The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - How NBA can FIX tanking immediately + rating Adam Silver as commissioner

Episode Date: February 21, 2026

Jason answers mailbag questions from subscribers on topics including how to fix NBA Draft tanking, how Adam Silver has been as NBA commissioner, the All-Star game format, the Dunk Contest, why the Denver Nuggets have blown fourth quarter leads, Jalen Williams’ role on the Oklahoma City Thunder, and more. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet.  #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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We've got 10 questions. A lot of stuff surrounding kind of Adam Silver and the health of the league, some other big picture topics from around the league. A lot of fun stuff. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like this video as well, sign up for post notifications.

that helps us a lot. Last but at least, if you guys want to get mailbag questions into our mailbags, drop them in our full episodes on YouTube in the comments underneath. Write mailbag, write your question

that helps me sort through them when I'm looking for them in the full episodes. All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason, love the content. What are your thoughts on all the wild ideas

for fixing the tanking issue? Seems like the easiest thing to do would be to give play-in losers the top four picks in a random order than the other 10 non-playoff team, get even odds at the picks five through 14. This would mean teams would try to win to get the highest picks or actually be in the playoffs.

Players don't tank. Just organizations. So the players probably won't tank in the playing in games. So you're kind of in a general thought process that I do agree with. I would not give the picks to teams in the playing. But I would try to emphasize tanking in that range rather than the bottom. And I have a specific reason for that. So hear me out.

First of all, I don't think there's an easy solution here. The league has tried flattening out the odds. That clearly hasn't worked. We're going to have one of the most epic tanking showdowns to end the season, and the odds are flatter than they've ever been, right? I've seen people talk about abolishing the draft. That sounds great in theory because of like the kind of free market aspect of it. And like, oh, you try to sway teams with competence rather than competence and opportunity,

rather than, you know, trying to do it through this tanking that we've seen kind of be a weight on the league in recent years. But I think the problem would be the third parties. So, like, if every team could offer the same thing, and then you have your role conversation. So, like, if you want to be a star, you're not going to go sign with a team that has a star because you want to have your opportunities to handle the basketball, right? So that's going to knock some of those teams out. And then you're just going to have all the teams that have like a clear opportunity that are available. Opportunity plus cap space, right?

But what would end up happening there is you'd end up having these heavy influences, particularly from like shoe companies, but I think agencies in general as they try to drive their clients to areas where they think they'll get more opportunity off the court. Again, any sort of sponsorship opportunity that would potentially apply pressure to players to sign in particular locations. I just think it would create a whole new set of problems. And again, as we talked about, there is no obvious solution, but most of the solutions I've seen pitch to also just come with other options.

What I pitched to, what I generally think would make the most sense is to just flatten out the odds. And I talked about this with Colin Coward on his show the other day when he pitched this to me. But essentially, if you even out the odds completely for every non-playoff, team. So there's the bottom 14 teams in the league, everyone who doesn't make it into those top eight after the playing tournament. If every single one of those teams had the same odds, there would be absolutely no benefit to losing basketball games towards the tail end of the season, except for

teams that are in that kind of range around the play in. Now, where that gets tricky is, if you're on the playing cusp, so let's say you're a 7, 8, 9, 10 seed, you would have this conversation where you'd go, okay, we have this very tiny chance, like literally one, one-14th of a, like you literally a one out of 14 chance of getting the number one pick if we purposefully lose this game. But we're in the mix, like in the Western Conference, the playing teams are good. In the Eastern Conference, the playing teams are pretty solid. So like, if you're a team in that case, it's like, are you going to purposely lose or hurt your basketball culture overall? to get a one out of 14 shot at the number one pick?

No, you're not going to do that, right? And so what I like about that as a difference from the current system is for the current system, the best odds are at the bottom. So the teams that are competing for it are at the bottom. They're usually not close to anything. They're usually not on the precipice of a run. Most playing teams are like, we're one move away or one young guy pops or we hit on one free agent signing, suddenly we're like a serious playoff team, right?

