Colin Cowherd Podcast - Ant Makes It Look Too Easy, Is Tatum A #1 Or The Best #2? Should The Lakers Hire J.J. Reddick?

easy and great prices and great seats. All right, take the guest work out. They have zone deals at game time. These are great. You pick the section, game Time picks the seats, take out all the guestswork You know where you're sitting before you get there. Game Time app download it. The code is colin co l i in. That'll get you twenty dollars off your first purchase. Download it today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed with a Game Time app. I use it. You should too, all right. It is

customary Sunday night. You hear it mostly on Monday morning. Jason Timph podcast as Hoops Tonight. You know it's interesting. Schedules can matter. NFL will release their schedule on Wednesday, and I think it's a big deal. We all know who everybody plays already, but it's the order. For instance, playing in Denver high altitude in September when you're coming out of camp. His oha has been tough. Playing Andy Reid in September tough. Some of the defensive coaches experiment

more offensively early. Belichick never had a great September so and also back to back to back tough games, road games. You know, Miami would prefer to never go into Buffalo with two as a quarterback in December and January. They'd love to get that game out. And you know September October when the weather's great, so there are absolute you know, Dome teams. They don't want to play December January games

up north. When the league had a gap between games two and three, Denver Minnesota, and it hurts Minnesota's momentum, and it gives Denver time to prepare. You get that extra film session or three. It's a totally different team. I mean, there was they were Denver was so bad defensively, so lethargic. Now it's almost like Denver saying, let ant get his he's gonna get forty. We're not gonna stop him,

and let's shut down the other dudes. But I mean, it does feel like to me that that time, an extra day or two here for a really smart veteran team and a good staff feels so substantial.

to me. I thought that Minnesota brought a level of physicality that Denver had not seen really at all in the previous five rounds that they had played in the postseason. And I thought they got a little caught off guard by it, and specifically in Game two, they crumbled mentally in a way that they never had before. Right, And honestly, do you remember in Game three at the beginning that play when Anthony Edwards was messing with his shoulder for

like thirty seconds. That was the first play of the game. And on that play, Nikola Jokic just rocked him with the screen, just like a super super hard screen. And when I went back and looked over the film in that game, like really all that happened was Denver did all the same things that they have done all season. They just did him harder, faster, with more force. They finally met the physical confrontation. And when they did, you found out pretty quickly they can still score on these guys.

It's like, it's not like Jamal hasn't seen a lengthy perimeter defender before. Of course he has. It's not like Jokic hasn't seen two centers on the floor before. Of course he has. They've all seen that before. They just didn't handle it well. And then the big one here, And this is something that I called out before the series, and I really was surprised that it took this long. But Minnesota is a mediocre offense.

little inconsistent, you know what I mean. Like Anthony Davis gives you the same defense every game, Karl, Anthony Towns, who was more gifted offensively, should be as good offensively as Anthony Davis as defensively. He's not get you just get he's lost. And I thought, in this game, what are we doing here? And when he doesn't deliver, it doesn't matter what ants An could score fifty. I mean,

Jordan was scoring sixty three and they couldn't beat the Celtics. Like, so I do think Denver just said, listen, we're not going to stop this kid and make everybody else work. And I think your point is right is that if Towns is off, it's an athletic team. They're long, they almost have an extra wing defender and one less shooter than they need.

that play them out of that. But as soon as Denver tightened the screws, Hat fell apart, Mikail, Alexander Walker fell apart, nas Reed fell apart, like in immediately, Rudy Gobert looks like a damaging offensive player because he's got stone hands and he can't like make quick decisions when he catches on the roll, and so like, literally, Minnesota looked like regular season Minnesota. If anything, it's it's it's really impressive that ant is demonstrating his leap is for real,

and specifically on the Karl Anthony Towns front. You know this, Carl Carltown's reminds me of a specific type of player I've seen several times in NBA history. The most recent example kind of reminds me of Kevin Love. And obviously Kat has a better pedigree, but like it's like the big scoring like kind of hybrid big, but one that's not actually that superior of an athlete compared to his peers, right,

and the and that can shoot. And so what happens is during the eighty two game regular season, they get their twenty five points a night because they can bully smaller players and they can hit threes. But every every single time, Kevin Love would run into a really big athletic forward, someone like a Thaddeus Young or a Draymond Green, and just render Kevin Love into a spot up shooter. And then and then everyone be like, oh, Lebron, make

