Hello, everyone.
Welcome to the Uncommon Commentators.
I'm Antoine Willis Jr.,
and this is the boy Garrett.
As you all know,
this is our show where we
talk about basketball,
all levels from high school, collegiate,
WNBA, and professional NBA, of course.
And tonight,
we got some good topics for you,
as always.
Really excited to talk about these topics.
that we're going to but of
course you can't do it
without my main man who I
just introduced um how you
doing garrett it's thursday
night as always when we
record this show so um the
week's almost over you got
one more day and for me at
least before I'm off on
saturday um but how's your
week been so far man you've
been okay yeah man
everything is good life is
good so can't complain
Always, man.
Yeah, for me and you both, of course,
of course, of course.
Yeah, like I said,
always blessed to do this show.
I want to give a shout out to Jay Holloway,
who's stepping in for Wiley
on the ones and twos.
We wish you well, Wiley, out on the road.
I think he's in the car right now.
So God bless you, brother.
You said you'd be listening.
You know,
always love doing the show with
you as well, Wiley.
And we just hope you travel
safe on your vacation or
wherever you're going.
And yeah, like I said,
we have a great show today.
We can go ahead and start
off with the first topic
that we were going to.
So obviously, as you all know,
the future Hall of Famer
Damian Lillard is now out
indefinitely with a blood
clot in his calf.
Obviously,
the superstar point guard of the
Milwaukee Bucks having a
great season at thirty four years old.
He was averaging like twenty
five points and seven assists per game.
Well,
I'm shooting pretty good from the
field this year as well.
His second year in Milwaukee.
after that big whole Portland thing,
when he finally left after
leading the Trailblazers
for eleven years and not
having much success after
getting drafted by them in
the two thousand thirteen draft.
So it was pretty,
pretty devastating for the
Bucks to take this injury
at this point in the season
as the playoffs do approach.
We know that Giannis himself
is listed as questionable
for their Friday night game.
It's due to lack of a
foot injury of some sort
maybe really like like
minor foot load management
more so than an injury and
of course that happens a
lot uh with when you're um
Giannis's size and when you
have his athleticism when
you're driving to the rim
as much as he does um but I
wanted to really talk about
um the main man on the
sideline Doc Rivers so um
we know that he did replace
Adrian Griffin when they had a
He replaced him in the
All-Star game and
everything as the as the
twenty twenty four NBA
All-Star game head coach.
Of course,
they didn't have too much
playoff success last season,
but a lot of people were
cutting some slack,
seeing how he came in the
middle of a season and he
didn't really get the
chance to really implement
his game plan and like his
culture into the Bucks.
And now having done so,
they find themselves at
forty and thirty two.
Um,
as we record this on March twenty
seventh.
So my question was to you.
Obviously,
we know his history with Doc Rivers.
He was if he was fired from
the Philadelphia seventy
sixers after spending three
years with the franchise.
He went twenty and fifteen
in the playoffs and
actually wanted to go down
his history of playoff record.
Just to show that he has had
a little bit of success,
but majority he has lost
for the most part.
He had a five and ten
playoff record when leading
the Orlando Magic.
Of course,
he did win coach of the year in
the year two thousand when
he first took over the franchise.
And they actually made the
playoffs the next three seasons.
That was the whole Trace
McGrady era down in Orlando.
But like I said,
they were they had a five
and ten playoff record.
After being there for five years,
he went to Boston shortly after that,
where he where he was there
for nine years,
two thousand four to two
thousand thirteen,
where he had a fifty nine
and forty seven playoff record.
Of course,
we saw him claim the two
thousand eight NBA title and the egg.
And he also won.
I feel like people forget this.
They were the Eastern
Conference champions back
in two thousand ten where
they lost to the Los
Angeles Lakers when the
when Kobe and Pau Gasol
took the Lakers back to back.
After seven years in the Clippers,
of course,
the Lob City with Blake Griffin
and Chris Paul,
he was twenty seven and
thirty two in the playoffs.
Obviously,
everyone knows he never made it
past the second round with that team.
That's the whole thing about
the whole Lob City Clippers.
Of course,
I'm a team not stacked on paper.
Unfortunately,
he's never made it past the second round,
even with two superstars
with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.
And also, you know, a good DeAndre Jordan,
a prime JJ Redick.
They were one of my favorite
teams personally.
We never saw them find much
playoff success, of course,
facing those like OKC teams back then,
like those Memphis Grizzlies teams.
And like I just mentioned,
he spent three years in
Philly where he actually
was twenty and fifteen in the playoffs.
But of course, like I mentioned,
never made it past the second round,
even with the two thousand
twenty three MVP on his team.
He wasn't able to do it.
So after laying out his
track record in the foundation for Rivers,
what do you think happens
this playoff if he isn't
able to make it that far?
We know how NBA front
offices have had problems.
um short leashes on coaches
lately especially with doc
rivers knowing his track
record um he's a good
regular season coach like I
said he did win coach of
the year and like that was
like his first year in
orlando so he's he's always
shown good potential to be
a good coach in my opinion
of course he is a champion
so when he does have the
superstar talent he can get
it done but recently in the
playoffs he's failed to
make adjustments game by
game uh whether blowing
like four one leads four
two leads like what
whatever the case may be,
if he's given multiple
opportunities to win a game,
he will fold.
Multiple players that have
played for him have said so as well.
So what do you think happens
with the Bucs in this playoffs?
Knowing the psychological effect that,
of course,
He knows he's a good coach.
He knows he's a champion.
He's even listed on the top
fifteen coaches in NBA history,
like the actual list of
Hall of Fame coaches.
So what do you think happens
with Doc Rivers this playoffs?
And do you think if you were to get fired,
would this be his last team
he'd be a head coach of?
Well,
right now they're currently sitting
as the number six seed in
the East with the forty and
thirty two record.
Now to his quote on Damien
Lillard with his blood clot
in his right calf, he said, quote, I mean,
he didn't die.
We're hopeful that he's coming back.
Now,
we all know injuries are part of the
game of basketball,
and that's really goes for any sport.
that's out of the coaches control.
But in regards to Doc Rivers, I mean,
because you're anticipating
that you're going to be
without him for the rest of
the season and possibly
including the playoffs.
So you're honestly thinking that, okay,
is this going to be honest
that you're going to have
in the playoffs now?
I will say that
The Bucks,
I don't think that they are in a
position to really win at
this moment because they
have a lot of issues to
really fix because they
have not been in a winning
environment ever since they
won their championship a
few years back in twenty twenty one.
They've all they've been.
an early exit team in the playoffs.
They made the playoffs every year,
but they've never been able
to get back to the Eastern
Conference Finals or back
to the finals since then.
So there's a lot of issues
going on with that.
And even if Damian Lillard
was still healthy,
I don't think that they
would be able to do that either.
I don't think that they
would make a D run into the playoffs.
That's just based on how
they've been playing
Now, in regards to Doc Rivers,
history has shown that he
just has not been able to
really lead a team to get the job done.
We've seen him with the Clippers.
We've seen him with the Sixers.
We've seen him with Boston
and other teams.
And that just has not
really he's not he hasn't
really been able to find
success with any teams I
mean we consider and say
like hey he's had good
regular season um you know
wins for sure we can say
that he's had multiple
regular season wins but in
the playoffs that's where
he comes up short so it's
just where okay after this
season then what is it
you're going to do because
a lot like I said
a coach can't really control
how a player performs when
it comes to their health meaning.
So I don't,
I don't think that they will
fire him this, um, this year, um,
after this season.
So I think it's just more so, okay,
how can we make this team better?
Because the elephant in the
room is their best player and, and,
and a Greek freak meaning Giannis.