Like their conversation surrounding intentionally losing is much more complicated because they're in that middle tier in the NBA. Whereas the teams that are in the bottom, it's like, sure, let's lose. Like, what do we have to lose nothing? Like, we're just, we're already terrible. Let's just keep being terrible and we'll ride it out that way, right? So like, by evening out the odds completely to just every team has a one out of 14 shot of getting the number one pick, you slide the actual tanking bar to the 7,8, 9, 10

seats. And those teams are just less likely, in my opinion, to intentionally lose a basketball game because of where they are at in their development. So again, not a perfect solution. There's no such thing as a perfect solution. That's the best one I can come up with. That's just kind of my overall opinion surrounding that idea. One more tanking question. I'm super excited to tell you guys about our new partnership with Viori. Those of you guys who are familiar with Viori, have noticed I've been wearing it on the show a lot over the last few years. There's just a level of quality and comfort and versatility and durability that has made it a workhorse for me over the last few years. I have items from Viori that I bought years ago,

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of Viori clothing. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we, how do we actually come up with the name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it

one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad,

Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me. with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself.

I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen should win. I mean, she went down in three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now and I actually can win on any surface.

Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down,

give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Regarding tanking, as someone who started following basketball after decades of being a soccer slash football fan, I've always thought the lack of relegation or promotion, as well as the bottom teams being generally rewarded with the high draft pick, has created a void of competitive energy in the regular season. In terms of parity within the league, I believe the salary cap is what exists to level the playing field. So why not reward the better teams with a higher draft pick? I see no reason why the Utah Jazz couldn't have constructed a competitive team over the past 10 years.

So why reward them? It might encourage team building and hard work. So I agree with everything you said. That's why I would flatten out the odds completely, like I talked about earlier. But I want to what your question kind of reminded me of a very specific part of this that I want to get into. you don't just build a good basketball team by getting top picks. It helps. But if you're going to have sustained success in the NBA,

there's a, there's a multi-level scouting kind of success that you need, culture success that you need. What does that mean? There's, you got to be bad to get some top picks, but you also have to, you know,

because you're not guaranteed to get top picks. There's a lot of teams that tank and end up with the seventh, eighth pick, you know, like that sort of thing. When you're in that range, that's where it becomes a lot more about your scouting department and your ability to turn more of those into hits than into misses. Even top picks can be misses. I talked about this with Colin the other day.

We've had so many number one picks bust in the last 15 years. So like the truth of the matter is scouting is a huge part of this. Scouting the top picks, scouting the middle of the first round, scouting late first round. The good teams, a big part of what allows them to have success is they find rotation level talent late first round, you know, early second round, late second round, like the clippers between Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller, just two legit rotation players as late draft picks, right? So like, there's that. There's the

pro level scouting, finding high level talent overseas, finding high level talent within the NBA, who's going to be the next guy that gets a Giovante Green, right? Like a veteran minimum contract that turns into a really high level two-way role player for a Detroit Pistons team, right? Like there is a at every single level there's opportunities to turn your organization around and the good teams tend to be great at all those levels and so I think in jet no one I talked about this with the rob polinka thing no one hits on everything but you need to generally hit on a higher percentage than the rest of the league in each of those areas to have sustained success around the NBA that's why I hate the conversation surrounding tanking is if it's the only way to run a quality basketball

organization just not the case the best teams tend to be great at every level of their talent acquisition and then talent development as well. Like how's your player development? How are you turning players into pros when they get to your team? Idea for the 2007 All-Star game. Back to East, First West, but four-team single elimination tournament. Top two teams are the All-Stars that have been voted in, while the other two teams are the 8 to 10 runner-ups in each conference.