Kevin Love a spot up shooter. It's like, actually, that's all he can do when you reach these super high levels of intensity. Aaron Gordon demolished Carl Towns tonight, which is just completely just snatched his so much better. He's a much better athlete, exactly. It's like the un it's like the guy who's a little bit shorter but stronger, more athletic, kind of like Draymond or that he's young, like I was talking about Kevin Love. They can beat Carl Towns to spots and so make it so that

he can't drive. And then if he can't drive, he's suddenly just a shooter, and it's like with the shots start going in, then his impact craters, and so yeah, like there's another conversation to be had. I mean, you you even when Minnesota was playing, well, we're pointing out, like, is Karl Anthony town still going to be here in the future, And it's like there's a there's a there's a real conversation to be had about the team build of Minnesota in the sense that Carl Anthony Towns is

what he is. He's never going to become a super reliable secondary shot creator. You can't let it go out there by himself every night. Is the only guy who can get to his spots and create shots. So I don't know what they do about that in the long run, but tonight was at the last two games. This is not game one two of a series where you're feeling

each other out. Everyone knows exactly what everyone's good and bad at right now, and nobody on Minnesota can score except for Aunt, and that's a major problem.

You're like, oh, that's that's kind of what the series has come down to, because you can't new you can only do so much to neutralize a superstar in this sport, and then all of a sudden and again this is

what champions do. We forget this. I remember a couple of years ago the Celtics played the Warriors in the finals and through the first couple of games of the series, through three games, Boston was so much better than Golden State, and you're like, Steve Kerr gets an extra day, there's preparation that go to Boston and you're like, who unplugged the electricity with a stomachs? Like what happened? And I think the mistake I make thinking Denver's cooked is you

give these championship teams time. They're well coached. I mean, Malone's been there. I mean, if you forget, I mean he was like seven years in and they were just they just let it bake. I mean, there was no pressure. They couldn't win with Yokich for years. So this is a team that's you know, they've been through a lot of these battles. They've lost a lot of them in the early years, but they've had to make major adjustments.

And you know, I rushed to judgment. I look at Denver now and I'm like, oh, this this is what I thought the series would look like, which is again, they would match their length and physicality and Jokis would just you know, Murray and Yokic are both elite scorers. So I will say this. I don't know why the media does this. They get so protective from people that don't need it. But Ant is spectacular, Like I always felt this about And I'm not saying he's Jordan, but

he has some Jordan qualities. And that's okay. Mahomes you know they're talking about Kayleb Williams has Mahomes qualities. Yes he does. All the scouts are saying, hey, he plays

like Patrick Mahomes. There are things about Aunt, but the most Jordan thing about him is I remember watching Jordan against Phoenix in his prime and I was sitting on the couch with a friend watching it and I'm like, Okay, he's not the best shooter, the best ball hand, He's not the quickest guy in the league and he's six six. Why does it look like he's like the only Division IE player playing at the y Like it's like it. He makes it look so easy and gets past people

on the first step. These are NBA athletes. He just gets past everybody. So when you watch it on TV, I don't think you would appreciate it, the ability to, Oh, everybody knows where he's going. He loves the first step, He sizes you up. He makes the game look easy. Mahomes does this, Jordan did this? Like what? Why? How I'm watching ant and even against good offenders. I mean Jamal Murray switched off to him one time. I'm like, this is not even competitive. Murray's a world class athlete.

I mean, you've been in gyms with guys. But I look at this and I'm like, when guys start making thirty eight points look easy, there's about three in the league at any one time that can do that. Maybe one.

the same thing. It's like that next level of elite, top tier athleticism. Honestly, I regardless of what happens the rest of this series, and I do think Denver is gonna be gonna pull this out now. I think they've effectively just rendered Minnesota's offense useless and they're gonna go home,

and I think they're gonna win Game five. And the biggest thing too, is like Minnesota hasn't been particularly competitive in either of these games, which is which is a major concern, right, But like, no matter what, it's very

clear that Anthony Edwards is here to stay. I think he's the next guy in that like line of truly transcendent great American basketball players, Like it went from MJ to Kobe, and it went from Kobe to Lebron and like there have been guys along the way that have had their little moments, but nobody that really had the potential to take over the league for a long time. And can't you just see it, Colin, can't you just kind of imagine what the next ten years are like

for Ams? You could just kind of imagine him continuing to ascend and getting better and better. I started to think tonight, like like if it could have pulled this game out, it could have been one of those transcendent moments you think about, like, you know, Lebron is in like two thousand and seven or two thousand and eight kind of thing, and honestly, like Denver's just too good. That's really all it is. Like Lebron ran into the

