The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Vinnie Goodwill on Chris Paul being sent home by Clippers, LeBron "going out sad", Thunder dynasty on deck | 12.03

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Bomani Jones is joined by ESPN's Vinnie Goodwill. First, they react to the Clippers sending Chris Paul home and reflect on the 20-plus-year career of the star point guard. Later, they break down LeBron's disappointing return to play and discuss the NBA's ongoing injury problem. Finally, they discuss the Oklahoma City and how their run of NBA supremacy might just be getting started. 03:06 - Chris Paul Sent home 19:30 - Is LeBron going out sad? 29:20 - The NBA's BIG problem 41:20 - Thunder's dynasty incoming? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time, a wave original. My name is Beaumani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is that time of week where we have a guest join us covering the NBA for ESPN.

He's not quite as Detroit as me sometimes, but Vinnie Goodwill is in the house. What is more Detroit than Stevie Wonder? Well, he's from Sagina all right? Technically, but he made his bones. He made his bones on the west side of Detroit. I hear you. I'm just saying at times, at times, because of your refusal to accept American team of Detroit Lions as your own, sometimes I feel like, you know, I'm a little realer than you.

I mean, are they really America's team now? I'm standing tall and standing proud right now. We're not going to let a little. couple difficult, no, man, you stay. I'm just asking. I'm just asking if they have the team right now. How about this? How about this? If they're not America's team, that's fine. They still Detroit's team. And some people respect what that means. I don't know if they're the Detroit's team anymore. There's a, there's a team in the city that's a little bit better. Yeah. Go ahead. Keep cooking.

Okay, thank you. I will continue to cook. Thanks so much. Anyway, I can't take, first of all, have you seen a ditty movie yet? I saw episode one yesterday. I couldn't get through it But baby, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, that's just the beginning, baby. That is, that is, that is, that is just the beginning. I, I'm going to tell you now for people, it is not Fitty being petty, which is what we all expected and why we're watching it. For Diddy, it is something far, far worse because it is credible and professional, and it is damning. And I will just tell you this, but by the time you get to the end of it, you know how messed up Arkellie has to be, to be more, messed up than this guy, because this guy is crazy messed up.

Dude, from what I saw yesterday, A, the fact that you have all this behind the scenes footage from 2024, like, he thought he was, he thought he wasn't going to jail. Oh, that, that's the narcissism and the arrogance and everything else. And it's all coming back to bite them. And all those people were talking like all the people that you done wrong, like CC and Y stuff, like, what was that, 91, like stuff that if you know, you know. Because it wasn't like he was known back then. And when he became known, it was more or less a footnote. But by the time, like, like the story about the Eric Sermon, like getting in the car.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, all of that stuff. Yeah, can't give away too much game. I'm just telling you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There may be a longer discussion at the end, but I watched the whole thing all yesterday. Oh, no, it's wild. It's wild.

Also, while, they sent your boy Chris Paul home in the middle of the night. And for those who don't know, I wake up this morning to find out that Chris Paul no longer plays for the Clippers. And like, when I say they sent him home, it's one thing to just be like, hey, this person has been released or however you want to spit it. Vin, correct me if I'm wrong. They sent him home. They told him to leave and we'll figure the rest out later. they were in Atlanta if my memory serves me correctly like don't give me wrong the clip is a five and 16 they're having a miserable season they're old and slow and i can't imagine that that

put it like this i don't know how happy it would be to be around someone like chris paul on a daily basis when things are going well i can only imagine how miserable it would be to be around an old Chris Paul when you are that bad and that old. So clearly to the point where you can Lawrence Franken issued a statement that he made and he sent out to a bunch of reporters like, hey, this is not a Chris Paul thought we're going to work with him, blah, blah, blah, all the things. This feels like either a, you said the wrong thing at the wrong time and you just got to go or we are just sick of your shit.

We are sick of you being Chris Paul. And you're not good enough to be Chris Paul anymore. And we don't have the tolerance to take you being Chris Paul anymore. All right. So let's think about a couple of factors here. Number one, you correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really think there's much dispute here. He's the greatest player in the history of that franchise. He and Blake Griffin together are the most important players in the history of that franchise

is they are the two that legitimized their franchise for the first time. Blake Griffin with his rookie year actually making us care and then Chris Paul's arrival actually making them like a legitimate team. They help build this building that they're playing in. The fact that we talk about the Clippers at all, right, that they come up. There's a whole generation of fans like that are actually adults right now who cannot understand what the Clippers meant to me and you growing up, right?

Like this like this. The biggest laughing stock in Big Four American sports. This is what they were. He's that guy. He matters to that team. I don't know exactly how the team feels about him because he bailed and it got kind of weird, you know, got weird at the end the first time. However, you don't really send this guy home given that history.

They sent him home. Get out. We can't take it. And it can only tie into what you talk about, man. He is an exhausting guy to be around. Because let me tell you what this isn't going to do. this isn't going to make the clippers any better. He's out here getting DNP CDs.

Like it's not like he has to play. And by the way, he's playing terrible. But it's not like he has to play and now they got to take him out so they can get somebody else. No, no, no, no, no. They just want him out of there. They told him to call Tyrone and tell him, come on. Help you get your shit.

