On this episode of This League, we talk about the phenomenon known as courtside Karen shout out to all the teams that are playing defense. We get into the must anticipated Russell Westbrook segment that I promise you break down Clay Thompson's beef with Big Baby Davis and the Pistons, and of course we get into some listener of voicemails and oh are they hot? Oh I can't wait for that.
So I told everybody that we were going to start today's show talking about Russell Westbrook unless something crazy happen, and something crazy appen show enough, Yes, sir, Nothing in my life I love more than a good victory lap. I am insufferable when I am right. My desire for everyone to recognize me for how right that I am on a consistent basis is an unfillable well, it never ends. No one loves taking victory laps as much as me.
The tiniest things, for the smallest, most minuscule, irrelevant things in sports. But that's me. And that's probably because as a woman in sports media, you're always told that your takes are either wrong improperly delivered, that your shrill. So many things just take a little stab down the lane. That is the ig comment section of this league, and you'll see that. So when I'm proven correct, I feel obligated for all women, for the culture, really for progress.
Sure to say, Yo, not only was I right, you were so wrong for aggressively coming for my neck. Not only am I right, you should have never ever ever spoken to me the way that you did about me being wrong. Anyway, so I digress. It appears that my take that players are in desperate need for fans could not have come in a better time, perfect take at the perfect time. Marty, Can you take play my take from Monday show?
Sure?
Imagine this, I thought, he thought, sitting there with her low cut top on body con dress, oily tan legs, looking at you like she wants to give you the business boy woo, and you're like, yes, I'm gonna get her number after the game, and then right next to her you get posterized. What do you think that cocktail does to the male ego? You are one of the people that she came to watch perform, and then you got someone's nuts on your face and you think you're
gonna be able to smash after that? You better do something to reply and put that in her mind. You know what it does? It makes you want to compete.
I need effort compete.
I need effort compete. It makes you want to compete. To the booze the screams. What I said was, I said, we needed salty, aggressive hecklers, and we needed also thoughts hose, scantily clad hose and heckler's And what the universe gifted me, because I am obviously one of God's preordained children, he gifted me or she gifted me one human that encapsulated both. That is courtside Karen. I thought he thought that got so aggressive with Lebron James that she got ejected. Her
and her man's got ejected for telling him. She said, I will fuck you up. She will beat him down court side. She did that. So before we get into Lebron's response and why, that vindicates exactly what I was saying. Let's just dig a little deeper into court side Karen.
Let's do it.
Karen's real name is is Julieta Carlos. She's twenty five. Allegedly she's a tough twenty five. She's not. It's not even like she's bad looking.
No, it's just this. It's so much plastic surgery for a twenty five year old.
I mean, the level of confidence that you must have has gotta be kind of where my shoes are right now on the ground. So they live in Atlanta. She's she's married to this, she's the third wife to this liquor distributor, which is just like, maybe one of the skeeziest careers that you could possibly have is to be a liquor distributor. You just drink for a living and get other people drunk for a living. They live in Atlanta, which I like to call LA's ratchet little sister.
Sure.
Yeah, La of the South where you can buy a McMansion for like one tenth of the price of a big city like LA. It's kind of like the Scottsdale, Arizona of the Southeast, I guess you would call it.
Don't I don't hate that. I don't hate that.
Yeah, you know, glitz, glam, vanity plates, fake tits, you know, real Housewives of Atlanta type shit. Right, you know what I'm talking about, Right, Marty, you've been down there?
Yeah, all too well, all too well.
Okay, So, for some reason, this guy Chris Carlos fifty seven with the twenty five year old allegedly twenty five year old wife. He's got liquor related beef. This is what my inside quote unquote sources say. He's got liquor beef with d Wade, a member of the Heatles. Right, So Lebron's best friends with d Wade, and he's like, yo, this one's on site. Fam. This is like it's like
bloods and crips for like Pino noir. Right, So Lebron and this guy start drawing back and forth, and then Karen aka Juliana for some reasons, decides, you know, my man needs me to protect him. He uh, he's fifty seven. I'm twenty five. I'm in better shape maybe than him. So she people are saying he's on steroids. There's a lot of uh slander about Chris being on steroids and also having some facial plastic surgery of his own. Oh yeah, he does look like either loof Riigno or sly Stone
or some combination of them both. But like that doesn't really matter to the to the facts of the story. So she starts saying some shit to Lebron James, like, yo, stop talking to my man or you're gonna catch these hands, bitch, And he's like, yo, bitch, shut shut your ass up and sit down. So she takes off her mask and then she gets ejected and then she goes insane on ig after she gets gets kicked out of the game. Play that last forty seconds of this clip. Anyway, I'm
minding my own business, drinking, my having fun. All of a sudden, Lebron says something to my husband and I and I see this and I go, I stand up. I go, don't fucking talk to my husband. And she looks at me and he goes, sit the fuck down, bitch, and I go, don't fucking call me a bitch. You sit the get the fuck out of here. And I go, don't fucking talk to me. My husband like that, don't talk to my husband, and he literally was like, fuck you bitch, sit down, bitch, and all this excuse me,
I have courts, excuse me that I pay for. Excuse me. Fuck you, Lebron, You're a fucking pussy. Get the fuck out of her. You're gonna let a twenty five year old girl intimidate you during a game. Bye bitch, Bye bitch. Hold on, just before I make a comment. No one that's twenty five says, I'm twenty five. Hey, you're gonna let a grown man. A grown man's gonna talk to a twenty five year old like this. I think we might have someone who has fabricated her age for her husband.
