Draymond vs. Zach Edey, Wemby vs. Steph Curry's NBA impact, & Gelo's New Song Reax | Dray & Baron

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show with BD, my dog. What's up, my brother?

What's up, my bro? Happy New Year's. I see you in the PJs, you know what I mean? Hey bro, hey the bro, the big dog needs some rest.

Hey listen, first off, Happy New Year to you as well, my brother.

Happy New Year, my bro. Yes sir.

My kids are still out of school until Wednesday. I'm tired.

I can imagine.

I assumed that they were going back to school on Monday till my wife broke the news to me on Sunday that they don't go back to school till Wednesday. And so, You know, the house has been a bit interesting today. A lot of energy. And so I finally made it here. If I lack energy, just know they took it from me.

Nah, bro, I already know.

I appreciate it, my brother, it's tough. I got a 10, 8, 4, and 1.

Damn, dude, I got 10 and 8, you know, and they just went back to school. I got a birthday party. Bro, I done been on so many roller coasters. Like, I'm dizzy. You know what I mean? Like, I woke up one morning, my eyes was crossed and I didn't know why, bro. 'Cause I was on roller coasters for like every other day over the Christmas break. So I feel you. You know what I mean? I'm just trying to get some balance.

Listen, I am cooked. But before we get into the episode, please make sure y'all subscribe to "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis" so you don't miss any episodes.

Yeah, that's right. Follow the show on all social media platforms @DraymondGreenShow so you don't miss none of our announcements. In this episode, we'll be answering questions from the fans, of course. We're gonna start with some basketball questions 'cause we gotta get back into the groove. Then we gonna get some of the more bizarre, out-there questions you guys asked us. But, you know, for the most part, Dub Nation, what's happening? The first one, from Made It to the Cup to Draymond Green, is there a real beef between you and Zach Eady, or is it more Warriors versus Memphis?

Oh, that's an interesting one. I mean, there can't be—

Before you answer that, I do wanna give you credit. When you said he plays in the NBA, right?

Yeah.

Like that, people don't understand that that is the highest compliment to give someone, you know what I mean? But people, that's what it is. It's a compliment. It is a high compliment, you know what I mean? And so now you can answer the question about that.

Absolutely. Yeah, the reporter asked me, he's like, do you think Zach Eady's a good basketball player? He in the NBA. What is a good player? Like, he's an NBA player. Like, what do you mean? I think so many people, like you said, people just get it mixed up. Like, if you in the NBA, you do something well in basketball. It's like very well. Right. Like, that's just the reality of it. So asking me like, is he a good player? To kind of entice something, trying to get me to go off the rail. Like, no, he in the NBA. Like, I ain't one of these clowns that's gonna be like, no, he suck. Like, no, bro, he in the NBA. Like, leave it at that. But is there a real beef? Whatever. I mean, I don't— he hasn't done enough in the NBA for there to be a real beef.

Yeah.

Kind of the way that I interpret it, What it feels like to me is, all right, so you know how—

Yeah.

I don't know if y'all know. I do. So Draymond Green, so it's like if someone has been built up to be like—

You getting pumped up.

This bully and which they try to build me up to be is like the big bad bully. Then for him it's like, All right, someone has told me so many times that I can't get bullied by this dude to where I'm gonna just come out like, ah, like overly doing stuff.

Overly aggressive.

So you don't bully me. And the reality is when you do that, being who I am and like the amount of experience that I have with, you know, just what I do, When you do that, you're kind of overdoing it. And so you kind of show that you're a little softer than most just by overdoing it. And so the way that it ends up coming off to me is like, they've told him so many times, like, "You gotta go ahead." And then it's just like, "Brr." And it's like, bro, that didn't even make sense. Like—

Yeah.

Yo, that's like every time you get near him, he wanna like deliver a blow. It's like, yeah, you— I watch you play and you don't do that. So what that shows me is that someone has told you like, yo, you gotta be ready for him and you gotta do this and you gotta do that. And it's like overzealous. Sure. So no, there's no real beef with Zach, E.D. and Memphis. You know, we've played them in a couple playoff series, 2 or 3 outta the old Grizzlies with the big homie Z-Bo. And Marc Gasol, you know, and Mike Conley, TA.

Yeah.

You know, we played them on our rise to greatness.

Yeah.

And we were able to knock them out on the way to our first. Anytime you play someone in a playoff series, it automatically builds like this strife between you and—

Yeah.

So then there was kind of that strife amongst us from that. You know, and fast forward, we end up playing them again on the way to another championship.

Yeah.

And so we beat them again. And when we beat 'em again, you know, again, it creates this like strife of like, and then it really creates a strife. It's one thing if you beat them in the first round and then you lose in the second round, it really creates a strife. But I mean, it really like, it creates a little strife, but not crazy. But when you go on to win a championship, and you beat them on your way, it like the next year they come back, it's really like, "Oh." Yeah, for sure. And that's kind of what it is with Memphis. Whereas like every time we see them, it's a battle. And in large part due to they haven't beaten us in a playoff series. And so they're like a little, they're like the overzealous, you know, team that wanna act like it's a rivalry, but it really can't, you know, it really can't be a rivalry until both teams are winning. Needless to say, there's a competitive respect amongst us that they get up for us and we get up for them.

And that's just what it is. Yes, for sure. I would say that. I would say like, it's almost like this young Memphis squad, they came in and they like, y'all gonna pay attention to us.

Mm-hmm.

Why?

You feel what I'm saying? It's like, nah, y'all gonna, nah, y'all not, y'all not gonna treat us like that. You know what I mean? And they, and, and, and they made themselves, you know what I mean? Wouldn't be able to get in the playoffs to have this record. And so it, it, it's kind of like a, a, a little brother bravado.

Yep.

100%.

That's like, we gonna keep knocking, we gonna keep knocking. And so it just kind of raised the ante for big brother to say, okay, yeah, we gonna keep fighting too. But you know, we know a lot of things y'all don't know. You know what I mean? And so that experience, you know, at, some point. And then when you look at what Memphis needs to accomplish to get over the hump and you look at Zach Edey, right? It's like you need him to be the enforcer that you miss in Steven Adams. But he has to understand as a young player that you enforce your game. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

You enforce your game. And so it, I mean, to me it's, Of course it ain't no beef because he's a young player and he's just trying to figure out how to step up. You know what I mean? For sure. And meet the challenge. And it's just like you're playing against a dude who's done this over and over and over again. So you kind of like, if you don't figure it out, he at your mercy anyway. So, you know, but at the same time that when you look at the game, It's like, what I don't like, what I feel is unfair is you're not allowed to do that.

Yeah.

You feel what I'm saying? And the history of the league is always like the veterans are allowed to like turn young men to grown men in the league.

Absolutely.

You know what I mean? And so that's what the league is missing a lot. And I say like, you know, I said like, you know, just kind of like, I know that the ref's letting people play, but if you gonna let people play, then you gotta let, you know, like basketball is a game of like space, you know what I mean? And how much space can you take up and take advantage? So if somebody get accidentally hit or grabbed or pulled or wrestled to the ground, it not everything is a flag or foul. Not everything is, you know, to go to review, you know what I mean?

Like—

For sure.

Not every time somebody, go to the hole and fall hard. You know what I'm saying? And so like, we gotta loosen up that because they not letting you kind of be the vet. And to me it's kind of, you know, excuse my French, it's fucking the game up because you don't have no rivalry. You know what I mean? You don't have, like, that tussle was a nothing. You know what I mean?

Yeah, moving on.

And call a first foul.

Yes.

You know what I'm saying? Call the first foul, like if you're gonna call a flagrant foul, you know what I mean? Like that don't make no sense when you wrapping somebody up. People have wrapped up plenty of times, you know what I mean? Going to the hole in worse situations. And so if we calling it to protect these young dudes and if you calling it protection, that ain't really no protection They should be the ones who kind of like get groomed into being, he should be doing that to the next young center that's coming in the league 5, 6 years from now.

