The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - USA-Germany Reaction: LeBron ERUPTS in 4th, Team USA survives another scare

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Jason Timpf reacts to LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Team USA's 92-88 win over Germany in their exhibition ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris. Jason discusses LeBron's dominant 4th quarter, in which he scored the final 11 points of the game for Team USA, and why the American team has found themselves in closer games than expected, including Saturday's unexpected thriller vs. South Sudan. Later, Jason breaks down who he thinks would win between LeBron and Anthony Davis' 2020 Lakers vs. Jayson Tatum's 2024 Boston Celtics.   Timeline: 3:00 - Introduction 7:15- USA vs. Germany Reaction 17:45 - What is going on with Team USA? 27:30 - LeBron vs. Michael Jordan 30:00 - Joel Embiid's Team USA comments 33:45 - 2020 Lakers vs. 2024 Celtics (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.

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everybody. Of all of you guys had a great weekend. We had unexpected great basketball on Saturday as the team from South Sudan gave Team USA a hell of a battle. And we ended up with the LeBron James game winner. And then Germany, likewise, takes a fourth quarter lead against USA today. And once again, LeBron James down the stretch, 11 points in the final four minutes. I want to talk a little bit about LeBron and how him kind of rising to the top of the USA pile is super interesting and what that means and what makes it interesting. I want to talk about why this team has struggled a little bit because I think there are some misconceptions. about Feeba basketball and how tough these games actually are.

But I think we can all agree they shouldn't be in, you know, clutch time slugfest every single, every single night either. So they're clearly underachieving a little bit. So we're going to talk a little bit about what's going on with Team USA. After that, I have three big questions I want to hit. I want to talk a little bit more about LeBron in the big picture. I want to talk about Joel Embed in his interview and some of those weird questions

or weird answers that he gave. And then at the end, I got in a little trouble on Twitter the other day for saying that I thought the 2020 Lakers would beat the 2024 Celtics in a series. So I want to dive into that. That's going to be a little segment we have where we go over three fake questions. 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.

Don't forget about our podcast feed. Remember, it'd be really helpful if you guys leave a rating and a review on that front. And then keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments. We are going to do a mailbag later this week as we kill some time heading into the Olympics. And last but not least, before we get started, I want to talk to you guys about game time. Game time has come through super clutch for me a couple times recently for dead-in-company tickets. I used them again. I used them while I was in Vegas to get a last-minute deal. But then I had to take my wife back out there. So we're going the final weekend that they're out there.

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And then it finally got approved. So that's going to be airing on the feed tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. standard time. I'm going to tweet out another reminder of it tonight. But it was really fun for my first time ever interviewing an NBA player. Jaime Haukes also just had a very productive summer league. He's got named second team all summer league. I dove into a bunch of stuff with the USA Select team, his time with the Miami Heat. His development is a post score. I thought it was really interesting. I'm excited for you guys to see that. That's going to be on the feeds tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. And again, thank you guys for your patience on that front. So, Why is it such a big deal that in these big moments on Team USA

that LeBron James seems to be the guy that is most comfortable taking things over and bringing the team home? And the reason why is simple, these are really high pressure moments. Like any loss for this team is a disaster. Imagine the news cycle this morning on all your favorite shows if South Sudan had won on Saturday. Imagine the news cycle tomorrow, if they had a lot of, barely escaped South Sudan on Saturday and then somehow blown.

Well, I mean, they were trailing in the fourth quarter against Germany today. Like, what if they had lost that game? Imagine the new cycle tomorrow. As far as the LeBron stuff goes, I have a lot of guys who listen to this show who are not LeBron fans who dislike LeBron. It's not a huge shock. He's a very polarizing player, right? But there are a lot of you, I know, that had LeBron gotten blocked on that right-handed

layup against South Sudan or if he had settled for a lot of. a pull-up jump shot and missed it, you know damn well the kind of things you would have been saying, right? These are high-pressure moments. There's a lot to lose here. Obviously, they're not in the actual elimination games, and that will add another layer to things when they get to that point. But these are really high-pressure moments. And LeBron is taking a personal responsibility in that situation to be responsible for the outcome. In high-pressure moments on a basketball team, it requires a huge amount of confidence in your ability to

grab the reins and take that personal responsibility in the outcome. And again, we know what LeBron's abilities are. He's bigger and stronger and faster than the majority of players in the world, which is insane at his age, but it's the truth. I think this game against Germany was an excellent kind of showcase for LeBron's footwork. I always talk about the idea of a score getting to their spots, right? And to get to your spots, there are multiple elements there. There's a floor vision piece.

