The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Top 25 NBA Players: Steph Curry & Warriors NOT DONE YET? Embiid & 76ers TRUSTWORTHY?

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

Jason Timpf continues ranking his Top 25 NBA players with Joel Embiid and Steph Curry. Jason discusses his final 11 players in his rankings and how they have separated themselves from the rest of the league. Will Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers finally make a deep run in the NBA Playoffs after Embiid found success at the Paris Olympics with Team USA? Will Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors battle back from a disappointing season or continue their downward trend after letting Klay Thompson go to the Dallas Mavericks? Later, Jason answers listener questions during an NBA Mailbag segment. Timeline: 3:40- Introduction 5:00 - Jason's Final 11 Players 7:30 - #11: Joel Embiid 30:20- #10: Steph Curry 41:00 - NBA Mailbag (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) #Volume #Herd   Follow Jason Timpf on social: https://twitter.com/_JasonLT https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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.

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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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

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For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkng.c.c-o-slash-F-T-Ball. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody. Hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. Well, we have made it to the superstar tier of our player rankings that we do every single summer. These final 11 guys actually rank into two tiers. The top five guys I have listed as, perennial MVP candidates, something I think the guys below are not capable of

necessarily doing. And then the rest of them are superstars, guys in 5 through 11, superstars that can reach the level of perennial MVP candidate type of guys, but just can't maintain that level. But this is a very talented group of 11 players. It was painstakingly difficult to rank them. I am guaranteed no matter how I do this to piss a bunch of people off, but we're going to go ahead and try it anyway. Today, we are starting with number 11 and with number 10. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast under Hoops

tonight. Don't forget it's helpful if you leave a rating and a review for us on that front. And then last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments. If you disagree with the ranking, break it down. Tell me why. I especially appreciate it. you make a basketball case, and we'll get to it in the mailbag questions at the tail end of every single one of these videos. All right, let's talk some basketball. So here were the final 11 guys. This is in the order of where they appeared in the standing, so as to not give anything away on the list. But our final 11 are Jason Tatum, Shay Gildes Alexander, Nicola Yoakic, Anthony Edwards, Luca Donchich, Janus and Tenancumpo, Kevin Durant, LeBron, LeBron James, Anthony Davis,

Joel Embed and Steph Curry. So one of those guys has to be 11. One of those guys, Tatum, Shea, Yokic, Aunt, Luca, Janice, KD, LeBron, A.D., Mbeed, and Steph. One of those guys literally has to be number 11.

That's just the virtue of how the league is stacked with talent at this point. So to be clear, when I go through number 11 in particular, This isn't like a, well, this guy isn't top 10 anymore kind of thing. It's just the reality of how many great players we have in the league, and it's just where this person fell in the ranking. So if you're pissed off, just remember that everyone else would be too. If I ranked a different player from anybody else on that list at number 11,

it would be a revolt from that particular fan base. So it's just kind of the natural order of the way this kind of broke out. Remember the criteria. I'm including factors like regular season availability, the motor, like how consistently they play at the top of their game in the regular season, as well as playoff translatability. Like how well does their game translate to the intensity that you need in order to get through four rounds of the playoffs?

This is very much in October through June type of ranking. If I had to start a team tomorrow and I needed someone to lead me through the entire thing to from training camp to trophy, who am I going with? And so that kind of will give you guys a little bit of a, an indicator on how I'm actually doing the list. And lastly, remember the reality. I look at the tiers as the main differentiators between players. I see little to no gap at all between number 11 on this list and number five on this list.

I could see any of those players being ranked anywhere in that stretch and it's defensible to me. So keep that in mind, this is not meant to signify some massive gap, but rather splitting hairs between transcendently great players. And so without any further ado, number 11, the guy that ended up being the impossible decision in this list, I put Joel M. B. Now, before we go any further into Joel's season, as we get into the top to 11, it's going to be a lot of numbers like we did in the earlier parts of the list, but it's also going to be a lot of rationale. I'm going to be talking a lot about why I have guys ranked where I have them ranked. So before we go into Joel's last season,

let's talk about why I decided on Joelle Ambide as the guy I was going to drop to 11. So as we know, after he pushed himself really hard in that 2023 season to get MVP, he got hurt in the playoffs again, and he looked bad again, and then he missed 43 games last year in the regular season before losing in the first rounds of the round of the playoffs. He filled the box score in the next series. He actually averaged 33 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, but consistently wore down at the end of games, especially on the defensive end of the floor, He also shot poorly. He shot just four for 14 in clutch situations,

including 0 for four from three against the Knicks. And most importantly, he just couldn't get the job done. His peers against the top of the league, or I should say his peers at the top of the league, playing against that Knicks team that did not have Julius Randall that was dealing with injuries, I just think his peers at the top of the league would have been able to push their teams over the top,

which is something that Embed was not able to do. Now, Embed was clearly hurt. his knee was all sorts of fucked up, but that's kind of the point in the reality of starting your franchise or building your franchise around a guy like Joel Embed. So to be clear, I think Embed, when he's 100% healthy, is a better basketball player than several of the players that I have ranked above him in this list. But there are three reasons I decided to drop Embed to 11.

Number one, starting this year, and this is a list that, is designed for this upcoming season. Starting this year, I expect the Sixers to heavily manage his regular season workload. He already has his MVP, so there's no sort of accolade that he's chasing. And he's shown consistently that under a heavy workload, he will break down.

I think you saw that into what they did with the roster, not just bringing in an additional star like Paul George to handle in terms of firepower, but they also went out and got one of the best backup centers in the league in Andre Drummond. And I'm sure that was part of the appeal for Drummond. like, hey, dude, you might start 30 games this year. You're definitely going to play a substantial minute load.

