The 2026 Take-a-Thon, Part 2 | Real Ones

2026-02-14 16:55:00 • 1:03:49

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1:08

Hello again Logan Murdoch here live

1:11

I'm spotted by studios here in Los Angeles here for part two of our first ever take it on

1:18

Where we finally crown a champion for the best take the take champion given to us by Jomea dinner on

1:26

There's a very very fun show a lot of surprising. I think I'm very surprised by the champion here

1:32

I think it's a bit of malpractice, but we get into all of that

1:37

next

1:38

Victoria by the theme music

1:45

What's Bob and real ones Logan Murdoch here

1:49

For part two of our take a thong. Sorry. I'm a little bit distracted by the distinguished panel myself

1:55

Tyler Parker and Howard Beck

1:58

This here the battle ready back battle ready back at least I think

2:05

I heard I heard it was gonna get a little intense here Tyler's come with some flaming hot takes

2:10

Yeah, as a game with ruins fan. I thought like if you're gonna take on a dragon with flaming hot takes you like you got to have

2:16

You got the armor here

2:18

My neck is never gonna be the same

2:20

My hand may never be the same

2:22

Listen when you're broadcasting from the house of our studio

2:25

You got to be on it. So yeah, this is fantastic. I'm taking this home. Oh, yeah

2:29

Um, we are here for part two like I said of the take a thong

2:33

Let's uh, let's regroup with some of the rules here

2:36

We've each been tasked to analyze a group of players on the separate all-star teams team stars team stripes and team worlds

2:45

Each pick will be heavily scrutinized by a resident take expert

2:50

Jomea dinner on who is in the building with us. Hello, Jome going on guys

2:54

Are we happy to be here?

2:56

All right, so you are jomey you are tasked to give the take champion award at the end of this

3:03

Based on your preference a good takes whatever takes that are on your preference that you like this like

3:08

I mean, you're going to award us

3:10

This is a very prestigious award first serve award we've ever had

3:13

Are you ready to do this? What is your formula? How do how should we uh cozy up to the

3:18

uh the the the the the the the the guest of honor and how many bonus points do I get for wearing a bike

3:24

Night's on it. I mean the night's home. It was pretty clutch you love you do love to see that Howard

3:28

You know doing the yes and um, I just want to be completely honest with you guys. I'm taking this extremely seriously

3:34

Okay, okay, uh, there's literally nothing in the world that means more to me right now

3:39

Than making sure that I get this right because that's what the people want

3:42

Let's do it. This is Netflix ready. This is big time. That's all right

3:46

What we're not going to do is come out here and pretend like this is not the all-star game of 2020

3:51

2024, you know, where they just out there playing around. This is also a game of 2020. We're taking charges

3:57

Locking in let's go. Let's do it. Let's go and if I win

4:01

The charity in my choice gets a million dollars, right? Well, so here's the thing though and we're basically this off the 2020

4:07

Well, here's the thing though Logan Howard, you know me and Tyler go way back. That's true

4:12

We're Miller Miller highlight bros. You know what I mean? So like that's my god. You guys okay?

4:17

I'm trying to be I'm trying to be objective

4:19

But me and Tyler got, you know, we got a long standing thing going on for a while

4:23

A couple high a couple highlights coming your way no matter what

4:25

I mean, I love you. Okay. All right, all right

4:28

We'll see Jomi at the end of the show to get the awards, but without further ado. Let's get back into the action

4:34

It's like look at the screen Lebron James. Oh wow. Okay. That there we go. We got Clutch Jomi in the house

4:40

So let's all right, let's talk about let's talk about Lebron

4:44

For the first player of the time. Okay. I have a lot of

4:48

Things we can go with Lebron, but

4:51

Lebron is finally at a place where he cannot

4:55

Been the narrative to his will anymore for a number of things right the lucatrade

5:01

The way the media apparatus is kind of set up now and it's not set up in his favor as it was maybe in the mid 2010s

5:08

um and

5:10

Feel like he's going to need a pivot

5:13

For the final twilight of his career and I wonder how he's going to be able to manage doing that

5:22

I guess it depends on whether or not these next couple months are the end of his career

5:27

I don't think it will be you don't think it will be. I don't think it will be

5:32

Our opinion is not necessarily shared by others who we might have seen in the building last night when we were attending the later game

5:39

There are others who are monitoring this situation closely who

5:43

Who think that this may well be the end? I don't get that sense

5:47

I would be one of the most confounding things yeah an NBA history

5:51

For him to go out in this way the most I think one of the most public front facing superstars

5:57

We've ever seen and that includes Jordan someone who any camera he wants to be in front of he wants to control his own narrative based on in in front of the camera

6:06

On Twitter any social media being in every single conversation is very like it's almost like Drake of him

6:12

To be in every single type of conversation and be out of the algorithm smiling through it all for him to

6:18

Just vanish without a trace would be pretty odd. I mean, I think even if he did stop and I'm not saying that's what I think it's gonna happen

6:27

I think even if he did retire

6:29

I don't think this guy's vanishing without a trace anyway. This guy's gonna

6:33

Either immediately go into some sort of

6:35

He's gonna do a podcast row what he'll keep doing the pod or he'll I mean he he's made no you know

6:42

Secrets about wanting to be an owner in the league and stuff like that

6:46

But what is your is your take that he's gonna he's gonna go somewhere else in play

6:51

Well, he's never gonna have the control that he once did and that a lot of that has to do will one the luca trade

6:57

That just that ended a lot of his plans this the first time he's not at the top of the totem pole

7:02

Yeah, and also yeah, he you know him going to the Lakers

7:04

He kind of there's a first time in his career. We ever met his match

7:08

In terms of leverage because

7:11

With all the other teams he could impose his will on the organization

7:14

With a team like the Lakers you can't do that. You were just want to he could until they got Luca

7:20

Well, no like he could in theory within the front office perhaps but in amongst the fan base

7:25

He's just another great player to come into the fold right like oh, yeah, we've had magic Johnson who got his five rings

7:32

How many of you got this that that's the this is the only time he's ever had to deal with that

7:37

You combine that with the luca trade, which I mean, I think something that we don't really talk about is

7:43

Luca or years the Lakers have been overwhelmingly

7:48

Influenced by clutch in the front office and Luca who was

7:54

Who is read by w and me?

7:56

Completely upends that power

7:59

With it that they have within that

8:01

Framework of the front office. So not only is LeBron upended, but his team is upended in the way they move

8:07

Throughout the building now they have to share and I'm just gonna

8:11

I'm wondering how that's going to play over the next four months to a year because if he goes to the calves now

8:18

like

8:19

He's not going to have still not have the same power. He's still going to be

8:22

Lurching on to another power source where he doesn't have the influence that he wants had and I'm just fascinated to see

8:30

How he and his team deals with that

8:32

Yeah, and I I think

8:37

I do think that LeBron has a sense of

8:40

The moment right always that's been one of his superpowers. I think in a very healthy way right now

8:46

I wrote you know a couple months ago when he was coming back that he needed to emulate late stage

8:50

Karim where Karim decided it's time to pass the torch to magic or allow it to be passed like Karim didn't decide as much as Riley did

8:56

But there was the moment this it's now his show LeBron has not forced it at all LeBron's playing off when Austin Reeves is playing is even playing off

9:03

Austin Reeves is giving up the ball early LeBron's playing his role as a super high level

9:09

Coast star now, which is a really weird phrase to attach to it to a guy who is one of the greatest of all time

9:15

He has done that willingly and so if he can do that on the court

9:17

Why can't he do that in terms of everything else that goes around that?

9:22

um

9:23

I don't know how that looks

9:24

I like I like a lot of people think he's probably done in terms of the Lakers after this season

9:28

I don't think that that marriage is is going to continue

9:32

They really need to be all in on how to build around Luca now whether that's with

9:36

Simple things like the salary cap, right?