What do you think? Love the show and keep up the great work. This is an interesting idea. So like I generally agree with you that a, I talked about this in the All-Star reaction. short games is through all of the stuff that Adam Silver has tried we've discovered some things that work short games and multiple teams why because then each of the short games is its own entity you can't just have short games running right next to each other the league tried that and they got boring right so like you got to have short games that are all their own individual entity i also talked about how Adam Silver in the league just need to be creative about driving natural rivalry

the world versus the U.S. is a great example. Older players versus younger players is a great example. I think your example is another example of something that could drive rivalry. You get your star, your top tier, you know, voted in all stars all on the same team. And then you put all the bench guys on the same team. We call it the top six or seven overall voting guys in each conference. What I'll end up happening is you'll end up with a group of younger, hungry or all stars that have more to prove that might be.

bring a competitive energy against the established stars that might drive a response from them and you end up with some kind of great game. And then you get some of that east-west rivalry as well. So like, I don't know if it's this particular format that you've pitched or if it's one of the formats that I've pitched. But just in general, I think the league needs to keep multiple teams, short games, find ways within the roster to drive natural rivalry. Even just guys who don't like each other. Just build the roster in a way that drives natural rival. read to the best of your ability. Sort of unrelated to All-Star Weekend, and you touched on this later in the video,

but just curious, what are your thoughts on Adam Silver as a commissioner? On the one hand, there are his recent tunnel visioning about abolishing tanking, a half-hearted attempt to follow through on enforcing foul-baiting controls, and a lack of action against Kauai Clippers from the contract controversy this summer,

the change to the media contract so that the remote fan viewing experience has now split across several streaming services. on the other hand, there is this in-season tournament to shake up to the All-Star game, the play in, et cetera. In that vein, if you were a hypothetical commissioner and you can make as many changes to improve the NBA as a product, what changes would you make?

This is a very wide-ranging question. I'm going to hit it from a couple of different angles here. Adam Silver has been dragged through the mud in the last few months, and I kind of land more in the middle. I don't agree with everything that he's done. I certainly think he could be more strong on some things. You mentioned him kind of this, half-hearted attempt to enforce foul betting.

It looked like it was something they were going after a couple years ago, and it's it's just, it just hasn't been followed through. I agree with you. I think the main thing you're hitting at there that I think is most important is just how hard he's been on the league, how much of a disciplinary and he's been. I think that a lot of the stuff I've seen from Adam actually is well intended. Like, he's willing to try stuff. Everyone's been criticizing him for the All-Star stuff.

He's tried a half dozen different things over the last. 10 years. And yeah, a lot of them haven't worked, but all of them have kind of incrementally led to this format that worked on Sunday. You know what I mean? So like, say what you want. There have been some serious wins there. I do think the in season tournament adds intrigue to the game. Like, you guys talk about the playing tournament in the in season tournament. There's some problems there, right? It's a fundamental disagreement that we have as fans with the league, which is we think, I think it's pretty much a consensus among most. basketball fans, we think you should shorten the season. Too many of your stars are getting hurt.

Too many your stars are missing games. Who cares if your national TV games are higher volume throughout the season. If stars are missing them, not as many people are going to watch. Might as well have 60, 66 games or something like that and get rid of back to backs and make the schedule easier. And chances are the stars will actually play in any downside from the 20% loss in, uh, in total volume of games is going to be made up for and just a 20% increase in viewership. if not more because the games will matter more. They'll be worth more in the standings. The stars will be playing more often.

That's how we all feel. The league disagrees, though, because they want money. Like to your question about the media contract, yeah, it's a pain in the ass that I had to get a peacock membership. And, you know, most of us already have Amazon. But like, it's pain in the ass that we had to do that. But like, ultimately, Adam Silver's just trying to make money for the league. That's his job.

