The Ringer NBA Show - Our All-Time Starting Five, a James Harden-Dwyane Wade Debate, and a Potential Ben Simmons Comeback? | Off Guard

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Austin and Pausha revisit the viral Damian Lillard conversation to rehash the effects of certain trade demands throughout the league (3:30). Then, they choose their all-time starting five (14:05), answer a round of Rapid Fire Questions, including their choice between a prime James Harden or Dwyane Wade (31:54), and then discuss the lost art of practicing alone (37:47). Later, Austin breaks down why he still has stock in a Ben Simmons comeback (50:51). Hosts: Austin Rivers and Pausha Haghighi Producers: Erika Cervantes and Ben Cruz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by destination NBA, a G-League Odyssey. It is available to stream on Prime Video on Tuesday, August 8th. It is produced by Religion of Sports and Ringer Films. Oh, yeah. This is our documentary about the 2022-23 G-League season. We immersed ourselves. We followed five future stars or possible stars who are competing in the G-League, the NBA's Development League, as they try to achieve their lifelong,

dream of making it to the NBA. It's an awesome documentary. Again, August 8th, go check it out on Prime Video. What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Off Guard. I'm your host Pasha and joining me as always. The birthday boy, the belated birthday. Yes. Are you feeling older, wiser? You know what? I feel a little bit of both, a little bit of both. But, you know, most of all, I think the worst part about the birthday is I have to like respond to every single person in text. You get a birthday text. But you get a grace period, though. I feel like you get a couple days.

Like, if you respond to someone like a couple days later, like, it's totally five. It's not a right away. No. Build up the inbox. But I did notice that you, you know, reposted the NBA on Instagram, reposted like Adidas. They didn't repost my post. It's not a big deal.

But next year, you might not get one. So I was biased towards like bigger corporations and brands. I felt obligated to, like, repose those people. Do you feel obligated to post? Instagram has made it weird. We have to post people's birthdays all the time. I think that's kind of annoying. It is, it's an obligation.

If you're like a really close friend, then I feel that you might have to do something like that. Otherwise, but then it's like, where does it line drawn? What's a close friend anymore? Oh, man, okay. I was like it too deep. You spent the day at Disney. How was that?

It's so hot outside. Yeah, it was what you'd think it would be with a whole bunch of kids and that type of heat. But I had a good time, man. We ran around with the little ones, you know, I'm not one of those guys that like on your birthday, you have to like tell everyone it's your birthday and, you know. You can tell a lot about someone on how they handle their birthday. I have some friends that the birthday month, like right away, they're like, yeah, it's my birthday month. And we all month they talk about it.

They want to plan something. Yeah. And it kind of it's, and then there's some people that just don't want anything to do it. They don't tell people it's their birthday and hopefully kind of just flies under the radar. I'm the other guy. I don't, I didn't plan one thing for my birthday. I didn't, I mean, I was at Disney yesterday with the kids. I didn't plan that.

I just tagged along. I don't want like a whole event. Yeah. I did one for my 30th. Yeah. Because that was like, you know, you're turning 30. And your, your girl, you know, kind of put that together. Yeah, she put it.

Again, I didn't put anything together. I'm just not that guy. Yeah. So, you know, it happened yesterday. It's over with, you know, so I'm in my, I'm in the 30s. I would say like the thing I hate the most in the world. awkward thing for me is when people are singing happy birthday to me do you sing along people are all looking at you do you just look down at the cake like what do you do i think i think it's the worst

i'm just saying that's that's me maybe you like it maybe you want to see i don't know what you're doing this smile man you sit there you smile you're just like it's awful the um let's talk about last episode it went pretty viral there with what you said about dame and you know james hard and everything. Well, I know you wanted to clarify it a little bit. I know you went Instagram live and talked about it. Obviously, people take snippets and, you know, only post a little bit of it and don't listen, you know, people don't listen to the whole pod and they make a judgment. Yep. What were your thoughts on that? Well, I mean, yeah, it's tough when you're saying something for like a whole minute and there's a lot of dialogue and a lot of background behind what we're saying.

Obviously, social media is not going to happen. You know, they're going to take a snippet, cut it however they want so they can portray it however they want. I mean, they didn't portray anything that I didn't say, though. I mean, what I said is what I said. I still stand by what I said. I guess, what is there to clear up? Wait, so the crazy thing you saw is it's bad for the league when one player is demanding a trade to one specific team?

I think that's very bad. Like, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm not, I'm not apologizing for it. The only thing that I guess if I would have said, and again, I did say, you know, I was like, Dame is like the only guy that could be exempt from it, just do. to his years in Portland. I mean, he played there long enough to where, like, someone like that could probably

deserves to go wherever he wants, you know? He's could have been, when you really think about it, dames could have been in a big market a long time ago. And he's played really well for a long time under a small market in Portland. And it's really had to put on, like, dominant years just to get them to the back of the playoffs. You know what I mean? Like seven, they see.

six seed, whatever the case may be. They had a couple decent years with CJ. But regardless, yeah, that's the only thing. People are like, Dame deserves it. I'm like, bro, yeah, I know Dame deserves it. But that wasn't the point. I was using him as an example because he was a guy in the moment doing it. I said what I said.

I still stand by it. And I don't think any player should be requesting to go here or there, bro, and say they won't show up to work if they play here. I don't think. And again, what happened a week after that? the NBA is under investigation with his agent or not investigation, but whatever it is. They're looking into it. They're looking into it. Like, yeah, this isn't okay. You're not, this isn't how it works. And again, that's all my point was. It's like, if you get traded,

you have to go play. That's, that's it. If Dame had one year left on his deal, then I would understand a little bit more. You know what I mean? Also, that's, that's the other thing. It's like, if he had one year left of his deal, I say, bro, there's no point of even trading me here. It's like, Anthony Davis. He did the same thing. He's like, y'all can trade for me? I will show up and play. I will work. But at the end of the year, I'm not coming back. That kills the trade value.

They just quietly wanted to go to Miami and never said anything. Then it could have been something. But now everyone knows they want to go to Miami. So another team wants to get involved. And it makes Tyler Hero. He's a good young player that's average, you know, six man of the years, average 20 points, you know, a game for the last couple years.

And then Portland obviously doesn't want him. They have so many guards. So now you're killing Tyler Hero's value. He's just sitting there like innocent bystander. And it makes, it's just, it's a terrible situation, I think, which sucks because Dame has been loyal for so long to go from that to now this dragged out there. Yeah, yeah. It's weird. It is weird.

One extreme to the other. But in Dame's defense, I don't ever know the right way to handle it. I mean, I guess it's just to be quiet. But if you're quiet, you know, there's a chance of you're getting traded to a team that you don't want to go to. So I think he wanted to be vocal and saying, like, listen, I'm open to working with the Portland. Obviously, I've been here for a long time. I do want to play for Miami. So then, you know, now they're taking Miami to consideration.

When that trade's not really working, they're like, oh, well, we found these teams that we think we're looking at. Remember Minnesota and this team and this team and this team was popping up? And that's when I think he was like, whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I only want to go to Miami. You know what I mean? Which, again, I'm not a fan of, but Dame is the only guy that I would not have a problem doing it with. He's the only guy. Everyone else. So you didn't like him when Payne and Pritchard was the manning a trade?