OA Spurs and got swept. So like, at a certain point, it doesn't matter how how good you are at that phase of your career. It is a team sport. And and like literally while all of his veteran teammates were falling apart, he was continuing to ascend. It was really impressive.

to Jordan. That's what happens to Lebron. So to me, this is totally appropriate. We are amazed by the individual player, but they still have tweaking to do. I mean, we all know what Minnesota's gonna do in the off season. Are probably gonna move Karl Anthony Towns and they're gonna get They're gonna get more offensive players. I mean, eventually

Jordan needed Pippin and Kerr, you know. I mean, like, you know, don't have to be a nightly great player, but you do have to find players that take something off Ant's plate a little bit.

Just set the guys down, get ready for Tuesday. Be embarrassed. You know you'll be on fire Tuesday. So Og is hurt. Og got banged up this year as well. Brunson's not one hundred percent. We already know Mitchell Robbins and Julius Randall are out. So this is a limited team offensively without injuries. So we all kind of kept waiting for this team that was playing Game seven intensity to just just collapse. Just the wheels came off, and they sort of did. I still think they have a chance to

win this series. But I was saying this earlier this week, and I said it last time I was on with you. There's a lot of different scenarios with the Knicks, and it's very easy to talk yourself into we're just a piece away, but the East is gonna get better. It's just gonna get better. Butler's gonna be healthy, Dame's gonna be healthy, Yannis will probably be back, and Beat'll get help.

There's so many scenarios for the Knicks, and I do wonder if instead of looking at Kevin Durant and a Paul George, they just they find another og on the market, you know, they go get another really good player, because I do think, you know, playing hard, maybe it has limitations if you fade. I don't think they can beat a Denver a Minnesota's length. But the Knicks have done something in the last three years that they haven't done for twenty, which is they're patient. They're like you look

at them and you're like, this well run team. They don't take I mean they used to take, you know, big reaches on Amari Stodameyer when he had bad knees. It's like, what are you doing? Like every GM in the league's like that. Amari's you know, he's he's got like two years left, he's cooked.

know that it's not a good draft. I mean Kd's it's it's I just don't know.

Isaiah Hartenstein because of the Ognnobe injury. So like they're literally running out there with Runson Heart, Devincenzo and Deuce McBride with Isaiah Hartenstein and trying to make plays happen, and like there have been moments where they've been playing Alec Burks at the four, Like they're really really undersized right now, and so I do get encouraged by the idea just if you could somehow get KD with that Ognnob,

which I think would be really difficult. I like the idea of having Og at the three with KD and Hartenstein because you're just really big on the front line, and then you could still have a Devincenzo or Heart at the two, so you maintain some of that physicality. It's just if you had to give up Og, that's such a significant chunk of that identity. I mean, just look at this Pacers series since Og and Andobi has gone down. They's just just physically look different. They just

look different right now. Like Indiana has to feel really good going into Game five, like they're gonna win this series because they really controlled things outside of outside of a few clutch stretches in games one and two. And that's the other thing too. New York actually has a negative point differential to this point in the postseason, which is actually kind of crazy, but it's because they've been in every close game and just pulled it out late, and so you have to get some bounces that go

your way. Like even when you look back, it's like how they beat the Sixers in game in game six, it was it was a Josh Hart three from the top of the key at like that broke a tie in the final minute, you know what I mean? Like it it's big shots at the end of games like it. Really the teams that can win the championship, they don't

need to do that every single night. So I do think they need some more firepower, but it's just gonna be really difficult to toe that line between adding firepower while sacrificing the physical identity, which is such an important part of how they win.