You've got to be going at the right times when the space. on the floor actually dictates that there's an opportunity for you to get to a spot on the floor. So there's like a basketball IQ element of it. You also have to pass yourself into those opportunities as a primary ball handler. There is a massive brain and IQ element to it. The second piece of it is skill. You got to have the ball control to get to where you are, where you're trying to get to while having enough control over the basketball to then get to a shot,

whether it's a fade away over your right shoulder or fade away over your left shoulder or float or a hook shot or whatever it might be, there's a skill element. Well, the third element to it is footwork. You actually have to be able to get there without traveling while also doing it against elite athletes. And the only way you're going to do it against elite athletes is if you have the footwork to be efficient with your movements while you go to that spot. So for instance, if you waste energy with a negative step, if you waste energy by having to hop instead of getting to a one too because you're uncomfortable getting your foot to that spot. If you can drop step towards the baseline, but you only can shoot and you don't have a step

through, then an athlete can beat you to that spot and put you into some trouble. There is a footwork piece to getting from point A to point B as well. How many times did you see in that fourth quarter run from LeBron where he would get into the lane and then pump bake and wait for dudes around him to get out of position and then pivot without traveling and get to an easy spot underneath the basket for him to then unleash his size and strength for that little right-handed bank shot, right? Like, all of those elements are important for a player to get to their spots. There are a lot of guys in the league that are incredibly skilled that have every dribble

combination in the book and every pull-up jump shot in the book, but they don't see the floor well enough to know when to go to their spots, or they don't pass the ball well enough to keep the help defense home, or maybe they don't have the footwork to get to that spot. There are a lot of guys that have all of the footwork and have all of the vision, but don't have the scoring ability, right? We've seen guys like Ben Simmons in the NBA that have struggled with that, right? It's very rare to have a player that actually kind of has it all. And that's part of what has made LeBron so good over his career.

He's got the size and strength. He's got the footwork. He's got the skill shots that he needs to get to to finish those plays. The second half run against South Sudan, I want to kind of go through the specifics of the way he took over these two games. So in the South Sudan game, for instance, right around the second half, the start of the second half. Things were getting a little ugly as they came out. They went in a little run, but then Sudan pushed it right back up to 16, and it looked like there was going to be some trouble. And LeBron actually kind of took over the offense for the majority of that second half. And he

was kind of playing in that role that I talked about a lot after the Serbia game, which is like, at the top of the key, while there's offball action happening around him, it's kind of like functioning similarly to the way that Draymond Green functions within the Golden State offense, except for LeBron's obviously a much higher higher level offensive player. But he was hitting a lot of back cuts and getting into the lane and making drop off passes, kicks to shooters, hitting Steph as he was running off of off ball action.

He was kind of just functioning as the hub. He hit a couple of big pull-up threes during that stretch as well. But then on the game winner, he just unleashed his superpower. Again, that was crazy. Again, after JT. Thor at that stepback three in the right corner, Sudan was up with 20 seconds left. If LeBron misses that shot, they lose the game. If LeBron settles for a jumper there and misses it, they lose the game.

There was some real pressure there. And what was cool was like LeBron just went to old reliable. He went to that like hesitation, hard dribble to the left, clear out with that off arm to get separation. And then he's a big, uh, LeBron has a great left hand, but he's big right hand on the left side of the rim because he turns his back. And he kind of like uses his back as a shield to prevent the player from coming over the top. And then he'll extend with that right hand and finish at the rim. Huge, huge play. the late run against Germany.

A big part of it too, he ramped up as an athlete down the stretch of that game. He was kind of in chill mode for the middle portion of that Germany game. He had three huge defensive rebounds down the stretch where he just beat

everybody to the basketball. Right in between his cut off of the Joel Embed layup and the full court post up where he got the layup, the back-to-back layups he had. Right in between those two plays, he made the first layup,

a lefty layup that sent him into the cameras. He turned around and sprinted, the floor and got a steal in transition as he beat everybody to a passing lane. Like, he can scale up as an athlete when he needs to in these moments. Is he going to do that for an 82 game season? No. But in these singular moments, he can still elevate his game to a level that most people in the planet can't get to.