And so that is, that's literally what the Sixers are telling you. We know we can't count on Embed to be this like foundational piece over the course of a long regular season. So we need to bolster him over the course of the 82. That's something that has to get factored in when we're talking about ranking players in this list. Embed is just not a guy that you can count on to play 77. 75 games and be healthy for four rounds of the playoffs. That's something that has to be factored in. Number two, he is a historically poor playoff performer. Now again, a good percentage of that is health related, but it also comes down to other things, his reliance on his jump shot. Most of his big man peers

in the league, which we're going to talk about more in a minute. They take a lot more short-range shots close to the basket that Joe L. M. B. does, which makes them more reliable playoff players. That's something that he's at an issue with. His reliance on foul grifting. and how that can become an issue when you get into later rounds of the playoffs. And then last, his struggles to read aggressive defensive coverages. Those things, those are just on the offensive end, too. That doesn't even get into his struggles to get up and down the floor in transition, some of his limitations in terms of the defensive coverages that you can deploy him in.

He has struggled historically in the playoffs. So not a guy that can really hold up over the course of the 82, and a guy that when he gets to the postseason seems to play below his capability. Third, with respect to trying to build a team around him, he's a very one-dimensional player on both ends of the floor. On offense, as we saw in the Olympics, he really can't play Reed and React basketball among a bunch of high-level players.

He can't play in a ball and player movement style of offense. He's not good at making reads, which is a fundamental part of that style of five-out offense. So as a GM, if you take Embed, you basically have to play a very rudimentary, run everything through him. A lot of ball screens and dribble handoffs where he's getting the ball at the elbow and catching and going to work. He is a high usage kind of like heliocentric style of big. He struggles with quick ball and player movement.

So there are some limitations in the types of rosters you can build around Embed that don't exist for some of the players that he has higher on the list. And on defense, he is strictly a drop coverage big. He struggles consistently to get up to the level of ball screens or to switch out onto perimeter players. Even within the drop coverage, he's very good at protecting the rim, but he's not very good at bothering players in that mid-range area. He can also struggle to get up and down the floor in transition. So you have to surround him with a ton of length and speed, and there's pretty much one defensive scheme that you can run around him, which is essentially just a deep drop coverage.

And so that just kind of makes things difficult. Again, if he's healthy and you have the perfect set of circumstances around him, he will impact winning at a much higher level. I would argue that when he's healthy, he kind of scratches the surface of that top tier group of guys that we have. It's just that set of circumstances just never takes place for whatever reason. And so that's just, to me, made him the guy that I had to drop. So to put it simply, he has one of the highest ceilings

in the league as an individual basketball player. But he's also one of the most difficult players to build around because he needs a ton of regular season support as well as postseason support. And he requires a certain style of play on both ends. So that lack of durability and versatility dropped him

to number 11 for me. To Darrell Mori's credit, I think he's done a really nice job trying to build a roster to help Joel. Tons of regular season support like Andre Drummond at Center, a second perimeter star to help eat up usage and tons of postseason support. That's the three-star build. If Embed's getting double-teamed,

it's just harder to do that with Paul George and Tyrese Maxi off the ball. If Embed's just having a bad matchup or a bad night, which we know is something that can happen to him in the postseason, having that three-star build can help make up for that. Both of his co-stars, too, this is a credit to Darryl Morey are very comfortable playing off the ball. Tyresexie is one of the best like on the catch shooters that we have in the league. Obviously, Paul George, I've talked about him in this context as almost like a juiced up star version of Michael Porter Jr. Darryl Morey has done everything he can to accentuate

Joel Embed's strengths and to minimize his weaknesses. And so that's a difficult job, which is why I have Embed out in 11. But Darrell Mori has put him in position to be a guy that can contribute to winning at that top tier level, and I'm really interested to see if he can do that next year. quickly going through his numbers from last year. 39 games played, 34.7 points per game, which is obviously absurd, 11 rebounds, 5.6 assists. It's a career high for him. Also a career high 3.8 turnovers.

Nick Nurse did a pretty damn good job of simplifying his reads and making stuff easier for him in the post. We're going to get more into that later when we start talking play types. 2.9 stocks per game. His shooting splits, 53% from the field, 39% from 3, 88% from the line, which amounts to 50%. percent in effective field goal percentage, and thanks to 12 free throw attempts per game, a blistering 64% true shooting percentage. His shooting numbers per synergy, one point per jump shot flat, 1.09 off the catch, excuse me, 1.19 off the catch, which is very good.

He shot 55% on unguarded jump shots, 75% when it's weighted for threes. And Bid has become a very good three-point shooter, and we saw this again even a little bit with Team USA, which has really helped him maintain some of his effectiveness as his body has started to break down now that he's into his 30s. I think that's a really interesting kind of developmental piece. We're going to talk about it more in a minute, but I think Embed has over-indexed towards perimeter skill development rather than interior skill development, which I think has hurt him. However, if he's going to be limited physically, like if he's going to be, let's just say he never is able to maintain athleticism the way he was a couple of years ago, there's a version of this where that

three-point shooting could actually end up being very beneficial to kind of extend his star prime a little bit longer. 0.88 points per shot off the dribble. Actually shot 42% in field goal percentage, though. It's just because most of them are pull-up twos. And then 0.95 points per face-up jumper actually shot 46% on face-up jumpers, which is a great number. But once again, almost all from the mid-range. That's why the efficiency is a little lower.