Now, um,
senior ESPN insider, Sean Serrania,
late last month on the show Get Up,
he did a report on Giannis'
future with Milwaukee.
And he quoted, he said,
Giannis loves the Bucs,
but loves winning more.
So that's really an indication that, hey,
even though that he loves Milwaukee,
but he loves winning more.
And
that obviously does indicate
that he's open to playing
elsewhere to be in a winning environment.
Now, I'm not saying that Giannis will,
will be traded because I don't have like,
cause I don't have any, um, you know,
sources to confirm me, you know,
if that is the case for real,
but I'm just saying that
there's a possibility that
he could force his way out
and request a trade.
So, but that's only if,
the Bucs are not able to
really figure things out.
So with that being said,
I think that the Bucs,
they have a good foundation,
but it's just more so, okay,
how can they really improve the team?
We did see they went out and
got Kyle Kuzma out of
Washington at a trade deadline.
But of course,
they're without one of their
core pieces in Bobby Portis.
And it looks like he
It looks like he'll be back
for the postseason, it seems.
But like I said,
I just think with Milwaukee,
they just have a lot of
issues that are outside of
Damian Lillard and Doc Rivers.
So I think at this point,
we can only expect Doc
Rivers to do the best that
he can with the roster.
Now,
depending on who their matchup is in
the playoffs,
that I guess you can
determine whether or not if
they're going to
be a freshman exit team or not,
if the playoffs were to start today,
they would face the New York Knicks.
So, you know, if it was up to me,
I think the Knicks would
win that series to six or seven games.
But like I said,
I just think that the
issues that the Bucs have,
I think it's just beyond
Doc Rivers that he's not
able to really control or fix the
But I think what's important
for Milwaukee is to figure
out how are they going to
convince Giannis that, hey,
we're serious about winning
and we want you to stay in a long term.
So that's what their main focus should be,
not just on Doc Rivers and
what he's able to do.
For sure.
And I agree one hundred percent.
And like, as we look at it right now,
Giannis, according to Spotrack,
it's an estimate for how
much we'll make next year.
It's going to be around
fifty four million the year after that.
It'll be fifty eight million
when he's thirty two years
old and when he's thirty three,
it'll be around sixty two million.
So.
Obviously, at this situation,
Giannis is still in his prime.
He's still playing great right now,
averaging like thirty
points and twelve rebounds
a game at thirty one years old.
He hasn't slowed down in the slightest,
even with what I mentioned earlier.
Some of the slight minor
injuries still deal with here and there.
I feel like that's just him not really.
Really more so because he's
not a load management type of dude.
I think he really just wants
to prioritize certain
moments and he knows the
playoffs is coming.
So I think he just wants to
take some time off here and
there for certain games,
certain matchups.
And I do agree with
everything that you said.
I feel like for right now, for the future,
they still should go all in on Giannis.
He still is a generational talent.
That is their franchise player.
And that was a pretty big statement.
You said there that he loves winning more.
Obviously,
we saw them win the NBA
championship in two
thousand twenty one and
they have lost some pieces.
Chris Middleton was a
massive part of that run.
Obviously,
he was with the team this season,
but due to some injuries,
he definitely wasn't the same player.
that he used to be, unfortunately.
Obviously,
he's finding some momentum over
in Washington,
being a good veteran for
that young core right now.
But I think with Milwaukee
still in a win-now
situation with two superstars,
I think right now they
should just still focus on Giannis,
really try to get some
pieces this offseason if
they can't go that far.
They have fifty-five million in cap space.
And I will say this, like,
Um, depending how it goes next season,
I think will really determine, uh,
doc river's fate.
They're going to see how,
how he performs this season
in the playoffs.
Um,
depending how it'll go in the first round,
if he's just completely not
competitive with the next game after game,
I think that adds
credibility to what I said
earlier about him not making adjustments,
uh,
game by game in the playoffs where
coaches really make most of their monies.
That's where, uh, that's the most,
you know,
front office really care about
the most is the post-season of course.
Um,
And we know that he's had a
negative record in the past,
unfortunately.
And for me,
I do agree again with what you said.
I do think the Knicks would beat them.
But it's more so about if
they can get Damian back in time.
How's he going to perform with that?
I guess the whole thing is
really just a one big what if right now.
We really have to see how he
performs in that moment.
Given how he's looked in the past,
most people do have him failing,
unfortunately,
even with the superstar
talent that he does possess
at the moment.
But like I mentioned,
he has won an NBA title in the past.
Some coaches, of course,
have never achieved that feat.
Of course,
he had to have four future Hall
of Famers to achieve that.
to achieve that.
But with Milwaukee,
he has a good core right now,
offense and defense-wise.
So it really just falls on
him to put them in the
right position to really
succeed at this moment.
And I wish him nothing but the best,
of course.
I do think he has a future
Hall of Fame coach, of course.
Like I mentioned,
he is one of the
top-fifteen coaches in NBA history.
And I should only want him to succeed.
And I felt bad for him, of course,
when he got fired in Philadelphia.
I never like to see any man lose his job,
of course.
And like I said,
he had a positive playoff
record in Philly with twenty and fifteen.
So obviously,
you know how Joel Embiid can be.
And we know that James
Harden didn't even want to
be in a Sixers uniform like that anymore.
So we'll just see how it
goes for Doc this playoffs, I guess.
They don't want to just
address that because it's a
red flag over there losing
a superstar point guard,
knowing that Giannis might
not be able to carry that.
the city of Wisconsin on his
back in the playoffs like that.
And if he gets a first-round exit,
knowing how the Bucs can be,
seeing how they even fired
Mike Budenhoser after he
won them an NBA title not too long ago.
And he also won Coach of the
Year not too long ago.
Yeah, and they still let him go.
We'll see how it goes for Doc.
I wish him nothing but the best, of course,
over in Wisconsin.
And, yeah, moving on to the next one,
of course.
This next topic is, of course,
very subjective as the NBA
season comes to a close.
I think we're about eleven games left,
something like that,
ten games left in the season.
So, yeah.
Obviously,
with this twenty twenty four NBA
draft class,
not that many people were high on it.
We're seeing the third pick in the draft,
Reed Shepard,
go through some season
adversity over in Houston, you know,
just being in and out of the lineup.
Of course, he's been great in the G League,
in my opinion, Reed Shepard,
but I'm still really high on him.
given what he can achieve,
what he did achieve in Kentucky,
leading the NCAA in
three-point field goal
percentage at fifty-two percent.
I still think he's a great shooter,
but right now for his rookie season,
he only averaged four points,
one rebound and one assist.
There was some underrated
talent that really took over this year,
like Jalen Wells.
Many people were doubting Zach Eadie,
Zekiel O'Neal coming out of Purdue,
thinking he was a stick in the mud.
thinking he wasn't going to
be able to succeed at the NBA level,
given his frame.
And he's more of a
traditional center that you
don't see like that nowadays,
prioritizing the drop step
and post moves and things of that nature.
I think he's found a home over in Memphis,
in my opinion,
averaging nine points and
eight rebounds a game in his rookie year.
You know, he's twenty two years old,
so I think he'll catch on pretty quick,
especially having his
physicality at seven foot four.
But of course, moving to the dunes,
whoever.
really stolen the show, in my opinion.
That's our guy, Zachary Resache,
of course.
Over the last five games,
he has averaged eighteen
point two points per game.
He's a great, in my opinion,
really catching,
really hitting his stride.
And like,
especially with the catch and
shoot threes, he's really
I'm falling in love with
this role this year.
That was really all he's
supposed to do really was
sit in the corner, catch, you know,
catch and shoot threes,
really learn the plays that
were running this year in
the Hawk system and play good defense.
