The Herd with Colin Cowherd - The Draymond Green Show - Warriors Ups and Downs + State of the NBA

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

‘The Draymond Green Show’ is back for Season 2. To start off, Draymond discusses why the podcast went on hiatus and how that relates to the Jordan Poole incident. Then he discusses the ups and downs of the Golden State Warriors this season, the wild MVP race, LeBron's historic performance, Ja Morant's comments, and more.  #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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$150 bucks in free bets. Plus three months of NBA league pass, got to put in the promo code, Colin. Make every moment more with Fandul official sportsbook partner of the NBA. 21 plus and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, and Louisiana. Permitted parishes only. Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia. First online, real money wager only. Refund issued as non-withdrawable site credit that expires in 14 days.

Restrictions apply. at sportsbook. Fandul.com. Gambling problem, 1-800 next step or text next step to 5334-2-2-A-A-A-8-8-8-9-7-7-7-1-7-1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-8-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-7-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-E, for confidential help in Michigan, 18-7-H-E-NY or text H-O-P-E-N-E-N-E-N-E-N-E-N-E-N-E-N-GGRR GEMB, 9789 Tennessee, visit 1-800 gambler.net in West Virginia. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show, season two. For those of you who's listening to audio,

you can't really see the smile on my face. For those of you watching, you can definitely see the smile on my face, so excited to be back, the new media back in the building, bringing you the content that you all want, that you all want to hear. None of that lousy,

distasteful mess that we've been stuck listening to. So we back at it. Number one, I want to say thank you to our subscribers and listeners for tuning back in. And I apologize to our subscribers and listeners for the long delay. Before I get into anything else, let's get straight into the delay. Number one, contractual obligations. those are always very important for those of you who's dealt with contractual obligations, you should understand for those of you that haven't.

Contracts are very important, and it's important that you spell out what you want in your contracts that you may come across in life. And saying that, however, that also coincided with, what we all know the incident to be at the beginning of the season with myself and a teammate, Jordan. And quite frankly, if I'm being 100% honest, Jackson and I, we recorded an episode right after. And I know everyone was looking for it. Everyone wanted to hear it. And quite frankly, I wanted to allow you the chance to hear what I had to say. I wanted to allow you the chance to kind of take a trip in my mind and just maybe understand more.

And when we recorded the episode, I hated the way I sounded. And so we simply just didn't release it. I didn't like my tone. I didn't like the things I said. I didn't like the way it came out. I didn't like it almost, if you're not careful, it almost comes off as unremorseful and distasteful, 100% distasteful, but also fast. And what do I mean by fast?

Quite frankly, I'm not big into saying things or doing things and then run into my show because it's going to get more ratings. Like, I don't really like that game. That's the old media. I don't play that game. I don't, I'm not very interested. And I think there's a time to speak. And, you know, if the opportunity is there, I'm going to speak.

I'm never going to shy away from a topic. But the thing that I had to take into consideration with that is, number one, someone else was affected. And not only one person was affected, but multiple people, tons of, I mean, however many you want, whatever word you want to use to describe the amount of people, people were affected. And so it wasn't something that just affected me. And so when you do something that affects someone else, you can't just take yourself into consideration, how you may feel, how it may benefit you, all of those things.

And so for me, I'm like, okay, Jordan has to deal with this. Other people have to deal with this. The last thing I need to be doing is sitting here talking about it like it's all fine and dandy. And so for that, I'm sure we probably lost some sort of. subscribers. For that, I'm sure we probably lost some listeners. But quite frankly, if that is the case, I'd rather work my butt off and get those listeners and subscribers back and plus more and do it the right way than distastefully saying whatever I can say, tweeting whatever I can tweet like the old fart does, and then run into my show knowing that everyone's going to want to hear what I have to

say and raiding sky and through the roof. Like, that's fake because they don't want to hear you tomorrow. Because tomorrow you can't talk about the garbage that you did the day before to create your storyline, to create your headline, and then run and talk about it because you know everybody's listening. And so I just don't really like to abide by that method. I more so want to bring you great content. I want to talk basketball with you.

