Gil's Arena - Stephen A Smith Finally FACES OFF With Gil's Arena

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Stephen A Smith Finally FACES OFF With Gil's Arena as the Sports Broadcasting GOAT & ESPN Media Mogul finally delivers on his promise after 138 days and joins Gilbert Arenas & The Gil's Arena Crew inside Gil's Arena for what's sure to be an EXPLOSIVE episode of Gil's Arena. They kick off the show by reacting to another battle in the NBA MVP Race as Nikola Jokic & The Denver Nuggets took down Shai Gilgeous Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder and debate if these performances did enough to sway the opinions of MVP voters like Stephen A towards the Joker. Stephen A Smith then gets real on his new contract with ESPN that cements him as the true goat of the media before breaking down the truth of what happened during his now viral encounter with LeBron James. They then get Stephen A's thoughts on the season for the New York Knicks before hearing his perspective on his public battle with Jaylen Brown and the importance of protecting your sources as a journalist. Finally, Cemetery Larry invites Stephen A. into his body bag as the Gil's Arena Crew challenge him on his GOAT rankings and debate why he doesn't have Kobe Bryant in the same conversation as LeBron James & Michael Jordan. Please give us a like and subscribe!!! Gil's Arena Crew - Gilbert Arenas, Josiah Johnson, Stephen A Smith, Swaggy P, Rashad McCants & Kenyon Martin Gil's Arena Merch is Available NOW at https://gilsarenamerch.com/ Sign up for Underdog Fantasy HERE with promo code GIL and get up to $1000 in Bonus Credits and A FREE Pick: https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-gil's-arena Find signature comfort in everyday styles at https://MeUndies.com. Get 20% off your first order and free shipping with orders over $75+ with code GIL at checkout. To get YOUR FREE Jumpstart Trial Bag, go to https://ruffgreens.com & use Promo code GIL USE Code GIL10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/GIL10 Join the Playback chat to interact with Gil and Josiah https://www.playback.tv/gilbertarenas SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAvjYgmwadC682OoC4Cc6TQ Join the Underdog discord for access to exclusive giveaways and promos! https://discord.gg/underdog Stream Josiah's Film "Memes & Nightmares" Available NOW on Hulu and Disney+ 0:00:00 2 Min Countdown 0:02:06 Show Start 0:06:39 Stephen A Smith Enters The Arena 0:09:44 Stephen A Smith On His MASSIVE New Contract 0:13:01 Stephen A On Jokic vs Shai for MVP 1:05:25 Stephen A GETS REAL On His Confrontation With LeBron 1:49:21 Stephen A vs Cemetery Larry On The GOAT Debate 2:10:29 Stephen A On His Beef With Jaylen Brown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet Tim's new Oreo Mocha Ice Caps with Oreo in every sip. Perfect for listening to the A-side. Or B-side. Or Bull-side. Order yours on the Tim's app today at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. From commutes that become learning sessions to dishwashing filled with laughs, podcasts can help you make the most out of your everyday. And when it comes to everyday spending,

you can count on the PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard to help you earn the most PC Optimum points everywhere you shop. The PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard, the card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. Welcome back to Gil's Arena presented by Underdog Woop Woop. You already know we got a special one today, so we're going to get right to it. As always, we got the legend, Gilbert Arenas here with us. What's up, Gil? What it do? What it do? Y'all see, I got some Kobe's last week from

Slam. I went upstairs to go rob Gil. My Kobe's were gone. I see what happened to them. Gil, you got the Kobe's all right? No, I was just borrowing them. Okay. They like both ours. They like both ours. They like both ours. Appreciate you both ours. They like both ours. Appreciate you. We got NBA champion of the world,

championship king, Nick Young in the house. It's three. On this side of the couch, former number one pick, the bully from Oak Cliff, Canyon Martin, back here with us.

And the man known as Cemetery Larry, Rashad McCants, is in the arena. So for all the fans out there, we still got two viewing options for you. Our traditional version, mobile vertical version. Pick whichever one you want to watch. Just make sure you support the show. Here's what's cracking in the arena today. The Thunder and Nuggets split their back-to-back games with SGA striking first and Joker striking back. How did these past two games impact the MVP race? The Cavs are in the midst of their second winning streak of at least

14 games this season, have the best record in the league. Should Cleveland be the favorite to win the chip this season? And the most important topic, of course, Stephen A. Smith is finally pulling up to the arena, and we got some things to discuss. But before we get into all that, as always, this show is brought to you by Underdog. Go ahead, download the app, use promo code GIL. You get up to $1,000 in bonus cash,

plus a special pick-em. And because it's a special episode of GIL's Arena today, Underdog is offering a special to GIL's Arena viewers. Underdog is offering a free pick on any player of your choosing. Just click the link in the chat or scan the QR code to claim your prize. The special will be available throughout the show,

so those of you who tap in later can take advantage as well. You see the sign, ladies and gentlemen. 138 days. We're hoping to get it to zero in the very near future. And as always, if you can't watch this show on YouTube, we got audio versions available on Apple, Spotify,

wherever you get your podcasts from. As a reminder, we are doing our Gillian subscriber giveaway. We are trying to get to a million, I mean one Gillian subscribers on the Gill's Arena YouTube. For every thousand subscribers we get, between 900,000 and a million, Underdog is giving a lucky Underdog user $1,000 in bonus cash. So we are up to 955,000 subscribers on the channel

as of this very moment. That means we are giving away at least $2,000 on the show today, but obviously we got a very special guest in the building, so it may jump up. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you can, and shout out to Rough Greens for sponsoring today's podcast. Ever see your dog slowing down or having health issues and wonder, what can I do to make them better? Rough Greens to your dog's food. You got to add it. 90 days and you'll see changes that will amaze you.

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Just add a scoop of Rough Greens. And you said you sampled it. Oh, yeah, the dog loves it. The truck. The dog's gonna live. I need some more. My dog will be a lot. I use it regularly. Hey, Cal, I need another shipment, because the dog...

The dog 220, he listen. He needs it. Shaw, you like the lights on. Oh, no, I got old humor. You got old humor. We got to do what we got to do. That's a dog 220. He listen he needs every day. So you like the lights on Ever since you've been on the movie shit you've been doing longer you've been doing longer monologue Them since been stretching out a little bit longer He trying to show people his reign Are you gonna see it now you're gonna see range in a second. Let's get to it Let's get to it after a hundred thirty eight day wait the time has finally come a man who needs no introduction He's the king of TV. ESPN gives him whatever he wants. What's going on, y'all?

He's the host of First K. The show that get number one. Go, go. And why? He's Rob Green. His face gives protection. He's Rob Green. He's the host of First K.

The 3D3 of the back shop. He'd run free. He'd run free. He'd run free. That shit was hilarious. He's the king of TV. He's the king of TV. He's the king of TV. He's the king of TV. He's the king of TV.

He's the king of TV. Special guest making his first appearance in the arena, internationally known, nationally recognized, locally respected, host of the Stephen A. Smith Show on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcasts, New York Times bestselling author and host and executive producer of ESPN's number one morning show, First Take,

Stephen A. Smith. Welcome to Guild Arena. What's going on? Can I start out by saying something first? It's been 138 days. Y'all keep reminding me of this shit. You got me there, right? 138 days?

No longer, sir. Check this out. Check this out. Stephen A. Smith is in the arena. So now I can say it. I started negotiations five weeks beforehand. So what happened was that... First of all, congratulations on the podcast, what y'all doing is special.

That's why I'm here. Congratulations to all of y'all. But here's the deal. Y'all some wild-ass brothers, man. You know what I'm saying? So I'm like, yo, I don't need to be going on there in the middle of my negotiation. We dig it. So, the negotiations, just so everybody knows, that shit took us 275 days. I've been negotiating for 10 months. I signed the deal last week, and the next day, you're like, where you at?

Yeah, yeah. I'm like this, I'm coming. All right. Deal signed, you know what I'm saying? Hey, hey. So, that's what happened. I just want y'all to know. Congratulations, bro. I'm like this. I'm coming. Deal signed. You know what I'm saying? So that's what happened. I just want y'all to know. Congratulations, bro. Thanks a lot.

I didn't want to come in the middle of the negotiation. I don't blame you. That's all I want. I don't blame you. Here we go. One name for sure. Two names for sure. This shit can definitely go left at any given time.

That's right. Don't let up that price. And don't let these N-words get in the way of your money, dog. Here we go. Trust me. That's all it was. That's all it was. You know?

So that's it. So I'm here. So we got a lot. 200, though. Huh? You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up. You could have pushed it up.. That's all it was. That's all it was. You know, so that's it. So I'm here. So we got a lot. $200, though. Huh? You could have pushed it up. Hey, you know, anything's possible. I should have waited.

So we got a lot of things to discuss. First things first, as you mentioned, you got that new five-year deal. Yeah. Eight-figure range. We're in pocket watching. We just say eight-figure range is what we've heard. So what does it mean to you to sign a deal of that magnitude? And what does it say about your position in the sports media game?

Well, it's humbling. You know, unless you're an athlete or an artist, you don't expect to be able to sign for, you know, that kind of money. And so, you know, it's like I'm very blessed, I'm very fortunate. You know, I can sit up here and talk some shit, but yeah, you know, I earned it. I earned it in terms of the work that I put in, the hours, how hard I work, but that don't mean you don't end up getting some shit like that. And so the fact that I was able to pull that off,

it was a very, very big deal to me because I, I, I'm the, I'm the cat that I wake up, I'm reading the wall street journal. I'm, I'm reading, reading, you know, the financial times and shit. It ain't just the tabloids and all of that stuff. I'm monitoring the money. Then I'm monitoring who getting the money. Then I'm monitoring how is it relatable to what I do. Then I'm saying, well, wait a minute now.

That person got that money. That person got that money. How you going to justify? If you ESPN and you in the news because you signed one of my colleagues to five years, 85 million and another cat got 20 million a year. And then you look at Fox and Brady got three hundred and seventy five. You like, where do I fit in? And I'm I'm looking at it from that standpoint.

And I'm like, I this is my worth based on my ratings, the revenue that I know the show is generating, kind of know all my business and stuff, because in 2009 when I got fired and got let go, I mean, I was a dumbass. The fact of the matter is I thought popularity was me being on commercials and being on the side of buses and stuff like that, and yo, that means I'm popular.

But I didn't have any way, any knowledge of how to measure my worth. And so they came to the negotiating table, and they said, you're worth this. I thought I was worth that. They said, all right, shit, go out there and get it. Find it. And then I went out there, and there was no market for me in 2009. And they didn't want me back, so my career was in jeopardy. People don't realize this.

From 2009, when they let me go, I was off the air until 2012. Television. When I came back in 2011, I was confined and restricted to radio. Fox Sports had came and got me in 2010. Then in 2011, ESPN came back and get me, but they said, you can only do radio you can't do television

and it wasn't until I got on first take that all of a sudden everything started you know growing again and growing again so all of that shit I brought into negotiations my knowledge of what I experienced what I went through why I went through, and then along the way as I got these contracts, you know, it would be, you know, brothers coming up, and I'm like, yo, this is what happened to me. Don't let that shit happen to you. And that's how it all happened. Well, we appreciate you.

We were monitoring your contract situation as well. And shout-out to Underdog. Download the Underdog app. Use promo code GIL. Get up to $1,000 in bonus cash plus a special pick-up. And be prepared to hear from our agent soon. But Stephen A., you abduct us no longer. We gotta dump the sign. Alright, we got a lot to discuss.

We're gonna start with the biggest story in the league right now. So on the second night of a back-to-back, games between top MVP candidates Shea Gildas-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, the two led their teams to another entertaining game after OKC won the first game of this set, it was important for the Nuggets to respond, and they did.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from last night. We were watching on our Playback Watch Party, playback.tv slash Gilbert Arenas. For all of those who weren't aware, we had Mr. B on there as well. But Joker had 35 points, 18 rebounds, 8 assists, just one turnover in the win, played 40 minutes, was a remarkably efficient 15 for 20 from the field. Jamal Murray did his thing as well, 34 points and 6 assists in 40 minutes.

He was 11 for 22 from the field, perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line. On the OKC side, SGA had 25 points and 7 assists. We all remember he dropped 40 in the win over Denver back on Sunday. Lou Dort was actually the Thunder's leading scorer of the night with 26 points. Key injury note, all-star Jalen Williams missed the second half of this game after suffering a right hip strain. We'll be monitoring that situation

in the coming days. But let's watch a little bit more of these highlights. Joker really did his thing, helping elevate his squad, getting his get back. Second night of a back-to-back against the Thunder in OKC. Shot. He didn't take all them shots.

Mm-hmm. And S.J. was not... Got his ass cooked. Was not shooting like he said. He was looking to make a statement. Uh-huh. Had an opportunity to make it. Cooked.

Yeah, the game. But James Williams cooked. No, but the game... Hey, hey. Cooked. We've no Aaron Gordon either, so it wasn't, you know... See, I see stuff like this, and it just... it makes me look at Oklahoma City a little differently.

Like, one minute, I think they the dogs to beat. And the next night, they'll turn around and lose, and I'm like, you can take them. You can take them. And that's what happened last year. You know, they go in the play as the number one seed, and Kyrie and Luke could give it to them. You know, and I'm like, that's a series you could win, but SGA was the only one that showed up consistently.

The other cats did it. And that's the kind of stuff that I look for. At this late, at this late in the season, yeah, you got Denver the first night. They came back and and get you but it's not whether you win or lose is how you got done you know it's like for them to answer the way that they did last night is what gives me cause to pause about okay see yes they being young man you don't understand the severity of each and every game right like if you're trying to make a statement you, trying to prove that you

one of them teams to beat, you gotta show up again, man. Like, and Denver knew the severity of this, right? We fighting for something. This man's MVP is at stake, so they fighting for him. What was Jalen Williams' numbers at half? I think he got, didn't he get hurt last night? Yeah, he missed the second half. What, 22?

Half with the hip strength. 22.5. Let me pull it up for you. That's crazy. Wi-Fi. Yeah, but no, I was in the game before when we was on our way back, right? From, so we all was watching the game on our phones coming back from San Diego, dog bowl. And we all was like, man, this man really out here hunting shots, man.

Yeah. Like, it looks like, I understand he averaged 32, but it just, it looked bad the other day. Jalen Williams had 12 and 6 in that first half. The first game, Sunday. Okay, okay. 12 and 6. Sunday's game. Shot first game, Sunday's game. Okay, okay. 12 and 6.

12 and 6, and it's the Sunday's game. Shot the ball, what, 33, 32, 33 times, right? 32, 33 times, 15 for 32 from the field. Right. And the foot, he got more like the makes he made, what, four late? Yep. No, maybe, maybe five. Four, maybe.

Five straight. Five late, right? At the end. And so, the four that we were all like, yeah, but this is like, when you look at it, it's like, dude, we get it. And when you see, do you see him having to do that though? Like, we get it. Compare it.