He's done all three of those things,
even sometimes where he's
taking initiative to really
shot create for himself,
take the ball on the fast break.
He's the youngest Hawk to
ever have multiple thirty point games.
I'm pretty sure he's the
only rookie this season to
have multiple thirty point games.
And it's pretty remarkable
when he does put up thirty points.
It's like crazy efficiency,
like eleven of fourteen, nine of fifteen.
Even when he had twenty two
points the other night,
he shot like nine of seventeen.
So anytime he's playing good like that,
he shoots great.
Like he's shooting over like
fifty percent.
And it's really remarkable
to see a nineteen year old,
not even twenty years old,
to be able to adjust this
quickly midseason catch on
and really come into his own.
He did like I did say he did.
He did what he was supposed to this year.
I'm coming in and averaging
twelve points a game again
at nineteen in the NBA.
Like so if he's averaging twelve right now,
I can only imagine.
Like next year,
he'll probably jump to
maybe like maybe fifteen points per game,
sixteen, seventeen points per game.
And then that third season,
he can come back and
average like eighteen, nineteen,
twenty points per game.
And that's just him at
twenty one years old.
At this point,
all he has to do is just add
the muscle because he has
the intangibles in the athleticism.
Absolutely.
And Jalen Wells, of course,
the rookie coming out of
Washington State.
I think he's played good as well.
averaging eleven points and
three rebounds as well for
the Memphis Grizzlies.
I think just the fact that not many people,
I mean, some people were high on him,
but not many people were, of course,
coming out of Washington State.
And he's really played great,
in my opinion.
I do think he has a bright future,
the Sacramento, California native.
He was drafted in the second round.
So to come out here and
already be a double digit
point per game score on a
contender like the
Grizzlies definitely show
that he has a bright future.
And according to FanDuel right now,
the number one guy is
Stefan Castle of the San Antonio Spurs.
I think he's played good.
as well um the former ncaa
champion of course we just
like uh uconn get
eliminated uh pretty early
that was pretty crazy to
see that you know dan early
was not happy about that of
course um and stefan
stefan's averaging fourteen
points three rebounds and
four assists he just had or
he currently does have
twenty two point six re uh
six assists with twelve
rebounds uh versus
cleveland cavaliers they in
like of course they lost
that game just now
um to the caps but he's
showing his potential
definitely almost bringing
home a triple double
literally tonight as we
record this and he's looked great
All season, the Covington, Georgia native,
if I must say.
He's looked good, honestly,
like really exceeding expectation,
even as the fourth overall pick.
If that's a redraft, you know,
he could go even higher.
You know, you never know.
But these last few games,
he's had nineteen points
and four assists versus the Pistons.
Toronto, he had fifteen,
one and five versus the
like literally Philly.
He had seventeen points and
fourteen assists.
So he's definitely looking good.
He's definitely showing his potential.
They have a future something
behind Darren Fox, absolutely.
I'm not going to go out on a
limb and say maybe a future star.
He's definitely looking like it for sure.
I wouldn't be surprised if
he turned into one as a six,
seven point guard for sure.
But Stephon Castles also played great.
And last but not least,
got to give credit to Alex Saar.
A lot of people were ragging
on him after his
performance in the summer league.
And he's played really,
really good the last few games.
He currently averaged
thirteen points in seven rebounds a game,
meaning people thought the
rebounding would take a while to come on.
But he's actually looking good,
averaging already seven.
Reminder that he is
naturally a power forward
rather than a center.
That was one of the main
reasons why he didn't want
to come to the Atlanta Hawks,
mainly because he wanted to
stick to the natural
position of the power
forward versus the center spot.
And I think he's already looking good.
I do think he'll be a future star as well.
I think he's determined to become that.
These French prospects are showing it.
When Benyama came out last year,
number one and number two
both came out of France
with Zachary and Alex.
And they're both playing
good for their respective franchises.
Of course...
As I literally say all of this,
the Pacers just beat the Wizards,
one hundred and sixty two
to one hundred and nine.
So he didn't have that good
of a night team wise,
but individually he had
twenty two points in seven
rebounds a game just tonight alone.
So he's definitely playing
his role as the future centerpiece,
in my opinion.
of the washington wizards
we'll see what happens this
draft class of course but
he's definitely one of
their uh future center
pieces for sure so after
listing out all the rookies
and how they've been
playing all like the
substantial rookies of
course uh who would you
pick torn rookie of the
year or who do you think
could be like the like like
the main guys rookie of the
year like that like the top
two votes uh for rookie of
the year if you had to
choose right now yeah of
course I'm going to you
know go with our guy zachary sachet
To your point,
it is going to be a tight
race between him and Stephon Castle.
Now,
to Castle's standpoint or on his
perspective,
I think that the award could
go to Castle due to the
simple fact that he's
averaging more points and
assists right now.
but for a research day,
he's more efficient.
So he is currently averaging
a little over twelve points per game,
averaging almost four
rebounds and one assist.
But he's shooting on forty four,
thirty four and seventy two
shooting splits.
So forty four percent from the field,
four percent from three and
seventy two percent from
the free throw line.
So he's shown
be more to be the more
efficient player and he's
playing for the better team
out of between him step on
castle and alex are so I
really think that's what
it's gonna um come down to
is who's been the more
efficient player but of
course I guess people are
going to look at uh from a
stat standpoint it turns up
okay who's averaging the
more you know points and
this that and third but
I think for zach he had he
definitely had a slow start
this year because of the
fact that he was starting
off shooting around twenty
seven percent from three
but now he's up to um
thirty four so he had a
little bit of rough start
and now he's getting to a
point where he's starting
to catch the rhythm um as
we head towards the end of the season so
And you can say the same
thing for Stephon Castle.
He's had a similar situation
because right now he's
shooting forty two percent from the field,
twenty eight percent from
three and still same percentage.
But like I say, he's averaging more,
more points and more assists.
So but I think that is Zachary.
We should say if he's able
to keep up what he's doing now.
Keep doing what you're doing.
Just keep developing his jump shot.
And I think really that's
what has enabled him to be
where he is right now in
terms of his development.
He had to change his shot up
a little bit where he's now
turning into more of a movement shooter.
There's not much dip into his shot.
I think he's having the
ability or showing the
ability to get his feet set
before he catches the ball.
So it seems like he's
working on those mechanics,
making sure that his
mechanics are set before he
catches the ball.
So when he gets it,
he just goes up and release.
But yeah,
he's shown a lot of development
thus far in his rookie year so far.
I never forget the three
points that he put up
against the New York Knicks
that we had earlier this year at home.
So that was probably his
biggest game this year.
But yeah,
I think there's going to be a
tight race between him and
Stephon Castle.
So we just have to wait and see.
But I just think for me,
it should come down to who
is the more efficient
player throughout the entire season.
And if Zach maintains that,
then I think he should get it.
Yeah, man, I agree.
One hundred percent.
And I think the efficiency
alone can really get him the award,
honestly.
And it was just it's just
crazy to me to see like how
many people were ragging on
research in the beginning
of the season and stuff like that.
And like really to see him
have this really to see him
transcend like this post all star break.
It's like it's only right.
It's kind of ironic because
we know that Trey Young,
If you all remember during
the two thousand eighteen
two thousand nineteen NBA season,
Trey Young's first half was not the best.
I remember in summer league
he had if he summer league
and people thought he was a
bust and stuff like that in
the whole first half of the six.
I actually worked at the arena.
At the time,
that was my first year working there.
Trey himself was filling up the seats,
but that was the only thing
there for Hawks fans to watch.
Of course, they weren't that good.
And like you saw them
getting lottery pick after
lottery pick year after year.
That was how they got DeAndre Hunter.