And then again, like that Joel Embedd was posting on the right block. LeBron's man digged down as soon as he dug down. LeBron just cut in that slot and Bede nice. pass. Embededd was getting torched on defense, but he had a much better offensive game in this particular game. Embed also had a huge block at the rim that led to the Anthony Edwards dunk, which sneaky crazy move was that left to right crossover that ain't used in transition. That was super smooth. But LeBron cutting off the slot on the Embed post up, then right after he gets the transition steel, he gives up the basketball and runs up the right side of the floor again,

doing your job. Like, you got the steel, you're out of position to be the, to be the, the ball handler, give it to the ball handler, sprint up the wing. He gets inside position on his defender, who stays a little bit too much high and above him on his left shoulder side. LeBron catches, dribbles into the post, goes through him and Schroeder at the rim and gets the layup. There was the right wing three. Daniel Tice was guarding LeBron and was digging way down into the lane.

Most of these teams don't have guys that can guard LeBron, and so what they've been doing is just playing way off of him and daring him to shoot. But as we know, LeBron just had the best jump shooting season of his career. So LeBron hung out on that right wing, knocked down the huge three to put him up four, and then the late game possession was kind of a fascinating sequence because one of Germany's wings was on Steph, and Schroeder was on LeBron, and Schroeder did not want to get switched off of LeBron. Steph was trying to screen him so that he could get a slower defender on LeBron. And I get it like Schroeder's quicker and can kind of hang out with LeBron laterally.

but LeBron is just so much bigger than him and Schroeder for whatever reason would not concede the switch. He stayed fought through the screen, stayed with LeBron. LeBron just turned his back and bullied him from the three point line. Did that hardcore spin move towards the baseline, pump fake, then

stepped through beautiful footwork. I clipped that play. I mean, you don't have to look at my feed. You can find it anywhere on social media right now, but beautiful footwork from LeBron to get it done. That was fun to watch. The crazy thing is he's clearly been the best player on this team. Now, is he the best guy for an 82 game regular season?

Like, is LeBron going to be able to bring it as an athlete from early October to mid-June the way these other guys can? No, obviously not. But if he gets to a playoff series, if he gets to a situation where it's a small sample size and everything is on the line and he is healthy, yeah, there's that Yokic tier, Yokic, Luca, Janus, I'm not sure LeBron can reach that.

level in those situations anymore. But everybody that's below that tier, in a big spot, he's better than all those guys. And this is the latest example of that. Don't let the incompetence of Jeannie Bus and the Lakers distract you from the fact that LeBron has been playing at a top five level late into his 30s. Don't let the issues that the purple and gold have been having, which are extensive and go well beyond things that LeBron James is doing. Don't let that distract you from the level of basketball that he's playing.

Like it's insane that on a team that has all these guys that are in their 20s, in their early 30s, in their primes, that he is the guy that is able to meet this occasion and take control the way that he has been. It's a testament to his greatness. It's a testament to the respect that these guys have for him, that they trust him. And he's not failing. It's not like he's hijacking the reins and failing. He's taking control and getting it done, getting it down resounding. It's insane. As a LeBron fan, watching him with this Team USA has been one of the cooler experiences rooting for him that I've had over the years.

But let's talk about Team USA as a whole for a little bit. So what's going on with Team USA? It's not a concern to me that they aren't beating teams by 30. This is not the FIBA of 1992. These are really good basketball teams. And this showcase cycle has been mostly really good teams. Serbia, really good team. Germany, really good team.

Canada, really good team. And Australia is tough. In South Sudan, their odds to win the gold medal improved 10 times after that game because everyone saw like, oh, they might actually be the most athletic team in the tournament. They're super long, they play super hard, they've got a couple of really good guards,

and they can play. Like, these are real basketball teams. These are not, go, if you were to go watch FIBA in 1992, it's an entirely different level of competition. So like thinking that they're just going to rip through everybody the way the Dream Team did, that's not going to happen. That said, should they be in real crunch time as frequently as they have been against these teams? No. So I think we can all agree that the team is underachieving to a certain extent.

That goes without saying. But I think it primarily has to do with lineup construction. So for instance, the starters in particular are really struggling to defensive rebound and to guard the ball, like at the point of attack. Well, you have to run drop coverage because Joel and B can't guard on the perimeter. So you have a big man that forces you to chase over the top of screens in a lineup with Devin Booker, who's an average athlete and not a guy who's known getting over screens, LeBron who's almost 40 and Steph who's almost 37. That's what you have out there with the big that requires you to chase over the top of the screen.