100%. That's the way it used to be. And you know, like when I came in the league, obviously when you came in, like I remember Z-Bo doing me like this and Mark Jackson said to me like, "Wow, you gonna let him pass your hand like that?" Yeah. And it was such a moment for me of like, I don't let nobody touch my head, but that's my big homie. Like, so a part of me wanted to like, ah, like.

Yeah, yeah.

But the reality is, it's like, that's the OG. Like, as much as I want to knuck up, like, bro, don't touch my head. I'm gonna get a call from Tom Izzo the next day. I'm gonna get a call from my team Cleaves the next day and Jason Richardson the next day. And I'm gonna only get those calls if Z-Bo even allow me to make it to that call because how dare you disrespect disrespect me, the big homie. Like, are you outta your mind? So just putting it in terms of like street, I don't even know if you making it to that call because of what I've done to you already. Like, you ain't make it. They not even gonna make it to call you. Right?

Like, that's how I was raised. It's respect.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, certain levels of respect.

And so when you look at this league though, so for instance, we played the Lakers on, was it Christmas Day? Yeah, it had to be Christmas Day.

Yeah, it was Christmas, we was there.

And I got a tech because Dalton Kinnett called me a little bitch.

Oh, that's nothing, see.

And I said, shut up. I got a tech. Now mind you, the referee is standing on this side looking straight at him talk to me. And then I got attacked.

Listen, bro.

Which is insanity.

Bro.

And so then fast forward to the Grizzlies game. To start the play, I'm going for the rebound. I get shoved in the back by a rookie.

Yeah.

Then I foul hard, wrap him up. Like, don't let him. He outweighs me by 90 pounds and 9 inches.

Mm-hmm.

So I'm not fouling soft and giving up a layup. And then I get a flagrant foul. So after you not call it on the rookie, then I get attacked. It's crazy. Like when I came in the league, you're a rookie, you just, you don't get a call. Like that's just not what's happening. Like, and referees would tell you like, man, if you don't get out my face, you don't got no resume. Like referees would say that to you. Like—

They used to say that all the time.

Who you think you are? Like why do you think I should call something for you?

Right.

Like referees would say that. And so when people say something's wrong with the game, it's the same thing that's wrong a lot of times in the streets. The hierarchy is gone. So there's no respect to those that, and what they went through before you. And in our league, you got, that's two, games in a row against rookies that against a champion, All-Star, Defensive Player of the Year, I get tech and flag on fouls over a rookie. Man, that's some BS. So, so then they never have to earn nothing. So then because you never have to earn nothing, there's never any animosity. There's never any, ah, to grunt. There's none of that. And so you get contracts off potential. You get respect off a draft position.

Yeah.

And they never have to earn anything. And so then you say, well, what's wrong with the game? You tell me what young guy is a rival to what young guy.

I'll wait. I'll wait.

You, you won't. And, and, and that's gonna continue. Yeah.

And that's gonna continue to be lost. It ain't no rivals. It ain't no rivals. Ain't no beef. It ain't no, like, you know what I mean? And I think that's what the league need. You know, even, I mean, going back to the episodes of Coach from Boston, like maybe we need a scrap, you know what I mean? Not like we really need a scrap, but we need, that mentality is gone. The passion, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

And intensity to like, no, we not giving up no layups. You know what I mean? Like, no, none of this funny shit is going down. And you know, the B word is not even tolerated, bro. That's, listen, man.

It's crazy, right?

Hey, dog, you know KG, right? So KG, cold-blooded. KG a cold piece of work. We playing at Golden State, he playing for Minnesota. Somebody fouled KG, I forgot who fouled him. He said, "I'm tired of all these B words." Yes, and he said it again. Now back in our era, the referee couldn't even give KG the ball until he identified who is he talking to. You have 5 dudes, he was like, man, play ball, play ball.

Who's like, oh bro, who you talking to?

Who are you talking to? Leave that ball and get that ball outta here. Delayed game, all that. We need answers. But when you know KG, that's like he trying to get under your skin, you know what I mean? And I was like, damn, okay, that's his psych out. But that word is not even tolerated, especially from a rookie, you know what I mean? And like, come on, yo.

A rookie, hey, that's not happening.

That is just not the word.

How about this? I got an interesting one for you.

Especially in the summertime.

I got an interesting one for you. I got word that came back to me that came from a reporter that Zach Eaddy was told by a referee, hey, don't let him get in your head. Now that's insane.

Yeah.

Don't let him get in your head, bro. You might as well put a polo on and go sit on their bench.

That's weak.

At the rate that you're going to a player on another team and saying, "Hey, don't let him get in your head." A rookie at that.

You might as well give him a bottle and start nursing him.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, what?

Like, that's what, those are the things that's going on in the NBA today. And then in that same game, I get a tech for saying boom on a 3.

Oh yeah, that was the next question. How and when, when did you start saying boom? I like that though.

Hey, the boom. Hit him with the boom. You know what's crazy? So we kind of started saying it last year where I shoot the 3 and you know, we hit him with the boom.. And this is me and then the whole bench joining in. And A.V. really led the leader of the charge, Anthony Varene. He the leader of the consortium with me from the bench side. And we shoot, I shoot it, they go boom. And so I say it on the court, you know, and my thing to them is like, they all look, when I don't say it, they be here.

Yeah.

They be like, yo, we booming over here. You ain't said boom. I'm like, all right, all right. So I'm running back, I hit the 3, boom.

I like that. Boom! I like that.

Tech.

That's okay.

That's in, I get the tech for the boom in the same game that I get a flagrant foul for. And by the way, on the flagrant foul, I hit the ball.

Right.

On top of that. Right? Like, so again, these are just the things that's going on in the NBA. And again, you asked, Why you wonder why the ratings are down?

That's a momentum killer. That's why you see that. You need that.

'Cause like you wanna see some young guy that ain't proving nothing get star treatment. Like ain't nobody paying to see that.

Ain't paying no dues. And they got superstars on their team.

Yeah, like.

You know what I'm saying? Draymond Green don't need that.

If me and Ja was talking like that to each other, if I fouled Ja like that, he wouldn't get that type of treatment. But you got rookies getting that type of treatment because referees, you know, they, they probably feel like they've been beat up on a little too much over the years, and so they trying to— I don't know, man, it's weird out here. It's weird. It's real weird out here. And at some point they just got to figure out what these people paying to see.

What's the problem? What, what kind of intent? What's the intensity level? We need some storylines, some backstories. It needs to be, you know, it needs to be big brother beat up on little brother and then little brother fight back and start punching. And then that's, that's how you build a rivalry. But you cannot, like, they got, you know, like, and, and I do give a shout out to Memphis because they trying to earn they shit, you know what I mean? However tactics or whatnot. But Ja and them young dudes, they trying to earn, they trying to earn they stripes. You know what I mean? And you got a lot of young, OKC, they trying to earn they stripes. You know what I mean? Even like a Houston, they trying to earn they stripes, put they name out there. You know what I mean? Put they self in position and—

Detroit Pistons, Pistons coming.

Pistons cracking.

Pistons coming, don't leave them Pistons out.

Yeah, I wasn't even on the East. I was just thinking about, you know, the West, but the Pistons is cracking. You know what I mean? Yeah, Draymond Green. Orlando cracking, Cleveland cracking. And like you got people like trying to make a name for theyself. And the history of the game is like somebody had to overcome. Tim Duncan and Shaq, you know what I mean?

Yeah.