Compare it to the last shot. But then they adjust it, and you don't take that. But was it an adjustment? Or was it Shay trying to dial back what he said initially is, I shot the ball too many times. Exactly what we seen immediately. We on the ball too many times. It's exactly what we've seen immediately. We on the bus, we like, come on, man. And then you can see the 40 and the 8 in a win

feels good to the team, but it don't feel good to him. For some reason, I took too many shots. Can I throw this at all of y'all? That's a good thing. I look at Jalen. He the key. See, I'm not worried about Shea. Yeah.

He's shown me he gonna show up. Mm-hmm. To me, Oklahoma, you know, I was debating with some cats about this. I don't know whether it was Big Perk or somebody else, but it was like, they were like, Chet Holmgren's the key. I'm like, yeah, but I expect him to do what he does.

I expect Harnstein to do what he does. Jalen to me is the key because if you got somebody other than Shea that you can say, here's the ball, take us there. Now, now they could go to the finals. But without that, I don't think so. He too young. He too young to be putting that much pressure on him right now. Even as a secondary option?

Right now. Because what they've done is, okay, see, they're depending on SGA so much to the point where a 25-point game is not nearly enough to beat Joker and them after a 40-point game. 14 shots ain't nearly enough than the 32 that you just took. So you took a major step back in both production and I'm not going to say direct leadership, but what we're looking for, for us to come back in the fourth and we just lost the secondary option. You can't, 14 is not enough. Now we need you to hunt shots. But what I'm asking is when you say it's too much as a secondary option. Yes. No. To depend on him to carry the load if he's not having a good game. It's his first year as an all-star He hasn't really shown that he can he can handle a low

He can't handle the the pressure of I gotta be the guy but I'm not yeah, I disagree with that Yeah, he got us now your all-star right Yes, absolutely, Jalen. Well, then they can't win. Huh? They can't win then. Yeah. Because if Murray is a second option here, and we know what he's going to do,

you know what he's going to do when he's in the playoffs. If LeBron is the second option to the Lakers, comparable. Come on, man. You're talking about Jalen Brown or Tatum.

You're talking about Dame. So the fact that these are second options, if you can't rely on him to average at least 23 in the playoffs, you can't be consistent, you have no chance. There's no chance of winning. Can you ask me this? And I ask all of y'all. That's your difference in the playoffs.

We're not questioning that he has the talent to do it, right? No, no. He can do it. That's where I'm coming from. The maturity of that. The experience. I'm saying the experience to handle the moments and the pressures of the 23 you talk about consistently.

We need it. Game four, he ain't show up. We need you to give us 27 tonight. You can't give us 21. But did you need that? He is not going to be mentally ready to just dial dial that in and I guess what I'm saying your focal point on somebody Scouting boom like you hey, we're gonna double him. We're gonna do this But what I'm saying is

Because you lost last year for that reason See what saying if you ain't been there I got my point is if you okay see you can literally look at yourselves and go like this. If I showed up, we in the conference final last year against Minnesota instead of Dallas. If he showed up, because Shea gave you two games. So I'm looking at him and I'm like, I don't need you to be Shea, but if you can give me that bona fide number two option on a night-in, night-out basis and a best of seven,

we got the rest of it because Caruso, Hartenstein, with Holmgren has elevated their defense. You know Shea, who was my MVP last year, by the way. I voted for MVP. He was the Gills Arena MVP as well. That's right. I voted for MVP. He's my vote this year.

I'm looking at it and I'm like, I can depend on him. It's Jalen that I'm worried about. I got a question for you. Yeah. So, is Jalen the actual second option or is he the guy to get in the leftovers? That's a legitimate question. Look at the game and what I'm talking about.

Look at the game. SGA, the way he plays. Right. I got to get mine. I ain't got it. Go. Second option. Leftovers.

We're talking about the second option, right? We're talking about a guy who comes in and the coach is like, we got to run shit for him. You can't get leftovers on average 20. Not just like give him the ball. Like Derek White is getting leftovers. I see what he's saying. Derek White is getting leftovers.

Pritchard is getting leftovers. But they're taking advantage of those leftovers. But when you say leftovers, are you saying leftovers because schematically that's what ends up happening or are you saying leftovers? Luca. Because Shay. Kyrie was getting Lucas leftovers. But what I'm saying is,

Shay might be ball hogging a little bit too much. I'm asking. Because there's a difference. Because he can't get a rhythm. He can't get a solid rhythm. And Jalen Williams can't get a solid rhythm if he always has the ball doing his thing. Hey, I don't think he needs you right now. He's good. I didn't even know they were behind. Appreciate y'all.

Just in case. So, look, we talked the SGA side, but let's talk a little bit of the Joker side. So, Nugs and Thunder in the season with 2-2 series split. After the win, Jokic was asked about the MVP race and gave this quote. He said, this is my third or fourth year in a row, so I cannot control it. I will say I think I'm playing the best basketball of my life.

So, if that's enough, that's enough. If not, SGA deserves it. He's really, really amazing. And y'all say he don't want that. And he also... Even though you said SGA right now is your frontrunner for MVP. I don't give a damn what nobody... He won't say MVP in my vote. But do you agree that three-time MVP Nikola Jokic is playing the best basketball of his life? I've seen him be... I've seen him be great. This great? Like this? Like this? And don't even say numbers. We're not even going to talk numbers. Just look at it.

Who's stopping that? Just look at it. 35, 18, and 8. Offer that 30, 20, 20 game. Whatever he wants. Fuck them. 30, 20, and 20. The rebounds aren't phasing me that much. The assists do because Cat's missing. They don't have a bunch of snipers on their squad,

so those assists are legit. So in that regard, fine. But are we taking defense into consideration too? Because last time I checked, Shakes plays that. He's second and steals. Both tied for second and steals. Come on now. Come on now. Come on now.

Chase, I don't want to hear this shit. Because it's up there. And if you want to bring stats to me, you know what I'm going to do. I want to go. Maybe put this helmet on. But for someone who doesn't look to score to average 30. Stop saying he don't look to score. He don't.

Not to average 30, though. He's not going out there saying I'm trying to get 30. He saying he don't look to score. He don't. Not to average 30, though. He's not going out there saying, I'm going, I'm trying to get 30. He just told y'all. Him the other day, he shot that, he shot, what, nine threes the other night. We all was like, damn, the goalie. Like, what the hell are you doing?

Right? It was out of his, he doesn't look to go out that motherfucker for shots. But the comeback would be this. Just because you don't look the part don't mean you ain't. Oh, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is, he do shoot enough.

He does. He'll pull up from three. He'll pull up for a perimeter. He don't care. I'm just saying, but he views him. He's not just the number one option. He views himself as the number one option. But why?

Because he deserves it. He's worthy of it. I'm just simply saying, because that's the case, look at him, look at Shea. Look, Denver's climbing. Denver's right there. We get that. What's Oklahoma City record right now?

They're like 11, 12 games ahead. And Shea averaging 32? I mean, he got numbers that's comparable to the shit Michael Jordan was doing. y'all argument is so flawed because okay It was about winning like you just brought it in We'll be talking about Donovan Mitchell He's not He got average 30 why he got average 30 you can't throw me why why does we come out the best?

In the league if Donovan Mitchell ain't been missing. Why not? Throw him in there as well. Throw him in there then. Throw him in there then. But Donovan Mitchell's number one. But they've been penalizing Jason Tatum for years for us. That's what I'm saying.

Here's the argument I throw back. Hold on. His number's not good enough? I hear you. I hear you. Here's my comeback to review that. Let's look at Oklahoma City. You just finished bringing up how you can't trust Jalen.

I don't know if you can trust Jalen. We all acknowledge what Jokic got around him. There's an absence of depth, and you don't have shooters, right? What don't Cleveland have this year? They didn't have a consistent coach. They just got a new coach. No, no, I'm talking about this year. I'm only talking about this year.

So they had to get everything new. And DeAndre Hunter came in. The only time they lost to Boston was that game that he didn't get to play during that trade. Right, they undefeated with him in the lineup. How many different 10-game win streaks have Cleveland had? Boston beat them at 30. How many?

Yeah, three. Three 10-game win streaks. They only have their second 15-game win streak. We're not talking about a guy who's already in this league for 70 points. He's in this conversation, but you also got to take this into consideration. We look at the East. We respect the Knicks, but we're looking at Cleveland and Boston. It's a two-horse race. In a Western Conference, it's wide open.

So they got to take that into consideration as well. That might be a reason why everybody's been mentioning Shea and Jokic because we can't have Jokic fall in a three. We can't have that. So we know he's cemented at least at number two, possibly number one. But why can't we put Giannis up there? Giannis? Why is Giannis being... Because Milwaukee was struggling for some time. No Donovan, no

Giannis, nobody in the East except for you. Everybody want to mention Tatum who underneath... Y'all don't mention Tatum. Who underneath those other two, he's underperforming. He's performing at MVP level, but not like Donovan Mitchell, not like Giannis. Then we got on the other side, Shea and Joker.

It's like the conversation is flawed because of what side you play on. So do you believe that it's fair to put Shea and Jokic as one and two and everybody else in the conversation out of the East? I would rather say Joker and Giannis have the conversation and Shea and Donovan be in the conversation. Head up, head up. Can be head up, head up. One has three All-Stars on one team.

Cavs. They're both number one. They have... The reason... They're both number one, They have... The reason... They're both number one. So it shouldn't even matter. It's hard to put one in because he does have two extra All-Stars on his team, and then

they traded someone that has 18, who's averaging 18 points off the bench. So his team is actually a lot better than people think. So Cleveland has four All-Stars? Three All-Stars. So they have... So what's the name has two All-Stars? Okay, so he got two All-Stars. Mm-stars. They have so so what's the name has two all-stars? Okay, she got to Garland and Garland is a better all-star a better player than Jaylen Williams is okay at this moment, okay

For Nicola is the envy. I mean You got Mobley. It is a better team, so he's doing less. So he gets penalized. We all know that. So Nikola is the only one who... Nikola has no all-star. No all-star. Has never had an all-star.

And he's been doing his thing. And better than he has. And better than he was in them previous years when he won MVP. But, yes, he has a better team than OKC because they're a young team. Murray is better than Jalen Williams, right? So he's just unfortunate. He's not an all-star.

But he just hasn't made that all-star game. But he's a better player than Weston Ame. But he can still say, hey, I don't have an all-star here, and this is what we've been doing. Joker on the verge of being the first big man to average a triple-double, doing it very efficiently. Also on the verge of being the first player man to average a triple-double, doing it very efficiently. Also on the verge of being the first player in league history to be top three in points, rebounds, and assists.

We're talking about an individual accolade award. It's not a team award, right? Well, one thing for sure, they just jerked Lamar Jackson for MVP as well. If we're talking about history, history don't matter with this conversation at all because what Lamar Jackson just did in the NFL was something we have never seen before. That's true.

Right? And so they give it to Josh Allen. Granted, he had a great season. Absolutely. Not taking anything away from Josh Allen. So it'll be the same thing in this situation. Nikola is doing something we've never seen before. So because there's a basketball player. There's the basketball player saying that's the criteria

That's what you're saying. I mean, you're saying is that if that is the criteria? Well, what is because I'm looking at I'm looking at Lamar Jackson. For example, you looked at Lamar Jackson Lamar Jackson this year We never saw before fair enough Yes But they came into the season having acquired Derrick Henry Okay, and they were projected to be arguably the favorites outside of Kansas City to get to Super Bowl. Absolutely.

Whereas Josh Allen lost both receivers, Stephon Diggs and Gabe Davis. That's bullshit. That's a bullshit cop-out because... Why? Lamar Jackson didn't go ask for Derrick Henry. So you can't penalize him for being the MVP because he got a good player,

just like Shaquan Barkley. But... It's like you can't penalize him. So if he didn't have him. Right. No. The numbers are still like. Still, yes, it's still Lamar Jackson.

It's still Lamar Jackson, right? Nobody's done that. He's won it. No, no, no. Less picks with the major running back. Right. Do less picks than he had at any time in his career. More touchdowns.

More touchdowns. Rushing yards. Right. 900 yards rushing. 4200 yards passing. Thank you. But to take nothing away from Shea or Nicole, whoever wins it, right? Like I said, we really concentrate on the history of the game and the thing like not to taint the history of the game and shit like that.

Then let's be like, we've seen someone average 32 before. We've seen someone average 32 before we've seen somebody average a triple double before this doesn't look like this so when the guy did average a triple double so how many triple doubles did Russ average? four. how many MVPs did he win? one. so it doesn't matter but it became we've seen it but we didn't it became stat patent when Russ averaged. have you ever... It became stat patent when... Have you ever did it? I'm saying. Have you ever did it? Have you ever

tried to patch your stats in every car? Have you ever tried to patch your stats? Yep. And how did that shit go for you? And how did that shit work out? Didn't. So therefore, you can say that shit all you want. That shit take effort. Joker doing more fucking things. It don't talk this fun it don't take it's like it don't take

it if it don't take it go bird it don't take it how do you ever say I don't think I ever seen rebounds over when you plan against nobody you the best Great guards in the NBA About Cleveland He got To do what you got Nobody criticize coach put him back in the game to score 50. That shit corny. Kobe didn't nobody criticize him. His coach put him back in the game to score 50.

His coach put him back in the game to score 50. That shit corny. All right. All right. Now he go out there motherfucking and tell his kidda. Now we have a conversation. Joker don't look like he's trying to score, but he's just saying he want to win MVP. His coach put him back in to score 50.

That shit corny. Hey, he didn't say he wanted to win MVP. He said, I've won three or four of these already. If you don't give it to me, I'm cool. But I think you should because... I feel like I'm having the best year ever. Okay, when we have these two type of players that's really making an argument for themselves, and you said you already saying Shea.

Wouldn't that be a closed door on all information that Jokic would bring in? With 20 more games left. That's totally fair. What I'm saying is, if Shea continues on the path that he's on and Jokic does the same, I'm going with Shea.

I don't mean to imply that Shay can fall off the map and what he has done up to this point, it stops. He sneaks up the joint the last 20 days of the damn year, but I'm going to vote for him anyway. That's not what we mean when we say something like that. That's what it sounds like. I'm sorry. What the fuck that sounds like to me. No matter what he do for the rest of the way, you already got your mind made up.

But you can't tell me why I say that. It's tough to have you on the jury then because if you go on the motherfucking jury, you already got your mind made up. But you can't tell me why I say that. It's tough to have you on the jury then because if you go on the motherfucking jury, you already got your mind made up. We got the footage. Right? We got the footage. We got the footage right here. He did not hear that, man.