So I don't know anyway, So she's starting to go viral and then say, oh, better establish my age.
Yeah, better established before people start looking into this here, people asked her for her ID. She took a photo. I think she deleted it later, but she took a photo and put her driver's license up on her Instagram story because people were so convinced she was not twenty five. Okay, so I digress again. So then she's sobs up right, She's gained about eighty thousand followers. She's deleted some old posts.
She wrote an apology, a press release really for her newfound fans, which is what happens when you get fame. Let's do it, let's get into it.
Okay, here's what she said. She goes about last night to say things escalated quickly. As an understatement, Yes, I want to apologize for losing my cool and removing my mask in the heat of the moment. Sports wouldn't be sports without a little trash talking. What should have been a quick back and forth between two adults got out of hand, and my natural instraint instinct to stand up for the man I love kicked in. Did I get
defensive when it happened, Yes, yes, she did. Did I use offensive language when I could have taken the higher road?
A lot of them?
Yes? And for those things I take responsibility.
Was there an apology in there?
Not?
Really, there was, no I'm sorry, Oh no, I want to apologize. I want to apologize for losing my cool. No apology for the words said to Lebron James, But that's okay. Did you use offensive language, Karen, I would say it.
Did?
You called him a pussy and you told him he could catch these hands. As a side note, because there's a lot of side notes, a lot of thoughts that
I have about this thought. How much money do you have to have in order to feel confident in your ability to tell Lebron James that you you the one hundred and five pound, soaking wet blonde chick with fake tits and filled with diamonds, that you would fuck him up, and you are safe after that, you can say that and feel completely comfortable in your own skin, no danger whatsoever. That's what that's what eate. He's two hundred and seventy pounds pure muscle, one of the best players in the game.
You know that if he wanted some sort of retaliation, he could get retaliation very very easily, very fast. I mean, if that was Ron ar test ooh, can you imagine.
It would have been a tough day for real It would have been a tough f.
Day for Juliana Carlos too. Okay, So that's what eighty million dollars gets you, the irrational confidence that you can get in Lebron James's face and say, bitch, I will beat your ass. Okay, back on point, on point. So back to why I'm right. So they ask Lebron James what he thinks about the incident.
No, at the end of the day, that's uh. I'm happy fans are back in the building. I missed that interaction. I need that interaction. We as players need that interaction. I don't feel like there was warning to be kicked out. There was a a you know, a back and forth between two grown men and which and you know, we said our piece. He said his piece, I said my piece, and then with someone else jumped into it and said their piece. But I don't I don't think they were.
You know, it should have been kicked out, but they might have had a couple of drinks maybe and they could have probably kept it going in the game. Wouldn't have been about the game no more so they had to do well.
Where was the part where he was like, I thought that was her dad.
I don't know exactly what that was from. I did see a graphic that said that, like, I was shocked.
I was shocked. I thought that was his daughter sticking up for him. No, folks, did you see how much diamonds she had all over her body? That is not his kid anyway, Folks, this is the greatest player in the world saying he needs fan interaction, and let's face it, we know that Lebron James is dialed in, dial the fuck in, and even he admits the crowds get him
lit up like a Christmas tree. Remember when that front office guy from Cleveland, he goes to Cleveland and misses the last shot of the before halftime, and the front office guy's clapping way too hard. That Lebron James missed that shot and then he just destroyed the second half. Lebron James needs whatever fan interaction he can summon. Side Karen was like perfect for him.
Yeah, And it's actually the second iteration of this kind of you know that viral clip where when he was still in Cleveland and he's like walking down the sideline or whatever, and someone goes, hey, Lebron, hows it feel to be a pussy ass bitch?
Oh? He turns his head, Oh, I do any proceeded to go off.
Yeah, he was like going down the tunnel.
Yeah, folks, this is why I said teams are gonna get dog walked by fifty on any given night. Why we've got the bucks damn near walking around screens on a random Tuesday, Because on a Tuesday without fans, it's like, do I really need to compete? There's no urgency to play defense? And I said this before Courtside Karen was a thing. So you can just thank me now for all the future takes that are going to be right
about forty eight hours before they become trending. Now I have indisputable proof crowds not only do they matter, We've got Lebron James telling me that it is an integral part of high level basketball on a night to night basis. You are welcome. I mean, that's how could go forever?
Couldn't it?
So?
Okay? So kind of like the second part of this Lebron James crowd thing, we talk about teams, some teams mailing it in, and that's not entirely fair because there are teams and our specific players, one of them that you love now, that are locking up, locking up without crowds. Right, it appears that some teams and some players have little
bit of self respect. They don't need to have the threat of humiliation be breathing down their throat every single night in order to do their fucking job that paid millions of dollars, do you know, just like setting screens, you know, doing the little things, chasing after loose balls, playing hard until the fucking buzzer, keeping the points at bay. And it shows. We've got the Lakers, who are not surprisingly the best defensive team in the league. They have
obviously improved. They're giving up three points less a game this year. But I want to talk about teams that have actually made huge strides. Right, You've got talking about Knickerbockers, Clippers, and Sons. That's right.