That should be a switching unit. and you need Anthony Davis at center in order to do what you need to do to be a switching unit with that group, right? You're struggling to defensive rebound, but you're playing a three-guard lineup. Not only three guards, but two of those guards are Steph who turns 37 next season, and Devin Booker who's a mediocre athlete, and LeBron who's 40, and Joel Embed, who is slow-footed and out of shape. Of course you can't rebound. That lineup is not a good rebounding lineup. If you put Anthony Davis in for Joel Embed, you instantly become way faster and way longer,

and you can start doing the switching that you need to make that unit work defensively. If you put Kevin Durant when he's healthy in for Devin Booker, you immediately become a much better defensive rebounding team. And guess what? Kevin Durant struggles to chase over screen, so that needs to be a switching group. So literally just, Katie, healthy in for Devin Booker, 80 in for Joel Embed solves the majority of the issues for that lineup. They instantly become way better rebounding, they instantly become faster,

and they instantly become a switching group, which is what they need to be to function defensively anyway. The bench groups are really struggling to execute offense in the half court. They've been awesome defensively. The BAM, Tatum, AD front court has been insane defensively. Anthony Edwards has done his fair share of shot making, but overall in the half court, they're just a little clunky. Well, M. Bid is an offensive firepower machine. He's a hub that you can throw in there. Adding Joel Embed to that group should really help.

And Embedd is slow-footed, but that lineup would have Anthony Edwards, Jason Tatum, and Bam at a bio all really athletic and can help hide the foot speed issues that you have, especially if you end up moving Devin Booker into that group, right? Which I'm assuming he'd go into that spot and then probably Derek White would fall out of the lineup. Or if it ends up being Derek White, who knows, but that group makes more sense. Offensively, you've got these tunnel vision guys and Aunt Joel Embed, but let them play tunnel vision basketball. Let them play your turn, my turn basketball in that unit.

Oh, you need to run drop with Joel Embed. Well, Anthony Edwards and Jason Tatum and Bam, they're just way more athletic. That's a group that is more equipped to run drop. You have Derek White in with your bench group right now. Ant and Derek White are both substantially better athletes than Steph and Devin Booker. So it makes sense within that group. So again, like, I think just a couple of lineup tweaks will put this team right back on the right track. And here's the thing. We've got to be honest with ourselves here.

It's very possible that Steve Kerr is under a directive from Team USA to make sure that Mbid is starting. Very well, maybe the reason why Embed is on this team for all we know. I haven't heard anything specific about that, but I mean, I put it like this. I believe Steve Kerr sees what we're seeing. and I think he's way too smart of a basketball mind and not know it. I would imagine he knows, which makes me think that there might be some sort of directive. A big giveaway there is today in the final minutes in crunch time, Anthony Davis ended up getting in that five spot, which I thought was interesting.

That's an indicator of Steve's like true belief system there. But if it is the case that Embed has a guaranteed starting spot and Kirk can't bump him and they have to continue these janky-ass lineup groupings for the majority of these games, then this team is vulnerable. No question. Because the current lineup groupings are funky and redundant, and they underachieve. And so, yeah, like, I think they're a lot closer to being more dominant than we think, just by making a couple of simple tweaks.

It's weird to me that it's taken this long, but I would imagine there are some extraneous circumstances that are kind of influencing that in terms of the basketball politics at play. 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

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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. 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. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play.

the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, I've got three fake questions for you guys before we get out of here for the day. Question number one. Jason, you are a LeBron fan, but you see. still have MJ as your goat. Does LeBron's superstar play extending into his 40s change that for

you at all? It does. I did a bit on the LeBron MJ debate. I want to say it was at least two years ago. I think it was the summer after I first started with the volume. Might even have been earlier than that. But I made the case for both. And it was very simple. MJ's case is dominance. There was no player that was close to as good as him for so long, and they won so frequently in that window there in the 90s, that just the gap between him and the rest of the league, it's, it almost looks like an outlier data point, right? And so that would be MJ's case, dominance. LeBron's case is longevity. LeBron's case is, hey, there's 30 NBA GMs, and you get to pick from every player in NBA history. Like, there are whole careers. You get them from the day they're drafted to the day they hang them up.