That was what they got on Yakko Okongwu.
And of course, the next year,
two thousand twenty one,
we had the twentieth pick in the draft.
We got to avoid Jalen Johnson, of course.
Biggest steal.
One of the biggest steals of that draft.
Absolutely.
If that was a redraft,
he would certainly go top four.
Twenty twenty one was
actually still a pretty good draft.
You know, Kate Cunningham, Scotty Barnes.
That was a really, really good draft.
Looking back on it.
I do think Jalen Johnson
would absolutely be top
five in that draft.
I mean, he went on to become a star.
At a young age at that,
and the fact he's a point forward,
being able to make everyone
around him better while
also playing good defense
from the post to the
interior on the perimeter
and being able to shoot the
ball like that,
I'm excited for his leap
next season as well.
And I did want to talk about
this because this isn't a Hawks podcast.
I just think with the Hawks
in particular being completely objective,
they have one of the best
young cores in the league right now,
given what they have,
what Dyson Daniels leading
the league in steals.
at twenty-two years old with
Zachary Versace playing how
he is at nineteen um with
Jalen Johnson of course he
suffered a season ending
torn labrum in his left
shoulder unfortunately or
was it might have been uh
yeah his left shoulder um
unfortunately he's out for
the year but he was
averaging he was a walking
twenty ten and five
every single night he was
doing it I remember he had
that triple double versus
the boston celtics this
season just to show how
good he was even with trey
was not here um and I think
just having all of this
around trey um it's just
gonna pay dividends with
this young course seeing
how he makes everyone
around him better I gotta
give a shout out to the man
wiley absolutely tuning in
from the road um most
definitely you guys just
saw who he would have
picked if he was here of
course he would have picked
stefan castle um he's
looked good man like I said
that.
Seventeen points and
fourteen assists versus Philly.
Of course,
Philly isn't the best team right now,
of course.
Just seeing what they're
going through with all the
injuries they've suffered.
But I do think that Stephon
Castle does have a bright future.
I do think he will go on to be a star.
I think he's going to be that guy next to
He's only twenty years old
and his birthday is in November.
So he started out nineteen
this year and he's already
looking this good.
Like I said,
he just had twenty two point
seven assistant twelve this
tonight versus the one seat
in the east at that.
So he's playing like this
against great competition
game after game and he's looking good,
man.
I am really happy for him.
This guy went to Newton High School,
you know,
so it's cool to see that Georgia
can really produce this
world class talent.
Of course,
we saw we saw the Thompson twins
at overtime elite not too long ago,
and they themselves also went number four,
number five in the draft,
similar to Castle,
who won number four in his draft.
And just assessing his ceiling,
like I said,
I do think he will be a star.
He's already averaging
fourteen points and four
assists in his first year.
Yeah.
It's like Garrett said,
it's really the efficiency.
He's shooting forty two or
really round up forty three
percent from the field this
year as definitely it's
definitely not that good.
He's shooting seventy two
percent from the free throw
and twenty eight percent
from the three point line.
So everything they knew when
they drafted him,
that was the biggest thing
he had to work on coming
out of UConn was the jump shot.
But he's a worker and most importantly,
he's a winner.
Having that championship
pedigree and coming to a
championship filled
franchise like the Spurs,
it's only right.
And I think that Brian Wright, the GM,
of course,
that would have been the X
factor acquisition for
their core in the future.
knowing that a center like
Wimby Nyama needs that running mate,
needs a point guard like Stephon Castle,
seeing how he can play, make,
and score and defend at any moment,
and he can rebound.
The final form of Stephon
Castle is like a six-seven,
like a Jason Kidd.
You know,
the way he's going to be able to
play good on the perimeter defensively.
be able to play Mick like that.
Of course,
it took Jason a little bit to
get a jump shot like that,
similar to Stephon Castle's journey.
So I'm really happy for
Stephon Castle to really have success.
Don't just think this is a Hawks podcast,
of course.
I'm really,
really happy for the former UConn Husky.
Really to see him take this
leap like this right into
the league his first year.
He said it at the draft,
like whatever team gets him,
he's getting a winner.
And I'm going to show that.
And I'm really happy for him.
And I think the sky's the limit for him.
Same with Risa Shea.
I do think that we could
have some all stars out of this draft.
You know,
I do think that if I had to pick
right now, I think Sarr,
Castle and Risa Shea would be the top.
Like if you were to fast
forward to twenty two thousand thirty,
those are the three dudes
from this draft that would
have made the all star game
and Reed Shepard as well.
I'm still really,
really high on Reed Shepard,
especially in that Houston core.
I'm knowing he can play make
for all those guys.
It's just he's playing
behind some guards right now,
like Fred Van Vliet and all that.
And I'm still really,
really high on Reed Shepard, of course.
And yeah, man, like I said,
this draft class, it was pretty good.
We know the twenty twenty
five draft class is
definitely way better than
this one was with Cooper Flag coming out.
VJ Edgecombe March Madness is upon us.
So we're going to get to see
how they would perform there.
in a playoff setting and I'm
really excited about that
um we saw that cooper flag
was named uh the national
freshman player of the year
um so hey like he's living
up to the hype obviously um
he will probably more than
likely be the number one
overall pick come this
summer it really always
depends what team is able
to get that now if you look
at every mock draft
um from nba mock draft you
know I mean nba draft room
uh tankathon nba draft.net
of course draft express
shout out to jonathan
cavani of course um most of
them do have like the
wizards getting the first
pick or um the pelicans
I've seen the pelicans a
lot but most teams most
notable drafts do have the
wizards bringing it home
it'd be cool to see the
wizards finally get a brand
new superstar um they
haven't had a real
superstar since the john wall era um
And it'd be cool just to see
them finally hit the reset button.
Same for the Charlotte Hornets.
It'd be really cool to
finally see them hit the
reset button as well.
Toronto is probably going to
get a high pick,
even though I think they're
a better team than what the
record indicates,
especially having signed
Brandon Ingram recently.
We'll see how that affects
how they'll draft,
because obviously people
thought they were going to
take Ace Bailey.
But with the wings that they have,
you know, with Scotty Barnes,
with Brandon Ingram, of course,
Bailey could come and play
the shooting guard.
But I am pretty intrigued to
see how that Toronto team also stacks up.
But of course,
ending with this rookie class,
I feel like we can go ahead
and give them a rating
given how this year is about to be over.
Some of these players,
we won't even see them in
the playoffs because some
of their teams aren't
making the playoffs.
um this rookie class I liked
it a lot um I would have
probably given them like an
eight honestly like I said
I do think that we'll
probably get at least a
good at least one all-star
out of this at least star
research or castle can all
go on to be an all-star
especially for the
respective franchise um
where they're all three of
them are flourishing at the
moment in their respective
roles so they're only gonna
grow more the more usage um increases so
I would probably give it about an eight,
you know,
given the talent from what I saw
this year.
If you had to give like a
rating for this rookie class,
like given all the slander
they got back in last July, last June.
What would you give this
rookie class if you had to
say from what you saw from
them this year?
Yeah, I'll probably give it a solid B.
Only because of the fact that this,
even though that we could
see a couple of guys, you know,
become an all-star, this is not, this,
it wasn't a really deep
draft as it has been over
the past few years.
Like,
this is not nowhere near as deep of a
draft like we saw in Taza
A-Team with Luca, Trey Young, and SGA.
All those guys sort of draft
after that with
You know, there is Garland,
Zion Williamson,
DeAndre Hunter or nothing like that.
So this is one of the
weakest drafts we've seen.
You know,
it's not an indictment to the
players or anything like that.
It's just from a talent standpoint,
it just wasn't that deep.