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. By the way, on the USA Select team, Peyton Pritchard. Really? Yeah. But that's like the young team, right? That they invite young players. Yeah.

Jalen Greens and Kate Cunningham. Nice. It's a good player. What are you trying to say here? No, I'm not trying to say any of this. You are. One more thing about the dame stuff that really annoyed me is half of the comments were people agreeing with you.

Another half of the comments were saying, well, Austin, Dame's better than you. So what? Who cares? So let me get this straight. You can only talk about people that you're better than. Like, this is ridiculous. By this logic, by this logic, no one could ever talk about anybody.

Yeah, but no one should have talked about LeBron James. Unless Michael Jordan and LeBron James are TV broadcasters, no one can talk about anybody because there's only a few amount of guys that are better than everybody else. It's the dumbest logic in the world. It's either you know basketball or you don't or you have some type of history with basketball or you don't. Complex actually recently had us on their list of pods.

Shot at the Complex. That was a shout out to Complex. All the pods on there. We were talking about Jeff Teague's last time and his storytelling. Yep. And I love that. But then today, I was scrolling on Instagram. It was Anthony Tolliver telling a story about how Michael Beasley accidentally put his hand on his knee.

They were going a little too far with the storytelling. Like, I don't need to hear that. We need to unpack that story. Like, we're doing a little too much. I know guys. Any story that people saw like the Jeff Teethy, they're like, okay, what story do I have in my bag right now? What story do I don't need to hear every story ever? Now we're.

I don't need the 30 for 30. that like that situation yeah oh man i you know i wish i could tell like 80% of the stories that i've witnessed but they're just not even it's not even about me it's about the other person it's about the other person that i'd be involved in the story that i don't know they would not be okay with me telling the story um jeff t keeps it clean though and he usually talks about things that happen in the game trash talk yeah and has so much humility and everything he's saying like he's super he There's no ego, you know what I mean? No, no.

Yeah, he's keeping a row. They definitely do good storytelling. There's a difference between those storytelling and like podcasting, though, in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, there's a little bit. You could end the podcasting. It's always good to throw in a story. Everyone likes the story. Those are the ones that always go viral too.

Yeah. I like his. This is good. No, and I'm happy to be on the list. It was really cool, man. Shout out the Complex for doing that. And this is our first year doing this. So obviously without our listeners and people supporting us,

we wouldn't be able to even have any of the success. So we encourage everyone to keep listening. and also, you know, tell a friend to tell a friend. We're trying to continue to build this out and get bigger and bigger. But yeah, that was really cool. For sure. It's pro-am season. Are you planning on playing it any?

I mean, I want to, but I don't want to get risk getting hurt. I haven't signed a deal yet. So for a guy like me, you're like kind of like teetering that line there. It's like, do I play? Because it's good to get reps in and like play basketball and not just do workouts. You want to like hoop. And you're the kind of person. I love to play.

Yeah, I want to play badly. So it's just like you have that. And then you have the other side, it's like, you know, you go up there and you hurt something. It's like, you're done. You know what I mean? So it's just like that, you know, I try to keep a healthy balance. So I've been playing a little bit of pickup,

doing a lot of just individual shooting. But I don't know, man. I would like to play in the Drew. You know what I mean? I've never played in the Drew League before. I would definitely like to pull up there. I'm going to be out in L.A. in the next couple of weeks.

So that might be something I'm looking to. Who are you playing pick up with right now in Orlando? A lot of good players they've been playing, man. We had John Collins, myself, you know, Tony Schnell. We had, who's been there? Seth. Seth Curry, Antonio Blakeney. Let's see who we got.

Pascal played one day. I wasn't there that day, but he's been playing O'Kee-Kee. Terrence Ross was playing. Colanthony. Nicola Butchavik You know There's been

There's been a handful of players I'm not even a lot We've actually had some pretty good runs Orlando's a little Hidden gem with the Hoopers man A lot of guys come here A lot of guys Anybody who plays here

Keeps their house Yeah Anybody who plays for the magic At one point It's rare that when they're traded Or something They just up and leave They usually keep their place

And live here For an extended amount of years Due to just them Falling in Love With the city For sure Like people compared To other small markets

like Oklahoma City and all these other small markets, but we're in Florida. We're, we're, you know, 45 minutes from the beach. And that's nothing against Oklahoma City or any of those places. But we're not even in the same realm in terms of like, this is this is Orlando, Florida. I think people think this and I think it's like 2001 and all we have is Disney. And it's like, it's just Florida as a whole since the pandemic in general,

Tampa, Orlando, Miami has just. In 2001, we had Tim Duncan do like, you know, in 2000 we had Tim Duncan do a visit here. Yeah, yeah. Is that true that he just, he couldn't, because he couldn't get his family on the team playing. That's why he didn't sound with the magic? There's no way that was true because there's no way my pops would let that get in the way of him playing the team. I mean, there's no way my dad was like.

He already had won a title at that point. There's no way. There is no way that Doc was like, hmm, I would like Tim Duncan, but I won't let his kids and family be on the team plane. That's just ridiculous. Yeah. Why does that know, maybe that was the rules back then. I know nowadays it's obviously completely different. Yeah, it is different now. But I still don't see that happening. Tim Duncan, bro? 2001, Tim Duncan?

No. In all hindsight, I'm glad it didn't work out just because what he did with San Antonio the following years. You couldn't do that in Orlando? I mean, the setup he had with Tony and Genoblee and that whole crew, I just don't. I don't know. Yeah. As a Magic fan, it's tough. I don't know.

But, you know, you got a little grant, a little T-Mack action for a little bit, which was exciting. a little bit of Grand Hill, not a lot. Well, he had the ankle injuries, which really held them up. Otherwise, that could have been pretty such, you know. But yeah, whatever, man. T-Mek held it down. What did T-Mex say? T-Mex had something last week that was interesting.

He said something about, what did T-Mex say? James Hardin? Yes. He said those, which is interesting. T-Mex's been kind of getting out there a little bit lately and talking a little bit. By the way, he has the resume. He does. He talks.

We're going to listen. Yeah. I just, and we're going to get into it. I'm kind of, why are we asking people who their top 10 of all time is? I know Dr. Jay just came out with something. And we're always asking people, you know, their best five all time. People are always going to say something that people are, other people are just going to disagree with. They're going to leave out LeBron James for no reason or leave out Michael Jordan.

or they always do something to make a splash. No one wants to just lay out the best five. I don't know if you noticed that. Dr. Jays recently, his top 10 didn't have a lot of players on it. What were your thoughts on that? Can I get your top five of all time? What's your all-time lineup?

I can give you top 10. Top 5 is nuts. Well, okay, if you had a team that you had to put together, like Bill Simmons always says against the aliens that came down, you have to put the best five, any player in their prime, what's your lineup looking like? Well, which one do you want to answer first? We want me to answer the reaction to Dr. Jays,

or do you want to give you a top five? Yeah, whatever you want. I think Dr. Jay's list was just, Well, first off, he's referring to players in his time. So I give him the benefit of the doubt. He's going to put the guys that he played against. But if you're asked what the top 10 players of all time are, you've sat there and watched basketball for the past 20, 30 years.

