The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Top 25 Players of Last 25 Years: Why Kevin Durant is the best scorer of all time

Episode Date: September 2, 2023

Jason Timpf continues his ranking of the top 25 players in the last 25 years by revealing No. 6, Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns. Having averaged over 27 points a game for his entire career, Jason claims that KD is the best scorer of ALL TIME. #Volume #HerdSee 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.

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 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 IHard 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at The Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had an incredible week. We are live on Amp.

So if you're watching on YouTube, we're listening on the podcast feeds. Don't forget that Amp is the very first place that you guys can get these shows. Continuing our top 25 players in the last 25 years today with number six, Kevin Durant. We're also going to hit three mailbag questions off the top.

You guys know the drill. Before we get started, subscribe to the volumes 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 any show announcements. And if for whatever reason you miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget you can find them wherever you get your podcasts under hoops tonight.

Last but not least, before we get started, mailbag questions. Got another week full of them next week. And then maybe even into the future from there, I've kind of had some fun with that this week. So don't forget to drop your questions in the YouTube comments. All right, let's talk some basketball. So first mailbag question from Charles.

Hey, Jason, huge fan. I've always wondered how you felt about older players like Charles Barkley, calling today's NBA soft and how nobody plays any real defense anymore. So I'm not going to target Charles specifically here, but just in general, some of the older generation of players. I understand why there's a little bit of saltiness there. Like, think about it. It's objectively a way better time to be an NBA player now than 30 years ago.

I think we can say that without much debate, right? I mean, they make a lot more money. The way they travel is much better. The access to medical care that they have is much better. In general, I would guess you call it the traditions or the expectations, the unwritten kind of like life of an NBA player is easier in the same. sense of like, hey, if you're dealing with a nagging injury, just take a rest instead of that, you know, kind of like societal pressure, so to speak, within the NBA to play through

all of that, like there was 30 years ago. The social media presence, the ability to make money off the court, it's just way better to be an NBA player now compared to the way it used to be. And so I think a lot of these guys are kind of passive aggressive about it from the standpoint of being a little bit jealous. That said, like, it kind of bums me out because what I don't understand from it is I would imagine just from sheerly from the standpoint of loving the game, you would enjoy watching the next generation and seeing the direction they're taking the game. And I want to be clear, it's not everybody. There are a lot of older guys that do pay the appropriate respect.

Alan Iverson is a guy who pays a ton of respect to this generation. Jerry West is a guy who pays a ton of respect to this generation. So there are guys like that out there. They're just few and far between. And I think it sucks because the future of basketball, to me is bright, especially as you start to look around the world and the way that the NBA is appealing to other countries and people all around the globe. So like, it's a bummer, but I understand it. It just mostly has to do with how much better it is to be an NBA player now compared to

the way it used to be. All right, next mailback question from Ace. Seeing how the league is becoming more positionless every year, what really is a power forward or a small forward? How would you redefine positions if you could? So I don't necessarily think that there are positions so to speak, there are archetypes, but your position is what job you can fulfill on the court. And like I've always said, there's just a ton of jobs to fill, right? On the defensive end, is there a big man that can guard and pick and roll, or a big man that can switch onto a guard if you needed to switch and pick and roll? How many players on your roster are capable of banging with a post player, right?

Like, it was nice to have Ruiz Hatrimura to throw at a guy like Nicola Yokic, right? Like those are those bigger forwards sometimes that can bang with a post player. That's an advantage. Who can lock and trail, meaning who can like chase a shooter, round screens without constantly getting caught up and giving up separation. Who can guard at the point of attack? That involves containing dribble penetration in one-on-one situations and the ability to chase over the top of screens and funnel guards into the paint, right?

Those are all parts of point of attack defense. How many guys can bother a pull-up shooting wing? We have a lot of guys like Jeremy Grant, Paul George, Brandon Ingram, Kevin Durant. They're all over the league. These guys that are 6-7 to 6-10 that have a dribble hand, a crazy dribble package and footwork package to get to pull up jump shots. many guys can actually bother them versus guys that, you know, those guys just see over the top of and don't even think about when they rise up to shoot. Then we have low man responsibilities, right?