Check this out. He didn't fucking do it. At 1025. We saw him do it. You know you fucked up. You fucked up. You know you fucked up, right? If that guilt is charged,

if you go and he, to use his analogy, if you rob a deli Right if you robbing the dumps, somebody say you rob the fucking deli and then they got footage of you Yeah, you're right and they show me the footage and it's you I'm assuming you guilty at that point now I didn't walk into the courtroom thinking you guilty But once they showed me that shit we might have five

days of trial left to go don't tell me that somebody's waiting for the next five days before making the decision come on none of us do that at some point in time you ain't gonna wait you ain't gonna wait till the last game of the season you ain't gonna wait till the last game at some point in time you're gonna make the call yo this is where i'm at now it's too early to do that so that's fair i understand that and based on what I said, you're absolutely right. I'm telling you what I mean is I'm assuming he's doing the same shit Jokic is doing, the same shit they've both been doing. That's where I'm at.

Now, if he falls off the map the last 20 games of the season, then I got to come back and go like this. Yeah, I got to change my damn mind. I know I said that shit, but this is where I'm at. I'm waiting on that day then. You watch boxing, right? I love boxing. Love boxing.

Okay, Floyd Mayweather. Yeah, me too. You think he would ever lose going the distance on the scorecard as the actual champion, even if it was a close fight? Are you ready for my answer? Who are they going to give the fight? Are you ready for my answer? Who are they going to give the fight? Are you ready for my answer? It depends on who the fuck he's fighting.

If he's fighting Manny Pacquiao, he's fighting... They would have gave... Let me tell you, if it were close, and it was a decision, they would have gave it to Manny. It wasn't close. If Floyd is the champ. I'm saying, they would have gave it to Manny, it just wasn't close because Manny couldn't hit him.

Do you have to beat the champ? Yeah, because he waited 12 years. Or do they ever just give you a point? You love boxing, right? So that means you know who Marvelous Marvin Hagler is, right? Of course. Well, how did he feel when he fought Sugar Ray? Did he do a rematch?

Huh? No. He didn't want it because he felt he was appalled that he got robbed. He was appalled that he got robbed. He said, I'm the champion. I'm chasing this motherfucker around, and y'all gonna just give it to him when he ran for two and a half rounds, fought the last 30 seconds, and y'all gonna give it to him. Now, is Joker running? Huh?

Joker not running. Joker not running. No, no. Joker not running. I'm just using boxing analogy. I'm just using boxing analogy. I'm saying, you gotta knock him out to win. But...

He's won this too many times. He's produced... Why did he win? And he's shown his value as the most valuable player... He won because...... too many times. He's produced and shown his value as the most valuable player too many times. You were a newcomer. You're like Allen Iverson. You're like Kobe and his, like you like KG when he won his. It's like you got to do some shit. We like, yo, we got to give it to him.

We got to give it to him. What you about to say, fool? Why he win last year? Because he was close to getting the triple-double, right? No, he was won because he was the best player in the NBA. And he was close to a triple-double. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. I'm just saying.

Why are you winning? It was close to a triple-double. Then I said it was last year. I said, we thought Shea should have been MVP last year. I said, on this couch, we thought. But Nikola was the best player in the NBA last year. I said, the fact that Nikola won last year, it left too much room for him to win it again.

There's nothing Shea was going to do that was going to increase it because you already had somebody who averaged 33, 8, and 9. Right? So what Shea's going to do versus what Jokic has the potential doing, he can put up his scoring. He's going to have 10 and 9. He can average a triple-double. Almost a triple-double won it. A triple-double wins it. He averages damn near 39-9, he wins it. Like, there's

too much room for improvement where they could have gave it to Shea to save himself. Now you're gonna be, it'll look really horrible for the athlete side to have a dude win these MVP awards with worse records than he had, worse numbers than he had, to see him pull a triple-double. He might fuck around, put a 50 ball out here

with a triple-double 10 and 12, and then you sit here like All right, sure. You got it, right? It just doesn't make sense and that's the problem sometimes in the Inconsistency because as a player training and we're going to the season. We don't know what we're fighting for. Mm-hmm We don't know what we're doing this for right like Jason Tatum is really confused with y'all He's like I sacrifice Individual or right, right. I sacrifice scoring titles and all this you just to not Respectfully, you just made me laugh because you said y'all know I'm just media. You too. You vote. You got to vote. I don't get a vote.

We're new media. We're new media. I'm getting it. We're new media. I'm getting it right now. We're new media. I'm getting it right now. It's just y'all and shit. Let me tell you this.

Let me use the example. I'm not talking about the literal vote. Give me a vote, please. I'm not talking about the literal vote for a second. This show right here epitomizes the problem that the media has with voting absolutely because we'll go and we'll talk to y'all It got four or five different damn opinions. And then when we reach the conclusion everybody bitching Yeah, wait a minute. Where did it from? I'm talking like I didn't play no game

I wasn't good enough to be on that level y'allall was. I came to you. Y'all sitting in the locker room together. And they're going to go like this. This brother, Swaggy P, like, yo, Stephen, it got to be Shay. Gil, it got to be Yoke. It got to be Yoke. It's him. It got to be Shay. All of a sudden, we go out there.

Motherfucker don't know what he talking about. Where we get it from? It ain't like we sat in a bubble not talking to anybody that's right we walk in the locker room we talk to the cats who do this we we reach out to hall of fame because you know that you know y'all know this cats are the veterans cats are retired you won the championship and shit you a hall of Fame all of this other stuff You ain't sitting at home being silent who you think calls us? Texan who you think talk to your man? I got holler at you. What the hell was you where you get that vote from? What was you thinking when you said that shit and I'm like now this ain't us talking in a bubble

We talking to y'all but then we can't because obviously most of the conversations off the record, don't quote me on this. That's what a lot of them say. Don't quote me on this. It's just us talking. But I'm telling you, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Why would you say that? Well, they don't know. This Hall of Famer said that.

And this one said this. And you taking all of these opinions into consideration while you're watching. While you're watching, while you're watching. So I just I laugh about it when you say the media, the media, because if you really are media, your intel comes from those who know anybody that tells you that they just know this shit that didn't play on your level. Fuck them, ignore them. Don't listen to them. Pay no attention to them. The number one thing that should come out of your mouth is, yo, I got this from somewhere, yo. I talked to these cats.

This is what they said. And they gave me this to consider. They told me to go back and watch that. That's what media's supposed to be. Not the other shit that people be trying to put. But here's the thing, though. Swaggy, you do not have an MVP vote. Cemetery Larry, you don't have an MVP vote. here's the thing though. Swaggy, you do not have an MVP vote. Cemetery Larry, you don't have an MVP vote.

You don't have an MVP vote. Gil, you do not have an MVP vote, but you have the ability and the power to sway an MVP vote with your vote. But my question for you is as an MVP voter, how do you feel about potentially being responsible for players making or losing millions of dollars? All NBA, MVP. I hate it. I think that's

I think that's... There is no way something like that should mess with a cat's money. Let me tell you something right now. Klay Thompson has a legitimate case to hate media for the rest of his life. They cost him $30 million. I wasn't one of them

because I had a third-team All-NBA. And I could have put Kemba Walker in that year because he had dropped like 28, 29 a game for Charlotte. I refused. Not just because it was comparable, but I knew that wasn't going to cost Kemba money. You're going to cost Klay Thompson $30 million? He's a champion. I think at the time it was three chips. He had three chips.

He's one of the Splash Brothers. Universally recognized one of the greatest shooters ever in the history of the game. First seven or eight years, shoot better than 40% for a three-point range with Steph Curry as his superstar teammate. And you're going to cost this brother $30 million. Now, knowing you're going in to vote and knowing your vote is going to cost him $30 million. Now, knowing you going in to vote and knowing your vote going to cost him $30 million, there's nothing inside of you that said, yo, man, I got to help this brother get that $30 million because he deserves it.

It ain't like he didn't earn it. He deserved it. If that man hates the media for the rest of his life, if I was Klay Thompson, you know what I would do? Any media member that wanted to talk to me, I would be like, you had that vote that year? Who'd you vote for? That's what I would do. I'd say, I want to know who cost me that damn money. That would be me

Because that shit was unforgivable. I will openly confess that we should not be messing with cats money like that We shouldn't have any say in that. I don't know how that happened Honestly, but there's no reason there's no excuse for it. No don't have a response. They put the onus on y'all Let's say it ain't me Should it just stick to shoe contracts and bonuses versus actual contract money on first team second team third team but that is that that is a problem where You're sitting there.

I might have a great relationship with you. He got the numbers, and I'm sitting here like, yeah, he ain't give me an interview last week. Fuck him. You know what I mean? Because we know that's human behavior. Or he didn't answer my question the way I wanted him to answer the mother. And we know that. Damn, anything like just hold on to that shit.

Should that be taken out of part of getting extra money? You can make an argument for that, because if you can point to it costing Katz money, then I say you do something about that. If it warrants that extreme measure, you do it. Because that shit, what you do on the court is what you do on the court everybody Can't make it everybody can't make first second third team. I understand that

But I know this much I should have no say in costing the cap money. Yeah Yeah, yeah, I should have no say in that that's wrong And I I'm just I was I've always been adamantly opposed to that. Yeah, I don't like the supermax. Yeah, right, but here's why Let's say I'm the mellow ball. I don't make no all-star. I don't make all mba team because of how you vote, right? I'm a supermax to this fucking city I'm not a regular max. I am a supermax player to my city into the league itself But there's only 15 names you can pick. Okay. Right? And some of those guys is getting it because the team wins. So as a player who's

averaging 29, 8, and 5, and y'all don't give it to me, I am pissed off. Well, I don't know anybody that's averaging 29 and ain't making the first, second, or third team. That's number one. What if they won 15 games? Yeah. Remember Tracy McGrady? Tracy McGrady in Orlando. And just so y'all know, just from my perspective, I don't want to interrupt you, but just from my perspective, let me say this. There's a difference.

A star, when you start talking about superstars, right? Understand where I'm coming from. This is where I'm coming from. This is me. There's a difference between a superstar player and a superstar.

See when you want certain kind of money, I want you to be box office. Because that's generating revenue for me. You understand what I'm saying? Now there's a number that you should be paid based on your ability, your achievements, your level of production. And then there's that other level where wait a minute now That brother contributes to the bottom line Like when Kobe or LeBron or an MJ or various others throughout history Tim Duncan was a superstar player

You didn't walk through the turnstiles to see Tim Duncan. You know, he was great You know, he's gonna win but you didn't walk through the turnstiles to see Tim Duncan. You knew he was great. You knew he was going to win. But you didn't walk through the turnstiles to see him. You walked through the turnstiles to see Jack Diesel. You walked through the turnstiles to see a Jason Kidd. You walked through the turnstiles to see the Kobe's, the LeBron's,

the MJ's, cats like that. You didn't walk through the turnstiles to see a Scottie Pippen. Talent-wise, give him the max. But when you start talking superstar, now it's like,

wait a minute, are you box office? I think there has to be a category for that, too. But does that have to do with winning? Security. Right, so like John Moran.

Security. Right, he's box office. Okay. Right, there's certain people that's box office, but, you know, the winning and all that stuff. You got the mask on.

Well, I only brought it up because you brought up how you were talking about Supermax cats and I'm a Supermax in this city. Well, if you a Supermax in this city,

then I should be making revenue because of you. I'm not talking about... Them numbers with the goddamn jerseys and the metal box. Yeah, J.A., John Moran's making that. You're going to make money in that city. I don't know about that city.

Are they mad at me too about that? No, but what I'm saying is… The rest of the city don't know about that. No, what I'm saying is, JJJ, right? He gets to defensive team or he makes the All-NBA. Yeah, we know what that is. He's Supermax, right? But the Supermax is John Moran.

He is superstar of the team. Yes. But the third option might be Supermax on the contract. Yeah, he is too. Cemetery Larry, go ahead. Well, fortunately for him. I know.

Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for him. Cemetery Larry, sorry you're raising your hand. Well, let's go back to the vote, right? Okay. How often is a member of the media manipulated into changing their vote

by said reasons? Is there manipulation attached to being a voter? I need specific with that question. Intimidation. No. I can't imagine that. Can't imagine that. I can't imagine.

Intimidation? You intimidated into voting for one person over the other? Or, you know, I run up on you and I tell you, you know, a certain thing or two. And I say, man, I would have considered voting for you for MVP, but now I don't really like you like that. I feel like you crossed the line.

Is there a biased judgment when it comes down to media and player? When you talk about Charles Barkley, he has a vote. Him and Kevin Durant don't really get along, do they? He didn't get along with a lot of players. Does that relationship matter? With some, you're probably right. With me, it doesn't. I don't give a shit whether I like you or not.

Your level of production speaks for itself. I'm not gonna shred my credibility by letting my personal feelings about you interfere with my judgment about what everyone sees you do. And there's no excuse for it. As far as I'm concerned, a journalist that does that shouldn't be allowed to vote. Matter of fact, I'd make the argument they should be fired.

So how do we separate the player-media dynamic when it comes to personal and, let's just say, business? It's hard. How do we not cross those lines? There's lines that shouldn't be crossed, and the media's got to call the media to the carpet for doing shit like that. It can't just be y'all as players.

We got to be able to do that, too. So therefore, we think whoever vote, we all should, this shit should just be, put it all out there, right? Whoever voted for who, everybody that got a vote, we all should know it, right? I totally agree with that. I can't stand, I can't stand confidential votes. Nah, I totally agree with that.

But everybody that got a vote, we need, like, every single, for whatever it is, put it out there, right? I have no problem with that. And I prove it. Because they know how much it is, put it out there, right? I have no problem with that. And I prove it. Because they know how much money a motherfucker make every game, right? I prove it because any vote that I make, I put on national television. Yeah, you always say so. I always say, this is who I voted for.

I dig it. Here's why. Do you think that MVP candidates deserve criticism? I think anybody deserves criticism. Just because, just because you, but just because you, I think this is the important part. Criticize what people do. Okay. Not who they are.

Yeah. You don't fucking know them. Yeah. You understand what I'm saying? Unless you have personal experience with them and you're able to say, this is how I feel based on my dealings with him, and you put that out there for public consumption, you got no business feeling any kind of way. Do you think LeBron has been fairly criticized?

Sometimes. Do you think you've been fairly criticized? Me? Yes. I think I've been fairly criticized. I think at times, where I have a problem with people criticizing me is when you try, and I'm not talking about y'all, I'm not talking about anybody, when you try to talk about my character, who the hell I am, if you got a problem with something I said, I'm good with that.

If you got a problem with my actions, I'm good with that Cuz I'm either defend myself or I'm gonna have to own up like yo you right But when you act like you know me And you don't take into account my history. I've been covering sports for 30 years and there's a I Can't tell you the shit that I don't say that I don't touch there are lines I never ever ever crossed and so when somebody is talking about me like that. I'm like yo Where you get that from are you to go in your industry? I leave that to other people's a judge I know that I do you feel like you've done some unprecedented things Yes, so pave the way yes, that's right that last word right there to pave the way yes I know that I try to get paid like that. Do you feel like you've done some unprecedented things?

