The Bill Simmons Podcast - Kevin Durant VI: KD on Zion and Giannis, 2018 Surprises, Media Dealings, Legacies, Summer Plans and More | The Bill Simmons Podcast (Ep. 454)

Episode Date: December 12, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons sits down with NBA Finals MVP, Kevin Durant to talk Zion and Giannis, 2018 surprises, media dealings, legacies, summer plans and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Incredible. All that stuff's happening at theringer.com. Coming up, Kevin Durant. First, our friends from Pearl Jam. All right, we're in Katie's, I don't know what you would call this, where you're living quarters. Rich Klyman is here. Jay Williams is here in the back, ready to talk Duke at some point. We haven't done this since March.

You won an NBA title since then. A lot of stuff's happened since then. The finals. Can we start there? Would you remember from how close that Houston almost loss was? Because that was, there was a couple moments there when it seemed like if houston hit one more three it might not have been come backable yeah i mean we got fit down 15 the first half i was like man we got to step on the gas fast because these dudes

can come out and knock down two threes to start the third and we down 20 and like man this is gonna be rocking in here if they get up 20 in the third. So we came out, we got some stops. We just needed to get stops because they had a great defense. That's one thing about that team is when they switched everything, it took us out of a lot of our rhythm sets. And that's what we love to do is, boom, we set in the screen. Now we got somebody coming off free.

Now the guy that's supposed to be guarding the screen, he coming up a little late. Then we might got the drop-off pass. And then once the guy rotates. So we're trying to knock a couple dominoes down before we get a good shot. And they was taking away all those options. And so we had to figure out different ways to score. And they were super physical, too.

And they were physical, too. They would push the refs right to the limit early. And it's like, if you're letting me get away with this now, I'm doing this for four quarters, which was smart. Yeah, I mean, they had physical defenders. PJ, James is physical off the ball. And he's pretty strong. So he's really good at clogging up the paint.

He may just stand there, but he's clogging up the paint a lot because they put him on guys who are like slashers a lot. Yeah. And CP was just allowed to hit everybody. And he got quick hands too, so he can get some steals. And CP's just a bulldog on the ball. So it was a tough series. It reminded me the OKC series in 2016 when the game clay got super hot um there was a couple moments in that game

where if you had scored on like one more three or one more fast break layup or something i don't know if they could have come back and you could never make that one last play yeah and that's in two years later it was the reverse you were on the other team where it was like houston couldn't make that last play to get up by 20. And then I don't know if you could have come back at that point. Yeah, I mean, you've been on both sides. I mean, you've been on both sides of that as a basketball player and just like any type of game where it's like you can't get over the hump. Yeah.

Or like, you know that, you know, if they would have made a couple of shots there, the game would have been totally different. Like you, you feel, you felt that before as a player, but not a lot in those pressure moments when it's like winter, go home and your season's over. Well, it's that's when it's like, man, these, these plays really mean something now.

So do you think about that in the moment? Like there's a timeout and you're like, we're down 15. Fuck this, this, if we don't make a play right now, I'm going home. Or are you just like, just in the moment of the game, not even thinking that stuff?

Yeah, I mean, just try to stay in the moment. A timeout is hard to stay in it because you finally get a mental break from the game and physical breaks. So you're thinking about maybe the next play, or like a lot of us think the previous play or the previous four plays. You're just thinking about other stuff when it's a timeout. when you're in the playoffs in the game seven especially you look up at the scoreboard on the road you're down 15 points it's like we gotta hurry up or something something can happen to us you know we can be going home and um but it's one of those moments

that you really kind of you kind of you dig down deep and figure it out. You think he – like Houston has not been the same since, and they've struggled. Everybody's been writing about what's wrong with them. When you get that close and then it doesn't happen, is it almost hard to rally back the next season? Some people seem to think it's almost like mentally breaks a team and you got to rally back from it. No, I wouldn't say it breaks a team.

I feel like they – I feel like that was their first year together and, you know, CP just signed. So they still got some, they, you know, I wouldn't say that was their last chance at it. You know, I think they really believe that they're going to be a part of, you know, they're going to be around and be a contender for a while. So obviously it was tough to lose.

I'm sure it's tough to lose a game seven like that, especially losing one of your key players. And at home. And at home. But you see, you know, they retooled and got a couple new players and they still play the same way. So if they get into the playoffs, no matter who they playing against, they're going to be tough.

Even if it's on a roll, it's just a different level of focus. And they've been there and they've been in tough situations. Been in Game 7 with us as champions. They know what that's like. So in the playoffs, it's just a matter of seeding for them. They just want to get in, especially if they're struggling a little bit to start the season with injuries or they're not playing well. You're being diplomatic because you're worried they're going to be the 8th seed

and you're going to have to play them. Yeah, for sure. You're worried about Houston being the eighth seed. Yeah, they're tough. That's what I'm saying. I have so much respect for them because of how they play. They're not going to be the eighth seed. No, I don't think they'll be the eighth seed.

But, like, it is 20. Rich, you're 20 feet from the mic. I'm always 20 feet from the mic, bro. Jesus. Well, the funny thing about the West this year, I don't think it's, like, the greatest conference we've had over the last few, but it's deep. You know, and it's, like, the 12th team and the 13th team and just in general it feels like the league is really deep now and night after night you watch every team I watch is like oh I kind of like that

guy I like this guy like the Knicks the Knicks have like eight guys that I kind of like whereas like you look 10 years ago if you were a bad team you were bad you had nobody on your team I feel like the West I feel like the teams are supposed to make the next jump in their progression, like SAC. Yeah. They're making that next jump. You like Sacramento. Yeah. I like SAC.

I like Yeager, Coach Yeager, because playing against them in the playoffs, you really gain a respect for a coach because how they scheme and how they take away stuff. Like, you really realize how much work they put into it especially playing against him in the playoffs so are you talking about what was that memphis okay yeah so jaeger i'm like man and he was an assistant too on the other teams with line i think lionel hollins was the coach he was an assistant so i'm sure he was crafting a game plan a lot yeah so i'm like all right i see a coach like that and he got these guys playing a different way than he's used to coaching because he was more of a grit and grind, throwing inside, high-low type of coach with Mark and Z-Bo. So they're playing fast.

They put the ball – he putting the ball in his players' hands and letting them be – giving them opportunity to be – take advantage of that opportunity they have and, like, putting them in great positions to be successful. And I'm like, you know, that's a sign of a good coach. And, you know, you can tell his players like that. Yeah, I'm bummed because the Celtics have their pick. And I thought it was going to be a top five pick.

And then you watch them and it's like, yeah. Buddy Heald and Fox, they have a bunch of young guys who can rebound and run the floor. They're going to be a lottery pick, though. Maybe. I don't know. They're kind of lingering. I think they're going gonna be lingering for a

while i think fox might be special he is yeah i think i think he's a lottery pick though he's a possible all nba guy in a couple years i like how infectious he is too like he's just so happy he loves basketball and then buddy who i always felt like was going to be a good pro and then i kind of was wavering on it but i don't know that they changed the rules a little so that you can't like you can't clip the guys coming off screens anymore and it seems like he's been one of the guys to take advantage of i like that team though that's a real you like that in that hardcore basketball like real geek like observation well it's been good for reddick too like the the guys and obviously some of the golden state guys but it's just easier to come off screens now yeah you've noticed that they changed the rules for that a little bit but

uh yeah does it give you like one extra second yeah it's just more so this is more so um as you're moving to get around the screen not not like before i mean before the screen comes you can't really be that physical and like yeah try to use a forearm or maybe grab a side of the hip or something like that just to slow him down a bit. All the Marcus Smart tricks. Yeah, the little tricks that you use before the screen. Chris Paul. Yeah.

That's another one. Chris Paul has 47 fouls a game now, by the way he used to play because he used to little elbow, little chip, all that stuff. Did you watch LeBron versus Wade last night? No. Oh oh you waited you had a game yeah you want to see the highlights last night you want him to sit the game out to watch lebron wade i forgot it was the same time there's so much basketball these days i don't even remember i'm just watching basketball i don't remember who's going to get to um it was it was weird i don't like wade kind of still looks the same what do you mean i know exactly what you mean you know what i mean it's it's like when It was weird. I don't, like Wade kind of still looks the same.

What do you mean? I know exactly what you mean. You know what I mean? It's like when David Robinson was retiring, it's like he looks the same. It's like D-Wade still looked like he got like five, six more years to play. Yeah, I almost wanted to have gray hair or something so it makes more sense. I want to look older. You know what I'm saying?

I'm also surprised that he's at the tail end of his career because I don't know it's just easier to play into your mid late 30s now but he never extended his range well Dirk's another one he looks kind of like Dirk still he doesn't look like old Dirk no but I'm saying the way he plays

I'm talking looks wise. B-Way is still a dunk on somebody like now. Yeah. I thought you were talking about the way they look. No, I know. Jason Kidd. Yeah, Jason Kidd. Yeah, Jason Kidd look older.

Well, his head started to get bigger. He just looked like a different person. Come on. You look the head joke, Bill? No, it's just his head is, you know, he's getting older. Your skull gets bigger. Kevin Garnett never looked different. He looked like the same young KG as last year.

And it threw people off. Yep. But like McHale, when he got old, he seemed old. He was like 35. He was old as a rookie, though. He got heavier. Paul Pierce did get heavy. But I always felt like if he got in the game, he could knock a three down.

Right. He had the three and he had the old man game. Yeah. Like he could get a basket. There's some good old man game guys now. Who do you think is one of the best? You know who? Knox out in New York, I think, could have a good old man game in like three years.

Old man game in three years? He's got that herky-jerky kind of the big shoulders. You think you want him to aspire to have an old man game in three years? No, I just like the herky-jerky game. I'm trying to figure out who. I got an old man game. Kyle Anderson. Yeah, you have an old man game in three years? No, I just like the herky-jerky game. I'm trying to figure out who. I got an old man game. Yeah, you have an old man game. Kyle Anderson's a good one?

Yeah. Here's what I don't want. I don't want basketball. I mean, not Kyle Anderson, but you're saying old man game means slow? I don't want basketball to just turn into everybody shoot threes. Where he's slow with it, boom, he's going to back you down, slow. Conley, classic pickup game that would translate to any era. Controls the ball. Make sure everybody's going to get he's a set he's a whatever you get a shot on whatever part

of the court but i just i worry that basketball is moving into this direction where just everybody's gonna shoot threes and and that's just where we're going so i i like i embrace the guys that are weird i love yokich there's like Jokic, you know? He jumps about six inches. And they run the whole offense through him 25 feet for the basket. I don't know, he's just cool. How about that soccer throw buzzer beater

he had from three the other day? Oh, yeah, yeah. He throws some of the craziest passes, though. He threw one that looked like a jump shot, and it floated like a jump shot, but it landed right in Paul Millsap's hand for a layup. I'm like, I seen him, but I don't even think I can make that pass that accurate

shooting it like that. You know what I'm saying? Then he threw a wraparound from one side of the floor to the other corner just off a no look. I'm like, yeah. It's like RV this is a bonus. Well, and Bill Walton before he got hurt. He's on that list though.