I am fascinated at what they hope to accomplish by bringing him back in the first place, right? were we ever sure that he and James Hardin patched things up in real time? Because I'm not sure that things were ever, you know, we cool, we back good again. Like, it ended pretty badly in Houston in 2019. And because so much life has happened after 2019, we forget that that was not that long ago.

And those are two very acquired taste. type of ball players. And the fact that Jim Hardin has us calling him James Hardin again for at least a little while longer. Like he's playing all-star ball. He's balling. He hooping. Like he is hooping. It don't matter because the team ain't doing much, but he's hooping. You got Tyloo who's having a miserable year. You get all these ways that you have rolled snake eyes as a franchise. And then you got Chris Paul who's not playing no more. And then he announces somewhere along the way that he is having a going away tour. Like this is, this is it. Like, yeah, as if we didn't see it. And the day that he announces his retirement, what does Jim Hardin do? I'm going to drop 50

in North Carolina. Should have retired right then. She just got it right there and there. That's it. Well, the other thing this team, this team. This team. built itself around a player who ain't got nothing for you on the soft skills, the leader stuff. That's Quad Leonard, right? Like this whole plan was built around a guy who don't really talk that much, okay? You bring in James Harden, and that's not really what he does, okay? I imagine that if I'm Chris Paul and I get in and I look around this team, and you know what that team sounds like it needs, even as old as they are, it still looks like

needs a grown-up, now doesn't it? And Chris Paul, if he is nothing else, is a grown-up. Not always a likable grown-up, but a grown-up. And he was like, yeah, I'm a beat at except the problem for Chris Paul is, and it's so weird, people in real life seem to like Chris Paul a lot. People in basketball do not. It is one of those things where for Chris Paul to be at his height. Like literally, not like the height of his career, but at his height, you have to be a special type of ball player to make it in the NBA. Like, I don't think we give it as much credit because of all the nonsense that, or not all the nonsense, because of the conversation that has been around Chris Paul, because of the places that he has not gone. But the

fact that at six feet nothing and as someone who used to have hops, like good enough hops, that could make you dunk on Dwight Howard. And then you lose that early in your career. You have to turn yourself into a completely different ball player. You have to be a special type of ball player just to get to the NBA at six feet nothing. Then you have to be a different type of animal to be an excellent ball player. Like, Bo, just legitimately think about this. The list of six feet nothing players who are undeniably better than Chris Paul,

I'd probably say R2. Isaiah Thomas. Alan Iverson. Who's not? See, that's interesting. If nothing else, if nothing else, AI showed up.

Yeah. So the thing with, so this is why this is interesting to me, okay? Iverson, obviously, was the best player on a team that went to the NBA finals,

which Chris Paul has never been, right? Right. Iverson was not, however, the floor raiser that Chris Paul, like 2008 Chris Paul probably had a better basketball season than 2001 Alan Iverson did. Like I think 2008 Chris Paul should have been the MVP that year. I understand why he wasn't. But 2008 Chris Paul, and this is before the knee injury, which you talk about, which is kind of a different incarnation of what Chris Paul was before then.

I guess say this. I'm not saying that Chris Paul is better than Iverson. I'm saying though there is an interesting discussion to be had about that. Keep in mind, Chris Paul is still in the NBA at 40 and at 32 Iverson was cooked. Yeah, I mean, like two different types of, you know, ballplayers. And yeah, it winds up being a different level of like, I'm not going to fight you if you say that Alan Iverson is not better than Chris Paul. Like, you know, that's not the thing. But the fact that Chris Paul, like you said, found a way to.

who reinvent himself as he aged, wound up being part of some really, really good teams, catching some bad luck along the way, some of itself inflicted, some of the health, whatever you want to call it. Like, you have to be a certain level of probably honorary. You probably have to be a different level of honorary. And you have to ask yourself, wind up, like, historically, was Chris Paul wrong place wrong time? Or was Chris Paul the common denominator of all?

all the bad things that wound up happening. And there's no real way to answer that right now because half the Clippers going to the Western Conference Finals in 2015 against the Golden State Warriors team. That was really, really good, but we're not sure that they were championship ready. How different is this discussion? That was the one, because that 2014-15 switch.

What happened in between those two seasons is interesting because the last team to beat the Warriors before everything changed were the Chris Paul Donald Sterling less clippers, right? When they wore the stuff inside out and took all the stuff off and everything else. And they beat the Warriors in seven and Joe Lakel got Mark Jackson, the look up out of there because it was beef, right? And the next thing you know, the Warriors are everything. And for people who don't remember, the Clippers were up three, one on the Rockets,

and the second round of the playoffs, and they are up big. in game six and led by Josh Smith with James Hardin on the bench in LA. The Rockets walked them down. Now, to be fair, that was a team where the Clippers starting five was the best five-man lineup in the NBA. Yep, yep. And they had nobody behind them. And they just ran out of gas. So that's the thing to me is that if they win that series, they probably go play to Warriors and get run out of the building because it wasn't like they were any more accomplished than the Warriors were. Well, here's the other thing.