I mean, I've been saying it. They're good. They're way better than people realize. And like, I know, we got kind of worked by the Pels last night, but this team's good.
You got it, you got it. I like the Suns, and we're gonna save them for last because I know you get excited. You're already excited a little bit.
A little bit. I like these other teams too.
But yeah, all right, let's start with the Knicks. It's not a stretch to say that the Knicks have been just atrocious defensively for the last forever. One of the most surprising teams coming out this year, even though they don't have a winning record right now, they are a surprise. And why why are they now the number two defense in the league in terms of giving how much their opponents are are scoring a game. I mean, it's no surprise. Right,
You've got Tom run those boys in the ground. Thibodeau, who's like, we are slowing it down on offense and we are locking it down on d They're giving up just one hundred and four point two points per game, eight points better than last year. That is insane, and they didn't even get that many players who should be making a defensive I mean, Obi Toppins is not the reason that they're giving up eight points less a game. Let's be honest. We know Tibbs is for sure the reason.
That's what he's known to do. Long practices and defensive minded team.
Yeah, and bugging locker rooms.
Bugging locker rooms.
I mean, he's nuts a little bit.
I'll give him forty eight months, yeah, or no, twenty four months, not forty eight. There's a reason ESPN called his scheme the pinnacle of defensive strategy in the NBA. He is on record saying if you are a top five defensive team, you are a championship caliber team. But the problem is, as a caveat, they're only scoring one hundred and two points per game, So that's a two point l You don't want that, right. You can't win games if you're scoring less than your giving up. That's
just math. So even though their defense is keeping them in, they just can't consistently win because they can't score, which is also like a TIBs thing. He's slowing away down.
Yeah.
So considering most people thought that they were gonna be trash. The fact that they could possibly sneak into the eight seed, I mean, that's very impressive. That's like a David Blaine magic trick. How could the Knicks actually be in any way relevant while James Don'tan is still the owner. You see it with your eyes and you're like, I still, I still don't know if I can believe it. So we have a Knicks. But then next up, we've got
the Clippers. And the Clippers have gotten better, not because of a coaching change, even though they had a coaching change, right, You've got really the biggest reason is fucking Montres Harold is gone and they've got Obacca.
Now, Surge is so good for them.
He's so good, He's so good at so many different things. They went out and I mean you have to think Kawhi was sort of in charge of that decision or somewhere led the charge for that. So they're now playing lockdown defense. They were like middle of the pack last year and now they're like fourth or fifth. So Abaca at one point in his career was like third second
and defensive Player of the Year voting blocker defense. The perimeter can switch get out in space, block shots and then once he blocks one guy shot, I mean that's just an ego shot, right, You're not throwing the ball down to that player for a while, right, defensive menace. Every team that he's been on has been incredibly good defensively. When he was with Okay, see, they were amazing Toronto, they were great. Obviously they fell off once him and
Marcasol left, and now the Clippers. Not to mention, he's with Paul George and Kawhi, both very good perimeter devenders. I mean, just ugh made me trip up Paul George and Patrick Beverley, the all time past Right. Okay, we knew Zubac wasn't gonna be able to do the job. He's gonna get cooked. But with Ebaka, this is the reason, especially given that this team has chemistry, more chemistry with Ibaka, that they are a hard rock squad, and they have
won like twelve out of fourteen games. So that's impressive in a time where no one seems to care about defense and no one seems to be defending them. Like I told you, six hundred uncontested threes, no that they've had. So okay, let's do it. Let's talk about the Suns.
Let's do it. I'm so excited.
So, Marty, this is really not a Sun segment. This is really a Chris Paul said.
That's fine, I'll take it.
I mean, every single team that Chris Paul has played for improves its defense by at least five points per game. That's insane. And then when he leaves, I hope he doesn't leave you guys, it drops off a cliff again. Yeah, he got to Houston. Here's some numbers. Got to Houston, they gave up one hundred and nine point two. The next year was CP one hundred and three point seven. I don't like talking numbers, but this is absurd. When he left back up to one hundred and thirteen point seven.
That you think that's an anomaly? Okay, last year in Oka, see that he was there, they were giving up one hundred and eight point six. Then the year after he left they filled at one to fifteen point five. Not good. And last year Sons gave up a one hundred and thirteen point four. You probably remember those games.
Yeah, it was tough, they were gross.
Yeah, this year one hundred and seven point five and fifth in the NBA. All of that to say, can we put some fucking respect on Chris Paul's name. Please. Everybody says Chris Paul's washed. He doesn't do nearly as much as you think he does. He's injury prone. The Sons are fifth in the West. Folks, they didn't even make the playoffs last year, and they are poised. I know that.
You know this.
You're one of the very few. They are gonna make noise in the playoffs. Yes, they're gonna make noise. People hate on CP three for absolutely no reason at all. He's not just well, okay, what do they Why do they hate on him?