Like Kobe and Tim Duncan. Like people had to overcome somebody, you know what I mean? From the superstar level, from the team superstar level. But like the shit went down easy. And if you start watering this shit, if you start watering this shit down, you know what I mean? And like, there's no pecking, like the league is about pecking order.

It's always.

It's always been about pecking order. You know what I mean? Like it's always been about pecking order. Do I think I'm gonna get a call on GP or Jason Kidd?

Hell no. No chance you getting that call.

You know what I mean? But hey, I'm not gonna stop fighting, you know what I mean? Exactly. I'm not gonna stop fighting, but like, you can't take the fight, you can't take the fight out of the game when it's lesser value players get more attention than the superstars. What is the best Steph Curry trash talk you've heard from him or any teammate? And that's from Hunter Bumgardner 11.

I think the one, where Steph was talking to Jaylen Brown when he shot faked and he stepped through and hit the 3 at the buzzer and he started pointing. He took his mouthpiece out.

Yeah.

He started pointing at him. What he was saying to Jaylen Brown right there in that moment.

Yeah.

Crazy boy. Like what he was saying to Jaylen Brown in that moment was one of my favorite moments. I'll give you 3 of my favorite moments. That one was one of my favorite moments. When Klay hit the 3 on, when Klay hit the 3 and Dylan Brooks fell over and Klay ran over to him and pointed in his face while he on the ground. I really enjoyed that moment. And KD just had all these slick one-liners, man. That KD hit you with a crazy one-liner. Like outta nowhere. Wow. And I would enjoy those moments. And then from my rookie year, Kendrick Perkins was on the Oklahoma City Thunder. And you know, we are a young up-and-coming team, not even up-and-coming, we just young. Steph, you know, getting off the ankle surgeries. Klay had a decent end of a rookie year. We just young and Jared Jackson on our team. So Kendrick Perkins, you know, he had just won the championship a few years prior with Boston, got his contract in OKC. You know, he feeling himself, he talking to our bench and I'mma bark. I'mma always bark, been barking. But you know, when you a rookie, again, back to rookie, like that ain't really carrying no weight.

I'm barking. Right.

You gonna hear me bark. But they like, man, shut up. Like you ain't got no stripes. "Who are you? Like, shut up." Like, bro, I'mma always keep barking that shit. Like, yeah. But they ain't hearing none of that. So Jerry Jack being the vet that he is, being around this league, knows that y'all can keep talking and they ain't gonna listen. Like, because y'all ain't done nothing, right? So Jack start barking. And Jack, if you know Jack, Jack don't get into it with many people.

Jack ain't just jumping in something. Jack is smooth, yeah.

Jack only gonna come in at the point where it's like, Hey man, enough. Like, yeah, that's when Jack gonna say something. And so Jack finally like, yo bro, you keep talking over here. Like, play the game, man. And Kendrick Perkins start talking junk to Jack like, yeah. And he mentions his contract. I think at that time, Perk had just signed 4 for 32, if I'm not mistaken. Which again, at that time was big money.

Right.

Which again, $8 million a year is still a lot of money. I'm not, in real life, but I'm just talking about in terms of NBA salary. At the time, that's big money. I think at the time the max salary is like $14 million, $15 million. Yeah. Perk yells to the bench, you know, like, yeah, something about his bag. Like, I got paid. And Jack, like, Jack going back at him like, man, you ain't like that. Like, keep yelling over here. He's like, oh, I got paid. I get made this money. And Jack was like, eh. "People make mistakes every day. People make mistakes every single day. You are trash, nigga." I really enjoyed that moment, 'cause it was one of them ones where like, the OG was coming hard for Prince.

Yeah, yeah, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I loved that. Yeah, he got your back.

Yeah, I really enjoyed that one. I really, that was one of my favorite ones.

That's what's up. Shout out to my boy Jared Jack.

This one, next question from Ground Cover Farm. Does Wimby have the capacity to change the game with the same impact as Steph?

Hell yeah. I mean, when, when I listen to you and how you talk about like defenses change for Steph, right? And like coverages and a whole different style. I look at Wimby and say like, yo, this, this dude is still a kid, right? And you know, he has every opportunity different than Steph coming in, you know what I mean? To like be a superstar from the get-go. Mm-hmm. And so Steph is iconic 'cause he is self-made. He is a self-made superstar and a self-made iconic upper echelon player and a game changer. Wimby came in the game as a game changer. You know what I mean? And so I think from an impact perspective, you're not, one, he's a rarity. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And so there could be, as it has already become a trend of highly skilled big guys. You know what I mean? Like we seen Joker and was like, damn, dude. A point center, that's crazy. Now you see a Wimby and it's like a 7'6" shooting guard. You know what I mean? And you saw KD and it was like, damn, a 7-foot shooting guard. You know what I mean? And so like, this dude is, he got a little KD, you know what I mean? He learning how to be a little Giannis this year. You know what I mean? He's just, he's just, looks like a sponge that's having the best time out there. You know what I mean? And he ain't afraid to go for the greatest, you know what I mean? The greatest title, the great, you know what I mean? The greatest name. So that's my thought.

I think hell no. There's a 0% chance Wimby's impact can be the same or even remotely close to Steph. And here's why. Wemby is as special of a player as we've seen coming probably and possibly in the history of the NBA. And that's why he can't have the impact because you just can't be 7'6" or 7'5" or whatever. And be relatable. How tall he is. Like nobody's just gonna be 7'6" and wanna do, and like wanna do what Wemby do. One of the reasons Steph has had such a large impact on the game that he had is because he looked like he everybody's size.

For sure.

Because he looked like he everybody's size, everybody think, I can be Steph.

I can do that, yes.

Regardless of how athletic I am, I can learn to shoot the ball. And if I could shoot the lights out the ball and I can run all day and I can work on my handle, I can be Steph. The reality is where they fail to realize is no, you can't. Because his shot is like God-given with a God-given work ethic that tops, is topped by maybe 2 people ever. Like, so—

You know what I mean?

You know, his ball handling, like Steph has an uncanny ability with his hands in general. Like we go bowling, He gonna bowl 200-something, even if he ain't bowled in 5 years. If we go golf, y'all obviously all know he's great at that. If we go to the batting cages, he's gonna hit home runs. If we go to a ping pong tournament, he gonna be at the final table. Like, he has this uncanny ability with his hands and his hand-eye coordination, which is another thing. And so again, like, yes, you can practice these things. Once somebody wants to ask me, Like, yo, why you don't shoot with the same arc as Steph? I said, what? Why you don't shoot with the same arc as Steph? So why would you ask me that? Like, do you think I wouldn't want to shoot with the same arc as Steph? Like, or you like, do you think it's that simple to shoot with that type of arc every time you shoot the ball? Do you know what goes into a jump shot? Do you know how every part of your body gotta be to be on one accord at the same time to get that rhythm every time. Do you know how hard it is to master a shot to where it looked the same every time? I said, so I don't even understand why you asked me that. Nonetheless, I said all of that to say no. Like, so I just don't think— because people aren't gonna see Wimby and be like, oh, I can be that.

Like, no, but I don't, I don't, I— I don't think so. That, no. But I gotta challenge you on this because Wemby comes from the Steph tree, right? So shooting threes. Yeah.

Right?

For sure. Handle. And what makes him different is he's the actual first player you've ever seen in your life that was created on 2K. You thought KD had it.

Yeah, we named him Wimby.

Right, so like the kids is like charging up they 2K characters to be set, like this was stuff we would do when we would do our MyPlayer. Oh yeah, I want my dude 7'6" with a handle, could dunk, block shots, you know, and now it's like, Oh shit, it's a real, it's a real like 2K MyPlayer, like in the NBA. You feel what I'm saying?

Listen, I, I can agree with that, BD.

