Nightcap - Hour 1: Pacers Up 2-0 on Knicks + LeBron All-NBA at 40

The volume.

Come on, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. You watch the Indiana Pacers do what they did the last series, go on the road and take a two oh lead going back to Indy. Yes they are, They're up two oh They're in a commanding position. You don't see this often, but they've done it in back to back series, a commanding two to oh lead one fourteen to one oh nine thanks to a red hot shooting night from Pascal Siakam who had thirty nine big points.

They have six guys in.

Double figures like they normally do as a committee team, and they win this ball game on the road, one fourteen to one oh nine.

Y'all know who I am?

I am your favorite on Shannon Sharp, my partner and co hosts Liberty City's own Bengals Ring of Fame Arterie pro Bowler Allpro. That's Chad o Cho, Senko Johnson and our special guest Tonight joining us to break down this gang Indiana one one fourteen to one oh nine is the nineteen eighty one Finals MVP. He's a two time champ and he's out of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the number twelve overall draft pick in the nineteen seventy seven draft. Harry is Lady and gentlemen Cedric

I think it's something that the Celtics are doing. I mean the Celtics. That's what I want to talk about.

Yeah, I know something I think that the Pacers are doing. I think what the Pacers are doing really well. They're moving to basketball and then move bodies. The body the ball does not stick as much, and because of that, defensively cannot rotate and trap as much. That happens when

He physically, that's of the team step.

Watching this game, Ocholl, I was looking at it early and I saw like the Pacers got out to a good lead, and then the Knicks go on this run, and I'm looking at this game at the half, I'm like, Nick, I think y'all in trouble.

I think they are y'all in trouble.

I say, because they've walked you down from fourteen with under three minutes and now you got a Nipton Tuck ball game. And the thing that the Pacers do, they're gonna play with They're going to play with pace. They're going to push the ball. Whether you make the shot, Brad or you missed the shot, they are all pushing Halla Burnon looking to get that ball ahead to see Yakam de nise Mith, Myles Turners. Because they run the floor and like you said, they do a great job of movie.

Him the ball.

They don't have a dominant guy a Luca or or Jason Tatum or one of these great shade that got to have the ball.

So you don't know.

On a given night, it could be one of either six guys that can beat their leading scorer. And that's very difficult to defend. Jalen Brunston is averaging almost forty points a game, eight assists the game, and he's shooting fifty four percent. Yet they find themselves down oh two, oh Joe. When you're looking at the Knicks and you I think you picked the Knicks to win, Yes, sir, what is it that you're seeing what's been most disappointing from you.

For you, I mean well for the Knicks obviously, I need I need more people to contribute, you know. At the half, I mean with Jayalen Brunson doing what he needs to do, mckil Bridges was okay, and nobody came along and in the second half. But the Pacers are winning collectively as a group. Uh, everybody's being able to contribute.

Cat had twenty points on six to fourteen, shooting fourteen shots. Isn't enough, not not not even close. Bridges had eighteen shots. Listen, now be down, I'll be down two and the whole I'm talking about we. I'm just saying pacimply because I picked the next to win this series. They God damn Halliburton man. Listen. He was very official night.

He only had fourteen points, but still his shot selection and when he chose to shoot, oh, it's.

Just chah, Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, cheh stick of for ki. They're done.

Now you're going already then stoll it that I already? Yeah, No, they're done. I mean, I don't I don't think that.

You look at them the first game they lost, that's psychologically, it does a lot of damage.

But then you come back and you play okay, and you lose the second gate.

Where are the people that were rocking the something bust the other day when I was on it, when when we did that, they were trying to tipple over those same five people left out there like Church Mount. So I think that you look at the Knicks, this is a team that plays with emotion. What they've done they take them they've taken the emotion out. You said something about the pace that they run. Let me tell you what happened during nineteen eighty four. I swear to God

The ball out of bound. He was right behind them. They take it out a bound? What mean? But that's what great teams do.

They don't allow you to get back in a position of resting, and that's what the Knicks want to do.

They want to rest.

But as long as you attack them and you make them play on the defensive end, and you make Carl Anthony times accountable, you make Bruston accountable on the defensive end. That is what Hurston Knickson. Who's going who you're looking at OVERDEVI? Who's going to score? After that?

Right? Corporate?

You said something very interesting, you say at the team that plays on the motion and they lost that first game. I don't know if it was they lost the first game or how they lost the first game, because we hadn't seen a whole lot of teams lose games like that when they have such a lead with that few that with that amount of time on the clock. So it's like one four hundred and forty seven when somebody has a nine point lead with like fifty something seconds

You're talking about what did they do when they played Cleveland the same game.