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injury law firm. Winning in the NBA is hard, Hiring Morgan and Morgan is really easy. So I said this last week, and and I lose track sometimes because I'm doing three hours a day and I'm doing this with you, and I'm doing other stuff. But I want to talk Celtics for a second. I said, the NBA. I grew up in the seventies. It's pretty well chronicled. I can tell you the starting lineups for the Washington team that won, the Portland team, the Sonic team, the Sixer team. Like

that was really in my wheelhouse. I was collecting basketball cards. I was like a you know, like like you are now. I literally just could not get a night. It was the only thing I cared about, you know, when I was a young kid, and so and then you get dynasties. You get the Laker dynasty and the Celtic dynasty, and the Piston dynaty, and the Bulls and the Shaq and Kobe and the Spurs and so all these dynasties come up, and I do think it's the first time we don't

have another dynasty. I think we have really good teams now. Again Denver wins it, then you've moved into the Heatles conversation where you're darn close. Now it's not a dynasty, but you can. It does have a spurs feel to it. Like with Jokic, he doesn't need the attention. He's the kind of guy that would take a pay cut, like, let's just keep doing this, running it back. I don't need the drama. They have a very spurs feel to them. You know. The Star is like a good guy, kind

of Brady esque, like, let's just keep our roster. But I was looking at Boston and I'm like, in this era of good, maybe Boston's just two things very good. Because they're five hundred at home over the last three years historically makes no sense. That is just not the way it works. Great teams are so think about this, they're five hundred at home in the playoffs. I've only been one finals that's against the East. The East has

been abysmal for about four years. So they're five hundred at home in the playoffs against a weak, much weaker conference. It's hard to argue they're elite or special. What they are is very good. I said, I think they don't have a Shack a Kobe and mj in their prime,

not even an ant Is it possible? They have two Scottie Pippins and you're like, they're good enough to win a title, but they need some breaks because I keep watching them and just if they're not hitting threes, they get bad fast, like you're like, wow, this is They're just and they're almost unserious, like they're just the energy is terrible. Is it possible we've overvalued them because it's

a big brand. We like Tatum, it's a you know, you have two players, they do point differential regular season, they're outstanding. You can't be five hundred at home over three years against the East and tell me you're elite. That it would be different, Jason if they had a title. And then you kind of pull the governor down like we've seen this of the Shack Kobe teams, it's like they're great, or Kad and the Warriors. Then you pull it down, like, let's just get through the regular season.

What is Boston elite or in my contention, they're very good in an era of.

they're kind of on the same level Denver. Yet they had like I can't remember exactly what the Nuggets finished with, but they were a mid fifties team and the Celtics were a mid sixties team in terms of wins, right, So, like they've won sixty something games this year, but they're not like a traditional sixty win powerhouse because the Eastern Conference is so weak. And again, it's really this simple.

You play fifty two games every single season against your own conference, right, you play thirty against the other conference. So like, and all you have to do is go look at the go look at the ESPN standings, and go look at the record for Boston against the Western Conference. They were just another team against the Western Conference. I think if Boston was in the West, they'd be near the top, but they would not have separated themselves the way that they did against the way that they did

against the rest of the East. Now, one of the things with Boston, like Boston has nowhere near the defensive personnel that Minnesota does so like and that's the scary thing with what Denver's doing right now is you could not build a better team to guard the Denver Nuts than what they have, and Denver has sliced and diced them two games in a row. Now, so like Denver's gonna score on Boston. But what Boston has that Minnesota

doesn't is they have a ton of offensive skill. All five of their guys in the starting line that can shoot, everyone can dribble, and so they do have the ability to kind of space Denver out and have some success there. I think Boston presents some challenges for Denver, but I would pick Denver to beat them. And so to put it simply, they're just another team in the top tier, whereas if you looked at the standings, you would view

them as having separated. And really it does come down to Tatum for me, Like Tatum, in my opinion, if somewhere around the seventh to tenth best player in the league. And it's just really difficult to win the championship in NBA history if you don't have one of the top

guys who won it last year. Jokic, best player in the world who want it before that, Steph top three player in the world who wanted before that, Giannis, top three player in the world who wanted it before that, Lebron, Whi Kadie and Steph Lebron, Like, you have to go all the way back to twenty fourteen with a crazy fluky Furs team that had magical ball movement and magical everything to find a team that could win a title without a bona fide alpha dog, top five superstar all

time great and like as much as I like Jason Tatum and he's a super nice guy. He had another really insightful quote about media and how much he appreciates that media has given to the game, and like, super great guy, great leader of a team, but he's just not as good as the top guys. It's literally that simple.

thought this year, I'm like, got Anthony's this. This is a healthy, dominant defender, mostly good offensively, plays through pain, literally changes changes everything, and it can allow Lebron to be a bad defender and cheat. He allows the team to cheat. And I look at Tatum and I'm like, it's not a knock. I know he makes all NBA, but it's very hard to find an all times. Basketball is a trash talking store for it's an energy juice sport.