I mean, he's averaging like seven assists a game. Them dudes were passing straight out of the post though, right? Bill Walton was pretty crazy. But he was only passing out of the post. Yeah, he wasn't 25 feet from the basket. This dude was passing from the three-point line. Sabonis allegedly could. I mean, there's barely any video of that

stuff though. I feel like I watched him play. You could watch him on YouTube. You saw him in Portland when he was old. That was somebody who when he got old, he got old. Young Sabonis. I never saw that. That's when they called him. What was the nickname they had for him? It was like God. Russian God.

Russian God. He was seven feet, could pass, could do all that stuff. Yeah, it was like, because he didn't come to the league until 35. It's funny. Everybody says that. For real? Yeah. I thought he was like late 20s.

No, he was early 30s. It's funny. Everybody says the center's dead, and I think we have a lot of fun centers right now. Yeah, we do. And Bede's a freaking beast, man. He's putting up Shaq numbers. Yeah, he's good. He's like high 20s 13 rebounds you know

what's interesting about him i've been interested in your take on this kd he he's really competitive to the point that he actually wants to like destroy you all his rivals mentally everything yeah which is you you never kind of crossed that line it's almost like he's got like a dark side He's like he sees Andre Drummond and he goes I want this guy to have his night ruined And question whether he's still a good NBA player after tonight You never go that far when you're playing somebody You trying to rip somebody's heart out?

You're just trying to win Right You're just trying to win the game He's trying to rip people's hearts out That are like his size. Just, I think his play does that anyway. That's how I feel. I don't think he needs to do all of it,

but I kind of enjoy that it's in the league. I don't see why it's a problem. I mean, it's not harming anyone. Well, I felt bad for Andre Drummond. He seemed sad after one of the games. I'm like, come on. I mean, I'm sure Andre Drummond. He seemed sad after one of the games. I'm like, come on. I mean, I'm sure Andre Drummond is going to come with the next game, no? He had 17 rebounds the other night when they played.

He's going to come with the next game. Because, I mean, I don't see what the problem is with Embiid doing it. I mean, he's still playing well. He's still focused, it looked like. The problem is when he gets the other team fired up and it actually works against him. Because that's what happened in to Celtics series last year. He was talking a lot of shit to Baines,

and Baines actually was playing pretty well, and it kind of backfired. So that would be the only danger, I guess. You never even learn from that stuff, though, because we all talked trash before, and it was just like, oh, you got humbled quick, and you just know when to do it. When did that happen to you?

In high school. Who was it? We were playing against, we were playing, well, I was at Nike All-American camp, and we were playing against Boo Williams. I remember Boo Williams. Boo Williams. They were the best team that summer, but I didn't play against them yet, so I was just like, you know, I was riding sky high.

I was, like, knocking down crazy shots going into that whole summer, just playing well, so my confidence was sky high. And I was just like, yeah, we're going to beat the shit out of y'all. That's like, we was Fielson Dalton. It was Friday night.

And my boy, Jesse Rosenfeld, he was coming down the middle of the paint. What is happening right now? Also, you interrupted a good KD story. I was hanging on this Boo Williams story. You just brought in Jesse Feinstein.

What was his name? So Boo Williams story. You just brought in Jesse Feinstein. What was his name? So Boo Williams kicked your ass? Next, next, Tyler. But no, so they kicked our, no. I told them that we were going to beat their ass. Me and Ty Lawson was on one team. It was Vernon Macklin.

They had some high D1 players on their team. And a lot of low major D1 players. We had just two high D1 players and a couple just low major D1 players. So they had a really talented team. And I was just talking so much shit. Didn't work out. I had like nine points. I missed like eight threes.

Like after every shot I missed, I'm like, damn. And the dude I was talking shit to, he catching lobs and dunking on people. I'm like, let me focus on playing ball today instead of talking shit. And maybe wait till after the game. Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

So I just wasn't focused on actually winning when you talk like me, I can't do it. What was the first big OKC playoff series was against the 2010 Lakers, right? Yeah. Did you guys talk shit to Kobe or were you just quiet? No, you quiet against the best like that cause you got, I said.

Do you feel you're too deferential? No, it's not like you're too nice either. You just don't say anything. Just do your job. You're not going overboard trying to like push him over and talk shit to him just cause you want to be tough or like you're not being super nice to him cause you Kobe Bryant,

you're just like playing hard as you can. Cause that's what he gonna respect more than anything. Did he talk shit to you? No. He never started anything. He always just finished it. I mean, if you're talking shit to him, he's going to dish it back out. There's no holds barred.

He's going to say whatever comes to mind. He's just usually flexing on everybody. I feel like he took Tatum under his wing intentionally to try to screw up the Celtics. All of a sudden Tatum's shooting these 19-foot fallaways with a hand in his face. And I'm like, you weren't doing that last year. Why are you listening to Kobe?

He was doing that. He probably wasn't doing it six times a game he probably was doing it three times a game last year i don't trust kobe's intentions i know he doesn't like the celtics he's all of a sudden he wants to help out jason tatum that's that's my point he doesn't like my team stay away from our best player or our best young player stay away away from him? He can't even talk basketball with him? No, stay away. I'm not interested in your input, Kobe. In 2011, you played Dallas in the playoffs,

and I think you were actually favored. It was Dirk ended up having the run, and he ended up beating LeBron and Wade and all those guys in the finals. But in that series, you guys were favored. We lost to them in the second round? Yeah. No, we lost to them in the conference finals. Conference finals. We were favored that series?

I think you were. That was pretty old Dallas team. We were on the road. I know, but you were like, at that point, you were like America's young favorite team. We won game two, so I'm sure that's probably why. Did Dirk talk shit? Nah, he ain't talk shit. He one of those dudes, too.

You talk shit to him, he'll say something. He'll say, like, he'll say, he'll just kind of look at you like, what are you doing? And then he'll proceed to bust your ass. Like, he won't say much, but he'll acknowledge that you're talking shit. But he just never said nothing either. He just played. Shit talking received. Yeah, he received it, yeah.

And he played that way too. You could tell he was a dog. He just didn't give a fuck about you. He didn't care. If you talk shit, he's still going to go to work. Yeah. Who talked the most shit of anyone in your generation? KG. work yeah who talked the most shit of anyone in your generation kg kg even when he was kind of

like past his prime was still talking like he started talking shit that's how he got going did he talk shit to you yeah oh yeah my first game against him what would he say oh my bad go ahead i feel like shit talking i never played in the n NBA. I know you have 1.3 million followers, listeners, newsflash. I never played in the NBA. But I feel like shit talking is of legend a bit. Did Kevin Garnett really shit talk you more than anyone else? Or did you feel like everyone had told you that he was going to be the one to shit talk? Yeah, KG talked to everybody.

That was a big part of his game. Yo, don't come chiming in if you ain't been on the court with these dudes, yo. Rich is 0 for 2 with interruptions. I said I don't know. You haven't been in the trenches with these cats. I know. That's why I'm saying I don't know. But you stopping it like, yo, are you really telling the truth?

Yo, chill. But what I'm saying, no more, is that as a fan, as a consumer, everyone says the same three people, is that true? Or is it just the answer? Like there's no surprise person? Rob Markman No. Rob Markman Okay, go on. My bad.

Rob Markman So KG was the king. KG First of all, I don't look at shit talking from anybody but elite guys. If you're not elite and you talking shit, then it's just like you just. That's good information. Another guy talking shit. Yeah, but I knew that already because like when Ennis Cantor talks shit to him, he gets mad. He's like, why are you saying shit, Ennis? Yeah, it's like one of those things.

Like I shouldn't even be talking to Ennis Cantor. Like he's a good player, but it's just like. Yeah. Not up there. Yeah. So I'm like, I get mad at myself when I talk back to Ennis Cantor. But if I say something to KG, I'm like, I bet. Yeah. Not up there. Yeah. So I'm like, I get mad at myself when I talk back to Ennis Cantor. But if I say something to KG, I'm like, I bet. Yeah.

I'm with it today. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. He's lighting a fuse. Yeah. KG is just like, all right, you got to be on your game today. Outside of playing.

Like, you got to know this is one of those nights. You played against Mike. Did he shit talk you? Oh, the entire time he played. Yeah. Did he shit talk Mike? Well, Mike, you never played against Mike, did you? If he started shit talking me, yeah.

Huh? No. Did I play against Mike? I'm trying to think with that. How would that have happened? No, not in the NBA. I'm just saying like in a scrimmage. Oh, he said Jay Will did.

Yeah. But you never scrimmaged against him or played a nike thing never been around him on the court i got to see him once i wish at the four seasons playing boo ray with three other guys and he became full mj and started bullying and trash talking i was like oh this is great it was uh it was him and oakley against two other people that I didn't know. Him and Oakley together playing cards. I bet that's a dynamic duo. I wrote about this.

The folks come in and start talking. Well, I wrote about this when it happened because they sat down at this table and I just felt like the cards were going to come out. They just had that look to them. And then all of a sudden, cards came out and they were off. I'm trying to think who else was the famous trash talkers. I remember. Gary Payton.

Yeah, I heard of Payton. Well, Gary Payton was like Iverson. What'd you just say? What? You heard. I heard, yeah. Iverson. Of legend.

Iverson was famous. But I played against KG, so I knew. That's true. What do you think of Iverson being courts a courtside for these Philly games now? I kind of like it. He is the 76ers. Yeah. I think it's been effective.

I'm the most fascinated by that team. For this generation. Especially since Jimmy went there. And you have Embiid and you have Simmons and you have Jimmy, who conceivably, I would say, are three of the top 20 guys in the league. Maybe even three of the top 18. You say league. Maybe even three of the top like 18. You said Simmons? Simmons, Embiid, and Butler.

I don't know Simmons in there yet. You wouldn't throw him in there yet? Not yet. I think I voted for him for 13-mile-an-hour game last year. I think Embiid and Butler has done it for a little longer for me to say that. That's fair. You had Embiid and Butler has done it for a little longer, for me to say that. That's fair. You had Embiid.

I heard your podcast where you went through your early season MVP predictions. Yeah. You had Embiid up pretty high. I had him as an MVP candidate. It's interesting, though. She's a beast, bro. Butler went to the team.

He's tough. Embiid even talked about it three days ago that he's had trouble adjusting to the Butler trade. Of course. Somebody else – because Embiid got the ball a lot in his hands. Before Butler came, he had the rock a lot. A lot of possessions, he had the ball in his hands. So now you got somebody that can handle alongside you.

That's going to take the ball out of your hands a little bit more. So you're going to just – once you adjust to that, that's what I'm saying. You got to look at them in, like, March, April, how to end the season. I think if they get it right, they're going to be tough. I like that he said that. Why? I don't like that he said it to the media. Well, I don't.

Yeah, let me not get in the way of it's not my business where or who he said it to. But in general, like the fact that he said it. I like that he's thinking it. I like that he's thinking it. He's a hooper. He threw him off. He fact that he said it. Yeah, I like that he's thinking it. I like that he's thinking it, yeah. He's a hooper, he threw him off, he wanted to talk about his health. Yeah, yeah, I get that, yeah.