They get back at the end of the game and they won.

Rick carliss I played with Rick Carlile as a young player. Yeah, he was always somebody who got at it and he was at a high pace and he made guys accountable.

He does that with this team.

The problem that the Knicks have is the fact that you look at that Pacer team, they have championship DNA?

Has it? Si Ill come has it?

Who over there on the Knicks has that championship DNA or you're going to fall to at the end of the day.

And I think that's the huge problem for them.

Their team right now that's played with great and most and they've been lucky that we're lucky to beat the Subjects twice in those first two games in Boston. But now Chickens have come home to the roots now.

But Jalen Brunton in Game two thirty six points, eleven assists on five May threes.

Only MJ.

Lebron has more thirty five point Tennessee playoff games in the Eastern Conference. Jaylen Brust, like I said in game one and two, he's averaging almost forty thirty nine and a half eight assists on fifty four percent shooting. I don't know if it's over corn Brand. I think they in order for them to have a chance, they've got to win game three.

The man is over. We've seen them go on the road and you've always talked about your bread.

What she did when she went to check me, what did she do? She stuck a cork in it. If any blood came out, if any blood came out, up, it wasn't done right.

What the Knicks are I ain't known.

I thought that I really hated the Laker fans and the Laker fan base. They have nothing on the arrogance of the Knicks when they're when they want this jokers having And I said that the Steve may snipper, I said, oh, I'll tell you what, act like they've been there before.

And I said, oh, Hold on a minute.

They haven't lay three last time they won the championship.

I was in nice school. It is my senior year.

I bring to turn seventy years old, so I'm not sending anything bad about them.

They played hard. I like what Brunston does.

I like what they've done with their team, But I just think the Pacers right now are the better of the two teams, executing, especially at the end of the game, and when it really counts.

They've done it twice. Yeah, I think the thing.

I'm gonna say, corn bread, and you're not giving the next any chance to come back in regards to how the Pacers play, despite how they look, the passing games, the Knicks, you know, for for that matter, you don't give them any chance to come back.

And make this a series. Chad, let's go on, let's only to drink beer.

But that's that's better case, okay, me and you. I just don't see them getting back, especially on the emotional end.

This team plays.

I like the way they play, Tips has them playing hard. But when you get to Indiana team playing the way they are right now, going home smelling blood, smelling blood, what we've seen this team do so far this year when they smel blood, they turned the Sharks niece Smmphi

And I think the thing is it was concerning for me, and don't Joe you and I talked about this with Joda other night, is that you got what you got from Cat. You got thirty plus points from Cat, you got forty three points from Brunton, and you still lost. So if my big good hey corporate, you know this, now hold on, y'all.

Two big guys just went off.

If we still beat y'all, what's the likelihood of y'all doing this four, five, six times, six more times?

The likelihood is not.

Jalen Brunston averaging forty three, I don't see that happening, Cat averaging thirty six. I don't see that happening. And we saw what happened tonight. The difference is they're so dependent on Brunson. You see the pacers.

You don't know who was gonna be their leading scorer night tonight.

You can bet ninety eight percent of the time their leading score is gonna be Jaylen Brunson.

Y'all know what do you have one of the top rated shows.

The way you're analyzing this thing, you wouldn't think you were a damn Laker fan.

You you really were, and you know, and you know I hate you because of that. When I ain't a Laker fan, I'm a Lebron fan. Well, I don't care if you were. You're still wearing that purple and gold, and I hate to see it.

I mean that I used to be a Celtic fan, you know, growing up. Blood was my favorite player. Joined the crowd. Then come on back. Let me say, come on back home, come on back. No worry about that. And I love Lebron. I think he's done so much for this league.

Man, And I'm kind.

Of like you, I kind of wonder why people hating on him so much for what he's done, especially when it's off the court. You know all the things he's done on the but off the court, he's been brilliant. He hasn't been in any trouble. He's gotten kids that go he's a great role model. So again I don't understand that hatred or Lebron, although I did hate Magic like that and I still do.

Say so, that's a whole nother story. And you look at it.

The Knixtles Miles Bridge, you played forty five minutes, Og played thirty six. Jaylen Brunson played thirty nine, and that's a far cry for what they did the other night. Now, obviously the game win the overtime, so you had an extra five minutes. So you got forty eight minutes in regulation plus another five that's fifty three.

But those guys played heavy minutes.