9:38

You can't tie up a lot of money in a in a soon to be 42-year-old if you're trying to rebuild around Luca for the next five years

9:44

So there's a practical reality here

9:48

And if that means LeBron lands with the Cleveland Cavaliers again or goes to go to state

9:53

Even that fact that we're having this conversation

9:55

That's a byproduct of that of how monumental that trade was right because it was the first time in the history of LeBron

10:03

That he has been surprised and not in control of his destiny

10:07

and I think

10:09

Now all of a sudden

10:10

He it's been struggle for him to be a number two or be anything other than a number one and it seems like now

10:17

He's like he it feels like a betrayal for him or to him

10:22

And now he's thinking about going to other teams where

10:25

The play here in my view is probably just stay in LA. You're going to get the best fair well

10:30

if you just

10:31

Do what Kareem did which was oh, okay this dude magic what Kareem did in the 80s was one of the most selfless acts

10:39

That a player of Kareem's caliber has ever done and this was a chance for LeBron to do that and it seems like just the fact that we're here shows that

10:49

He hasn't done it to the effect that maybe

10:53

He could have done to get everything that he wants which is the glory and the farewell tour and to be at the

11:00

To be at the stature that he believes and honestly should do so

11:04

It's it's going to be fascinating to see what his next year is going to look like who was the next player in the list

11:10

Chad Holmgren

11:11

Yeah, Tyler had to have this

11:14

And thank you so much

11:16

I think

11:17

Chat needs to bleach his hair and shave his beard into a mustache and get 10 to 15 visible tattoos

11:23

I think that chat should look like Ryan Gosling in place beyond the pines. I thought you were going for like Bergman

11:31

No, I think it will I mean

11:33

You know, I don't think he needs to get just absolutely wild. I don't think we need to get like you know

11:38

Up under the beard, you know what I mean, but like I think I think chat needs to embrace his inner

11:44

Little bit and start to peacock some. I don't think that that's not happening. I don't think that's happened

11:50

I think that I think there's a lot of people in it. This isn't about what's happening. This is about what could happen

11:54

You know, I mean this is about this. He's gonna be like Joe Blurrow or something. Oh man with a dream. Yes, he's gonna be him and him

12:02

If you if he wants to shave his head that's fine

12:04

I do think he runs the risk of looking a little bit like a penis if he does that

12:08

but I think that

12:10

But I but I I support

12:12

I support whatever he wants to do. I do think that he I really do feel

12:16

Ryan Gosling and place me on the pines plus a stash

12:19

I think that he I think the game goes up a level. I you know, I really do and he got me

12:25

You think if that happens, he's just gonna actually just start talking shit to Wimby again like he's like even though

12:29

The Wimby thing I think Wimby cares a lot more than what about the rivalry than he wants

12:34

He's trying to antagonize chat into a rivalry

12:36

Which is the player player in the in the so-called rivalry. It's usually the other guy who's like, but chat doesn't

12:42

Chat doesn't care about it. What's the weird that's got the hardware? Maybe he's got rings

12:46

Yeah, okay. All right. All right. It was ring. You know, I have no

12:50

Do you ever rebuttal to the penis?

12:52

Transformation that he is I mean this is I've been

12:55

A you know, standing member of this podcast for the last two and a half years

12:59

Can I just assume that that was the first invocation of the word penis on this podcast?

13:03

Yeah

13:05

All right, let's just let's forget that ever happened next player

13:09

Yo-kitch Howard

13:12

Um

13:13

Nicola Yo-kitch awesome player isn't he awesome awesome. He's awesome

13:18

Um

13:19

Let's stipulate one thing before I say the thing which is that I am not a count the rings with multiple z's

13:26

Person Kobe didn't convert you for all those years as you get to cover to me. Yeah, I figured that was like an osmosis

13:32

It seems like with every every uh

13:35

Every person that is covered Kobe has like gotten the propaganda of Kobe and it's like oh, it's like Stephen A is a great example

13:42

Like you need to do this if you're gonna know when you need this many range. I will admit that there's a certain amount of like internalizing of like

13:49

Kobe's it wasn't the mamba mentality because he was not the mamba during the years. I covered him later, but like

13:54

The the the the insane work ethic the obsessed with this and everything you like you can't walk away from that without now judging every other

14:00

Fucking player for the rest of history through that lens. And I admit I sometimes do

14:04

It's an unfair standard. You want all these guys in like pajama pants after they have a bad game and stuff and

14:09

I want them all getting up at three in the morning to uh to go get up some shots and lift weights and stuff

14:15

You know, maybe go to bed at six

14:17

Wake up again at 605 and then do the whole thing over again. Yeah, but they're not doing that to play any game

14:22

I gotta get on the sticks. I hate to say it. I hate to say it. Nicola Yo-kitch needs another ring

14:28

Ha ha ha for what though? So

14:31

He's got three MVP's in the finals MVP and if he retired tomorrow

14:35

We would already regard him as one of the all-time great

14:37

But his talent level and the things he does on the court and just the every amazing

14:43

Sequence from him

14:45

His incredible court vision all of this his his scoring like we're always going to remember him as a passer first because it's he's so great

14:51

But he's a dominant scorer and he's done it in a way that like no other player like he's one of one

14:58

And doesn't give a fuck but I give a fuck and and I think that

15:02

What what's going to happen is like 30 years from now if he never wins another one people are going to be like

15:07

You know grandpa you keep telling me about like you know this guy who did all this and did whatever

15:11

I'm looking at stuff whatever like how come he only won one like we do this sometimes right and I'll just put this up point

15:16

This out so that he's in the three MVP club. There's only you know, so everybody who's got at least three MVP's

15:22

Karim

15:23

Six championship rings Jordan six rings bill russell eleven rings LeBron four rings

15:27

Will to magic five bird three and then Moses who has has just the one

15:33

But you'll get just better than Moses. Sorry

15:36

Like you're in this group of three time at and end up MVPs

15:43

You could get a fourth you could get a fifth for all I know

15:46

But we're gonna it's going to happen whether I like it or not

15:50

When it's all said and done if he ends it with five MVPs, but only only one championship

15:55

It's gonna be like I think it depends man like I don't it's funny because you were the first like

16:00

national

16:02

Pundit or a pundit whatever national voice

16:05

That is really like kind of

16:07

Actually had this criticism of yoke it's criticism not a criticism, but like it's an observation and a man

16:13

It's a criticism of the way that people think about these things. No criticism of yoke. Oh what I'm saying though is I

16:19

Yoke it's as largely skated past this. It's just been like

16:23

For whatever it is no, but for whatever it is. It's just been like oh we're just in all of the stat lines and like he's had series

16:30

Where it's like oh my god like the Oklahoma city series where

16:34

Denver's completely undermaned and we're like how the fuck are they even in this series right until game seven

16:40

He was unbelievable right and so but he even with the game seven he has he doesn't get the criticism when he does

16:46

Do wrong there. There's this weird like very very polarized. Yeah, I don't think he doesn't get it either

16:52

I think he works it on himself as much. I don't think he gets the right even of the ring's culture

16:57

He doesn't get it based on his talent. We have Yoke it's zealots who think he should have won like

17:01

five six straight MVPs. Yeah, and then we have Yoke it's doubters who think he's already won too many MVPs those people exist

17:08

It includes a lot of like former players with podcasts

17:11

Um

17:12

He he he takes he takes a lot of shots. I don't mean basketball shots. He takes a lot of blows like

17:18

There is there is still I think a skepticism of him. Yeah, I don't think it's warranted. There's a there's a zealotry

17:23

This is Joe. I think it's a jealous attitude thing too as well. Yeah, and he's done

17:27

The also because he's done it differently right he's not dominant like Michael was

17:30

He's not even dominant like Kevin Durant and he also didn't come into the league with expectations the second round pick

17:35

Yeah, so I think people and he just he just looks the way he looks he plays the way he plays

17:41

But it's all incredibly effective. So I think to put all those people to rest and to shut them up

17:46

He just needs it the extra hardware to go behind you know the dirty little secret is they're never gonna shut up