I mean, he's kind of an asshole. I've I've hated him for a lot of his career just on the court. He just bothers me. But like now he's our asshole.
So does anybody seem to have a problem with him on your team?
No?
So maybe it's the pussy ass bitches he was playing with.
It's very possible.
So, I mean DeAndre Jordan's kind of never mind, I don't want to I don't want to put one of my friends slept with DeAndre Jordan's so I'll just like keep it there. Oh okay, anyhow so you can say, oh, it's DeAndre Ayton. He's progressed. Oh, Booker is becoming elite. But let's be real, folks, Chris Paul is the connective tissue of the Phoenix Suns defense. And you saw what he did with Oka, see right. This is really just to say Chris Paul is elite. Is he a Batman?
Absolutely not? But does he automatically make you in playoff contention? Oh? Absolutely, He's gonna probably move you up multiple spots in whatever conference you're in, go from eighth or ninth or tenth to fifth sick. That's I would say, that's big time impact. I'm not gonna this is a hot take. This isn't really a take, but I just want to point out that before Anthony Davis came to the Lakers, Lebron James didn't make the playoffs.
That's right.
I just want to point out that even Batman can miss the playoffs. Okay, see left for dead when Chris Paul was traded there, right, everybody thought they were just like gonna fall off a cliff. They just had accumulated a bunch of up picks for Paul George and no, they were like one of the most exciting teams to watch.
They had Shay and they lost Russ and it was like, oh shit, they could actually they almost won a series that was very very close, and I think there was looking back, some very suspicious calls late.
In a little bit that Game three.
That was the one that I'm thinking about. So we talked about OBJ being thirty six and productive, c P thirty five, very very productive. Yes he has injuries, but he is still propelling teams to the playoffs. The Suns are defensive. We'll call him, I don't know if a juggernaut, but they're tough. Five.
Yeah, we're sniffing juggernaut level.
Sniffing the juggernaut level. I like that. You put him on any team, and not only because he's great at his half court offense. He's also tremendous on defense. Okay, Marty, why is this not all about Chris Paul?
Well, I mean, it's all about Chris Paul is a little weird way of saying. It's definitely. The culture impact is definitely because of him. People are playing hard, better, just focused on winning for once, which is something like a lot of these guys haven't done since they gotten the league. But I will say DeAndre Aiden's taken a major step defensively, and I think that is a lot because of Chris Paul. But still his impact on that end is a huge reason why the Sons are doing things.
And it's what people said he couldn't do when he was coming out of the draft. And Michale Bridges might be the best perimeter defender in the league. I know a lot of people don't see a lot on him, but he's really.
He's long too, He's really really long. He's great. And the thing that you can just say about Chris Paul is like the disrespect for what he's able to do at this old of an age and still make an impact and get young guys to actually want to what comepy Pete here it is, folks, the hyped Russell Westbrook segment that I promised you as an aside. I looked
for Russell Westbrook songs. If you go on Spotify right now and you search, which you don't have premium access to this, If you look on Spotify and you search for Russell Westbrook, there's like one hundred songs named Russell Westbrook. That is insane that he may be one of the most highly named rap song players. I don't know if that makes sense. I don't it.
Would make sense a little bit like why he would be that guy?
Yeah, why you would title your song Russell Westbrook? Though, oh all of the song titles were Russell Westbrook. That's crazy. Anyway, we'll probably do a segment on that in the future. If you don't think we will. You are not familiar with this league. You're just not just not okay. So what is what is a time? What's the best time
to talk about Russ? When he is healthy for the first time all season, he puts up forty one in one of the highest scoring games in NBA history to beat the Nets that are supposed to be a contender when this Wizard's team is jush track. So do you I know you didn't see the performance because you were sleep sleep. Did you go back and see the highlights?
I did. I did, especially a fourth quarter that was sick.
That was sick. Here is what Russell Westbrook had to say after the game, which is going to make my point. It's like a nice Segue's.
Probably my responsibility as a leader to make sure I bring it every single night. And I take pride in doing that because I don't think that's something that everybody do around this league and sports at general.
And that's something that I take pride in coming in every night.
Yes he does spitting straight facts. God damn it. I love some Russell Westbrook. Okay, So this is what I've been thinking about for a long time. Russell Westbrook is kind of how I feel about Kyrie Irving, and this is how it is. It's different, but it's the same. Kyrie Irving is cold on the court. He is one of the most skilled basketball players, if not the most skilled basketball players in the NBA right now. He can do things with the basketball that no one else can do,
especially around the rim. But then you get what he does on Instagram, where he's like putting emojis of his zodiac on there and like all this subtweeting, and then he's taking games off, and then he's telling the NBA players that they should start their own league and like telling them to not be in the bubble. And you're like, dude, I don't I don't like this. And then you see him do what he did a couple of nights ago, and you're like, oh my god.
You separate it really quickly.
It's easy when you see him do what he did. And and this has been how Kyrie has been for ten years. He's gotten weirder and weirder for sure post lebron. But what Kyrie does off the floor, I mean, what Kyrie does on the floor kind of makes you forget about everything that he does.
Off the floor.