I want to teach you basketball. I want to take you through my mind and how I see the game of basketball. And that's what we've always done here and that won't change now. And so quite frankly, that was the reason or one of the biggest reasons for the hiatus. And here we are, we're back.

I know I saw some people saying, oh, man, Drayman is not doing anything. anymore because they're losing and it's the I'm an NBA champion still like for the rest of this year by the way if we don't win another game we are to defend an NBA champions until further notice so the whole notion of like oh man they're they're not playing well and so like I had the worst game of my life in the NBA finals and I sat in front of this computer screen an hour later and talked to you all about it so as we know I'm not one that's afraid to talk during the rough times But like I said, when someone else is affected, that's a different thing for me.

And I care about people too much to just glance by that and ignore it. And so because I didn't like the way it sounded, we nixed it. And then there were contractual things. And we got those worked out. And we bad. Shout out to Jackson, holding it down. We're here. and I am so excited to be back.

Hope everyone tunes in. Maybe we get more subscribers. Maybe we get more listeners. Maybe we don't. But for those of you that are here, you know, I will always give you my best. If you love to dubs, you know that January is a key month for us. Big matchups at home against Phoenix, Brooklyn, Memphis,

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the last episode we did was with Deerrin Fox. Now, Deeran Fox, if you go back and listen to that episode, I spoke to him about being an all-star. I spoke to him about breaking the Sacramento Kings playoff curse and how it's on his back to go do that. Nobody else, it's on De Aaron Fox to go. do that. How the Indiana Pacers traded Tyrese Halliburton,

who's having an all-star year, by the way, how they traded him and showed Fox how committed they were to him and what his responsibility was for that. Quite frankly, and we'll get into this further into the episode, but I think he's living up to that.

And Tyrese Halliburton is living up to exactly what the Indiana Pacers thought he would live up to. And like I said, we're going to get a little more into that. later in the episode because I want to go a little deeper into that. And saying that, a lot has happened with the Warriors, a lot has

happened with the NBA since that interview. A lot has happened with the Michigan Wolverines since that interview. As we know, they lost in the postseason again. Shout out to Jim Garbaugh.

Absolutely incredible to see Michigan lose. You know, I am not one to pray on someone's downfall, just not really who I am. However, I love to see Michigan lose. It makes my day. Makes me extremely happy. And quite frankly, I don't think there's any scenario that I cheer for Michigan. I just can't. It doesn't feel right. It feels bad to the core. There was a situation a few years back where maybe like six, seven years back, where Michigan's state, Indiana, we're all in a run in to win the Big Ten, and we needed Michigan to beat Indiana

in order for all three us to tie. I cheered against Michigan. Indiana deserve it. They won the games. We don't need a tie. Try again next year. I'd rather see Michigan lose. So you understand how I feel. So that game the other day, shout out to the TCU Hornfrogs. Much love to y'all. but good luck. But getting into the episode, things that we really want to talk about. Number one, the Warrior season. Our season is a little weird, as you know. Best record in the league at home at 17 and 2, which is incredible.

Worst record in the league on the road at 3 and 16, which is awful. What do you make of that? Well, let's see. I think, number one, it's definitely a mental thing. It's definitely a confidence thing because when I look back and I play all the games out, all the road games especially in my head and looking back on the season, you give a game away at Orlando, give a game away at Charlotte. New Orleans, both New Orleans games, none of us played.

I mean, none of us guys played, but starters, most starters didn't play loom, maybe played a few minutes. Younger guys played and no knock to our younger guys. But it's difficult to win on the road as it is, as you can see in our record. Down four or five of your top, nine rotation of it, it's tough. And so not their fought, but you add those games in. You get a back-to-back in Brooklyn, which no one really plays in. That's five of the 16 losses.

Detroit Pistons, we gayed out in the way, although they play well. Can't take nothing away from the Pistons in Detroit. Played well, but we kind of gave that one away. Indiana, crazy game, could have possibly won it,

could have went either way. What am I getting at? I said all of that to say. You look at those. games alone and you're sitting here, we're sitting here at 500 on the road, no one's upset. And quite frankly, if we're 500 on the road, I think that may put us in first place in the West. Again, what are you getting at, Draymond?