17:51

I know

17:52

Especially the ones with podcasts

17:54

Thanks next player

17:56

Kawaii Leonard

17:58

I was going back and forth on this one

18:02

I was gonna I was I was going to say

18:06

And just trying to take a cop out and just say he's a scariest player in the league

18:09

Going into the backstretched season, but I want to have like a really you know formative conversation about Kawaii Leonard. I think that

18:17

He's the most confound this isn't to take but he is the most confounding superstar of the modern era

18:23

And that teams have just and it speaks to his ability when he's on the floor have just

18:29

Backed up the bink brings truck and gave giving him full commitments

18:34

and I don't

18:36

think

18:37

I don't think it's necessarily warrant that wouldn't be warranted for other players based on the injury history and the ability

18:43

And I do wonder

18:45

When it's all said and done and in an era where ownership in the league is doing everything they can to take money out of players pockets

18:54

I do wonder if he is going to be an avatar for owners and future collective bargaining agreements to be like

19:01

This is why we can't pay them guaranteed money because we can't either trust them to stay healthy on the floor

19:07

Or we we don't want to get bullied into

19:12

Situations like this and not saying that he bullied the clippers the clippers did this by their own volition

19:16

But it's been good

19:18

I don't think that a team

19:20

Especially the clippers has gotten the bang for the buck that they have have

19:24

Paid Kawaii and I wonder if that's going to be used against players for future generations

19:30

I don't have any intel on this, but it's just a fear that I have going forward over the next few

19:35

bargaining agreements

19:37

I mean he's not the first player to make max money and not be able to stay healthy. Yeah

19:41

It's true

19:43

He might be the first to have also gotten like a bunch of different side deals that are going to take down the entire organization, but you know

19:54

you know, also not completely as well. He's a capital. It's just like everybody else in

19:57

this business. I thought your Kawaii take was going to be like, he's the foremost player

20:00

environmentalist of our time. Yeah.

20:02

I think it's actually towards the environment is aspirational. You know, I think it's something

20:10

that we should all strive for you. I don't know. That was just, I don't know. I don't have

20:14

anything else. I was stretching for cool. Morgan, I think you're missing the force for the trees

20:19

on that one. Really good. Really good, Jimmy. It's next one. Devon Boker, Tyler.

20:28

All right. The all black book twos with the white swish. That's the best signature shoe

20:35

going right now. That's the best iteration of a player signature shoe. You wore them last night.

20:40

Today's February 11th, last night, February 10th against the Mads. It was, I think it was a

20:44

fragment collab. Was it the fragment? Maybe so. Um, but I think this is the best. I'm a minimalist

20:51

one that comes to my sneakers. I don't, I don't need a lot of loud bright colors really.

20:56

I'm a fan of black. And I, I think this is the best player shoe on the market. Howard

21:03

said this one out, buddy. This is, but let me tell you. You don't have to tell me to sit out

21:05

into conversation that I have absolutely no clue about. I think that he has the best

21:10

sig since Kyrie. And I was, I was going to say since Kobe, but I think like in terms of,

21:20

I don't love Kyrie's as much as the kids love. I know the kids love, the kids love Kyrie's,

21:25

the kids love the mellows, but here's a job of kids love. You see a lot of kids and jobs now.

21:30

What I love about books, uh, signature line. Yeah. This is a throwback to when you can wear

21:35

basketball shoes with everything. Yes. And he like, I love how he warms up like a normal

21:42

person, right? With the normal fit of like the cutoff sweats and like a tank top and a beanie.

21:47

I think he should wear, I think the NBA should institute some kind of rule that allows

21:52

Booker to wear a beanie during the secondary take. I feel strong. He's going to wear a Nike

21:58

drive at beanie. I think he should. I've been liking the beanie look for him since he got pissed

22:02

off with those people for doubling him in that pickup game years ago. I really think that they

22:07

should start to let players incorporate beanie. You don't, hey, we need to wear a, but Isaiah

22:12

Stewart and a beanie. Okay. What would book in a beanie? Who's the all beanie team?

22:17

Well, it's just what of all and beanie. You know Tyler heroes were in a beanie and I mean,

22:20

it's gonna be a proud of beanie. He's gonna rock about it. All right, that we have,

22:25

I know Howard has no take on this. He's wearing all birds. So it's the next one. Victor

22:29

Wimpin Yama Howard by the fucking back. Wimbee. We just saw him. This is a great take.

22:34

We just saw him last night. You saw him last night. He was fucking awesome. He was playing.

22:39

When he was like 25 in the first quarter, like 29, like 35, like three minutes.

22:43

We were like, oh, shit. Is he gonna go for 70? But they were blowing him up. I like 30 going in.

22:48

If only the Lakers hadn't fielded a G league team, we might have had more instead of to keep playing.

22:52

That's not going to say no LeBron, no Luca, no reads, right? Yeah, okay. Well, he was,

22:56

he was, it was a mouse in the house with him and a fellow by the name of Kobe. That was number 18.

23:01

No, I saw the, the, the buffkin boys were pumped last night. Yeah, he's gonna get some buffkin

23:05

and it's I appreciated that anyway. How would you take? Victor Wimpin Yama is the next face

23:11

and arms and legs and everything else of the NBA. Can we just say the best part of the league?

23:17

I don't know. Next year, we'll just say that next year. I'm going to hold off on, on going to

23:20

that point because of this is the take a thought. No, no, no, no. It's going to be fun to watch the

23:25

Yoke Zellitz have to reckon with Wimbee on the come up here because they both players speak to

23:33

the same demo of. I don't know. I don't even fan. I'm really Clayton Biggs. We, um,

23:40

the skit on Chappelle show where the guys, Neil Brennan's head exploded in the, in the meeting.

23:45

Yeah. That's what's going to happen with the Yoke Zellitz next year.

23:49

So people hate this, this face of the NBA thing. It's not a real thing. But like ever since we had

23:56

Michael, who was able to be not just the best player in the game, the most dominant player,

24:00

the most winning player, but was also the most charismatic, the most compelling, the most popular.

24:06

You think Wimbee's charismatic? I'm going to get there. Wimbee? I'm going to get there.

24:11

You think he's like cool and interesting? I think that's the hottest take of it. Oh my god. Okay.

24:15

He's a great player. I don't think he's like, man, I want to go hang out with that guy.

24:19

I do. You want to go hang out with a Wimbee? Fuck yeah. Okay. I wouldn't. He's going to check my ass

24:23

in chess, but like he's going to tell me about like Buddhist monks. Let's say you're like, oh,

24:28

I forgot. We had a city Thunder fan here. I think Wimbee now is amazing. And definitely will

24:34

probably be the best player in the league next year. I do think people get a little

24:39

little too jazzed up. You know, it was the funniest thing. Sometimes,

24:43

but I don't know what the funniest thing was.

24:45

Like chess doesn't make a person interesting. You know what the funniest thing was.

24:48

It was like going into the draft. They were talking a Brian Winhorse, who I love. We all

24:53

love on here. But they were the biggest thing that they were talking about was like, you know,

24:57

his favorite artist is Keith Haring. I was like, I mean, the most mainstream, the most basic,

25:02

like, hey, come on. He's like, he told me, he told me that he likes going in unique though.

25:08

Listen, here's the thing. I still think he's interesting more. I think you're just hating

25:12

because you're okay. See, I don't think he's like really interesting. And I do think that he is

25:17

a guy that is going to take the baton. Like, well, we didn't know if, you know,

25:22

how Steph was the guy that was the league-pass guy when he's cooking. You have to watch it with

25:27

your own eyes. I think he is that guy. He kind of has like went in press conferences. We were

25:32

in there yesterday. He has like some bites where you're like, oh, oh, that's how you feel.

