheduled Thursday night.

They had to move her to Friday, but that also has Taylor Swift at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. For those that know Atlanta. Atlanta said, we do not believe in y'all. But we believe in Janet and Taylor. Miss Jackson, if you're nasty. But now they got to go head-to-head with Taylor. But it also hurts for me that Janet's in State Farm and Taylor's in the Mercedes-Benz. But that's just, I'm an old head.

I understand it. Taylor got a bigger fan base. That's just crazy that they just already had booked that shit. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Good game, y'all. Good season. Good try. Y'all got some tickets?

We got some tickets. This is very Atlanta-esque, though. They put a Chick-fil-A in a football stadium where games are played on Sunday. So, it's not, you know, Atlanta is notorious for this shit. Wow, that's horrible. Let's talk about Trey. After the game, Trey Young's dad. That is hilarious. Think about Wow, that's horrible. Let's talk about Trey. After the game, Trey Young's dad. That is hilarious.

Think about it. That's hilarious. After the game, Trey Young's dad, Ray, tweeted the following about Trey's experience with current Hawks head coach, Quinn Snyder. Said it once, and I'll say it again. No disrespect to any before, but Quinn Snyder is the best thing to happen to my son since he arrived in Atlanta draft night. I love Ray. He's my guy.

I love when people say no disrespect because you already know. You about to say something disrespectful. Shots are being fired. But, you know, there's been talk about Trey and the Hawks potentially ending their relationship. Should the Hawks keep Trey? Should Trey want to stay in Atlanta?

Should they keep him? Yes. Who else are they going to get? It's Atlanta. It was crazy. As great as Atlanta is as get? It's Atlanta. Mm-hmm. What's crazy is as great as Atlanta is as a city, no one wants to play there. Ja would play there. Ja?

Ja would play in Atlanta. I mean, a young kid would play anywhere, but I'm talking about to build a team. You're not getting many free agents. Nah. You got to over- James Harden would go there. James? James James ago there The strip club cool, but at the end of the day

As he was waiting for it Club is cool. But at the end of the day like Why would you want to be an NBA player playing in the crowd that there's only like 70 people in there half the time? There you go. There you go. I knew you was getting somewhere. There's 60 niggas in there. Get going in there, man.

It's 20 hours of play. See how I'm trapping. You know, have you been to a Hawks game? You know how hard it is to get there? Like parking, it's annoying. I feel like the traffic, yeah, it's a mess. It's all over the place. Yeah. Yeah. It's tight. Different. like the traffic, yeah, it's a mess. It's all over the place. Yeah.

Yeah. It's tight. Different. They got one way in. When you get in there- Yeah, because even when I came here to LA, I was like, the traffic is crazy, but those games we pack early, people find their way around the city, they get there early. In Atlanta, downtown Atlanta is just a shit show, essentially.

It's niggas. Niggas being late. Right. That too. Late to everything. That too. And when you finally get into the game, it's a shit show, essentially. Niggas. Niggas being late. Late to everything. That too. And when you finally get into the game, it's a club in there. It's like, they let y'all in? Let y'all in the club? Every time I'm winning, I'm like, man, ain't nobody.

When the last time you been in there? Huh? When the last time you been in there? When they had good cheerleaders. Oh, boy. They used to have good cheerleaders. I was in there when they shut down the NBA. It was Vince Carter's last game. Oh, boy. I was in there when they shut down the NBA. It was Vince Carter's last game.

Oh, wow. Yeah, they stopped the game. They were like, everybody has to leave. In the middle of the game? Yeah, that was when COVID started. But did the game start? The game was going on. They ended the game.

Oh, no, you would have messed up my stats. This shit don't count, right? The game was over. And they're like, sorry, everyone. The game is over and they're like, sorry everyone, the game is over. Gotta go. All right, y'all. Well, let's keep this thing moving and jumping. Time for our last segment of the show. One of my favorites.