And this is just your first pick. So it's not in the context of another team. You have to draft a team around that guy. Who do you take? You take LeBron. Because with LeBron, I'm getting 22 years of top five level play. Maybe if you're being picky and you're saying like, oh, the 2023 year he was kind of rough and his rookie year he was kind of rough. And he was injured in the 2019 season. Okay. So 19 seasons, 19 seasons of top five. play. That's insane. At a certain point, by having that, I just give my team a really good chance to win a lot of championships because I have that level of consistent greatness at the top. Now, am I ready to swap my pick? Because right now I do have MJ as the goat. I want to wait until after the Olympics, before I make that sort of stand. But if LeBron continues to lead this team the way that he has, and in the real elimination games, again, lifts this team over the top. That to me would be such a strong indicator that he's the best American player in the year 2024 at age 39 years old,

which is such an insane accomplishment that you're piggybacking on what was already insane two years ago. And so at that point, I would have no choice, I think, but to acknowledge that. But again, I'm going to wait until after the Olympics, but I used to be pretty, pretty, you know, entrenched on that MJ1, LeBron 2 stance, and I'm starting to soften a little bit on that just because this is getting ridiculous, guys. Jason, what do you make of Joel Embed's comments recently to the New York Times? So those of you guys who didn't see this, and I'm sure most of you did,

but Joel Embed had some comments about this isn't the same team that it looks to be on paper, and LeBron's not as good as he used to be, and Steph isn't as good as he used to be, And he specifically said that this team doesn't have a talent advantage, which I think is ridiculous. Like the score is notwithstanding. I think Team USA does have a substantial talent advantage. Is it anywhere near as wide as it was in 1992? Obviously not. The global teams have gotten way better.

We talked about that earlier. But I do think this Team USA team is more talented. And so that comment is just strange because it's underselling your teammates to try to like out of like, it's like a weird kind of like pressure deflecting. type of comment. That to me is silly. Like, this team should win. It's a disaster if they don't. They absolutely have a huge talent advantage. The second piece of it was Embedde said that he thought he could potentially have been the goat had he not been injured. And here's the thing. Yeah, maybe. But like, I've, we've all been there. I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I haven't tried to make an excuse in my life. I've had bad days at the gym where I'm in the car on the way home

and I'm like, I'm dealing with XYZ and this is why I'm not playing well. Like, hell, like, I get busy with work sometimes and I just don't get to go to the gym a lot and then I'll go to the gym and I won't be as good as I usually am. And I'll be like, ah, I hate being this busy because I don't get to work on my game as much as I want to. Here's what I've discovered. And I guarantee you, you guys have all discovered the same thing in your journeys. People don't care about excuses. They never have.

when you're at the gym and you're busting someone's ass and he says something about oh my legs are sore oh i'm dealing with this injury you don't give a fuck like no no one cares about excuses and that's just that that's why it's such a a loser mentality like that's the thing it's like yeah maybe you were the goat maybe these injuries have derailed a potentially all-time great type of career But the reality is, is time and time again, you get to those spots and you can't come through. And I guarantee you as you're getting pull up threes put in your face by Jason Tatum in game seven, or as you're, that was just the defensive end of the floor, as you look scared to make a post move against Al Horford. No one's sitting there going like, that guy could have been the goat, but he just had some injuries.

No, they're going, what the hell's wrong with Joe L. and B? People don't care about excuses. And that's the thing. excuses are real. There are real reasons why things go the way that they go. Absolutely, there are factors that can affect your performance, but expecting, like putting that energy into the public serves no purpose. You know what I'd like to hear? I'd like to hear nothing. As Joel Embedt privately goes, I have unfulfilled potential, and this is the year that I get it all taken care of. I come in and in crazy good shape, and I figure it all out, and I kick everyone's

ass. If you're that type of talent, show us. The world will rally around you as soon as you do. But like, yeah, putting that energy out there in the public that like, oh, like, what if this, what if that, nobody cares. Nobody cares. They never have, if you go about life expecting to get pads on the back and support for what's going on that's causing you problems, like people don't care. They just don't. They only care about themselves and their family and advancing their own interests. That's the only thing people care about. I know it's kind of nihilistic, but it's just what I think is what I think to be the truth. Jason, you said on Twitter the other day that you think the 2020 Lakers would beat the 2024 Celtics in a series. Can you explain why? So I tweeted this

out the other day, and I didn't think it was that big of a deal, and then everyone freaked out. But I want to kind of get into some of the specifics here, because I don't think it's as crazy as people are making it sound. First of all, the 2020 Lakers were all. The 2020 Lakers were all. also a dominant basketball team. The 2024 Celtics were more dominant on paper for sure. They won more games. They had a larger net rating. But there's context there.