And you're telling me that one of those guys is on your list. That's where it's just ridiculous. You know what I mean? So I understand him playing, putting guys that he competed against. I get it. Dr. Jay played in the NBA. He played the NBA. You know what I mean?

This is a guy from a whole different era of basketball. And he's a legend, no doubt. And the guys he put on his list are also legends. With that being said, it's, I know this is all a matter of, you know, of opinion, but his list was utterly, I don't want to say ridiculous, but it was wrong. I don't, I don't agree with him. I don't think anybody did. There was no active players, right?

No, and it's ridiculous. It's just like, and we all know how the game's evolved. Listen, that's a fact. And I know people get mad about this. The game has evolved, man. Just like 40 years from now, God knows what these guys are going to be doing. Seriously. People don't like to think about it, but that's just the case.

Guys are going to make more money. Guys are going to be more famous. Guys are going to have more privileges. The game is only going to be bigger. Guys are going to be better. That is the evolution of anything and the existence of anything. And it's no different in the game of basketball. If people shot the jump shots Steph Curry did, they would think he's an alien in that era.

And it's hard to compare, but it's just it is what it is. His list, I don't, listen, again, everybody on there are Hall of Famers. So it's not like what he said was absurd. But like, there's no way you can have a top 10 list. And Stephen A said this. You cannot have a top 10 list and not have LeBron James on it. You immediately lose credibility. Right.

Immediately. One in two is Michael Jordan, LeBron James, LeBron James, Michael Jordan. I don't even want to get into that today. There's no right answer. Half the world thinks it's Michael. The other half thinks it's LeBron. The fact that people have narrowed it down pretty much.

of those two people, they both have one already. The fact that LeBron has been able to even make a case to catch that guy or make a case where people are like, no, he's the best, just tells you right then and there. So LeBron, Michael, both one and two, right? After that, I'm not even putting in order. I'm just going to name names who would fill out my top 10. Kobe Bryant said my top 10 players of all time.

Stefan Curry is in my top 10 players of all time. That's four. Tim Duncan is in my top 10 players of all time. Shaquille O'Neal is in my top 10 players of all time. Magic Johnson is in my top 10. Kareem is in my top 10. Kevin Durant is in my top 10. That's the first one that I'm a little,

that means you're leaving somebody really good out. So it's Duran over Larry Bird. Duran over, are we doing the world champrons of Bill Russell? Are we counting these guys? No, because Bill's my 10th. And the only reason I'm putting Bill in there is due to his, how much this guy won on just anything he did?

You have to put him in there. But and I love Larry Bird. Larry Bird is not better than Kevin Durant. Again, Larry Bird is a fucking Hall of Famer, one of the greatest players of all time. Champion did it on his own team. Never went to any other team. I love what Larry stood for.

I love how he did his career. I understand a lot of people give Kevin Slack for him jumping around from team to team to team. But I don't think that's a portrayal of him as a player. I think that's more of a betrayal of him as I think that's more of so his character that makes sense and not to say as a flawed character Kevin's not like a vocal raw raw you know what I mean like Michael and Larry were like those type of leaders Kevin's just a hooper so like I don't think Kevin sees a problem going to team to team he's just I don't go who he went to the best team in

the league the Warriors and was still the best player in the team I don't know if anybody watched those finals or in the playoffs when times got rough they put that ball in his hands and got the fuck out the way yeah or he would just start doing some i mean nutty shit it's one of the greatest scores the league has ever seen and no one's ever seen since then every skinny player that could shoot a ball the next to him daren none of them ever are we haven't seen a guy in the realm of closeness to him we've seen some tall guys that could shoot this this and that they love to throw kd out there you haven't seen it before and you haven't seen it since there's not a there's not a player better that name me you could not name me 10 players ever better than

than Kevin Durant I don't see it so this is turned into kind of Kevin Durant Larry Bird and I understand what you're saying this is more Larry Bird has more of a storybook career versus you're saying just in a vacuum Kevin Durant better basketball books storybook career yeah he has won multiple championships yes they were the Warriors it's just different like his Larry but I don't know if the Warriors win both of those without him they probably don't the the Cavs seem like they figured them out yeah I thought I think the Cavs would have got another one there. I'm not saying both of them.

Maybe the Warriors wouldn't won. Maybe they lose one. But them getting Kevin put them over the home. I mean, it was like a joke after that. No one was beating that team. Yeah, I think the, I think that the 2017 Warriors are the best team I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, it's the best team I've ever played against. In my entire life, I've never played a team as good as that team.

You had to play like perfect basketball to beat them and it doesn't exist. So are you going 2017 Warriors or 2001 Lakers? Where 2001 Lakers, I think they won one game all playoffs. It was an overtime game against Alan Iverson. Who they play, bro, do you see who they played in the finals, man? Are you not an Aaron McKee fan? I love, bro, listen. I love Geiger and I love Eric Snow and Aaron McKee.

Those guys can play basketball. And I'm not taking no credit away from them. But, bro, that Philly team, the Pacer team, and the New Jersey Nets team, they had three finals in a row where they just steamrolled everybody, bro. And the only game they lost was a game where Iverson went like hero mode bro And was making every you know what I mean like

No Golden State is by Golden State's the best team I think to ever I think they're the best team 2007 Golden State I think beats any team in the history of the NBA Wow over the okay so 96 Bulls I had the Warriors

And that hasn't done with the Bulls It just has to do with the evolution of basketball Yeah I'm sorry I just The shooting on that team was unmatched bro between Katie and Steph and Clay, we're talking about Prime, Prime, Steph, Prime Clay, Prime Kevin, Prime Dremont. Iggy was still not out of it yet.

He was still like at the end of his prime, but still very much still in it. That team was ridiculous. This is the starting center, Zaza, Petrullia? That's the point. It didn't even matter. It didn't even matter. They didn't need someone just to go down there and just fight and grab a rebound. They didn't need anything.

It was like Festus Azele or Zaza or this guy. It didn't matter. Yeah. That was the best team I've ever seen in my life. And the first year they had them, I think they still, did they still have Livingston? Or they had to give him. Yeah, Leviston, his Big Godala.

They had all those guys still with Kevin, right? Yeah, like that was, they didn't have Barbosa, though. Those guys left. I believe. They picked up, I think, Javelle McGee, Nick Young? No, Nick won. Nick did win. You're right.

But Javelle played great for them, by the way. Yeah, man. So who's your all-time starting? You have to build a perfect team. I'd go Steph, Mike, Braun, Tim Duncan Shack. You're leaving out Kobe who's, you always say that's like your guy. Yeah, Kobe's in my top 10, but if I have to choose a shooting guard on my team, I only have one, I'm going Michael Jordan. It's not anything against Kobe.

I just put Kobe in my top 10 players of all time. But if I'm building a starting five, I want to point, I need shooting. that's Steph. I got Kobe. I mean, I got Michael at the two. I got Bronon in the three who could facilitate as well. That team doesn't have enough three-point shooting the team you just named. No, they're just going to beat you.