Yeah. So how I feel about Russell Westbrook is this. He makes awful, awful, awful decisions on the court, like so blatantly egregious and obvious where you're like, what were you even thinking there? Remember here's a good one. Remember when Russell Westbrook tried to go shot for shot with Damian Lillard in the playoffs.
I did.
Yeah, Damian Lillard was hitting from everywhere and Russell Westbrook was ice cold. And like the more the more Russell Westbrook would brick, the more.
He would shoot, right, Yeah, the more he feels like he needs to shoot.
He's like, oh, it's a lot of averages, I just need to shoot more. Yeah, No, you're just you're off tonight. And that's Damian Lillard. Like Russell Westbrook in those moments is like a girl who goes to a party and thinks that she can go shot for shot with the boys, like with fireball Er Jamison, and like how it ends
up working out is she's just blacked out. She gets gum in her hair, she probably like peas on herself, Like it's just bad, right, she gets alcohol poisoning, she's like sleeping on the frat couch and you're just like, Wow, you knew going into this this wasn't a good idea. You're not the same size as these guys, and you tried to keep up. You knew you weren't capable of this. You knew that this was how it was going to be.
And here we are on national television, Blazers versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, and you're just laying bricks against logo Lillard, like just getting yourself out of the playoffs all together when you were the favorite like they were. Don't forget the Thunder were favorite in that series. But that's like, also is the exact same reason I love Russ, Like Russ is never going to take any possessions off. He's that guy that trains And I was talking to a
friend about this, He's that guy. His mentality over the off season is how do I prepare myself and my body to be physically able to be a Tasmanian devil on every single play. That's crazy. You're talking about a time when guys are walking around screens and you've got Russell Westbrook going one hundred miles an hour every single night, sometimes eighty two games. That's crazy.
It is Even Lebron.
Takes possessions off because he's not He's not insane like Russell Westbrook, So God bless him. Right, he makes the NBA. I believe he makes the NBA better, even though he sometimes makes egregiously terrible decisions. This is how Russell Westbrook is to his teammates. Players could learn something from Russell Westbrook. Like, and I know people don't like this comparison because it's not a very good one when you think about Russell
Westbrook shooting because his shooting is egregious. But like, if Donovan Mitchell could do any of the things that Russell Westbrook could do, he'd be an amazing player, any of the things. Just stay being a shooter and do any of those things, whether it's rebounding, stealing. I mean, Russell Westbrook had the presence of mind to try to steal the ball, realize his teammates, stole the ball, go back to the three point line and hit the fucking three when he's not a shooter, to put them up one
against a team that's supposed to be the contender. And he's like, yeah, I'm like that. So okay. So as infuriating as Russell Westbrook is, and you certainly do not ever want him on your favorite franchises team. Never like you would never want him on the Suns, right, Oh no, but he if you got him on a lazy team, it would be like ship up or ship out. Think about this. Russell Westbrook and James Harden grew up together. They played together in Okay. See they were good friends.
Russell Westbrook and Harden planned on his move to Houston, and one season after viewing what James Harden was up to, he was like, you know what, I got a bounce. I'm gonna head out fam DC looks good. I'd rather play in a perennial losing team then play with someone who can't even show up for a film on time. And I know I've known you since we were in Little league. I don't care that he's awful to media members.
He's been awful to me. Like a lot, like, oh yeah, a lot, Like he makes your skin crawl when you ask him questions after a loss. M. I mean that's not even I mean you're so terrified at one point. I mean you saw what he did to that guy, Barry Trammel. He literally would just be like next question, or he'd be like, I don't know, every single time, no matter how legendot the question was. Anyway, He's been one of those guys for a long time that's not
great to be around. But no one you have to respect. No one gives their all every play like Russ. He was out there at the beginning of the season with a bad leg. He literally said, I was out there with one leg balling out. And now he's healthy. So we are going to see some fun things from Russell Westbrook. And at a time when no one is caring about doing anything, not trying for entire games, a healthy Russell Westbrook, I would say, is a nice change of pay. Clay
Thompson is having a week. M. I love some Clay Thompson, I do. There's nothing funnier than when there's like a subdued, chill, low key guy who then out of the blue just says some savage ass shit and you're like, wait.
What did you say?
Like did I did I hear that correctly?
Yeah?
This is actually what makes low key Clay one of the best follows, the most We'll call him the horniest, low key low key lady Killers. He's that guy that's like real g's move in silence. That is him. He takes that to a whole new level.
Yeah, you remember what those Warriors guys.
Had to say, Oh yeah, play the play the clip again with Kelly right now engaged? Who's now the king of horny ours Warriors?
Oh?
Without oh, without a doubt, without a doubt, Klay Thompson, Clay Thompson, like Klay Thompson king before even with Ubra a single, they put Steph, Kelly, Ubray and and and Klay Thompson on one team. It's it's not it's just it's not. What is the point, Come on, But Klay Thompson, who was going out with what is what was her name, Laura, I forget her name, but she was a scow were going out for a little while and all the worst fans were very happy. It seemed like Clay had turned in the corner.
And then unshockingly, he had not turned it.
Broke up and Clay's back.