This is where I want to get into the skill development. So, Embed shot 60% on floaters, but he only made 12 all year. He shot 74% on hooks, but he only made 14 of them all year. And this has been my main point of contention with Embed in his development over the course of his career. And I think it's the main reason why he's not become a more reliable playoff player. The hooks in the floaters, they are what I would call short-range scoring. All of the jump shots he take are more like mid-range scoring, right? The short-range scoring is what has made guys like Nicola Yokic and Anthony Davis such great playoff players.

As we talked about earlier, Joel Embed made only 26, floaters and hooks. Anthony Davis made 97 of them. Nicola Yokic made 239 of them. They are just far more reliable and less susceptible to variance. jump shots. You're going to make your hook shots. You're going to make your short floaters. There are going to be nights with your mid-range shot where you're just not on and you're going to go two for ten. You're never going to go two for ten on hooks and floaters. They're too close to the basket. It's too easy to get your rhythm down there. Not to mention

in ball screens, that's where they're getting their catches. Yokeach and AD roll further into the lane and they take more floaters in the roll. Mbid is always short-rolling. to that foul line area so that he can catch an ISO. And so essentially, A.D. and Yokic have made themselves more, you know, capable of playing alongside other players because they can be just finishers as role men, rather than Mbite's catching on the role almost as like another area of where he's initiating the offense. Like he's catching. It's like, oh, great pick and roll. Maxie hit Mbid. He's right there at the foul. Okay, here comes the jab step, pump fake. Jabstet, pump fake. It's like now we're back to just

Mbid working there. And so in addition to the lack of efficiency, there's just more flow and making quicker decisions off of the catch in ball screens, which have made Yoko Chin AD into such deadly roll men. Again, like, indeed,

Mbid can make those jumpers, and he'll have games where it's like, oh my God, he's just not missing that 15-footer. It's just there's a lot more variance in that regard. I would love to see Mbid add more of a bully ball, close-range game. I also think it would just make him be able to use his,

physical tools better. He's bigger and stronger than most people. And like, as you saw from the percentages, he certainly can make them. At the rim, Joel Embed shot just 64% last year. Nicole Yokic and AD were both at 70% per synergy. So that's really the main issue. Embed is indexing towards the perimeter with the skill development. AD and Yokic are still functionally big. AD will take his fair share of ISO jump shots. Yonkis is. Yon will certainly take some late clock ISO jumpers in the mid-range. He'll certainly take some pick and pop threes, but those are purely supplementary parts of their game.

Whereas everything they do on the interior is something that can pretty much depend on on a night-to-night basis. Obviously, Yokic to a much greater extent than AD, but I have AD over Embed in this regard for a similar reason. And as far as around the rim, he's always just throwing up bullshit trying to draw fouls and falling on the ground instead of just going up strong and finishing through contact. And again, that's a substantial dip in percentage. 64% for a guy with Embedd's size and strength is just not good. You got to be up around 70% like Yokic and ADR.

But like that's the ironic thing is like, I would say Embed is the best perimeter scorer of the group. By far. If it was like King of the Court starting from the top of the key two dribble limit, I'd give me AD over Embed and AD, excuse me, give me Embeddede over AD and Yokic any day of the week. But in terms of everything that a big guy needs to do for a basketball team, that's where AD and Yokic have the edge. Running the floor, winning physical rebound battles. Remember when Embedd was getting his ass kicked on the glass against Serbia in the fourth quarter? Short range scoring in ball screens. Short range scoring against switches. Finishing around the rim. All of those things are actually more important to the center position

then perimeter scoring. And they're all areas where MB could stand to improve significantly. Play type data from Synergy. He only ran 27 inverted ball screens all year, but he did pretty well. He got 34 points out of them, including passes, which is 1.26 points per possession. 297 ISOs for 321 points. That was 1.08 points per possession, or the 81st percentile. That ranked 8th out of 24 players to run at least 250.

So he's one of the better ISO players in the league last year. Post-ups, 318 reps for 351 points. That's 1.10 points per possession. That ranked 4th out of 18 players to run at least 250. So he's one of the best ISO and post-up guys in the league last year. The adjustments that I was talking about with Nick Nurse that led to more assists from Joel Embed last year. The two main things that I noticed, better distribution of his touches. In the past, Embed ran the majority of his post-ups from the left block.

He actually ran over 50% of his postups from the left block. And one of the issues you have with that specific situation is Embee loves to face up and then rip through to the right. And so as a result, he's catching on the left block. He's turning and facing. And when he rips through, he's ripping through and ending up in all of that traffic. Well, last year, there was a significant shift to more balance, a lot more touches from the right block, a lot more touches from the middle of the floor as well. As a matter of fact, if I remember correctly, about as many posts, host touches from the middle of the floor as he did the entire previous season despite

despite playing in like half as many games. And with that respect, there's a couple different things. One, from that right block, when he wants to rip through towards the baseline, it's just less crowded over there. And then two, especially from the middle of the floor, that's actually the area where it's hardest to double team. And indeed, again, we saw an increase in turnovers, which is to be expected, because that's actually one of the hardest places to pass out of. But from that spot on the floor is when you can really make defenses pay for doubling. And we saw a substantial increase in Embedd's passing ability last year. One of the other things, the second piece that I noticed from Nick Nurse was just always

keeping, usually Tyree Smaxy, but always an excellent above the break shooter that was one pass away. AD has a similar problem, but like Embed when he gets double teams, kind of just wants to get rid of the ball to the first outlet. Like he's more interested in just getting rid of it without turning it over rather than making the kill pass that beats the double team, right? And so one of the things there is like, if you just make it so that the guy who's throwing that post-entry pass and is standing on the wing, you know, 10, 15 feet away, is a guy who's a deadly above the brake shooter, especially one that could shoot a little behind the line, like in that 25 to 28-foot kind of range. When you have that, those are easy kickout passes for Embed that he can knock down, or that he can make the read consistently and that shooter can knock down. And I thought that was a big part of the increased bit of assist volume. we saw from Embed. Again, Embedd may have his limitations, but when he's healthy, he's a force

to be reckoned with. And Darrell Moore is surrounded him with a ton of talent, very specifically with talent that helps address Embed's specific weaknesses. But the reality is that he's a harder player to build a championship level roster around than the guys that I have above him because of his issues that extend all the way from October to June. So I have him at 11 on this list. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at the time.

TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at It podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host,

and your favorite therapist, Keer Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now hey this is robert from the stuff to blow your mind podcast joe and i are both lifelong star wars fan so we're celebrating may the fourth with a brand new week of fun thought-provoking star wars related episodes join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far far away such as the biology of ton tons and wampas on the ice planet hot or the practicality and corporate business sense of the scyth rule of two listen to stuff to blow your mind on

the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Preparing for your upcoming fantasy football draft, do you wish that you could wave a magic wand and somehow know who exactly your league mates are going to take? Well, with draft intel from fantasy pros, you'll know exactly how your league mates draft better than they do. Draft Intel will automatically analyze your league's history to see who rushes to the draft board first to take a quarterback, who takes too many rookies, and who is going to reach for their favorite teams players over and over.

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And the main reason is that aside from those last two games, At the end of the Olympics, Steph has been in an extended slump. His numbers were down across the board last year from the previous year. His points were down. His rebounds were down. His assists were down. His steals were down. His blocks were down. His field goal percentage was down.

His three-point percentage was down, like substantially across the board. He really struggled to end the year. From February 23rd to the end of the season, Steph played in 23 games, averaged just 22.7 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, just 41.1. 9% from the field and just 37.5% from 3, which is solid by NBA standards, but for Steph, that's not the 3-point percentage you expect to see for him. So for basically the last third of the season, forget about shooting slump. Steph just wasn't even playing at a superstar level anymore.

One last stat to drive this home, 2021, which was the last time that Steph played a truly great regular season. It was the last time he finished top five in MVP. He had 26 games where he scored at least 35 points. Last year he had just 11 games where he scored at least 35 points, despite the fact that he played in 11 more games than he played in the 2021 season. All you have to do is go look at my YouTube comments, especially on the Brunson video, the Mitchell video, or the John Morant video. A lot of those fan bases, all those fan bases,

think their guy is better than Steph at this point. And I disagree. A lot of people don't think Steph's at a top 10 player, playing at a top 10 level anymore. I disagree. So here are the three reasons that I think Steph is still a top 10 player in the NBA and that I think he is poised for a bounce back season this year.

Number one, Steph has by far the most limited supporting cast out of anybody in the superstar tier. He does not have a legitimate secondary ball handler. His best option there is probably Brandon Podzamsky, who I think will probably start this year, and he's a fine young player, but you'd prefer him as your third or fourth best ball handler. And obviously, you'd prefer somebody a little more experienced given the age group

that Steph Curry and Draymond Green are playing from, right? And even with Chris Paul last year between the injuries and just his limited ability at this phase in his career, Steph just hasn't been surrounded by a secondary ball handler. This puts a ton of pressure on Steph to create absolutely everything. And I thought he wore down over the course of the season as a result. I thought that was directly responsible for the slump that he faced towards the end. Some of the most aggressive defensive coverages I've ever seen thrown at Steph. Because everyone just knew, throw the kitchen sink at Steph, and they don't have the talent on the backside to make you pay.

And I thought that was a big part of why his efficiency and his volume took a hit. The rest of the roster was a plethora of wings that were either super inconsistent, like Andrew Wiggins, or super young, raw, you know, flawed wings like Jonathan Kaminga and Moses Moody, who both could be very good players in the long run, but they're basically kids by NBA standards, right? Trace Jackson Davis, a really nice pickup for the front court, but Kavana Looney kind of lost a step last year, and they're still very much on the undersized side of things in that front court, right?

Basketball is a team sport, and it is hard to win games in the modern NBA with the way that this roster is built, which is why we've all been begging for them to make a more aggressive deal, which they haven't been able to do at this point. But the point is, the first reason I think that Steph is still top 10 is that I believe if he were given a supporting cast, like the Knicks, for instance, I think he'd return to that superstar level basically immediately. And I mentioned this in the Brunson mailbag. I said if the Knicks traded Brunson for Steph straight up today, that the Knicks title odds would skyrocket. And I think that that's a strong indicator of the way that Vegas at least, and I think that we all feel about Steph Curry, which is he's just kind of in a bad situation right now. but that doesn't necessarily mean that he's not the same basketball player that we knew he was capable of being.

Number two, we've seen Steph enter into what looks like an extended slump before, only to bounce back in a huge way. He had a very similar extended slump at the end of the 2022 season. He averaged just 23 points per game, just like this year, over a 31 game span a little bit longer than this year, with similarly low percentages by Steph standards. The field goal percentage was a little higher, but the three point percentage. percentage was a little lower. And then he ripped off a classic Steph Curry playoff run and won the title.

So like, it's just too soon to write Steph off over a shooting slump because we've literally seen him bounce back from one before. Now, the main difference is that 2022 roster was a championship level roster. And this one is not. But they did get a little bit better with some of their role player signings and they do have a trade to make, which I want to get to in a little bit. But the simple fact is that just because Steph was in a slump doesn't necessarily mean that it's over for him. And I thought that the last two team USA games were a huge step in the right direction. He didn't just break out of his slump. He exploded out of his slump in those two games in about as high stakes of situation as you can imagine. He looked incredibly confident. He even looked relieved

at times. When he hit that three coming off of the curl from the screen from Embed on that left wing that the one that put USA up 8786, I think, with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter, he like ran down the floor with like a double fist bump, like scream because you could just tell it's like he's been working so hard and it's like he finally broke out when it really mattered, right? I also generally think that playing with Team USA is a great launching pad to start an NBA season from. And Steph is particularly motivated because he needs to demonstrate to the Warriors front office that they are worth investing in. And so I expect him to come out and just attack the start of the season next year.