Mostly fans. Fans we asked y'all for some questions. And y'all delivered actually some reasonably good shit. Normally y'all let me down. I don't have high hopes for y'all. But y'all let me down normally. It'd be good comedy. Normally y'all let me down. I don't have high hopes for y'all. But y'all let me down normally. It'd be good comedy in there though.

But so we're going with first question from Showtime SFG. This question's for Lexi. Oh jeez. Do you think not allowing women players to be one and done

hurts the WNBA from a viewership standpoint? No. Not at all? No. Because all the players everyone is talking about right now are in like year three. Hmm.

Gil? I do. I mean, I would love to hear why, because I just feel like the viewership, it's not like a, it's not, it's like a college to pro issue. It's just like viewership in general. One and done. These girls are playing against girls.

They're playing against a girl like Molly who wants to be a scientist. There's not many times they're going against other pros. So you're going to throw them into a training camp

and then what? Now you're 18 years old. You've been cut. Now you've got to go overseas at 18. A young woman. You don't have a college degree. You're not gonna play until you're 40, so what are you gonna do? I know we're talking about viewership, and I love our fans and I love the direction everything's

going, but it's doing a disservice to the players if that narrative continues. See, I did the research, right? So it's no different than when the NBA opened it up to younger players. Right. So what ends up happening is there's... Okay, let's take you right out of high school, the one year, right? And I put you in...

You finish your college career, or I put you in the WNBA, right? By the time you turn 22, which player would be better? The one who went to college or the one who got to play against professionals for three years? Which one would be better? If those two had to play against each other. The college pro or the pro pro? My college version.

I mean, and it sucks because not everybody has the same trajectory in the league. Like, me in year three, like, her confidence versus senior year Lex. Like, senior year Lex would probably bust third year pro Lex. Just from, like, a confidence standpoint. You would think so, but just like any hooper, it takes about three years to adjust to any new level. Right. Right? it takes about three years to adjust to any new level. So if you take the person and put them in the NBA or put them in college, by the time they're in their third year, they're maxing out no matter what.

So what happened is the girls' basketball, they're losing the wild side of themselves, the creativity. So if you take a kid and say, all right, one and done and then put them in the WNBA, their wildness is still there. In college, you get broken playing four years. Now you become a system player. You're still running

UCLA cuts. Who the fuck does UCLA cuts? It's a good cut. It's an elite cut. That's like East It's a good cut. No, that's like East... It's an elite cut, okay? That's like East Coast, no time on the clock. There's no shot clock. You just run the shit out of everybody. That's that offense still.

But who's running Arizona cuts, Gil? I don't know. I don't know fucking Arizona cuts. Thank you. Shit. Shit. So what ends up happening is, because everyone comes in at 22, what you're losing is you're losing your audience.

The audience that's being lost is the kids. Freshman, sophomore, the girls who buy uniforms and jerseys and socks, those fans are lost because they become your rival at some point. So if you're a freshman or sophomore in college, by the time you're a senior, all your fan base is in college now. Right. They're rivals. They're not fans. So when you get drafted and you're the number one pick in the draft- Right.

They're not... No. I agree with that. Your fan base don't even know... That fan base doesn't even know who the fuck you are. They're like, who is this? I don't know. Where is the guy? They don't- I agree with you because it's funny because, like, I'm in year six now.

Like, you're asking these college girls who your favorite player are. They're still saying Maya and DT because they're just older. Like, there are some college players that I've played against, I've met when we were younger. Like, we were rivals. Like, yeah, I do agree with that, but it's from a system standpoint, something will have to change on the W side as far as how they decide to keep players or to benefit girls leaving early because there's a lot of vets that should not be... Yeah, so what ends up happening is the vets is the ones that get cut, right?

Fuck out of here. It's because youth runs money. Like youth. Like I'd rather, let's say Lululemon, any makeup, any bra, all that. If I'm a company, I'd rather give it to someone that's 19, 20 coming into the band. Right, exactly. Versus someone. But if I'm a company, I'd rather give it to someone that's 19, 20 coming into the WNBA versus someone... Like even the way... Little things, even the way a draftee gets dressed. Imagine 22-year-old woman coming into the WNBA versus a 19-year-old girl getting drafted.