Like, can you guard in the weak side corner, help at the rim, and rotate out to bother a shooter? How many guys can fulfill that responsibility? Now, as we go to archetypes, certain archetypes are better at fulfilling certain of those responsibilities. So for instance, like a big forward. Think of like the Rui Hachamura type, the Thaddeus Young type, that big strong forward, right? That type of guy usually is going to thrive in low-man situations because they're big enough to help and they're usually athletic enough to bother a shooter. They're usually capable of banging with post-players, and usually they're big and strong enough to bother pull-up jump-shooting wings,

but they're not going to be as good chasing over the top of screens, right? So they're not going to be as good at the point of attack. They're not going to be good chasing shooters around, right? That's why a guy like Rui Hachamura wasn't as valuable in the Golden State series as he was in the next round against Denver, right? So different archetypes of players will struggle with different responsibilities and succeed with others. The skinnier forwards, the Jaden McDaniels type. They're usually great at locking and trailing because they're slender and nimble and they're good at avoiding screens.

They're usually great at the point of attack because they have quicker feet than bigger forwards, and they have that length and athleticism to bother people. And again, sideling over the top of screens. They're also usually pretty good at bothering pull-up jump shooting wings as well because they've got the length and size, right? Then we have like the shorter, stockier wings, right? Or bigger athletic guards, whatever you want to call them. This is your Bruce Brown type, your, you know, Alex Caruso type of guard, right? That type of guy is usually outstanding locking and trailing because they've got low center of gravity and they're good athletes.

So they're really difficult to screen. They're usually great at the point of attack for the same reason. And then there are a different type of, you know, it depends. Some of them are good at bothering pull-up jump shooting wings when they bother their base. But then there are others of them where they can get a shot off over the top. Those of you guys who were Lakers fans a couple years ago might remember, you know, Tobias Harris getting a turnaround fadeaway over Alex Caruso at the left elbow that he didn't even see Alex Crusoe. Why? Because as good as he is defensively, he's just a little too short. And so I can go on and on and on. We can talk about the difference between bigger, slower centers versus smaller, more athletic centers and the pros and cons of each of them. But the reality is, is when you are on a basketball team, let's put it this way from the same point of the coach or the GM. I've got a list of responsibilities that need. need to be filled, and I need to have players in that lineup, any given five-man lineup, needs to be able to fulfill all those responsibilities.

So ideally, if I was building a basketball team from scratch, I'd like to have an athletic center that's versatile enough to work in different coverages. I'd want a big strong forward. I'd want a slender athletic forward. I'd want a stocky athletic guard, and then preferably another stocky athletic guard, if I could pull that off with having all the offensive skill necessary. We just talked about defense. We take it to the offensive end of the floor, a lot of similar.

responsibilities have to be filled, right? You've got to have ball handling. You've got to have guys that can catch and shoot or catch and attack closeouts. You've got to have guys that can screen and roll hard to the rim. Maybe a guy who can dunk quickly out of the dunker spot, provide vertical spacing, right? Like a guy that can run second side action when your primary ball handler needs a rest. There's a bunch of different elements there that need to be filled, and different archetypes of players can take certain responsibilities off of that list. That's a really long way of saying, like, it's super complicated and no one's going to be able to, like, shrink basketball down to four or five positions. There's a million different archetypes of players, maybe not a million,

but there's probably about a dozen different archetypes of players. And it, you know, so many different players fill, you know, kind of different spots from each of those sets of responsibilities. And so it's infinitely complicated. As I say all the time, that's saying that I stole from Mark Titus, like basketball's an art, not a science. Like, it's not something that you can really quantify most of the time. All right. Last mailback question today from Pierce. Do you think it's more difficult for a singular player in the modern NBA to amass as many accolades as players in the past in the 80s and 90s

due to an increase in parity and league-wide talent. If so, should that be factored into all-time debates? Here's the thing. Yeah, probably. Like, there's just a lot more talent in the league now. Like, how many... Like, think of it this way. Like, LeBron has managed to, you know,

kind of scrounge together a certain reputation in this era, and he's had to go up against Kevin Durant and Steph Curry and Kauai Leonard and Janice Santinacupo. You get the point. Like, it's been a stacked era. And so, yeah, the dominance isn't there that you see from earlier eras where maybe there wasn't as much talent in the league. Is that true?