And then lastly, the third reason why I think Steph is still top 10. We've seen how slight tweaks in Golden States role players can vault them up to another level. From 2021 to 2022 is roughly the same core. Steph was even a better player in 2021. That was his last truly great regular season. But they just made a couple of tweaks going from Kent Baysmore, Kelly U. Bray, and Brad Wanamaker to Namanya B. Elitza. Auto Porter Jr. and just getting Clay Thompson back,

just those tweaks took them from a playing team all the way to winning the title. Kyle Anderson, Buddy Yield, and D. Anthony Melton all fit Golden State system very well. Kyle Anderson and D. Anthony Melton in particular really fit their defensive system, especially. And they have a trade to make. Now, do I think they're going to go all the way into contention

the way they did in 2022? No. But I do think, especially if they make that type of trade, that we've been talking about, that they'll be in that middle tier of the West, which is a hell of a lot better than missing the playoffs the way they did last year. So in summary, a lot of people are kicking Steph when he's down and pretending it's over for him when the reality is that the Warriors just didn't have a good basketball team last year. And I think they have a chance to be better this year. I think Steph will be better this year.

And if they make the right trade, they could potentially make some noise. And again, like, you got to think a lot about what makes Steph great in particular. like beyond the actual scoring ability, and this is something I talked about a lot with Team USA, I thought Steph was still providing quite a bit of positive impact even when he wasn't shooting well because people guard Steph like he's Steph Curry. Now, what that means is,

as he's running off of that wide pin down, he will sometimes drag two players with them as they miscommunicate a switch and error on the side of getting Steph Curry. All of that is about creating openings for guys. those openings have to be capitalized on. They're not all dunks. We've all seen the dunks, right? Like we've all seen Steph run off of a baseline screen

where the guy who sets the pick slips to the rim and Draymond hits him and it's just an easy dunk, right? We saw a million of those over the course of Steph's career. Those easy ones are great, but it's less about that and it's more about converting small advantages. When Steph is being guarded like that, there are all sorts of small advantages that appear on the floor. And high-level basketball players can capitalize on those small advantages,

grow them into bigger advantages and then finish the plays. But you have to have the talent to make up for that. And so that's the thing is like when it comes to Steph, there's just nobody that's guarded the way that he's guarded as he's running down the floor around screens and stuff like that, regardless of what his actual shooting percentages are. And so he is one of the guys that specifically benefits from having surrounding talent that can capitalize on those openings

and he just hasn't had access to that in the last season. So before we move on to our mailbag, our just quick rip-through of Steph's numbers from last year, 74 games played, 26.4 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, 5.1 assists, 1.1 stocks. He definitely is starting to show a little bit of a decline on the defensive end of the floor. Shooting splits, 45% from the field, 41% from 3, 92% from the line, which amounts to 57% in effective field goal percentage, and 62% in true shooting percentage. shooting numbers per synergy 1.16 points per jump shot, 1.31 points per catch and shoot jump shot, which is obviously absurd. 1.05 points per pull-up jump shot, a little down from some of his previous seasons. 44% on floaters, a little over one attempt per game. 60% at the rim, which is like incredible for a small guard surrounded by the poor shooting, or that Golden State surrounds him with. That's what's crazy. Steph, 60% at the rim. Joel Embed's 64% at the rim.

Like that goes to show you kind of what I was talking about earlier with MB. Play type data, Perse Energy, pick and roll, barely missed our high volume list. He ran 979 reps, but he got 1,025 points, which is 1.05 points per possession, that would have ranked, had he got those extra 21 reps, that would have ranked 10th on that list of 25 players had he hit that 1,000 rate, a rep mark. But that also amounted to the 77th percentile per synergy. ISO numbers. Lastly, 1.06 points per possession on 167 reps that's in the 76th percentile. I'm rooting for Steph this year. He's my second favorite player of all time behind LeBron.

I think people are writing him off too soon, like I talked about earlier. I've personally been wrong about him before. I was talking a lot at the end of the 2021 season about like, this is weird. Like what's going on here? Now, I never actually said he was declining, but I was a little worried, and I'm so glad that he proved me wrong, and I'm hoping that he proves me wrong. all of us wrong again as we head into this upcoming season. All right, guys, let's get into that mailbag. Love the content, Jason. I just want to point out how incredible it is that Steph Curry has an argument of being a top 10 player ever if he's not already there

with a height of 6-2 in a game like basketball. The fact that he has done more winning with less size and weight than any other players truly remarkable, and I think it needs to be talked about more. I totally agree. And to take it further, I think he's easily one of the 10 best players ever, and I have him as the fifth best perimeter player ever, which is crazy because both of those lists are dominated by guys. Even the perimeter player lists are dominated by guys with crazy physical gifts. The guards are 6-6-6-inch vertical.

The wings are 6-8, 6-9, you know, guys like LeBron or super, super strong, or like guys that are super fast. He just is the one outlier on that list. And that's kind of how I referred to other. This is the best way that I could put it. When I see other small players, I talk about Steph as the exception that proves the rule. Just because Steph did it,

didn't mean everyone else can. You know what I mean? That's how different a guy like Steph is than other guys that would frequently get lumped in with him that aren't necessarily at that level. Guys like Damien Lillard, for instance, right? Even guys who are great athletes. Remember when Russell Westbrook got compared to Steph a lot

in that like 2015-2016 stretch? Like, Steph just was consistently a more winning player than all of them, despite not having the tools that they had. Regarding Luca putting on weight, there's a bit of a trade-off. Yes, by adding weight, he's lost some speed and quickness. However, it's allowed him to be a much better post-player, where he's been able to be quite efficient and generate high-quality offense for his team. Wouldn't you agree?