What I'm getting at is this. You lose a few games early on on the road, tension starts to build, not tension amongst the team, but tension amongst the world, tension amongst the basketball world, confidence starts to linger a little bit, you start to waver a little bit. And then it becomes a thing. Then it's, now it's a thing that you're really battling against, and it's more of a mental hurdle than it should be. And so when I look at our team on a row and our team at home, It's two different teams, but it's not. And here's why.

The margin for error that you have at home, you don't have near that margin of error when you're on the road. And I personally don't think we've adjusted to that well throughout the season. Like our margin for, you know, the same passes we'll make at home we make on the road. The same shots we'll take at home, we take on the road. And you can't do that. It has to be more methodical. It has to be, um,

a lot more thoughtful. And we've struggled in that area. As a leader, I can take that on the chin. I have to be better. I have to do what I can to make sure that we're better in that area. And I think we will. I think this homestown riding a five-game win street currently, I think this homestead will help a lot because confidence is confidence, right?

And so to struggle with confidence and going on the road because of things that went wrong early and then it's like your snake-bidding and all of a sudden nothing can go right. And winning at home, like I said, 5 and 0 to start this road trip, by the time you hear this episode, it should be 6'0. I mean to start this homestead, excuse me, not road trip. You build up the confidence, and now you go on a row, you go on a row with a different mindset.

You go on a row with the mindset that you need to win road games. And so I think we're building towards that. But most importantly, home and road, like, yeah, that's that I make, you can make something out of that because it is something. It's a big deal. But I make more of this team is starting to find its identity. And for me, that's more important than what the home record says right now and what the Roan record says right now.

Over the last five games, I think this team is truly starting to build an identity. And every great team has an identity. When you walk in a gym, you know that team is going to do X, Y, and Z. We haven't had that all year. We have not had an identity. And I think it takes time to build an identity, some longer than others. I think we're starting to build an identity. And that is huge.

Be that we're missing Steph Curry. We're missing Andrew Wiggins. We're missing Andre Godala. We're missing Jamichael Green. We're missing James Wiseman now. We're missing Jonathan Camiga now. building an identity and when those guys come back in and you've built an identity, then that allows you to,

and we're right in a position to do that. I think we're four or four and a half games or something out of first place, which is crazy in itself that we're that close to first place. And quite frankly, we've been awful this year. And so that is a, that is, that's a bit exciting, if you will. you know, for us, because now that we're starting to really write this ship, you still have a chance at everything that you could possibly want to do. Now, I said a couple weeks ago in my interview, I said we're very fragile right now.

And don't get it twisted. Like, it's still super fragile. It's not that, oh, the team is something going on on a team. No, these seasons, the NBA, it's very fragile. And building something great, it's very fragile. Anyone who's ever built anything great will tell you all it takes is one wrong thing to tear the whole thing down. And so it's still very fragile, but we're working through that. And I think it's starting to turn that corner for us.

And so do I make much out of the struggle? No. I'm not overly worried about them. but like I said, I will say to you, it's something. It's not just nothing. It's not a big deal. No, it is a big deal. But as someone who's won several, plenty role games in this league,

I know what it takes. I know we know what it takes. And I have all the faith that we will do it. We will do what we need to do to get it to where it needs to go. And so, no, I'm not worried about it. But I'm not, I'm also not dismissing it and saying it's nothing. It's something and it's a, but it's simply just a hurdle that we have to climb. It's nothing bigger, nothing less.

It's a hurdle that this team is faced that we have to work and get over. And I have no doubt in my mind that we will do that. And saying that, this five-game win streak obviously has been without Steph Curry. How have we been able to do it? Well, I think the ball movement has been really good. Our ball movement is largely pre-year. dedicated on Steph's movement because he's always moving. And obviously, we're always trying to find him

and you're cutting and you're pinning in. And it's great for the ball movement. Steve always preaches how important ball movement is just to the aura of the team, how guys feel, you know, second by second, minute by minute, because that can change quickly in games. And so just preaching to what the ball movement does for a team. And quite frankly, with Steph being out, it's different than with Steph on the floor.