Yeah. But here's the reality. And, like, I have so many people in the comments the last few weeks, really since we started doing the top 25 players for this season. So what's at, almost five weeks now? So many people are like Jason's obsession with winning. Jason's winning bias in a comment yesterday. I was like, what does that even mean?

Winning bias? But like my obsession with winning is not an obsession with winning. It's an obsession with what actually happened. Hypotheticals and context might help you plan for the future. Forget about basketball for a second. Think about your life. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I might do this.

Maybe this could happen. Maybe this won't happen. Those things can help you plan for the future. And so, yeah, I will think about hypotheticals and confidence. context from the same point, like if I was building an NBA team, if I was a GM, I'm not going to care as much about team result as how each individual player contributed because I'm planning for the future and maybe I can get a discount by taking a winning player out of a losing situation, right? Like as a GM, you might think that way. But when we're talking about the history,

that's pointless. You saying maybe I should have done that, maybe this didn't, what would have happened if this didn't happen, thinking about hypotheticals and context for the past accomplishes nothing for you in your life. All it does is lead to regret, right? So that's kind of the way I feel about basketball. Like, maybe could LeBron have dominated to a higher extent in a different era? Maybe, but he didn't play in the 84 to 98 stretch, right? He played from 2003 to the present. So like it doesn't serve any purpose. It doesn't accomplish anything to go back and do that. Now, I'm not saying that. there's anything wrong with talking about that kind of stuff.

And there are a lot of shows out there and a lot of people out there who love to talk about hypotheticals in context for the past. And the hypotheticals and the context do exist. I just find them to be of low value in this type of situation. Like, oh, maybe if Katie and Steph didn't team up, LeBron has five championships or six championships, yeah, that's great, but Katie and Steph did team up. And Katie and Steph beat LeBron twice. So what exactly are you wanting?

Do you want to, like, do you want to give LeBron a hyponipzig? hypothetical championship? Like, it's just, what are we going to do? Like, just start giving out a hypothetical trophy every year. Like, it just, to me, it doesn't serve any purpose. And so with me in this show, and again, like, you guys can do it however you want, but on this particular show, like, I'm going to focus on hypotheticals in context when planning for the future in reality and what actually happened in the past.

And that's just the way that things are going to work on this particular show. 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped 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 with 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 a 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 on 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. Yes. 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 Podcasts, or wherever you get your All right. Moving on to number six in our top 25 players the last 25 years, Kevin Durant.

Ackolades, the best or second best player on a championship team twice. Both Katie and Steph were playing at a ridiculous level in those years. The reality was, is there was a top tier of superstars that was three players. It was LeBron, Steph, and KD. They were all on the same tier. I think LeBron was slightly better than them, but the two of them were right there, and they were on the same team. So, like, I don't feel comfortable calling any of them, you know, the best player on the championship team or the second best player on the championship team because it kind of feels unfair to the other guy no matter how you put it, right? So you can rank them however you want.

For the era, I generally view Steph as slightly better than KD. Why? Because you beat KD head to head in 2016 and he has two championships without KD. So like we talked about in the last topic, I can't deny what actually happened in NBA history. I think Steph has a slight edge. But for the purposes of this particular list, I'm just going to keep it vague. Best or second best player on two championship teams. Six-time first-team all-MBA, 10-time All-MBA overall.

Four-time scoring champion. He had two 50-40-90 seasons, and he won the regular season MVP in 2014 and won back-to-back NBA Finals MVP's in 2017 and 2018. His claim to fame, he's the best score of all time, in my opinion. His 27.3 points per game is the fourth highest career points per game average in NBA history. Michael Jordan is number one. Wilt Chamberlain is number two. both of those guys are just over 30 points per game.