Adam Silver's job is to drive revenue for the league. That is what the owners want from him because the owners want money, right? And the players want money. So like, ultimately, Adam Silver's just doing his job in that regard. But if the owners and the players go to you and they go, we don't want to shorten the season because we want all this money, we'll just sit out games. Even though we disagree with it, that's what the league wants from him. And so I admire that Adam Silver goes, all right. So these guys never want to get rid of games. They only want to add games. So how do I? I drive more intrigue and interest in the league while also acquiescing to the request of the people that pay me, the people that have employed me to maintain the number of games. That's what the playing tournament is. That's what the in-season tournament is. We don't think more games is the solution, but they don't think less games is the solution. So for them, even though for us we go 20 teams make the postseason out of 30 like and you already have an 82 game season like all you're doing is getting rid of urgency and adam silver is like yeah but this is

what they want so why not at least try to add some urgency at various points in the regular season so teams do want to avoid the plan so they're fighting for a seeding to get up to that fifth or sixth seed right you do get this week of highly entertaining playing games we've had some really good playing games over the last few years. I think the in-season tournament is a great product to add something different during December. So like, again, when you are a realist about what Adam Silver's job is, which is to make the league money and to serve his clients that does, that don't want to shorten the season, he's at least trying shit to make the most out of what the circumstances are. Don't agree with everything. I 100% agree with you. I do think he needs to be really hard on this foul baiting thing.

I think it's legitimately hurting the league. I do think that he needs. to be hard on tanking. And he's clearly trying shit. He's sending out these big fines. I'm sure he's going to keep attempting stuff over the course of the next couple of years to fight this. He's trying. I just think he needs to take a harder line on some of that stuff.

The hypothetical commissioner role, if I was in charge, again, I would shorten the season to 66 games. That's not going to happen. I would continue to aggressively find any team that deliberately tanks or sits players for national TV games. I would try to drive player participation. as much as possible. And I would make a significant effort

to get rid of non-basketball plays in games. To me, the biggest thing that will drive health of the league is the quality of the basketball. If you can't increase the urgency because you can't shorten the schedule, then you could at least increase the quality of the TV product. And one of the ways you can increase the quality of the TV product is get rid of these ridiculous sequences

where a dozen of our best stars are driving into defenders and just throwing up bullshit shots because it gets them to the foul line. And like, say what you want about the rulebook and, you know, guys having to beat people to spots and all of the little details of defense that can avoid gripping. I don't disagree with you guys in principle there that these guys are just punishing defenders for being out of position.

But it's just fucking ugly on TV. It's bad. And the league will be better if that doesn't exist. And so I would personally implement a sweeping rule that had a subjectivity that the refs have to kind of work their way through, which is if there's any sort of non-basketball play, automatic turnover. Like just, oh, you did some sort of crazy low gather that no one would ever do, or you jump into a guy to shoot, or you do some sort of janky flop in this way or that way, just like, tweet, tweet, we're going the other way. Sorry, that's, that's ball to the opponent.

You did that for two weeks, six games for each of these stars, they'd adjust. And they'd stop doing that shit. They'd start playing real basketball. I doubt it'll ever happen, but that's just one of the bigger changes that I would make. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet, the official sportsbook partner of the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. What's better than the sound of the ball on the hardwood? Sneakers squeaking and the swish of the net, winning on Hard Rock Bet. You're home for Hoops Action all season long.

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huge news? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to our first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. We were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes.

I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis, and I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs, and on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Jen Chinchin win. I mean, she went down in three to. Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay.

Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial, calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, Jason. I wanted to know what you think of replacing NBA players from the dunk contest with guys that you see on Dunkedemics and Instagram doing all that crazy shit, ID Jordan Kilganin, Isaiah Rivera, etc. in my opinion one, the money that the winners make from the contest is chump change compared to NBA players to what they normally get. So these guys, it would mean so much more to them because

I don't think any of them are millionaires. Two, I feel like the 2016 dunk contest has spoiled us in the fact that normal NBA players don't even want to attempt to try the dunk contest because the bar is set too high. I think was that the Zach Levine, Aaron Gordon, one, if I remember correctly, I'm not 100% sure. Three, dunking is what these guys do anyway. So if we see half of the shit that these guys can pull off on Instagram, I think it would break the internet. But let me know what you think. Thanks for the content. Cheers. Thank you for supporting the show. I'm not going to go too long on this one because I actually made this exact point on our All-Star Reaction

Pod. I 100% agree with you. I'd get rid of the dunk contest. If you still insist on having a dunk contest, have it with four professional dunkers, have it be relatively short in the All-Star Saturday night, and just do a crazy production quality for really high-level dunkers that don't typically get that production quality. I think that that would be a great way to kind to emphasize that form of athleticism on that stage. I would still have a another event, I would just have it, I would try to implement the one-on-one tournament. And as I talked about, I would just be willing to accept lesser players and hope that it just kind of gains cachet over time.

Next question, I'm stoked to hear you still have Denver at number two, but outside of injuries, can you dig a little deeper into why slash how they've gone from one of the best fourth quarter teams in the past couple seasons to blowing fourth quarter leads over and over again this season? I don't think it's a recent Yokic's back phenomenon. A quick search reveals they've blown fourth quarter leads in 13 of their 20 losses. I'm going to kind of make a similar take to what I made when I was talking about LeBron's on-off numbers from last year. When a player has dramatically positive on-off numbers for like seven years in a row

and then he suddenly has bad on-off numbers, I'm going to look at that as a statistical outlier. When it becomes a recurring thing year after year, that's a much more complicated conversation, right? Specifically, in this instance, the nuggets have year-in-in-year-out, been an awesome. awesome clutch team. Last year, 127 offensive rating in the clutch, 110 defensive rating, pretty strong on both fronts. That was in a down year for the nuggets, right? This year, they're 14 and 13, a 115 offensive rating and a 124 defensive rating,

some noise in that data there in the form of the injuries, to your point. But for the most part, it's been an issue throughout the season. And I just, I literally just look at it as an outlier. I personally don't, I think the nuggets are going to have issues executing on either end of floor in close game situations at the end when they're healthy in a big playoff series. It's just they have too much experience and too much of an extensive track record of being one of the best clutch teams in the NBA to me to overreact to a half season sample size that has as much noise as this one does. Next question.

The Eastern Conference has been just as good as the West, especially if you're looking at the top four. I, so I want to dig into this concept a little bit. First of all, I actually don't think any of the East teams are as good as Denver, Minnesota, or Oklahoma City. the only reason I have Cleveland in that tier and my contenders is because of the weaker East. I just think that the teams there

don't present the types of challenges that the Upper West teams do. So I disagree with your point regarding the top teams. However, I do think you're on to something with the conferences being closer than usual this season. As a matter of fact, the West this season in head-to-head games against the East, it's just 145 and 142.

That's a 50.5% win percentage, so barely over 500. last year they were 249 and 203 so huge gap over 500 last year between the west and the east so there has definitely been a closing of the gap between the two conferences but it's actually more in the depth of the conference than it is at the top in my opinion all right three more whenever you bring up needing a top tier superstar to win an NBA championship you always bring up unless you're the Boston Celtics because they had five 30 million dollar contract players on the roster i don't think there's anyone that would argue that Tatum was as good as those

before him, Yokic, Steff, Janice, LeBron, Kauai, KD. But how come you only bring up Tatum and not Shay when he was on a different tier in the championship run? This was notoriously when Tatum had that weird hitch in his jump shot that carried over into the Olympics. But despite that, and despite having those five guys who would make 35 million on the, or 30 plus million on the open market, he became the sixth player to lead their team in points, rebounds, assists on their way to the championship. Also, Tatum's underrated ability to guard centers during that run is what fully unlocked the Celtics defense. Again, not here to say that he was on the same level the year before, but I think it's fair to say that Tatum was as good as Shea, or at least on the

same tier as him during the Thunder's 2025 run, when the Thunder also had significant talent advantage and was pushed to seven games twice. So I just fundamentally disagree with the point you're trying to make here. I don't disagree that Yokic, Steph, Yonis, LeBron, and Kauai, KD were obviously better than Tatum. I just think Shea was also better than Tatum. Shea had some bad games, specifically with like kind of floor game kind of management, like feel for the flow of the game in the postseason last year. But he had some incredible games mixed in there. There was a dominance factor with Shea that Tatum didn't reach in his title run.