How have we been able to win five games in a row? Without Steph, I'll tell you how we've been able to do it. The ball has been moving. The defensive end has been absolutely amazing. Now, we have had laws in some of these games where the defense goes to complete. But the thing that I like that I've been seeing is no matter. how bad it goes, you look around and everybody's standing there ten toes down. Everybody's standing there looking like, all right, here we go.

Like, let's lock up, let's get some stops. We go down and get some buckets. And to build confidence like that, it's almost an arrogance. But quite frankly, this team hasn't done nothing for arrogance. So in turn, it's a belief. And it's a belief in self. It's a belief in what we're capable of. It's a belief in our defensive abilities.

It's a belief in thinking and knowing that we can shut someone's water off. And because we've been able to do that, not having huge turnover gains, you always give yourself a chance to win. And so I'd say maybe two, at least two, possibly three of these wins, we haven't shot extremely well,

but we're finding a way to win. And that's because I think we really have bought into, the defensive side of the ball. Guys, several guys are making huge improvements and strides on that side. I think obviously the one that we all have highlighted and some force that he's out now is Jonathan Kaminga, just the strides

that he's taking on the defensive end, the role that he's taken on. He's coming in, he's picking up. Who's your favorite point guard? Trey Young, obviously, Trey played last night. Jonathan didn't play, but he's picking your favorite point guard up full court. At 6-8-225 pounds,

he's picking your favorite point guard up full court and's not missing a step. What Kaminga has done his growth on that side of the basketball is absolutely important and don't get it twisted. It has a huge influence on this five-game win streak that we're on. Like I said, obviously he didn't play last night.

But you have to feel good about the role that he's bought into and how he's really embracing it. Like there's no one telling him, hey, J.K., go pick them up full court. No, he's embracing that. And I was saying this in a meeting a few days ago, or a week ago or whatnot, the team is starting to adjust around him. You know, it's like, oh, he's into the ball, right? Like, oh, we want to get into a switch. Kaminga's into the ball. I may not be able to switch with him, so I have to go into that coverage a little bit differently because of how physical he is into the ball, right? Like, that's a very small

a dumb example. But the team is starting to adjust to his style of defense, but the team only adjust to your style of defense if you're capable of causing havoc, and it's worth adjusting to that. And Cominga is showing that, and it is absolutely incredible to see. So shout out to JK for his growth and improvement. James Wiseman is so much more improved on the defensive end than he was on the offensive end before he went down to Santa Cruz.

it's actually a joy to watch. And it's a joy to watch him in games. It's a joy when I go back and watch film just to see the things that he's doing differently. It's still got some things to learn, as we all do. I mean, year 11, I still got things to learn. But he's also playing a lot better

and it's good to see that growth. Moses Moody, another young guy who's out of the rotation, working his way back into the rotation and taking advantage of that. It's great to see Moes, and all of those guys. Just really taking advantage of the opportunity, but not only taking advantage

to actually be able to have the opportunity to watch them and see the growth. It's a really special thing. So shout out to those guys. Yeah, so I think also, and the last thing I'll say about the dubs, obviously I play in the second unit more with the second unit guys.

And I really enjoy that role. Why do I enjoy that role so much? when you're playing in a second unit, these are guys that their careers can go either left or right. And it's all really predicated on how their men is going, how they play in that time. And so for me, to have an opportunity to join that group, to do all that I can to make sure that that group has positive outcomes,

that to me is an honor. That to me brings me joy. because quite frankly you're helping someone else. Like for us to play well and Ty Jerome has been playing in that group, that can help Ty Jerome's career. And so for me, that's a very big deal. And I've really embraced that role. I'm enjoying it.

And quite frankly, I think it's helped our team and just finding the pieces of that puzzle to make our rotations work. Rotations are a huge deal, especially in the NBA. And you want to have your rotations right. And so I think that's been a good one for us, and it's really helped us along in our season. And quite frankly, I think it's also helped bring us all of us closer together, which is very big because you can't win if everybody's splintered.