I'm surprised that more guys didn't play heavy minutes like Og wasn't in the forties, Cat wasn't in the forties. Josh Hart only played twenty nine minutes. I thought, Josh Hart, he's really Josh Hart does a little bit of everything. He rebounds, he plays defense, he scores, he assists the basketball. He had one assist, he had one steal, he had one block, and he had six rebounds at six points.

If he does not put his fingerprint on this series and the two games, hey, honey, giving me a broom instead, I need to give your brother.

Way, And I love Josh Hart.

The thing I love about him he could have played during days because yes, he's tough minded, he goes in, he's scrappled and against the Celtics, he.

Had an imprint on all those games, knocking down shots, didn't rebound. But in this game, the smash game, Churnhart wasn't even effective.

And he is a heart and.

Soul of what they do emotionally, and they don't get it from him.

Who else did they gonna get it from?

And you know he only had he has six points, but he got two of those in the last thirty seconds when he got that late layoup. So I was surprised that. I mean, because you got twenty from Bridge, It's okay. I can live with that. You got sixteen from Og only on eleven shots. You got twenty from Cat on fourteen shots. He needs to be somewhere around eighteen to twenty two shots. And his damn self, Jalen Brunson, you know he's a volume guy. Thirteen to twenty seven.

He's that it ain't personal.

You add adda on that getting steals make him mixing it up in this In this last game, essentially he was never involved. And that's not the way he put because you know what he is. He's an energy guy. He's a high energy got And when you don't have the energy guy go over there giving you points or rebounds or something like that.

It's now what you need to do. Oh chill, go over there on that bench. Go down that bench. There's about five or six other guys down there. Find me, find me two or three points? Can you find me any points out of there?

Kids is on it. But here's the thing, corn and O Joe we talked about this the other night with Joe. They only gonna.

Play seven guys, eight guys at the max, and you know, Mitchell Robinson, he's he's only gonna get your put backs and he's gonna get your lob, so you're not running any offense for it, so you really can't really count him.

Say, Mitchell, can you give us ten to twelve?

Are you gonna run five alley hoops five lobs and you're gonna get five putbacks? I don't think so, but they look to file him to break the next momentum. I was surprised he played as many minutes as he did. Think about it, he played more minutes than Cat.

You know, I've never seen a guy as Patrick Fry going to the line. I mean, you would think that that is that's his last meal.

You're thinking that you don't walk that ball. He's about to get fouled.

He can't. And it's smart. And this is what I love about the paces. That's how smart they played.

Yeah they did. And then a key stretch there, Robinson was in the game and they came in and they filed him, and the momentum mark smart team.

Yet smart teams do that, bo't you guys played football?

You know what momentum is absolutely money if you either have it or you don't.

If you don't have it all of a sudden, you look at your ass out and this is that's why I think the Knicks right now are pretty much that well.

Yeah, I'm surprised that Mitchell Robinson played as many minutes. He played the same amount of minutes as Josh Hart's. He played a one more minute more than Cat Miles McBride played twenty five minutes. And they only play eight guys. And you go look at it, you go look at the pacers. They played one, two, three, four, five, six. They played eleven guys.

Yeah, I mean your feet, Yeah, that's that's such bodies, which is so funny.

There are about six guys over there on that bench. They scored by as many points as I did tonight.

I mean.

Would be here with me because because those guys were never involved in the game. Oh show you know how it is. Sometimes you have guys who are real players. Some guys you can have who are perpetrated. Some guys know when the big games happened, I've.

Saw I'm seeing you up, Saul.

She hadn't played before and in the big games, hey look you're stepping up.

But then there's some guys in the big games they don't want to be They don't want that ball, but they don't want you found it. Yeah, so what do you what do you think? What do you think, Tims?

Does I mean you there's only only five or sixty sixty seven players like I said, that actually played.

Does he does he change up the lineup?

Does he add allow people to play so you can get those two or three points that you might need that can help you down a stretch?

Yeah, Tims? Is it like that?

Tims was in Boston with Paul Pierce in that group and they go with the rotation and he's solid. This is the people who got him there, this is what he's done, and these are the people he's gonna go with. I mean, I mean, I'm looking over there that celted at the roster, and I'm looking at the next and I'm trying to think right now, I think, why are some of the those nick you know, old school Claire's finally on the floor, right, I mean, I look at some.

Of them guys.

I was like, damn, why why is that doing right there on the floor. Maybe he should get grab one of those guys.

My good buddy.

Bernarkis he could care some parts. But now burnof burnt Off mees bad. Nah, no, hey, hey Corbraend. You know burnt Off. These were bad when he was twenty nine thirty, you know the shot down in sixty five.

I saw him walking down the arena. I was like, damn, man, I go back.