Yes. To pave the way? Yes. That last word right there, to pave the way. So you're a goat in your industry. Yep. There's a goat in our industry. Yep.

Right? You're a reflection of that. So everything you criticize us for, we get to now criticize you for. Sure. Because guess who's not above criticism the criticizer sure so we have to bring the same response and energy as a player right if we can't get on a podcast and articulate our emotions about the shit you're saying about us properly i.e the kwame browns and all the other players that if they say something back to the media about the media,

they get Trump, they get killed because I'm in contract. Now I look disgruntled. Now I'm defending myself against somebody that I want to fight or feel some type of way about. So us, we have to internalize that. Right. So when we see y'all in public, if we get the opportunity to say something, God damn, it's the only time I'll ever actually get to say something But now it's 360 it we're in the position now to say something and criticize you Can I come back with straightforward? Yeah, so if we could criticize you now, yeah And you can criticize us for playing the victim for your criticism. We too sensitive. You can't take that. But now it's back on you now. Okay.

You got to be able to take our criticism of how you criticize us. Well, I'm assuming you're talking about the industry because you can't be talking about me. I'm talking about everybody that criticizes, including us. Well, hold on. We criticize a lot of players. It is because we play and we care. It's tough love. As players, we don't like the outsiders saying certain things because they haven't played.

They're spectators. We respect the point of view. Yeah. But when we hear it, like you just said, you don't know me. You don't... I'm looking at you in a reflection like, yeah, bro, we feel the same way. Right. We feel the same way We got the same energy But you get attacked way less, right?

I guess because the guys on your platform not gonna attack you because you are My platform who would you with the guys that are on your level your playing field the will bonds and all of those guys? You got one enemy, but you know who he is So that's one guy. Right. Right? You look at all of the guys we criticize on a daily basis.

They hear us talking. Right. They piss. They don't want to talk to us either. But to see you get blackballed is because it's karma. Okay. Can I respond?

First of all, when we talk about the media, I'll get to me in a second. When we talk about the media, I'll get to me in a second. When you talk about the media, here's the part that former players like yourself don't realize. Y'all look at the media as the big bully on the block sometimes. Y'all don't realize that in this day and age, y'all are the big bullies. Because as former players, understand that the media industry has changed. Print has dissipated dramatically.

Podcast ain't free. Most motherfuckers in the media don't make that kind of paper. You don't have sponsors going to newspaper reporters or local radio hosts offering them a podcast that could pay them seven figures. Motherfuckers out here making

$75,000, $90,000. So, I'm just saying. I said the newspaper. I said newspaper. So, what I'm saying is I said the newspaper folks. I ain't saying y'all. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Stay with me. So, what I'm just saying. Okay. I said the newspaper. I said newspaper. So what I'm saying is, I said the newspaper folks. I ain't saying y'all. That's what I'm trying to tell you. Do a little bit better.

Stay with me. So what I'm saying is when you talk about the media industry, the potency and the power that the former player has resonates significantly. Why? Because you're players and you have credibility. Because you have sponsors and advertisers who know that they come to y'all instead of them cuz y'all did it they could it we could it right Then on top of it all The industry has changed remember it was calm and then it became the podcast and a whole bunch of got

Lord knows how many hundreds of thousands of podcast But everybody in kills arena podcasts, but everybody ain't Gil's Arena. Everybody ain't about to touch on a million subscribers. Everybody don't have, you know, the sponsorship dollars. Everybody don't have this. You see some of these motherfuckers with a podcast, they live on a couch, it's got two seats, it got a little camera, you know what I'm saying? It got a little microphone, squeezing in with with one another trying to make sure they could be seen and all they ain't got it like that so and then on top of it all

the credibility isn't the same because y'all played and you were in the locker room so when you talk about the media you talk about the media like they the big bully on the block most of the people in the media looking at y'all like ain't this some shit y'all do y'all realize who y'all are what y'all doing?

Now we'll get to me. I'll talk about me now Obviously what the fuck I just said don't apply to me You do have a show though YouTube as well over a million subscribe. Oh, that's right. So I'm doing my thing Now to catch you now Listen, I hope you do. That I ain't here to hurt the show. I'm here to help. I got love for y'all. It ain't no good. Y'all get on me.

That's all love. I can't last. If you right, you right. I'll say so. If you wrong, I'll challenge it. It's just that simple. But to get to me, now here's the deal. Am I going to criticize?

Sure. I focus on what you do, not who you are. I remember when my man Ryan Clark for The Pivot was interviewing Kwame Bryant. I said to Ryan, if there's one regret I had, man, they still running memes of my video. Man, that was 16, 17 years ago. I didn't know it was going to resonate and be like that.

I was just speaking about it. Like, damn it. I didn't think he was a great player. I mean, damn. I wasn't know it was gonna resonate and be like that. I was just speaking about, like, damn it. I didn't think he was a great player. Shit. I mean, damn. I wasn't alone. Everybody was saying that. But they held on to my meme, right? But the reason why I brought up the whole Ryan Clark thing, the reason why I held up the whole Ryan Clark thing,

do you know why? Ryan Clark allowed this man to sit up there and say, I want y'all to brace yourself. Don't faint. This man said, I cost him endorsement dollars. And I'm sitting there going like this. See, I can't because at that moment, I'm looking at, yes, yes, yes. I'm looking at this, right? And I'm going like this, y'all. I want to... And this is where I'm different. I want to see what NBA player gonna sit back

and let this man get away with saying that shit. Because this is... Come on, y'all. You can... You can hate on me. You can... Come on, y'all. But sometimes that does happen, though. I'm just saying. I'm just saying to y'all. You can hate on me. You can criticize. Come on, y'all. But sometimes that does happen, though. I'm just saying to y'all, it's like, listen. Never.

Come on, man. Never. Come on, man. No, the media can't double down on that. You know what I'm saying? There was no sponsorship coming. Come on, man. It wasn't.

You going to say that? Double down? Stop it. I'm like, I'm just saying. It's like, if we gonna sit up there and talk about being real, then let's be real and fair. I'm not wrong all the fucking time. I mean, if Stephen A. Wright say it. Because if Kenyon or Rashad or you, if you say something, I'm gonna go like this.

Shit, you called me out for 130 days. You was on with fucking Stephen A. Shit, you came on his show. 138. And I gonna like this shit you called me out 130 days you was on with fucking steven a shit you came on his show 138 and i went like this he's right he's right i'm negotiating but he's right so i'm like you're just gonna let people say and i'm just using that as just one of many examples where yeah i'm i'm critiquing it, but I was sitting courtside. I was a beat writer for years. For over a decade, I'm at over 120 games a year. I'm in the club afterwards, I'm on the streets afterwards.

Come on, the access to information that I have and the shit that I could've said, and I'm going like this, all I'm talking about is your game. Your game. And so when cats get, and I'm going like this, all I'm talking about is your game. Your game. And so when cats get sensitive and they get mad about that, I'm like, well, I remember when Jordan got mad at me

one time, last point. Jordan got mad at me one time. And I literally looked at Michael Jordan, and I said, you know what, fuck it, $250,000. He said, what? I said, because you want me to be your publicist. You want me to be your journalist. You want me to be somebody covering the damn league.

You want me to say what you want me to say. Can I do my job? It's like I'm covering the game. I'm covering the game. Now, if I don't, if you all know the difference, and when the cat crosses the line, shit, y'all would check him in a heartbeat, and you should, and you should. But if it's confined to the game, can we deal with the game and what was said as opposed to, nah, I don't like that motherfucker. That's exactly how it is.

But dude, can you, go ahead. That's the thing about just growing up, period. Yeah. AAU, high school, college, we're heroes. The first time we actually ever hear something negative is when we get to the NBA. Yeah. Right? If we're going to get booed, we're going to be booed on the road because we're good. So the first time we hear some shit about us is usually from a beat writer or in the news. Okay. It can be 100% correct.

I don't like you. Right. Right? I took 35 shots. You called me out. That means you got a problem now. And that's just us. Right?

You know what I mean? So most of the time, we're mad. We're mad because you're making us look at ourselves for no reason. But in his case, like he stated right? He in the club with guys after the game. He's hanging out with guys He knows guys work there He knows guys homeboys and their managers and their friends and family family man. He know them right they hold you at a different

so he's not he Shouldn't and some guys eyes go on there and say I fucking played bad. Right. So now they're taking it personal. I wish, I dare this motherfucker. And my response. Just had drinks with him. Yeah, I do.

Before I go right to you. We got to four in the morning. How the fuck he think I was going to play? How dare he go on the TV and say I played bad? I was with him. I was with him last night. Right. Well, it's never like that.

I got you. I got you. I got you, though. I got you. I got you like that. But what I'm saying is that my point and my argument, in fairness, in a roundabout way, because I used to have this issue with AI. You know that's my man. And I'm like, did I say anything about this, this, this, this or that? All I said was, shit, you in a slump.

You playing like shit right now. That's it. You know why. You know I didn't say why. We know why. I didn't say why. What's the problem? And that's where I'm going. Go ahead, I'm sorry. I just have to say, man,

I'm disappointed in you, Steve, because I'm little Steve right now in this space. Okay. I used to play ball. It used to be all right. Won the national championship. And I remember when I won the championship and I was getting drafted,

there was only one guy that spoke good about me that whole time. And I was getting drafted, walking on that stage, and that voice was Stephen A. Smith. I can't believe McCance is still over there. The national champion. He gave me a whole monologue about when he gets to Minnesota, he plays next to Kevin Garnett, he's going to tear it up. All he's got to do is show up.

Now I'm looking at this space, the only thing that disappointed me is what happened the other night. And you held this standard of being a strong, stand-up nigga. I'm gonna stand ten toes no matter who come at me, and you've always done that. And I think that I presented myself as the same type of nigga. And I think they're scared of me

because your only flaw is that you didn't play. Guess what I did? So I'm the Stephen A that played, that got stats. Imagine how hated I am gonna be when I come for your spot, boy. I want 100 million, too. Sure. So you can't be bowing down and, oh, King, we going to conquer.

Mm-hmm. So, Sean, let's talk about that real quick. Sure, no problem. But by now, everyone knows about the situation with you and LeBron. Is that the biggest thing you should have ever seen? Thursday. That was cool. Let me get to this. Let me get to this. Let me get to this.

It's fun. By now, everybody knows about the situation you were in, LeBron. Last Thursday, Knicks-Lakers game in Staples Center. During a stoppage in play, we've got the video as a reminder for viewers. During a stoppage in play between third and fourth quarter, LeBron pulled up on you. You know, wanted some smoke with you. Yep. Brief interaction.

Obviously, LeBron took issue with things that you have said, particularly about him and Bronny. Mm-hmm. Right? So here's the clip. It was very quick. Tried to get the lip reading. I hope the Legends

got at least close to what happened. But I want to spin it forward to the Lakers-Celtics game on Saturday. Before the game, the ESPN Twitter account posted a clip

of Richard Jefferson and LeBron talking before the game. The Legends, he once again on it. They seem to be talking about that situation that went down on Thursday during the Lakers. Obviously, the Lakers won that game.

You were there. You saw Luke out there cooking LeBron as well, but that's neither here nor there. But, you addressed it on Friday, first take, and on the Stephen A. Smith show, your podcast on YouTube. You addressed LeBron and RJ's exchange on Monday on your show. So what do you make of LeBron confronting you

in the aftermath of that situation? I thought it was weak. I thought it was some bullshit. But in the moment, I knew that I was listening to a father. Here's what happened. I'm represented by William Morris Endeavor. The founder of William Morris Endeavor, Ari Emanuel,

had courtside seats right next to the Lakers bench. He had Larry David with him, star of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'm sitting with them. I get there in the first quarter. I'm sitting with them. I get there in the first quarter. I'm sitting courtside. And I stand up, and then I got my head turned. And then I turned back around.

And a lot of people thought this was the end of the game or something like that. This was in the third quarter. Apparently, LeBron had walked out of the timeout, and I turned around, and he's right here in my face. He said, yo, you got to stop talking shit about my son. You got to stop fucking with my son. That's my son. That's my son.

And I was like, what? He said, nah, fuck that. I said, yo, let's talk later. He's like, fuck that. Nah, fuck that. You got to stop fucking with my son and I was like what he said nah fuck that I said yo let's talk later he's like fuck that nah fuck that you gotta stop fucking with my son and I said all right though and he walked off so I remember during a time out in the first quarter seeing Bronny and Bronny looked over at me and he had this sad look on his face and I'm imagining pops or that shit hit him and he couldn't hold it and he rolled up on me and so when I went on the air the next morning first thing first believe it or not I noticed this is shocking for people to believe,

but I didn't have any intentions on talking about it until I woke up that morning and saw that this shit had gone viral. Once this shit had gone viral, the bosses at ESPN said, now you gotta talk about it. This is you and him. You gotta talk about it. I said, fine.

So I go on the air and I said, the first thing that I'm going to do is establish that this was a father talking to me, not a player. And that was what threw me off. And I was glad, even though I thought that he misrepresented the argument, I was glad he did. Because you see,

what he was really talking about, which was confirmed with his conversation with Richard Jefferson, is that I was talking about him as a father. And so what happens is, is that had he said that to me, then I wouldn't have been thrown off I'd have came right back at him yes I was I was talking about you you did this shit which I'll get to in a second but because he didn't do that I said fine you let it go mind you I just agreed to my contract I'm course I that day was when it was announced. It's all over, all over, everywhere. Watch the movie, right?

It's a nationally televised game. The cameras are rolling and I'm like, if I do anything, this is going to be a scene. Now, we can sit up here in front all we want to and act like we don't work for somebody. Damn it, I work for Walt Disney.

And if I had gotten into some shit with him at courtside right there at that moment, no matter how right I would have been, it would have been wrong. And I was like, I'm not going to do this. But once I saw the tape of him talking to Richard Jefferson Saturday night in Boston, that was when I got really pissed because that was confirmation. Now let's get to the father thing. And I want and I definitely I'm so glad y'all asked me about this shit because all I would ask is that I've been around for 30 years. Tell me the parent that said they heard me talking about them.

I've never done it. What happened was this man was the one that said, you want me? Draft him. I'll come play anywhere he's at. It ain't even about the money. This man is the one who said he better than some of the NBA players are right now when he was in high school. If you go back and look at the tape, back then I said, stop. You can't do this. If you do that shit, you're bringing more pressure on your son

LeBron stop I said it then this is before he got drafted stop doing this he goes to USC he got the heart ailment I'm like thank God he's okay he gonna be alright

but I don't I'm not gonna go see him at USC just like I didn't go see him at Sierra Canyon because, like, I ain't seen Melo's son. I heard your son is all world. I ain't seen him. Your son. I never saw these guys until they came pro because I know. What's wrong with USC?