His best run also came last year when he was bigger than he was in the bubble. However, this time the Mavs put the right pieces around him, and it led to a finals run. I don't think Luca being as slim as he was in the bubble is best for him as he'd lose that strength advantage he has against other guards, I believe is worth losing some speed. As he's proven even at a higher weight, he can function as an adequate defender if engaged. Love the show in the content.

Nice to have someone like you in the space of lots of talking heads looking for clicks. Thank you for supporting the show. I really appreciate it. So a couple things. There was a video that was going around of Luca's game winner against the clippers in the bubble in 2020, and he looked like really thin compared to the way he looks now.

Now, a couple of things. I do agree that there's an advantage that comes from being bigger and stronger. That's just a fact. And I'm sure there are some situations now where Luca is able to bully some players that maybe he didn't used to be able to. However, Luca was still bullying guys back then.

And I'm not saying that he needs to just go get skinny. Ideally, there's a version of this where he's in peak shape. And he has the same amount of weight maybe that he has now, but it's more functional because it makes him mobile because it's muscle instead of body fat. That's what we're all talking about.

And, like, I mean, I think there's another question about Luca later on, if I remember correctly, and we'll get to it here in a minute. But, like, that's really the thing that I think resonates with everybody when they're watching. It's not just that he's struggling on defense. It's that he's struggling on defense and he looks kind of chubby. That's where it has like a bad optic element to it. Hey, Jason, as I mentioned, great list so far. but this is another part of the ranking that's interesting.

I understand the availability part with Jimmy over Kauai, but Jimmy's availability is on the decline, as you noted, while his actual game is on the decline too. Kauai is still a superior player in a vacuum on both ends, and his game ages better. Can you give a bit more of a basketball reason why he's over Jimmy? Splitting hairs, but I just believe Kauai is and will continue to be a better player in a vacuum this season,

keep up the great work. I'm assuming you mean that Jimmy's over him. But it's a couple things. Jimmy has had availability issues, but nowhere near to the extent that Kauai has. I pulled the numbers yesterday, but I want to say since going to the heat, Jimmy's averaged, I think, 58 games played. And then I want to say Kauai is like around like 43 games played since the bubble.

So like the availability issues, they both have had issues, but Kauai issues have been far more substantial. Jimmy Butler's had some playoff issues, right? Like he missed this playoff series this year. However, it was kind of a fluky type of injury. it wasn't like a wear tear injury. He was like a fluky type of injury. But then he's also had incidences like, remember in 2022

when he had like a couple really bad games in the conference finals because his knee was hurt? Like Jimmy's always banged up and has issues, but it's just a completely different level than what Kauai has been dealing with. I agree for the record that Kauai is a much better player when he's healthy. The only reason I put Jimmy Butler over him

is I just think Jimmy's more available and more reliable. But again, as we've discussed, it's splitting hairs. It's impossible to kind of account for all. that properly. I kind of intended on using that 12-13 Jimmy Kauai tier as like a gap tier, just because I view both of them as kind of outliers compared to some of the other guys on this list. Do you think Chris Sop's Porzingis would be a top 25 player if he could stay healthy for an entire season? He was incredibly impactful on the floor, as evident by game one of the NBA

finals. That first half run in game one was incredible, just everything, the pick and pop threes, the rim protection, the beating switches at the high post. It was everything. And so I would agree, I think it's certainly possible. I mean, he definitely would have made my preliminary list if he was a preliminary list if he was consistently healthy, which he just hasn't been. Maybe he'll be more lucky on that end next year and then we'll get to have that conversation in a more serious context. 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, document. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

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Learn the hard way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun. thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away,

such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Jason, I really wish you would stop saying

the 22 Celtics team was the most talented team in the league. They weren't even favored in the first round of the playoffs. They were not favored in the finals either. Marcus Smart was the third best player and had Grant Williams as a starter. Robert Williams was massively injured as well. Other than that, love the content. So it certainly wasn't by as big of a margin as it was this year, but I still think they were the best.

Like I think this year, Celtics are, last year, I should say, were more talented than everybody in the league by a wide margin. I thought in 2022 they were the most talented in the league by a small margin. And it was kind of a similarly built top five. It was a younger Al Horford as you're shooting five, right? Then you had Marcus Martin, Derek White, as you're like two-way guys, right? And then you had Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, which, by the way, it was a much better version of Jason Tatum at that point. Like, Jason Tatum was a very good playoff player for the first three rounds of that playoff run.

He was a much lesser version of himself, especially on the offensive end in this past season. They also had a big look with Robert Williams. It's very different than Chris Ops Porzingis, but they had that as a very different. big look. Now, again, I don't think it was by a wide margin, but I do think that that Celtics team was the most talented team in the league. I want this to be a two-parter, though, and we can get back to this on Wednesday if you want to leave

another mailbag response. But who would you have ranked? Which team do you think was more talented than the 2022 Celtics? Let me know in the comments we can get into that on Wednesday. Hey, Jason, you were by far my favorite NBA YouTuber and probably the best basketball mind in the media.