I like that he's thinking it, because he's thinking about how he can be effective out there, that's half of the battle. But then he says it, and then it becomes a story for an entire day, and people pull the headline out of context, all that stuff. Exactly. But like, you know, seven microphones in your face,

the second after the game emotions running through his tongue i just know i think i mean and b just know it's not really that serious but it really is to people if you say something like that like i don't think it's going like he's not looking at it like it's really gonna hurt anything but he's just like this may help us as a group so when i say it you know so i can get it i get it because i feel the same way sometimes i was excited when he said it because as a celtics fan i was like this is great butler's gonna screw up the sixers but then i read the quotes and i was like oh this makes sense and b and b was getting the ball a lot and now he's not getting the ball

quite as much he's getting used to it it's refreshing that you're so honest about i know you love your team yeah like i want troy acheman at the end of a cowboy game just be like yes we did it stop bullshitting and just be like yeah seriously when he does a giant game i can't i mute the tv it's a joke man you're just really honest about i was so upset that the south started off badly this year that um we know i was in a funk but now it's fine we just had to move the lineups around we're good now we'll see in the final four end of the dolphin now that's fine patriot game that doesn't bother you no it bothered me financially because i bet on the patriots but um it's that no we're fine we're a bit too seed what was the spread no we teased them in a money line

oh tease them down all they had to do is win all they have to do is win i had them in kc and i'm watching and i'm concentrating the kc game and then i look on one of the other tvs and guys are running around first you do the same time slot where you do two games at one and then two games at four where you split them one and four i usually like to do right in the early time slot yeah you got to do your one o'clock your four o'clock then you just go around eight o'clock yeah sometimes you gotta let it go Sometimes you got to let it go. Do you, this whole NBA gambling thing, are you even following this, KD? No.

Do you, this is like. You've been all over the story. No, like a year, two years from now, I think this is going to be things, people are going to be at your games getting excited because you guys were favored by nine. What's that got to do with me? I don't know.

Do you think anybody cares? No. Why should we? It has nothing to do with us. Do you notice when people are cheering at weird times in the game? No. Like you're up 12 and somebody hits a three and people are...

I never even thought about, damn, people would come here to actually bet on the line so they want to watch the game to see if they win. No, I never thought about it. But I'm sure it happens. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Because this whole live betting thing is going to become a thing.

Do you think it's two years away like that? I don't know. I think it's going to be really hard to set the live betting. So it goes into timeout. The Rockets are up by the way. That shit's set set now though you can live bet but how but how to do it accurately it seems you're asking like these random weirdos in like the bahamas to set these lines constantly i don't know it feels odds makers man i don't trust it obviously you've invested obviously rich is invested in some weird Bahamas company.

I'm not invested in a Bahamas company. It's called gambling. So this year, I would say the coverage of the NBA has been more intense than ever. And especially with the Warriors, you have so many reporters now. The Athletic beefed up the Warriors staff. And then there's other teams and there's like seven, eight guys who are at every practice. Then the national media. And it's just day after day after day, people waiting for any of you guys to say anything that they can turn into a story.

I'm interested, first of all, in how do you balance the relationships with those people at those practices? Do you have to play favorites? Do you have to give one guy something one day and somebody the next day? How do you do it? I'm just pretty cool with everybody. Usually when we have a media scrum, if somebody wants to talk to me on the side, he tells me i

shouldn't do it but you know if they i just enjoy talking basketball and just the nba in general so a lot of those dudes know it and a lot of those beat writers whoever national media who come to games or practices they just know that they can they can pull us to the side at any time you know and have a word if someone else to make a decision if we want to talk or not. But most of the time, I'm just cool with a bunch of them. So I don't really have to play favors, but obviously I know a couple more than others,

but everybody's just cool. I'm just cool with every one of them. It's almost like The Bachelor when the guy has the 25 girls in the mansion the first night, and they're all asking to steal him for two seconds. That's what it seems like the life of the Warriors stars is like. I will give my rose to Mark Spears. Chris Haynes is like, KD, can I steal you for a second?

He pulls you aside. What happens if two guys try to steal you at the same time? I mean. You just have to take them both? Nuh-uh. I mean, I don't have to do anything i mean you like this stuff though yeah it's cool i mean like i said if you would be around this and you want to cover as much as as intense as most of these guys cover it like why not i talk ball

all the time i i like talking the league i like talking just basketball in general the game itself so if you're gonna be around i mean at that time why not talk what questions do you not get asked enough during these day-to-day media sessions i mean do you wish people asked you more about like other teams like your thoughts on the league What do you wish they asked? I don't really care You know what I'm saying Yeah but you're there They're bugging you

Isn't there stuff you want to talk about? I'm not coming into the media session Like alright If they ask me this Like I want them to ask me this Like no I'm just like Going with the flow You're trying to get it over with

There's days that I like I enjoy talking about basketball And the league and all of that, but there's days when I'm just like, all right, let's just hurry up and finish. So after the thing, I went to that Clipper game when the whole thing with Draymond went down. And then you had to deal with the media the next two days. Are you, like, dreading it? No, I'm like dreading it what's no i'm not dreading it i know i know what questions are coming or topics with you know what the majority of the

media is going to be the session is going to be about i'll just try and do as best as i can you know just not fake my you know what i'm feeling or just not try to be extra just be myself be authentic and but keep stuff in house though i try not to reveal what's going on in the locker room and what guys think about certain things or what's said or i just try to keep it you know to where it is because everybody know we got into something yeah you know what i'm? I'm not trying to dive into details, but be myself. What do you think of the media, Bill? I went to the game. I saw it right away.

I want to hear what you think of the media for a second. In what sense? Just the landscape of the media right now. I think the basketball media is the most fun it's ever been. Fun for who? Because I think all the people that cover basketball now really love basketball for the most part and really enjoy the product.

Like, wait, one of my frustrations when I was coming up, and one of the reasons I think my column did well initially was because a lot of the people that covered a sport like the NBA, it seemed like it was their job, but they didn't love it. And I would go to the Celtic games, and I would see people typing their stories sitting courtside as the guys were playing. And I was like, how are you not watching this?

These guys are right in front of you. And now I really do genuinely think that most of the people that are the most well-known media people or the people that cover the teams, they all really like basketball, and they get it, and they work hard at it. I also feel like, because I read a lot of stories, and I feel like a lot of these writers

are just getting more creative control over their content. Yeah, I think that's true. I think that's probably, that's a reason why just like the fans' imaginations are kind of running wild with so much because a lot of these guys just, they enjoy the game so much and they kind of just writing what they see on top of like what they feel about the game and they're getting that control. I felt like back then when you was reading the paper, it was just like,

this guy had 25 points on 9 for 17 shooting. He shot well, but also this guy played well and they didn't fit. Like it was just mainly what happened in the game. Not a lot of just analysis on different perspectives. You know? When I was growing up, Bob Ryan was the Celtics guy in the Boston Globe.

And he actually really understood basketball. It was one of the reasons like, I feel like I know basketball is just reading his stuff. And he would- We had Jackie McMullen, right? And then we had Jackie too, but we had people that actually would explain stuff. I think with the media right now, between Twitter and if you write something stupid

or you write some crazy take that's just idiotic, you're going to get skewered on social media pretty much right away. It puts more pressure on writers i think to at least not do that and to be fair or at least mostly fair because they because if they're not they're going to take shit and i do think there's some checks and balances now that there weren't 10 years ago i just think the biggest thing with the writers now, because everybody's a writer now if you have like a platform. Yeah.

I just think, I feel like they think their only duty is to be truthful or just honest to their opinion and just kind of stand on their opinion, but also on side of that, give facts,

give stats, give analysis on what they kind of see, but more so than anything, it's just going to be from my perspective. Right. You get what I'm saying? And there's a lot of those people that are out there. What do you mean the last part?

That they're just really giving you a look, not just based off of like, so let me, how I'm trying to explain this, like it's more so just opinions and mixed with a little bit of facts, mixed with a little, mixed with like some. Little, little fact at times, right? Because I. Yeah, a little fact at times, but also from there, just from how they view the game.

Yeah, my thing is like, and I say to him a bunch is that, first of all, they shouldn't be called writers. They're like reporters. Reporters, yeah. Because they're not all writers. True. At all. So you can't call them all writers. And they're all reporters, and they all get access.

Like, I'm confused at times with the amount of access, right? Then you get that amount of access, then the rules should just change a bit the way like the rules on the court have changed and evolved i don't understand why they have to like stand in front of 15 microphones the second the game ends i feel like i just i disagree with that part no but let me just i'll tell you why because of the amount of access that's given the amount of information that we consume from basketball players on a minute-by-minute basis, I always felt the need to hear from everybody after the game because that was the only information I got.

Right. That, and then SportsCenter came, and then it was like the morning paper. I guess you want to hear from you after the game when you guys are talking about the game, but I don't want to hear from you after the game when you guys are talking about the game but I don't want to hear from them after the game when the reporters feel the need to ask you questions outside the game after the game in the heat of the moment when they also had time oh yeah I get in the locker room on the way to the bus in practice earlier with your phone on text and then

it's like oh here you are again in front of my face after I played 48 minutes. I want to talk about ball. That maybe should be like sacred basketball time. I don't know. I just think there's no rules apply to it. I don't know as a fan what I'm really supposed to get from those post-game press conferences. That's what I'm saying. What is that moment exactly?

I just don't know. What am I going to learn? Your view of the game. But it's like, KD, what happened out of the game i mean like but it's like katie what happened out there you missed some shots in the fourth quarter uh what do you wish you had done differently it's like i don't know made the shots like that's why i don't know what i love like pop answers it's so matter of fact that the reporters are like okay yeah belichick does it too belichick just you know and the funny thing with belick, he loves when people ask him football questions, you know, like hardcore.

Hey, I noticed you flipped the 3-4 around and you were rushing the linebacker on the outside. What made you do that? Belichick's like, oh, great. And then he just wants to like nerd out. It seems like you're the same way sometimes. Yeah, I like talking just pure basketball, but I also like talking to other stuff, the other side of the game too,

which is just like the gossip of the game, who's getting traded, who's going here with their cap looking. I just like talking that side too because, I mean, we see that everywhere and we talk about it all the time. I think that's the cool part of it too. The players you mean talk about it. just just yeah everybody's just talking about what's going on around the league did you see soon somebody get traded you know except you know as soon as it happened in the locker room because somebody's looking at it or yeah but a

lot of times when you get a headline out of an athlete or you get an athlete that might have spoken out of turn in whatever that means there is is no, you know, out of turn in terms of they maybe apologize the next day or whatever it may be. It's usually the heat of the moment. Right. Yeah. So the media is able to lead you right after the game in the quote unquote heat of the moment. It's like in those 10 minutes, some things maybe should be like a bit like left to the side. Like if they're going to be able to walk with you during practice in the hallway, ask you questions about your personal life, your mom, your dad,

how you evolve, where do you want to live? How do you want to live? Do you want to be here for this? Then it's like right after the game, let's talk about basketball. Then that might be for the heads. Don't put a mic in my face and say like, yo, you just played 40 minutes. You lost in overtime. But like, did you have a chance to talk to Draymond yet?

Like, man, yo, chill out, I could just play basketball. Then you know why you may react by saying like, don't ask me that question right now. Yeah, I get that, I feel that, I agree with that. A little bit of a rule to it, but I get that at this point, like, yeah, have a conversation. There's no rules now, it's like,

I'll ask you what. But whatever, we can do this shit anyway. Yeah, it's like. Well, I think it's interesting I think it's interesting about who cares if we don't like it we don't like it but it's like it doesn't really matter but like

who cares if we talk about it come into our world we don't give a shit who gives a shit but like it is like it should change who cares if it doesn't you know what I'm saying but like it's cool to talk about for conversation, but who gives a fuck? Hey, let's take a break to talk about SimpliSafe, one of my oldest podcast friends.