So he's he's a king, He's undefeated. There's no there's no beating the Rick Fox of his generation.
Oh my god, the Rick Fox of this generation that was low key king of horny hours with a murderer's row of X's just hot smokes getting left by the wayside at every turn, very clearly hotter than he is, just operating on his personality and intellect alone, and obviously his wet jumper that we won't see for a while. Nicest guy, one of the nicest guys in the NBA, who obviously now has the ability to be cutthroat when he needs to swift. So this is what happened. A
few days ago. The Warriors played the Pistons and Clay was courtside as like a beat reporter or something. Yeah he was really good. Yeah, he even had something with Steph Curry where he asked when Steph Curry was gonna beat Ray Allen's three point record. So okay, So the backstory is this Pistons player, this listen, Wayne Hillington's not a good player. No he's not. I'm sorry, So Wayne Ellington gets into it with one of the other Warriors
bench guys some wan something. This dude, Rodney McGruder is sitting on the bench. He's like an all time NBA bench warmer, been on a bunch of different teams, never really played a ton of minutes. And Rodney McGruder finds out that there's some beef going on, and so he decides to accost the Warriors bench after the game, And so the reporters have Clay next to them and they're like, hey, Clay, what's the deal with you and Rodney? What's the deal with Rodney McGruder? And Clay was like, and.
Right after you work on your play by play, you can come back. Yeah, I thought it was okay. He's been killing you up here, Clay. What's going on over there, Clay?
Rodney McGruder, Oh.
No, this dude might be out the league soon.
He's probably mad about that.
Who knows shots over here?
Checking my guy?
You're good.
Everybody seems to be okay, and everybody's going to their respective locker rooms.
There, but yeah, I don't know. Oh so that will that will end it right there. But Savage.
Trying to start something like he's a good players.
Like, oh my god, how savage was that that?
I mean, that's hilarious. You don't see players say stuff like that.
He said, he's over here trying to start something like he's a good player or something. He's probably gonna be out of the league in a few games. Damn, holy shit, Clay Thompson. Okay, So then it gets even more un filter. Here's the tea, here's the tea. Draymond Then, for no reason at all, which is very common for Draymond Green, he decides again, like postgame, for no reason, I am going to talk about Rodney McGruder at length for almost two minutes.
Raymond.
What happened at the end there with macgruder.
I don't know. I was in the locker room, but apparently he was taking up Awayne allienson Wayne the fuck Rodney McGruder become the tough guy on the team, Like, I don't know, man, everybody in the league tough these days. It's crazy. I've seen a lot of tough guys this year. I don't understand it. And don't nobody do anything like if you really wanted to do something, you could have done it. She walk over there talking shit like he's a team tough guy. The hell out of here.
God, he goes on Rodney, Rodney, Rodney tough guy.
Also, I'm rocking with y and t jy T was about to bring that town that town bit bitness. I'm rocking with Wye T on that one.
Anyway we'll go.
But also I think it was something that like that one said in the first or second quarter to Wayne Allington, you ain't got nothing better to do that you're still thinking about something in front of the first or second quarter when you weren't in the game. So apparently Wayne Ellington must have went over to the bench. I guess he went and told Rodney McGruder because he hadn't been in the game. I don't know, man, it's too many tough
guys in this league these days for me. But I know, ain't nobody scared of No damn Rodney macgruder, like fucking kidding me.
It's crazy, Okay, Wow, Draymond, he's going to give him the town business. That means he will fuck him up. To Rodney mcgruiter sitting on the bench getting the tea spilled someone snitching about an old aldercation, and he decides, I am going to run up on these guys after the game an idiot. So, okay, who is this Rodney McGruder? Is he is? He like a good player, Marty.
I don't think he is. Here's what the Detroit Free Press had to say. He's been an integral part of the Pistons retooling strategy, and he's embraced being in the organization. When he had his introductory news conference in December, he said he immediately thought of the bad Boys Pistons team when his agent told him he had been traded to Detroit.
Talking about bad boys, Rodney McGruder wasn't even live when the Pistons Bad Boys era existed. No chance. Okay, so let's look at his stats. Let me pull this up. So he's played checks notes a total of five games this year, averaging checking again, rechecking again to make sure this is right, a seven minutes a game and three points per game. Why did the Pistons say he's an integral part of their retooling strategy. I don't understand.
Yeah, Integral is a weird word to use there.
Integral means you cannot get rid of him and the team continue as is right. But by the way, that might be true, since they are one of the worst teams in the East, so maybe that's true. Get the fuck out of here, Rodney McGruder, take your fake ass name with you. Do not be accosting Warriors when you don't get any minutes and you don't score any buckets.
That's just those are the rules. I hate seeing bench warmers get bodied try to body you and they like play all captain save a hole on Wayne Ellington and then like, neither one of you guys should be talking any trash. You weren't even there, you weren't even in the game, and all of a sudden you try to like you try to like start some shit. Yeah, all three of the players involved, Wan Toscano and Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder, they all aren't good and they all have
names that sound like check in names. If you were at the Bellaggio and the NBA was doing a bachelor party and they were trying to like keep things low key, all right, So it also gets more strange. This isn't even the full story. So then someone random quoted Klay Thompson's comments on Instagram and Big Baby Davis been out the league for a while now. My Tiger LSU Tiger all of a sudden decided to chirp Klay Thompson and say, saying shit like that, I see why he stay hurt
karma hand a face emoji. Wow.