No, no, no. It's not that. I don't want. I know that because of who I am and what I've established for myself in this industry, if I walk into an arena, everybody is looking for me to critique that person. And I don't want to do that because they want to come up. I don't want to, I'm not covering college, I'm covering pro.

And they're kids. Huh? And they're kids. Well, I'm saying that, but if I was a college reporter, then I would have had to, but I wasn't. So why am I going to be there? I didn't want to put that extra pressure. So I never went. I went on national television and announced to the world, I'm not going to see him.

He goes to USC. I'm not going to see him. It's too much. It's too much. And then now he's got to overcome this heart ailment. So I can't judge him. But then they said, oh, he going pro. So then once you say he's going pro, okay, you're talking to the scouts and the evaluators

and everybody else. Yo, man, this is them. He'll be lucky to be a second round pick. He'll be lucky. He ain't ready, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I ain't seen him, y'all. I haven't seen him. Then all of a sudden, Rich Paul and others at Clutch and then

the story headlines follow Boston might be interested Golden State might be interested Phoenix might be at the Clippers might be you start hearing all of this and you're like I you know this could be true or this could be them wielding their magic to make it look such a way I say nothing he gets drafted by the Lakers, which everybody knew was going to happen because, you know, the skids were greased, and he gets drafted. I still say nothing.

He goes into the pro. It's open at night. Now, remember, most cats talk about the league. I cover it. What I mean by that is that you can give your opinion. You might not be on the phone with the commissioner. You might not be on the phone with the executive VP. You might not be on the phone with other people that work in these offices.

I am. So because of that, I'm hearing all of this. Yeah, you know, we're just going to go along with it. Open the night, I'm talking about of this. Yeah, you know, we just gonna go along with it. Open the night, I'm talking about. Open the night. Him, Bron. We just gonna go along with it. Or you hearing the Lakers are just going along with it.

You're hearing this stuff. Now I'm not saying they told me that, meaning the commissioner or Jeannie Buss, but I'm saying you're hearing that from those organizations. So I'm getting all of this. I still say nothing. I'm at crypto.com arena. I'm one of those cats standing. Staple center. Ken Griffey, senior and junior, who all stars,

hall of famer, and Ken Griffey, junior, they got them there. And again, I've been covering it for 30 years, not NBA sports. You understand? So how you think it's all looking to me? It's a little bit too choreographed. But I'm still. I'm still like this. Congratulations. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm thinking, let's have this moment because LeBron deserves it.

The brother, I got him number two all time behind Jordan. Right? He's done so much for the league. He's generated so much money. I want to hear about Bronny and the $8 million as far as I'm concerned. LeBron underpaid. Shit, that's $8 million he should have had in his pocket. It's no big deal to me.

But the one thing I did say was that one game right there is the moment. Now you got to go to the G League and earn your stripes instead he's playing and playing and playing and I'm getting stats and He go against Philly they put him in in the first quarter and

Tyrese and them gave it to him and then they plaster on SportsCenter 0.3 points 0.3 rebounds 0.4 assists blah blah blah and I said damn why because I'm like now I can't ignore it because how am I doing my job if now you put me in a position where because they put the stats up everyone is is blowing it up they're putting it on all their social media pages, and it's like, how all of that's happening? But Stephen A. Smith got nothing to say. I can't get away with it no more. So I go on the air and I say the same thing I said over the summer. Yo, LeBron, if we see this, you're his dad and you're a basketball savant. You must see this.

Don't do this. Because you're putting him under such a microscope. It's going to be too much for him to overcome. Give him a chance. So that's reason I said as a dad is because you marketed yourself as his dad to help him get into the league. You didn't do that. Melo didn't do that. Or hasn't yet.

And I know he wouldn't. D-Wade. D-Wade. Tim Hardaway Sr. Rick Barry. The list goes. none of them did that none of them he's the only one and I said yo

that's why I'm saying this to you I don't want to do this I know your intentions are honorable go back and watch the whole tape of me saying it I know your intentions are honorable I know you don't mean harm but there's some vultures out here and they gonna come for him

and how many times over the years to get to your point in terms of what you asked me about what you expect from me steven a blah blah how many find the brothers in the industry that will tell you i did not give them a lookout i'll go up to them all the time. Yo, come here. I'm not going to be able to help you if you get to this point. You need to stop this shit right now because it's coming. It's coming. That, to me, is where I reach back and I pay back. By giving cast the heads up of the minefields because I've been here for 30 years. I got fired.

I lost my job. They thought my career was over. I've been through all of this shit, all of it. And I'm like, yo, I know where the minefields lie and I'm telling you what's coming. And then this shit go down and everybody act like I never said none of this. I'm like, I said this fucked up because it's all on tape. If you go back, I gave the heads up. That's too easy for people to do. That's too easy for people to do. So we shouldn't uplift our kids? Like, we can't talk about...

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. You said what? We can't uplift our kids. We can't say he's better than some of the players on the team. But you gotta be truthful. What you mean, truthful? It's my son. I think your son's good regardless of not. I don't give a fuck, but it's no fun. Your son suck, he suck.

No, no, no. Not in his heart. Yeah, I understand. You can be that dad, but you made it to the high. You're not trying to live, but you're not trying to live vicariously. How much you have to live? You're not trying to. So oddly, he don't suck.

You're not trying to live vicariously to your son, though, Nick. I'm seeing something that y'all seeing now, and I've seen it. I'm not saying Bronnie suck, but I'm just saying. But you just telling me I can't up my child. Yes, you can be that. Listen, I coach lowly rec girls basketball, right? Trust me when I tell you. Some of them parents being there cheering they fucking heart out for they child.

You supposed to, shit. It's my child. You see that product. They ain't got nobody athletic in they family tree. They looking for an anomaly. They ain't got athletic bone in they body. They ain't got athletic bone in they family tree. And they got they child out here,

and they out in there, motherfucker, with signs and shit. Go get them. But all I'm saying, this all started with you saying, my child is better than some of the players in the NBA. They don't mean that. Wait, don't you coach your son on the girls team? No, no, no.

Oh, oh, oh. This boy, he respect me. No, I thought. No, no, they ain't going to do this in front of Stephen A. No, this is done. No, I thought. We got company. We got company. No.

Don't y'all play in the same league? I got a six-year-old son. Yeah, my son. He got a son. Nice and five. Nice and five. Oh. No, I got a.

No, fool. I thought you was coaching. Ass boy. But the other part that I would bring to you. The other part I would bring to you, Swag, is this. That's all I'm saying. Because you played in the NBA, it ain't just about how you feel.

It's about how you know what's coming. And then I got to know. And so now, as a parent, you got an obligation to protect from what's coming. To your point, right? I used to tell KJ all the time,

internally, I see it. You have what it takes to play in the NBA, right? All you got to do is keep getting better. Right. Right? This is my whole message, right? Keep getting better. And I'm pretty sure Bron is telling Bronny the same thing, but it was interrupted.

Not saying that he can't get there or that he would never get there. But it was interrupted. And they pivoted. And they pivoted in a way that we all said, we all took pause in it, right? We're like,

but that's their family, that's their decision. So we all gonna sit back and whatever comes with it, comes with it. And I'm the same way to sit on this couch and say we're gonna treat him as the 55th pick right my son was the 52nd pick i fucking get it right it worked out for kj in year five he listened he got He did things. He was in a decent situation to play. It just, right? It's just unfortunate. My

name ain't to that. Everything that KJ has done, everything that he's doing is being critiqued. But it's help. It's help because with you, you were a rough rider. Everybody know you could defend your ass off. Everybody, you wasn't scared of shit.

You know what I'm saying? You wasn't going to be some soft ass playing alongside you. You wasn't having it. No one disrespects your son. Because they're scared of him.

Just tell him. But no, it's not about being scared of him. No, no, no. It's his makeup. It's a bully. No, no.

It's his makeup. If you don't tell him, he's going to make sure you tell him. You can tell him. Tell him he's a bully. Tell him. Yeah, tell him. Don't listen to his makeup. If you don't tell him, he's going to make sure you tell him. You can tell him. Tell him he's a bully. Tell him. Oak Cliff Bully.

Don't listen to his mouth. But what I'm saying is. Underdog user night, Oak Cliff Bully. He was, so he comes into the league. But it's not just about respect for him as a player. It's respect for how he handled his son coming into the league. Listen, you talk. I had to ask you about your son the other day. I've been hearing about his son for into the league. Listen, you talk... I had to ask you about your son the other day.

I've been hearing about his son for a while. I had to ask him about him. You got to ask... I mean, Melo... Listen to Melo talk about how he had to step back. You know he was desperate for his son to go to Syracuse,

but he didn't want to influence him. You see, Melo never talked about his son like that. You had to ask him. And so you see a lot of this stuff happen and then you see this and i'm like so as a media member now this is the part y'all may not take into consideration you don't have to care but we do if i don't say nothing wait a minute now i ought to say something about somebody else. I ought to say something before.

Okay. How long am I supposed to go without doing my job? The brother is in the NBA. He is wearing a Lakers uniform. So it's like, wait a minute here. You got to a point where it left you no choice. So then all you could do is speak respectfully, but honestly. And then everybody was caught up in, as a father, as a father, as a father.

And I'm like, come on, man. Steve, this is how simple it goes. It goes this simple, please You've always been stand up Steve So whenever is the situation that we look into Steve to stand up and they're trying to take that away from you You got to look at it from my perspective. I'm like, I'm always the one that's gonna say something Right, and I'm going to be always the one that's going to say something. Right? And I'm going to be always the one that's the

hater. Because what I'm saying is in opposition to what everyone either believes or has been told. So, I've always taken the Stephen A. Smith seat. I'm going to say it. Yeah, I said it. I know some of y'all feel that way, and I know

some of y'all watching what I'm watching. But it's not a critique. It's just what I'm seeing. It's an observation. When somebody want to play with their brother, like, the asses. Yes. He took up a roster spot.

Who didn't? Who didn't? You wasn't on the show then. Justin Holliday. They got criticized, bro. They don't criticize somebody at all. I said he was taking up a goddamn roster spot. What's wrong with wanting to play with somebody you love?

When J.R. Smith and Chris Smith in New York, he got criticized for that. No, no, you're not in the media like every day like LeBron is. But their dad is in LeBron James. He's not in the Goat Debate. In a couple ways. Giannis is a bad example. Giannis is a bad example. Giannis is a bad example.

He's a superstar. He comes over to America, and they were talking about how he was alone and he's not comfortable because he's not trusting. You got that man there to keep him comfortable. Wait a minute, he's worth it because you ain't going to the 12th man on the bench any damn way, so stop that. Now, to get to your point, you're right, except for one thing. I haven't always spoken first.

There's plenty of times in my career where I've laid back and I haven't said anything and I've waited. It's just that when I spoke, that it resonates. That's what I'm saying. But you holding back sometimes works against you because you could have said it when everybody was feeling it and everybody knew it was supposed to come out and you were supposed to say it, right? So you're holding that brawny information. You're holding on to it,

knowing we all saying it, right? And we waiting on stand-up Steve to say it because that's going to validate it. It's like if Steve see it, we know it's moving. Yeah, but in that situation... I don't know if he said anything. I didn't. No, he's the only foreigner that needed somebody next to him. No, we know it's moving. Yeah, but in that situation... I don't know if he said anything. I didn't. He's the only foreigner that needed

somebody next to him? No, I said it. No. He's the only foreigner that needed help. He's the only foreigner that brought that damn good. How about that? What's his name? Okay. Everybody ain't Giannis. Joker Bruckner should be on the bench with him.

They are on the bench. He was in the league before Giannis. Joker, Brooklyn, and Sibby on the bench with him. They are on the bench. They've been in the league before Giannis. He was in the league before Giannis, though. But you're not wrong with what you're saying. You're not wrong. I'm just saying that it depends on the story. Everything isn't meant to be put on front street day one. Sometimes you wait.

Because sometimes the story is more potent when you wait. As opposed to you being just get it out there first nah sometimes you want to wait and see you can do that you get to make that decision as a media member as long as you're honest about it let me ask you this then is the timing right now as potent as it is is it bubbled up at the right time now well he made it that way for everybody for the league for Steve, you just signed your deal, that happened. The league just got Luca, they just turned a viewership

coin. Everything has turned due to all of these interactions. I'm still saying it still depends on the story. It depends on how much of something is resonating and how much is percolating. If the shit's percolating, damn right you touch on it. If it ain't that big of a deal in people's eyes, then you might wait.

But he made it what it is. He made it bad. When he rolled up on me, caught God. Okay, isn't it weak, though? Like, when you think about it, you know he wasn't ready, right? As a father, you're still a father to your son. You're still trying to praise them and make them feel like they're worthy of playing basketball because they can get discouraged at any moment in time right so i'm pretty sure every game he's over the law you got it don't worry about it just go out there

play your game that's that part of it the nba part knows he's not ready yet right right but as the father part him sitting there nervous and shit you you're like, relax, you're going to go out there and play. At what point when he gets drafted 55, do you supposed to sit back and be like, all right, there's nothing to talk about here. He's 55. It's he wasn't 17. He wasn't a first round. His draft status actually let you know what he was.

But what I'm saying to you... He's at the back bottom. That very draft status that you pointed to, all of us would have that attitude if his pops hadn't done what he did. So what I'm saying is that

because of what he did publicly, we had no choice but to ultimately address it. And as a 50-50, all he had to do was this. Listen, I got this moment with my son. All right, now it's time to go to the G League and do what you're doing, and we'll see you next year. Or let the draft happen organically,

and if somebody's going to draft let them drive, but you know No, just for shits and giggles. No, right. What if somebody at 44 won't know? I'm just like but shits and giggles. No, I get no right I'm why that 44 wanted to pick him right? Yes So you gonna stop? Yes Because he wants to play with his kid. He don't want to see his kid play in the NBA. He wants to play on the same team.

I think we're missing. Yeah, that's way different. That's way different. And here's why. My son could have died. Yes. I've been in the league 21 years, right? So what is the dream?

Hold on. I've been in the league 21 years. What is Bronny's dream? To be in the NBA. Yeah. I've been in the league 21 years, right? So what is the dream? Hold on. I've been in the league 21 years. What is Bronny's dream? To be in the NBA. Yeah. I've been in the league 21 years. I missed 19 to 20 years of his life. You know how we are as parents.

We're in, we're out. We're in, we're out. My firstborn with my name almost passed. Yeah. And you're telling me that I'm going to keep playing this league to miss this? Fuck no. This is going to be the first time in my career where I get 365

days with my son. I'm not letting someone else draft him. I want him near me. Because of what happened. Are you going to do it to Bryce too? But you don't get every day. I do get every day. If he's on his team, get it but he's not he plays i get more than i did for the last whatever he gets to come home to me though he lives by himself but i said he gets to come home to me he's a pro are you not are you understanding as a professional

once something happens everything that you're saying is true, Gil, yes. Yes, absolutely. 100% factual. I hear you, yes. But what is Bronny's dream? Bronny's dream was to be in the NBA, right? Bronny's dream was this. I don't give a fuck where I get drafted. I just want to hear my name. That was his dream.