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at allbirds.com. Back to KD. What about the Bulls thing? I love when he gets this way. The Bulls thing a couple days ago where the guys refused to practice. So are you guys talking about that in the locker room? Like, did you see that Bulls thing? Or is it all like that's not something that would come up?

I'm not trying to give you the whole locker room spill type of shit we talk about. But just like, yeah, we did talk about that. Yes. I mean, I just like, was it a back-to-back they tried to practice on i think they played they beat somebody i think they beat oklahoma city then the celtics killed them and then the guy was like we're doing back-to-back practice it was a back-to-back games and they practiced see i did a back-to-back and we had a shoot around we had a shoot around on a back-to-back you never do that if you played the night before and you land in the city like we had a shoot around on a back to back and you never do that. If you played the night before and you land in the city,

like we had a shoot around the next morning, my rookie year, PJ Carlissimo. And I thought it was like, I'm like, all right, cool. Kurt Thomas was like, man, what the hell? Shoot around. I'm like, oh, so we're not supposed to do that. That's not the, that's not the, that's just not, that doesn't happen in the league, I guess. Huh?

So I get that, but I'm practicing doesn't happen in the league, I guess, huh? So I get that. But I'm practicing the next day after the back-to-back, and I heard they was running suicides in practice. Right. They had like a three-and-a-half-hour practice. Oh, no. Not during the season. Three-and-a-half hours.

He made them do push-ups, too. I can see in between regular season playoffs or training camp, but three hours in the practice? No way. I've always been fascinated by this because the Celtics had this stretch where they didn't have a game for like four days, and they were like, this is great. We get to practice.

How much do you actually practice during the season? It's hard when you're traveling and you're playing games. Yeah. It's hard to get a good practice in. We probably get one good one. And what constitutes a good practice? Just when you go over everything and you just you get a nice sweat and like are you scrimmaging or is it just you're just working on sometimes you do we um we

got an older group so we don't scrimmage as much um but i like when i was an okc we scrim we were good when we were uh we went to the finals and we were we scrimmaged but it might be like a half court control scrimmage where we go in situations and we just might practice against a zone here or against a set defense here. But it wasn't a full up and down, but we got a good sweat. But here with the Warriors, like when we scrimmage, we're just trying to blow it out and get our sweat in. But also work on our stuff and the scrimmage setting

but when we get a 10 we really go like 30 minutes does he stack it so the starters are on one side and you're playing the bench you usually just start to stay together because you want to build that continuity in practice and starters and training camp you mix it up but during the season if you want scrimmage

what side is Swedish Larry Bird on he's on the other side usually. What's it like to play with the Swedish Larry Bird? He's the best. I told you you'd like him. When you signed him, I was like, you're going to like this guy. Yeah. He's one of those dudes, like, you could tell he played in good systems

his whole – well, the last few years with Boston. And Utah. And Utah. He's screaming out coverage as soon as you cross half court on defense like if he behind you he's screaming out of coverage like he he he talking you through everything he just he he know how to play basketball on that level where he got he got coached so i like being around him have you seen he's feisty too he gets in like fights like almost fights. He rubs people the wrong way, which I always enjoyed about him.

We liked him in Boston. I don't know how the Swedish Larry Bird thing started, but I used to love it. He got that little set, like the little slingshot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I want to talk about legacies and stuff, because I was texting you about this, that I thought this would be a good topic about, you know,

you're in a position now where you're one of the five best forwards of all time. You've won MVP. You have two finals MVPs. You're over 20,000 points. And now you're in this group with like Duncan and Bird and LeBron, Dirk, basically. Carl Malone? you're in this group with like duncan and bird and um lebron dirk basically and carl malone no he's i think he's a notch above the malone barkley dr j group would be my my assessment is as the author of the book of basketball but do you care i haven't heard anyone mention that in a while but i love that that's ridiculous i love it i, come on, don't act like Dr. J's in all these conversations.

He should be. The thing is, Dr. J keeps a low profile. You ever hear Dr. J mentioned in any of these? He should be. He's a legend. I agree. But just admit, Bill, this is the first time Dr. J's been mentioned in a while. When you hear like Stephen A.

You're not in the conversations in my house. No, I'm not. You mention him all the time in the civet test your wife and your kids dr jay was a legend what are you talking about he is without question and i love dr jay i would say malone is the one that has fallen out of kind of the kind of the public eye because like barkley is on tv so he's kind of you know the same thing with c-web or Reggie Miller. I think when you stay on TV, you're in the public conscience more, you know? Oh, so Mark Jackson is my man. Don't shit on him.

Then he's top five too. What are you talking about? Back to the legacy thing though. Do you care about this shit? Do you think about it? Like you have a chance now to finish your career only with only one mvp do you think about like shit i gotta get two or is like fuck it i'm just born i don't care i don't think about any of this shit like if it happens it's cool uh it's just experiencing it one time

was really cool so but you went into that that mvp season you're like i have this in me i'm gonna do this no i No, I didn't. Really? I didn't. No, the situation just played out perfectly because I went into it like any other season. I'm going to go out there and try to get the best shot that I can every time down.

If I get it a lot this night, I'm going to try to score as much as I can or make a play as much as I can. That's just my only mindset. And it just happened to equal up to averaging 32 that year and Russ went out so I had to do more with the ball in my hands and I went up I went and had a great month scoring the ball and that's what kind of took me over the top but I wasn't planning on any of that Larry Bird quit drinking beer that's what That's what got him going. Really?

They traded Rick Roby, who's his drinking buddy. And once they traded him, Larry Bird went through straight FDTs. So you think Larry Bird didn't have a beer that whole season? No, he probably did. But he talks about the best thing that happened to his career at that point was they traded Rick Roby. He probably went from like 12 beers a day to probably like four beers a day. Yeah. Maybe he quit drinking during the playoffs probably it there's always been rumors he might have had a

marlboro red or two during the summers too which is a different era though so you don't care about this whole legacy all time you don't think any of that stuff i used to but it's just like it's coming from so many different angles everybody has has their favorite players, their all-time list. I'm not going to lie. It is cool to be in that same category with the greats, where people just know that what you've done on the basketball court is as good as, you know, some of the greatest players that they've seen play. That is definitely cool amongst basketball fans,

but, like, banking on that as just a part of who I am is just like, don't really concern me. But it's cool to be talked about for my skills. Like hell yeah, I crafted this shit for a long time. And for somebody to appreciate it, damn right, I would like to hear that. I mean. What about like from the other greats?

Is there like some exclusive club you hit to where you notice notice the greatest players are looking at you a little differently? You see Bill Russell at that Clipper game. It's all of it, man. From Kevin Willis, when I see him in Atlanta, just the love and embrace you get from these dudes. Just because they know that you're one of them. And on top of that, you're on the elite level. It's just love. Dominique Wilkins, I see him on the elite level yeah you know it's just love you know i'm saying and dominique wilkins and you see i see him at the on uh on the floor at the atlanta games it's just like that's an og in the game showing love to a young dude that's still playing like it's just

real culture shit that i really enjoy when you see these players that like played the game at a certain level or just played in the league and just had a nice career as role players it's just like love because we know how hard this journey is as an nba player do you feel like one time we did one of these pods and you took it personally that like barkley was complaining about something and you were talking about why don't the old guys why do they have to do that like we we love those guys we respect them so much and yet they have to do this back in my day bullshit i just uh i just feel like i just feel like that's a part of the job i mean for what some what most of these guys do especially if they on in the media or they

on tv like that's just part of the job is to really analyze the game from their perspective and before definitely did get to me when not get to me but like made me ask like why are you saying this Charles Barkley or right or whoever is talking but Charles is usually the one that people talk about as an NBA player that talks about the younger generation but it's just like I was asking myself like damn charles like are you a ball player still or you're a part of the media but now i'm just like that's just a job i like when the when the ex-player still they talk about themselves in the present tense just out of habit like kenny kenny and charles and kenny would be like see the thing charles loves to do is he'll back the defender down i'm like charles hasn't played in

20 years what are you talking about? Charles is getting washed up right now. Man, I try to throw a jersey on him. Imagine Charles putting on a jersey on, no t-shirt underneath. He look trash right now. No, get out of here. But he was nice. Charles is now been reincarnated

as Zion. Zion is Charles 2.0. Zion's my guy. He reminds me of Charles Barkley a lot. Charles Barkley was as Zion. Zion is Charles 2.0. Zion's my guy. He's Charles. He's Tyler Charles. He was double-doubling them people. It was easy. You know how hard it is to get a 28-10 in the league? Katie's jealous of Zion. I can see it.

You're jealous of Zion? I just don't like when you compare dudes in college to somebody like Barkley. I'm saying the DNA is there. Expecting him to be up there with guys like that. I think he has the potential. Maybe, but right now, don't talk about it right now because Charles Barkley

did a lot. This is what I do. I'm a member of the media. If we can't compare young players to someone else, then what are we going to do? I'm just saying, how can we talk about it? We love comparing players to players. I'm not saying don't. It does not matter. But I'd rather you not oh my you know what i'm saying but who gives a fuck what i think i just i'd rather you

not no i well it gets dangerous when it's but it gets dangerous i'm not gonna do that when it's like trey young is the next steph curry it's like settle down exactly that that's then that's just i think zion can actually back up crazy to say that but in what i'm saying is it's just as crazy to say zion's the next charles yes but what i'm saying is you you have to use somebody to compare him so you're gonna do like an interim step i think he has charles barkley 2.0 potential you would say that his ceiling may look like charles yes yeah young ceiling may look like yeah i like. Yes. Trae Young's ceiling may look like Steph Curry. No, Trae Young's ceiling does not look like Steph Curry.

We don't speak that way anymore. It's either he is this or he is that. Yeah, I don't get that. No, I don't believe his ceiling would be Steph Curry either. What I'm saying is you understand why players need to be compared in a conversation. I'm as guilty as anyone. Yeah, this is why we started, because you said it first.

I know, but I think Zion really is special though. I felt the same way about Luca last year. I believe he's special, but I just, I just. You always say that about the best players. Who? No, Zion's different. Zion. Why you say that?

I agree with you. Because he is competitive as all hell. He really gives a shit. He plays hard every play. He's a phenomenal athlete. I think he plays the right way. Like, he makes the right pass, and I like everything about that dude. All right, all right.

Okay, sorry. My bad, Joe. Of course he's going to make the right pass on this team. Better make the right pass. You got it. RJ Barrett doesn't always make the right pass. No, I'm just saying. He got his. Jay knows. I'm just saying. I'm not looking at that. RJ's going to the basket. He's looking at the pass. You got. RJ Barrett doesn't know he's making the right pass. No, I'm just saying he got.

Jay knows. I'm just saying. I'm not looking at that. He's looking at the rim. I know. I'm not looking at that to say that this is what Zion's going to be.

I'm looking at like. But he could make, he could not make the right play. He's once in a generation. Yeah, that's what, he cannot make the right, he cannot make the right play. But I'm not just looking at that.

You know what I'm saying? Like, he's a once in a generation athlete. I've never seen somebody like that before. Hey, but I'm not just looking at that. You know what I'm saying? Like, he's a once-in-a-generation athlete. I've never seen somebody like that before. Hey, can I say something real quick? Yeah, let's hear it, Jay Williams. How much has it changed over the past, like, five years? And this is, how many times do we say once-in-a-generation type athlete?