But that's why I say that I
think that I will say that
these guys would definitely
be tremendous role players for sure.
So guys that you would
surround with the likes of
Wimby and Antonio with Castle or
Trey with Richard Shea or
Jordan Poole with Alex Saar
and all those guys.
But these are definitely
guys that could be high
role players for their respective teams.
But yeah,
I would give it a solid B for
this draft class.
Okay.
No, I mean, hey, man, like, hey,
I can see why you say that.
You feel me?
Like I said, you know,
they didn't have the most
noteworthy names.
Most of the biggest draft
prospects were international prospects,
you know,
so not many people have time to
watch EuroLeague basketball like that,
released it at home.
You know, it's over in Europe,
so obviously we live in America,
given the time differences.
It'd be pretty hard to watch them anyway,
you know,
like Zachary Rees-Nashe was an
all-star player.
Over in the French League, you know,
I'm pretty sure he won an actual,
he won a championship in the last,
you know, the lead national dead basket.
I always mention that when I
try to say that the French
League and stuff.
But over in the LMB, he looked good.
Even at eighteen years old,
he was shooting forty percent from three.
Of course,
he only averaged eleven points per game,
similar to how he does now.
But forty percent from three,
no matter where you play,
is forty percent from three.
And we're going to see that
happen for the Hawks.
I have seen it now.
Absolutely.
But moving on to our last
topic of the night, of course,
last but not least,
it's actually the beefiest,
the juiciest topic of the evening,
in my opinion.
So on March six,
the Los Angeles Lakers did
face off versus the New York Knicks.
Now, obviously,
one of the biggest Knicks
fans in all of sports is
world around a world
renowned sports journalist
Stephen A. Smith.
Obviously,
the first take host is extremely
popular these days.
I mean,
he signed a hundred million dollar
five year extension.
with the entertainment
sports network espn um to
be able to get um that much
from espn man you got to be
um a special talent I don't
care who you are for them
to think you're that
valuable to espn something
that you know it sells
itself you know people want
to wake up uh similar like
there's some people like
the only news they like
absorb is sports news they
don't even watch the
regular news like fox five and
cnn and stuff like that so
um to see him get that much
money from espn um
definitely shows how
accomplished now successful
he is of course but given
his track record and
throughout his career
stephen a smith has never
shied away from controversy
well not controversy really
going at it with a player
it doesn't matter what
sport nfl mlb nba even ufc
you know he will definitely
go at whoever he disagrees
or thinks it's not
performing at the moment so
So for Stephen A. Smith, like I mentioned,
the Lakers did play the Knicks.
And one of the biggest
things of that game didn't
happen on the court.
It happened on the sideline, of course.
LeBron James approached
Stephen A. Smith for some comments.
He said during a first take
segment that took place on
January twenty ninth, twenty twenty five,
when he mentioned that
Bronny James was just not ready to play.
transcend to the NBA.
Coming out of USC,
a lot of people thought he wasn't ready.
Obviously,
everyone knows he collapsed in a
practice at one point due
to his heart health and his heart issues.
It got to a point where they
had to put a tracking
device on Bronny to monitor
his heartbeat at all times
because the situation got
that detrimental to his health.
But of course,
we see how the story played out.
He did go on to get drafted
with the fifty fifth pick
in the second round by the
Los Angeles Lakers.
He's playing good in the G League.
He's currently averaging
like twenty points,
five rebounds and five
assists for the South Bay
Lakers over in El Segundo, California.
So he's playing really,
really good as of right now.
He's definitely exceeding
all expectations that people
put on him um doubt well
you know because I get to
people doubting him but he
also had a lot of
supporters too you know on
opening night the whole
phase clan if you all play
call of duty and stuff like
that uh super popular uh
video game ensemble they're
all millionaires of call of
duty so it lets you know
how popular they are they
were all there in ronnie james jerseys
Actually published an
article recently that
Bronny as a rookie sold
five hundred thousand jerseys,
generating fifty million
dollars in revenue as a rookie,
which is extremely substantial,
seeing how all the noise
he's making on and off the
court this year.
But of course,
his father felt the need to defend him.
when he approached Stephen A. Smith.
And Stephen A. Smith did not like that,
not one bit.
Now, of course, it was a viral moment.
It was everywhere,
all over Twitter that night.
The next morning,
they brought Stephen A. in
the back during the morning meeting,
during first take, and they said,
you have to address it.
He said he didn't want to, of course,
but he said you have to address it.
It's world-class news.
It's involving you.
It's sports in general.
You cover sports.
So he definitely had to address it,
absolutely, which he did.
just saying that he thought
everything he said about
Bronny was correct,
everything he said was right.
He later doubled down on the
Stephen A. Smith show,
his personal YouTube channel,
really trying to see where he went wrong.
He admitted that it did bother him.
He wanted to apologize
publicly to LeBron if he
did feel like he
overstepped a boundary covering the NBA.
Of course,
you're liable to talk about these dude's
you know, professions for a living.
It's how they feed their families.
It's their passion, you know?
And Stephen A did apologize
if he felt like something
hurt his feelings,
but he did say that he felt
the most bad because
everything he said was correct.
So, of course,
that was the first part of the saga.
The latest development was
that LeBron James won the
Pat McAfee show.
Now, Pat McAfee lives in Indianapolis.
Of course, he used to play for the Colts,
the former NFL kicker.
And he was in Indianapolis on his podcast.
Well, not podcast, really.
It's a TV show, the Pat McAfee show.
One of the most popular
shows in sports at the moment, absolutely,
given his age.
Charismatic personality.
So much so,
even LeBron James felt it was
worthy enough at this time, of course.
The Lakers had just played the Pacers.
He had just hit a game
winner the night before.
And he thought, hey, you know,
why not roll over to Pat McAfee's show?
And yeah, he had a sit down with him.
And obviously, Pat McAfee working on ESPN.
Just LeBron was, you know, just going over,
like,
the recent events in his life and
stuff like that.
And Stephen A. did get brought up,
and he just said, oh, man, like, you know,
that guy couldn't wait to
talk about our viral moment.
Like,
he was at home in his tighty-whities
with ice cream in front of the TV,
just so excited to sit there and, like,
talk about, you know,
what I said to him and stuff like that.
And that made Stephen A.
Smith extremely excited.
upset.
I can only imagine how he
felt when he said that
about him on national television,
knowing Stephen A. Smith's personality,
of course.
Stephen A. Smith replied to
him later on his YouTube
channel later that night,
calling LeBron a liar.
Um...
He said a lot.
He really just said that
everything that LeBron said wasn't a lie,
that he never said anything
to hurt Bronny's feelings
or anything like that.
He even came out on a first
take show a couple of days
ago and said he might have
been wrong about Bronny,
seeing how Bronny decided
his career high,
He even came out and said that,
but the Pat McAfee stuff,
since Stephen A over the edge, again,
he went on his YouTube show,
just firing back at LeBron,
calling him a liar, saying he's two-faced,
saying that the only reason
he probably feels this way
is because he's came out
publicly and said over and
over and over that he
thinks Michael Jordan is
the greatest NBA player of all time.
And he considers Michael
Jordan to be the second greatest player.
Even Rich Paul, because of course,
Stephen A brought it up
during his YouTube segment.
He said that,
He kind of got word that
LeBron felt slighted by
that after Rich Paul caught
him in person and told him
in person that he found it
as an easy thought.
It was insulting to refer to
him as the second greatest
player of all time.
Now, of course, that pissed Stephen A off.
He did not like that.
I'm seeing how Stephen A has
to be extremely critical.
And Stephen A is about fifty
seven years old now.
So he has seen Michael
Jordan's entire career and
LeBron James entire career.
And he still feels that.