Playing in a historically weak Eastern Conference, the Western Conference won the vast majority of games and head-to-head matchups against the East this last year. That's going to inflate net rating statistics. It just is. You're playing more lesser teams in the Eastern Conference. That's going to inflate your advanced metrics. That's going to make things a little bit easier, right?

but even though the Celtics were more dominant on paper than the 2020 Lakers, the 2020 Lakers were also insanely dominant. Here are some basic stats to express that for you. The 2020 Lakers started 24 and 3, guys, 24 and 3. They won 24 of their first 27 games. They won before the stoppage. When COVID shut down the season, they were winning at a 64-win pace. Guess how many games the Celtics won?

64. and the Lakers did it in a substantially tougher conference. In this playoff run, the Celtics had a plus 15 net rating in their 16 wins, meaning they won by an average of 15 points per 100 possessions. The Lakers were plus 12. That's also super dominant. So like the idea that there is like this chasm between these two champions and what they accomplished within their seasons is silly.

As far as like their playoff runs, like do I think that the Celtics played a tougher team in the NBA finals? Absolutely. That Dallas Mavericks team was a tougher team than the banged-up Miami Heat team that the Lakers played in 2020. But if you stack up all the teams, Dame and C.J. McCollum in round one, James Hardin at the peak of his powers in Russell Westbrook in the second round. Nicole Yokic and Jamal Murray, the same team that beat that Clippers team that everyone swore was the best team in the league. Like LeBron and the Lakers executed those guys. Put him out of there in five. So like I believe the Lakers played tougher teams overall in that playoff run.

Not that it matters. All I care about is the 2020 Lakers on a basketball court for a seven-game series against the 2024 Celtics who's going to win. I've got the two best players in the series. Anthony Davis was a better basketball player in the 2020 playoffs than either of Jalen Brown or Jason Tater. He just was. LeBron James was the best basketball player alive in 2020. Those are the two best players in the series. Okay, let's talk about matchups.

What is Boston's biggest advantage? They can space you out and drive and kick you to death. Well, what is the closing five for that Los Angeles Lakers team? Alex Crusoe, elite perimeter defender with size. KCP, elite perimeter defender with size. Danny Green, very good perimeter defender with size. LeBron James, who in 2020 was still one of the best defense players in the league, and that was one of his best defensive seasons.

It was better than all of his seasons in Cleveland. And Anthony Davis, who was the best defensive player alive, that team is constructed to guard the Boston Celtics. All big mobile perimeter defenders and a super versatile front line. And then on the other end of the floor, yes, Boston was an elite perimeter defense team, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis are matchup nightmares for them on the front line. Anthony Davis would have given Chris Hop's Porzingis fits on the low block,

especially in that 2020 season. LeBron James, there's not a guy on the Celtics that could have guarded him in 2020. So, like, in my opinion, I've got the best players in the series. In terms of the X's and O's, the Lakers match up extremely well, I just think that that 2020 Lakers team

is the best basketball team that I've seen since the 2018 Warriors with Kevin Durant and Steph Curry. I've said that consistently. We got to get a little bit into the basketball today. I expect you guys to disagree. If you're a Celtics fan, lay it out in the comments. You guys know I read the comments.

Jason, here's why you're wrong. XYZ, basketball, basketball, basketball. If you just tell me, oh, they were the most dominant team this season, I don't care about that. There's not a metric that the Celtics did this year that is substantially more impressive than what the 2020 Lakers did. So, like, if you have a basketball case, I want to hear it. Let's get into it.

Let's debate a little bit. But I believe the 2020 Lakers would beat the 2024 Celtics in a playoff series. All right, guys. That is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show. I, again, we have the Jaime Hawkeyes interview coming out tomorrow, and then I'm going to end up recording a mailbag later this week. I will see you guys.

The volume. What's up, guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us. But if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy,

not quite, unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game. the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Your husband is not who you think he is. Your body is not what you thought it was. Your identity is formed by a secret history. I'm Danny Shapiro, and these are just a few of the stunning stories I'll be exploring on the 14th season of Family Secrets. He kind of shoved me out of the way and said, move, and he went out the front door,

and he jumped in a car and drove off, and that was the last time I saw him. Listen to Season 14 of Family Secrets on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.