I mean, KD, you're a once-in-a-generation type athlete. LeBron's a once-in-a-generation. I mean, we're starting to have a lot of these once-in-a-generation type athletes coming through. But that's around people saying that, though. Excuse me? No, he's once in, I mean, we're starting to have a lot of these once in a generation type athletes coming through. But that's some wrong people saying that though. Excuse me? No, he's right. You're right, Jay. That is true.

I think about it. I think there's three. I think once you call it once in a generation, it's like when you put it all together though, like LeBron, he's once in a generation athlete, but he happened to put it all together. Like to, to combine like his skill with his athleticism. That's hard as shit to do, to be that athlete and be that graceful on the court and be able to have some skill with it

and be able to be smart. Like that's hard to put it all together. And it's like so many athletes that struggled to do that. And I think that's what I mean, like once in a generation as a ball player, cause you got to put all of that together with your athleticism for you to be there. And that's hard as shit to do and there's a lot of guys that jumped high and ran fast that didn't do that i think there's three college players

that's what you were generation but it is a lot of great athletes out there you were one anthony davis and zion where i was like there's no way that guy's not going to be good in the NBA. It was just, it was like they stood out. You said Roden at the time? Davis was like, you watch Davis at Kentucky, it's like that guy's going to be an unbelievable NBA player. He's Tim Duncan with Kevin McHale's arms. That's how I felt. Yeah, that's how I felt.

It was like there was no way he wasn't going to make it. But did you feel that way from minute one or you felt that way by the end of his freshman year i don't know the first time i don't remember the first time i watched him it was like wow that guy is made for the nba you just kind of see it and you know that's those guys don't come around that often i remember watching lebron in high school and one of those stupid espn when they're showing lebron's school games. And it was just like, wow, this guy's looks like he's 28 already. It did.

It almost didn't seem like it seemed like they were lying about his age. So I do think maybe once in a generation is in the wrong way, but it's like once in a presidential term, maybe it would be a better way to say it. It's like once every four or five years. No, I mean, I've never seen somebody.

I mean, athleticism is great. Athleticism comes in somebody. Speaker 1 I mean, athleticism is great athleticism comes in different forms in my opinion like we really haven't seen somebody 68 to 60 that can run as fast as LeBron with the ball in his hands as well and jump high shit off of one leg. Speaker 2 60 is like 280. Speaker 1 That's what I'm saying. We never seen somebody do it that way. Zion Williamson I've never seen somebody that's lefty that can dunk with his right hand like that and cock the ball back so far and jump so high off two feet but i've seen people jump high but not that way you know so that's

what i mean the other thing with him is that that full speed spin movie has going either way who and zion but is in control on the spin somehow but he's in control he's spinning like violently it's like he's he's a tank and nobody's taking a charge from him as the joke's been made i haven't spent i haven't spent a lot of time with him but we got a chance to do stuff during the mcdonald's all-american game and what i loved about him is that he just went hard right from the beginning like there wasn't any like let me ease into the game feel it out you know when you're in high school it was direct to the point. Like he plays that way.

That's the number one thing. He's a beast. Yeah. I've been wrong on dudes, but the number one thing, if it's somebody who's talented, who's playing their ass off. Yeah.

I always think that's, you got to look for that first. Giving the benefit of the doubt on a lot of stuff. Because I always, I never gave up on Justice Winslow because I always thought he plays hard. But you watch him lately, and he's finally starting to put it together.

But he always played hard. He couldn't stay healthy. He was missing threes. He had a lot of players over there, too, man. He had a lot of wings over there. A lot of two guards. Right. A lot of twos and threes.

Yeah, a lot of twos and threes over there. So it's like a log jam for him. That's why another guy that I can't give up on, Kid Goldcrest, yet, even though he's been in the league like seven years. I still feel like on the right team he's going to have a moment. He is that where he is right now. I think a lot of people still look at him as young. He's that player.

He's going to rebound hard, play great D, be a slasher. That's him. And he's had bad luck with injuries. He had that shoulder thing, right? Yeah, two shoulders. I think he's going to end up on the right team at some point. Yeah, but I think, like you said, you're not going to get a different Michael K. Gilchrist.

No, but you could get. But I think Winslow's got a lot. Justice Winslow's got more to reveal, but his game's still out, right? Don't you think? He's making threes. It seems like he grew, too. I swear to God, it seems like he's like. I love him, man.

6'8 now. Love his game. We always do this when every time we do the pod, KD, the young guy that's impressed you. I think two years ago you told us Devin Booker. I forget who it was last year who is it this year have you have you seen a rookie or a young guy that blew you blew your doors off oh yeah shot gilgis we played against them early in the year and man he got the mid

range down his mid range is so good he shoot he shooted with the high release so it's hard to block at six six when point guards guarding him yeah so you got to put a two guard on him and he's still shooting over two guards right so i'm like man that size and at that age he's just going and once you learn how to shoot the mid-range i feel like the three ball is going to be easier for the shoot for you to shoot because it's hard to aim at the mid-ranges like that he He knocking them down consistently. So I like that he's tall, too, for that position. So he's probably the guy that I'm, like, stood out the most because I never watched him in college. I was shocked because the guys at the Ringer really liked him

as a possible prospect. And it didn't seem like he could shoot. I didn't see him in college. Yeah, I didn't hear. I just didn't see it. I heard he couldn't shoot in college. I heard he was more like Rondo because I hear that a lot about point guards that's long that can't shoot. Every one of them is like Rondo.

And I'm like, Rondo's different. I don't see anybody being like that. Rondo's one of a kind. So I never really take that comparison serious. But he got length on him at the point guard position, his arms are long, and he can shoot it. I like the way he carries himself, too. Yeah, he—

He carries himself like he's an eight-year veteran. He got confidence on him. Yeah. I'm with you. I think the first time I saw him was actually the time you played him in L.A. Yeah, man. And I was shocked that Doc was playing him in big moments because when Doc coached the Celtics,

he famously really wouldn't play Rondo enough as a rookie. It was really frustrating. And it was always like Doc took him a while to earn the young guys to earn his trust. And now Shea, he's throwing him out there. Oh, thank you. Rondo was the late round pick. This dude was a lottery pick,

so you had to play him. He's good. The Clippers and the Kings are the two shocking ones to me this year. I did not see, the Clippers just seem like, I don't know,

it sounded like middle of the road, but. Man, Clippers got a nice team. And then the Grizzlies just staying healthy, I guess. You know, if you told me they were gonna stay healthy,

I would have believed it. People don't talk about Jaron Jackson. Like him. Mike Conley and Marcus Sato, man. For them to be doing it like this for this long, come on. What do you think of Jaron Jackson? I like him. I just like that they sticking to that plan down there

as the bigs, having two bigs like that. They still play the high-low with Jaron Jackson, but he's able to shoot the three. So you got to stretch the floor out a little bit longer. So it's like, man, once he gets better and get more experience, they're going to be tough. If you keep working the way he is, then he's going to be tough. But Conley and Gasol, they're just solid players to build around.

I kind of give it up on them. Question for the two of you any way mike conley could make the hall of fame never making an all-star game conceivable yeah you gotta have accolades though right you feel and well he's been in some conference files i feel like he played his way into that you know i'm saying for as long as he played he's been at it for a long time doing the same things like 18 and and 8, like playing at this level. I mean. The thing is it was tough because he was in a conference with a lot of guards.

So it's like, you know, they pick four guards for the All-Star team and you're the fifth best guard, but it's a loaded conference. Yeah, and this year is as hard as ever, right? He's got to make it this year, though. I'm going to make a personal crusade. Let's do it. He should make it. He should make it.

The problem is you have two All-Stars. Curry and clay should both be on the all-star team well there's two spots they get voted in let's just say it's two it'll be steph and one of probably james or probably yeah but you take somebody off memphis but you can't take two so it's got to be either gussell or mike conley it's tough i'd vote for because i remember a few teams back in the day who were like four fifth seed they got two great players but like you got to just pick one right you know i'm saying yeah the all nba is like this too i love the all nba oh you you love doing this man but ewing ewing got screwed because in the 90s it's like hakeem and robinson and Robinson and Shaq. And you look at Ewing's career and you're like, you know.

He made first team one time, 1992. You don't realize that if he comes along eight years later. That's how Conley is. I mean, there were years. Joaquin Noah made second team all-NBA. Gasol made it. DeAndre. Yeah, DeAndre made it.

It kind of depends on what your era is. Mike Conley fell in that era. He came into the era where scoring point guards, where he's more of a traditional setup guard. Yeah, the kind I like. Yeah, so he would have been great in early 2000s with J. Kids and Tony Parkers and Steve Nash. They'd have been battling for those spots.

But there's a lot of scoring point guards in the league. Mookie Blaylock. Mookie was. You know what was a fun wrinkle for the early part of the Warriors season was when Draymond and Curry were out. And we had to get more of Klay. Klay had to get more shots and just kind of. I kind of always wanted to see it like him

being like the night here you are you're the number two scoring option now for like three weeks he held it down yeah he was good but like it's funny because if you look at his stats like his three-point shooting he's down a little bit but it's down because he's not he has to take much harder shots because it's just you and him basically you know i mean with clay you just gotta know as long as you just get the points on the board you know i'm saying you want him to get the points on the board obviously like him taking more shots that mean he don't have to take a little bit he don't have to take some tougher ones for us and he was knocking him down and i think that that opened it opened up our game a little bit now because he's knocking down mid-range J's.

He's off the dribble a little bit more because he had that time where he was the second guy. He seems a little feistier this year. Oh, yeah. He always been feistier. I think he's drinking more coffee or something. Yeah, he energetic this year. More chocolate?

Yeah, chocolate, wine. It does seem like he's kind of blaspheming as a personality because you guys would always talk about how funny he was, but then the public persona of Klay was just kind of blank slate, but now it's starting to come out. It's just that Chyna Klay, that Chyna move, that's just in everybody's heads, that whole Chyna Klay thing. I think that was a real thing for him,

and it opened up people to his personality because he is really just like goofy. Him getting hung on a 360, that just really happened. That's the stuff he does on a day-to-day basis. Like he'll just trip over something. And it just create a moment just being Clay. So like more and more people see the real side of what he is, they appreciate him.

And they just know he has no conscience on the court. Like, he's shooting the ball. So this is, what, year three with you and these guys? Yeah. Like, why wouldn't this just go? Like, why wouldn't you just keep doing this? I don't even, like, I have to, the internet has turned this into Katie might go here, you might go there.

It's like, I look at it, I'm like, you have a chance to be on like one of the three greatest teams of all time, basically. You know, like you could be the Russell Celtics for this decade.

Why wouldn't you do that? I don't know. Why is anything else considered? I'm really just trying to enjoy every day of it. And like, people like you continue to ask me like,

why won't you just, what a buzzkill. Yeah, like, first of all, I resent the people like you. And ask me like, why won't you just, what a buzzkill. Yeah. Like, first of all, I go looking at the first of all, I resent the people like you. And you're like,

why don't you even think about leaving? I'm like, damn, I didn't say leave right now. Didn't say leaving. Didn't say leaving. That's what you were getting at. Didn't say leaving.