Michael Jordan, of course,
is the greatest of all time.
Stephen A. Smith has no ties to Chicago.
He's from New York.
He worked for the
Philadelphia Inquirer
covering the Philadelphia
Seventy-Sixers and Allen Iverson.
That's really how he rose to prominence.
So he just really loves
Michael Jordan and
everything he accomplished on the court.
Similar to Skip Bayless, of course.
And really the whole thing.
It was just about them arguing,
just really firing back at
each other and who the fans
decide they want to believe
in all of this.
Stephen A. Smith also did
say he would have swung on LeBron.
He said he would have
punched him in the face if
he would have felt like his
life was in danger or if
LeBron was about to put his hands on him.
And he said he wasn't scared
of him in the slightest.
And he said, yeah,
I probably would have
gotten my A-word kick
because we definitely would
have been tussling and
fighting right there in
front of everyone.
Of course,
LeBron is six foot eight and
about two hundred fifty pounds.
So Stephen A. Smith
definitely would have been
a size disadvantage there.
But the most recent development, of course,
Stephen A. Smith went on
first take again this morning.
And fired back at LeBron
because he LeBron also said
some comments about Brian
Windhorst as well,
saying that Brian Windhorst
claimed that LeBron and him
are best friends and all that.
And then like he called in
like LeBron called Brian
Windhorst weird and things
of that nature.
and that really really
pissed even off to see him
come after his colleague
like that because he felt
like at this point lebron's
just coming after the
entire nba media um just
for critiquing players
which is of course the main
job of the nba media um and
yes emily smith went on
first take again he gave
every stat line to show why
michael jordan is the
greatest player of all time
dusty and he only said that
because he feels like
that's the main reason why
lebron doesn't like him
like that he said it wasn't
even about brown he said he
said it's it's not about brownie at all
because he couldn't have
said anything that bad to
make him upset about his
son he said it was an ego
thing but when it came to
lebron in that he just
wanted to because lebron
went on pat mcafee and said
it's about defending my
household and defending the
players and um and stevie
nate smith said that was a
lie and that it was just
about defending himself and
his image and things of
that nature and he said but
what he said about brian went horse
um was leakage about what
the whole mess with what
the nba fans don't get to
see that side of lebron how
he'll talk trash from
people he can be a bully
sometimes so he can be kind
of rude at moments um we
did see that video of when
lebron was out in paris
when that fan tried to run
up to him and he was
dancing and he said don't
do that and he went back to
dancing as he walked into
the hotel so lebron
definitely does have that
side to him um for those of
you who never met him in
person I've never met him in person
I don't know if Garrett's
ever met him in person,
but this is one of the
biggest stories in basketball right now.
It involves one of the
greatest of all time,
one of the most popular
players and the absolute
most popular basketball
journalist at the moment in
Stephen A. Smith.
Regardless of what everyone says, you know,
I don't see other
journalists making a
hundred million dollars from ESPN.
So, yeah.
I just laid out the whole story.
Absolutely.
I appreciate you for giving
me the time to do that.
And I just wanted your opinion on it.
Like, whose side do you choose?
Who do you think is in the wrong?
Do you think that Stephen A
should have just minded his
business about
LeBron, he shouldn't have said,
because what pissed LeBron
off was when Stephen A said,
I'm begging you as a father to stop this.
Like,
why are you putting your son in
position where you know
we're going to have to talk about him,
say he's bad, say he's, you know,
I'm not going to say any
negative words about Bronny James,
of course.
of course and he was just
saying that like why would
you put your son in in
position for us to do this
and have to talk about him
the last thing I will say
is that obviously the
sentiment was shared jalen
brown was caught on the
bench chilling with kaiser
gondry seek his girlfriend
And Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky,
WNBA star, of course,
that he just those two seconds,
the camera caught him saying,
I don't think Bronny is a pro.
And that made headlines
everywhere the next day.
We also saw later this year
or later that year, earlier this year.
They were at the All-Star game together,
and LeBron,
it really happened in the video.
It wasn't some TMZ gossip or
anything like that.
You see LeBron dap up every
single player in the locker room,
including Jason Tatum,
Jalen Brown's superstar teammate.
Except for Jalen Brown, you know,
so obviously, of course, like he said,
he is really overprotective
over his child,
as he should be LeBron not
having a father himself.
He definitely feels like he
should be there in all
facets for his children,
help help them succeed in any way,
shape or form,
even helping them get to
the NBA at this point, as he should have,
you know.
But yeah, I just wanted to ask you,
whose side were you picking in this?
Seeing how LeBron has shot
random strays at Brian Windhorst,
who I don't think ever said that.
Multiple journalists came
out and said Brian
Windhorst never claimed to
be LeBron's best friend.
Or do you take LeBron's side,
where Stephen A has
obviously had a track
record of being hated by athletes?
A lot of basketball players
actually don't like Stephen
A. If you actually go around,
it's a lot of them that don't like him,
unfortunately.
So,
How did you feel about the situation,
Garrett?
Well, I mean,
when you just take the whole
situation into account,
when you hear what LeBron
says and what Stephen A says, you know,
it's kind of where you
can't really tell if, you know,
who's really telling the
truth and who's not,
because to Stephen A's point that
He's just mad that he doesn't have,
you know, have LeBron as number one.
He has MJ as number one.
We don't know that to be very true.
I don't know that that is the actual case.
I think that just comes to
having a sense of
discernment from Stephen
A's standpoint of just
reading between the lines.
Now, I will say for Stephen A's behalf,
I don't think he's really,
I don't think he never said anything
ugly about Brian James.
I don't think he's never
said anything or I should
say he never insinuated
anything of trying to put
Brian James in a bad light
because when you add
context to it or when you
dissect it a little bit,
he felt that Brian James
should start his rookie
year or play his rookie year
in the G League because him
and I'm pretty sure other
people may feel the same
way that he's not a pro
athlete at this time.
And I guess you can see it
that way due to a situation
in college where he
unfortunately had suffered
a critical heart condition
that kept him out for a
long period of time.
And he wasn't able to really
perform at a high level in college.
It was more like in one and
done season for him.
So, and even, even for me,
I felt like that he should
have stayed in college a
little bit longer just for
him to gain that experience before,
you know, entering the draft portal.
And of course him saying that, well,
the only reason why Bronnie
is in the NBA because of his dad or,
or because of his,
that's influenced in the NBA and,
of course, his voice in the NBA.
But, of course, to your point that, Bronny,
it was exactly a week from
today where he scored a
career-high of seventeen points,
along with five assists, three rebounds,
and one block against
It was in a loss against the
Milwaukee Bucks.
And also this past Tuesday, he,
in the G League,
he dropped a career high in
the G League in thirty nine points,
seven rebounds, four assists,
four steals and one block
against the Central Cruz
Warriors with the South Bay
Lakers in the G League.
And even Stephen A admitted like, hey,
I may have been wrong about this kid.
And that's why I say I don't
think that's really
insinuating that he was
trying to put Brian James in a bad light.
Because one thing that he
did mention is a fact,
is that he's getting paid.
And to your point,
he just signed a big time
extension with ESPN.
He's being paid to criticize.
Now,
that doesn't mean to just say anything
offensive.
terrible or anything bad towards anybody.
It's just the fact of the matter is that,
okay, if this player is doing great,
then he's going to give you props.
And if that player is not,
then he's going to criticize you.
That's just part of the game.
And even LeBron said that.
That's what comes along with
being a pro athlete.
But I do understand from
LeBron's standpoint as far
as protecting his son because
Yes, they are teammates,
but that's still his son.
And it's vice versa for Bronny,
that that's his father.