What does those two outfits look like? Now think about the high school girls. Who are they looking at? Because there was some... I showed the outfits to a group of girls. It's like, oh, what kind of grandma is these? And I'm just sitting there like... I was actually very... I mean, they didn't look bad, but I was actually very surprised at how they dressed at the draft.

It was very modest. I mean, they looked beautiful. But I was like... I was expecting them to be popping out. Yes. They didn't. And I was like, you guys look... I mean, they look great.

But it was like they all had on pants, They did it. And I was like, you guys look... I mean, they look great, but it was like they all had on pantsuits and blazers. And I was like... Because I remember my draft class, I had on a little dress. One of my friends had on a tight form dress. She looked amazing. So when they came out like that, I was a little surprised, but they looked great. But again, that's where expansion comes into play, where you can have those young players come in and maybe not be as elite as you want them to be,

but they're essentially not taking a spot that you need because there's only 12, 11 most teams. Yeah, you only got 11. I mean, it's 12 max, but the way the salaries have been set up the last few years, some teams are carrying 10. But that's where the money is being lost, is the youth. Because the fact that you can stay in school now and make more money than WNBA players,

the WNBA girls, these girls don't even want to come out. Yeah. I mean, can I give a take, though? I'm going to go against you on the viewership. Coming out, that's not a thing. If they wanted to come out now, they literally couldn't. Who? The younger players.

You have to be 22. You got to be 22. Yeah, but you usually have to, that's still your senior year. So say they decided, you have to be 22 the year of the draft. Say like, it doesn't matter if the girls were saying, I can't wait to get the W. They couldn't anyway. So it's like, why do we even ask? Yeah, 22, that's.

If you were 22 coming into the NBA, you're trash. Yeah. I mean. You're trash as fuck. But again, like I know like money, money is the root of it all. But like, I'm just thinking long term as a woman, as a black woman in this world, you need to stay in school. But even beyond.

I don't know. I've always been big on that even before NIL. Get your degree, get your master's, do all that, network, all that stuff, because you're not getting life-changing money yet. Yes. Hopefully. Well, now we're in the NIL world, so somebody like an Angel Reese or Kayla Clark. Right, so now if you stay, why would you not stay?

How much money I would make from college? Let's talk about what you said, though, the one and done, right? You feel like it creates more for your fan base for the one and done, right? So the research that I did for our side, the men's side, right, is you look at Kobe, Amari, KG, certain high school guys that came out, right? It took them one, two, maybe three years to build the fan base because back then there wasn't no social media, right? So they didn't take with them the high school phenomenon fan base

that they were building up and converted over to an NBA fan base that can come see them play. Yes, they did. No, they didn't. Let me explain. Kobe was a... Let me explain. So when Kobe says, it took me three years to learn the NBA game and go through my trials

and tribulations, this is the same amount of time in the college game that you build your fan base up. When we were coming out, it took us two, three years to come out because we were building rapport. We were building a fan base. And so when we do come out, we have following from our universities. The university following is what helped us stay three years. Now, if I was to come out my freshman year, go straight to the league, I don't have no fan base.

You have your high school fan base. And I don't have that because I went to boarding schools. I don't have no fan base. You have your high school fan base. And I don't have that because I went to boarding schools. I don't have no fan base at all. I wouldn't be mad if they allowed, like, if they, like, allowed, like, the juniors, like, if you turn 21. Yeah. I feel like that. Like I said, the players that everybody is talking about

are juniors in college. Like, no one. Paige is probably the only freshman that, I mean, and even Stewie. Stewie won four championships, four National Player of the Years, and I did not hear not one person ever say, why don't we do one and done? Right.

But she's at UConn, too, so they already got the win. Yeah, but I'm like, what's the difference? And then she's doing the same thing at the W. She was dominant her entire time at UConn, and this conversation was never a thing. Now, imagine if she was being dominant this whole time, if she came into the WNBA after her first year, she would still be dominant.