Most guys that are like top five in the league, you know, now Kawhi doesn't talk to anybody, but I mean most of them have a little bit of a chip, a little bit of they almost like play angry. And Tatum doesn't have that. He's got almost like a guy personality, you know, like he lets the game come to him. He, you know, can always break guys down. When I've watched him live three times, he always gets his shot. But it's like he plays like a two, but we've annoyted

him to a one. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but I don't know. When I watch him play. When you say something for five straight years, it's probably true. For five straight years we've said Jalen Brown sometimes acts like he wants the ball more than Jason. Okay, we're on the fifth year of that. Like that's because it feels true, right, Am I wrong? Is he a low

end one or is he a great two? Not that it matters, but I watch him, and I think his body language, his mentality, how he plays his aggressiveness, he feels like a great two.

eight game. Crazy, like his best game is a fifty percent night. So like like you'd think that there'd be a fourteen for twenty game in there somewhere right, Like like it's it's it's one of those things where like and it really does come down to the first step for me, He's he's a guy that doesn't have a great first step and is an inconsistent jump shooter. Like those two things are going to render you. Like he

does a lot. He's a very good defensive player. He's a much better playmaker than most of the forward his forward peers that he has in the league. He's a very good player. I want to be clear, Like top seven, top ten in the league is nothing to like, you know,

to dumb your nose at. But at the same time, like there's levels to this, and when you get to those top guys in the league, it's like it's like, how is it that thirty nine year old Lebron James was having a monumentally more a productive offensive playoff run than you against inferior competition every single night, Like it's like it really is bizarre, but like at the same

and here's the other thing too. What really concerns me is Boston has no hierarchy, and so because Tatum is not this guy that can really command games offensively every single night, it's like, now Jalen Brown wants the rains, Now Derek White wants the reins, Like Drew Holliday started Game three against Cleveland being super aggressive out the gates and looking for a shot, and so like, really, there's it's actually kind of what leads to some of Boston's

bad rhythm games where they look really bad, is like everyone's kind of yanking at the rains and no one can get going right, and it's like, that's just not what it's like on these other teams. It's like, if you watch the Cavs, who's running the offense for the majority of the game, Donovan Mitchell. If you watch the Knicks, who's running the offense the majority of the game, Jalen Brunton, Tyre's Halliburton, It's Nicole jokicch and Jamal Murray, it's Anthony Edwards,

it's Luka Dancis, it's Shay Gil just Alexander. In Boston,

it's like it's all just vibes. It's like whoever wants to take control can take control and like and that that's the thing is like, no, like this, if this team's gonna get to the Promised Land, Jason, like, you've got to really take control of this thing, because you it's all great against Cleveland, and it's all great against against Miami without Jimmy Butler, but you you've got a little bit of a tougher team in the next round, and then you're going to walk into it most likely

a Denver team in the NBA Finals that's gonna want to snatch your heart the way that they're doing to Carl Towns and all these other guys from Minnesota. And so it's gonna get harder and they need more out of him, and he just hasn't been able to get there consistently well.

better offensive player than Marcus Smart. To me, Brad Stevens is telling you they didn't move off Al Hertford, who can have these weird offensive nights like I'm watching Brad Stevens, who was a really smart guy, and I'm like he wanted more offense, Like he clearly, you know, if you go look at Kobe was getting people that didn't threatened to take shots against Kobe or mh or right, you don't want to take the ball to even Jalen Brunson's hands, Like,

don't don't take the ball to his hands too much with Luca although his youth ball you said, Drake is too high, but it kind of looks like Brad Stevens said, I'd like to get better scoring in the front court, like a better offensive player than Marcus Smart. Like he was just adding offensive chips. That's okay, but it's a lot of times if you have the guy, it's not about that. It's about it adding guy who can take off some of his defensive pressure, some size at the rim.