This is the thing that we forget. Do you remember what happened to the Clippers the year before that after they beat the Warriors in round one? Who they played in a round two and how that ended up? Do you remember that? In 2014, did they play the Spurs in the second round? No, they played the Thunder. And that was the Chris Paul meltdown game in Game 5 where he files Russ taking

that wild three and then when Russ makes all three free throws and then on the last play he gets stripped maybe by Reggie Jackson driving like he drove two days like it's all these little inflection plays that sometimes you're in the wrong place at the wrong time and sometimes it can't always be you and that's where it has gotten because think about how many players have played as long as Chris Paul and have been as great as Chris Paul, but have never gotten over the hump. Usually you wind up by hook or crook getting something. Like it's the Carl Malones, it's the John Stockton's. Like, but the list ain't that long.

Like as much as the championships have gotten monopolized, usually you wind up fine. Like Clyde Drexler found the way. He was wound up, he was an unlucky player and then he was no longer unlucky. David Robinson was gift to Tim Duncan. Like the one gripe I have sometimes about John Stockton is you can't just be 16 to 12 all the time. It can't just be I'm taking the playbook and executing it properly and I'm not adjusting to whatever the game is calling for. Chris Paul can probably execute the game plan before life alters it as well as anybody in the history of the game, right? What happens but playoff basketball is inevitably what happens when the game calls for you to be?

something different than what you plan for. And that's where Josh Smith happens. And that's where, wait, why did I file Russell Westbrook taking a three when we are up, when we are up four, he's taking a three. This is what we want. Like, it sounds like we dogging on Chris Paul here. It just shows how thin the margins are when you are that great and you're trying to get rings in the Spurs slash Warriors era of the Western Conference.

To this day, and this cannot be ignored. matter how analytical the game gets and everything else. Ain't no more skill more important than going and getting buckets, a bucket, but I can go get buckets. Boys, I got 35 for us tonight. And Chris Paul in his way could do that. What was that game in, in, that playoff year they went to the finals in Phoenix? I don't think it was against the bucks. But you remember the game I'm talking about when he just kept walking him, or was it the next year? He just kept walking him down to the elbow. No, no, no. It was a clip when he beat the Clippers. and he forced Pat Bev into the ultimate villain move.

That was the clinching. That was the clinching. I think he scored 40. Yes. And he just went and got bucket after bucket after bucket. And that's almost the exception that proves the rule in this case that we're talking about. Like the thing about Isaiah Thomas that made him so amazing, especially for the day and age that he played in is, all right, I'm going to go get these buckets.

If y'all just ride along with me, I'm the one guy in the building for this team that can go get these buckets. I got you. Don't worry about it. Because sometimes only thing that's going to work is I can go get these buckets. Yonis, when he had that game six to win that series against Phoenix, it's just, hey, man, I'm going to go get these buckets. That's what makes Alan Iverson as six foot so amazing again, Isaiah Thomas. It's really difficult for a guy that size to say, you know what, I'm going to go out here

and do this. A guy like the other Isaiah Thomas, who could do that in the regular season, but not really when it comes down to it in the playoffs. Like at that point, he ain't really going to be able to give it to you. Chris Paul lacked that single most important skill, right? Like that's why you talk about Chris Paul versus Steph Curry. That's the giant difference right there, man. Steph Curry is like, hey, 35?

Yeah, I can do that. Easy. Yeah. And you make alterations through the game as the game goes. Like maybe, maybe Zeke says, Michael Jordan's guard me, I have to go score 35 tonight. He's actually done that. And these are against you, accept the challenge of, you know what, this is going to be a little

uncomfortable for me. I might have to take a lot of shots that go against the percentages and everything else, but who else going to do it but me? And you got to be able to take that. And Janus, when he made all known free throws, who else going to do it but me? Inevitably, I think you have to do things that make you feel a little uncomfortable, that make you step outside yourself. Michael Jordan in the 91 NBA finals, average 11.5 assists.

you think he was thinking about I'm a pastor John Paxing a whole bunch of this series. No, that's just what the game called for in the guys whose regular season and playoff numbers mirror the exact same things. I'm almost to the degree of, you know, like low turnover guys, like to some, like in NFL, the guys who don't throw interceptions. That means you're not taking the chances of throwing it into those holes and making guys run to get to those spots. Same way for point guards.

Sometimes you got to throw those passes just so everybody can look alive. You know what I mean? Like you get that guy to say, hey man, look a lot. Keep your head up. Like Magic Johnson throwing a ball to the back of your head. Hey man, I wasn't open. Yes, you was. You open because I synced it.

Like one of those type of things. And that might be the one separator between the tier that I consider to be the ultimate tier, the Magic Johnson Zeke tier, to everybody that comes below them. And I mean everybody that. comes below them. Oh, wow. But, yeah, homie, went outside, man.

He had to put it on Instagram stories. Like, that's the thing about coming back. I talked about this in the context of LeBron, which is a different case. But once you decide to come back at this age, every year, the odds are you going outside? Get higher and higher and higher. And, like, LeBron hanging out at the end of that game

to try to make sure he got his double digits. Ooh. That wasn't going out happy. I mean, can you imagine? And let me correct myself before the aggregators go. Like, Steph is in that goat category, so he's just a different type of point guard. But yes.

Think about, think about this. Can you imagine JJ Redick knowing what the score is, knowing that only LeBron is the only regular out there and LeBron is out to, hey, man, I got to get this side step three to get to get these buckets. Because the few plays before that, Bo, he was trying to just score and it wasn't working. And that's where you are about to be 41 years old in a few weeks. And you're coming off of an old man injury and you're walking into the New World Order.