And I hated him as a player too, but I really felt bad when that's the thing thing seeing some of the.

Things right now that have happened. But the knicks, they're gonna have to find a formula or gonna have to grab one of those guys at the end of the bench and try to gather spark. Tims is gonna have to change what he does because what he's doing right now with the two games you're closed.

Did you guys know close comes in horseshoes and nuclear war. That's the only the only way of horse clothes comes in.

And I just don't think that this team right now has enough at the end of the day going in. It's like when I saw you look at the stat sheet before we came on. You know, you were looking down like somebody had just on the statue.

You know, I said, dude, But if you notice look at the teams that have deep benches, look at OKC.

Look how many people. Look how many people Minnesota play?

You see Oka see playing ten eleven people, Indiana playing ten eleven people.

You burn them out. Because Tims played those guys.

Heavy minutes in the regular season, So you can imagine now they went they Now they had a short series with Boston, but they had a very long theories or with Detroit, and they had to play heavy minutes. Even though it was a short series, they played heavy minutes.

And so now they're.

Coming physical, physical minutes. Yes, that's the thing you talk about. You add physicality anywhere with long minutes, man, that doubles the output of what you're talking about, being physical.

And there's something called ex expectations. So you see the Knicks didn't have these expectations when they played Boston. Boston was the prohibitive favorite. Now, how does it feel you're no longer the hunter, you're the hunted.

Yeah, all as they say, when we playing all funny games, until the damn rabbit gets the damn gun. Yeah, that's how it goes out. So I look at this team and the Knicks were they played well. Detroit had a chance to beat them, Boston did at Boston had a chance to beat them, but they played well enough that they won. Now, as you said, they are, they are the darlings of the city, right, the darlings of the city.

First time going to of the NBA finals and since what twenty five and a quarter century or everybody's talking about that. Oh man, this might be our chance to get our first championship in fifty plus years. Everybody's looking at that, and so you're looking You're looking plass ended, oh like, and is looking at it like, hell, this is our first chance to go to the NBA Finals in twenty plus years.

Two we ain't never won one. You're right. I love the look on John Stark's face today.

I was like, here, it's just trippled over.

And these were the same guys and your guy BERNARTI text.

Me after the game that the Knicks won the first two text me say, keep your head up, big fella.

It'll be.

Rub it rubbing it in, you know, or makes you laugh, makes you cry something absolutely well. The all the NBA teams were just announced on the first team All NBA, Giannis Unto, Takumpo, Shake Gilles, Alexander, Nicola, Jokic, Donovan, Mitchell, Jason, Any surprises there.

No, I think those guys.

To me, uh Tatum was great, Shaye was the NB. And you can look at Jok's jokis right now maybe the best, maybe the best player that one of the best players we've seen at that position.

And no offense. I love Karee, I love Kareem, I love well.

But when you look at Jokic, his body at work, what he's saying, he said he's turned into a monster.

I thought you was about to say, maybe he's the best player in the game. I can say you could drop that, mate, Oh yeah, he is the best player now he's working on work, when he's done. The question is where do we put it? Because you mentioned, you mentioned Shot, you mentioned Russell, you mentioned Will, you mentioned Kareem Okay, Elijah on Moses.

Whatever the case may be.

I'm his name six guys who many believe are six of the best centers they ever played the game, David Robinson, whoever the case may be. When it's all said done, where are we going to put Nicola?

This is why I will change it with yok He is the best player right now. But what he doesn't do, he doesn't control the defensive end. What made That's what made Elijah One to me and I played, the greatest player ever to play the game is a cheam Olaja one.

Let me tell you why, because he did it on both ends.

Controls his man defensively his man, but a king controlled the game on both ends of the floor like nobody else has ever done both ends. Not one in Russell controlled it on the defensive bent. Uh, you know, we'll control it on the offensive bed. You look all the other but you look at Elijah One. There is nobody like that. That young African that I played with, that was I thought he was killing lines.

The way he played, he was. He was.

He was special. He was he was because like you said, he could do it all. He hey to fade away, he had to drop step. He had the moves. Oh man, hey fake here, and next thing you know, he's dunking it over there.

I mean, and the defensive man.

But that's right, and then and deep this and that he is blocking shots. He's he was leading the league in Still he's one of the few guys in the NBA history that had a quadruple though.

You remember the first one they had Tom Brandy, he had it and they ended up taking the rebound away from him, so he didn't get it.

He came back the next night, two nights later and got another one. I'm gonna do it, you know what, take it from me. I'm gonna show you how to get it done again. Yeah.

The second Team All NBA team Jaylen Bronson, Steph Curry, and Edwards Lebron, James Evan Mobley. You remember trug Brady.