And so tracking, tracking his stats because of this era, this era is based on, you know, stats and analytics and his pace. He's on pace to transcend a lot of categories from if he stays healthy, and have the longevity and, you know, the career and if they can build around him. But individually from like a getting off, getting off the blocks, like bro, he, he on pace to like be a game changer.

I think, I think all of that is, I think I agree with all of that and all of those things are true. But like right now he counted a center, but he counted a 2.

Yeah.

And I just think like, even if you look at KD's game, KD, when he came into the league, KD was a 2. He was a shooting guard when he came into the league in Seattle. He was the starting shooting guard. As KD career went on, he became a 3, then he became a 4, and nobody gonna wanna admit it, but KD had his most dominant and most successful years at the 3 and 4.

Mm-hmm.

Right? And it's not a knock to KD that he had his most successful years at the 3 and 4. What happened was it allowed everybody else to form their roles once he moved to those positions.

Mm-hmm.

And with Wimby, where Wimby is going to, why I don't think it's gonna happen is, How long can he play that way and not win at a high level? Like, and not— they're winning more this year, but in order to win at a high level, meaning in the playoffs, as you know, you need everybody to be clicking on all cylinders. That's right. Like, you need everybody to be filling their role when you're trying to win at a high level. And so for Wemby, I think at some point he's going to have to learn when to move out of the way. And I can't just trail into this 3, or I can't just come down. Like right now, Wemby's also, and no one really talks about this, Wemby's benefiting right now off of his naiveness, you know?

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

He's benefiting off of not knowing how to play basketball right now and just playing off of sheer talent. And sure ability. Right now that's cool because he in year 2. No one's accepting that in year 6. And so then you're in year 6.

Yeah, but he got—

no one's accepting you doing that.

He got 4 years to— he go— look what he doing.

It's just gonna be—

look what he doing in year 2.

That's fine, but it's just gonna be—

next year, next year he gonna put up even better numbers. And that's next year.

But if they don't win, if they don't win That, that's the part of it though. When they, if they don't win because everybody else can't really fill they roles the way them roles need to be filled and they don't win, then people gonna start attacking you for doing that. And then it's an issue that you're doing that. And, and, and a whole other thing comes with it. It ain't just like, oh, you just get to play as long as you can and figure it out. No, that pressure start to mount. You supposed to be that dude. Oh, you ain't won it yet. Oh, now you trying to figure that out. So then it becomes less about, oh my God, look how he just came across half court. And in his mind it's gonna become, oh, I have to do what I gotta do to win. And that may mean I need to slide to this block a little more. I just don't see it happening.

I do. And here's my thesis.

He gonna be as special as they come, but I don't see it happening.

Here's my thesis around this. I got Wimby on my team. I better hurry up and figure out a role if I wanna stay around.

That's fine.

You know what I mean?

Draymond Green, why are they gonna be saying the opposite?

Yeah, but, but, but it, it, yeah, he got a league, but it's also, it take a team. So somebody else gotta step up, right? And somebody, or, or they gotta go build a team around him to build winners and build a winning system. 'Cause San Antonio got a winning ecosystem. They gotta go get, they gotta go. Those dudes in San Antonio right now, like the problem with Wemby is he don't have a Ja Morant type of personality. You know what I mean? And he don't—

He got Chris Paul.

Yeah, but Chris Paul is not a young dude that's ready to bark up your chest. You know what I mean? Like San Antonio, they ain't barking at y'all. They just out there playing basketball.

But San Antonio never gonna be that and they not gonna bring in a guy that's like that. That's not their culture.

San Antonio was cocky, arrogant, you know what I mean? They played tough.

Yeah, but it was quiet arrogance though. They weren't just barking up the chimney.

No, they never talked.

They never been up the chimney.

They wasn't on that. No, but they had, they had a, it was, it was, they had a championship pedigree.

Yeah, arrogance.

You feel what I'm saying?

Championship arrogance about 'em for sure.

Yeah, like y'all not gonna beat us. Y'all not smart enough. You know what I mean? Like, haha, y'all winning right now. "Right now we gonna walk y'all down." They had all of that ism.

Yes, 1000%.

Right? Or Detroit Pistons, or like with these young dudes now, they got like a little fight. Like, "Hold on, Draymond, you ain't gonna punk us." You feel what I'm saying? What I'm saying for San Antonio is they don't have no young dudes yet that I seen, not even Wimby, you know what I mean? Or somebody to ride with Wimby to be like, "Hold on, bro." We barking up y'all tree too. We on our way back. You know what I mean? And so right now it's just like, okay, we showcasing talent to your point. But I think for him, because he's so naive and he's watching everybody, bro. You know what I mean? He's a sponge in the game. He's going to push himself to win. That's the only way that he's going to exist as a phenomenon. And I think he actually has the personality. Yeah. And the game to want that. You feel what I'm saying?

For sure.

So like, but they gotta get some dogs around them, and they gotta start standing up for they self. 'Cause if you relying on Chris Paul to do that, like Chris Paul is supposed to be the dude that calm y'all down and make sure y'all playing basketball. Y'all should be doing everything else, you know what I mean? And just playing off of sheer force. Sheer energy, you know what I mean? And like trying to be somebody, everybody trying to claim a name as something and not going off a highlight or a good game or some shit like that. You feel what I'm saying?

Oh yeah, I feel it. And you can see that they don't have that.

You know why?

They don't. Because Russ is standing there doing wimpy like this. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Russ a wild dude. He's sitting there. He say, "Hey, don't touch my hair." Russ say, "What you gonna do?" Yeah, come on, dude.

Like, you know what I mean? Like, right, right. And then, you know, it's like, ain't a vet over there. And you know what I mean? Like, Chris Paul can tell him, hey, you know, Chris Paul gonna give him the ism. Hey, bro, don't ever let nobody sign you like that. You feel what I'm saying? Like, I don't give a shit. So he gotta develop a meanness.

Yes.

Right? He's gotta be me. Right now he's just talent. Having fun, naive. But soon, like, soon as it click and it's like, oh, I gotta be a cold assassin, a killer. I gotta be thinking about every aspect of the game. So then I'm the show, not just like, oh, I'm going to the guard, I'm gonna put up 40 and you know, if we win, we win. If we don't, it's like, nah, you gotta go now become, I mean, Giannis did it, you know what I mean? Yes, he did. Giannis did it and I think, like, you know, this kid got talent too to do it. JT did it.

Yeah. JT did it where he came in, he was young, talented, battled with Bron in the conference finals, right? But like didn't quite have it. Couldn't get over the hump.

Yeah.

Couple more times, couldn't get over Jimmy Butler, right? Then he played us, couldn't get over the hump.

Yep.

Yep.

He developed that, right? Like you have to develop that. You have to.

You have to.

Yeah.

You have to, you got, you like, and for him, he, as a young dude, he had a lot of success early.

Yes, he did.

Like to keep, you know what I mean? He keep knocking at the door. He may not be saying nothing, but like now when you look at him, you know what I mean? It's like, there's some fire there. You know what I mean? Because he want it so bad, bro. He want it so bad. And now they won the championship. He know what that feel like. It's a different level to his game this year where he like, "I'm a finisher, I'm a closer." You know what I mean? Like now they starting to sync up. And so I think Wemby, he is sponge. He got, you know what I mean? He gotta absorb that.

Yes he is.

Yes he is. And so he can be the personality that the San Antonio Spurs never was. Yes.

You know what I mean?

I agree. So he has the freedom to do that.

Yeah.

Right? And with a little bit of meanness with his personality, takes San Antonio and now it's like, okay, now, you know, it's a wild, wild west. And you know, Wemby is whatever nickname people gonna give him that don't sound like Wemby. You know what I mean?