And that is the, you know, okay, maybe you've earned the right to say, I want to score my double digits. Like this means that much to me. All right, cool, but it still feels a little unseemly. So I will say this, I do not believe that he would have done that in a game that mattered. Okay. Right. Or under circumstances under which the game mattered. Okay. So if he's got six points and it's 90 seconds left and it's a four point game, I don't think he's doing that, right? Like, I think that there was a measure of, hey, we'll be got to lose. Right. And right now. He's only played five games, but it's clear. He is dialing back usage. Like, I think he seems to have made on one hand, I think I would say that he has made an adjustment

to what the New World Order is. I would also say that he was over there, Lollagging with the other team during the game, and JJ had to call a time out on Monday night. Did you see that? Yeah, I saw that. Once again. I want to see, but I bring that up to say, I want to see just how all that plays because that crazy. Jay J is a crazy person coaching that team. Like we all understand this. Like is that something that you do it on purpose? Like you got to know if you LeBron, you can't, like we can't be doing this. Okay. But to borrow a phrase from one of those reality shows, who gonna check me, boo? Like who who's going to check LeBron James at this stage of his life at this stage of his career? But that's the point.

He's as checkable as he's ever been right now. He had a number three option on the offense. He's not the best player on the team. Like, if he is asking who going to check me, it is possible he could find out. I will say this. No longer number one option, yes. Let's see how long he's the number three option.

Let's see him revving it up and getting comfortable playing like him. himself again. Like, it's one thing to do when you come in and the Lakers are a top three team in the Western Conference, them Oklahoma City and Houston. Like, it's clear that those are the three best teams as of this moment right now. You can, you have to come in and sort of fit in. But the first sign of turbulence, it's going to be really hard for you to fight against your natural instinct, which is to put your hands on the throttle and go and pull the nose up. And you're still, you're still, you're still, LeBron James. Like no matter what winds up happening, like whatever jokes, you know, and how we're kicking

it here, he's still an incredibly effective ball player who can have an incredible effect on the game just by his mere presence. Like, having to blend in right now is one thing. Like, do you know what people are doing on the internet? Because I know you're not on Twitter as much anymore. And I don't know if people are doing this on threads. People are doing one of these blind reveals. We're doing side by side this player's first five years against this player's first five years and we want y'all to find out y'all we want you to tell us whose numbers is these rookie year 7.6 second year 15 points third year 199 fifth year 225 next year 285 you know who they comparing bomani lebrano abroad no no no no no no

No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no. I said rookie year seven points a game. Oh. Austin Reeves and Kobe Bean Bryant. Oh. That's the difference is I think Austin Reeves was about 27 as a rookie. Hey, he played seven years of college.

Hey, it's just the, it's just the inflation of today's game on a number of level. I know. But still, yeah, that's crazy town. It is a crazy town, man. Yes, that's, that's, I will just say this. and I don't my inclination is not to say that you're wrong about how effective LeBron is as a ball player right now or everything else he is currently putting up splits of 46, 32, 55 and that 55% for the free throw line is on 20 attempts like it's not a like

super tiny sample that we're working with here um if it gets to a place of him trying to dial it up because that's what he usually does there's questions you know what I mean like Like this is, it's going to be interesting to watch. Like my inclination is to believe that he could find a way. I've always thought that the game for him was going to be aging into being a bit of a point power forward. Yeah. Right.

Like that's, that's what I'd always thought. I thought it would start happening maybe 10 years ago. Not 10, but you know what I mean. Like he's flipped the math on aging so crazy. Like, think about this. This is 10 seasons since the 3-1 come back against the Warriors.

Like, that's how long this. dude's been playing. That is, wow, it is amazing. But it's going to be interesting to see, especially if he keeps doing stuff like what had JJ so mad. That's what, like, they can't, that ain't go send him home, right? But

they were okay without him. Yeah, I mean, I mean, okay, see, that's the right word. You said the right word. They were okay without him. Like, the net rating is a little bit better than what the record is. Or the record is better than the net rating. I will give, how about this? And this is a phrase that I find myself using all the time

a little bit now. I'll just be wrong. I'll consider myself to be wrong if LeBron is totally washed because I've never seen it. And I've never, like at least from a statistical standpoint, I will allow for LeBron coming off of that type of leg injury being this age and this level of experience, I tend to believe he will turn it up in some way. It may not get to the point where he's 25, 7 and 7 or 27, 7. It may not get that high, but it will not look the way that it looks now, five games in. I'm willing to give it another 15 games to see where it actually lands and to see how JJ and Luca and Austin Reeves and all these guys works yourself in. I just don't tend to believe the Lakers are as good as their record, even Sands LeBron and with LeBron in this small

sample size. Yeah, I mean, their point differential indicates a okay team. Here's the thing. If they are going to win a multiple playoff series, as in more than one, as in we're getting to the worst in conference finals to be the runner-up to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Which everybody is. Then you're going to have to win on offense with their roster is currently constructed because we've seen Luca steal you a series. Luca has stolen playoff series before. He's capable of doing that.