That's what you were getting at. No, I just wanted to make sure. So why don't you leave this? I'm like, I'm enjoying this right now. Why would you just invade my space I just brought you

a water man yeah bro it was kind of a heat check we got nice chocolates on the table where are those no back to my question

man like you realize now this could be like give it a break no I'm going I'm going shut this shit off man

going on this one part go ahead like this this really has a chance to be an all-time run now yes Shut this shit off, man. Go on this one part. Go ahead. This really has a chance to be an all-time run now. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll be mad at you if that doesn't keep going. That's all I'm saying.

This is like once in 20 years. This is the last podcast. Oh, stop it. I'm just kidding. Because now it's like if you win this year, now you're talking MJ's Bulls, Russell Celtics. That goes back to legacy. What did I tell you about legacy?

This is it, though. You're talking every 25 years. I know, but I'm just like, like I said, I am just enjoying, like, I know this is on the horizon, like, if we have a lot of business. But, like, what I've enjoyed the last two years is on the horizon like if we had a lot of business but like what i've enjoyed the last two years is just doing stuff like this like the everyday of living in the bay and playing for the warriors like that's what i'm enjoying is just being an everyday warrior you know i'm saying so i'm not even trying to even go there all right a lot of talk about it though rich it's a lot of talk but i had to bring it up don't get don't

stink eye me i'm not sick i don't give a shit either really yeah it doesn't really matter like at the end of the day it was like a bad like i was watching you and waiting and like waiting to see how you were gonna do it it wasn't like what i was gonna do it i'm just saying i thought it was i care about basketball i'm sorry you brought it i love basketball i'm sorry brought it in the conversation poorly like no i didn't yes for the now you'll hear this tomorrow and you'll be like it actually was yeah because like very nice for our fifth podcast really six because six though but i didn't want to alone because kevin didn't want to do with you i'm just kidding no i'm saying for our six podcasts like it could have been a little bit more of a dance. You should have said, let's talk about free agency now.

You cool with that, Kevin? Oh, no, I really want to do it, Bill. Come on, Kevin. You know I got to bring it up. I didn't. He was like, you really could join one of the greatest teams ever. No, first of all, I didn't want to ask about free agency. I was asking about appreciating this opportunity.

What's the plan for the ringer, man? I noticed you've done less video shit. I'm just saying. I feel like you appreciating this opportunity. What's the plan for the ringer, man? I notice you've done less video shit. I'm just saying. I feel like you've done less video. You locked in on podcasts, which is smart. No, we're doing more video, actually. Well, you should just lock in on podcasts. I'm just kidding.

But you guys got something. Stick to your sweet spot. Be the biggest podcast network. Flip it. Make some real, real stuff. Well, we have more than podcasts Rich Kleiman We have a lot of stuff

I know I'm kidding man I saw your documentary Did you do the surf one too? We did the surf one That is a sick story Monumental sports That was a really good one

We have some good stuff Coming next year too You're killing it You are killing it I'm happy for you man You know that For real I'm kidding though

No you're kidding about Being happy for me? I'm happy for you For real I'm kidding about Fucking with you About not being happy for you man You know that For real I'm kidding though No you're kidding About being happy for me I'm happy for you For real I'm kidding about Fucking with you About not being happy Okay

I still I resent that You didn't like how I entered that question I feel like I'm good At questions That was average It was like

Average Well listen Not a lot of teams Have won three in a row I think it's a fair topic To bring up You know what the problem is They haven't won three in a row yet

Yeah I'm saying those are the stakes You have a chance to do it Yeah it's a fair topic to bring up. You know what the problem is? They haven't won three in a row yet. Yeah. I'm saying those are the stakes. We got a chance to do it this year. You have a chance to do it. Yeah, it's cool because them teams are really good and to be in that conversation. We're going to take one more break to talk about our friends from Microsoft Surface.

Need a device that helps you get stuff done but is also perfect when you want to catch up on some fun like streaming live sports or checking on your fantasy team or me and Kyle's case checking on our fantasy team that's in the semifinals and kicking everyone's butt at the ringer I can't wait you know if we win the whole thing I'm taking all the prize money and you and I are getting dressed up and we're gonna go on a night on the town and then send videos to all the people in the league as we eat steak. Yeah. Hey, check out the latest member of the Microsoft surface family,

the new surface pro six, just take the keyboard off, use it like a tablet or snap it back on and use it like a laptop. It's that easy with up to 13 and a half hours of battery life and the new eighth gen Intel core processor. It's everything you love about the Surface Pro. Now, even more powerful, it is, again, the latest member of the Microsoft Surface family, the new Surface Pro 6. And since we're here, speaking of football, oh yeah, you're probably out of your fantasy league at this point. Only like the real greats like myself. I'm alive in the semifinals of both leagues. Most people, the common people,

you know, they just have daily fantasy at this point, but that's a good thing. What about FanDuel? They want you to know there's no shame in walking away from your losing season in fantasy and coming right and playing some daily fantasy. I won on FanDuel two weeks ago. Last week, I got both of my butt cheeks kicked, not just one, but both. But this week, I'm rallying back. I'm going to have a great fantasy week. I'm winning in everything this week in fantasy. Over at FanDuel, you get the excitement of researching and building your team each week, regardless of the outcome. Trust me, I've tried other DFS sites before.

If you're not a fantasy expert, FanDuel clearly the place to play when you're ready for a fresh start. And you probably are because you're not like me. You're not in the playoffs anymore. Come over to FanDuel. Get a $5 bonus when you make first deposit. Pick a new fantasy team every week.

All the fresh starts you need to get back to winning. Come play with me. FanDuel.com slash BS. New users only. Bonus not available for withdrawal. State and age restrictions apply. For full eligibility rules and terms and conditions, go to Fandle.com. How has Steve Kerr changed as a coach over the three years you've been with him?

Has anything changed? Does he deal with you differently? He's more patient over the last few years. Has anything changed? Does he deal with you differently? He's more patient over the last few years. He's been more patient, especially with just the wear and tear of playing through playoffs for this long. Four years in a row. Going to the finals, I went two years in a row. Two years before me. Yeah, 15, 16, 17, 18. Yeah, went two years in a row. Two years before me.

Yeah, 15, 16, 17, 18. Yeah, so four years in a row. So he's a little bit more patient when it comes to recovery and practice. It seems like the whole league is now into this. Yeah, you can say that. I like how Toronto's handled Kawhi. They're basically like, back-to-back, you're not playing tonight. If anything, I thought Phillyilly played mb too many games i would have been more careful with him considering he hasn't had a

lot of time and he was on that back-to-back schedule last year right this year he played basically i mean he was playing like 37 38 minutes a game he was playing a lot that was too much you seem like do you do you get tired? I don't remember seeing you hit in this stretch where you were like worn down from a season. It seems like you just go. I mean, you get, yeah, you get, I wouldn't say just like flat out tired.

You get just bumps and bruises, man. Yeah. Just from just playing for so many games and the contact of the game. But just like gas to start a game or just like, no, I don't feel like that. I feel like if you just try to play through injuries, that's probably when. Well, they fix the schedule for you. Yeah. I think the schedule is a lot easier now.

Man, we got a lot of our schedule out the way early. Yeah. We had a lot of three and four nights i like getting it out the way early so you can have like we got a whole december at home basically and january we on the road a few times but we got a couple east coast trips like that stuff helps getting out the way early yeah that. That five game road trip, you had no, what was it? Two days off between each game. No, we just, we just stayed over in the city.

No, but you had, you only had a day off in between each game. Oh God. I got it. Wait, before Jay goes, I want to talk to Duke really quick.

Can we do quick Duke? Hell yeah. Great. Here, slide. Let me get out of here. What do you want to know, Bill?

Zion, RJ in here. Let me get out of here. What do you want to know, Bill? Talk to me. Zion, RJ Barrett. Cam Reddish. Tyus Jones' brother. The random white guy whose name I can't remember. Trey Jones. Trey Jones. Random white guy. What's that guy's name?

Jack White. His name's Jack White, yeah. Jack White. Who's beating this team well they've already gotten beaten no but i mean when it gets when they get used to each other when it's in like month four i think they're by far the most talented team by far when they all play at a high level but you know that's the thing about the tournament though you know how it is bill it just takes one off night would you watch the gonzaga game yeah i

watched the whole thing it's funny like they had more talent but gonzaga was playing better together well you have older players and you could see duke like oh shit we're in a situation now and then everybody starts going for their own stuff and that's been the creators and that's what happens in the tournament that's been a story for a lot of those young talented teams right yeah in the tournament well the thing is though you got like you got one dude in trey who's kind of like he's cool letting everybody else get the attention like he's cool with his personality he's gonna rise to the occasion regardless right because of his ability to get people involved then zion like he should always get the ball because he can attack.

RJ is going to do his thing. He's one of the most versatile players. He's naturally going to do his thing. He's going to get a lot of shots. And then you've got Cam. And Cam is the fourth one who is still one of the top players in the nation, but he's not getting the same shots and he's not getting the same recognized build. He's in that Jalen Brown role for them where he's on another team.

He would be getting so much more shot. The Devin Booker role at Kentucky. Yeah, exactly. And I don't care what anybody says, man. Like everybody brings the ego to the table. Like that ego gets affected. And I'm not saying it could. I mean, look, they wouldn't easily,

but it's also easy for a team like that with so much talent to fracture too. You know what I mean? You know how it is. Yeah, yeah. Like it takes one wrong thing to add. I felt it in that Gonzaga loss because reddish was going for his own stuff in the last five minutes and you know that when you get to march when that happens that's the thing it's like i don't think they shoot threes enough either for where uh to win six times in march basically but it just would

have been so much more fun of Zion with the South Carolina and he just was like his own team and it was like that's the Zion team you got to go through Frank Martin and then it was reddish and is that why he didn't want to go Frank Martin I don't I don't know I mean Frank Martin's a great coach he's intense and I love it he's like that old school coach I would say intense is an understatement. He could bring the flame out. I think they'd been great anywhere, all three of those dudes. I think they play well together. I'm not giving up on him.

I think Zion might get the biggest shoe contract that we've seen for a long time. Think so? I mean, I'm just saying how athletic he is. And you said it before, it's not just him being athletic, it's like he's graceful. Yeah, he is like and you said it before it's not just him being athletic it's like he's gracefully yeah he is the crazy thing how different it is from like when kd was what was your senior in high school six oh six yeah so i remember looking at the list the celtics had a good pick that year or i knew they're gonna have a good pick the next year i was like oh i wonder who's on the list and i'd heard some greg odin and it's like oh there's a's a 6'10 kid in D.C. He's good.

But it was hard to actually see you or know about you, you know? Zion's in high school and he's on the House of Highlights feed, you know, every two days with some crazy dunk. As a sophomore in high school. Yeah. By the time he got to Duke, I felt like I had a history with him. Yeah. And then you watch him and he lives up to it. And by the time he gets to the pros, I feel like people,

it's almost like LeBron in 2003. He's like been in people's lives. Plus, he's incredibly fun to watch. Yeah, I mean, if he goes to like New York or Chicago, we'll know if the NBA was ever going to rig a lottery, it'd be this one. They're ever going to do it. You mean he's not going to go to Phoenix?