So therefore, what I'm saying is... That was his dream. Let that happen organically. As a father, I don't want it to happen organically on your draft. Hold on, Gil. I want it to happen on my draft. Hold on, Swag. Hold on, Gil.

So you don't think it meant something for me to hear? Listen, I told y'all sitting in this motherfucker, I was a bigger wreck on KJ's draft day than he fucking was. Right. Right? For sure. You should be. A bigger wreck? I'm trying to stay away fucking wants. Right. Right? For sure. He should be.

A bigger wreck. I'm trying to stay away from him. Right. Because I don't want him to sense this shit. Right. Right? So yeah, I want it more than he fucking want it. Right?

Absolutely. Yeah. But it's his dream and his journey is what I'm saying. Who cried? I'm happy for him. I did. No, no, no. Who cried when Bronny got drafted? I didn't watch.

They said it was Bronny. I thought I saw him crying. Yes, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure he did. His only dream was to hear his name. Hear his name called. Yes. I'm with you.

I'm saying yes, Gil. Yes. Absolutely. Hear his name called for any fucking team. Right. For any team. Right? Right. For any team. Right? Right.

But here's what he's saying. He said any team, right? Which means that when we're talking about the Lakers, that's about LeBron, not Bronny. Bronny wanted to get drafted by any NBA team. He wanted to hear his name. It was LeBron that wanted him as his teammate. So what I'm saying is...

Now, why? So what I'm saying is, because of the reasons you pointed out... Okay. So what I'm saying to you is, what I'm saying to you is, if LeBron had rolled up on me, this is all he had to say, because I said this to Rich Paul when Rich Paul called me. I said, Rich Paul, I only asked for grace in one left on one point If you had called me and said braum pissed off my fucking mad as hell

He won't see you man-to-man. I said, what would I have done? Rich Paul said you'd hung up the phone you flew to LA. I said, thank you so my point is Rather than come up to me at courtside, all you had to do was say, yo, I need you to stay. Don't leave this game. I need to see you after the game. That's all he had to say to me. Then as we speak, he says that.

Let's take the example. He said what you just said. I stand down. My bad. And not only that, I'ma make sure I go on the air, I ain't looking at it that way. That's on me. You didn't do that shit.

You said you fucking with my son. No, I wasn't. I was talking about you. I was talking about you. Wasn't about your son. I know he's number 55. I know he got work to do. I believe that he got potential.

I believe that he got the potential to go pro. I truly believe that. It's going to be tough, but I think he can pull it off. And by the way, I root for him. I ain't rooting against nobody. But I was talking about your ass. You. You did this.

You the one that had us as reporters, as a league, as an NBA franchise. All of us got to sit back and be quiet and capitulate to your shit. Come on now. You did that. And so when I see people talking and I'm like, oh my God, can somebody...

I mean, I know I got a show and I know I got my podcast, but I'm like, God damn y'all, I'm fair. I don't give a fuck who it is. It's you, it's you, it's you. It don't matter who it is. Damn it, I'm just meeting you. If somebody unfair to you, I'm going to be like, that's not fair. That's not fair. But when it come to me, everybody get crickets. That motherfucker Stephen A on his own, that respectfully, excuse my language, that's fucked up. I'm on my own. When, number one, we know I'm right.

Number two, we know the perspective that I'm coming from is real and it's authentic. Number three, he set this up. Number four, all you had to do was tell me. Listen, Kenyon told me, you keep talking about, I'm bringing this up for all fun, he talked about how he approached me in Puerto Rico. I swear to God I don't remember. I swear to God. But I know this much. But you do.

And let me tell you what I did. I was writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer. This is from 1993 to 2010. Shit, I said, what in the fuck are you talking about? I called Philadelphia Inquirer, I said, I need, I called Marisa, look up the archives. I want every goddamn article I wrote about Kenya Moore and I don't know what he talking about, right?

Because I'm looking at articles. I said, I knew that brother was a stud. I knew that brother deserved his money. What the net, where the nets going? Nets ain't going no fucking back to back finals without you. I'm like, I know, what is he talking about? You know what I'm saying? So I'm looking for the shit and I found some shit where you got it, some shit with Byron Scott or whatever. But I, I know. What is he talking about? You know what I'm saying? So I'm looking for the shit. And I found some shit where you got some shit with Byron Scott or whatever.

But I don't know. But I'll take your word for it. My point is, Kenyon Martin would talk about, I rolled up on Stephen A. I'm like, he ain't the only one. It's plain motherfuckers that rolled up on me. Glenn Robinson and I, I mean, butt heads because I thought he got Randy S5. I couldn't stand his ass. Let me tell you. Let me tell you. I mean, it got to a point where

motherfuckers just walked in between us because it was just hostility. I couldn't stand his ass. And then I was in Houston and I saw Glenn Robinson III and he saw me and he put his head down, and he walked by me, I felt like such shit,

I stopped him in the hallways of a Houston Rockets game, and I said, come here, man. Whatever's going on between me and your father, it's my fault. And when I see him, I'ma apologize, because for him to look like that, we done took this shit too far. There's no reason for it.

I just thought that, show Randy is the same dress as you show Larry Brown or some shit. That's all it was. But for it to get like that, I didn't mean for that to happen. So I instantly told him, whatever it is going on between you and me and your father,

it's my fault. Your father's fine. I'm the journalist. I'm supposed to know better. That's my fault. That's on me. Shit like that could happen with somebody like LeBron. But LeBron up here, and he know he up here.

He don't give a fuck. The problem is, when it come to the media, God damn it, I'm up here. You understand? And as a result, you can sit up there, you can make some noise and make a scene and do whatever it is that you do. But you see, I got 10 hours of airwaves a week live and i got my podcast and i got other outlets and y'all

don't even know what the fuck is coming down the pike in terms of opportunities i got coming my way i'm just getting started this is a trip this is what it is. Question for you. This is what it is. This is what I'm saying. This is like, what was he going to do? No, I'm just saying, what was he going to do? But the thing is, right? Rolled up on me, motherfucker.

See, the thing is, and that's. I took up the money, baby. So when we get to, so I told Angela, she does our social media. So we're going to start a segment, right? Yeah. And you remember the old bracelet they used to serve, like WWJD?

Right. Like what would you, so we just gonna change the letter J to a K and what would Kenyon do? Right? So, see people, so people do that to people, right? Like people do that to people where they, they know what the response is gonna be, right? If he thought that Steve was going to be on bullshit in the moment, I didn't know what he would have did at that moment, right? If he thought there was a slight chance that this shit could go left, right? They're not going to put themselves in that situation. Trust me. You approach me, it ain't't gonna be the fucking narrative. That you...

It's gonna be way worse than what you... Listen, it started out as you... Motherfucker! Motherfucker! Mother... And then, take me out in cuffs, cool. You bought this ass whooping upon yourself in public because you thought that was gonna be the narrative. It's not gonna be the fucking narrative.

They do that shit to people who they think and they know they can get away with it in public. He ain't got to be swinging. I'm not doing that. He's not going to be the fucking narrative. They do that shit to people who they think and they know they can get away with it in public. Steven, you ain't got to be swinging. I'm not doing that. He's not. That's him. That's why I said, what would Kenyon do? A little Trim Doe just for life. And I tell all this, the Lord don't put me in them kind of situations because I'm going to fail tremendously. What was LeBron wrong with you?

I'm going to fail that day. Joe Sy, you're going to have to try a little harder. No, here's a question for you, Steven. I know y'all don't fucking listen to the shit I do anyway, but I'm a movie star now. You had to try a little harder question for you Anyway, but I'm serious question for you a brown with a kid if LeBron would it came up to No, we good. We got we got back coming. We got back coming. We got bags coming. We buy back Serious question for you now you my dog're my dog. We got bags coming together.

If LeBron would have came up to you and said, let's talk after the game. I'd have waited. Would you have brought Larry David with you, though? No. Okay. No, no, no. I'm bringing Larry David.

What you going to do now, bro? I just met him. I got Larry David right here. I just met him. Hey, it's a smoke coming, Larry. But seriously, it's like, yo. May I rate me? Like, listen. Listen.

When you got people, like, they got the podcast, they got the shows, and, you know, all of this competition going on. Most people in my position don't do a lot of interviews. You can't find them. So why do you find me? Because I feel I owe it. I've interviewed you before. I've interviewed you before. I've interviewed you before.

Yo, I'm talking about people. Why am I going to write? What license do I have to... If you had something to say and you said, Stephen A, you free today? Man, I got to rap to you about this LeBron shit. It's a scheduling issue if I don't show up. I'm not running because

yo, Stephen A, I think that's some fucked up shit you did. Okay, let me tell you what happened. Now, if you still think I'm fucked up after I give you my version, I'm good with it. But the point is, is that to me, when some of these players do shit, it's like everybody just taking this gold. I'm like, really? I'm like, they don't lie. They don you know, they don't lie. The biggest lie. They don't bitch up sometimes. They don't come up with narratives to make you look bad to cover themselves.

Oh, they just paragons of virtue. Come on, y'all. We know better than this. And I'm going like, yo, that's, and I'm not saying any of, you know, you got cats. I had, I had my man Cameron interview me. He was like this, you know, do, do had I had my man can't run interview me he was like this you know do do do do players talk to you oh so you know and that's my man he's like this I'm just asking I said people see four or five players getting on me and they think the other 440 plus don't talk to

me so you think I have information by accident I said do you know do you know? I've been, again, I've been around. It's GMs. It's presidents. It's player personnel directors. It's scouts. It's evaluators. It's owners. I remember one time KD, one of the many times he talking shit, was sitting up there talking about, well, you know what?

Fuck he know. Who the fuck he talk to? He in Brooklyn. Fuck he know about Golden State? What the hell he know about what's he talked to he in Brooklyn fuck he know about Golden State what the hell he know about what's going on he turned around he did a double take because that night I was sitting with the owner another night it was it was a GM for another team another night it was one uh one of the GMs assistant GMs it's like you don't know who I know. I get, there isn't a team in the league that I can't get information

from. And trust me, it might take a day. It might take an hour. It might take a month. But I'm going to get it if I want it. If I want it. Because when you've been around that long, they feed it to you. As this show continues

to grow, remember I said this to y'all. All you motherfuckers got phones. You get text messages. Watch as you get a million and two million because y'all going to be around because y'all doing a hell of a job. Why the hell I'm here? Thank you for the bottom line.

Remember this. You're going to get to a point where your head going to be down a lot. Because they're going to be texting you about shit all the time. Because when you grow and you got a voice that resonates, they're going to start feeding you information.

I'm at a point now, I don't have to go to a game. I don't have to talk to anybody. Do you understand that there's nothing in my contract that says I have to talk to you I'm so about the place. Okay, I thought you're talking about There's nothing about I get paid when they get when they get Ridiculous, I'm like I don't get paid to talk to you. I get paid to talk about you I don't have to look at you. But, but, Rashad, I

still go to the games. I still make sure they have access to me. I haven't changed my number in 23 years. For the sole express purpose of making sure you can find... And we both know I got an excuse to change my number. Because when you make a little paper, everybody wants to know.

Everybody wants to hold something. I got it damn right you know you know that and I still and I still can't change and I don't change my number for the sole express purpose I'm not hard to find I had the same I'm running the people hey man let me get you know but I give it to him maybe like oh I already got yeah I. I'm running to people. Hey, man, let me get your number. And I give it to them. They be like, oh, I already got it. Yeah, my number ain't changing. That's right. I don't change numbers. I'm not one of them guys.

I ain't changed numbers in fucking years. I've been tempted to. But I ain't changed. I get you. Because listen. I change mine every three months. Nope. I don't want to talk to you.

My number ain't changed. Because I have, listen. Because one thing for sure, two things for certain. I can pick and choose who I communicate with, how I respond, and who I fucking respond to. If I don't want to fucking respond to you, I don't. If I will, if it's accordingly, or if it just want to be a one-word ad, I'm like...

The whole shit is this. When you have platforms like this and shit like that, you got cast that's just real. You understand what I'm saying? You ain't bullshitting. And so you gonna come at shit from a real perspective. What happens is, is that if you take issue, you might call the cat out,

me or somebody else because of what we said. This is where my problem lies. We got players in the league that do that shit and then start complaining about, you know, you talking about another brother, you selling now, you know, this black boy. They doing shit like that. And I'm going like this. Y'all don't see what they doing? They trying to make it so it's difficult for you to walk the streets because it's like, yo, when you see him, look, that motherfucker ain't for us. That's what they trying to do. Oh, because you playing like garbage. Oh, because you ain't leading. Because you ain't living up to the expectations that

you promised when you walked into the negotiating room and said, yo, I deserve this paper. And then you going to come at me and I'm like, y'all letting them do this shit? Because if they do, this is the one thing where my cachet comes into play. If you can do it to me, what's up for everybody else? Because if you covering the league and you calling it like you see it and you see what they doing and they able to twist the narrative, all I'm saying is, nah, don't let them do that. Fuck that. Yo, if I'm wrong, do you. But if I'm right, yo, Steven, they right. Don't let them get you like that.

If they come and they say, nah, fuck Gilbert. Who the hell is he to talk? Hold on. Was he right? Yes or no? Don't give me all that shit. Was he right? If he was right, then why you doing that? Because you can't take the criticism.

It's gonna be a butt with it. And that's what it is. It's gonna be a butt with it. And that's all I'm saying about a lot of these cats. Not most, not all, but it's too many of them. And they're getting away with that shit. So how does Kobe move out of your top two? Kobe? I wanted to say that.

You said moved out? I never had him in my top two. I was going to say nobody. Hey, can I go home? By the way. Y'all finna start this podcast. Hey, hey, hey. But before we get to that, before we get to that,

we were talking about contracts. Before we get to that, we were talking about contracts. So we'd like to give a shout out to me, Yandis, for sponsoring today's podcast. Fellas, it's time to throw out your old, nasty-ass underwear. No more faded fabric. No more holes. Upgrade to something that women will actually want to see you in.

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But what do you fellas think about me on these so far? I got someone right now Okay, can you worry me on these as we speak as gills gills been wearing me on these all the time Yeah, swaggy you comfortable. You may breathe the ball, but if you are not you got some me on these on I wouldn't want to know his it was free balling or not. That is between you and Nick. That conversation is between you and Nick. It's between Nick and his guy, Ken. It's between Nick and his guy.