The game has the game has changed from what I live, Uh in my my era, you know, I had one three for my entire career. I look at Steph Curry, right, now, Steph Curry as much as I, you know, think about him, he changed the game.

He has changed the game.

I talked to his dad and I said, man, yes, son, I hate the fact he's changed again. He's destroyed the NBA the where and his dad said, you know what, there are a lot of shot takers, but not a lot of shot maker. And when you think about that boy, his quick release he's handling under basketball. I didn't see it coming. I asked his dad, and I said, did you see him being na good?

That saidenough? I didn't see this.

So the second team you picked up, I think you could, you know, could easily say that. That followed by chat Hungary for the guy, I might want to put it in there because of the record that Minnesota had, that might happen, but they did have another guy to make it.

Uh the third team All NBA selection with Kay Cunningham. Because he was an All NBA selection, he gets another forty five million dollars added to his max contract that he signed last off season. Ohoe, Tyrese Hallibert, Okay James Harden, Kat, Karl Anthony Towns, and last but not least, Jaln Williams. So Okay, se did have two guys to make the All NBA team, and remember lou Dort made the All

Here's the thing that I love about that. But my eight is the fact the NBA rules salary caps is going to destroy that particular team because you can't keep that team together.

No no, no, no, no no no.

Okay, see, so you're gonna make it so that you know, I love SuperTeams.

I didn't like the Lakers when they're winning, obviously, but.

I love the Bulls and you know, I love the dominant teams like that. But you know, now because you have the salary cap structures and the aprons that they talk about, OKC is not going.

To have all those guys. They made it costs prohibited. They didn't want any more super teams anymore. Why why you love super teams? But they but Corean see, and that's what I tell people, see because a lot of time they say, oh, Lebron, did I say they were always super teams?

What the hell do you think the Lakers were. What do you think the Celtics weren't in the eighties? Bill ain't super team?

You talk about Bird, McHale, Parish djuh or they had tiny Archiba.

One year they had Bill Walton, who was the sixth man. I got who I got traded for?

Oh?

Bill Walker? Yeah? Damn that heard her? And you got and you got magic?

Thinking about you got magic, Kareem James Worthy, you got Michael Thompson, you got Jamorrow.

Come on, people, that was a super team.

See hair as the thing people like if you if the if the general manager put a super team together, we're okay with that. We don't want the player to say, well, you know what I like corn bread? Hey man, I like bread too, and ojo, what you think about going to join bread over there?

Such and such? No, they don't like that.

But if a team, but if the general manager puts it together, we got no problem with that.

Well, how do you feel right now? You're oho phil about what happened in Dallas? Dallas goes away, gets Drina Luca. That ain't like that, big fella? How does that taste?

The boy?

Uh get rid of Luca? And then they turn around and they get the kid from Duke this team, and we're going to be dangerous next year.

They are if they.

Can get healthy and you got Kyrie Irvin coming back, that team could be really dangerous.

And to me, what it does is pushes the Lakers that much further down. I don't want to see. I want.

Hey, But let me ask you this. The Mavericks do have that first pick. Now, there's gonna be a conversation sometime in the coming days between Jannis and Milwaukee's front office. Would you be willing to part with that number and overall draft pick for an opportunity to bring Yiannis and pair him with a D and Kyrie when he comes.

Back by by first round draft choice.

Look, I don't know what Cooper might do, but I know what Jannis is stupid. So if I had a chance to do it and reset my program, and if you're Milwaukee, you know you're gonna lose Jannis, Yeah, I go out, I make that trade, I grab some pieces, and I get ready for the future.

But you know in that case.

Yeah, I make that deal all day because we know what Yianniss can't we doing. He's a proven Prather Shannon, Oh Joe that's what he is. He's a he's not he's not a bus rider. He's a damn bus driver.

And that happened.

Hold on, right, I got a question for you. Let's say they get rid of a Cooper flag. Right, let us go to the bucks. Did Giannas come in and automatic, automatically, automatically make the MAVs a championship contender?

Absolutely?

I think yeah, yeah, because one thing he's gonna bring in that physicality.

That's something that the MAVs have not.

So you say you get if you get him, you get Anthony Davis, and you get Caybrie.

Those guys healthy and put together, being all day.

I'll look at the maths right now, and and I don't come and hear anybody that noise him. I said, fire, Nico, fire, good, exactly, good.

Job, Nico.

Here's a question I have to ask you, since you you know you you're a pretty physical guy. What what are you gonna go ahead and grab the guy who came to LA and take him out and run him up and down the beach.