I mean, you set it in the stats. You included this in your mailback question. You said, 2024 Tatum, 25, 10, and 6 on 55% true shooting. Shea 35 and 6 on 57% true shooting. That's really the difference. And it even goes to big moments. Like it just, Shea hit massive shots in the, you know, in the late game sequences in game four and game five against Denver,

in the late game sequences in game four against Indiana, right? Like he just, he made all the big plays and carried his team over the finish line. I'm glad you pointed out the defensive piece. I think that's why Tatum's playoff run was underrated by a lot of people who couldn't understand what Tatum was doing. Like, you taking out the traditional one five pick and roll and forcing them to run one three pick and roll,

that fundamentally alters the geometry of an offense, and it broke Dallas's offense. And so I agree with what you're saying, but what you're talking about is like a role player defensive kind of impact. It's a huge impact. Part of why Tatum's playoff run was underrated, but when it comes to that superstar half-court surgeon type of play that you need, Shea provided so much more of that in his title run than Tatum did.

So I don't think that there is a comparison between those two in particular. All right, two more. Hey, Jason, it's a bit of a long one, so sorry in advance. I wanted to get your take on the Cam Thomas situation, which feels like one of the most bizarre roster moves in recent memory. I'm talking about a 24-year-old who averaged 24 points per game just last season. Yet the Nets straight up waived him mid-season because they couldn't find a trade partner. How much of this was a contractual checkmate versus a culture cut?

By signing that qualifying offer last summer, Cam basically gave himself a no trade clause, which clearly handcuffed the Nets front office at the deadline. But even then, waving a guy with that much scoring gravity for almost nothing, unheard of. In the league, is the league-wide lack of interest a sign that a, that the bad attitude and empty stats narrative is officially tanked as stock? When a rebuilding team like Brooklyn

decides it's better to have an empty roster spot than a 20-point score, what does that say about how the modern NBA values isolation scoring versus a team-first culture? Does he have a chance to rewrite that script on the bucks, or has his reputation as a one-dimensional player become a permanent ceiling on his career? Thanks. Love the show,

as always. Thank you for supporting the show. there is a one-dimensional thing with Cam Thomas that is pretty rare. He's actually like a reasonably efficient high-level score, high-volume score, I should say. But when you're strictly a score, when that is the one thing that you bring to the table, and guess what, that's what he is. He has a career 29% usage rate.

Like for his career, damn near a 30% usage rate, he's averaging 2.2 assists per game. even like his best playmaking season like last year at Brooklyn, 33% usage, which is like damn near Luca Donchage territory, just 3.8 assists per game. This is not a guy that drives team offense. This is not a guy that is, you know, surgically breaking down a defense.

This is a tunnel vision one-on-one score. This is a guy that is hunting his shot all the time. When you are that and nothing else, you have to be transcendently great at it for it to make sense. or be a buy-in guy, a guy who's willing to be like, okay, like I'll come in for two shifts a half or two shifts a game, you know, bridging the second and first quarters and third and fourth quarters and I'll get my 10 shots up in those, you know, 12 minutes on the court and then I'm heading out. Like, if you're willing to buy into that and play defense while you're out there, there's a role for you in the league. But if you're your entire impression of yourself is I should be a number one option,