Yeah, for sure. Listen, I agree with you 100%. I think Wemby does have, that level of talent. I think he has that aura around him that people can, you know, feed off of and that can become a larger than life personality, which he already is larger than life. I think he has all of that. I just go back to the original question of can he change the game like Steph? And I still stand by my answer. The reason I think no is because in order for him to eventually win, He's not gonna be as able to play as random. And then you just become, if you're not able to play as random as he is right now, you become one of the most special players we've ever seen. But as far as changing the game, we can't change the B-Wimby. Like we, we can't.

No, but he can change the game as far as, all right, ain't gonna be no little dudes running around here shooting threes. You gonna have to stock up. On some 7-footers. Like, if he developed that trait, you stock up on 7-footers. Now people are drafting different because they like, well, shit, we got 6 fouls and Wemby fouling people.

You know what I mean?

He fouling people out. He playing in the block.

In order for him to do that though, he gonna have to get put on more weight because right now, like for instance, Russ was guarding him in that game. It's no knock to Wimby. It's just that Russ gonna get underneath you. He gonna get physical. He's stronger than you already for sure. And so he—

He gotta learn.

But no, but what I'm saying is in order to do what you're saying also, he gonna have to get way stronger because if you're saying that he's gonna make you have to go draft more 7-footers that can shoot, that's not necessarily gonna be the case if you can guard him with a 6'6" guy because they're gonna try to be physical and get underneath him. You see what I'm saying? So—

Right.

Gotta get stronger so that you then have to put a 7-footer on me because the 6-foot guy can't do nothing. So it now has to be a 7-footer. And the only way he can match me is if he can shoot the 3-ball as well. Then that starts to take form. Hey, Windy, call me. It's just a lot of things that gotta happen.

Windy, call me.

I give you that post. I give you a whole little post. "Post package, you'll never have to worry about a little dude standing you up in the post, man. Call 1-800-BART-O-MILL. I got you, man." You know what I mean? That's all he need. Once he get, once he learn how to take it, like he don't even know he's 7'6", bro. You know what I mean? Like he don't know he's 7'6" in the NBA.

Yeah.

Talented, he's young, he's enthusiastic. But once he start figuring out, wait, hold on, bro, I'm this close to the basket, I ain't even gotta jump. I'm blocking everything, getting every rebound, every putback. Okay, this is how I'm gonna get my 40, 20, and 12.

Mm-hmm, no doubt, no doubt.

And then I'm gonna shoot my threes and all that to show like, okay, you know, this is outta flow. But man, I'm gonna lead the— when he decide he wants to lead the league in points in the paint, I think he can do it.

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But moving around the league, we got Julian I for $37.92. What do you think about the 7-game suspension to Jimmy Butler and why do you think they did that?

You know, I'm, I'm kind of on the fence with it. You know what I mean? Like for one, it's like, Man, somebody, you know, I've been in that situation before where it's like, man, I don't wanna be here. Y'all don't really want me here. You know what I mean? And like, man, just go and put me out my misery and trade me. You know what I mean? And so, you know, I can understand why the Heat did it. You know what I mean? And look, man, everybody, they done tipped the iceberg. You know what I mean? Like Jimmy want out. And even though the Heat may or may not want to trade him or whatnot, like this dude ain't about to help you get to where you want to get to unhappy. You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm.

Like, you know, to me he like, you know, he hella emotional. You know what I mean? And like, that's his gift and his curse. You know what I mean? And so when you got a guy like that, who play on his emotions and his attitude and his confidence and everything that he's built himself and his essential character on is really based off, you know, his emotional presence. His dog is like, you know what I mean? Like, he got heart. Like, and so somebody who play with his heart on his sleeve, if his heart is hurt or bruised or anything is feeling certain, like, you gonna get 25% of him because he can't get past the heartache.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? And so I think, you know, him and the Miami Heat, they in a heartbreak moment, you know what I mean? And it's like, well, shit, you gotta, you may have to suspend him because, you know, it like, you about to get 7 games of him going through, you know, all the emotions that he going through. Being somewhere he don't wanna be. You know what I mean? With some people, with the way that they handling it too, is really like, "All right, you can leave too." You know what I mean? It's like, "Well, if I can leave, like, let me go." You know? And so, you know, it kind of feel like, you know, with Jimmy and his, like, emotional— Mm-hmm. You know, like how he is as an emotional player. You ain't gonna be able to get no wins, you know, with him not being all the way locked in and playing with his full, you know, freedom and capability. You know what I mean? And his confidence and all that. Like that kind of happened to me, Dray, when I was in New Orleans. Different situation because I was hurt. Byron Scott had came in, new coach. And like, I remember me and Byron Scott, it wasn't me and Byron Scott that really didn't hit it off. I had problems with management because my back was hurt. I needed rehab. They thought I was a prima donna. You know what I mean? And it's like, man, I can't survive a Byron Scott practice if, you know what I mean, I ain't all the way right. And then I get on the court and I ain't who I'm supposed to be. And you know what I mean? You going through all this.

Yeah.

And at the same time, that's when I got traded from New Orleans to Golden State. It was like, yo, you know, I remember Allen Briscoe. It was even a moment where, you know, he kind of like ran up on me. You know what I mean? He came from the stands, ran up on me like, "Man, who you think you are?" I said, "Bro, take one more step.

Freeze." Who is Allen Briscoe?

Old school buster. You know what I mean? One of them old school busters. But he was the GM and he come running, you know, Byron, we have practice. I come to practice late 'cause I'm in rehab. And then in New Orleans, like the rehab like an hour away, you know what I mean? So he come running down, man, I thought I told you prima donna, woo woo woo. I said, hey, freeze. Don't take one more step on me. And then Byron Scott was like, what's going on? I said, okay, I'm out. You know what I mean? Y'all gonna have to trade me. And I'll never forget, it was the trade deadline and I said peace to all the people in the facility, you know what I mean? Trainers. And I sat outside that man's office and he came out and he said, "Well, it's the trade deadline. Look like you gonna be here for the year." I said, "Man, if you don't take your ass back out here and trade me, I'm not fucking around. I'm gonna sit right here." 'til you tell me, I don't care which team at this point. You know what I mean? And that's how I got traded to Golden State. But I can understand like when you at a breaking point and it's like, I need to go because now my feelings is hurt, y'all feelings is hurt, y'all got a misperception. You know what I mean? Like the relationship with the coach ain't even off to the right foot in the foundation and now— Yeah. You know, with Jimmy being there, that's a whole different situation, right? 'Cause he been to the top with these dudes. And so like, when you feel like you not appreciated, you know what I mean? Or you feel like you been pushed out or you feel like you been, you know, pointed out as like you the scapegoat, like it's hard to play, you know? And I think they just at the end of they rope.

Nah, for sure. I think they definitely are at the end of the rope. I've actually been hearing for the last couple years that they were kind of tired of Jimmy. Jimmy was kind of tired of them, I think. Jimmy was kind of a little more so enjoying just living in Miami and not— I'm not one of those media people that make up stories. I'm not saying enjoying living in Miami like Jimmy's a partier. Jimmy don't go out. So I'm not saying that, I'm just like, but living in Miami is a beautiful thing.

Yeah.

And so I think he just enjoyed more so his life and what comes with him being the face of the Miami Heat. Again, Jimmy's a very serious guy, takes his craft very serious, works his ass off. So I don't want this to come off the wrong way. I just think like, He had a good thing there where he's going to NBA Finals, you know, he's the man in Miami. And I think all of those things made what he was going through bearable. That's what I'm trying to get at.

Yeah.

And I think it's just reached a point now where you like, what do I have left? 3 more years maybe? I'm gonna live in Miami for the rest of my life after 3 years anyway. You know, so I think you start to get to that point where Jimmy also, Jimmy competitive as they come, wants to win a championship. And so the actual 7-game suspension, I think my question about it would be, why 7? Like, why not 5? What was the significance with it being 7?