You're gonna go out and grab you saw you saw it. He's been in him. He eat his wife preparing good meals for him. You see that. Yeah, he's be his body. He's starting to look good.

You can you know what, you can prepare the meal. But Oliver Miller when he played down in Phoenix, there you go, and then he was running the fight.

He had a ball boy going getting them hamburgers. So until I see, until I see him, until I see him in that position, Luca, you know he.

Has to be in shape.

And I would eat and look, he's around the place where you're gonna get in shape. And the stars, the bodies, Lebron James, the best we've seen.

Right now staying in shape. You're there.

I mean, I grab one of you guys right now, said man, I give you a million dollars, just take me on a program and regiment to get my body in shape.

I got you, Okay, okay.

But you know the thing, Corbra, and I tell people this all the time, It's easy to get in shape in the off season. It's like it's in a basketball player. It's getting in late at night, at three o'clock in the morning and making the right decisions.

I ain't gonna eat no pizza. I'm not gonna eat nothing fast food. I'm not gonna eat anything processed. So that's the problem that the gods have.

They get off their game and they grab chicken and it's not baked or it's not you know, it's not roasted.

Share and that's that's not true. That's not true. I hate the bunch of bubble.

But now they have meals prepared for them after they don't want that.

No, a lot of them eating.

A lot of them come off the we a lot of them come in on the bus and they have meals which you're prepared for.

So the guys don't eat like we did during the eighties.

Nineteen eighty four, getting ready to play the Lakers, I had a big Mac, a supersize my fried, a large orange soda.

And this is before the damn game. So that's how we ate during that time. Players have an opportunity.

It was I look at these guys now, they have they have a chef in the morning, they have dinner, they have lunch, cook form, they have dinner after the game.

I mean, I don't even know why they get pretty him. I mean, to me, is amazing the way and I love it. I'm not joiced to though. I love the way our players are being taken care of.

Oh, Joe, we had this conversation. Think about it.

In the NFL, they get breakfast prepared for him, they get much prepared for him, and they get dinner prepared after they watch after their meeting and to take home with them. How can you be out of shape? And with all that state of the art equipment they got. They got fifthy old, they got massages, therapist, they got cryo, they got an infrared corporate, they got every I'm talking

There's no reason hold on.

But you know, know everything you just said, cor On Brad to them everything I'm just said. They have a state of arder everything. They have everything that they need at their backing call. But for some reason, I don't know why, more injuries. Injuries are more prevalent today. Everyone's seen getting hurt. Corn Bread.

I remember back in the day, and matter of fact, I'm not too far from you.

Back in the day, he used to play outside when he was young and go in the house and get your let ask water doing the summer. No, what's your what's your grandmad your mama told you go drink the water holes on the side of the house.

Yeah. Absolutely, getting hurt right then.

I don't understand what the problem old school and I and and here's the thing. I look at the Boston Sells have one of the best players around be Jason Tatum. The thing I felt like Jay said Tatum got hurt. It wasn't because he didn't train hard enough. I just think he played too much basketball. He played during the Olympics, he played during the Championship. And here's my true belief. If you don't rest your body, your body's gonna rest you and I and and you have the you've seen

I hate the fact that they damn changing jerseys and laughing at each other jerseys walk.

I hate that. Oh my god, I hate that. I hate that. There's nothing I hate more than that.

Nineteen eight, nineteen eighty three, we're playing uh uh, we're playing the seventy sixths in the exhibition game in Knoxville, Tennessee.

We went and we won the game. We went and got in the restaurant. We went there and ate the seventy sixers got there after us. They saw that we were there. They hated us up bad. They left the damn restaurant. Didn't need That's how I just thought they were.

And yeah, because they one y'all have this had y'all down three to one, and y'all came back.

You remember that player, they remember Belling.

We did Washington.

This is how it goes on like this.

They did they I thought the I thought the boss and Strangler Andrew toldy I thought he.

I thought. I thought they had y'all. I thought they had you bring you he was. He was absolutely a beast. Yeah, And I talked.

To I was talking to a couple of the seventy sixers, guys mo chicks in particularly. He said, Man, I've never played in a more physical series than we had. They're in the eighties and those were just great series that if you go back and you to them, these games won by everyone, was won by one or two points, two points. The last last five games we played the separation was about six points, So yeah, there were physical games.

And I don't know if I've ever seen this before. You had four unanimous selections on the All NBA team. Giannis was a unanimous he got one hundred first place votes, Shaye was a unanimous one hundred first place vote, Nikola Jokic one hundred first place votes, Jason Tatum one hundred first place votes.