So I understand for LeBron,
from a emotional standpoint,
you're just trying to
protect your family.
So I understand where he was coming from.
But I'm just saying, for me,
I don't think Stephen A
said anything towards
Bronny that should have led to this point,
honestly.
I think...
If it was for me,
I think this would have
been hashed out much sooner
if him and LeBron were able
to either meet up for lunch
or set up a phone call to
really hash it out.
I don't think it should have
taken this far.
But like I said,
based on the information
that has surfaced,
I don't think Stephen A has
said anything to cause this
situation to happen.
But that's why I say before,
because Stephen A mentioned it,
that when LeBron approached him,
he didn't approach him as a
basketball player.
He approached him as a father,
as a parent.
So I do understand that.
But I think LeBron should have known,
or at least...
giving himself more time to
understand that, you know,
when you're in the pros,
this is what comes along with it.
So when people,
or when I should say the media, are,
you know,
having their takes or their
perspectives about Bronny, I mean,
that's just part of the game.
You know,
you can't save him from every situation.
So, but like I said, I mean, this is,
and if I'm not mistaken, I mean,
this is the first
father and son teammates in
the history of the NBA,
if I'm not mistaken.
It's rare.
It's a rare thing to see.
But no, I think Bronny, I think that
he's showing a lot of life.
Well, like I said,
the thirty nine points in
the G League game this past
Tuesday was was big and his career high.
Seventeen points to us was big, too,
against the Bucs, despite the loss.
But no, I think that LeBron is, you know,
I think he's doing his job as a parent.
You know, he's looking out for his son.
So you can't
say that he's in the midst of,
or I should say he's in the
wrong for doing that.
But I'm just saying that there's just,
you know,
a middle ground you have to come to.
And I think that's something
you just have to understand.
So, but, and I'll say this,
even if we take Stephen A.
Smith's word of saying, hey,
LeBron is in his feelings
because he doesn't have,
because Stephen A. doesn't
have him listed as number one.
I have LeBron at number two as well.
and even though I didn't I
didn't grow up watching
michael jordan I wasn't
even you know even thought
of you know when he was
taking taking lead by storm
but like I said there's
just certain things that
other people value in other guys I mean
there's people out there
that doesn't even have
LeBron or Michael Jordan as
number one you know that's
you know that's just how it
is people see the game did
differently you know some
people have Kobe some
people have Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar or Magic
Johnson or Larry Bird so
I'm just saying that I
think for LeBron if that
was truly the case that is
just the fact that he doesn't
because LeBron's been
heavily criticized for a
lot of things as a
basketball player
throughout his entire career.
And I'm not sure if all that
is just catching up to him.
But for me, I mean,
it's like this right here.
You have a lot of fans.
You have a big following.
You have a lot of people
that believe that you are
truly the best player of all time.
And I would think that for me, and even if
Even if, and we don't even know for sure,
we don't know when you look at the entire,
when you take the entire
world into consideration or
basketball fans all together,
we don't know if more
people are fans of Michael
Jordan than LeBron,
or I should say more fans
have MJ as number one versus LeBron.
Whatever that is,
I think LeBron – the only
thing that should matter is
that if LeBron feels like
he's the best player in the
history of basketball,
then that's all that matters.
Don't let someone else's
opinion get to you and
cause you to start
situations like this because –
Even though that some people
think it's entertainment
when you talk about, oh,
if he were came up to me,
I was swung on this and the third.
I mean, yeah, but but yeah,
I just think that at the end of the day,
don't let anyone's opinion, you know,
push you to this right here.
But that's only if that is the case.
So, like I said,
LeBron is definitely a top
two player in the history of basketball,
no doubt about it.
But regardless of that,
I think LeBron should only
care about how he feels as a player.
And that's why I say if he
feels like he's the best
player of all time,
then that's all that matters.
And don't get me wrong.
He has, you know, a very,
very solid case as to why.
And he has numbers to back it up.
So, you know, it's definitely close.
But yeah, but like I said, I don't.
hold LeBron against him as
far as trying to look after
for his son and protecting
his child so no I don't
look at him as in a bad
light or anything like that
so but like I said I think
Stephen A I think he was
just doing his job as a
professional and he even
admitted like I said before
that he thinks that Bronny
is doing a great job he may
have been wrong about him
and you know he gave him this prop so
I think that's the least
that he could have done.
So like I said,
I just hope that they end this soon.
I hope this doesn't prolong
into the summer or even after that.
Hopefully that the beef
drops eventually and
hopefully that they'll end
this on a peaceful note.
I hope they will be able to
hash it out if they can.
But yeah,
I just think that's where it
should be going forward.
Mm-hmm.
Hey, man, it was really,
really well put by you.
A real positive route put by Garrett,
of course.
Always the better route to
take the positive one
rather than the negative.
I want to see these two
Black men succeed on the world stage,
not let ESPN and all these
other higher-ups eat off
them feuding on national television.
You want to see them make
amends and be good role
models for the kids that
want to follow their
footsteps and their respective crafts,
from
athletes to journalists you
know of course that's how
it should be you know um
and yeah I mean I guess
just to give my two that my
two cents on before we
close the show um and thank
y'all again for joining us
really appreciate y'all as
always um yeah so for me
I'm a journalist by trade.
I went to school for that.
I've dedicated my life to it
at this point.
Of course,
I could change careers at any
point if I were to decide to,
but I'm really passionate
about this and I definitely
want to see it.
How far I can take it for sure.
So that being said, seeing a man like,
you know,
sign a contract for one hundred
million dollars like to talk about.
basketball and of course
it's different it's such a
hot it's not just so
simplistic it's different
than that you know they
make him earn that hundred
million dollars best would
leave it like I'd be
shocked if stephen head
goes to bed like that he's
always up doing so much
research every day before
first take and like
He makes being on TV look so easy.
He makes it look so easy
being able to not stutter like that.
Of course, he's made mistakes.
Of course, he's made mistakes.
Just today,
he said LeBron didn't go to
Kobe's funeral when he did indeed go.
He had to go onto his
Twitter and quote the ESPN
Twitter with the clip going
around to say that he did indeed go.
My correction, even at the highest level,
highest level esp on
national television dudes
of his caliber can make
mistakes you know so it
happens you know of course
it can happen you know like
because of course you know
you know stephen a was
bringing up how lebron
messed up in the finals
back in the you know and of
course like you could say
obviously stephen a you
know he'll never have a
situation like as high
pressure as an nba finals
you know but like um him
messing up on esp on
national television with
his job security like
You know,
like that shows he makes mistakes too.
Like how LeBron has made
mistakes on the court.
Stephen A has certainly made
mistakes in his craft.
But I only mentioned his
success because obviously
he has done something right
along the way of his career.
He's been on TV for such a
long time at this point.
um coming on there with skip
bayless and um I think
right now people don't
understand like how hard it
is to like have to be
critical and really analyze
the sport like that really
be aware of everything like
the metrics like everything
you say has to be logical
and make sense now as I say
that a lot of people think
steven a doesn't make sense
sometimes when he's
breaking down um like like the game of
basketball and stuff like that.
But I only say all that to say this.
I personally side with
Stephen A. Smith in this situation.
I'm not biased as a
journalist or anything like that.
If the players weren't here,
I wouldn't have a career.
Of course, I could cover
I could cover news, fashion, entertainment,
whatever.
But I chose sports.
I love covering sports and
stuff like that.
So I'm always going to
respect the athletes above all else.
But I think we got a little
bit of an inside look into
LeBron James with the situation.
I think that kind of showed that if he can,
if he wants to,
he definitely has the
resources and the power to
turn people against you.
I just wouldn't want to be his enemy.
I'll say that.
Obviously,
Stephen A is not worried about that.