That's very, very nice of you to say. Do you think that Max Christie, Austin Reeves, Dilo, Gabe Vincent can be a sufficient backcourt if Max Christie can contribute to some of the defensive and athletic worries, especially if Vanderbilt is healthy this season. I think healthy Gabe and Vando with Max Christie kind of in just like a larger role. I think that certainly would help them in the regular season context, just simply because like you're eating innings over 82 games. And like Gabe was out most of the year. Jared Vanderbilt was out most of the year. Max Christie was on the fringe of the rotation for lesser players.

most of the year. And so by kind of infusing that into the roster, that will certainly help. But none of those guys are what I would consider to be like rock solid two-way starters, right? Like that, and rock solid two-way starters, these are the guys that you see on these championship teams, guys like Derek White, guys like Contavius Caldwell Pope on that Nuggets team, guys like Aaron Gordid, going back to the Warriors, like what Andrew Wiggins was before he declined, right? Like those are what I would consider to be rock solid starters.

Clay Thompson, circa 2022, was kind of a rock solid starter. Going back to 2021, a guy like Brooke Lopez, rock solid starter. The Lakers just don't have that outside of Austin, Reeves, LeBron, James, and Anthony Davis. And so even though Gabe and Vando and Max Christie supplements specific needs in terms of perimeter defense, they have other issues that they bring to the table, right? Gabe is small and is kind of a streaky shooter. Jared Vanderbilt's a very limited offensive player, right? Max Christie is very, very young and struggles when he puts the ball on the floor to make decisions, right?

And so there's a lack of reliability on a consistent basis with those guys, which prevents them from being like rock solid starters. But I think you can get away with a Jared Vanderbilt or a Gabe or even a max starting in a playoff run as long as you get a third star. Like if it was Austin, LeBron, AD, some other star, and then you had a limited fifth starter. That's one thing. But if they can't get like a rock solid star, then I think you need two rock solid starters between Austin, LeBron, and AD. Does that make sense? So like, if I'm seeing Gabe or Vando start playoff games for the Lakers, I'm hoping that

there's a star in there somewhere that they went after because otherwise I don't think they have what they need in that starting lineup. But thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show. I do sincerely appreciate your guys to support. And as you guys all know, there's plenty of negativity, especially. every time player rankings come around. And so you guys always outweigh that many times over. Jason, the Mavs defense wasn't the issue in the finals.

I'd argue that their defense actually held up pretty well. It was the offense that totally collapsed. Luca had a bad defensive performance in the finals. That much is true, but his defense has only improved year over year. And as you pointed out, Boston is incredibly unique being able to attack in that department. Luca, being a liability on defense, really only showed up in the finals, and he was still the best player on the court while his co-star and supporting cast

totally flatlined. And while it's not an excuse, but people are still not even taking into account his banged up knees slash playing through injury while carrying the level of offensive load. The criticism of Lucas' defense is definitely warranted, but in my opinion it's gone overboard. And this is the continuation of what we were talking about earlier. I think the main reason that people are pointing to is that it has something to do with his conditioning. Like he looks like someone who doesn't care about being in peak shape. So then when he gets hurt, people are going to associate it with the fact that he's not

in peak shape. And so then that kind of puts a different optic, like the optics around it are just different, right? I agree that Boston is a bad matchup. And I do think Luca is capable of holding up defensively in the majority of matchups, which is why I still have him extremely high on this list. For the record, when I was ranking Luca on this list, the Boston series didn't have any sort of negative impact on it for me. But we'll get more, we'll get more into that when we get to Luca, which will not be until next week. That's how high. is up on this list. What, this is a very good question from one of you guys.

What is your personal definition of clutch? And what does a player need in order to be clutch? So, I'd say that there's, I'd say it's, okay, this is the, I'm missing the second half of your question here. Here it is. I'd say there's two main categories, playing in a clutch game and having a clutch moment with the truly great players demonstrating both time and time again. as examples, if I need to choose a point guard to come through in a really important game,

I'd pick Steph Curry, but if I needed to put a guard on the court to hit a game-tying shot, or a game-winning shot, I'd want Kyrie. So this is a super interesting question. Clutch to me is about so many different things. Everyone wants to focus on shot making, right? Like this is the Michael Jordan 3-2-1 at the buzzer type of shot, right? We saw Kobe Bryant was the next face of this type of thing. Kevin Durant is the face of this kind of thing now, along with guys like Kyrie Irving, right?

But to me, Clutch is so much more complicated than that. There's decision-making with the ball, right? Not taking a tough shot if you don't have to. Making the right reads when the defense is throwing multiple defenders at a star, not turning the basketball over. Game play and discipline, this is mainly on the defensive end of the floor. So like avoiding mistakes, like losing a shooter when you're playing off the ball, doing the wrong thing in a coverage.

Like if the coverage asks you to go over the screen and you go under the screen and the guy hits the three in a big time moment, you didn't do your job within the scheme, right? Missing a box out. Not like that was the big thing I was talking about with Joel Embed in that game against Serbia. It's like, oh, Embed hit these three straight shots and they were huge shots. And I'm not trying to take that away. Those were huge feathers in his cap for that game. But then he would go right down to the other end and not do his job on the defensive glass. Like that's also part of clutch basketball.

Like doing your job and not making mistakes is important because in the large sample you can weather mistakes, but in the small sample, mistakes can kill you. And then clutch defense. Like remember when Janice was like single-handedly shutting down the sun's pick and roll at the end of the 2021, 2021-20-201 finals, or like LeBron, his ability to switch on to guards, like when he switched on to Jamal Murray in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, or when he switched on to Derek Rose, the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, like that is another element. of being clutch, is if you're just a defensive weapon that can be deployed, that shuts down an action at the end of games. So like, is important. There are a lot of times where you need someone to take and make tough shots. They are an important part of clutch basketball, but simplifying clutch basketball down to just iso ball is a mistake. In my opinion, I don't understand how Kauai, who hasn't played in forever, is far ahead of Jha Morant. While Prime Jaws, I think the metric for ranking should be consistent, as you said in one of

your mailbag responses, availability is as important as ability. Right now, I'd pick Jalen Brown, Devin Booker, and Jalen Brunson ahead of Kauai, no offense. And again, the main thing for me here is Kauai and Jimmy Butler were just kind of in like a separate tier. Like I put them both at 12 and 13 as like deliberately as like a gap tier. But the reality is as far as Jah goes is Jaws had similar availability issues and never has shown anything close to the same stratosphere of playoff dominance as Kauai Leonard did. Last question.