25:38

I like that. It's a throwback. And I don't know, man. Maybe, you know, I'm too, I might be too old

25:43

about a kick it would win me and like, it might be boring for me, but I'm sure people want a kick

25:47

it would win me. I think if you want to hang out with somebody who's constantly talking about how

25:51

hard they work, that sounds pretty exhausting to me at every opportunity, every down moment in

25:57

the conversation. They're like, man, my PS work so hard. In the games, the sake of their appeal,

26:04

beyond the hard force, right, to have a casual fantasy. Yeah. Michael pulled it and everybody,

26:08

right? Steph was on to it and everything. He told me at his best, and everything. And it's not

26:13

because just because you're dominant. Shay is awesome. Shay's dominant. We'll get to him later.

26:18

Which is awesome. You got a lot of players who are dominant, but to be a face of the NBA,

26:22

if somebody who was an ambassador of it and who was in the casual family, you have to not just be

26:27

dominant. It's the fact that we're fun to watch and yes, charismatic, whether that's a court

26:31

charisma or whether that person now, then you have to have to want it. And when he seems to really

26:36

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29:08

He just confounds the imagination. He's fascinating to watch. And yes, I do think he has a certain

29:13

kind of charisma. It's not the same as like a Steph or a Michael or whatever. I think he's

29:17

his own kind of, he's got his own weird vibe. It's a little intellectual, but I think it's fun

29:22

and it's interesting. I think he's got own court charisma. I think he's exciting as hell to watch

29:28

and I think he does stuff nobody else can do. And in that way, yes, he's catnip for fans,

29:35

like it's you can't you can't not take your eyes off of him. And I totally agree with you that

29:39

whenever he's like running hot, it's it is like Steph in the old days where it's like you got to go

29:44

watch and see is he taking a one-footed floater three-pointer like it's he does wild, wild stuff.

29:51

I don't think he's like an exciting hang or someone that I want to hear like.

29:56

He's going to like city. He was the player I most want to have a beer with. I just said he's

30:00

going to be like, I don't think he I'm not like watching him off the court in his interviews or

30:06

something and thinking like, man, what an incredible personality. Of all the of all the players that

30:12

we've evaluated in the course of the series, he's not the one that you decided you needed to like

30:16

full body tattoo and put and spike his hair up and bleach his hair like so. No, that's nothing to

30:22

do with chess charisma. That's just that's that's that's that's that's what I believe. So you're saying

30:27

I believe that's best for me. You know what I mean? That's really selfish about my part. He's

30:30

more of an ant guy. He wants to anytime and is on. I like him. And it's a yeah. We should have

30:36

probably made that take and it's probably the most interesting. I think he you can there's a case

30:42

you can make that he's more interested. I think it's by the where Wimby's kind of like it's more

30:46

manufactured interest where it's like he does this isn't this interesting. I kind of want to go

30:51

into Antsworld because it's kind of wild. Like you know how you wanted to go into Jordan's world

30:54

because it's like oh sure maybe there's something there. Yeah, yeah, I kind of just like

30:58

let me spend a day in maybe I'm talking to my editors and people are listening. Let me go spend a

31:02

day with Ant Edward. So you have works out. I think you're I think he's like I the face of the league

31:10

conversation is sometimes exhausting to me and I kind of don't even care about it, but I agree

31:15

that it's definitely him. Like I asked. Yeah, but that's also how like it's it's also the face of

31:22

the league thing has also nothing to do with personality has to do with like who is the most

31:27

corporately viable. Sure. Who is the most who you can sell to eight year olds and you know it's

31:35

like the Disneyland. It's like five different things and you need to be able to check every box

31:38

and I think he does and I think some of the other guys who are at least maybe are dominant players

31:42

or a fun to watch. Don't check the other box. It's the difference between Michael Jordan and Alan

31:46

to the to the consumer. Whatever that means. Who's the next player?

31:51

Brunson. Okay. I tried. Let's see what we got here. Top five small guard of all time.

31:57

Is he in the conversation? I think he might be. Oh yeah. Where's our cutoff for small?

32:01

Well, I said six two and below. So all time what Isaiah's number one with the champion,

32:09

the mix of championships and game is Chris Paul. Chris now Alan Iverson over Chris Paul.

32:17

I don't just individually. That's that's vibes. I agree with you on a vibe.

32:21

It's just for sure. I want to go hang out with that. I would love to go to T.J. Fridays.

32:26

I would love to go to the fucking goal. That's probably Chris fall over. It's a polarizer.

32:34

Who else?

32:38

Did you put Jalen Brusson right up in there? Who am I missing?

32:41

Nate Archibald. Who am I missing?

32:44

Isaiah Thomas. Austin Seltze. He had a good run. Are you defending a Celtic right now?

32:51

I'm just saying that's crazy. I'm thinking about crazy guards. There's not a lot of

32:56

. But I did not in my take. But I did not my take isn't over.

33:01

I don't think it'll be enough for the next one title. So the fact of his ability.

33:05

I think there's a ceiling and sorry, Ben. I know you're going to watch all this.

33:09

Sorry, buddy. I don't think it's good. I think that his ability is only going to get them to a certain

33:15

point. And I don't know if there's a pivot there for the next. But I will say this.

33:21

Mike Dantonie always just tell Roger Bell. Sometimes you're not going to win the champion.

33:24

She's your cell of sons. Sometimes you're not going to win a championship. But if you can win a

33:28

lot of games and have a lot of fun, it's a good season. I think there's going to be a lot of

33:32

that for the mix with Jalen Brassford now.

33:36

No disagreement. And it's not because of like, I'm not. I don't know that I subscribe to the idea

33:42

like, oh, a team built around a player of this stature can never win because of XYZ.

33:48

You have the right players around him. And especially in today's NBA, there are ways to account

33:52

for that. I don't know if the nicks have the apparatus. I just don't know that they've got that.

33:58

Now look, as long as teams can put cat and him and pick and rolls, I think you have a

34:01

problem in terms of playoff defense. Brunson is is miraculous offensively. And is they're playing

34:11

three on five in playoffs. He got blessed Mitchell Roberts. He's doing Yomans work down there.

34:16

I can't do this. Brunson is Brunson is one of the league leaders in. How did he get that off

34:22

and it went in? You know what I mean? Like like it, it, and I think Brunson in the playoffs is a

34:27

special experience. Like when, when, when games get into a grind and you have to be able to just

34:36

go get stuff one on one, I think he is pro a very, very fun watch. And I know that fans of teams

34:42

that have played against him will be like, he's flailing and flopping all over the place.

34:47

But just as someone who has not been one of those people, I think he's a blast to watch operate

34:53

when the, in these big stack big, yo, how he ended that series against Detroit was a sight to be

35:00

hold amazing. That was incredible. So you got the whole experience. He's like if, uh,

35:07

never mind, I'm not going to say that. Next question. Next player. A lot of lefty too.

35:11

I wish I was left. I wish I was lefty. I was talking to a friend earlier. She was a lefty

35:17

back in the, when I was a couple days ago. And she was talking about just how hard it is to be a

35:22

lefty because you got a bump arms with other people. It's hard to eat. You know, it's, it's like,

35:28

I was like, you know what? I'll take that off just for a day. Let's see how it goes in a day

35:32

for the option of the rest of my life to be left. Anyway, that leads us to, um, to Jalen Dern.

35:39

So these are the best shoulders in the league now. And I don't, I don't think it's close. I think

35:46

these are white Howard shoulders. So I think these are the best shoulders this century. I think

35:50

they're better than Dwight's. Wow. I see. Have the jersey that Dwight had, remember?

35:55

Yeah. The extra medium. Yes. And it was just like right here. I was like, how did you,

36:00

they, I don't know, they made that cut. I'm not sure the public could handle him in a medium.

36:04

I really think that like, I like, it's going to get steamy in little season. Uh,

36:09

every, if he, if he's doing that, like, you know, don't get me wrong. Like, give the people

36:12

what they want. Jalen for sure goes medium. But if you don't want to subject yourself to that kind of,

36:18

you know, those, those, those ogles, um, you know, it's, uh, you know, you're a person,

36:21

you know, you're not just a body. Um, but, uh, no, I don't think we've seen shoulders like

36:26

this since young David Robbins. Oh, okay. I think that these are like, this is a galactic size.