Because he has connections
that he can get himself without a doubt.
And he still has a lot of
people that love him in the
NBA media space.
Absolutely given the
groundwork he has laid over
his illustrious career.
But I do side with Stephen A
in this situation.
I do think that LeBron,
because sending that shot
to Brian Windhorst right
there kind of showed me all
I needed to see in terms of...
It's like it's attitude
towards the media already.
He doesn't really like any
of these guys like that,
to be quite honest.
Obviously,
he's going to come at Stephen A
the most because he's the
biggest of them all.
And he knew by coming at Stephen A,
he'd be sending a message.
Stephen A even had a good point.
when he said that after LeBron said that,
you see LeBron look off
into the camera because he
knew it was going to be a viral moment.
Of course, LeBron James,
as being famous as he has
been his entire life,
people really do not know
the true LeBron James.
He knows this image is worth so much.
He cannot mess it up at all.
He's never had a cheating scandal.
He's never had anything like
that throughout his twenty
two years in the NBA.
You never seen anything like
that from LeBron ever.
And he and he like, yo,
he's tatted up sleeves,
got his chest done.
Bron got his back, all of that.
He could be stereotyped and all of that,
but he's defied every
single stereotype by achieving success.
So I only say that because
obviously that's what we
know about him on the surface.
But I do think from the situation,
we've definitely got an
inside look into LeBron.
It's just he has such a massive fan base.
People love LeBron so much
that they'll always be like,
F Stephen A when it comes to LeBron.
But I do think we got to
look into how LeBron can be as a person
We know he respects other athletes more,
which is why he doesn't
really go on other shows like that,
but he did go on Pat McAfee,
someone he does know did play in the NFL,
and he likes him, his charisma,
all those things.
That whole show, actually,
it's a panel of former athletes.
LeBron definitely respects
athletes over media members,
one hundred percent he does.
And I feel like just the
situation kind of showed us
into like how LeBron can be.
Of course, with Stephen A,
I feel like we've known
Stephen A for years.
I think Stephen A works his
heart on his sleeve.
He is his exact way.
People think he's two-faced.
He does it on camera.
People think like he's fake.
He says no, he does it on camera,
you know.
Um,
I think Stephen A is unfiltered and
unadulterated.
And I think LeBron who has no choice,
but you'd be so filtered and in like,
so like he just,
every people watch every
step he takes as LeBron James.
So I, I just think like, in my opinion,
cause of course, you know, you yourself,
that's why I said you,
you took the positive route.
I'm going to do the same.
Of course.
I just hope they,
they end this feud or
whatever you want to call it.
Of course.
Um,
But, like, I don't know.
Like, do I think LeBron was in the wrong?
No, I guess he did want to defend his son.
But at the end of the day,
like Garrett did say,
he is in the NBA now,
and he's twenty years old, you know?
So, by America's laws,
he is a grown man of
course but it's always gonna
be his baby so I always
feel the need to defend his
son but he has to let his
son be his son at the end
of the day and like garrett
also mentioned obviously
it's working you know he
had thirty nine points in
the g league you know so he
for sure has the potential
he he can go to sleep now
waking up with confidence
knowing that he has the
potential to really and it
translated like he almost
had twenty in an nba game
with five assists versus
the bucks you know so um
It's one of the biggest
stories in basketball,
but I think it'll come to an end soon.
I just want to give my two cents on that,
though.
I kind of side with Stephen A on this.
I think he's been nothing but real.
He echoed a lot of
sentiments that a lot of
other people had when Bronny got drafted.
Respect is earned.
Not giving.
You know,
a lot of people thought Bronny
shouldn't have been an
All-American coming out of Sierra Canyon.
You know,
a lot of people thought he
shouldn't have gone to USC like that.
You know, even when he got drafted,
of course,
it was by the team that is that place.
It's all so mapped out for
him his entire life.
LeBron,
you can only protect him for so long,
you know?
So now with this, like...
He has no choice but to let
his son be his son, you know?
And LeBron, he's playing great,
so I'm really happy for him.
And yeah, man,
we'll just see what happens.
But I do think that Stephen A, like,
he was on the right by
reporting on the game.
He sent us all the father stuff,
begging him as a father, this and that,
because he doesn't know LeBron like that,
you know?
And he probably thought he,
LeBron probably felt like
his fatherly duties were being questioned,
and he didn't like that.
Absolutely not.
Knowing he's probably done
everything he could to be a good parent,
not having a
Good example like that, being a father,
of course.
And yeah, man,
obviously this is just an
off-the-court story.
The Lakers are getting ready
for the playoffs.
LeBron's back from a groin strain,
so he's just worried about
winning at this point.
He doesn't really care about
all this off-the-court stuff.
Obviously he is firing back, but I mean...
It's all going to disappear
when the playoffs start.
Obviously,
they got to be around each other.
If the Golden State Warriors
and the Lakers were to face
off in the first round,
I'm pretty sure I know the
Lakers are the fourth seed,
the fifth seed at the moment right now.
And yeah, yeah,
the Lakers are the fourth seed.
The Grizzlies are the fifth.
The Warriors have slipped to the seventh.
So they're in the playing spot now.
Last time I checked the standings,
they were at the fifth seed.
But the playoffs were to start right now.
They would play the Grizzlies.
They have beat them in the past.
They did have Anthony Davis
on that team when they beat
that number two seeded Grizzlies team.
but we'll see how it goes
with luca this time around
but um that's it for me on
this show I did really want
to discuss that steven a
smith stuff um I thought it
was really interesting to
see how all that just came
out and like court side and
stuff like of course like
who else would it be you
know steven a's living a
crazy life as a journalist
I will tell you that to
feud with that like you
know lebron like I I can
only imagine how he felt
when he saw him walking up
to him he probably thought
he was coming up to talk to like
Like a friend or something like that.
When he came up and when
Stephen A just stood up and, like,
that was it.
And he knew it was going to
be a viral moment, man.
He could have did that to any of them.
All them years Skip Bayless
was talking about LeBron James.
And he saw this, man.
Like, for real.
All them times he could have
pulled that on Skip.
He never.
And Skip would have said it
to his face right then and
there on the court with no fear in his.
Of course, Stephen A had no fear as well.
But I'm just saying Stephen
A would have kept.
Not Stephen A. Skip would
have kept the same energy
without a dot on my mind.
You feel me?
So that's it for me on the
Uncommon Commentators.
Unless you got anything else, Garrett,
my brother.
Yeah, thank you all for tuning in,
and we always appreciate
your love and your support.
So thank you guys again.
Thank you all so much.
Please don't forget to like, comment,
and subscribe.
Got to give a shout-out as well.
Shout-out to Jay Holloway for stepping in,
being the producer.
He's the producer of the best damn W show,
world-renowned WNBA show.
They go live Thursday nights at – no,
I think it's Tuesday at –
Um,
it's not nine thirty nine thirty two is
at nine thirty.
I got to definitely go catch them.
They're great.
They just keep blowing up
more and more every show.
They're always consistent.
They always have great
topics and they're great
basketball heads.
No fluff or nothing like that.
Real takes real authentic
takes that they stand ten toes down on.
absolutely want to give a
shout out to reina holloway
miss holloway of course
lovely woman lovely mother
um you know shout out to
her as well she's such a
nice person um shout out to
everyone that watches as
well and one more shout out
to the man wiley on the
ones and twos you know we
love you drive safe um you
know we miss you boy I
absolutely can't wait to
see you again next week um
and thank y'all again for
joining us only on comic
commentator so have a
blessed evening or whenever
you catch this and enjoy some hoops.
Enjoy March Madness, Sweet Sixteen,
Elite Eight, all of that for sure.