This is the year. Their first dunk contest with him in it is gonna be ridiculous that's gonna be how do they figure out the hierarchy of where the best players

sit for the dunk contest every NBA player just gets to sit on the floor first come first serve it's first come first serve it's not they don't give you

the tickets I think it's for I mean when you a player I just see all the players as think it's for I mean when you a player I just see all the players as soon as they walk in they just find a seat that first Zion dunk

contest it's gonna be something sick legit have you have you reached out to him no no

he did Duke Shoe though yeah he did no you did oh I thought you said you played him oh yeah yeah I did

Duke Shoe three of them. But I never really been in contact with him. I don't usually get to see these dudes until they get to the league anyway. Grand Hill, I ran into Grand Hill in September, and I was asking him, and he was like, he's like the guy Zion. He's for real. He was like, I went to a practice, and he's like 280, and he's just the guy zion he's real he was like i went to a practice and he's like he's like he's

like 280 and he's just ripping through dudes and he was just like having a heart attack about him so that's one that that he was officially on my radar from that point on everything which one earn everything is like their thing uh that duke put out on espn plus no you gotta watch man so they go and they do the vert test right right? And he clears the vert machine. What? He clears the vert machine. So Will Stevens, the athletic trainer, goes back into the locker room and gets two of those 45-pound weights, puts them on top of that, stacks those two, and then puts the vert machine on top of that. He clears that.

That's sick. I've never seen anything like it. The it the thing is like he's not fat you know it looks like he's like chubby or doughy but he's not it actually seems like it's all muscle he's just built like a tree trunk he can get big if he'd let himself go over like you right you see him it's like uh he can get big if you just chill. The other thing that shocked me about him was defensively how advanced he is. He has a chance to, you know, you could potentially play him as the five, kind of how Golden State does with Draymond. It's almost like that next elite, like LeBron James,

kind of like chase you down blocker. Yes. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. The chase downer. He can get it at the top. Yeah, LeBron's going to give chase you down blocker? Yes. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. The chase downer. He can get it at the top. Hey, LeBron's going to give up that title at some point. Has to.

Yeah. It's different, man. LeBron jumped off one foot. Zion jumps off two feet. LeBron, he was grabbing way more blocks off one foot. Zion, he's protecting the room in the half court, I think. That's how athletic he is. He's going to get you. He more so, he'll be a great

team defender. Has there any other college players you've seen that you like? I like to hear from Murray State. Marant. John Marant. I haven't seen him. He's pretty good. He can go. I like the Admiral. Admiral Schofield? He just dropped 30 points on the number one team in the country. I haven't seen him. He's pretty good. I like the Admiral. Admiral Schofield?

Yeah. He just dropped 20, 30 points on number one team in the country. I just feel like sometimes when somebody has a great name, it goes a long way with how they're going to do in the pros. And he's good, and I love his name. I just feel like somebody named Admiral is going to be a good NBA player. Bo Bo is good. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. What is he, 7'3"? Yeah, he looks good out there. Yeah, he's moving well. He's got a good mid-range, Yeah. Oh, yeah. What is he, 7'3"? Yeah, he looks good out there. Yeah, he's moving well. He's got good mid-range, too. Yeah, man. He's shooting the ball and he's swishing. Like, he look good out there.

Tell me about the show that you guys did. The boardroom. Oh, so we got with ESPN, and we wanted Jay, actually, because he knows everything about sports and business. He's the greatest for this role. But we just wanted to tell the story of what it's like having a brand in sports, what it's like on the business side of sports. And from our perspective, we got guests from LeBron to Kyle Kuzma to Steve Ballmer and Jack Dorsey.

So we're just talking about from social media side of it, building a brand on that side, from ownership to sneakers, just everything about the business of basketball, really. And Jay is the head. We're just having a conversation. And it's just like whoever comes into the boardroom, it's like no hierarchy. Whoever has information, we're just sharing it.

Do you think this is now the generation of these guys coming to the league and they're immediately thinking of themselves as content companies? I think people are thinking about business more so than business in general. Business, business, and content companies, general. I think it's a, it's really elevating to see like what LeBron and we had a conversation about it, what LeBron and Katie are doing. Right.

And they're both very different in their approach, but like, you know, how do you build out different verticals of your business? And I think that's what you're seeing them do. And it's really cool to see them do it in different facets of this, you know, reading an article about him and fast company and what they did with postmates and other things right you start

seeing how these tentacles are spreading out when you came into the league all you were thinking about was basketball and what you signed for with your contract right was there any other i mean my dad we wanted to do something we wanted to invest but we didn't really know what what to invest in at that time he's trying to get my first i just wanted to win yeah like i was telling him like we had that time where we lost like 13 or 14 games straight and that's when mj came into town but like i wasn't used to losing at that rate and just not caring yeah right like that shit can make you angry all the time so what were guys doing off the court around that time like what was a hot thing to do around the league outside of just, outside of your contract around that time? Well, didn't, there was stuff like,

I know Jordan and some of those guys, and Jordan had a motorcycle team, right? Which one? Jordan, right? Yeah. Okay. Rich is killing the chips, bro. Rich is.

Get in here, by the way. Rich is trying to make as much secondhand noise as possible. Oh, no. Now you're bringing over the pretzels? Jesus. Gluten-free mini pretzels? Clutch. Dinner at the Durant's. That's the dinner?

Gluten-free pretzels? I guess so. Are they good? Oh, yeah. Go ahead. Try some. Yeah, I don't know when this started with the players come in and they have it's not just basketball it's like because i feel like when jordan came in that was the first guy he looked at nike he looked at a

couple different corporate sponsors but that was it now it seems like these guys are coming in and and they almost they want to be the company you know not work for somebody else's company although jordan eventually but i don't know when that changed i almost feel like it was lebron and maverick were the guys that flipped that initially like eight nine years ago own platform to release content. True. Get your message out to people. How do you use social media these days?

The Troll. That's in one of the shows too. It's great, by the way. I really like that one. What do you mean? We just talked about social media in general with Jack Dorsey and how people use it and you're really going to become yourself or not and how you deal with shit. Do you use it more promotional? Twitter, more so promotional.

Instagram, more personal. I like it. Instagram's my favorite social media thing now. Why? I just like it. It's simple. I'm just like, here's some pictures. Here are my pictures.

Here's some pictures of what? You can't get into trouble on Instagram. It's just like pictures. You can't get into trouble. You can't get into trouble on Instagram. It's just like pictures. Only you would start a conversation that way. Yeah. I looked at your followers on Instagram today. I was surprised. I'm being honest.

It's because I'm 49 years old. That's true. I think I'm 49 years old. That's true. I think I'm one of the top over 40 accounts right now. That's a fair point, Bill. It's like Will Smith. I think Will Smith is the only guy over 40 who has over a million Instagram things. He jumped up quick, too.

Yeah, Will Smith. He just came in the game so strong, though though He came in doing music videos out of life I'll never catch Will Smith What else do we have to talk about before we go anything Every time I want to talk about something Controversial you steered me away Not at all I didn't even mention the word free agency

You mentioned it No I wasn't Bill I gotta be honest I told you I I was not going there. That's bullshit. Bill, I got to be honest. I told you, I'm a big fan of yours. That was pretty bad. Yeah. Nephew, what'd you think?

Nephew. Yeah. It seemed like you were on the path to the road to be a musician. Yeah. You went early. Use Waze. I didn't go early. I was like an hour in.

What does that mean? Use Waze. He used waste. I didn't go early. I was like an hour in. What was that? He used waste. He used waste. We didn't really talk about the Draymond thing. You've already talked about it. I like talking to you about stuff that you haven't talked about yet. Yeah. I like when we ask you questions.

All right. Ask me some questions. I don't. Okay, he's done. He's hungry. I am hungry. Are you hungry? Ask him some more back about this.

Oh, I had some guys I wanted to ask you about. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. You just pull a piece of paper out of your pocket like that? I wrote down some stuff. This is great. All right, some quick questions. We'll do a speed round, then we'll go. Is the league deeper than it's ever been?

I can't say that. Okay. You played Giannis this year. Yeah. Is Giannis up a level? Yeah. What's different? He knows he's Giannis now.

Okay. You're still playing five feet off him. No, I get into him a little bit more. You play close to him? Yeah. Because you don't want to give him a head start? Yep. All right.

You haven't played Tatum this year? No, but I, no. Okay. Doesn't seem like he's on your radar. I was about to say, I played against him this summer. You played against him this summer? Yeah. How's that? He showed me some stuff.

Really? Yeah. Oh, tell me more. No, he's nice. He's nice. What's the ceiling for him? MVP candidate? Yeah, he got that talent, yeah.

Where would you rank 20-year-old KD against 20-year-old Tatum for strengths and weaknesses? I'm talking second year. I'm talking second year, yeah. Yeah, after PJ stopped playing here, shooting guard. Yeah, second year. My situation was different. I could shoot whenever I want.

So I went to the next level. I mean, he probably could do that if he did that on another team you never know but it was just different situations it's still better off him being on a really good team

yeah it is it's better for him what are you saying on Tatum J? no I'm saying he did that at the highest level you saw it at Duke oh I saw it when he went against Jabari Parker

and he was giving him work and I was like oh you're not even in college yet and you're winning ones? Okay. He's nice. This should have been the whole podcast. We wouldn't add it. That was a geek out moment. I love it.

Kyrie? What about him? Seems healthy this year. You know how I feel about Kyrie. I really feel like he was like 70% last year. Like he had a thing sticking in his knee. Yeah, it did look like sometimes he was limping a little bit out there. Yeah.

He was trying to fight through pain. He still was balling. Blake Griffin? He's shooting threes now off the dribble. There's weird guys making threes. Like Vucevic is making threes this year. I respect his three-pointers off the dribble. Right.

So you almost want him to post out. It's dangerous for Blake Griffin to have that overhead player. Like that he may make a three-pointer off the dribble. He's averaging 25-10-5 this year. Yeah, he playing like a wing player. Yeah, he really is. Yeah. Were you surprised?

I never ask you this because we're doing a podcast. Were you surprised PG went back to OKC? I could have seen him going either way. Before he went there, I was like, he going straight to the Lakers. But as the season went along and just kind of seeing how they formed a group over there, I was like, I could see him going either way. So I wasn't that surprised. I was like, ah, I seen that.

I seen that. If he was on the Lakers with this team they have now instead of like the KCP contract and JaVale or something, that team would be crazy. That team's good now. No, but I'm saying that's like, because that team's further ahead than I think I thought they would be. Lakers? First month, yeah.

I like how they're playing. I like Josh Hart. I like Kuzma. I like the Lonzo LeBron fit. They found them perfect lineups now. Yeah. That's key, man. Should the NBA legalize pot?

It's on my list. Yeah. Why do you think they haven't? Just the stigma on it would you ever wear any other player's sneakers in your game yeah when was the last time you did that college but i would yeah i mean who would you wear huh what shoes are you jealous of? I'm not jealous of anybody's shoes Just like those are nice I would wear those PGs

Kyries The Simmons family wears the Kyries Bronze before were too heavy for me but last year bronze was fire I wanted those and this year's bronze is tough Kobe's too So every night he had to leave and this year's bronze is tough. Kobe's too. So every Nike athlete, I would wear that.