36:33

He's just showed a dude with the, uh, with the weights that is in the mirror, just doing

36:37

shoulder shrugs, like an hour and a half. Yeah. Just as a warm up for the workout. Yeah.

36:42

Yeah. Yeah. I felt bad for, uh, most, for most of the about the other day.

36:47

The other day, because you saw moose didn't actually want to fight.

36:50

You can see during that. He didn't actually want to fight. And a lot of that is probably because

36:53

he saw those shoulders, but he had to try to do something because he got most of those shoulders

36:57

and he felt, you know, it, uh, but no, I, uh, big, big during fan, uh, a throwback big, um,

37:04

who is, uh, the perfect kind of centered to pair with K right now. And, uh, yeah, I,

37:11

huge fan. And yeah, man, just keep doing those shrugs, you know, great take next player.

37:17

Howard, I don't have much on any of you. He's at a phenomenal season. Um, I, I, by default,

37:22

almost not by default. He's earned this. He's, he's taken, he is, he is ready to be the play,

37:27

the blazer standard bearer, taking the torch from Dame Lillard, who is now, uh, taking his retirement.

37:32

How about this? I got another take for you. How about this? Sorry to take your take, but I have a take.

37:36

How about he proves that the wizards aren't as smart as they think.

37:39

Well, there's, that is baked into this for sure. And, and great reminder too. I, I think we

37:45

talked about this a couple of months back on the show, but yeah, like the wizards just gave him

37:48

away. Just gave him a rebuilding team, gave away a really turns out good young player who can do

37:54

who actually had moments on the wizards. If you were like really in the depths of league pass,

37:58

and you last half season with them, you could start to see what was coming. And that's when they,

38:03

um, he's always been a good time in transition. Like he ate like a big guy loves to get down,

38:07

healing can really do some damage and get to the free throw line. I was for a, for a team that

38:12

waited way too long to decide to move off of first to CJ and then Dame himself. And then they

38:17

finally decided, okay, we're playing the lottery. And they come up with, with Scoot, who's been really

38:21

banged up. I still think Scoot's got a lot of, a lot of promise. I'm still on Scoot Island.

38:25

Shade and Sharp, all these guys, and it turns out it's the guy that they stole from the wizards,

38:28

who's actually now the hub of their, of their franchise and do a fantastic job. That's how we get

38:33

to the next player. Um, I always get reminded of me and you at summer league, which was like,

38:38

I think that was the beginning of our level. Yeah, absolutely. But we really, we're going

38:42

around. We wrote a hard, it didn't, it didn't really work out. I think I said there's a

38:46

force of nature element with Scoot. And, uh, you know, we haven't seen that kind of fruition.

38:51

I'm having big is talking. Um, I'm on the beaches. I'm on the beaches. Scoot Island with

38:56

you too. It's raining. No, it's raining. It's raining. It's raining. But you know what,

38:59

sometimes that feels good. Sometimes you get in the water and it's an experience. Yeah,

39:02

okay. All right. It's the next player. Steph Curry. Okay. That's me. I'm in L.A. right now.

39:10

And if I say this, I don't know if I'm going to be able to get back home. That's a fault. But

39:13

I'm going to say it anyway. I think then it's not his fault. It's really not his fault. But I think,

39:18

I don't know if we're going to see Steph in the playoffs. And it has nothing to do with him. It

39:24

has everything to do with the malpractice and golden stage front office over the last few years.

39:28

And it is so disappointing what they have done or not done actually. Um, and I think he can

39:36

And I think he can only do so much.

39:38

He has the running knee right now, which is a usage injury.

39:42

And it's kind of like the sciatica zone where you're like, oh, this is because you're

39:45

old and you have a lot of miles on you.

39:47

And he is the number one option on that team.

39:49

And he just deserves better, man.

39:50

He's the number one option on that team.

39:52

And he's getting run into the ground and is getting played like it's 2016.

39:56

And I think the writing is on the wall.

39:59

I think there's one, there's on one side, everything can go right with porzingus.

40:04

And maybe they get 47 wins with everything going right, but also there can be everything

40:08

going wrong, which is probably the more these the more believable thing going into next

40:13

season.

40:14

I think it's going to be tough in the Bay Area.

40:17

And you know, it's funny, I always go back to, this is my second take of Stepter.

40:24

I think he's the next Dirk.

40:25

I think he's the modern day Dirk Minsky and the fact that he, the malpractice around

40:32

the front office around him during his later years really robbed him of a chance to getting

40:37

to a place where he needs to be.

40:39

And it's very, it's very poetic that, you know, those two careers, because I remember

40:45

I did a, I did a big profile called Curry comic collected on the ringer.

40:49

You guys can go check that out.

40:51

I interviewed Step twice for that.

40:53

The second time, the first time was the day that Dirk Minsky got his jersey, his statue

41:00

and his jersey retired in Dallas.

41:02

I interviewed him then and then a couple of statues, great statue.

41:06

And then the day after I talked to my phone with him about that, he was just so excited

41:11

about seeing that, taking pictures and wanting to be that for the lawyers.

41:17

And it was kind of like, it felt like the kiss of death.

41:19

They won a championship that year.

41:21

But ever since then, the lawyers have done, just fallen over themselves.

41:28

There's been other, there's been other things, the dry mom punch has obviously been, it

41:31

was a big catalyst to them not being able to repeat, but just a little while, that

41:36

happens.

41:37

It's crazy.

41:38

It's pretty great.

41:40

It's just, the ride is on the wall.

41:42

Step deserves better.

41:43

I don't know, I don't think he's going to get better and I don't think that we're going

41:46

to see the lawyers in the post.

41:48

The same way that you say he's the modern Dirk, do you think that he's going to stay with

41:52

the one franchise for his whole career?

41:54

You think he's going to?

41:55

I think he's going to stay.

41:56

I think he's going to stay.

41:57

He absolutely is.

41:58

I mean, I had the story with Step a couple of weeks ago, I went and sat down with him

42:03

for a while to talk about.

42:04

We'll be talking to Step on real ones.

42:06

Go check out the real ones interview with Step, sorry.

42:09

The premise of that story was about, you know, what does it mean to go out on your own

42:12

terms and what do you want for the end stages of your career, realizing that nobody gets

42:18

to go out on top.

42:19

No one gets to go out the way that Michael did in 1998 and, of course, he didn't really

42:23

go out because he came back and then was a wizard, which is still weird.

42:27

Step's not going to do that.

42:28

He is going to be like Dirk and that he's going to, he values the one franchise thing so

42:34

much so that he was never, he's never going to force his way.

42:36

He's never got that, that's not happening.

42:37

Yes, he could still be a really viable piece before this recent injury.

42:43

He could go somewhere and potentially make a finals run more easily than he could with

42:46

Golden State.

42:47

But I don't think the Dirk comparison and the Mavericks comparison is really apt in that.

42:53

Dirk got the two finals, spread whatever, five years apart, won the one championship

42:56

and as soon as he won the one championship, Mark Cuban pulled the plug, made a bad bet

43:00

and they never got back again.

43:02

There's been to what, six finals, one four, I mean, more so the back, I'm not talking

43:08

about like the totality.

43:09

I mean, I'll talk about specifically the back end of their careers.

43:13

But Dirk had like seven years of that basically post championship.

43:19

Step's last championship was just three and a half years ago and it's going to be four

43:22

and it'll be four in June.

43:23

But I mean, what about the end?

43:24

If he doesn't make the playoffs for like say plays three more years, it's basically

43:27

around the same time period, right?

43:29

We don't know how much longer he's going to play and we don't know what else they might

43:32

do in the meantime.

43:33

But also, I will just say like while that not every bet has hit, like, it's not like

43:38

the Warriors, we've been just standing idly by.

43:39

They went out and got Jimmy Butler who was, you know, still a top 20, whatever player

43:43

at the time that they got him.

43:45

Now he just got hurt a few weeks back.