Do you don't understand what I'm saying? Like, everyone's like, you don't have enough shooting. You don't have enough. Bro, when you put that five that I just named, you put Shaq and Tim Duncan and LeBron James and Michael Jordan and Steph Curry in the court. They're just going to win the game. I don't love the Dunkin Shack together, Even though they are the best power forward and Prime Shaq.

But they would just be, it'd be silly down there. It would just be, I mean, my God. And if you, I mean, yeah, no, that's my five. I'm sticking with that. I'm not going to give my own five. Prime Shaq, holy shit, bro. I'm a big fan of when people put LeBron at the point when they make their all-time starting five team.

I would do LeBron at the point and then you can fill out the rest however you want to, but I think that's probably good. Listen, I know you love LeBron, but how strong it's gotten over the same. the years. It's just getting... I would have him at the point. But LeBron at the point and whatever else happens after that. It's, like your team

and LeBron's bringing the ball up and then you can slide in a KD or whoever you want, Yon, I don't know who you want to put in there. But you're opening it up for somebody else and you have LeBron who's led the NBA and assists. He's a top, whatever passer of all time. I don't have him at point. I like, I'll put stuff

in there, I'm just for shooting. What about shooting? I got the best shoot in the world. Maybe I put stuff at the two. I don't, I'm just... What's it? I'm not... They can play any way when the game starts. I'm not. controlling who brings up the ball. You're the coach of the team. You asked me to put a starting five together. I put a starting five together.

Steph. Who's the coach of this all-time? Steph by position is point guard. Who's the coach of this all-time team? To handle that type of team, it would have to be Pop, right? Phil Jackson, Pop. I go, Pop.

Because we're not running a triangle offense. Otherwise, I'd do Phil. Yeah. But we're not running that with Steph. So. Pop wasn't the best at coaching team USA, though. Then they win? I thought that was the year they got seventh place.

My way off on that? Coach K won. Oh, you're talking about the year before Coach K took over. No, no, no, no. Pop did the last one with the Donovan Mitchell-Kimbel Walker team, Chris Middleton? That team was. It lost to France.

Yeah, but that team wasn't, that team wasn't what Coach K had. Coach K had a hungry and motivated LeBron James and Duay Wade and Carmel Anthony and Kobe Bryant and like, you know, they were like trying. to get the they were mad that they lost the years before i mean the name was the redeem team like the team came there and punished everybody right would you are you taking redeemed team over dream team was kevin not on that team kevin was on the 2012 team which is also underrated team really one they won too yeah um but the only issue at the i'd 2008 better than 2012 because dwight we had a very prime Dwight Howard as the center of that 2018.

In 2012, I believe it was Tyson Chandler. I think I'm going with the 2018. And remember like bald Dwayne Wade coming off the bench? What was that? He was unbelievable. Why did he go bald? It's because of Michael, right? I'm not sure, but the year before he was injured a lot.

He wore Michael's number, though, didn't he? I'm not sure, but he played unbelievable. And they all had an amazing year after that in the NBA. They did. So you're going on a dream team or redeem? Man, that's tough, man. that damn dream team was incredible a lot of those guys were out of their prime though

magic larry they were already either retired or retiring now like looking back it was really just Michael scotty and like Charles were just like caring Charles played on blue Charles was just dominating brother they had never seen anything like it in Euro basketball they're like

this guy is physical he's dangerous and he's mean he's 6 4 yeah he's just 6 5 power forward I'll go to redeem team man I'm going to redeem team Did you see Canada? They were posting clips of them. They all got together.

They're working out. They look good. Are you scared a little bit as an American, a proud American? Oh, man. What a question. You know what's crazy is Canada is being reviewed and received. Oh, man, this team's dangerous because they have multiple NBA players. And like our team's like only, you know what I mean?

But the NBA players they have are. You're only saying that because they're first two guys. It's only the first two. guys that like leave you like okay this is interesting Shay and Jamal make people excited I saw a little Lou Dorr and RJ Barrett in the back oh man listen shout out to RJ that's the homie RJ Khoop too but like I'm just worried that if Lou door his defense he can take a player out who's the go-to guy

for USA it would be Anthony Edwards and Brandon Engrams will be the go-to guy for that team Brandon Ingram too Anthony Edwards is the best player in team USA I like Brandon Ingram a lot you think Brennan was better than Anthony Edwards no I think he'll be the guy that they go through though I think yeah for Scoring? Do you need a bucket? Yeah, Brandon Ingham's, that dude is a bucket. I still think Anthony Edwards will be the best player of that team.

I also think Jalen Brunson's going to be a little problem down there. He's just such a crafty individual. Yeah, he's definitely, I believe he'll start over Halliburton. He's one of my favorite players to watch play is Jailen Brunson. And it's due to him being small, unathletic, even a little pudge. No, no, okay, okay. He's a little pudgy. We're not body shaming on this pod, come on.

It's incredible what this guy... Have you watched him play? Of course. Have I watched Jalen Brunson play basketball? No, I know you've seen highlights. I didn't know if you, like, tuned in his games. Of course, I've seen a lot of his games. Yeah, bro.

His skill level, his footwork. I mean, he probably has top five footwork in the NBA. And as a guard, he's like top two or three. It's nutty. It's really like that. He's like backing down centers and shooting fadeaways over him. He's up and under, his craftiness is stopping a dime. His pull-ups is mid-range.

I mean, he is a magician down there in the mid-range area in the page. He's one of the best in the league. What would his game compare to? I got another former player. What do you think? What is it like? He is kind of a throwback guard in a way. He has the footwork and post stuff.

He reminds me of Andre Miller. But he just shoots better, obviously. I mean, Andre wasn't really known as a shooter. He's more just like a crafty old school point guard. But he has that way about him. He puts people on his back. He's strong. Because even though Jalen's small and like, you know,

I was being funny with the pudgy stuff. But he's not like, you know, musley, you know. He's not going to be on any bowflex sides anytime. No, no, that's what I'm saying. Like, he's built, you know, not the way you would think. But like, he's strong, though. He's really strong. And he's just so skilled, man.

Either way, right-hand, left-hand, pulling up left-hand, right-hand on a dime. And his skill level with his back to the basket as a guard, which is something in the NBA that's, like, disappeared. You don't really have that anymore. Him and Jamal Murray, the only two guys really at the point guard position. and I'll put Drew in there a little bit that are backing down and still have the fadeaway game.

Like, that's point guards. With, I think, Brunson, who I don't know if he's better than Jamal. That's Jamal so good. I think Jamal and Shade backcourt is terrifying. I think people really forgot how nasty Jamal was until like the playoffs and finals. And there was like, shit.

Because when you talk about Jamal Murray, everybody talks about the bubble. Yeah. And then like the playoffs happened. And finals happen and everybody's like, shit, this dude can play. For sure. You know what I mean? Like, yeah.

But yeah, I don't know, man. I still think team USA is going to win. Do I think Canada's capable of beating them? Absolutely. They have enough players. They're all pros. Yeah, it comes down to a one game knockout stage. Yeah, anybody can win.