Right, why so long?

You know what I'm saying? Like, that to me. But I don't, I mean, outside of it just being like, why 7? Like, why so random? I think my only thing is looking at what I believe the outcome is gonna be. And what I believe the outcome is gonna be, everybody's like, oh man, Jimmy's going here, Jimmy's going there. I think two things, one of two things are gonna happen. It's just my opinion. I think Pat Riley is Pat Riley. Like, and y'all have all heard the stories of how, who Pat Riley is and how Pat Riley is, just like I have. I can see two things happening. Yeah. I can see Pat Riley sending Jimmy Butler to a team, an organization that he'd absolutely hate. That's garbage. Mm-hmm. I could also see Pat Riley saying, hey, go home for the rest of the year. Just go home. We'll pay you. It's fine. Go home. We not trading you anywhere. And I could see that scenario as well.

Mm-hmm.

But the scenario that I don't see, I don't see it just playing out in Jimmy backing good relations with them. And Jimmy being who Jimmy is, I don't see that. I think it's too far past gone. When stuff start getting to the media, uh, when stuff start getting public, it's no longer in your control anyway. It is completely taken over by public opinion, and it's just hard to make it work. So I think they reached the end of the road.

And if you see how he was playing You know what I mean? It's almost like I can't even have that energy around where we at.

And I didn't see the game.

You know what I mean?

If you playing on the West, you don't see many Eastern Conference games. So I didn't see any of that.

Yeah, it's just almost like you can't stake nothing in that. You know what I mean? Like you can't put no eggs in that basket. 'Cause you know, he just throw the basket. You feel what I'm saying?

Oh, okay.

Right, yeah, he like, you can see it, you can feel it. And you know, I feel like if I was a Heat fan, you know what I mean? It's just hella, it's too much intensity around it. And I understand, I mean, I can understand that. 'Cause even when I used to go sit on the bench at the games when I was hurt in New Orleans, And then Dick How was the point guard, man. I used to hear people yelling at me like, "He's better than him anyway." Yeah, okay. But the fans start developing a disdain because of the media, because of the imprint. And now you like, "Hold on, man. Like, I can be done with this." You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Let me go somewhere, anywhere. And I do agree with you. I do think that if I'm Miami, You know, why would I send him to a contender? I'm sending him somewhere where I can go get me some pieces, rebuild. You know, I think that's what's on Pat Riley mind. You know what I mean? Pistons are 500 for the month of January for the first time since 2018.

That's crazy.

I just watched the Pistons game 5 against the Lakers championship game. I was watching Ben Wallace. He was going off. Shout out to my Pistons, bro. How's it feel? You know what I mean? I know you got a, you know, some sentimental value for your Pistons, your homegrown boys. How you feel about, you know, what they building?

I think what they're doing is great. They, you know, got some young pieces. I think they got one in Cade Cunningham. They have salary cap space, they got draft picks, they got everything you need to head in the right direction. Draymond Green as the general manager. It's on him, it's on him to get it right. Like, you got everything in front of you that you need. And I think, you know, JB was a great hire. He's getting the best out of them young guys. You know, they got young hungry guys that want to compete, which I love. I think, you know, wish Jaden Ivey a speedy recovery. Sucks to see him go down.

Yeah, I know.

He was kind of having a breakout year, you know what I'm saying? Player that everybody thought he'd become outta Notre Dame. You know, so I think the league is always better when you have the teams that's been at the bottom starting to rise up. And the way the Pistons been playing, like, you know, for years you look at the Pistons and you like, oh, this an easy game. They don't play hard. They are trash, blah, blah, blah. Not anymore. Different. Like you looking at them now like, yo, they coming in and they are competing. At an elite level. And so it's good to see those guys playing the way they playing. Like I said, you possibly got one of them ones in a young Cade Cunningham.

Absolutely.

You know, you start seeing those young stars being built night by night in the NBA. And I think Cade can be one of those guys. And so really good to see. It's great to see young Thompson back. I get the Thompson twins mixed up. I think it's A-Man that's in, I think Amen is in Houston if I'm not mistaken, but I could be absolutely wrong. But you know, to see the Thompson twins back out there after what he was dealing, going through medically and seeing him back defensively being an animal and catching lobs.

Yeah.

I think the Pistons headed in the right direction, man. And it's fun to watch. I enjoy seeing it and they young, you know, so they got a full runway ahead of them to go do it. And like I said, it's on Trae Jelenkton to get it done and make sure they got the pieces. To continue to build and put those pieces in place. Not get overzealous and think you are ahead of where you are too soon and make a bad move that set you back.

Yeah, no, I, I, man, I, I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree. I, when I look at the Pistons, I see a big culture change, right? And it's good to see Detroit Pistons plan. And shout out to my boy Cade Cunningham, 'cause last year, like, they won a couple close games, they lost a lot of close games, they lost a lot of games that they could've won, should've won.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think, you know, when we talk about Wemby, when we talk about the evolution of somebody becoming an All-Star, I look at Cade Cunningham and like, yo, man, that dude is an All-Star having an All-Star year. He may not get it this year, but definitely next year. But I wanna see somebody like that in the All-Star, 'cause now he's starting to become a finisher. Yes, he is. You know what I mean? And like with these young dudes, they've learning how to finish games and he's leading them. You know what I mean? He hitting the big shots.

He's— He making the pass.

He doing all of it.

He doing it all.

He doing all of it. So it's good to see Detroit, as a brand because, you know, we love Detroit, we love all the great, the legends that come, you know, from the city, from around, you know, just the Michigan area. But the Pistons being back in the league, you know what I mean? And being somebody that's a force, we got, I want, you know, we wanna see what that evolution look like. I'm excited about that. Do you think OKC versus the Cavs is an NBA Finals preview?

I think it's a possible NBA Finals preview. You know, two teams playing great basketball, growing and coming into their own, young talent, young guard talent. Both teams got some good bigs, obviously OKC shorthanded without Chet, but you know, I think both teams got a lot of depth. Kind of the contrast in two different styles though. With OKC, the ball sticks a little more. You know, you gotta guard your man. Cleveland, that ball is humming, man. They moving that ball. You turn your head, the ball going the other way. Whip, whip, 3. Like, and so it's the contrast of two different styles. Reminds me a bit of the coming up and coming Golden State Warriors trying to make their name with some, with a young core.

Mm-hmm.

And OKC reminds me of Houston, even Cleveland, but not as much Cleveland, more Houston. But what I mean by that is you got one guy controlling everything. And if you think about those James Harden-led Houston teams.

Yep.

Shea Gildress-Alexander, one guy controlling everything. Obviously you got other guys getting off. Bron, one guy controlling everything. Then obviously you had Kyrie doing what Kyrie does. Jalen Williams, you know what I'm saying? Like, and so I see the similarities in these teams and kind of those teams when we were coming through, uh, in, in, in the real heyday. And, um, I think it's beautiful to watch. Uh, but you know, um, I think, I think for Cleveland where they're going to have to take that next step, and I think they've done a good job of it with the system that they've built with Kenny Atkinson coming in and the system they've built. Donovan Mitchell has historically struggled in the playoffs. Um, and so with Cleveland, with Donovan being your go-to guy, like, Shay gonna get his, uh, he's showing you that Donovan has historically struggled in the playoff. And I think they have to be aware of that and, and already be ahead of time trying to figure out what we need to put in place to combat that. If he struggles again, you know, because that can hinder their, their chance at being one of those teams in this finals. Uh, and they, that can hinder their chance of being a team that's a part of an NBA Finals preview.

It is very hard for a guard and a guard-led team to get you all the way where you need with no type of 3, 4, you know what I mean?

Yep.