You know, if you go look at what they added the Lebron, they didn't get Kevin Love to take the ball out of his hand. Basically it was battye a Allen. It was just other people that could augment the game but not take it over. I look at them and I'm like, they're you know, when he was healthy, Porzeis would have twenty eight point nights and you're like, oh, this feels like his team tonight, Like this is his team.

So again that's viewed as a criticism. But I you know, if you watch how a team is run, they'll tell you what they are. I always say this, when you watch a football game and you watch what the team does in the first two series, they're telling you, this is what we think we can do. Because you want to get ahead. If you lead in an NFL game, you take the lead, you win, like sixty five percent of the time, are telling you this is what the film says, we can do this. They can't stop this.

There are times when I watch the Celtics and I'm watching the construction of them, and again I'm just I'm spitballing. But there are times I watch them and they're like, they're telling me they have reservations. Whether Jason can take a series over I mean, Jokic, it's established and already it's absolutely established. Donovan Mitchell can be hot and cold. But jesus, I'm gonna tell you something. I said this the other night. Jalen Brunson gets more consistent. He's not

as athletic as Tatum. Jalen Brunson gets great looks. He gets great shots.

bad idea for the Lakers? I mean, I think Boudenholzer would have taken the Lakers job and Lebron would have bought in. They couldn't get him out of town fast enough and he had a title in Milwaukee. Jannis wasn't a fan. Is JJ Reddick a terrible choice? Or are we over overstepping that that everybody starts somewhere? Where's he going to start? He's rich, He's not going to the G League, not taking that job. Jason Kidd first experiment

not good. Now he's established himself. I mean, what is your take of JJ Reddick, who people are getting gobbled up could be head of the class now for the Lakers.

he's the mediocre Because that's the other question here. This guy, if JJ happens to have the talent for it, if he happens to have the basketball like you or whatever for it, then by all means make the move. And so much of that depends on how he's acting behind the scenes in the interviews, if they go through an interview process. But the second piece of it is you can counteract a lot of the lack of inexperience or a lack of experience with just putting experienced head coaches

on his staff. So you can address that by just giving him a really good assistant coaching staff. As far as I'm concerned with JJ, Reddick, Like, when it comes to the Lakers, what I'm really looking for is somebody that holds players accountable because I look at them as a defensive minded team anchored by two big athletic forwards and Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Just look at the around the league. When the Lakers won, they won when they defended. You know, that was always their their bread

and butter. They made it to the Western Conference Finals last year as a defensive minded team. They lost in the first round this year as an offensive minded team. Going back to twenty twenty, they won when they were a defensive minded team. So I'm really interested in somebody that's going to hold them accountable. And I don't really know if JJ's willing to do that with Lebron. That's going to be something that is going to have to

be flushed out in the interview process. But I'm not concerned about the experience simply because if JJ's got the talent, he's got the talent, and they're going to anchor him with experienced NBA coaches that will help him navigate the eighty two game regular season, And honestly, like it's really just going to be about like a collaborative effort between Lebron James and JJ Reddick to kind of identify what the strengths and weaknesses of the roster are and go

from there. It's really hard, honestly, Colin, I wonder what it's like for you cover in the NFL too, Like it's really difficult with coaches, especially new coaches. We're not there for the interviews. Like with a player, I can go look at tape and I can get a really good feel for what he's good and bad at. But like with JJ, it's like, well, what's his philosophy going

to be? What are his core his core principles that he's going to be the team on, Like what is is he going to continue the five out offense they were running out of dar with Darvin Hamm Are they going to run something different? Are they going to do something different defensively? It's so hard to say because we're not in the room for those interviews. But if JJ interviews well and they give him good assistant coaches and he's got the talent for it, I absolutely think it could work well.