But if she goes for 40, I don't. Yeah, even a team with like three guys could win. You know, I mean, let alone a guy, a team that has like eight or nine good pros, which team Canada does. You know, they have good defensive players, too. Lou Dort, Nikile Alexander can really go. She can guard when he wants, but you got Shane Jamal at the helm, like, you know, as your back court. Yeah.

Did you see the pictures of Luca? He was checking in with the Slovenian national team. Every summer, everyone says, look at Finn Luca. And it's, I think it's so annoying. He just, he gets to tan when he's out there. It's a little fade, a little skin-side fade. And everyone's like, oh, wow, this year's going to be crazy. He's going to come in so skinny.

He does look a good shape, though. He always does, but it's the same thing every summer. I don't know what, maybe he's, what do you think it is? Probably goes back home. Yeah. I don't know, man. He's going back and playing for his country. This is his time, his city.

It's like you just proposed to his longtime girlfriend, too. Shout out to that. Oh, did he? You got hitched. We got a couple guys, Jalen Brunson? Well, he just got married. Oh, right, right. He just got married.

Someone else just got married. Joel and Bede? Yeah, that looks fun. Yeah, a lot of guys are, a lot of guys are locking it down, signing it down. I ran into Joel and all of them. his boys in Vegas when we were there for summer league he was there i think it was like a bachelor party or something it was all of his boys really a good fun group michalati i got a rapid fire questions for you to close it out are you ready more iconic katy at the rucker or cobi at the drew what performance

is going to live in infamy well they both are but you get it hmm god it's so hard to go against coby but what kevin did at that rucker park was unbelievable it was crazy he was just shooting it from like half court. There's something about it being outside, too, legendary. Oh, it's fucking, but first off, it's not a shooter's court. It's not a shooter's court. Right. You don't go to, like, the Rucker Park and, like, think, oh, man, it's a great.

Yeah, like, Skip to My Loo wasn't pulling up. He was, it's, like, it's ugly basketball, usually. And, like, occasionally a guy will hit a jumper here and there. This guy was raining threes like he was indoor. And, yeah, I'm going to Kevin on that one. The only reason, the only reason Kobe's is just so iconic is, like, buddy game James and like put the hands up

and just had everybody around him after and it's just like when are you going to get that opportunity Kobe does feel like one of those mythical. It was one of those stars that was mythical and then they had kids running up just getting their hands on them touching them. Yeah, just trying to touch them yeah. Yeah that's because Kobe was not accessible. That's the difference between a lot of these guys.

You weren't going to catch Steakhouse and running into Kobe Bryant. Yeah. You could run into Kevin Durant there. You can go to the club and run into Kevin. You could definitely, James is there right now. You can run into a LeBron James out with his friends. Yeah. Kobe Bryant went in the fucking club. And if he was, you wouldn't know about it. Yeah. Nobody would. You know what I mean? Like, so it's like, that's what him and Michael, Michael's turning up now in his later years, but like, apparently he did back then, too. We didn't have Instagram back then, so I can't speak on that. But like Kobe was like kind of like that.

So him pulling up to the Drew, you know, that was pretty special. And it was in that small gym, which I liked. Yeah. Went in like the big Julie playing now. Like they packed that thing out. Yeah, that was dope. I'm going Kevin, though. Next question.

When those, so we've seen all these, you know, pro-am performances, which, by the way, when you see a pro-am, like this guy went off in a pro-am, do you watch it on Instagram? Do you watch the highlights? I do. I mean, that's how I know about the Kobe. Yeah, my guy, like Marjon Bochamp just had 83 in Jammer's league in Seattle. The layup he had was nutty where he went up with the right. Right.

Right. He's a hooper for sure. I think he'll be good. He's a Milwaukee guy He's a Milwaukee guy No no he's from Seattle but he plays for the bucks I'm saying yeah Milwaukee has him though He's fucking talented as hell

Yeah pivot G League night He so when you Do you put any stock into that Do you think that's like tough to do I mean something that defense is rough I'm not worried about the amount of points Because I A3 if you're any NBA player

If you go in the game Like I'm shooting every time I touch it Like I'm like literally not passing I'm gonna score every time I can go put up 80 in the Seattle pro Impressive or not impressive It is impressive because it's a lot of points still 83 fucking points.

You still gotta be making shots, bro. Even if they're playing bullshit defense, 83 points is impressive. And there's a lot of clips where guys are like defending him. Yeah. But I'll put a little, so yeah, I'll put stock into that. I'm just saying I'm not going to be like, man, I can't believe it's not like an NBA game or something like that.

It's really garbage defense. But 83 points is a lot of fucking points. So yeah, I'm giving him credit what credits do. Next question. I am the best. You're like Kevin Durant? I am Next question

This is happening The other night We went to dinner And you and me Kind of got into this one Prime Hardin Or Prime Dwayne Wade I do prime

Dwayne Wade For 200 Alex Uh Nah I um It's close It really is People people really want to hate on James

I think it's just because The way he's Whatever People disagree with his life's I don't fucking know man I whatever. A lot of things people say negative about James. The one thing you cannot take away from him, when that man was in his prime,

and I played with him when he was on the court, this guy was an absolute menace. It's hard to picture. He was the best guard in the NBA, in my opinion. Those years he won MVP in the years after that. He's not the NBA assists. He loved NBA in scoring. He was unbelievable in Houston. I think James in Houston was the best guard in the NBA at that time.

And that says a lot because there was some elite guards still. You're talking about MVP years of staff and other guys. But I just thought James was the best. Nobody could do what James did. This guy's averaging 12 assists one year, 36 points the next year. I mean, a guy was an animal, bro. You know what I mean? I can rarely miss games too.

Now, he played every game. When you're asking me between the two, James and Duane, what are you asking? Who I want to win a championship with or who I thought was a better player? How about this? If you're starting a team right now from scratch. Godly, bro. You really can go either way. Great options for sure.

Yeah, I think I might go de-way just because the defense aside. And he won. You know what I mean? He won with obviously the brawn. That team was crazy. But he also won with Shaq and carried and was unbelievable in the playoffs. He's been a known playoff performer. Where like kind of James has that whole thing going.

You know what I mean? again, I've seen James dominate the playoffs. For sure. Multiple conference finals. I know the finals with the Thunder. There is a false stigma with him in the playoffs. Am I wrong? It's always the elimination game where he looks like he's kind of checked out.

But people have this thing with him in the playoffs. But it was always strange to me because I played with him in the playoffs and he's having like 30 every night. I'm just like, if this guy's struggling, what the hell are we all doing? You know what I mean? Like, but yeah, I think you can go either way on that. I think you can go James or Duane. I'll go Duane just because he's won his performances.

in clutch time and his defense. He did it on both ends. But, you know, offensive brilliance, James is better if that makes any sense. You wanted to talk about one of the lost arts that people, you know, basketball players or even kids coming up aren't doing anymore. Yeah.

You want to get into that? Yeah. I do. I noticed this, man. I've been, like, observing a lot just over the past couple of years. Now that I have kids myself and just being around the game for so long. long, you start to really like pick up on just how much the game has changed.