And then Elgin Baylor is number three at 27.4 points per game. So KD actually has a chance to pass him in the coming years, especially if he continues his 29 point per game regular season average that he's had post-Aquillies. But Katie's career 50% field goal percentage, 39% from three, seven made free throws a game at 89%. Again, he's literally like a career 50, 40-90 guy. That puts him at a career 62% true shooting. So to give you an idea, that's five.

5% higher than Michael Jordan's career true shooting percentage of 57%. But here's the thing. Obviously, there's eras at play there. Katie has the benefit of the knowledge of this era and the value of three-point shooting, which was clearly promoted in a way differently in this era than it was in MJ's era, right? But here's why I'd put KD over MJ as a score all-time anyway. KD did most of this by staying in the flow of an offense. MJ was a gunner. This is a crazy stat. Michael Jordan attempted 31 shots per 100 possess.

in his career. Kevin Durant attempted 26 shots per 100 possessions in his career. So again, like there are two players, the top two scores among players who didn't retire before 1975, right? Because Will and Elgin Baylor both retired in I think 72, 73, 74 around that time. So aside from those guys, MJ and KD are the top of the league. MJ's at 30 points per game. KD's at 27 points per game far more efficient, and he did it on 26 shots per 100 possessions. M.J. did it on 31 shots per 100 possessions. So literally, MJ shot about 20% more frequently as KD did. And so that's not a downside to Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, in my opinion. But in my opinion, KD somehow managed to put up one of the best career points per game

scoring averages in NBA history on outrageous efficiency. and did it all without really rocking the boat anywhere that he was, which is why he's arguably the most plug-in-playable superstar in the history of the NBA, right? And that's what allowed him to go wherever he went and immediately fit in and be a great player on both ends of the floor. So it's up for debate, but for me personally, I think Kevin Durant goes down as the best score of all time.

His claim to fame was winning back-to-back finals MVP's in 2017 and 2018. The Thunder years were really weird. There was this like rapid ascent, right? they end up in this war with the Lakers in 2010, where they go to six in the first round against the team that went on to win a championship, by the way. Katie and Russ were 21 years old in that series, by the way. 2011, they end up in the conference finals and lose to that ridiculous Dallas Mavericks team. Then suddenly they're in the NBA finals in 2012.

So it was like rapid ascension, right? They're up 1-0, but LeBron was on a mission that year. He closes the deal. KD, in the loss in the 2012 finals, puts up a stupid 31. per game on 55% from the field, 39% from 3 and 84% from the line. That's a 65% true shooting percentage. But then the thunder trade James Harden away that summer, which turned out to be kind of like a catastrophic mistake

that crippled the thunder in their progress over the coming years. So then 2013, we get the Patrick Beverly dive at Russell Westbrook's knee, which causes him to tear his meniscus, which causes him to miss the rest of the playoff run. And then Katie basically loses to the Memphis Grizzlies by himself. Now, don't forget, that was when we had the missed. Unreliable headline in the newspaper. How ridiculous is this? KD was 24 years old, lost Hardin and Westbrook,

lost to an outstanding Memphis Grizzlies team in his hometown paper called a Mr. Unreliable. Is that not the most ridiculous headline in the history of sports? But then KD has a breakout season in 2014, wins the MVP award, kind of starts to enter into conversations with LeBron, although I don't think Katie really got to that level for another couple years after that. But then they lose in six games to that ridiculous San Antonio team that basically perfected team basketball and was just unbeatable that year.

Then Katie Hertz's foot in 2015 and they missed the playoffs. So again, like you're at the title, you're right there. You know, game two, you have a late lead. Like so many things could go your way. And the next thing you know, it's like one bad decision from the front office, an unfortunate injury, a really good team in 2014. and then another injury, and it's like all of a sudden it's 2016, and they hadn't won a title yet. But then we have that ridiculous 2016 Thunder team,

which was like outrageously big. This was their starting lineup. Stephen Adams, Serge Baca in his athletic prime, Andre Roberson, one of the best defensive wings in the league, and Kevin Durant at seven foot at the two next to Russell Westberg, or maybe Roberson at the two, however you want to call it. But they were just absurdly big in athletic.