to be somewhere. We thought you would be here, So it's you know, it's Jerry Seinfeld was speaking at Duke. He had a commencement speech. He had a great line. He said, having stuff is nice, becoming stuff. Having stuff is nice, Becoming something is really more important, and becoming

something is missus. It swings. It's an ascension. In every job I've ever had, I was a little over my skis for the first like six to eight weeks, like I'm bailing water here, I'm trying to catch I've had a friend once that got a job at Google and she was like I literally six weeks in, I'm like, oh, I'm dumb, and this is a full of smart people. I'm too dumb to work at Google and she goes then the light goes on. You start clicking, and then like six months into it, you're like okay, but it's

like it's okay. Darvin Ham learned on the job. If you're smart in any industry, you'll figure it out. Like a lot of this stuff with coaching is like I heard Frank Vogel, you know, some complex defensive stuff. Beal didn't really buy in. Booker was close to an assistant coach, much closer than he was Vogel. Kevin was fine, but Kevin's Kevin at this point, and it was like Vogel just didn't He didn't resonate with all the guys in the room. JJ Redick, if Lebron buys him, we'll resonate

with everybody in the room. So my take is you start somewhere. If you get Lebron, there is some credibility, like with Jason Kidd, Like there is credibility player to player that JJ has, And I think it's kind of unspoken but kind of the middle aged, you know, guy that didn't play. I always think you go into a locker room and about half the room is like if the star doesn't buy into it, half the room's not buying into it. Maybe that's cynical, but I think everybody would buy into JJ. Reddick.

be like, okay, you know. And not only that, but I'll hold the rest of the team accountable to help them along the way. And so there, I do agree that's the gravitas piece. And by the way, that's why they hired Darvin Ham. They thought Darvin Ham would be able to bring some of that, like real gravitas to the situation. The thing with JJ is you got to acknowledge the risk because you're right, Like they let Darvin Ham learn on the fly and he didn't really start

making huge mistakes until this season. With the roster and when he was like leaning into cameradis we've gone over it, but like he made too many mistakes and then the Lakers had a situation where they looked at the urgency of their situation and said, we have to make a move. And so I just I just hope that the Lakers' front office and ownership understands that if you do take JJ,

there is a risk. And even though I believe he could do this well, especially with good experienced staff behind him, anytime you go for a first time head coach, there's a like what if he's just really bad at in game adjustments, what if he's just really bad, Like we don't know what it's going to be, Like we're going to find out over time. And so that's where like the let's say the alternative, Let's say they were to get like a Kenny Atkinson for instance, Like Kenny Atkinson

is more of a known commodity. He might be a higher floor, but like maybe you don't get some of the upside you get if you get a freaked out to your point, Steve Kerr, like Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league. I think he's the second best coach in the league behind Eric Spolstra. Like that was a risk signing Steve Cree. By the way, Steve Kerr was radical. He came into a Mark Jackson led team that was spam and pick and roll, and he said, Hey, Steph Curry, we're taking

the ball out of your hands. We're gonna lead the league in passes. We're going to run this motion ball

in player movement offense. And I'm sure there were moments in training camp where it looked ugly, and I'm sure there were moments where the front office was looking down like, ugh, this is weird, you know, like we just went you know, two great playoff runs in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, just having Steph run spread pick and roll, so like this is funky, But then it works and now Steve Kerr is regarded as one of the best coaches in the league.

So like, there's upside to going with the JJ, but there's also a risk. And so for me, I'm okay with that risk because I don't really think there's any candidate out there that's a home run anyway, right, So I think there's risk all around to begin with.

it is harder to get that attention. It is harder to get the buy in you hopefully get a Tim Duncan or you know, I mean, I think sometimes we forget that Phil Jackson had replaced Doug Collins. Michael liked Doug. Doug's really intense and there was some combative nature to his personality, but Doug Collins and Michael mostly worked. That was the first time Michael got real buy in from Doug, and he got real buy in from Phil. Phil's considered, you know, the zen master, the better coach, but part

of its buy in. But I think Lebron has to also acknowledge, you know, when Michael was in a prime for both Collins and Phil like Lebron's not there anymore.