And a huge lost art that shouldn't have anything to do with the evolution of basketball is being in the gym by yourself. And I watch all these kids. Every time I go to the gym, a kid walks in. He's never alone. He has a trainer. Or he's working with this trainer. And there's a million trainers.

Half of them aren't even qualified to be doing it. half of them are charging parents, this, this much money. I want people to know right now, and I'm saying this on record. And I know people would think, the reason I'm saying this is because people would probably think the opposite with me, considering my background and where I'm from. I never had a personal trainer until I made the NBA. Never in my life.

I never had one. So when you were number one player in high school, I went to the gym by myself every day. all I would have is a home-ecome rebound. Every workout I did was by myself, man. I'd go work out with my AAU coach on Sundays, but it was like a group of guys. We'd like do a little workout together.

I had no trainer. I never had a personal trainer. Well, the trainer thing has definitely taken a lot, like has taken off in the last few years. Take it off. That's all kids do now. Right. They go to the gym.

But 10 years ago when you were, you know, 12 years ago when you were in high school. No, but that's what I'm saying. It's a lost art. When you do this, and here's why, when you do these, first of all for having a trainer, so I'm not saying don't have a trainer. I'm saying, make sure you go to the gym by yourself. I used to go to the gym and put four cones out going all the way down the court. So it's like four stops, five, six cones, five, six stops, put headphones on.

And each stop, quick move, quick move, quick move. That's how I got my burst. That's how I got my first step. I did it over and over and over. I'm talking about every day for hours. Everyone knows this. They see me at the Y. They see me at Rollins.

I'd do it on the side of the car. I'd go at any court available. I'd go outside at Phelps Park. If I couldn't get a gym, I'd hoop outside. Like, bro, any, which is unbearable in Florida, for people who don't know, it's like 120 degrees on that damn tarmac. But, like, that's what I was doing. It's a lost art that you do not see these days is players go to the gym by themselves. Everyone has a personal trainer.

Everyone has a workout guy because they see the pros have one. And now everyone needs to get one. bro, and I really realized this when I played for the Rockets. On off days, I'd go in the gym and I'd like work out with player development or I'd have a trainer come in. And James would go to the gym by himself. And I'd like, James, you don't work with it? In the summertime, I'd ask him, I'd go, who are you working out with this summer?

This is prime MVP James Hart. He'd be like, I'm not working out with anybody. I thought, what do you mean? He's like, I know my game better than anybody. That doesn't mean you can't learn from other guys. It doesn't mean you can't have a trainer come in and help you get better at weaknesses. But he's like, I like going in the gym by myself. I know what I need to do.

I know what I do well. I know what I don't do well better than anybody either. He goes, I know my workouts. I'm disciplined. I thought about it. He goes, he literally asked me, he goes, did you have one growing up? I go, no. He goes, so how did you get here?

How did you get to the NBA? He goes, you went to the gym. You fell in love with it that way too, right? Because it wasn't a guy telling you a drills. I went robotic. That's another thing. These guys do all these workouts. a drill. And then in the game, it's not natural sometimes because it's like you're drilling

everything. When you're by yourself, man, it's like a feel thing. Like, I would picture I'm in a game five seconds, like, bro, you fall in love with the game or the game is just more, I don't know what, it's just more natural that way. And I think it's lost in today's day. Like, I just don't see, I'm not saying every kid doesn't do it, but all these kids, they go to the gym and they train with somebody, bro. It's like, but you're 12. Go to the gym and just have fun and work on your shit. Like, or if you want, go to a couple workouts with a trainer, take some stuff, and then like, go do some shit by yourself, bro. I'm not saying stop working with trainers.

I'm saying it should literally be 50-50. It's like 90-10 now. A kid shows up for his workout for the day with the trainer. His mom and a dad are on the sign line. They sit there and they wait. Their kid goes to a workout. They pay the trainer. The kid goes home.

That's what it is now. And like, bro, all of us. And I want to make sure we clarify. for everyone out there. He's not, you're not saying trainers are bad or anything like that.

No, no, no, no, no. I have no problem with trainers. We know some trainers. Yeah, I work with a trainer. Yeah, I have no problem with it. You were saying the combination of the two. There should be a combination. There should be a bad.

What is it? Sadness and badness. Combination. Yeah, no, there should be a healthy balance of, of you being in the gym by yourself.

There's something different about you having the ball in your hands with nobody rebounding you, telling you what to do. You going through your work. workouts, you going through your movements, you picturing you're in a game down five or shot clock, like there's a beauty and love and passion and feel for the game being in the gym by yourself, working by yourself. And I think every player these days works with trainers.

And I know pros do it because we just don't have the time or whatever, but when you think about it's like, I don't even understand that. I think about it all the time when I'm in a gym working out. I'm like, why am I not in here by myself anymore? I like forgot how to do it. Yeah. I'm so accustomed to someone putting me through a workout. I don't How fuck did I get this for our life? I got here getting in the gym by myself. So it's just like, and I say this for myself too. It's not even just kids these days.

It's pros these days. It's all of us. We all work with only trainers. And again, I love trainers. There's a lot of great ones out there. Iron Rainey, Chris Johnson, Remy workouts. You got Drew Hanlon.

Sean Marshall. Sean Marshall, C. Brickley. The list goes on and on and all. You know, feel handy. There's a lot of great workout guys out there. And I implore anybody to go out there to keep doing their workouts and like keep keep you know keep working with trainers there should be a healthy balance of you being in the gym by yourself and it's a lost art and I just don't think it's good

I I I look at myself sometimes and I'm just like damn bro like in high school bro like all I did is go to the gym by myself and I had an extreme work ethic that I was able to build which manifested true love and passion for the game no trainer had to push nothing on me and it forced me through a workout that I dreaded going to that day I just went in the gym and did shit you know I mean and yeah I just think a healthy balance is ideal and I think it's kind of lost I've been thinking about that a lot lately I was well put thank you have you seen the um Netflix quarterback yes I saw a little bit of a yeah I wish they had better people well whoa people are fun I think you're supposed to see the different levels when I mean better people I'm talking about better characters

I'm not talking about them as a quarterback like I have no problem with Kirk cousins I have no problem with Marcus with Mariotta. Yeah. Yeah. They're starting NFL quarterbacks. These guys are studs, man. Like, all respect from a guy like me. Like, I got nothing but respect for those guys.

I think it's good that they just had different people, different level of their life. I know what they tried to do posture. They tried to put like the top of the iceberg or the top of the mound they got. Iceberg is nuts. James Cameron? Iceberg, top of the iceberg? Top of the mound.

I don't think it's cool to be at top of the iceberg. It's better than being at the bottom. It's better to be it at the bottom. Yeah, right. Top of the mound you got Mahomes. And then they got a Kurt Cousins who's like right there in the middle. He made a lot of money. He's good.

And then they got, uh, shops at Coles. They got a, bro, that blew my mind. I'm watching this episode. First of him, did you see his house that he lived in? Yeah. I'm like, what is going on with this guy?