And as a result, they were kind of a pain in the ass, and they caused some problems for Golden State. they go up 3-1. Game 1, KD has a miserable shooting night, but finally gets a huge shot to go. He hits the biggest shot of the game, a pull-up jump shot with 31 seconds left that puts OKC up by 5. Warriors win game 2. Then Oklahoma City just dominates game 3 and 4, just absolute landslide victories. Their size, athleticism and strength combined with the home crowd energy that Oklahoma City had

just made them really tough to beat at home that year. So they're up three games to 1. Game 5 was closer than people remember. KD hits a 3 with 4.5 minutes left. to bring Oklahoma City within five, but Golden State does end up holding serve, as was to be expected. Then in game six, Clay Thompson goes crazy as 25 points in the second half, can't seem to miss a three. But the Thunder are still up by five with four and a half minutes left, but the thunder just fall apart down the stretch. KD over the final four and a half minutes of game six goes O for three from the field with two turnovers. Russell Westbrook has four turnovers in the final two minutes, the first of which happened

when the game was tied. KD gets Clay Thompson on a switch. Russ looks him off, tries to ice so Andre Godala gets stripped, and then Clay Thompson goes down and hits basically what ended up being the game winner along the right wing. And then Russ followed that up with three back-to-back-to-back turnovers, not the brightest moment. But that was a weird Oklahoma City team. And I've said this before. Like, I loved Russell Westbrook when he was in athletic, his athletic prime. He's so much fun to watch. But really difficult player to win playoff series with because of his decision-making, especially in late game situations. And so honestly, like, I understood why KD wanted to leave. it made perfect sense to me.

I just, none of us ever thought he would have gone to Golden State. That was the crazy part. It completely shocks the basketball world by signing as a free agent with Golden State. And it's like I put in my notes just all caps crazy because like when I was thinking about it again this afternoon, like it really is crazy. I mean like you guys know I love KD, but I'm not sure what exactly he was expecting to happen when he made that decision. It was like almost guaranteed to have everybody go like, come on, dude. And you know what's funny is like I admired the move from KD from a basketball perspective because I genuinely believe that KD looked at Golden State and thought this is the best place

for me to become the best basketball player that I can be with one of the best coaches in the league in a ball movement system with a bunch of really smart. high IQ basketball players. That's what I think KD was thinking. I don't think he was looking at Golden State like, shit, man, I'm going to get easy titles over there. I don't think he was thinking about that. I think KD at his core is a person who loves basketball.

And I think he's obsessed with becoming the best basketball player that he can be. And I think he viewed Golden State as the place for that to happen for him. That said, I think it was an error in judgment from the standpoint that I don't think he realized at the time just how ridiculous the backlash. would be. But it's not hard to figure out. It's like, dude, you lost to a 73 win team in the conference finals when you had a 3-1 lead. You left your team to join that team, the greatest team of all time with one of the few guys in the league that's on the same level as LeBron. And then suddenly, it's like the three best players in the league are LeBron, KD, and Steph, and KD and Steph play

together. Like, of course they won a bunch of championships after that, right? So I think there was, I think KD's kind of narrow-minded focus on basketball was admirable, but foolish at the same time in the sense that it kind of put him in a position where his reputation kind of suffered as a result. I do think KD.'s recovered that reputation a lot just by virtue of how amazing he is. And I think a lot of people overlooked like, yeah, like he won some easier championships, but that doesn't mean he's not a great basketball player. Like, why were those championships easy?

Because Kevin Rand's so freaking good at basketball, right? So I do think that he won people over in the long run. But, I mean, predictably, they whipped everyone's ass. They immediately won 67 games. They won 15 consecutive playoff games in the ridiculous Western Conference. Finished off the Cavs in five to win Katie's first NBA championship. Kind of a cool moment in game three. They pull up three over LeBron.