You're going to have to win strictly on offense with Luca. I think he's had a 38 usage. That doesn't look like it is. sustainable for real life winning in today's basketball with basketball being played at the pace that it is played at where it is breakneck speed where if you play hard like the Boston Celtics or the Phoenix Suns or the Orlando Magic, you're going to win more games than talent says you should. And I don't know how much playoff basketball will slow that up. And therefore, I am not sure how much real winning the Lakers can do against teams that are more talented and more

versatile when it matters. I will say this, and we're going, I want to put a pen in something you just said and then go over to the break. But in the West, the Lakers have the second best record. Point differential, tied for six, right around the surprising Phoenix Suns. You know what I mean? The team that gave him the other night. Right. Now, granted, Phoenix did put the hurt on them. But given, though, that is the Lakers playing a lot without LeBron.

some in and out of Luca. Like there are things to be brought up to mitigate the point, but it is fair to question whether or not this is a play-in team with a 13-5 record right now. But coming up next, I want to talk to you about, but you just hit on something I wanted to talk about, which is the pace of play in the NBA

and some of the consequences that we're seeing from that. All right, we are back with Vinny Goodwill of ESPN, and you made the point there talking about the way that basketball has played in the NBA right now. Because look, LeBron is old. Luca is not the most durable player. And you mentioned Luca having a 38% usage rate, which is really, really, really high.

And seems unsustainable. Like James Hardin, it is amazing that James Hardin has had the career that he has had when you really stop and think about the usage numbers that he's put up and the numbers of gains that he's put up. Like, I mean, look, he's had stretches, obviously, where he hasn't been the healthiest. But the fact that he can still be this good with all the miles that he has is actually really impressive.

Because I think that we'd all agree at this point. I was reading something. I think Mark Medina had this where he talked to a lot of guys like Gary Dede, the former trainer of the Lakers and other people in the body space in the NBA. And it's just the style of play and the pace of play in the NBA is putting so many more miles on guys. On top of the fact that they're racking up so many more miles before they even get to the NBA and it's leading to the consequences that we see all over the league, which is the best players not really playing that much, right?

Like, I wonder if long term it means that we're actually going to see something where careers perhaps get a little shorter because the teams become a little more apprehensive about paying older guys, a lot of money, you know, and so it all kind of dials back or whatever it is. But it got me to thinking about something. And I'm curious what you think about, what you think about this. So we often see the argument of, well, the NBA season needs to be shorter. Okay, never going to happen, right?

They're not giving back money. Every game makes people money. They're not giving back money. Hard stuff. But I was thinking about some of this doom and gloom stuff. I'd be reading about the internet and about AI, for example, where we know all the terrible consequences of AI. We don't even know if AI is actually going to prove itself to be profitable,

all of these things. But AI has been introduced into the system, into the universe, right? Everybody's out here using it. And one thing that history has indicated to us is, once technology becomes available, people don't stop using it. Right. Right. Like you're not going to, now the AI is here, no explanation of how much electricity it uses,

how bad is for the earth, how bad it is with the people, all of this stuff. Too bad, so sad it's here. People are going to be talking to Syria and Alexa or whatever it is. Once this has become available, the society is not going to walk back from it. And I feel like all these advances that we're talking about in basketball and the way things run schematically are very, very similar. It is breaking the bodies of the players. The bodies are not meant to withstand that which we are discussing.

But there is no dialing it back. As long as there's one person that's going to use the schemes, then everybody else is going to have to do what's necessary to keep up with it. And this is just what it's going to be. You know, it's funny. I've been talking to multiple people in the medical community, like on teams who have to deal with the, bodies. And not everybody has the same answer. Like it's different degrees of depth of what they

believe the problem or end or solution is. But the commonality is this. And I want to see what you think about this. A, they agree with you and me completely on too much specialization at an early age. One said, man, it's like watching a timing belt on your car being worn out. Just because it's what it is, it's only got so many, so many miles. on the car before the car starts fighting back against you. That's where the bodies are. And maybe this is something for all the professional sports leagues to get together on as opposed to, man, you're a basketball player at age 10.

That's exactly what you're going to be. That's only what you're going to be. Like, that cannot be healthy for the body. And I'm sure it probably hurts, maybe not football, but I would assume baseball. Just because, like, pitching arm motions, like stuff like that. The other thing is this ball. And I'm going to see what you, the other two things that I thought were really fascinating is this. And I'm reading from like a pretty extensive text message.

Practicing no longer happens. Individual skill work happens far more. So you're stressing the muscle without doing anything to simulate gameplay. Like you're just doing an exercise over and over again. And because guys aren't used to practicing anymore, teams don't really practice as much. Like they talk about, you know, staying off your. body and everything else because of the miles that you're doing throughout the course of the game because of the miles that you've already put on your body because of the miles that you might

put on your body during the summer when you're hooping that lifetime fitness and everything else and all the skill work you're not practicing together and you're not playing live so you're only playing live during the course of the game your body isn't used to that type of stress and then it's the stress of breakneck speed basketball big time problems and finally and this is there's a couple of others, but I don't want to say it out loud. But the other one, two people have told me that basketball shoes and the equipment is shit today. They say the shoes are just bad. They're like, they think that because you are wearing a low-cut shoe and you are wrapping your ankle around it, that that's compensating. All you're doing is sending the stress to other

parts of your body. Now, what's right above the ankle and what injuries do we see all the time nowadays? Yeah. and the hamstring. And did you hear about our boy Zion? Great to add duct the strain. That's three to six weeks. Come on, man. Yeah.