All right.
Then Clay also decides, because he doesn't have anything better to do either, I'm gonna clap back. Dang, Big Baby. This what we on now. I can't wait till I see you on the court next year. I'm calling iso every time. I'll probably get four in a quarter with big fella chasing me. Okay. Then Big Baby responds and says, you're right about giving me forty, but you can't check me. It's barbecue chicken on the block. I bet my life
on that. And I imagine, like cuz, ye, holy shit in the grand scheme of things, Yes, a very savage thing to they say, but Big Baby is not touching basketballs and he hasn't played since twenty fifteen. He hasn't touched anything except for like a meat lover's pizza since twenty fifteen.
Yeah, before we go any further, I have a story about Big Baby bat mus me. Okay, so this is my freshman year at LSU. It's like two thousand and nine height of his fame in how famous was he and bat room is huge? Okay, Well, like people knew who he was. So I was out like somewhere at like a pizza joint, which is funny that you say that. And he had on a T shirt that said freelance gynecologist and I thought that was very funny.
What big baby Davis stands for. I'll give you some big babies with my Davis, like eleven pound babies Davis.
Sorry if I broke that, No, that was that was good.
I like that. Okay. So Klay Thompson, we know two back to back injuries ACL and Achilles, way too much time on his hands. He with this much time on his hands is a media menace, breaking hearts, spitting facts, just slapping down former NBA players trying to stay relevant in the game, like get the hell out of here, and current NBA players trying to stay relevant. And you know what, Marty, this is probably my fault to say this. You can fault me for this. And I know that
me saying this out loud is toxic. I get that, but I am here for the shit twenty four to seven. Inject this shit in my veins, because this is where the name this league came from. Folks, this tea, this league. We've got some voicemails, and we're going to save the last one, uh, the best one for last, because it's a troll and I have so many things to say. Yo. Love the Pod wondered what you were thinking about Jared Dudley's comments about your guy Pandemic pe Okay, So, I
don't know if anybody's heard about this. It's like sort of breaking, not really breaking, but just came out today or yesterday. So this stems from this new book that Jared Dudley just put out, I think it's called In the Bubble and had some comments about Paul George aka Pandemic p aka Playoff p Right, Okay, here we are. So first of all, let's just skip over the fact that Jared Dudley has had enough time on his hands to write a book since the Bubble.
He had like a month and a half all.
Like a month and a half off and like probably has been writing it now. And when I say let's skip over it, I mean, like, let's get into.
That for a second.
He's played twenty minutes all year. Jerry Dudley. He's hit three buckets all year total, not average, total toll, twenty minutes, total, three buckets all season. So what I would say about this is he's just living off that Lebron James friendship, Like he is just clinging to that time where they've
played together. Just like this reputation as like this locker room guy just making two and a half million dollars just to keep the vibes tight, you know what I mean, just being like, yeah, Lebron, everybody says that Michael's the goat, You're really the goat. He's like foam rolling with Lebron at like two in the morning. He's microwaving his food. He's making sure that like his calm app is set and calibrated for like the light rain that he needs
on his beats by Dre headphones at night. You know, two and a half million for that. Ye what a guy, Lebron James. What a guy? Shout out to Lebron James. He just gives people bunny, He just They say Lebron James spends one hundred million dollars on his body every year.
I think that two and a half is he's paying or having the Lakers pay Jerry Dudley for his mind, just like the ultimate hype man that's just there on every road trip to just make you know, play whatever socially distanced whatever game insert game here.
Yeah, and he actively talks about it too, Jared Dudley about the fact that he's being paid to be just a chemistry.
I want to get paid to be a vibes guy.
Sure, Lebron James.
Just getting guys paid. JR. Smith. Let's just go through them. These are just a few off the top. JR. Smith, Jared Dudley, Alice Caruso, KCP, Tristan Thompson. Do you have others?
I like Caruso. I guess that's all. I was going to say, Oh, CRUs.