And I'm not saying you have to, just because you make more doesn't mean you have to spend more. So I'm all with his logic. But there's like a fine line of that and just, this is getting out of hand. Too much the other way. Yeah, I'm just too much shit.

I'm looking at this guy's wearing a gosh damn. J.C. Penny, I don't even know what he was wearing. I don't know. And then I'm, you know, yeah. Anyways, you wouldn't have liked a little like Mahomes. You want to like, yeah, I know what you like.

Lamar Jackson, Aaron Rogers. Can you imagine, can you imagine everyone's following those three guys? Yeah. You got like Mahomes doing his thing. And then you got like Lamar in the hood, like give him back to the kids, like talking to he's funny. And then you got like, Aaron, you follow Aaron.

in the jungle and he's doing like high owaska or some shit the jungle you imagine him bro like tripping out like just talking to the camera I'd watch the camera everybody would watch that my next thing is would you be interested

in the NBA doing something like that I think they are doing something like that I heard are they yeah they have to because we're not a lot of this stuff started this all started with Formula One well Har Knox has been around it was a team thing

Formula One really gave light on individuals like even though it was all about their sports. You know, it's really about, you're getting Daniel Ricardo. You didn't know who fucking Daniel Ricardo was to four years ago. You're out of your mind. Of course I did. People always said I looked like them. I'm telling you. I've always known. I didn't know anything about them though. The majority of the United States, especially, nothing about Formula One three years ago, four years ago. And then that Netflix show came out and changed everything.

And that is a fucking fact. It all started with Through the Fire, Sebastian Telfair. That's where it started. I love that doc. I've seen that more than it. But that's an individual doc. You know, even showtime has a Ben Simmons documentary. There's all types of documentaries out there. No, I'm saying there's a million document. Matter of fact, I would like to talk about him. I want to cut that back in, too. What do you want to talk about?

I'm going to get into that in a second. What players would you like to see in a Netflix documentary? If they were going to follow three players, I want to know what's going. It would an extended amount of the season, because most guys won't do it by the playoffs, but you maybe do it like training camp or like mid-season, they'll go, you know, how they did with quarterback or whatever.

What would be... I need to know what Kauai Leonard does, like, in his spare time. Like, what is going on? Would it just be really boring? I don't know. But I would kind of... What am I knowing what's going on? Like, what does he do back there?

Like, I don't know. I mean, it's such a mystery of a guy. You never know what he's doing back there. I would like to see it, but then maybe if I saw it, I'd be like, ah, never mind. I don't know. Yeah, see, it might be really dry and boring, too. Yeah. Because I don't know how much...

It'd be really up to him and what he's willing to put in to the show. Are you still going top of the mountain, bottom of the mountain? I'm not saying Marcus is bottom of the mountain, but in terms of like, when I say bottom, I'm talking about in terms of like...

Well, top of the iceberg would be like Janus, Yokic, someone like that. Not Yokic. I mean, you don't want to see it. You live there. You don't want to see it. I just know what it is.

Okay. And it's not going to be something that like people are like craving to watch on TV. He's such a normal, like just chill guy. You want like, you want like, Steph Curry? Stuff just came out of the dock.

Yeah. Who'd be the, Janus would be fun. Yeah, and he's funny. Everything he says is viral. Like the guy's... John Morant would be fun. It's tough timing.

To give it a little bit. Could be good timing. It depends on how you look at it. Could be him like, yo, you know he's... You know how they do like the hard knocks. It always comes off like what someone just went through. Yeah.

Like you talk about that a little bit. You know, they have like a little news snippets. Like John Morant does the rest of it. You know, do the whole thing. And then like it cuts to him like in the gym. And it's just like it's a redeem year. You know, you obviously to get in touch with his PR team. You have a clear vision.

I'm saying, like, they could use that as like a way to like really like just start to turn because he's going to play well next year. And once you do that, you stop, you start forgetting about all the garbage. And like that tied in good media around him, that that could be good. I think Jock could be good. And then like you want like an unknown guy that like people don't really talk about like, or not an unknown, but like a guy that like doesn't get as much media attention. You know, I mean, you go down to like a, you know, a city that. You still wanted to be a star, but someone that doesn't get a media attention. You want a player that is actually just like...

Either or. I'm with either or. Okay. I think people would be interested in that as well. I think people would be interested in a journeyman. Like, man, look at this guy. This guy, these guys have it harder than... We're giving so much praise of like all these superstars,

but this guy's been on five teams and six years. You want that like Issch Smith documentary? Yeah, like you want someone... No, I want someone... I don't want a documentary about these people. I want... I want one of these guys to be a part... By the way.

I love Is Schmidt. I want one of these guys to be a part of, you know, how they do quarterback. You do... know, whatever you want to call the Netflix thing for basketball, whatever it is, NBA, something, player or something, whatever you want to call it. Hooper's Hooper. Whatever you want to call it. One of those guys would be dope. I nominate myself. And that's what it's about. That's what this is all about. At the end of the day, I cut it right

back to me. So, but yeah, I think that'd be dope. If Netflix is doing that, that'd be really cool. I think a lot of people would watch that. I actually want to switch gears for a second year. Ben Simmons. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I saw a lot of comments about him this summer because they saw pictures of stuff of him in the gym and everybody's like, here we go again. Kind of like what you said about Luca. You get a little bit with the, you know, Ben Simmons stuff.

I really think Ben could get back to his All-Star level. I'm one of the very few that I think, feels this way I feel. You still have some Ben Simmons stock. I still have Ben Simmons stock. I'm not selling his stock yet. No, everything that's happened to Ben, is mental.

They talk about his physical stuff. I don't buy it or believe any of that shit. I think we all know he was physically capable to play it last year. But mentally, he wasn't there yet, which is fine. The shit happens to tons of people. Athletes and non-athletes. People go through stuff mentally. You don't know what's going on in his home life.

You don't know what's going on upstairs. You don't know, obviously what he went through in Philly. A lot of negativity, a lot of attention for the wrong reasons. That could fuck somebody up, a lot of people. And then it only made it worse when he didn't show up to camp. And it just seemed like things just kept compiling on each other, right? At the end of the day, Ben Simmons, no matter how you cut it or slice it is healthy, is one of the freakest athletes you have in the NBA.

He's 610, strong, fast, and has vision. Everyone talks about his shooting. He doesn't need to fucking shoot. Some of the best players in the NBA don't shoot. Yonis doesn't shoot. He dominates. He literally dominates the game. I'm not one of these guys.

It's like, if he just had Janus's mindset, He don't have Janus's mindset. He's not fucking Janus. But Ben Simmons is Ben Simmons. And what he's proven in the past is when he is Ben Simmons, he's an all-star player. All defense. He's an elite defensive player.

Have those capabilities lost? Has he stopped knowing how to play a defense? No. He could still next year go be a first team all defensive player if he wants to. He could still show up to camp in shape. He could still jump above the fucking goal and dunk on just about anybody in the league. he can still run the floor and he's still his vision and he has a whole bunch of shooters around him in Brooklyn.