Gary Vee, I think the point he made in the Medina piece that I thought was so interesting was just that. He's like, look, man, if you do the same thing over and over again, everything that's small in your mechanics just becomes exacerbated because you're doing that thing over and over and over again. So I'm just doing this out there. One of your legs is a little shorter than the other one.

Then you're going to be everything that comes from the compensation of that. You're going to be doing over and over and over again. And that's going to lead to these problems. You know what I mean? Like the overuse goes from there. Had another person who works in college sports. And he made the point that with basketball, where he's like the problem is we can't get these guys to stop doing these drills.

Right? We can't get these guys doing all of this. But I think you hit on a very important point, which is it's cats are going to start a big campaign from all the lead. to be like, hey, play everything. Right. MLB put some money in. The hockey people,

I guess they kind of could too, right? Everybody put some money in and encourage everybody to play everything, to cross-train, need to do Bo-Nose campaign. That would be great. Like, we are just old enough to have played, even if you didn't play like high-level stuff,

but you played everything. Even if it's just playing in the street, like playing with guys. You know what I mean? Like playing stick ball, so to speak. You know what I'm like? You still did other things besides the one sport all year round, especially if you are in a place where you got easy access to a gym or there's great weather,

so you're going to be outside every day or whatever it is. Like people would say, man, y'all is playing on concrete and I messed your knees up. Maybe. But there was also times that we just didn't or we played other things. Not because guys have access to gyms and you get access to trainers and you got the AAU circuit and everything else. Like, that's going to be where the NBA has to go to AAU and either completely take it over and remake it

so that the product that you get when you get to the NBA is a little bit more sustainable. Or like you said, and partner with the NFL, partner with Major League Baseball for something to where not everybody's just playing one singular sport. I think it creates better athletes, to be perfectly honest with you. Well, it creates better athletes, but I think the thing that sucks about it,

it is everybody's afraid that they slip in behind, right? Because somebody else is working just a little bit more and somebody else's game is getting to this place. And I hear you, but you're not going to get to a place where I believe that there is anything more important in terms of where you're going to end up than natural physical endowments, right? Like I still think to this day that if somebody, take Joel and B., for example, if somebody had found Joelle M. Bede in Cameroon

when Joel M. B. was 16 years old. Just found him. And he was just rough and raw and everything else with his game. Drop him in the draft at 18. He go number one. Right? Like somebody sees the body and sees what is possible.

They still going to take that cat in that space. Or even if they're not in the end game, I guess what I am not. sure how much of this ground and pound that is happening to these kids when they're in middle and high school. I'm not sure they're actually getting returns out of. Well, it's almost like what you say about the NFL with the running backs. Yeah. When a run, like you pay for the yard, someone else pays for the carries. Like the high school, high schools and AAU, they, I want to say they're getting the best versions because the players aren't as physically mature and they're not getting

the best coaching and everything else. But they're getting something out of it that the NBA to wind up paying for. That's why not just even the practicality of, let's say you're playing 10 fewer games, you think none of the injuries are going to happen. And I'm like generally, I rock with Steve Kerr on a bunch of things, on a bunch of different levels.

It's just that on this one, and there's this brigade of people who are just saying, shorten the season, are you people high? It's not just, is it not practical to give up 10 games and everything else? What you think these dudes going to do during the days they don't have games, it's not going to stop them from doing the skill work. It's not going to stop them from training and everything else. They're already not practicing.

It doesn't mean they're going to stay off of their feet. And then what happens when the injuries go then? Oh, let's cut the season. 62 games. Where is the line of demarcation? The NFL is going to go to an 18-game regular season, season pretty soon. And you're saying, let's cut it down to 72.

Are you all crazy? No, it's just, it's, it's, it's, It's tough for the league, man. Like, it's a, and it's a problem that's bigger than everybody else. And the problem obviously is caused by the fact it's a lot of money in that summer basketball. It's a lot of money in this game of training in all of these things. And I'm just not, I saw Andre Miller on one of those podcasts. And he was like, I ain't paying no money for no traders, man.

He was like, you know what you got to do? Play five on five basketball. You're never going to convince me that there's anything better for somebody's game than playing 505 basketball. I don't get why playing basketball is such like this, ew, stinky sort of thing

that guys have nowadays. It's the only way you get better is being able to read and react to the way, and especially because today's game is almost so homogenized where it's going to be high picking row, it's going to be draw to swing, whatever it is. Like you have to be able to react to different situations.

That's why it seems like some basketball players are so robotic because it's like, man, we just going to go from catching the ball from the corner to the next action. It's literally like they're not even thinking for themselves. And the only way you break out of that is if you are just start playing natural basketball and you don't become better at basketball unless there's a series of things that happen that you can't expect and you understand. Oh, I can think for myself here and I can figure this out. So much of hooping is just figuring it out. Like whatever happened, Bo, I wasn't the best

dude at my age. But dudes always told me, hey, man, you're going to play with us. We're the older dudes. You're the smallest dude out here. And you're the youngest dude out here. The only way you're going to get better is by hooping against us and getting your ass kicked going down the lane and getting knocked on your ass and being able to take that and getting up and hooping. Whatever happened to that. Yeah, it's a time, man. But it's going to, I just want to see how this all goes. Are we the two old men at the theater, the two Muppets?