So yeah, core man, somebody got have some balls and break away from that. Please, ain't nobody could go one hundred percent? Shannon, you're old toel No, ain't nobody go one hundred percent of nothing? Come on, ask your question, ask your question? What power forward you giving a vote and taking it from your honest? What guard you taking a vote from and giving it?

What guard you? What shade?

You're taking a vote from shade and giving it to somebody else? Okay, what big are you taking a vote from NICOLEA. Jokic and giving him to JT? You know when when when you're right? And Dann Shannon you right.

That's all. I can't argue with you. I take a sip of the suler you're you're right. I can't larn you with that. Those are points with your ballot.

But I think so it's just hard for me to see a guy get a one hundred percent of anything you're not.

People say this thing like, you know what, I work one hundred and ten percent. Can't work a hundred ten percent.

Can't do it. That's all you get. But that's all you got, one hundred percent. No, oh, you worked down, that's it.

Jason Tatum was named All NBA First Team for the fourth straight year. Corn Bread doesn't look like it's gonna be a fifth consecutive year because he's not going to He went to the same surgeon that did Kevin Durants. Now, if you remember Kevin Durant, it happened in June of twenty nineteen. Kevin Durant, you know, twenty nineteen rolls around, he doesn't play it. Twenty twenty rolls around, they go

I totally agree with you, But here's the difference. Okay, One is age.

Jason Tatum is twenty five, twenty six, twenty six. When what happened when you think of Kevin when they heard that he was almost thirty something, he was nine third. I always said as a broadcast, I see guys fall down when they're in the twenties. I said, oh, he hurt, and damn bumus ain't even gonna form yea his muscle. Still, I think tatum Is recovery will probably be easier because he's a.

Yacht lot younger and he doesn't have this many miles.

But like you, I don't I don't foresee him coming back, you know, for this coming year, because I think that if you look at this team, Pratt Stevens has some opportunity right now to reset, and he's gonna have three sets because of the salary structure.

I'm not sure if it's going to be first s ra Vegas ain't coming back. That's one not coming back. Oh wow, you go.

You know that.

I know that you got Now the question is are you bringing Derrick White and Holiday back because they both got big salaries.

What are you gonna do with Al Horford?

Okay, you're probably gonna keep j JB because you're gonna be without j T. But I'm not so sure that when j JT comes back. It's hard having two players making three hundred men.

JB is a great player. Yeah, but what happened to Giannis? This what happened this year? Went with Luca?

This year? All best of off? Now, I totally a Bee.

Anybody can be moved in this league now, you know, don't get too stuck up on being around you might be moved. So in Brad Stevens because he's gonna have the flexibility of when he won a championship.

Joe Miszula is a great coach. Can Joe Missoula have team right now that is going to probably struggle a little bit coming out of the gate because you don't have that great player. So I think it's going to be a total reset. I believe it's gonna be a face slip for the Celtics. And then on top of that, you have a new, a new, new, new regime, and you know that the uh he he paid six six billion dollars for this six point one.

Yeah, so I me, I know that's chicken change you and your brothers. But for me, Yeah, I know. That's why I can't.

I can't find a dollar and I can't kill one. Hey, Bret, I take the I take the point one. You keep it seeing this, give me the point one? Oh Joe, I'll be I'll be happy with that. Hey, but I think the thing is what the teams this Luca trade.

It tells me.

I don't know what it tells you, O Joe, I'll be interested to hear what you and Bread think is that team Like, we're not going to let y'all do the great players hold us hostage. We'll move your ass because y'all had too much power. I mean, don't get me wrong, superstars had some power. They've never had the kind of control that these guys got. I heard Bird talking Bird say, they didn't run nothing about me. Hey, I just hey, I go in the locker room. But I got a

I love Larry, but when I got traded in nineteen eighty five eighty six for Bill Walton, they ran that by Larry and he signed up on that and he signed off on.

Ah.

I'm not believing. You're saying a lot of stuff, but players.

Players didn't have a little bit of power, but now they have so much more because they are a commodity. They are Yes, this is this is a fortune five hundred when you get one guy right now. So I mean their ability to control games, to manipulate teams, teams.

Been over backwards. You know, you're on the road right now.

You know when I was in the NBA, we had to wash our own road uniforms my first couple of years.

Oh yeah, so look, yeah, well you know what Charles Barkley said that, Yeah, guys will go on a two week road trip.

And there was some guys who were so nasty they wouldn't even watch the uniform.

You were granted that uniform and you could throw up and throw it out in the and it was stand up by stand up.