And so I think that's helped bring everyone closer together. And that's important. So that's, I mean, that's kind of the state of the dubs. That's where we are. We're currently 20 and 18. And we're trending upward, baby. And that's all you can ask for. So shout out to the dubs.

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Now, and speaking of the dubs, let's get into the NBA. Luca Donchich last week has 60 points, 20 rebounds, 21 rebounds, and 11 assists, 10 assists. 10 or 11 or 6, whatever it was. Absolutely insane, incredible numbers. I think he accounted for 88 of like there are 120 points or something. It's crazy. Luca is special and it's interesting to see Luca having the year he's happened. Why is it interesting, Dremont?

It's interesting because the one gripe on Luca that everyone has had is, oh, he's never, he's not in shape and blah. blah, blah, blah this. And here's what I want to say and where I saw growth from Luca. Last year, two years ago, were the Olympics. You come off the Olympics,

been playing, you're in the season, go straight into the Olympics, you're tired. Probably take a little break. And so last year, Luca didn't come into the season in the best shape

that he could come in. This year, Luca played in Eurobasket and came in a tip-top shape. and is having the MVP year that I'll expect to see. I think the thing that people don't realize is, you know, in most cases in order to have an NPP year, you have to come into the season in tip-top shape.

It's hard to work your way into shape and then still be an MVP because those you start ringing up in people's head, remember, these are human beings making these decisions, not computers. And so you start to gain space in people's minds the start of the season. And Luca came into this season in tip-top shape, and it is showing. It's showing in a major way.

And he is 1,000% playing at an MVP level, as is others, which we'll get into. But I think to see them lose Jalen Brunson and they kind of were struggling early on. And they didn't make any moves. I think Luca just picked it up more, you know. And the growth, I think, of Luca has been extremely... extremely pleasing to the Mavericks, the NBA, basketball fans across the world. Like, one of the most special players we have in our league,

and the performance that he had last week is just another step. I mean, the things that he's able to do and just capable of is absolutely incredible. Donovan Mitchell last night, 71. 71 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds. Now, it's funny, because someone asked me today, they said, what are you make of these numbers that guys are putting up? And quite frankly, special, special talents.

Like, the guys in this league are extremely talented. The game continues to grow. And you have to pay homage to guys that are, or scoring the basketball like that. I don't care what it is. That's hard to do. And to watch those guys doing it, it's absolutely incredible.

Clay Thompson was 54 last night. It was great to see Clay really just locked into the moment, taking the challenge head on with no step, no wigs, and the list goes on. But also to see Clay Thompson look like the Clay Thompson, we've all had the pleasure and honor of watching compete at this level. It was absolutely beautiful.

I also think for his confidence, for him to continue to prove to himself, see, everyone always makes it about, oh, man, he need to prove this or he need to prove that as if you're proving that to them. No, no, sometimes you just need to prove something to yourself. And so for him to have a performance like that, to continue to prove to himself

that I can get back to who I once was or better and have something that you can look to and say, see, because I did this. That's absolutely incredible. And, I mean, shout out to Clay for the game that he had. Now, it's saying all of that, I think, you know, in speaking in terms of the NBA and in terms of the number, quite frankly, I think the offense do have the advantage.

you know, when you speak of freedom of movement, when you see some of the nuances that guys use to get to the foul line. Like I think the offense definitely has an advantage. But in saying that, you still have to go score those points. And so I don't want to take anything away from these guys who's scoring at these levels because it's absolutely incredible. But as a defender myself, I do wish that there were more freedom for, defenders as there is for offensive players.

Quite frankly, I'm not sure that will ever happen, nor is it something I'm really lobbying for. It just kind of is what it is. And so, no, I don't take anything away from these numbers that guys are getting, not one bit. They're very hard numbers to get. And if they weren't, we'd see someone doing it every day. We don't see it every day.