Is good, but let's be real, he wouldn't get the money that he's getting unless he's with Lebron James. Sure, Lebron James wants a janitor, and that is who Alice Cruso is. Tristan Thompson at one time, Matthew Delvandove at one time, Timothy Moskof at one time, that edible dude from Syracuse deon waiters. Yeah, I mean that was on multiple teams. He was on Cleveland and then he was back to La. Jared Smith was back from Cleveland to La. Emon Schumper from Cleveland to La. He's just like, Yo,
I'm here for the vibes. I'm here for those Cleveland vibes. But in La, I can go all day about dudes that Lebron James gets on the payroll. KCP. That contract's crazy, just eating off big homies, buffet platter, just a friendship, friendship contract. We'll call it. God damn it. I love Lebron James and this isn't even a part of the story. Just we digress. So Jerry Dudley has this book right, and the book is like, hey, we hear some of those guys talking about how they're the team to beat
in La. It's fine if Kawhi says stuff like this, God, this is a heavy tea episode. It's fine if Kawhi Leonard says that they're the team to beat in La, he's de fanning a championship. We didn't trip when Patrick Beverley was talking trash because that's how he feeds his family, meaning he has to summon himself to play high level basketball by shit talking. That's what he does. We respect that hustle, but it is disrespectful for Paul George, who's never won at any level, to put himself on the
level of Lebron James and Anthony Davis. That is what motivates us, first of all, Jared Dudley. Second of all, Jared, I don't even know if this is are we at. Third of all, Jared Dudley, You're not playing games, so it doesn't motivate us. It motivates them. Right, We've talked about this. This is intriguing. I think that this whole little beef that Jared Dudley is fueling is gonna make
for a nice Western Conference Finals battle. Shit talking. You've got Pat Beverly talking shit, Paul George probably doing something if the Clippers, of course, do not blow a three to one lead like they did last year, so it's gonna get chippy. And then Paul George responds, thankfully he's gotten some advice, maybe from a PR firm or something, because instead of putting gasoline on the fire, he does and has responded with this. He says, God bless you.
Jerry Dudley. I don't know what this is. Dudes are throwing my name and stuff God bless you, Jared. So someone is learning. What do I think about it? I think it's great caller. I think that this is great for the game because again I am toxic and I love the tea.
Next voicemail, Yo, if James Harden could smoke weed, do you guys think he would smoke mids?
It's an ongoing bet.
Let us know, it's an ongoing bet. Who has a bet about NBA players in the quality of weed that they smoke.
Also, just he's asking if James Harden could smoke weed, I mean Newslash he can and does?
Does he? Because what I've heard is that he he goes to strip club sober. Oh I heard he goes for the vibes.
Okay, that he doesn't.
He goes not to get lit, but for the vibes. So okay, Let's just assume for a second that James Harden does smoke weed, and I.
Guaran I just assume they all do. So if he doesn't, I'm sorry, sorry, James.
I don't know, I have no I cannot confirm, nor did't I but what I have heard from multiple people is that he's like a sober strip club goer, which is just kind of crazy. It's just like a weird thing to do. Like most people have to like summon a little bit of liquid courage in order to just see girls like clapping their ass in your face. Anyway, if he were to smoke weed, I don't think he's smoking low quality weed. He bought little baby a five
hundred thousand dollars. Watch you think he's like smoking whatever it is dab or like low quality shwag like you think he's making splits with tobacco. Get the fuck come on now, I would promise you top shell for the beard. I put my last breath on it. Okay, Uh, let's get into the one that I want to comment, and I've been wanting to comment for a few days on we'll call him Mail Karen. I hope he's listening, Y know.
I'm taking a shit listening to this girl gets takes on sports. Its not that the takes are so, it's just why is it so theatrical?
Why is it so theatrical?
Why is she yelling at me? I mean, stephen A yells and that's fine because he's not a nagging woman. Oh yeah, Jesus Christ, what are you guys doing? I mean, you want ideas for the show. Will replace her with me, all right? You needed me to read off of a computer and nobody will be annoyed and have a migraine at the end of it because my boy doesn't do that.
Okay, calculator, I think we've got a salty male Karen on our hands. I don't know his name and I have his phone number, but let's just say this. There is a reason, sir, that you are you sitting on the toilet giving feedback on a voicemail. You had to find that voicemail first of all, that's insane. Okay. You had to find that I hadn't posted that all week. Okay, there's a reason that you are you, and I am me.
This is not meant to be arrogant, but I have never once shown my raging misogyny for the world to see, wow, simultaneously pitching myself as a replacement for said hosting job. I have never once phoned anyone while taking a shit. Never, And I forget. I don't know if this guy has a name. We'll call him Chad. Chad. I had a
deadbeat job like you once. I remember driving to work every day being like I'm a coal caller on a thirty K salary and just like so sad, just a soul killing, terrible Sunday, scary inducing, just like I hate my life kind of job. And you know what, I never called in to a podcast to say this person is trash. They should hire me. What I did was make it happen. My goddamn self created it, my goddamn self. I am the creator of this league. I am the
writer of this league. I am the voice of this league, Chad, and with Marty, we are producing a podcast twice a week on the NBA, on one of the largest podcast networks in the world. And what are you doing. You are taking large shits and feeling sorry for yourself like a goddamn simp. Dave Portnoy, who I am sure is your greatest idol. You probably jack off to Dave Portnoy's ddtgs or fucking pizza reviews. He chose me to be
the leader of this league. He signed off on that, So why don't you just trust his judgment, Go fuck off and create your own goddamn project instead of trying to take mine. Get at me when you figure it out, and get off the toilets. You can fucking compete.
Compete.
I hate that guy. He is debrief on this guy for a second, What the fuck are you doing?
Weird move for that to be the time to do.
You think I'm not listening to the voicemails.
I guess maybe he just thought it was gonna get lost.
Maybe he just thought it was gonna get to the producer and they were like, you know what, you're right, you're right. We don't like that. That's all the time that we have for this league. Guy doing That's all the time that we have for this league. Please subscribe, rate, review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It makes a massive difference. We also have This League hoodies on sale in the Barstool Store. Thanks for listening.