One of the things I really appreciate about that specific shot is that was a shot that Katie worked on his entire career. That high hesitation out of the left hand pull-up three in transition has been a go-to move for Katie his entire career. He's probably practiced at thousands and thousands and thousands of times. and so to see it come to fruition for him on the biggest stage is a really cool moment. I think I would imagine that KD looks back on that moment with a lot of fondness. But the Warriors went again the following season, and in my opinion they would have won again in

2019 at KD not torn his Achilles. KD finishes his Golden State tenure, averaging 26 points, seven rebounds, and five assists per game on 64% true shooting. I thought 2017 was also the best defensive season of his career. He kind of functioned as the low man in Golden State's defense like Draymond would defend him pick and roll, and Katie would kind of fill that Janus role where he's guarding the man in the weak side corner, but primarily operating as a rim protector. Did a lot of damage at the rim that year.

But then he tears his Achilles, easily the scariest injury for any basketball player, and he just got through it and made the most impressive return from that injury that any of us have ever seen. 137 regular season games since coming back from his Achilles injury, 29, 7, and 6 on 66% true shooting. which is just fucking ridiculous, man. One great playoff moment, Damnier stole the Eastern Conference semis against Milwaukee

with Kyrie Irving out with an ankle injury and James Harden on a Ben Hammy. That turnaround jump shot was tow just barely on the line. One, two inches back, he is in the conference finals and probably beats Atlanta and probably has a good chance to beat Phoenix as well. So it's kind of, especially if you factor in the ability of Kyrie and James Hardin to return to the lineup at full strength

at some point over the next month. But then he had two rough shooting series in the last couple years against Denver and Boston. Really quickly, before we go to his biggest what-if, Kevin Durant completely mastered the pull-up jump shot. I think that would be Kevin Durant's kind of like skill imprint on the game of basketball.

Katie shot 55% on pull-up jump shots this year. Like well over half of them. To give you an idea of how outrageous that is, Among players in the NBA who made at least three pull-up jump shots per game, nobody in the entire NBA shot over 50% on him, and KD was at 55%. So in like the same way that Steph is miles above the rest of the league as a three-point shooter, KD is miles above the rest of the league as a pull-up jump shooter.

And I think if you asked KD what he would tell you was what he would credit for that is his workout routine. And he has a kind of thing that he says all the time talking about, talking about taking those shots at game speed. And, you know, it's funny because I relay that message to the high school players that I coach all the time. But like, if you do not do reps at game speed, then when you get into a game and the physicality goes up a level and things get quicker just because of the intensity, you will miss shots. And I think a big part of YKD makes as many of the pull-up jump shots as he does is when he goes to the gym tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon or, whatever to do his shooting workout, he's going to be bringing an intensity to that workout that

matches the intensity that he brings in an NBA playoff game, which allows that skill to translate when he gets there, maybe a little bit less under physicality, but like, because you're not obviously going to get yourself fouled like crazy in a workout, but he gets the most out of every workout because of the intensity that he approaches it with. And just go look up KD's shooting workouts. You can see it. It just looks different with the intensity that he brings to workouts. biggest what if KD's career, what if Oklahoma City had kept James Harden? Had they done so, they would have had three of the top ten players in the league all in their primes. And then again, like, now you run into that question about talent and how easy a championship looks, right?

Like, because people, fans, the general public wants to see a struggle. That's just something that they give extra credit for. You know, fair or not, that's just the way it works. But the thing is, is like there's this other thing with public perception where when you dominate, but it's homegrown talent, you're off the hook. And people just look at that as dominance. It's like the Denver Nuggets. They were,

the Denver Nuggets were way better than everybody this year. They literally kicked everyone's ass. And had they, like, signed Jamal Murray as a free agent this summer and signed Michael Porter Jr. as a free agent this summer and, like, traded for Aaron Gordon and then just did it all this year. There'd be this weird, like, oh, of course they kicked everyone's ass. They, you know, went out this summer and spent a bunch of money, right? But that's not what happened.

There were homegrown players. And so Denver whoops everyone's ass and gets all the credit in the world for it, right? And that's the thing is I don't think, I think if KD stays in, or James Hardin stays in OKC, KD stays in OKC, they probably win multiple championships, and there's probably an entirely different perception surrounding his career. So it's an interesting what if. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. I hope you guys all have an amazing weekend. Don't forget to drop some mailback questions in there. We will be back on Monday with number five. Volume.

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 Podcast. or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford 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 Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.