However, we see it a little more often because the NBA is just way more. talented and skilled than it's ever been. That's no knock. I know everyone wants to find controversy, and that's no knock to players that came before. But, and I always say this, but I bet you someone who worked at Google 20 years ago

and someone that goes and work at Google today will probably walk in and say, their skill set is just a little bit different than mine was when I was here 20 years ago. And so, in saying that, I think the NBA is a lot more skill, and there's just a lot more talent in the league. And so you're just starting to see these things happen more often.

But I still wish there was a little more freedom for guys like myself. The defenders. That's neither here nor there. Other guys that we have playing at an MVP level, Joker, who's averaging 2611 rebounds and nine and a half assists, sitting at the one seat, possibly on his way to a third straight MVP. Pretty impressive. Obviously, one of the toughest guards in the NBA had a battle with him in the playoffs last year.

I mean, Joker is a very, very, very special talent, and he continues to show that year in and year out. Yonis is playing at an MVP level. Yannis is averaging 32, 12, and 5. I think his team is sitting at the number one or number two seat. All incredible things. J.T., who we had on this show last year, last season, and I said, if you don't win MVP next year, if I'm not mistaken, I may have said something along the lines of you weak as,

boop. He's playing at that level. He has his team playing at that level, and it's an absolute, an absolutely beautiful thing to see. KD. Brooklyn Nets are sitting at the 2C. KD.'s averaging 37 and 5.

Not quite sure anybody expected KD to be back at an MVP level. And not because Kevin Durant doesn't always play at an MVP level, because quite frankly, we've seen this for years, especially we've seen this a lot with LeBron James. It's just, you're so good that when you're that good, people just, they start to not appreciate it.

And so to think that KD can play again at the level to where people would appreciate it enough to even mention him in the MVP conversation as opposed to just being like, oh, man, that's just Kevin, and that's what he does. Shows you how special of a season he has. They're having them much, but they completely changed their season, making the change to Jock Vaughn. Jack Vaughn's been incredible. But more so than him being incredible,

like I'm not in their huddles. I'm not in their arena. I'm not in their facility. Just watching the respect that he's commanded from that team. I think it's huge. And I think it's a big part of the reason that they've won 12 in a row. They're sitting at the two-seat

with no signs of slowing down. I think it's a beautiful thing to see. K.D. kept talking about, oh, man, I just wanted to play basketball. They've been playing basketball with no distractions and it's looking good for them. And so that's great as well. Now, you got Joelle M.B., who's playing incredible basketball. I think Joe L.M.B.

is averaging more points than Luca Donchage by a tad. Now, that could have changed over the course of the last couple days, but a few days ago, he was averaging more points. definitely averaging more rebounds. And his team has a better record. So now you have to take all of those things into account when speaking at an MVP voting as well. Quite frankly, I'm interested,

and obviously Steph was playing at an MVP level before he got hurt. Our team record wasn't what it needed to be for people to talk about him in the MVP conversation, yet our team record will end where it needs to be for him to be an MVP conversation. quite frankly, I don't think he'll be out too much longer, at least that's my hope, and he'll still have an opportunity to compete for that award.

And as we continue to move our season in the right direction, I think he'll enter those talks as well. But I must say, this must be one of the most log jammed MVP race conversations. Obviously, we're only almost halfway through the season in a very long time. And not that, you know, there hasn't been one or two guys that needed MVP. But you're talking five or six guys that you can legitimately right now make a case for MVP. And that's insane. But obviously we know there will be one. And, I mean, if I had to make my pick right now only because Steph's hurt, that's an interesting one.

That's a very interesting one. you start to say a name and it's like, wait a minute, you start to say, wait a minute, what about that guy? It's going to be interesting. If I'm being honest, I'm not one to, as I said before, say something for ratings. I don't know. I think we still have a lot of basketball left to be played, a lot of basketball to watch and figure it out.

But if I must say, there is no MVP today. There are four or five guys in the running, and we'll see. Some will fade. Some will come. Some will go. But I don't have an MVP today. I think it's way too close to call. And saying that, we still got what, 40, give it, take 40 to 43 games left.