43:48

Steph has now hurt, like things are looking a little bleak because of the age and injury

43:53

thing catching up with them, but I don't think they've like stood bad.

43:56

They have made some really bad organizational decisions, standing by the young guys too

44:01

long, insisting on using all those picks in the first place.

44:04

Like there were a lot of mistakes made along the way.

44:07

There's no question.

44:08

But I don't think like the crimes against Steph by the Warriors brain trust are at the

44:14

level of what we've seen with whether it's dirt for some others where the franchise just

44:18

never did enough for them.

44:21

Steph's fine.

44:22

I'm not worried about that.

44:24

I do think they'll make another playoffs.

44:25

Like as long as this new thing is not as serious as it's going to be recurring though.

44:30

That seems like an injury that's going to be recurring.

44:32

We'll say it did recur this season, right?

44:34

Like that's been, he's been dealing with that for a while and like, and it also speaks

44:38

to the fact that like if he's a number one, I think this, this injury is a reminder that

44:44

of the, just the years he has left and how old he is, man, like that's a lot of the style

44:51

of play that he has and him being a number one doing that.

44:55

There's going to be these little Nicknack injuries and you're, I don't think that we

44:59

can just guarantee him just stamping into going into the postseason anymore, simply off

45:04

of just his injury.

45:05

And like the rest of the, this roster was flawed before the trade deadline.

45:09

It is definitely flawed post-trade deadline.

45:11

So you're going into a season next year where you're not going to have Jimmy Butler for

45:17

until what, at least January, who knows what they do with Porzingus, like what kind of

45:22

contract they have.

45:23

But he has this like mysterious illness and these are not just like, that's weird, right?

45:27

And there's

45:29

it's like, it's always so healthy.

45:30

Right, exactly.

45:32

And then like you have all these unproven guys that are around these young guys that

45:39

haven't really proven anything like passive, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

45:45

he just doesn't believe in Gisanto's the way we do.

45:47

And then like, and your only alternative is trading all of your picks for Yannis, right?

45:53

Well, I mean, not the worst option, frankly.

45:56

Yeah, but then you won't be able to, you know, you won't be able to build your team or

45:59

I don't know.

46:00

First of all, I don't think they're going to get Yannis, right?

46:02

Like I think we're all in a group.

46:03

I think, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know why the bucks would accept whatever

46:09

the warriors can offer them.

46:11

That trade package seems like, I think the term is dog shit.

46:16

Like I don't, I don't know why they don't get Yannis, right?

46:19

You mean expect Steph with the runners need all of that stuff and his capacity to be the

46:25

only one without any help to, to lead them back to a postseason next year.

46:29

I just, I don't see it at this present moment.

46:31

It would have been good if like during this, during the time as Steph was aging, if they

46:36

could have gotten some young blood in there that could have helped them offensively and

46:40

sort of bridge the gap between these two, like, between like an early, sort of a younger

46:45

timeline and an older timeline, if they could have gotten some weight, there's more than

46:49

one.

46:50

How many timelines are there at this point?

46:52

Maybe three.

46:53

There's one over there.

46:54

I just saw it.

46:55

There's no, we know he's around forever, right?

46:58

And then you have Steph.

46:59

There's your step and frame under here in the middle.

47:01

What?

47:02

I saw, I saw, there we go, this has to be on the record.

47:08

I saw on Twitter, I don't know who I could, somebody tweeted it on my timeline and said

47:14

that Pat Spencer is a gerbilin of tech bros.

47:17

That's really good.

47:18

It's great.

47:19

It's great.

47:20

It's a great joke.

47:21

Next player.

47:23

Donovan Mitchell Logan.

47:24

Okay.

47:25

I think he's starting to get into the late stage named in a little territory in that he's,

47:32

he has a couple of more years of being the absolute guy before, and this is a very half

47:39

big take by the way, before like, are we going to, like, does he need to team up with

47:44

somebody to like actually get there?

47:47

This is very half big because the other side of mine is like, the east is like not great

47:51

right now.

47:52

Yeah.

47:53

But he actually could make a run in this type of east, but then they just traded for James

47:57

Harden, and it's like two guys that haven't really done well at the highest of heights

48:04

when they're meeting us, so I don't know, but I think that like he has a couple of more

48:08

years of being the guy before we start asking questions, like, should he go somewhere else

48:13

to get help?

48:14

And be a number two.

48:15

And be a number two, because I think he's a great prototypical, if he's the second best

48:17

player on the team, he's having pretty good.

48:19

He's been unbelievable, I'm sure.

48:21

No, I think there's, he has that kind of career arc, right, where perennial, all-star,

48:27

perennial, either all NBA, or all NBA discussion, really fun player, great, can go out and

48:35

drop 40 on a given night, and I think, you know, he has like the right mentality and that

48:42

right, that aura around him, right?

48:44

Like, I have confidence in him the way he carries himself.

48:46

I have confidence he's going to get me there even when he doesn't, right?

48:49

He has that kind of, and he has had some playoff flame outs, but I think he's, he's been

48:53

banged up at the wrong time in Cleveland in particular.

48:57

The jazz had no help around him, like, you're, when your second star is a defensive specialist

49:02

Rudy Gobert, and you've got nobody else to, to leave the office.

49:04

He was in the building, so you knew that a rego bear slander was bound to happen.

49:08

I mean, Rudy Gobert, as soon as I heard Damien Lilliter, my ears perked up, I was like,

49:11

was sober doing?

49:12

If we got Damien Lilliter takes, please, are we disrespecting Damien Lilliter?

49:17

Are you disrespecting?

49:18

I think you're disrespecting him enough.

49:20

Oh my God.

49:21

Yeah.

49:22

I'm not going to do that.

49:23

You can.

49:24

I'm not going to do that.

49:25

Now, we don't have, we don't got to get into it.

49:26

We can talk off on the, the, the, the, one of the things I've always sort of found odd

49:32

about Donovan Mitchell is early in his jazz tenure.

49:36

He was a great playoff player and like, really met the moment and they won some series that

49:41

people did not have them winning before and largely because he just would take over.

49:47

Yeah.

49:48

And there's, but these, there's been flame outs now.

49:51

But I think, I think it's at least as much about the failings of building around him

49:55

in Utah and, and Cleveland, then it is about him and also like, Darius Garland being

49:59

banged up at the wrong time and like, they're, and Cleveland, just like, it's just a big

50:02

injury mess for the last two years.

50:04

I think it also just speaks on what type of talent, luck and, you know, front office work

50:10

that is required to win titles.

50:12

Sure.

50:13

There are only, you could count on two hands, how many players that were just sheer because

50:20

they walk in the door, they're a title, you're a title for ten.

50:23

And so it's not a knock on Donovan Mitchell by any means that he's not one of those ten

50:27

players of all time.

50:29

I just think that, you know, it's, it's, it might be his turn coming up soon.

50:33

Sure.

50:34

If he's going to get, want to get what he wants, he's probably going to have to team

50:37

up some of those.

50:38

Yeah.

50:39

That's the thing.

50:40

Not that bad.

50:41

I don't think though.

50:42

I was kind of scared of that.

50:43

I don't know.

50:44

That's nice.

50:45

Good.

50:46

Next, uh, next player.

50:48

Oh goodness.

50:49

Shan Goon has the long stretched torso and short thick legs of a polar bear, I think.

50:58

When I, when I watch Shan Goon, I feel, especially when his, because he, because he's a guy that

51:03

wears longer shorts, they go down, they go down to the knees, um, and yeah, there's

51:09

just something very arctic about him to me.

51:13

Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, he's been, you like to see him just like slide on some ice

51:17

into a pool of freezing cold, sometimes he's, sometimes he slides on the floor belly first

51:22

and looks up at the ref.

51:23

I mean, he's a player.

51:24

He's a player who's prone to that, but they, I mean, obviously like a, a, a great player

51:28

he gets.