Hey Jason, just wondering what you think of all the discourse surrounding Steve Kerr lately. A ton of people on Twitter were trashing him during the Olympics for his lineup decisions, and that vitriol sort of started in Feeba last year. I think he did a perfectly fine job in Paris. Tatum wasn't playing well, and Steph just needed to get into a groove. Even before those last two games where Steph went nuclear, he was still demanding a ton of defensive attention so his gravity had tremendous value. Do you think Kerr was deserving of the Fiba in Olympics head coaching positions,

and what mistakes, if any, do you think he made? which coach in the league other than Spoe is objectively better than him. So there's a huge difference between mistakes and disagreements. Coaches have philosophies, and a lot of times they're trying to inflict those philosophies onto whatever their roster is. Now, for instance, Steve Kerr tends to solve problems with ball handling and guard play. So he went with a lot of three-guard lineups with Team USA, despite the fact that he had an excellent core of forwards.

that's not necessarily a mistake. It's just not necessarily what I would do, but that's just because Kerr's basketball philosophy is different than mine, right? And so that's the thing. Like, Steve Kerr, there was multiple pathways from when the roster was built to the gold medal. There was different ways to get there, different styles, different, you know, rotations, different offensive schemes they could have run, different defensive schemes they could have run. They could have done so many different things, right?

Like we were talking before, like, I want, I was originally thinking Tatum would start. I was originally thinking like go Steph, Tatum, LeBron, KD, A.D., and just switch everything, right? Like, and here's the thing. I could have coached Team USA. If I'm not saying, I'm not qualified to coach Team USA, but if I happened to be just given that job for whatever damn reason, and I decided that that was how I was going to do it, and I was going to let Embed an aunt, you know, just take over the bench group,

just letting them cook on an island. and we ran more drop coverage with that group, and I'm not going to get into all the things. But if I, like, built my own scheme, it would look different than what Steve Kerr did, and it's very possible that we could have still won the title. That wouldn't mean that I was right and Steve Kerr was wrong, or that Steve Kerr was right and I was wrong.

Like, that's the main thing is, like, a lot of times we see a coach doing something and we just call it wrong or we call it mistake instead of just different philosophy. There are times where it's wrong. Like, when Darwin Ham is playing Tori and Prince as the starter with the Lakers when he just simply has better basketball players available behind him and it's actively causing them to lose games as they go three and ten over a 13 game

stretch. That's different. Team you say won every damn game. And were there things that, the main two things that I disagreed with is I thought he went a little small, a few too many three-guard lineups, and then I thought the way that he used Tatum was a problem. Because specifically with Tatum, I thought it was a confidence thing. And I thought it could have been beneficial to lean more into Tatum early and hope that he got out of it in time for the metal round games. But Steve Kerr made a different decision. He's like, Tatum doesn't have it. I'm going to use him very sparingly. I'm going to focus on these guys. And it worked. And so that's the thing. Like, I would imagine that if I was coaching a basketball

team in any sort of national context, there would be a lot of people who would disagree with things that I would do. And there would be things potentially where I was wrong where it's like all the data says this, all the obvious eye test stuff says this, and I'm still doing this stupid-ass thing. That's one thing. But there are a lot of things in basketball where it's like, you could do this or you could do this. And this scheme might work or this scheme might work. Like, remember Boston in the 2021, or 2022 finals, they're like running a ton of drop coverage against Steph Curry. And there was a moment through three games where you're like, it's kind of working. Like, Steph's not hitting enough shots to torch it. Like he's hitting some shots, but he's not

hitting enough shots. And like, I guess the idea is you're keeping your defense out of rotation. So maybe this is working. And then game four happens and Steph Curry lights your drop coverage on fire and you lose the finals. And then all of a sudden it's not working. And so a lot of times we end up playing the results. Like, what if Team USA doesn't come back to win that game against Serbia?

Now everyone calls Steve Kerr an idiot. And that's just kind of the reality of the job. Being the head coach of a, you know, five plus billion dollar franchise in America, which comes with a ton of pressure, it's not an easy job. And that's the thing. Like I, Steve Kerr did some things that if I had been coaching the team,

I would have done differently. That doesn't make him wrong. It's just his specific basketball philosophy, and he won the damn trophy, or the gold medal, I should say, which is all that matter. matters. I think Steve Kerr is the second best coach in the league behind Eric Spolstra. And that's the thing. Like there are, talk to Heat fans. Talk to Heat fans. I've seen

Heat fans complain about Spolstra because they disagree with something he does with his basketball philosophy. And that's just kind of the reality of the way that that job kind of just leads to a lot of criticism. Right. It's just, it's kind of unavoidable. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you for supporting the show. We'll be back on Wednesday with number nine and number eight. I will see you guys then. The volume. The NFL seasons right around the corner.

We'll be breaking down all the off-season storylines on the Colin Cowherd podcast. My best takes, guests like my buddy Nick Wright, check out the Colin Coward podcast, part of the Volume Network, available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, S&L'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. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not. not only legal, but encouraged.

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Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind, podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifference. and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app,

podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.