look at what I do, he's just not good enough at it to be a number one option. And I think, that is one of the number one things that drives a player to become kind of like a floater in the NBA that has a hard time finding a home. We're seeing this a little bit with comminga. It's a gap between what the league sees your role as and what you see your role as. If the league thinks you're this and you think you're that, you're going to have a hard time finding a place to play. If Cam Thomas thinks he's number one option makes 35 plus million averages 25 points per game, he's going to have a hard time finding a place to play. if he's going to be a 15 point per game microwave score off the bench who buys into his role and plays defense,

there's going to be a lot of teams that will sign up for Cam Thomas, but there's been a gap there, right? And I mean, Milwaukee's taking a shot on him because they literally have nothing to lose. And yeah, you had a big first game and, you know, showed that upside in a real way. And I don't have a problem with Milwaukee taking that chance. They really have no choice under the circumstances. But like, ultimately as they start to build this thing out and as Yonis comes back into the picture, there's going to be a version of this where it's like, okay, Cam, we need you to do this kind of more refined role.

And whether or not he buys into that will be the driving force of whether or not he can find a long-term home in the NBA. Last question. Hey, Jason, I'm curious to know your thoughts about the idea of J-dub, adopting more of a Draymond-esque role with this fully healthy Thunder team.

Someone who does what he already does on defense, but on offense cuts out the difficult mid-range shots he takes and uses his handle to create more for his teammates. And finish at the rim slash take open catch and shoot three is exclusively. while being a roaming screener slash cutter. I understand that on paper he's supposed to be the Thunder's second best ball handler, and I know

I know he dropped 40 in a finals game, but as a fan of this team, I'm tired of seeing him dribble the life out of the ball and settling for those dribble drive fadeaways. I was never in the camp that he should be traded. However, someone in that locker and really needs to tell him he's not Kobe Bryant. With the AJ Mitchell emergence and the J.Mac trade, I believe this team can survive

and thrive with Shea being the lone high variance difficult shot maker. So I wouldn't go Draymond-esque, but I do think that there is a important conversation to have about J-dub attacking the basket. So I don't think you can afford to have J-Dub give up the basketball because this is a team that needs more dribble penetration. That's why E.J. Mitchell's been so valuable to them.

This team really only has three guys that can break the defense down off the dribble. And so you need J-Dub. You need J-Dub on the ball and you need him to make plays. But we saw a specific difference in his rim volume between the first two series in the playoff last year and the second two series in the playoffs last year. he became one of the best basket attackers in the entire playoff field during those second two playoff rounds, right? So like ultimately with him, it's just about shifting his shot profile more

towards attacking and having the jumper be a counter versus him leaning on the jumper too much. Now, he does have a little bit of a first step quickness issue compared to some of the other dribble drive guys. So like he kind of needs to operate in semi-transition more or face certain types of coverages or kind of have more of a head of steam. But ultimately, J-Dub needs to be hunting those heads of steam as much as possible and not getting into his just like kind of dribbling in front of his defender just because he can struggle to beat that guy off the dribble. Then he ends up being a pull-up jump shooter.

But I'm not too worried about it. He learned that lesson last year. And he's been coming back from injuries, the hammy to, like, anybody who's ever played basketball and has had a hamstring strain. I've had one. It was when I was younger. I was only like 20 when it happened. But like the specific time I always felt.

and I actually re-injured this hamstring twice at the time. The specific thing that I felt was on aggressive driving moves when I really had to take long strides. And so I think there's a little bit of a mental element, the mental hurdle that he has to get over. But I do think when we get to the postseason that J-dub's going to attack the basket recklessly, and I think that he's going to be able to provide

that rim pressure element that the thunder so badly need from him. All right, guys, that's all I have for this week. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. I hope all of you guys have an amazing weekend, and I will see you guys on Friday. morning, or on Monday morning, I should say. We'll have our usual power rankings.

Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe. I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. Nice.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Tired and sick.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hippocrat, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice.

Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast.

I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.