No, we might be. But I mean, but I don't even think we'd add because what we're talking about, though, is like, hey, man, Victor went by y'all. I'm a calf. Uh-oh. Right? Like, like, this is, we're looking at these red flags come up with the next generation of some of the most incredible basketball players that we've ever seen.

The one guy that I think will play forever, though, my man Yokic, he's like, look, man, y'all out here doing all this jumping. Not your boy. And he is, by the way, currently putting up, I don't even want to talk about it because it's so obscene. Like, they should take us off the air for talking about what Yokic is. The man's leading the league in rebounding and assist while putting up 29 points a game at splits of 62 and 44 and 85. Like, this is, this is nuts.

but I want to get this in right fast before we go. Yeah, I know. I feel like a tease just to throw that out there. But before we, I want to ask you about this before we go. Are the Thunder about to win 75 games? If they want to. You know what it is? It doesn't look impressive.

And when I say that like the 2016 Warriors looked spectacular because they just played the three-point game and it was step at like the absolute sort of peak of his powers and they literally ran away from you, like, during second quarters. Oklahoma City, like last night, it was a close game against the Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler lists Golden State Warriors. And Golden State led by three, like, in the fourth quarter. And then, like, I wound up falling asleep because I'm old.

And I wake up, like, two hours later. And it was, you know, a double-digit league. Bo, they don't overwhelm you the way that the 96 Bulls did with the Dobermans and the way that the 16 Warriors did with Jim. just like the sheer volume, they do just enough. It's like they beat you about four every quarter. Beach you about four, beat you by four, beat you by four,

beat you by four, and then you wind up, wait, we lost about 20? Yeah, because they're winning by 15 points in night. Isn't that crazy? They're winning by 15 points in night, and they did most of this without their second or third best player. Where do you sit on J-dub? I mean, to be your second or third best, best player in the fact that you have another player that is as good or close to being as good

with Chet. Because I mean, look, Chet's putting up second best player type numbers. You know, who, like, I did not love J. Dub during the playoffs. And then we found out that he was actually very hurt. Right? Like, oh, my bad. Dude, and they go get that, it's going to be, they like the Lakers of 82. They can win a championship and they go draft James Worthy.

Because look, look, they could wind up with a super high pick in this draft. and this is a draft that people are saying has a bunch of guys that could be that guy. Now, granted, the last time somebody told me that was 2014 and that didn't really work out that way. Wiggins, Jabari, Parker, and B, it didn't exactly work out that way.

But the thunder be cheating, man. They cheat on offense and they cheat on defense, right? I don't understand how it is that they out here on defense, not getting called for none of that stuff that look like foul and on offense, stuff that ain't fouls, get call fouls when they got the ball. I don't understand how they managed to do both.

It is amazing the way that the magic of Shea Gildj's Alexander's game is legit. I'm going to fear you into fouling me. I'm going to fear you into leaving me open. Either way, I'm going to get a good look or a great look. I'm going to get filed. Like, it's just he has legit mastered the game in terms of, space, like in terms of this is a box that I'm going to operate in. And within these 18 inches of wherever I'm at when I'm dribbling the ball and where your hand is, where your shoulder is,

or where my shoulder is, I'm going to master that. It is not necessarily like aesthetically pleasing, but man, is it effective? And here's the other thing, Bo. The crazy thing was you said 82 and worthy. And the Lakers, you know what year I thought of? Eighty-s. Eighty-six. and the Celtics. Yeah, yeah. Knock on some wood, partner. We can't put that all of whoever. Yeah, we can't.

Yeah, we can't. Look, if the Thunder were a big city team who had won the championship off to a 21-1 start and head could have up to three lottery picks the next year, if they were the Lakers, do you know how many comic sans letters would be written to Adam Silver saying, Hey, dog, this ain't it. But because it's the thunder, we got to say, oh, man, this is great. We're going to be in Oklahoma City in June for the next five years, baby.

Yo, I don't even know what Presti's supposed to do, right? Like, they are set up in such a way that what it should be now is, all right, we got all these young guys, we got all these assets. Now we can package that and finally get us the guy that'll put us over the top. Now we can go get a superstar. No, you got one. You got the second best player in the NBA. And then you got Jalen Williams.

And by the way, the only guy that got that's a super high draft pick is Chet. I keep it's like the whole thing about the tank argument. You can tank all you want. But the real key is knowing what you're doing. Because this team is not built with high picks. That Warriors run. I mean, they win a guy, Kevin Durant, yes. But before that, the only super high pick was Andrew Bogi.

Like, that's not how they put this thing together. You got to know your draft picks. Like in today's, and I make this point so much, in today's second apron world where rookie scale big boy maxes, there's such a schism between the two, if you can get the draft right and you can pay your players under the rookie paradigm of the maxes before they graduate to the big boy maxes after year seven or eight,

that's the only way that you can have something truly sustainable in the draft era where you get your draft picks right, you develop them, or they turn to max players, but they're little max players. And you hope that the money in the league doesn't burst, that the money keeps growing to where you can continue to pay your guys, that it doesn't catch you. But it's only like two or three teams.

Like if you think about, if you think about this, name me the three best teams in basketball right now. If you name me the three best teams in basketball, I'll tell you what they got in common. I'm just curious if you rock with me on this one. All right. I would be inclined to say at this moment. Just at this moment.