I still do believe if he's able to tap into his confidence again, which is something that I don't have a position to say anything about. I don't know him personally personally like that and I don't know what's going on in his life. I think he's gotten a lot of negative attention but now it's kind of cooled off

and people are like, ah, whatever, we're done with Ben. People have jumped off that ship. And I think when people do that, that often provides like a little bit of like, I got them to lose now. Now I can go play again, man. Like everyone's done,

no one believes me, no one thinks anything about me. Like, anybody's ranking. Yeah, he's not, no one's ranking Ben Simmons, top this,

top that, or this guy's overpaid or this guy. Like, everyone's just kind of like moved off of the Ben Simmons thing. I think this is a chance for him to like just reacclimate himself and to himself again.

Like, because all the things that he had that made him an all-star, he still has. He didn't have a freak like injury, bro. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, he didn't tear his ACO.

He didn't tear his Achilles. He didn't, he didn't, something traumatic happened. And it was like, like, bro, he went to some experience that happened. And then he handled it the wrong way. And then he didn't play, then this, this, this. And he got a lot of negative attention and kind of mess with him mentally. And then, like, he kind of hasn't really been himself. He's been a shell of himself.

But, like, everything on the surface is still there. It's so strange that I think people are just like off of him when he's like, still 610 fast can jump has vision and can be an all, all worldly defender. It kind of reminds me a little bit of They don't have the same issues Or anything like that But Markell Fultz People just gave up on him

And when the magic got him I was like guys He was the number one pick for a reason He still his ability He didn't have a freak injury or anything I know that's something wrong with his shooting Or there was something wrong there But he's played great for the magic

And once people kind of stopped talking about Markle Fultz and they were like wrote him off He got to just go hoop Yeah just got to go play Yeah He just like all right now everyone's kind of off me Like let me just kind of go play And by the time they come back around

his confidence is already up. Yeah, with no expectations. If Ben Simmons starts playing well and the media starts picking it up, it's only going to be picking it up because he's playing well. And if he's playing well, they're going to be talking about him playing well. And when you see people talk about you playing well, it just makes those wheels turn even faster. The snowball effect essentially is what I'm saying.

The same snowball effect that derailed Ben Simmons is the same one that he can go uphill again. If he starts playing well, that ball will start rolling the other way. and once you start getting this attention and the media is into it, and this is into it, you start feeling yourself, you start getting that confidence, you start being like, man, I am this guy. Like, that shit happens, bro. I still think Ben Simmons is capable of being an all-star player.

I know a lot of people scoff and laugh at that, but, like, I just don't, I see all the talent still there. So, you know, that'll be something to watch out for this year. For sure. He's got complimentary, nice, good players. Mackell Bridges, Cam Johnson. Yeah, they got a lot of shooting and scoring around him. You don't have to go score a lot.

He used to score, though. I like Claxton too. Yeah, like just go fucking drive down the pain, punch on people. Go get foul. Miss eight free throws. Who gives a fuck? You still got the other team in foul trouble. Now the other guy, when he gets foul,

Cam Johnson and McKell, when they're in the bonus, they're knocking down their free throws. Like, people forget, like, what that does. Just because he's missing free throws, still causing the game stoppage, a flow of play. He's getting guys in foul trouble. He's getting their team in the bonus. There's so many effects to that, bro.

Like, just go play. That's, you know, that's, I'm hoping Ben Simmons and is just working on his body, getting healthy, and shooting free throws. Fuck three pointers. You don't need to do it. You don't need to do it.

Hooks, touches around the rim, dunk. Hooks, touches around the rim, dunk make free throws. He will average 18 and a half. He was a beast in transition. He'll average. He's a monster. Get back to that.

When he's in Philly, he'd grabbed the rebound and you had a guy who was the fastest probably guy in the floor pushing it at 610, weighing 270. There wasn't much you could do. And he's looking to pass.

So when you got a guy like that, everyone thinks they can get the ball. Right. So you got four or five guys running with them. It's a hard thing to stop. So, yeah, you know, obviously, we've all had things to say about Ben Simmons. I've had things to say. But in hindsight, man, if we're going to keep it 100, yeah, I still think this guy's capability. And I really do think he could be an all-star again.

So something to look out for. Great. Before we go, I want to definitely shout out, you know, since our last pod, Ronnie James obviously had with the cardiac arrest and I just want to we've obviously

you and me have talked about him on the pod before we're big fans of his game he's gotten so much better over the last couple of years so you can't help but cheer for him yeah yeah for sure and we talked about the way

he's handled the spotlight and everything how he's done it so well and you know you're a father you know you know I'm sure when you heard that news you know like it's scared yeah

um yeah health is wealth you know I mean it doesn't matter how up you or how winning, you know, someone is. You know, LeBron James, obviously, is a, I don't even know what that guy is. He's a, he's beyond a mogul. He's a, he's not even real.

He's an icon, you know what I mean? And this guy has everything in life. I guarantee you in the moment when his son collapsed or when he got that call, none of that matters. Nothing matters except health for yourself, for your kids. If you're not healthy, do you ever notice when you're healthy or not healthy when you're, like, had the flu when you're sick? You don't give a shit about nothing.

Right. Except getting back to your normal. Like, but I don't think about my cars or my house. or my job or I don't give shit about none of that stuff. None of it matters. The only thing that matters is being healthy. When it's your kids, it's worse. It's even worse because you can't even do anything about it. You just have to try to help them, but it's not your body. You can't fight for them. So something scary like that is traumatic, man. God forbid that ever happened to me or anybody I know that their kid has something like that. The good news is that he recovered. The good

news is that it happened at USC. Thank God he wasn't playing pickup at a park with his friends, and he collapsed, and there was no medical people around. This happened while at USC in a practice with people all around him to take care of him and help him, which is a blessing. And I'm happy that he's doing better now. There's like the video, he posted playing the piano and stuff and like

seems in good spirits, man. I'm just happy he's okay and Bron and his family okay in Savannah. That's obviously very, very scary. So shout out to Bronny, man, for fighting through that. You want to see him healthy, not only back on the court, but you just want to see him healthy and back on the court and doing his thing. So yeah, that was

scary. I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah, our prayers and wishes are with their family. You said you're what? I said prayers and wishes. I thought you said your Persian wishes. I was like, can I get some of those? That's sound incredible. I thought you said those Persian wishes.

I thought you said wishes. I don't know what I said wishes. What did you say? What did you say? Persia wishes. I was listening to what you were saying. Thoughts and prayers? I started, can be honest with you, I started thinking about when you were like talking

about your kids. I was like trying to imagine if I had a kid and something happened and how I would feel. I kind of got lost in what you were saying. It was once again really well put And I was like I had to like jump back in I was like prayers and wishes I thought you said Persian wishes

And I was like I would like some of those too That was yeah Well it was fun Getting back in the lab again as always Today is definitely like a freestyle No we have no control over our conversation We talk and things go And whatever happens happens

At any day we do this for you We do this for everyone out there listening I mean this is what we do Man we come in here We talk shop We want you all to feel like On your way to work or whether you're working out

that you guys are in a barbershop, just hearing guys talk basketball, you know, that way you can go to your friends and chime in on the same topics that we talk about. So it was another great week. We're going to keep building this thing out. As always, y'all be safe this weekend. I'll let you boy.