51:29

Great shoulders in that picture, too, by the way, but like more like Wilts shoulders,

51:32

or no, no, not Wilts shoulders, like Bill Walton shoulders where they just kind of

51:35

like just go up.

51:36

Yeah, kind of skit.

51:37

Yeah, a little, like, they've got a little, they could stand you in the, yeah, right.

51:41

Yeah.

51:42

Um, no, I mean, I like, Shan Goon, he, some people have said that he is, you know, showing

51:49

a little bit more defensively.

51:51

I don't necessarily disagree, but I do think that the people that are saying that can often

51:57

overstate it.

51:58

Um, I think his, I think his coaches said as much, EMAs had some problems with his defenses

52:02

here.

52:03

He's been vocal about that.

52:04

Um, that's the, that's my only real knock on him.

52:09

Um, I think he does, I think he is a bit of a whiner, unfortunately.

52:13

I think he's got a little luka in him, in that way.

52:15

Um, but as, uh, as offensive engines go and like when he, when he gets on a hot streak,

52:23

um, it's, he's difficult to slow down.

52:26

I think he is the ultimate pick up player.

52:28

Like if I'm just running, if I'm winning fours at the Berkeley Y, sure, you know, I just,

52:33

I need a shankoon on my team, right?

52:35

Like I just need somebody that's going to have a drop step.

52:38

That's going to, you know, who was kind of like this?

52:40

I mean, you know, it didn't, he didn't really age well as a person, but remember, um,

52:44

in his canter, like where he would just get weird, just like, I think it's fair to say

52:47

he did not age well as a person, but I agree, but just, I've talked about specifically

52:52

the game.

52:53

Yeah.

52:54

I know.

52:55

I know where he would just like kind of like, just like, oh, I like that boy.

52:57

Oh, I, oh, I, he got into that way.

52:58

I think I think he's, I think shankoon is smoother though.

53:01

Yeah.

53:02

I think shankoon's, you know, so much better than canter.

53:07

Absolutely.

53:08

I think there's, the canter had some nice stuff, some nice low post moves around the basket

53:13

and stuff like that.

53:14

Shankoon's, you know, eons better than him as a passer, as a rebounder, as a dribbler.

53:22

There was a game against the Lakers when, remember, the Rockers were just vibes for that,

53:26

that like season and a half where he played against the Lakers and like, he got brought

53:29

on a switch and he just fucking destroyed, brought on the switch to the end one.

53:33

And even brown was like, dip it together.

53:35

He's strong, man.

53:37

But yeah, that's my, my, my, my main take was that he does for some reason any time I

53:42

watch him, I start thinking about polar bears.

53:44

Okay.

53:45

Fair.

53:46

No.

53:47

Next.

53:48

There we go.

53:49

SGA Howard.

53:50

Oh.

53:51

He kind of, he kind of quarterback this, I mean, not quarterback, he kind of said your take

53:57

already.

53:58

There was a little bit of a, a, a preview of this in a previous take.

54:03

I feel like I might need to shove my chair just a little bit further back from our resident

54:06

Oklahoma city guy here.

54:08

I'll be okay with this.

54:09

I'm just going to readjust a little bit.

54:11

I made the helmet is at the ready here.

54:14

If I need the, the nights helmet, don't be afraid, I'm a sweetheart.

54:19

Shay's awesome.

54:20

I voted for him for MVP as the vast majority of us did last year.

54:25

No disrespect to him at all.

54:26

And in fact, I think he's another guy who I often think like, the people are weirdly

54:30

negative about him, like the detractors are a little bit over the top.

54:33

I once made the mistake of clicking on one Instagram video, one reel that was like,

54:39

you know, a foul merchant type bullshit, whatever.

54:41

For the next 24 hours, all I got, and they were all different accounts.

54:44

There are like an infinite number of like, Shay's slander accounts.

54:48

And if you just click one of them, the algorithm just fucking shoves you nothing but Shay.

54:52

You know what that is?

54:53

That's just the algorithm.

54:54

The code is the code of January of losing your sourd.

54:57

That's what it is.

54:58

Yeah.

54:59

You know, my favorite, uh, Shay joke, though, set out miles brown on Twitter and that brown.

55:04

He called him essence hardened.

55:06

That was a great.

55:07

That was a great one.

55:08

I'm sorry.

55:09

That was a great joke.

55:10

I have no notes for that joke.

55:11

I can't.

55:12

There's nothing you can do about it.

55:13

Sometimes you got to just take the losses.

55:14

You know, I'm not anti-shade all I want to be make very, very clear.

55:19

He is a mystery box as a superstar.

55:22

He is the least knowable superstar of his era and the Frank Ocean of the NBA.

55:27

He is interesting because we don't know anything about that.

55:29

I kind of love that.

55:30

I like it too.

55:31

If you want to start that room or that'd be great.

55:33

And as a result of this, he is to play off of my earlier Wembee take the least likely

55:39

to be the face of the NBA, not because he's Canadian, not because he's playing at Oklahoma

55:43

City, because he doesn't want it really.

55:45

And what I say, I don't think he cares about it at all.

55:48

He doesn't.

55:49

So again, I have all these boxes.

55:50

I think you have to check to be like this mythological, you know, the mythological title we've

55:55

bestowed right of face.

55:58

You have to be dominant.

55:59

He's dominant.

56:00

Fund to watch is an important part of this.

56:02

And that's a mixed bag because there's a lot of people we'd love to watch him.

56:05

There's an artistry to his game.

56:06

But then there's all these other people who hate the foul drawing, right?

56:10

So he's polarizing that regard.

56:13

Charismatic, like in a certain way, like he's great in commercials, but he doesn't really

56:19

give much of himself.

56:20

Yeah.

56:21

And he is, he's very limited, he's very limited with the media by design.

56:29

And so we really don't know him at all.

56:31

Like you can make fun of like Wembee and Chess and, you know, Tibetan monks and everything

56:35

else.

56:36

But the fact is like we do at least know a little bit about his thought process and his personality

56:40

and his intellectual exploration.

56:43

What do we know about Shay at all?

56:45

I think he is the most modern superstar that we have to be honest, right?

56:51

He is the Pinterest All-Star, the kids love him.

56:54

The Pinterest All-Star?

56:55

Is that a modern Pinterest?

56:56

Is Pinterest still there?

56:57

No, the kids are on Pinterest.

56:58

Other kids are on Pinterest?

56:59

I don't know.

57:00

You don't have both.

57:01

You're not on Pinterest?

57:02

Maybe that's the top.

57:03

I'll take the top.

57:04

I don't know about that.

57:05

Excuse me.

57:06

But anyway, I think I do think he is the, I think he's the most modern star in that regard

57:11

because he is the most Gen Z superstar that they don't, Gen Z, you know, care about like

57:16

if you say they, you just have to say one sound bite and it'll just go everywhere on

57:20

reals.

57:21

It'll go on anything, right?

57:23

I think we are missing the plot here.

57:26

It's, I think that Shay is for a certain generation is the guy, right?

57:33

And for the reasons why we just, all the things that maybe, you know, turn the, the

57:41

older generation all about him is with like the kids love about him, right?

57:45

It's just like the aura, the, the, the, the, the, the, the mink at all star weekend, right?

57:50

Like, and I do think like, I'm talking to the first guy to wear a mink.

57:55

Yeah.

57:56

Shout out magic.

57:57

Um, a shout out Clyde.

57:58

Um, but I, I think that like from a style perspective and from an orus perspective, I

58:02

think that like he is the guy and I think that, you know, he's interesting because he does

58:08

have that barrier.

58:09

I think the Frank Ocean, um, comparison is apt in this guard.

58:13

You don't hear shit from Frank, you know, but every time I go on some sort of social

58:18

media, there's like, oh, Frank Ocean, oh shit, Frank Ocean, they put out the album and

58:24

fucking 10 years.

58:25

Sure.

58:26

Right?

58:27

Has it been that long?

58:28

Has been that one.

58:29

The nine years blonde.

58:30

I would just say to bring you back to Shay.

58:35

It's fine.