Detroit, Oklahoma City. You know, I have a soft spot in my heart for the Denver Nuggets, but probably Houston coming in there, huh? Right. And Denver could be the second best team in the West, and I know I said the Lakers, but we calibrate that. Yeah. But Detroit, the Thunder, the Rockets,

they have in common is they got their draft picks right in there, winning with the draft picks. With Detroit, it's Cunningham, it's Duren, it's Stewart, it's Thompson, it's Holland. It's all those guys in Houston, and then you traded a couple of them for Kevin Durand. But you still got Thompson and Shingoon and now you're at- Hold on, and the couple that you traded were the ones that you didn't get as right. Right, right, which you didn't have to.

But other teams are being put in positions where they have to. have to take a flyer because they didn't have the draft capital. And now this is what happens. If you get the draft right, you have the trust of whatever you've built and you can take advantage of the teams that didn't. Like if you're the clippers and you don't have a first, you may have to trade, you may have to trade James Hardin or see if James Hardin wants to go just to see if you can get into the draft because if you can't get into the draft and your cap is tied up, you legit have no

hope. Yeah, and they gave Sam Presti. They had to. I didn't think it was a bad decision when they made it. But it is now looking like the worst trade in NBA history. Yeah, it's the Hershal Walker trade. Yep. Like that's the exact comp for the Paul George trade, which again, made sense.

They had some bad breaks, some things that didn't go right. If Kauai Leonard does not get hurt in 2021, I think they have a strong argument that they could have pushed through because Paul George was really good in that postseason, as I recall. Yes, he was. Yes, he was. But it didn't work. And for the thunder, they had two down years. That was really it. Two down years.

And now they look like they're going to be annoying and unbeatable maybe forever. Well, I won't push back against that. But I will say this. Last year, I thought Boston was walking to June. And a funny thing happened on the way to June was in the second. round against the Knicks, a team they had dominated throughout the season, they got popped. I thought the Denver Nuggets, after winning that title in 23, I thought they were walking to June. And a funny thing happened on the way to June. Minnesota with Rudy and Towns and aunt popped them.

I'm not saying the same thing is going to happen. I am saying that in today's NBA, it is far more. This thing don't last as long as you think it does. Kevin Durant go to stay worst. They lasted for three years. Right. And we thought they've broken the game. Right. But here's what I would say about that.

Denver was not out there with the same team and they sacrificed a lot of their depth going from that one year to the next. Agreed. Boston, we have to remember them boys have miles on them. Right? Like the core of that team had been together for what, seven years at that point, give or take like we're coming in that zone. Brother, this is just the beginning with these guys.

they had the one year where they lost to Dallas in the second round, and then they came back and won the championship. Their best player is 27 years old. Yeah. That's that's because I agree with you. Anything can happen except those other teams were not in positions to reload. And like Boston, for example, depending on Christop Porcings, which is always going to be a, uh, right?

Like, we'll see what happens. Could that be Oklahoma City depending on the help of Chad Holmgren? I mean, it could be, but I'm not saying that you're wrong and I'm not saying that... Right, right, but just what I'm saying. You know what I mean? If it does turn out that Chet's held it's a problem,

they can just go get something else! The game just rewinds. That's what I'm saying. Like, that's the difference here is if one of these things doesn't work out, hey, man, go into ashtray, get some change, run to the store right fast, and go get me another big man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got it. It's just in there.

It's in there. Don't you worry. Like, you go to the Thunder. You go to the Thunder. ass trade with the change in it and it's got a hundred dollar bill. Hey, it's like the coach prime line. I'm bringing my luggage with me and my luggage is Louie. Yeah.

They're like, yo, why is your crown roll bag so light? I thought you had change. Oh, man, this is just paper money. It don't even jingle. That's like, yeah, that's what we got, baby. It's fold, baby. It just folded. That's what we got.

Man, it's going to be a year. Vinny Goodwill. Check him out. ESPN covering the NBA. Next time we get you there, You got to talk about the next video, have a chance. You get to watch this up close now. Like, you are knee-deep in New York basketball.

I get the Carl Towns experience. The Bongos and the threes. Hey, man, the Bondo's the threes. And by the way, he is bottom 10 field-goal percentage at the rim. And you know who else is? And this is going to be an interesting discussion as this year goes on. Cade Cunningham. Yeah, I see that.

Under 60% field-go percentage at the rim, which I think is a bit of a flag. And who's lower than both of them, if I am not mistaken, and this is just sad Zion Williamson. Yeah, that's pretty, look, look, I'm surprised Zion even qualified. Man, just didn't have to be that way. Shouldn't have gone to Duke.

Hey, look, yeah, what, yeah. And look, once the tire blew on them shoes, ain't never been the same since. That happened. That happened. Shouldn't have gone to Duke. Shouldn't have gone to Duke. That's all I'm saying.

Camp Boozer, it's not too late. You can leave and go somewhere else. Let's think about it for a second. Hop in the portal right now, go to Carolina. Hey, they'll take you. I'm just saying, I'm sure they'll take you. My brother, I appreciate you. All love, brother.

All right, now, ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this four times a week. Ryan Brumley handed everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line 3-23-9667767. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us.

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