There's nothing that changes it. You just messed up the stats. I think she still would have been dominant. Nah, it's the fan base that you missed. Kobe was fan favorite all-star as a second-year player. Second year. Second year. Trace McGregor.

But think about LaMelo Ball, LeBron James. When they're coming in, they're bringing the youth. But it started with LeBron, though. It started with LeBron. No, the youth buys this. But you got to. When you're buying a jersey for your child. No, you've proven my point.

One year, the college girls are going to build the same fan base as a pro as they would three, four years in school. It's your high school group. Like, let's say Juju, Juju, right? Juju Watkins, number one player since eighth grade. If she went into the draft right now, she'll have the number one selling jersey because every girl from 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th is going to buy everything she wears. There's not 20 jujus. By the time she becomes a senior,

this whole group is gone. But there's not 20 jujus. There's not 20 LeBrons. It's an exception. She's an exception. Only deceptions come in and drop in. The 18-year-old makes her OnlyFans and everyone subscribes and she makes $2 million the first week and then-

I know nothing about it. Then it disappears. I don't know nothing about it. I'm about to take your word for it. No, because it happened to the Meet Me Outside girl. Turn 18, went OnlyFans and made millions of dollars. But now, I don't know, obviously I don't follow OnlyFans, I don't know. We just seen it all.

Talent is talent. The crop is gonna always rise. There's gonna be kids that come in and they're gonna fall off. That's what it is. But until the WNBA gives players the opportunity to do that without cutting them, then it's not going to be able to happen. I mean, I don't think any WNBA team will be dumb enough

to draft someone in the first round and cut them. It's happened. That's 22. Not 18. I'm not cutting an 18-year-old. Why not? Bread. Because they're drafting them off of potential. But the Brett is always an issue with the salary cap, right? So you got to make those moves.

But the WNBA don't draft off potential. Because they can't. They can't afford to because it's 22. No, because there's not enough potential players. What I'm saying is 22. Now, let's say, okay, if Juju was in a draft right now, she's the number one pick. Number one. There's no question.

So, okay. She's 17. Turning 18. There's no way she's getting cut. I don't give a fuck what she looks like this year. You're holding the standard to the one player who's better than all the other players. Even the top three. The top three. The top three.

The top three, right? The top three girls, if they're 18 and I'm comparing them to 22, my comparison is this. If they're in this league for four years, at 22, would they be better than these girls coming in? Yes. I agree with you. We just don't have the space to do that.

No, no, no. A lot of girls are going to get cut. the space to do that. I don't know. A lot of girls are going to get cut. Y'all know that. I'm not saying that. There's going to be a lot of good stuff. There's going to be a lot of guillotine going on. For me, people are like, would you rather have more teams or more roster spots?

For me, I don't know. I feel like if you want that change to happen, I feel like the roster spot would be easier to make internal changes instead of adding to completely new. Yeah, if you put everybody at 15. 36 draft picks last year, what was it, 16 of them were waived? Fuck! Yeah, bro. It's a cold game in the top W.

15, 15, I'd rather have every team carry 15 then and get 22. And that's the whole point. And that's, you know, the league's headed in the right direction. Then you can't have those young players come in with their popularity, whatever, and still hold them to an expectation, but one that makes more sense. Yeah, because, I mean, the NBA did it so you do have a metric of what it looks like. And your first-round pick contract is not guaranteed. There's nothing guaranteed.

That's fine. You don't get a guaranteed contract. Well, now we just changed the CBA. If they pick up your option after your rookie season, then that's the first time you could get a guaranteed contract. Shit is wild. Well, there's no guarantees in life, but there is a guarantee that Gilderina will be back tomorrow.

Thursday, Lexi Brown, we appreciate you pulling up. Of course. Look forward to you doing your thing with the spark. Yeah, I will be in attendance Even I'll be honest April Center. Y'all. Y'all are sort of bullshit and the hot dogs are smaller to the soda drinks What's going down, but that's for another show. We appreciate y'all plugging in with it. Gills Arena, we'll be back tomorrow. See y'all then. Let's go.