58:36

Like it's, it's his choice to decide how to, um, design his career and his public profile

58:40

and everything else.

58:41

And it also is not necessarily unique, right?

58:43

Because who are the other guys who are constantly at the top of the MVP discussion, who we

58:46

know almost nothing about?

58:48

Yokeach and Luca, not exactly the most giving of themselves either publicly, but we do

58:52

know, like Yokeach has shown a lot more of his personality, I think, over the years.

58:56

We know a lot all about his horses, um, Luca, very clipped.

59:00

Like there's, like, they, they, they, I can't remember the last interesting thing,

59:03

Luca said.

59:04

Um, and I still think, is SGA more interesting to look at?

59:09

I mean, to me, yes, but I, I can't be trusted.

59:11

I mean, I, but like, like, look just that was, you know, yeah, I, I'm, I, the, I, I don't

59:16

think SGA, like, cares to be understood by anybody, but like the people that are immediately

59:23

around him, I think that his life is ball, close family, not in that order.

59:31

I think it's, you know, family ball, close, but like it, uh, it, I don't think that he has

59:39

any interest in like trying to let people in or anything like that.

59:44

And, you know, it, it, I think, um, like, I'm cool with that because that's him.

59:52

I don't think he's being anything other than himself, you know what I mean?

59:55

So it's like, it, uh, this is an observation out of critique.

59:57

No, I hear you. I'm with it. I didn't take it.

59:59

I didn't think it didn't sound like it.

1:00:00

So I, I can leave the night's helmet on the floor.

1:00:02

Yeah. Oh, you'll be okay.

1:00:03

All right.

1:00:04

Next player.

1:00:06

Oh, that is it, ladies and gentlemen.

1:00:08

Okay. All right.

1:00:09

So you know, it's the, the time of the show that we're really all waiting for.

1:00:12

Um, we get to, uh, announce the take champion for 2026.

1:00:19

For the first ever take a thon.

1:00:21

Okay, Jomi.

1:00:22

Let's get on on, buddy.

1:00:23

How have we been failing?

1:00:24

So, you know, I, I put everything through the computer.

1:00:26

We're doing it, uh, old school BC.

1:00:28

Is there an algorithm?

1:00:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:00:30

Not AI.

1:00:31

Not AI.

1:00:32

Guys, we're anti AI over here.

1:00:34

But we did the math.

1:00:35

And Tyler, you had the, the most quantity of, of, of hilarious takes, right?

1:00:42

Ante needs more gear.

1:00:43

Chet slim shady, right?

1:00:46

Polar bear, Shengu, and my personal favorite,

1:00:49

Wembee, just kind of sucks.

1:00:51

Which he's also French.

1:00:53

I think we're not like discussing that enough in his whole,

1:00:56

discussing that he's French.

1:00:57

Every press conference they cut the English last night,

1:01:00

the spurs cut off.

1:01:02

Any questions in English?

1:01:04

No more, they said at the end of his press conference towards the end,

1:01:06

they said no more English when we're running out of time.

1:01:08

Let's talk to the French people.

1:01:11

Let's talk to the French.

1:01:12

I think we know that he's French.

1:01:13

Well, it's a, it's a lot of that.

1:01:14

I think that plays a part in how he's viewed Logan.

1:01:18

I loved the stuff.

1:01:19

Want one another chip.

1:01:20

I mean, I know you did.

1:01:21

I mean, a lot to me.

1:01:23

You did bring the facts, which I appreciate, but

1:01:26

I got to give it to HBZ.

1:01:28

Wow.

1:01:28

I got to give it to Howard.

1:01:30

Yochich needs more chips.

1:01:32

And here's why, because you could make the argument that the NBA

1:01:36

has never been as deep as it is right now, right?

1:01:38

There's a lot of talent spread across the entire league.

1:01:41

And it's hard to, when we have had a repeat champion

1:01:43

since those warriors in the mid 2010s.

1:01:47

But if you got three MVPs,

1:01:49

if you that guy that everybody's talking about,

1:01:53

you got to have more than one.

1:01:55

If you're, if you're Dockich,

1:01:57

and we put you in conversations with a team,

1:02:00

a shack, and a Kareem, all these great centers.

1:02:04

Wait, Jomi's a, of Ring's culture.

1:02:06

Wow.

1:02:06

That's crazy on them.

1:02:08

Okay.

1:02:08

I'm just saying, it's different.

1:02:10

It'd be, it'd be another thing.

1:02:11

Like, we don't have these conversations about Yannis, right?

1:02:14

He's got two MVPs in a defense player of the year.

1:02:17

That I mean, when you reach that upper echelon,

1:02:19

we're talking like top, you know, 20 top 15, maybe even top 10.

1:02:24

You can't just sit there.

1:02:25

We only have one ring on your finger.

1:02:26

It's not really how it goes.

1:02:28

So ultimately, Howard, you had the best take.

1:02:31

Thank you, Grant.

1:02:32

Appreciate it.

1:02:33

No problem.

1:02:33

I'm going to greet honors of my career.

1:02:35

Okay.

1:02:35

Thank you very much.

1:02:36

Let's get him a certificate.

1:02:38

And he'll put it, it was a wall.

1:02:40

Yeah.

1:02:40

Something.

1:02:41

Greg, you guys are subscribed to the Patreon.

1:02:43

You can listen to my damn take.

1:02:44

We don't, we don't do that over here.

1:02:45

That's, that's behind the paywall.

1:02:46

Behind the paywall.

1:02:47

All right.

1:02:48

All right.

1:02:48

All right.

1:02:49

And this was fun, man.

1:02:50

Our first ever take-a-thon.

1:02:51

See you guys next year, huh?

1:02:52

Yeah.

1:02:53

All right, man.

1:02:54

That has been another edition of Real Once.

1:02:56

We will see you guys next week.

1:02:58

I believe we got some more content from us.

1:03:01

Three, I am Logan Murdoch.

1:03:03

That is Howard Mother.

1:03:04

Fucking Beck.

1:03:06

That's Tyler Parker.

1:03:07

How do I, really?

1:03:08

Uh-uh, all the shits.

1:03:10

Bye.

1:03:14

Damage is just a try-yum with better PR.

1:03:16

Hey, calm the fuck down.

1:03:19

Wait, wait, wait.

1:03:20

You, you, you, I believe that with every five minutes.

1:03:22

You scared it.

1:03:23

You'd say that when the camera's gone off.

1:03:25

We still were caught, right?

1:03:26

We still go.

1:03:27

We still go.

1:03:27

We still go.

1:03:28

I'll say it right now.

1:03:29

We still go.

1:03:30

Hey, you know what we need to do?

1:03:31

Hey, first of all, fuck off.

1:03:33

You are on the no-fly list of the bait.

1:03:34

No more bait shirts for you, buddy.

1:03:36

I don't care, brother.

1:03:37

No more bait shirts for you.

1:03:38

And second, I'm tired of the lion.

1:03:39

I'm tired of the lion, man.

1:03:41

And second,

1:03:41

hey, put some credits at the end of this

1:03:43

and add that fucking tape.

1:03:45

He, he add that tape.

1:03:46

We spent all this time being like,

1:03:48

oh, no, we full star for Damage.

1:03:49

It's his fault.

1:03:51

It's his fault.

1:03:52

You had a pocket, bro.

1:03:53

We kicked out the kids.

1:03:54

That's that, you know what I'm saying?

1:03:55

That's your out of fucking pocket, man.

1:03:56

I do feel bad about that.

1:03:58

Legitimately embarrassed in career.

1:04:00

Bye.

1:04:00

We'll talk about it.

1:04:02

I'm serious.

1:04:03

Brother, if you swapped him as Steph,

1:04:05

Steph might have one or two of Portland.

1:04:07

You don't only read only way he'd win one

1:04:09

if if if Katie can.

1:04:11

That's it.

1:04:12

That's it.

1:04:13

One of the worst stars we've ever seen.

1:04:33

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1:04:34

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