It's between Nick and his guy. I'm glad you brought up Kobe, and I don't want to leave before we talk about Jalen Brown. Okay, but real quick, real quick, real quick. Y'all going to talk about the greatest ever. Real quick, find signature comfort in everyday styles at MeUndies.com. Get 20% off your first order. Free shipping with orders over $75

with code GILL at checkout. Let's get to the GOAT situation first. GOAT debate, one of the most polarizing conversations in basketball. So we're gonna play a game of blind resume. We'll list the accolades for six players, then rank them. Afterwards, we reveal which resume

was attached to which player. Let's show the full screen right now, if we can, please. Good folks at Underdog. So, player number one, two MVPs, one Finals MVP, four rings. Player number two, one MVP, two Finals MVP, five rings. Player number three, three MVPs, three Finals MVPs, five rings. Player number four, six MVPs, two Finals MVPs, six rings. Player number five, two MVPs, three Finals MVPs, five rings. Player number four, six MVPs, two finals MVPs, six rings.

Player number five, two MVPs, three finals MVPs, five rings. And last but not least, player number six, three MVPs, two finals MVPs, three rings. So just looking at those blinds without names, how would you rank these resumes? Who would like to go first? This is Gil's original. I would, I would, I...

Listen, to me, number four would be the top resume. What stands out? The six MVPs, the six rings? Six rings, six MVPs. Top resume on the list. Who would you put second? Number three? Yeah. Okay, three MVPs, three finals MVPs, five rings.

I would tell you two and three is a toss-up between number three and number one. Okay. Then you got number five? Yep. So six is last? Four, two, three, five. Mm-hmm. And two. You said four, two, three, five.

Four, two, and I said four, one, three, five, two. Okay. Four, one, three-5-2. Yes. I see you had to recalculate that number as we started to figure out who's who. Gentlemen, I've been around the game a long time. I'm sure if you look deeply at these blind resumes, you can start figuring out who's who. Figure out who's who.

But we're blind. We're blind. You start putting your list together. There's no faces attached. Oh, 6-6. Okay's no face to attach to. You start putting your lips together. There's no face to attach. Oh, six and six. Okay, that's him. Right. Okay, one and four. Four and two.

Okay, that's him. You're not going to put the four and two. Are you going to say this or not? Somehow, I've got to put four and two at number two. That's weird. Somehow, number three. Number three is just in the middle. Number three always.

I don't want to be a part of this conversation. It's all weird to me. I like the graphic. It's pretty dope. Graphic's nice. Graphic's nice. Steve, now you have the number one morning show, all the sports. We have the number one YouTube show in the basketball space. And we're number one live on YouTube at this very moment.

Just want to point that out before we continue this conversation. Right now, at this very moment, we surpassed 82,000. We need another sweet underdog. A game of our choosing. Can I say this? If I may. I'm 57 years old. I've been in the business for 30 years.

Y'all thought y'all had haters when you were playing. Mm. It ain't shit compared to what's coming. So all I want you to do is be mindful of that shit. There's gonna be a lot of cats smiling in your face. They ain't your friends. They ain't your friends. They don't want you. They don't want you to succeed.

You can't be smiling in my face while he's saying that. That's not good. Say it again, which is for the people in the back. They ain't your who? They ain't your friends. Don't smile in my face while he's saying it, though. It's like, because I consider you a friend and you're smiling in my face. We are friends on this show.

You are now friends with the family by pulling up here. What are you trying to tell me, friend? I told him my motherfucker wasn't his friend. So, Paolo, can we put that blind, the blind resume back up? What is your friend trying to tell me? Paolo, put the blind resume back up. Even though you gave your list. I'm going to take that too.

Gil, can we reveal who the players are? I think the chatter scene, the fantasy scene, the couch scene. We know. Yeah. Reveal the players. Reveal the players. Reveal the players. Reveal the players.

Reveal the players. Reveal the players. Reveal the players. Re reveal who the players are? I think the chat has seen, the fans have seen, the couch has seen. We know. Yeah. Reveal it, please, if you can. Put the shit. Obviously something that no basketball... That's Steph number one.

Kobe number two. Magic Johnson. Kareem number four. That's right. Tim Duncan number five, last but not least, you know, we support all races just like you do. We got Larry Bird on here as well. I knew it wasn't Jordan because Jordan has six finals MVP's. Yeah, that's about right. That's about right.

So, yeah. You want me to answer this question before I move on from the Kobe subject? We want to get to the Kobe subject. Okay, I'm sorry. Okay, we get to the Kobe subject. So, one of the reasons you wanted to come on here, one of the reasons you wanted to come on here, Stephen A., was because you don't include Kobe in the GOAT conversation.

Obviously, Cemetery Larry is not feeling that. You guys have both made those points previously. Now you're both sitting on this couch right now. So, with all respect to the Black Mamba, the Lakers legend, where is Kobe on your all-time list, and why does he fall short of the GOAT conversation in your eyes? He's easily top ten, probably top five.

He's not my GOAT because he's number two as an off guard. He ain't better. He didn't eclipse Jordan. So because he didn't eclipse Jordan, he's number two. And because we're making the argument about LeBron in terms of his versatility, being a guy that could play four different positions, being a point forward, being a guy that's a 27-point-per-game scorer and kind of things that he's been able to do, and we have him on the Mount Rushmore, nobody's resume supersedes that of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar outside of Bill Russell. But we know that Bill Russell wasn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a talent.

He was a leader and a champion and a winner, 11 titles in 13 years. But when you look at Kareem and the all-time scoring champion before LeBron eclipsed him, the only individual in the history of the sport with one patented move that was considered unstoppable. Everybody knew the sky hook, all right? Six-time champion, 19-time all-star, what he was able to do. But LeBron's resume, in a lot of people's eyes,

10 NBA finals, four MVPs, four championships, and what he's been able to do with his versatility. I look at Kobe, and even though I would rather have Kobe, particularly in tight situations, my attitude was Kobe's number two off guard, so automatically I didn't think about him as the GOAT. That was my argument. So you're saying number two off guard, he's not in the top five? I said he might be in the top five. Oh, might be.

The only reason I say not top five, I'm talking about Kareem. Like, some people say Tim Duncan's the best power forward ever. They look at Kareem as opposed to Russell or Shaq or somebody. You're including all of those names. But when you talk about the off-guard position, I think it's MJ and then it's Kobe. And just quickly, Kareem also almost whooped Bruce Lee's ass in Game of Death, so that would elevate him in the GOAT discussion.

But no, let's move over to Cemetery, Larry. Obviously, you took issue with Kobe not being mentioned amongst the GOATs. No, let's move over to cemetery, Larry. Obviously you took issue with Kobe not being mentioned amongst the goats. No, I didn't take issue with that at all. I take issue with minimizing Kobe's legacy in order for another slot to be taken up. And it's not even about, he has an opinion. He can do say what he wants and everybody can, right? But we talking about legacy. You talking about somebody that's gone that could obviously speak for himself when he's here so there is nobody that can actually be the spokesman for someone who's passed and that can say what do you mean Shaq carry me what do you mean it don't count because he was on my team what do you mean you don't know what a three-peat

means? And we almost did it twice because of a short season of a CBA agreement. And they gave and we got swept. We got swept because of the turmoil. The turmoil in our team and shortened season. But then you look at Kobe Bryant's whole legacy,

it's not about the whole stats and all NBAs and none of that to me. You say 1A, 1B. There can't be a number two if you got 1A, 1B. Okay. So at the legacy point, when you're like, all right, Kobe, man, rest in peace. You did everything you needed to do to lead this next generation, and hopefully they leave the game as you left it. And he left the game as scoring 15 000 and two two different 17 000 two different jerseys introducing the mama mentality this ain't got nothing to do with stats this ain't got nothing to do with accomplishments and awards

it's just influence and inspiration oh i think greatness outside of the 1a is right there we think argue he's the closest thing to Jordan, then you put him at like... Number six. Yeah. If I'm the closest thing to greatness, how can I be that far? Then you put somebody else in front of me who's done less. Yeah, but you also got to... See, see, see, respectfully, look.

That's where we let emotion get into the mix. Let me tell you why. We all miss the Black Mamba. I know I had a lot of love for him. I was with him three weeks before he passed away, by the mix. Let me tell you why. We all miss the Black Mamba. I know I had a lot of love for him. I was with him three weeks before he passed away, by the way. New Year's Eve, we brought a New Year's Eve together. We was at the same party and shit. And his wife was there and the whole bit.

You know what Kobe meant to all of us. But I will tell you this. Quick story. So, I'm rapping to Kobe and Kobe knows how I feel about MJ. And Kobe is like, shit, I'd give anything if I could rewind the clock and I could have been in the same areas and I'd have bust his ass. You know, and I'm laughing or whatever.

And he was like, tell him. He'll tell you. I tell him that shit all the time. So I picked up the phone. I called MJ. And he's like, started laughing. He said, yeah, he tells me that all the damn time. You know, so what you saying about him, be clear. He believes that, you know, you ain't lying when you talk about what Kobe believes and what Kobe

would challenge anybody on. But here's the thing. Kobe wouldn't bring up legacy off the court. He would leave that to others. He's like, you know, that shit speaks for itself. He believes, just strictly talking about his game, he was MJ. The baddest. He believes that. He believed that, God rest his soul.

That's how he felt. No doubt about that. That's why I said to them, like, it wasn't about what you said. It was in the context of the defense for him. When you like, the younger generation is hearing us talk about a guy who can't speak for himself. So all we got now are memories and highlights. So we got our own peers who, 5,000 guys watched this dude play. We all should be, not just because he died,

but because of what we've seen. Like, yeah, he was one of them. He was one of them. Yeah, but the flip side to that is we're talking about basketball. So in my position, all you could do is say, yo, when he was alive, this is what he said. This is how he felt. I might have disagreed with him

about point A or point D. Agreed with him on C and D. But as long as you're not discrediting him by omitting the stuff that he said and believed and pointing out his accomplishments along the way, then you're not disrespecting him. You're just talking basketball. Being better than someone, me being better than you

and me having a better NBA career than you is two different things. We're not talking if they played one-on-one, we know Kobe going to mop them. Having a better resume than someone is two different things. You can't confuse the two. You can't say take away the resume. Once you say take away the resume,

you can't be validated. You can't say take away the resume. You take away my five these. You take away this. You can't do that. My resume is my resume. We played in the same this. You can't do that. My resume is my resume. We played in the same era. You needed MVPs?

I got them. You can't say I was a better one-on-one player than you. Take this away. You can't fuck that. So I can say I'm the best. You can say you're a better, if you're a better one-on-one player. I'm the best one-on-one player. Cool.

I'm the best scorer. Cool. My time. I'm the best. Cool. That is great. I'm the best one-on-one player. Cool. I'm the best scorer. Cool. My time. I'm the best. Cool. That is great. I'm the best clutch player. Cool.

So if I'm the best at all these things, and you are only the best at these two things, that means I'm better. My time is faster. So who's faster in reality? You just move the goalposts. If we finish the race, and I finish faster, I don't give a fuck how you ran it. You got a good start. You got a good start.

Cool. It's part of my resume. My start is part a fuck how you ran it. You got a good start. Cool. It's part of my resume. My start is part of my resume. My ending is a part of my resume. You can't pick and choose what you're going to use. Yeah. Because we're not talking about. You just said we come in and have two different conversations.

Resume or who's the best. Now, when you say who's the best. You want to have this conversation because you can use all of these metrics and stats to prove this. When we talk about this, you can't have the conversation. That's an eye test. No, it's not an eye test. It's not because he said it. He said, Michael, the best version of Michael Jordan that we've seen in comparison to the best version of LeBron James we've seen, bro, if you don't get the fuck out of here.

You said who's the better clutch player? Between who? Jordan and, I mean, LeBron and Kobe. Kobe? Who has the better clutch percentage? LeBron. Who has the most clutch shots? I don't know.

You can tell them. But you're using stats, right? Again, so what are you using? I'm using what we've seen in those moments. Those moments. So when Kobe's making his, you're looking. When LeBron's making his, you're not looking. So the first shot LeBron's making is at the end of the second quarter.

So again. But if you're using moments, he didn't have more moments than MJ. Who? Kobe. Yes, he did. Clutch. Yes. And game winners. Game winners. Who has more game winners? Game winners.

Who has more game winners, Kobe or LeBron? See, he brung up the clutch stat, which can be end of quarter, can be a lot of different things. When you talk about game winners, that's the metric of the legacy. That's when you say, man, Christmas against the Miami Heat, Kobe, backboard on Christmas? Merry Christmas, niggas. You said Merry Christmas. I saw MJ do it to win championships.

You have to use every... You got to use the legacy, yo. 1A, 1B. You can't use what you want to use. We can because we all got our own opinion. That's exactly why he sat there and said his opinion. And then you can't tell me I got to use your metric to get your fucking numbers. He just laid it out.

This is why I got him one. This is why I got him two. And that's why I sat there and was like, you know what? I respect that shit because that's your reason why. Now, I asked you a question. I said, who is a better clutch shooter? You said Kobe. what i respect that shit because that's your reason why now i asked you a question i said who who is a better clutch shooter you said kobe i said who has the better percentage you said lebron i said who has the most clutch shot you said lebron now if you're lebron how

are you convincing anyone that kobe is a bitch clutch shooter. What are you saying? Like, how are you proving this? If nobody ever seen these two play, how do you prove it to that person? Do we have to show them highlights? Do we have to look at the fan? Do you want to show them highlights if we never seen them play?

Do they get to see highlights? Yes. So they get to see highlights of Kobe's moments of hitting clutch shots? And then you get to show the other one too, right? Yeah, yeah. So if we base it on that alone, Kobe's definitely better. So if one has 100, one has 50, one is shooting at a 40%, one is shooting at a 60%, how do

you like... At the buzzer, Gilbert. At the buzzer. Game. Buzzer beaters is different things than clutch. No, it's not. It is. It's the definition of clutch.

It's the game winner. If I say who's a better free throw shooter, what are you going to use to determine that? A percentage, right? Mm-hmm. How do you want to use percentage on one thing, but then you don't want to use it on the other? That's the problem.

We do. Use it all. We do. It's called 6-0 in the finals. But, yeah. You don't like that percentage, right? You don't like that percentage. You don't use the Kareem and Bill Russell resumes to be the number one. You're supposed to use every one. You can't pick and choose what you want to use.

I just gave you. I just said Bill Russell number one. I just gave you how do you choose who shoots a better free throw. You're just going to go straight to percentage. You're not going to go off of look, how it looks. You're going to go off of the percentage. That's how it all... You only want to change it...

So if the guy that only shot one for one and is shooting 1,000%, is he the greatest free throw shooter of all time, Gilbert? No. Is he shooting 100% from the free throw line? But he shot one. He hasn't missed. So if one...

So does the percentages count or not? So if... So one shot, more shots, with a higher percentage. Who's in the front of the leaderboard? The guy who has 100%. So, wait, what are we talking about? I'll switch this up.