Potent presence. That's what I would say. Now there are exceptions to the rules because you have exceptional guards. You think Steph, Klay, but you also have the balance of Harrison Barnes, Egan Dolan, Draymond Green. Andrew Bogut, David, you know what I mean? So you still stapled, you know what I mean, in the interior. And so, you know, I would say on the Cleveland side, you know, Darius Garland, my boy Donovan Mitchell, they have the talent to do it. You know what I mean?

Yes.

What they need and where I think is gonna be critical for them is Evan Mobley has to really become 20 and 10. You know what I mean? Absolutely. He gotta really become 20 and 10 and they gotta really use him as somebody who is close to the basket, can get fouls, create fouls, right? 'Cause you know, it's just put a lot down the stretch and then the playoffs is gonna put a lot of pressure on Donovan Mitchell to get to the hole to shoot jumpers. Darius Garland, get to the hole, shoot jumpers, make plays. You know, the playoffs like that floor is Shrink, you know what I mean? And I think advantage to OKC because the Shrink floor just means you gotta play some one-on-one.

Absolutely.

And now you gotta deal with a dude who just can't be stopped, you know what I mean? And like, you know, no matter how tight the space, you know, OKC, I think, you know, that third factor is going to be, you know, how Chet, you know what I mean, integrates himself into that system. 'Cause they got a lot of talent, Yeah. Right? They got a lot of dudes who can do a lot of things. Harkenstein is solid. They got, you know what I mean? Like they're investing in size, you know what I mean? But they're gonna need Chet to step up, you know what I, they're gonna need Jaylen Williams to, to play that, you know.

He struggled last playoffs too.

Yeah.

So it'll be a big step for J Dub as well.

You need that Batman, Robin. You need that, you know what I mean? You need those two. You know, superpowers, but you know, they also gotta, they gotta get through that West. You know what I mean? And so, okay, Cleveland has the matchup capabilities for any team in the East. OKC, they can fuck around and get the wrong matchup. And now that first round, you know what I mean?

Little more difficult than you appreciate.

Yeah, you getting tackled. You know what I mean? It becomes, it becomes a little bit harder for them to like get from one round and like, you know, the fight, the fight, the fight gotta come from, you know, now these talented kids, you got Dort, you know what I mean? Wiggins, Isaiah, like one of these dudes gonna have to become somebody. You know what I mean? For them outside of Shetty.

Yep. No, that's a fact. And the reality is the fight on the way. Can sometimes cost you. Yeah. Because a tough fight along the way—

It take a lot.

You may win the battle.

Yep.

But over the course of time, it may cost you the war.

You know what I'm saying?

And so that's definitely something you always have to be leery in the Western Conference, 'cause it's just a little different.

And inexperience clipped them last year. Yes, it did. Right? And then I also would say inexperience clipped them, made them hungry, but they didn't get the experience Yes. That they needed to like have that next level of getting over the hump. So now they gotta go through new familiar terrain, unfamiliar terrain if they're going on a quest to the finals, right?

1000%.

Like we ain't did this round, so we gotta, we didn't beat Dallas. You know, you have to watch, right? You know what I mean? And you have to watch Dallas go to the finals, right?

Yep.

You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. Like, yeah, you got that, but like, you didn't win that series. You didn't.

Right?

So you don't know what that next round felt like, the next round felt like. So you're fighting also against unfamiliar territory and new terrain. So, you know, a little different from OKC.

That's a fact. And what I will say is, I always talk about it, the know-how.

Yeah.

It's one of the biggest things. Like Boston, Boston ain't tripping on none of these games. You know why? Because what they know is we know how to do it. Like, so just get us there. We know how to do it. The know-how, like I'm telling you, the know-how is why we beat Boston in 2022. Yeah. We just knew how to do it.

You've been there before.

Yes. And, and you're right. These teams, they don't know how to do it. And sometimes you run up against a team and you like, you know what? They just knew how to do it. And so that's what both of these teams gotta look out for.

No, I agree.

Our next one, Bogdan Dot Parashiv, P-A-R-A-S-C-H-I-V. What is the hardest part of being an NBA player that fans don't understand?

The hardest part about being an NBA player is you play a game you love and winning the championship is the hardest thing you can do, right? And people don't understand that. My son damn sure don't understand that. But also I don't think fans really understand how much hard work it takes to come back from injuries.

Yeah.

As a player who like came into the league injured, by the way, coming off of like an ACL, you know what I mean? It's just like, you are just never ever 100%. You're only like 100% of like the 70% capacity that you can play at that year. Only 100% of that. Like, if you can get back to 80, right, you just are never— once you get— once you got the knee surgery, and it's just hard to get back to where you were gonna go, right? And so there's, you know, just like a health plateau, right? And so I just don't think fans understand, 'cause when you talk, when you like even a Kawhi, right? You look at somebody like Kawhi and like fans just got the wrong fucking perspective of like somebody who bust they ass to get back, get on the court and kill. And you think this dude don't wanna be on the court? 55, 43, and 90. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, I wanna be over here. In street clothes, like every NBA— It makes sense. Every NBA player wants to play. And like, I actually like it now, man, because y'all got people around y'all that care about your longevity. We played like, it was just like, oh, you can play? You gotta play. Every win was a needed win. Ice and Stim and— You know what I mean? Like, do not get on that training table if you don't need to be there. You know what I mean? Yeah. And then you get to, you know, like I would say early in y'all career where, you know, you could hang out on the training table, but like dudes was just hurt. You know what I mean? Like we didn't know how to, it wasn't longevity training. It was always just getting you right for the next game.

Yeah.

Getting you right for the next game. And so I don't think fans really know. And understand how hard it is to like be injured, come back, play an entire season. Like you just never become 100%, you know what I mean? You just like fighting, you know, mental battles, physical battles, and just, you know, I just think a lot of times they just, you know, in a selfish way, they wanna see players play all the time. But a lot of times it's just like, Man, you have no idea how hard it is to play hurt or to be hurt and can't play.

We as athletes are master, master compensators. It's just what we are. You learn like, ah, this thing is hurting, I'm gonna compensate on this thing to take the pressure off that. Like, that's just what it is. I think one of the hardest things for me is to, To do something at such an elite level and have the whole world that knows 7% of what you know.

Yeah.

Trying to tell you what that should look like, how it should look, how it should be done. Like, it's blasphemous.

Right.

And then like, you can't really say much back. You're censored in what you can say back. I'd say for me, I think that's one of the toughest parts. Just like being at such an elite level, but playing something that everybody and they mom think they know because they played on their elementary school basketball team. And learned that if you dribble with two hands, that that was called a double dribble. And they think that this thing that we do is the same thing that they did.

Yeah.

And I'm just here to tell you, it's not even remotely close.

Not even.

And just enjoy the game. That's what it is for me.

I like that. Derrick Rose night just passed. Derrick Rose, man. Shout out to D-Rose. One of the greatest. Just got announced that he getting his jersey retired. You know, I think it's like 1/4/25 is the date. Man, I mean, one, man, just shout out to Derrick, bro. Shout out to like, man.

That's dope.

Damn, bro. Like, wow. Just shout out to Derrick Rose. He is just— So cold, you know what I mean?

What?

Oh my gosh, just, man, this dude is just, he was amazing. You know what I mean? He was amazing. I didn't get a chance to play against him as much as I wanted to, but I did catch him when I was like, okay, I'm that guy. You know what I mean? You know, I'm that guy, dog. And I never forget down the stretch of the game, like that fool was posting me up. They was throwing it to him on the block, bro. And he got two, hey Dray, he got two buckets on me. And I looked at him, I said, "Bro, who are you?" That's crazy. And they was going, hey bro, they was different. And you know, I haven't been on no, you know, on the iso, guarding T-Mac, guarding Kobe down the stretch, Iverson, you know what I mean? But like, I ain't never really had nobody clear out and post me on the short corner and it's a guard. You feel what I'm saying? Hey bro, and he jumped over me and shot a jump hook, turned around, shot a bank shot fade. I was like, bro, who are you? After the game, I was like, yo bro, I'm a fan. I was like, "I'm a fan." I know who you are now, bro. I didn't know you was that nice. I followed you in Memphis, you know what I mean? Like, damn, bro, I did not know you was this nice. Shout out to D-Rose and shout out to like his next venture, you know what I mean?