Because they don't usually come in big sizes like mine, but if they did, I would definitely rock them in a game. All of them. 2020 Olympics? Tommy. That would be sweet. As of right now,

I would want to play. Where are the 2020 Olympics,lympics rich oh you're doing that that'll be great yeah rich is rich is there already he's got a suite he's trying to sell shows uh the nba podcast boom we have a vince carter kemp baysmore podcast that's great wow i love it they had iggy and curry on they were talking all kinds of shit. It was really good. We need more NBA players talking ball like that, man. That was good. Did you listen to that one? I didn't listen to it.

It was great. It was great. I seen that they had one. Of course, CJ, he's pretty dope. But more players should do that shit. Which one? Do you have an NBA player on the ringer? We have two.

We have JJ, and we have now this Bazemore and Vince. Oh, yeah, I did Bazemore. How are they together? Great. Who has Tobias and Boban? I don't know. I didn't. No, but they don't have a podcast.

They don't? They just had a little show. Did you just announce something? They had a show on Instagram. Not at all. YouTube, I think. Never met either of them. We wanted Boban to do movie reviews.

That's hilarious. Yeah. Did he want you to do it? I don't know if we ever. Let me ask you a question. How much money do you think you made on the Black Boy t-shirt? We sold like a hundred. At what price?

I don't know. What do you think? What did we sell those for? Probably 20. And what was your cost, you think? I don't know. I didn't do it. $5 a t-shirt?

Well, it made up for KD owes me dinner, because we bet the last time we did the pod that LeBron was going to go to LA, and he lost. All right, so we're even. Yeah, you're even. You don't owe me dinner now. $1,000. You don't owe me dinner now.

I'm about the same, really? Oh, this is a good one. What, you thought I was really tight about it? No, I knew you weren't. What do you look for in a box score after a game? What are the three things you look at to try to understand what happened in the game? My shot attempts, Kalei's shot attempts, Steph's shot attempts.

Shot attempts first? Yeah. You don't look at like team rebounds opposing three-point percentage not first i'm looking at the shot what we shot from the field do you look at the shot attempts because you want to make sure everybody had around the right or that nothing was yeah i just want to see how mixed it is. So if you have 29 and Klay has eight, you know something went wrong. No, it's just fascinating to me to see that, like,

before the game, you don't know how these shots are going to be distributed, and they just end up that way. It's just fascinating that the game of basketball, the ball always finds the best player, best scorer's hand. Every night, it goes that way, and we don't plan it that way. So it's just pretty cool that so i look at the efficiency and uh makes and misses and then i look at a field goal percentage defense and uh assist after that and then i like assist

i think you tell a lot from assist yeah there's like nine assists in a game, you know, it's been a little too much one-on-one. Hey, you had an awesome game against Kawhi. They ended up losing in overtime. But did you feel like Kawhi was back? 100%, 90%? Yeah. I always just think dudes on, if they on the court, then they back. So, you know, I just figured that he was going to always be the same player

when he actually got on the court. So I never looked at him as any different. Because you guys went toe-to-toe on that one. That was fun. That was a high level. Bill, J.D.? J.D., I'll see you tomorrow. Boogie is a teammate? The best. like two boogie stories come on not neat not any stories yet because he ain't played yet you're gonna get

the best story as a teammate what about boogie in the locker room he's just consistent there's no like is he funny yeah he's? Yeah, he's country. He's from Alabama, Mobile, Alabama. So he has that country, down south feel to him. So he always just like the big homie, I feel like. You know what I'm saying? Definitely bigger and stronger than everybody, but just real cool and down to earth. You get that perception that he's just angry all the time and

mean. He's the total opposite as a teammate. He probably does have a quick temper. When do you think he's going to unblock me on Twitter? Probably never. But you don't care, do you? I'd hurt my feelings. Stop being so sensitive.

No, here's why i'd hurt my insecure about yourself no jalen and i were driving the book yeah stupid that sounds jalen and i were driving the boogie bandwagon for years and i i was like i don't know i thought i thought we had a better relationship being boogie yeah you talk shit about somebody i didn't talk shit about him all right i didn't vote for him for All-NBA because I didn't think he played enough games and I didn't think his team was good enough.

But did he play like an All-NBA player? Who'd you put over him? I don't vote All-NBA if you didn't... Who'd you put over him? If you didn't go 500, I'm not voting for you.

Who'd you put over him? I don't remember. It was like three years ago. It must have been somebody that wasn't as good as him. Go 500. Nah. And I'll consider you for you know your eyes don't lie stop you're not one of those bill i'm just telling you your eyes don't lie i don't

vote for all nba i have a vote i think when you watch a game your eyes don't lie you don't put somebody who's you know if you got a choice to put the better player do you respect my choice to not put under 500 players on the NBA team? What was their record that year? I don't know. It was below 500. Do you think centers should be on the NBA team or should be like the all-star game? I always look at the NBA team as if I'm voting for the five people, would they make sense

as a five-man unit and go at it that way so i i've moved people around because you know like davis can play him at forward so if i really have to get him on like the first team i'll get creative with like voting that way or another way is is it should be voted according to like the idea that when a career is over, you then flip it and say to a player, well, they never made the All-NBA or you never made an All-Star game. So then their legacy might be defined by that. That's why I take it seriously.

No, I know you do. I think you really do. I like that. And then it's like. Well, sometimes there's not enough space. What? Sometimes there's just not enough space, so I don't see how you can hold that against somebody. But that's why you have to sometimes it's not enough space. What? Sometimes it's just not enough space, so I don't see how you can hold that against somebody.

But that's why you have to go back and look at it. That's why I don't fully understand why an all-star game and all-NBA wouldn't align. It should be three frontcourt players, maybe then not a center if the all-star game is three frontcourt players and not a center. Because those are the two pillar rankings

outside of a championship that you judge a player's career by. Cause it's like, those are the two pillar rankings that you like outside of a championship that you judge a player's career by. It's centers in the league though. Yeah, but they could make it as a front court player in the all-star game too. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, like I don't think Jokic should have an advantage over KD, cause he just plays the five spot.

I just feel like the center shouldn't have been taken out of the all-star game in my opinion. Or the other way, shouldn't have been taken out of the All-Star game, in my opinion. Or the other way. Or the center should go back in the All-Star game, right? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. It should. Or NBA in All-Star. Because then you know what you're really competing against.

Because then Jokic should start at center or have a chance to start at center in the All-Star game. When he has no chance to start in the All-Star game, he could probably have a better chance to make All-NBA. Well, the All-NBA is unbelievable this year forward. You got KD, you got LeBron, you got Giannis. Kawhi. And you have Kawhi. That's crazy.

It's crazy. All of them playing really well. And then Davis, who I consider to be a center. And Paul George is playing really well lately, too. It's just a loaded position. And then hopefully my dude. Same guard. Hopefully my dude Tatum at some point.

You just got to. This year. It's going to be a tough decision. And that's going to be a tough decision. It's a tough one. What are you like? What's your criteria? I like wins.

I like. I get it. the win shit. The win part of this whole thing. But it's a lot that goes into that when you determine that shit as individual awards, man. Yeah, because the wins won't count. But at some point... Wins will be held against Steph and Kevin,

but then you're going to use them for someone else. By durability. Not in that way, but it's just like you don't know. Guys may be injured or your fucking coach may be fired or you might be going through – it's a lot that goes into winning. You might have two or three trades in a week. Guys are getting bought out. You never know what goes into winning.

There's a lot that go into it outside of just playing. No, I get that. That factor in, you know what I'm saying, when it comes to just your team winning. Pierce's best season, I think they won 35 games. But I watched the games. I knew how good he was that season. He was like 0-6.

Did he make a first team All-NBA? I think he made a couple seconds. I don't think he ever made first. You wouldn't have held that against Pierce, but you would have held it against DeMarcus Cousins. No, because I thought part of the reason his team was losing because he was their best player. At that point in time,

I didn't think he was ready to be the best player on a good team. Yeah, at that point in time. I don't know if he's different now. How old was he at that time? I don't know. He was young. He was probably like 23, 24. Who were you expecting the Kings to be, for the Kings to get at that time?

I have high expectations for good players. I think he's really talented. He was balling out that year. What do you mean? I know, but I, you know, I care about. How many coaches has he had? I care about the body language. How many coaches did he have?

How many GMs did he have? He's had a lot of coaches and a lot of GMs. That was the case for not trading him. How many teammates did he have? That actually turned out to be a good trade for them. I'm just saying, while he was there, how many? They got Buddy and they got like a 10th pick or something. But I look at durability as the other thing.

Because if it's coming down to like you and Kawhi and you have basically the same numbers, but you've played 10 more games than him, I think that matters. I don't think so. I think it's harder to play 80 games than it is to play 65. It is harder, but I feel like once you cross over 65,

then you had a full season. It's fair. Not everybody plays 82. I remember... Just the average number of games played throughout the league. It can't be 82. It can't be 72. It can't be 72.

I didn't vote for Curry last year because I think he missed 30, and it was just too many for me. And that was tough because I thought the 50 that he played were, like, obviously top seven or eight in the league. Yeah. But he's like, if you miss 30. 50 games from Curry is basically, like, 60 games for somebody else like 60 games for somebody else or 70 games for somebody else.

My cutoff is two-thirds for the All-NBA. You got to get to like 57. You can't leave Steph Curry off of All-NBA. I didn't feel good about it. You left him off? Last year. He only played like 50 games. You're tripping.

You're overthinking it at that point why wait so then i just pencil him in every year no matter what happens if he's in the lineup for the majority of season and you know he don't got no season ending injury and he balled out the whole year then i can see if he played 12 games on the year 13 games i forget who i bumped them on 50 games That's a lot of games man Any last words KD? Nah man This was a nice conversation I enjoyed it

What are you gonna do For free agency? I'll let you know I'll tell you first I have a better way to do it I'll tell you I'll tell you when we When he cuts the mics off

Alright KD Rich When's Boardroom come out? February. Oh, man, it's in February. All right. Thanks for doing this. All right, man. All right. Thanks to ZipRecruiter.

Don't forget to go to ziprecruiter.com slash BS. Thanks to the Ringer Podcast Network. Don't forget to check out those great podcasts. Winging It. God, I really want to call it Winging It. It's Winging It. They just threw that extra G in there just to screw me up every time.

And check out the JJ Reddick podcast as well. He might be the world's best podcaster. I always thought it was me, but it might be JJ Reddick. Thanks as well to Allbirds Believes over there at Allbirds. That comfort, design, sustainability does not have to be mutually exclusive.

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We talked about them. Look, I know everybody's not as good at fantasy as I am, and you're probably not in the semifinals of both of your leagues like me. That's why we have daily fantasy. When you're out in your real fantasy, you move over to daily fantasy. Or you could be like me and just play daily fantasy every week. You could go to FanDuel. It's the place to play. At FanDuel, you get the excitement of researching and building your team each week, regardless of the outcome. Come play with me at FanDuel.com. Get a $5 bonus when you make your first deposit. FanDuel.com slash BS. Get a $5 bonus when you make your first deposit. Fanduel.com slash BS. New users only. Bonus not available for withdrawal. State and

age restrictions apply. For full eligibility rules and terms and conditions, go to fanduel.com. The BS podcast is probably coming back, I would guess, late Thursday night. If you get bored of me, go listen to the rewatchables. We did The Firm. It was really fun. Chris Ryan does an impersonation of Wilford Brimley. That changed my life. It might change yours as well. Until then. I don't have.