I think it's too close to call. So I don't really have an MVP for you today. My apologies. As this thing plays out a little more, we get some more games under our belt. I will let our listeners and subscribers know who I think the MVP is, but right now, I think it's way too close to call. I'd be remissed if I did not speak on LeBron's birthday performance

the other day. I mean, in Atlanta, 38th birthday. To go out and had a performance, he had 47 points in a triple double on your 38th birthday. And your body's supposed to be like killing you at 38, not 47 and a triple double with it, and a win on the road. I still say, and I stand by this, with 20 years in to still be competing at the same level, obviously it's not the exact same when he was 22 or 26 or 30, whatever. but to be competing at such a high level. In year 20, that has to count for something.

Has to count for something. I was talking to Bob Myers today. And due to LeBron's dominance, Steph Curry's dominance and the Warriors dominance, the era of basketball that we've had the opportunity to play in will go down as one of the all-time greatest eras of basketball. And I am honored to have played and be playing in this era. I know we always talk about eras and everybody,

oh, this area is soft and blah, blah, blah. To be playing basketball in this era is absolutely insane. And again, I take my hat off to LeBron. For what he's done, for what he's doing, on and off the court. There's never been a better face of the NBA, and I'm not sure there ever will be a better face of the NBA. Absolutely amazing. Salute, my brother.

Lastly, before we get out of here, I know everybody wanted to hear what I had to say about Jaws' take. I haven't really spoke about it much. I think you all know how I feel about that. I got a lot of love and respect for Jai, young leader that makes his guys believe whatever he believes. and that's a very powerful thing as a leader. He got that.

Has had it since day one, and you can see it glaringly noticeable since the time he's stepped foot in Memphis. I'm not sure he can quite make his guys believe that one, which is we're fine. I'm fine in the West. You are fine, Jai. You are.

But the Warriors in the West now, champ. So yes, you are fine, John. The Grizzlies, on the other hand. That's the topic for another day. Sorry, and last but not least, before we get out of here, obviously we all saw the situation yesterday with DeMar Hamlin. Just want to really send my well wishes to him. And then also send some prayers for him and his family.

We all go out here every day and play these sports, play these games that we love to play, that we've all been playing our entire lives. And, you know, never once in your mind, never once does it cross your mind that, like, it can be so catastrophic. As, quite frankly, as an athlete, you never go out like,

thinking you're going to get hurt or thinking something like that will happen. You never do. You know, it's like you just never take the court thinking that. You never take the field thinking that. And to see that happening yesterday on live television, That was a part of our pregame. Like that was a part of pregame speech.

And Steve saying, oh, man, I know everyone's watched it and seeing that, like, now we have to try to put that aside and find the energy and go play this game. Because you just, you feel for him. You feel for the guys that were on that field. You feel for his family. You feel for the Buffalo community. And then you take a step back and you ask yourself to question,

how are the guys impacted that were there? How is T. Higgins impacted who he just tackled? You start to think of all of these things, and the last thought on your mind is, what they need to get back to playing? Playing for what? This is a game. It's a business.

It's a game. And so that's the last thought on your mind. It baffles me that any other thought could be on someone's mind. And to see some talking hands yesterday totally just not value his life for the sake of a game to go on, who cares about that game? I thought it was one of the most distasteful things that one could do. And then I asked you the question, are you surprised? I'm not. Not at all. I feel bad for him. I feel bad for his family. I apologize to his family because it's number one for what they have to continue to go through.

But number two, for someone to care that little about Demar's life, his family didn't deserve that. He don't deserve that. No one really deserved it. So I send my love to them. I send my well wishes. And I'll continue to pray for a speedy recovery for him. not to return to football.

Football is a game, but to return back to the life that he had before he stepped out on that football field last night. That is my hope and prayer for him. I have no doubt in my mind that he can get there. But y'all got to do something with these talking heads. It's been sickeny.

It's disgraceful at this point. You got people who work with Fox Sports Fox is a partner. Just discredit. Just no filling at all for a life. It's distasteful. So I wish them well. We won't end this on that note.

We're going to end this on well wishes, on positivity, on moving forward, on speedy recoveries, on great health. Happy New Year, 2003. May it be your best year yet. Much love. Thank you for tuning in to the show. Season two, we back.

I'm out. Peace.