You know, one of the things that I've always wanted to throw at y'all, I've often said this about LeBron at the small forward spot. Give me LeBron at the small forward spot. Give me LeBron for the first 46 minutes. Give me Larry Bird the last two. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

Last two minutes. Hey! So how great you gonna be if you gonna sub him out in the last two minutes? Okay. Huh? You think you're better than me because you played two minutes? I said I'm against Larry Berg. I need Larry. I need Larry to be on the court, though. You're telling me

you need Larry to be on the court. But LeBron will be on the court. Well, I'm also telling you I trust him more with the free throw line. Of course. Larry's a legend. But that's the problem. You're trying to sub in two minutes for my 46. Right. Because we know you can't take us home.

And you can't play 46. And I can take us home. But I take us home. You can't play 46. But I take us home. Steve don't know how to get here, but he know how to get us back. And you don't know how to get us there. You know how to get us back.

But you don't know how to get us there. We don't need to. That's what I said. Like, I'm lifting 46 minutes to your two, but you think you're better than me. That's why we work together. Nobody's putting Ginobili in front of Tim Duncan. Why would they? He finished the game. That's why we work together. Nobody's putting Ginobili in front of Tim Duncan. Why would they? He finished the game.

They're on the same team. What are you talking about? Where are we going with this? Can you tell me what team? When you said LeBron's 46 minutes, and then you put in Larry. They was on the same team when you did this, right? No, no, I'm just saying you were thinking about the LeBron. No, what I'm saying is when you talk about the small forward spot,

I think that LeBron James, let's say, for example, we're talking about a forward. I think that LeBron James is the greatest ever in that regard, at that position. But what I said was, shit, I saw that damn Larry Bird, bro, in the clutch. You know what I'm saying? And don't leave him open. Don't let that happen. Don't send him to the free throw line. Don't let that happen.

That's how I was looking at it because I know that physically, athletically, in terms of what you're doing over the course of a complete game, he's not LeBron. But when you talk about those last two minutes, that's all I was saying saying that's certainly not to pick him overall, but I think about it sometimes like what that's in there And that's what it's in clutch when it comes to somebody like Larry Bird. Yeah, Cole. Yeah, Jordan who? Like cuz for the most part, you know, I've never really seen Larry like that. Yes, I mean it would be Jordan Okay for me, it would be Jordan. For me, it would be Jordan. All day, every day.

I just think he's the greatest ever. And I don't think they did on both ends. And we never bring that up about Kobe. We need to do more. We need to more. Because Kobe plays... Kobe had some years... All NBA office, all NBA defense. The same, right?

Ain't it the same? Ain't it the same? The only player. Like nine, all defense? I need to see that stat. Because I think Jordan got him beat even on that one. Yes, he does. No, I think... In the decade from 2000 to 2010.

Oh, now, decade. So we're taking out 96 to 2000. That's the problem. You can't take out shit, man. Just let everybody's resume be what it is. I like doing shit he don't like. I like doing shit he don't like. I like doing shit he don't like. So take out resumes.

It's supposed to be his favorite player, but he don't like me putting his favorite player at number one. No, you got to take out resumes. You'd be glad if you didn't put Kobe everywhere. But every time I bring him up, no, no, you can't just do that. Kobe over Jordan. Just let everybody resume speak for themselves.

Stop minimizing this year versus this year. You can't do that. You can't say from 2000 to 2000. When did he win his last ADB? 2000 to 2009. Kobe was like,

you can't do that, man. Let everybody resume speak for the whole resume. We got to put a pin in this right now, Stephen. We know you're a busy man. You only got a little bit of time left.

You said you want to talk about the Jalen Brown situation. Let's get into that quickly before we let you go. We got some PF a pin in this right now, Stephen. We know you're a busy man. You only got a little bit of time left. You said you want to talk about the Jalen Brown situation. Sure. So let's get into that quickly before we let you go. We got some PF Changs here, too, just candidly. I'm ready to get my grub on. Of course. You are one of, if not the top dog in sports media.

Words carry a lot of weight. Obviously, players are affected, impacted by them. You had a previous issue with yourself and Jalen Brown after a source told you that he was unmarketable. Yes. Obviously, you said on an episode of First Take. Yes. He took exception to after you shared that information on First Take, he's tweeted, state your source.

You've since hashed it out with Brown on your podcast, Stephen A. Smith Show, but is it fair to share information that doesn't have a name attached to it, and how cautious are you before sharing that information from your sources, knowing the impact it can have on players? Yes, it is fair. And here's what you're not going to like about it. Sports is not nearly as important as health care, the economy, inflation, immigration,

and all of these political issues, right? When do you see people covering the White House or the state or the nation's capital giving sources? They do it every day. So we're talking about profound issues where people get away without attaching a name to their sources. And these are people that are legislating our lives every day. But we're talking about a Jalen Brown situation. First of all, let me be very clear. There was never an issue. And I'm going to tell you why. Because what I did was say,

this is what they're saying about him. The same exact segment, just so y'all know, because I know y'all got on me about it, I said, quote, I don't believe this. But this is what they're saying. Right? So we go to Dallas.

His mama, his grandma, and his brother roll up on me. Thank you. That's what they rolled up on me to say. Because they needed to hear it. I was saying to folks, do you understand what's being said about this brother? This brother was literally compromised in the NBA draft because he was too brilliant.

They were saying he's too smart. He'll question everything. He's going to challenge us for shit. He's going to expose our ignorance. This is what they were saying

about him before he got drafted. And so he comes into the NBA. They are making a run for a title. Before the age of 28, he had been to five conference finals. Five! The brother balling, averaging

over 20 a game. He had just signed for over 300 million and didn't have an endorsement. Model citizen, cares about the community, goes back to Oakland, contributes to that community, literally goes to MIT,

investigating black issues and black causes to help uplift the depraved and impoverished in our nation, got white cats supporting him in doing so, never in trouble, and he don't have one endorsement deal. I said, how you explain that? And I was looking at y'all and I was saying, fellas, I understand what you're saying about getting on me. But are you hearing what I'm saying? I'm not saying it.

I'm tipping him off to what they're saying about him. Then he sits down with me and he confesses. He thinks it got something to do with Nike that he didn't was on Team USA. Because I was like, how the hell is he not on the Olympic team? How are you, Jason Tatum? I mean, you, Jalen Brown, and two dudes who spend 82 games a year deferring to you and Drew Holiday and Derek White on the Olympic team ahead of you?

How? How? It can't be basketball. So what I was doing was what I always do. I was tipping you off. I wanted everybody to know this is what they doing to him. Who it is, we don't know specifically, but we know that the industry has blocked him. Why are we not talking about that? Instead, we got a bunch of cats talking about Stephen A. Goddamn Stephen A, you dog. I'm like, no, I'm not dogging him. I was looking out. So when he finally sat down with me, he was like, he started talking about the sources who were trying to hurt him. He wasn't talking about me. He was talking about people that had the audacity

to say that about him. And the only reason, like, it wasn't like it was somebody from the... It was you have agents who negotiate these deals that connect with these people that are saying, this is why we can't market him, this is why we can't sell him. What have we been lamenting for decades?

Black men who are intelligent and articulate and are empowered to represent themselves. They always have the most trouble. Why is it a big deal that I just signed this deal? Because it usually doesn't happen for black men who are outspoken. So if we notice, and history has shown us this, why would we then look at the messenger and say, yo, we got a problem with you when I'm tipping

you off to what's happening? That's where I was coming from. It's the insinuation that you leave open for interpretation because there's no, hey, if you gonna tip me off, tell me everything. Hey listen, if you the homie, don't tell me what them niggas over there talking about. I don't want you to bring that over here to me and be like, hey, this is what they said, woo woo woo. And I'm like, you sat there and listened to the whole thing? Damn.

It wasn't the whole thing, it was just the text. No, I'm just saying as far as the context of how we function, it's our context. It's like, damn, bro, you just... You sit there and listen to them say all of that and you ain't say nothing. You ain't back me up.

Well, I don't really know you like that. So I'm just telling you what they saying. And then he's like, hey, sorry, who is they then? Let me go get at them because they lying. Hey, listen, I can't tell you who they is, bro. And sometimes all you hear is he's not markable, so...

And then you take out of account the fact that Jalen Brown may say to all of those endorsement deals that you want him to fucking... to sign, and you think that's good for him, that Jason Tatum got. He's saying, nah, I want that. Nah, I want that. Nah, I got that. Nah, I got my own shoe. I got my own brand. Yeah, I'm going to go start my own shit.

Remember, he was on the record telling you, he like, it was public that he was butting head with some of the sneaker companies. Nike. It was public

that he had a problem with how he was treated. And so... Black Lives Matter, he got pushed back from being an activist during the season, all that shit.

Right, but what I'm saying is that stuff was out there. So when the text message came through, it didn't get into the weed specific. It was a general perspective about what they felt.

So what I was saying was, yo, this is how they feel about him. It ain't right. There's no excuse to feel this way about him. And if you can't market this brother, what does that say about the rest of us?

Or what does it say about people that you're choosing to market? What is it that they are that he's not? But that warrants a discussion that's provoked by platforms like mine, like yours, and various others. If we keep it silent, nobody talks about it. And then they get to keep doing it.

But is it fair for J-Jalen Brown to not want to be like everybody else and get what everybody else is getting? I totally agree with that. He got 300 million to not want to do all of that other shit? But what you're arguing about is what he has a right to and to not feel. What I was talking about is,

this is their justification for this. It ain't right, but this is what they're saying. Deal with that reality and then fight from there because now you know the bullshit they saying about you. Would you not rather know?

That's like what I ain't gonna say. I got, I have somebody that's a coworker. He's an executive. And he's the kind of cat you don't, you can't tell me the source don't fucking tell me nothing I don't want to know his ass out of a job because when you an executive there is a game that's gonna be played with or

without you and with or without you the games's going to be played. So now you got a decision. Do you want to climb? Do you want to ascend? And if to do that calls for you not to play the game, but to be hip to the game so you don't get lost in it, you going to ignore that? Or you going to get the intel so you're hip to the game and you know what mine feels to avoid? That is what comes with it. And if you can't deal with that, you don't belong in the game.

But it's the timing. Remember the timing of the information that was let out? The Olympic situation? And you're looking at a situation where Jalen Brown is like damn where all this coming from so the information comes out he don't make the Olympic team and everybody's looking at him and I like this is the reason why you didn't make the Olympic team because now this accumulation the information is now available to everybody to insinuate well what's the reasons why he's not getting endorsements he's not likable. He thinks he's arrogant.

He's too confident. He's too smart. Yeah, and then it's like, oh, he walk around with the smug shit. And it's like, well, when you're smarter than other people, that's how it fucking goes. And what I'm saying is, is that that's a beautiful thing for us to know, because how could you possibly justify with a straight face holding the brother back because he's smart. And he's intelligent, and he's intelligent and he's gonna ask the right

questions and he ain't gonna just take any song and dance you throwing in his face so that's what you that's why you holding him back that's a discussion that somebody like him and and i know this for a fact because once i saw him face to face and we talked about it he embraced it like that it was like yo i see this shit. I see what they doing, but he may not have known. Well, imagine if ESPN actually runs the story of Jalen Brown being a fucking genius instead of being a guy you can't market. Imagine that narrative during the Olympics instead of, uh, uh, uh, with just the reasons why. I think that's the disconnect between some

guys that are actually trying to do the right thing the right way and guys who get away with shit But there have been stories run about him in MIT there have 100% there have been stories run about him and his Commitment to his community and how he made sure when he signed that contract he had businesses committing to investing We covered that press conference. So these things have happened. The problem is the viewing public It don't stay with them like the other shit stays with them. That's why we need like this show like Inside Stuff used to be on, right? There's the highlight shit that guys was doing positive, right? Yep.

Bring back some shit like that, right? Yeah. Positive light on guys, man. And it's unfortunate. But you also got to get cats that got to be, and I'm going to say this shit, you got to get cats that's mentally stronger. And in this girl's guard, I mean this. Oh, shit. Good luck. Yeah.

So in this guard, this is what I'm saying. So let's just say for the sake of argument, because I'm not going to give any details. You talk about it could be Black Lives Matter. It could be the riots that was taking place in the streets. You could see players coming together and, you know, trying to do some things and they need all the help they can get

and they reaching out to the media. And a cat like me would be like, come on, come on First Tape, talk about it. We don't have to talk about basketball at all. Fuck that nigga Steven Aikman. I ain't trying to come on his show. That's gonna do something for him. I'm like, what?

What? Yes, it's happened. I'm like, first take. That's crazy. I'm here like we number one for 13 straight years. This is the audience we have.

You trying to promote this. It's a sports show. And I said, the hell with the sports. This is your story. It's bigger than me and you. Yeah, you don't like something I said. So what? You trying to promote this.

You trying to make this happen. You trying to do X, Y, and Z. That's it. I said, come on. Numerous occasions throughout the years. Nah, that's going to help him. And I'm like, really? You haven't noticed that without your ass I'm doing just fine? I'm trying to do this for you.

I'm trying to do this for your cause. But that's their problem. See, we don't talk about stuff like that. It's like, what sense? Listen, we all know what happened with me and LeBron. All right? I don't give a shit if I never speak to him again in life. And I'm sure he feel the same way.

If that man had something going on in Akron, Ohio with the kids, or out here with the kids, yo, man, we need Stephen A. help. What you need. It ain't got nothing to do with help. What you need. It ain't got nothing to do with us. What you need. You know how many cats in the league won't do that? Y'all know that.

Because they mad that you said something. They don't see the big picture. And nobody talks about that. We just let them get away with it. But they do it all the time. And that's new. Because when you play, when you play, times before y'all, no matter what kind of attitude,

you can hate a motherfucker now. But if you had a higher calling, a higher issue to address, that superseded the individual animosity that may have existed in you good. Not today. Because they like y'all, man, we don't need them. We got our own social media following.

We can do this stuff ourselves. Really? Then why the hell you care so much about what other people got to say then? Come on now. Self-awareness. Everyone don't have it. Stephen A., we appreciate you taking time out of your schedule.

Yeah, man. After 138 days, man of your word, pulled up out of your head. Yeah, man after 138 days Pulled up the gills arena Deserved a body bag am I right now? I'm gonna put it back The body bag has reentered the arena. No, no, no. We're going to leave him out. We're going to leave him out. Thank you, thank you, thank you. He survived. Thank you, bro. Survived the body bag. Because I've never seen nobody get as amped up

about LeBron than me. Like, he really got really like... The judges become best friends. Fuck this nigga. The judges become best friends. Nobody does. But everybody,

make sure you watch First Take. Make sure you watch the Stephen A. Smith Show. Before we go, we got to do the Gillian Subscriber Giveaway. We are over 956,000 subscribers on the Gills Arena YouTube channel,

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So take advantage of that if you haven't already click the link in the chat or scan the QR code again Thank you to let you Stephen a Smith take a time out of your This has been another episode of gills arena presented by underdog this has been another episode of gills arena presented by underdog