Absolutely.

What he gonna be doing next in life, you know, like his platform, you know, the way he telling his side of the story and projecting his story. It's just giving me an opportunity to learn more about him and grow more about him just as a fan, you know what I mean?

No doubt.

His game and a fan of his. So man, shit, I couldn't guard him.

Listen, man, D-Rose, wow, what an incredible player, man. I had my first opportunity to see D-Rose play up close and personal. Was at Big Time in Vegas and D-Rose and Eric Gordon was playing on the same team. They was playing for Mean Streets.

Oh wow.

They was playing the D1 Greyhounds, Bill Walker and O.J. Mayo. Somehow I got into that capacity field game at capacity, standing room, not only, ain't no standing room either. And watching them put on a show was one of the most incredible games I ever seen in my life. And then I had my first opportunity—

That's crazy.

To really play against D-Rose. Like when I came into the league, I think D-Rose got hurt in 2011 or '12. So right when I came into the league, he got hurt. And then if you remember in 2014, I wanna say it was, there was a world championship team. And D-Rose hadn't really played for the Bulls yet. He came back and he came back, his return was with USA Basketball on the world championship team.

Mm.

And I was on the select team coming to practice against those guys, get them ready, which was an honor for me 'cause I'm on the select team. I was geeked, man. And like, D-Rose came down full speed at me. Come up, try to stop him at the free throw line. He hit me with a crazy, uh! I shift all the way the other way. He up and under that thing, layup. I was like, oh my God. Like, it was just like that. And again, he was coming off injury, so I can only imagine what that crossover and what that up and under looked like 2 and a half years prior to that. But completely left me in the dust. And I was just like, yo, that's crazy to see that type of athleticism up close. But just a big fan of D. Rose, man. How he carried the city of Chicago. That's Chicago's heartbeat right there. That's Chicago's son right there.

Yeah, come on, bro.

You know, and to go to Chicago to get drafted number one pick.

That's wild.

And actually live up to it and become the MVP in your city.

That's sick.

With the Bulls you grew up a fan of. And to actually do that, and then to accept with grace when it came to an end. He accepted it with nothing but complete grace that the team that he won MVP on, that the city that he's the heartbeat of was, and I take this with a grain of salt, the city never moved on from him. Who is Pooh?. And that is his city. But when that city, I mean, and that organization said, you know what? It's time we move on. We trading you, man. That man handled it with such grace, continued to bounce back. Even had a final ball after that.

You know, like—

He a fighter, bro. To just see how he handled all of that, man. Like, shout out to D-Rose, man.

Legend for life, man. Hall of Famer. All that shit, man. Come on, man. He one of them ones.

And by the way, the questions on is D. Rose a Hall of Famer, if he not. If you win MVP in the NBA, you're a Hall of Famer. You're a Hall of Famer. Moving on. I don't care if you play one year. If you play one year in the NBA and you win MVP of the NBA, you're a Hall of Famer, bro. Moving on. Is Derrick Rose a Hall of Famer? Stop it. It's ridiculous.

Stop playing. He one of them ones.

Moving on. All right, we gonna take 3 random, a few random questions before we get outta here. First one, I'll start. Sloth is Legend, if you guys were a pro wrestling tag team, what would your name be and what's your walkout song?

It'll be Atomic Dog and we would be called the Dog Pound.

I rock with that. Say no more.

Case closed.

Case closed. Next one from Sweet.j11. Starting from 2000s to now, with the two of you, what's the most lethal starting five? So us two in the lineup, and then you add your five, you add your three.

Oh, okay. I would have to say, shit, Shaq.

Of course. Number one, Shaq. No question. Kobe.

Okay. Gotta have Shaq, gotta have Kobe. And then in the 2000s, I'd say Dirk.

I like that. Well, listen here, I'm gonna go because reading is fundamental and we read at Michigan State. It say from the 2000s to now. So I'm going Big D.

Oh, so now.

Yeah, see, reading is fundamental.

My fault.

Yeah, reading is very fundamental.

You gotta read it to me right.

I read it.

I didn't see it. I didn't see the question.

You know what?

You right.

You right. I read it. So I got another one for you. Another ism for you that Izzo gave us. Which is learn to listen, listen to learn. Goddamn. So reading is fundamental and you need to learn to listen and listen to learn. So since I know that reading is fundamental, 2000 to now, I'm going BD, Steph, myself.

I'm fucking with that.

KD and Deez. I'm fucking with that. Going with the Big Diesel for sure. No question asked. I'm fucking with that. Best center to ever grace the NBA floor. No questions asked.

I'm fucking with that. I'm fucking with that lineup for sure. That's a championship for sure.

We got dog, we got scoring, we got size, we got defense. Man, come on.

The play back game tomorrow, man. Can we relive that? You know what I'm saying? All right, man. Speaking of the 2000s, bro. Speaking of the 2000s, what you think about that new Jello song?

I'm gonna be honest with you, BD. I may be the only person in the walk of life that I live in that I have not heard the song.

Oh my God, what?

I haven't heard the song. Is it really good or are y'all just like laughing at him but kind of laughing with him but laughing at him?

Nah, it's hard. The reason why I like it is like he brought back a 2005 vibe, right? So like, it ain't like he tried—

Big Thomas vibe? Yeah.

Hey bro, I'm telling you.

Big Thomas, No Limit, like 2000s.

Hey bro, you gonna be like, yo, I remember this song when I was growing up. That's how it gets you, right? Like it not, you know what I mean? But he didn't come out trying to do drill rap. He didn't come out, trying to rap like Lil Baby or what everybody else rap like. I think this is kind of like showing like, man, my shit different, my shit hitting and is knocking. Like his little hook, you know what I mean? I'mma swerve on the cornerstone.

So Jello ain't, so Lavar was right. Jello ain't necessarily make it in basketball, but you saying he about to make it as a rapper. So Lavar was right all along.

He got the number one YouTube song right now. Dudes calling me like, "Yo man, you know Jello? I'm trying to book him for a show. I'm trying to book him for—" Really?

Real.

Good for him.

All right, one second. Charles just sent the link. I'm about to listen. Y'all give me a second.

It's like when you be like, "Yo man, my cousin rap." And people be like, "Oh, that fool don't rap." And then he come with some shit like that at the family reunion. It's like, "Okay, this smacking." Whoa, whoa.

Hey, that's knocking.

I ain't gonna even lie. Hey bro, watch it. I'm telling you.

LeBron definitely had him listening to some big timers coming up.

He had to.

Had to.

That shit, that shit go. Lonzo can rap too. Lonzo can rap too.

I actually heard Zo rap before. Zo can rap. But that's knocking. I rock with that. All right, all right, Jello. Halftime show of the All-Star Game, what up?

That'll be hard.

Bring the All-Star, Jello, bring in the All-Star Game. Game back. The All-Star Game been dead. That's hard. Jello here to save it. I gotta listen to that.

Yeah, listen to Jello. I'm gonna listen to Jello.

Whoa. Hey, we done here. This episode is a wrap. I'm going to listen to Jello.

I'mma swear to the corner store, whatever he say. Whoa, whoa.

Whoa, whoa.

That shit not good. Yeah, that's a wrap for this episode.

The Draymond Green Show with my dog BD.

We out. That's a wrap. We out. Peace. Peace.