And I do think when he was completely unselfish for the fifteen years in his prime, he could have scored twelve to fifteen points more every game he played in Now he can be a little He looks for soft spots in the defense, that he can manipulate smaller players, that he can drive to the basket on you've talked about this is that I think Lebron gets a little selfish now where it's more about legacy and production. Is

that I think it's time to step back. I'm not denying he's a top six player in any night, but it does feel like a little bit with Lebron he's gotten a little selfish where it's like it's okay to acknowledge is you can't literally even if you're great, you're not guaranteeing anything in this league. This is the West, it's packed. You could be a playing team. And I know you know Lebron better than anybody his game, but I do feel like with Lebron he's a little more

of a taker than a giver now. In turn, not just not just assists, but he's seeking play he's seeking production sometimes to maintain and I think it's time to step back. I think he should be a two on a team.

get something going for my team offensively. That means give me the ball and then I'm gonna, you know, play basketball surgeon, you know, bring this guy up. I'm gonna get a switch. I'm going to attack this smaller player. Oh, I want to pick on Jokichen pick and roll. So

we're gonna bring Anthony Davis up to the screen. But one of the things that I noticed over the course the last couple of years is Lebron almost confronted every basketball problem with him having the ball in his hands, right, and there is something to be said about like, even though Lebron on the ball is still a very effective form of offense, it's not the same as it used

to be. And you know, specifically with Anthony Davis, I actually do think that Lebron would benefit from leaning more on Anthony Davis offensively over the course of the season. One to build up Anthony Davis's confidence so that when they get into some of these situations where they need to lean on a like perfect example of this was was Game two against Denver when they blew the twenty point lead. It was Lebron and a D were picking on Nicole jokicchen ball screens, and then Michael Lane made

a very smart adjustment. He moved Aaron Gordon onto Anthony Davis so that they could switch the Lebron ad pick and roll. And then Lebron instead of going, hey, Aaron Gordon's on a D. Let me just keep beating a D against Aaron Gordon. Instead he thought, I can beat

jokicen ball screens because I'm Lebron. So now I'm going to bring Ruey up to the screen because Jokic is guarding Ruie, and I'll start to pick on Jokic and the Laker offense fell apart, and so like, I don't I think Lebron made the bad read because he was thinking, I'm Lebron James, but it's not on Lebron James. I'm

thirty nine year old Lebron James. So maybe I should go to this other guy who made fourteen straight shot earlier in the game, Like, maybe I should go to him instead, And so I think you're right, Like I think in general, and this is something I think that the Lakers from an organizational standpoint hiring a coach and as they approach this offseason, they need to actually give a clear ball handling option that's not Lebron, so that Lebron doesn't have to feel like he needs to approach

every problem by him playing Lebron ball out above the break and the big guy that I'm looking at, and I really I want them to go after de Jontay Murray. I don't know if he saw today, but in the draft lottery, the Hawks got the number one overall n yeah, which which is which is super interesting because like I would imagine they're going to look at that as let's rebuild around Trey Young and Jalen Johnson, and so I think they I think they'll probably look to move to

Jontay Murray this summer. And he's one of those guys where like Desonte was really good in the play in games and really good down the stretch of the season. He can really beat people off the dribble. He's an excellent point of attack defender. That's the kind of guy where like you can actually put yourself in a situation where you have a like because as good as Austin Reeves is, you kind of own you want to lean on him. It's better that he can go on spurts.

You don't want to lean on him for big doses.

But it's like we did this with Brunson. You know, you're like, well, he's kind of a two to Tray, and it's like, no, maybe they're two ones. The numbers. When Trey doesn't play, Dejonte's numbers move up and his efficiency gets better. So that's an interesting one to me.

be in that role. And de Jontay Murray in particular, like he's a guy that like he can really dance with the ball, beat people off the dribble and make stuff happen, and so like if he's and what you know what no one ever said about de Jontay Murray is he's Klay Thompson. Like he's not going to stand out on the wing and just shoot, catch and shoot threes all game and so like it. Actually, it actually makes a lot of sense. I actually look at that as if I was the Lakers this summer, I'd look

two routes through the trade. I'd look for de Jontay Murray through free agency, because they'll have their mid level exception that they can use every year. I would target a real center, like an actual big center that can play next to Lebron James and Anthony Davis and give them a big look. I think if they do that and Jared Vanderbilt gets healthy, they all of a sudden become a much more physically imposing team with a lot

more ball handling because of de Jontay Murray. Like, I actually think that there's a a if they nail this summer and the head coach hire works out, I think there's a small opportunity for them to do some damage next year. But but yeah, like I uh, the JJ Redick piece, I really do think that there's It's just as good as any other option out there. It's not like there's some slam dunk home run option, and so I kind of think as long as he nails the interviews,

and they put the right staff around him. It could work.