I seen him like that. He's like you ain't gon why would you want to guard that smelly guy right there? So, I mean it was a different time. I appreciate what the teams are doing. I appreciate the players. They are tremendous athletes. But I tell you what I would I'd be hard pressed to find some guys right now as.

You talk about and on all that smoke. They don't want these They they ain't looking at it. They come in and they talk a lot, but there are any of those guys.

But see back then, a you could be talking all kind of crazy if somebody they swing on you back at it. But you know, back then you wasn't getting five or fifteen hundred. Now they put a fine on you. Now you might lose a million, two million dollar corporated. The guy's like dogs, what what what's a million dollars? You a guy making a seventy eight million dollars.

I ain't giving away no money. I know you, I know you're.

Not, But I'm just talking the way the league is now. How many times we seen Draymond get Draymond get fired.

He's been fined over a couple of million dollars, a million he's giving money back. So so guys aren't afraid now when you're talking about that money.

But now them think, no guys want to fight, O Joe. I don't. Don't nobody I want to fight no more. Ain't nobody Because we.

Saw we saw Shannon. We saw Shannon at the Laker game. I think, there you go, there you go. I ain't want no smoke. I ain't want no smoke. You you would know when you walk, when you take a foot on the floor, it's punting to a guy.

O Joe, come on, now you look, I'm looked down. I'm like, I ain't on the court. I make sure I want on the court. I ain't do I ain't do a halit, daddy did I ain't run up on the court.

Nobody. You know what I'm saying. Oh, ask you a question. O Joe didn't even want something. That smoke.

He want that smoke by smoke was coming out of his ears, going ready.

You do look out.

I was dressed though, joke better had a four thousand dollars car to get old. I was, you know, I was like, I want nothing. Well you had what you know, a little cardigan, little sub I had, Oh you know.

Okay, Well he well you know what, y your your grandma's flipping right now and up in heaven talking other four thousand. You talked so many stories about how much money you guys didn't have, and now you're talking about you are.

Head a cardigan for four Yeah, hey, hey corporate, you're from the South.

You know what money? Money wasn't plowing like it is now. Couldn't couldn't do it at all.

My my father would grab my grab my father would give me a dollar, and he asked me next week, didn't I give a dollar last week?

Yeah, you think that dollar's gonna last. So it is a different thing.

Let me ask you this, car Bret, tell me how the presson you think this is. Lebron James made his twenty first All NBA team at the age of forty, and this is what he tweeted. He said, All NBA at forty little key crazy to me right now, sitting here watching the playoffs and just thinking of it left beyond, I can't even imagine. You're impressient.

You do you think we'll feel another player like Lebron?

No, no, no, not not because the genetics, the circumstances.

All the stuff, the will to win, the work, affic.

That's what that's what makes him to me, the goat when I started thinking about, oh, I know, you turn your head when.

I said that. The only reason I.

Say that is because of what he's done over this full period of time, the number of points. Everybody talks about his losses and the playoffs, Well he got there, don't don't.

Don't forget this wrong.

But Michael Jordan his first couple of years got swept swell, didn't win, didn't win the game. So I think that the Goat conversation to me is really different. But I am a huge fan of who Lebron is and what he's done on and off the court. But at this age right now, to be relevant in the n B A to just be damn, it's.

All right away, just crazy, all right. This is what Mike Wilbon had to say earlier. We know who Mike wilbonn is. He says, I'm not going to sit here and say that Lebron James has to be considered better than Magic Johnson. That's garbage. I'm not going to say Lebron James has to be considered better than Bill Russell. That's garbage. I'm not going to sit here and say Lebron James has to be considered better than Kobe Bryant. That's garbage. Lebron James is one of the greatest players

Yeah, you know, I think that people like to say because you're in the conversation. Maybe one of the best points I think I've ever heard when you did your Hall of Fame speech, when you talked about you know your brother right and and that, and I'm not a cheerful person, and I don't like you. I didn't like

You know, mother or mother doesn't know his father, what he's done, how he's educated himself.

I look at the totality of who that man is and when he's done.

On the basketball horizon.

He's playing the guys right now, who's playing with whod he's twenty twenty five years older day?

Yeah, well we ain't gonna say years day, daddy, but we just.

Going with the DNA just might be out there one day, who knows.

Hey.

You know it's funny though, Uncle corn read when you think about it. I think about the conversation when it comes to the greats, when it comes to sports, two greats like this in basketball, you talk about football, you come to the greats, you talk about Tom Brady's and your Steve Young's and your past Ma homes.

The Jordan Lebron conversation to me is one that will never end. Nope.

That's based on preference on who someone likes. And I think the conversation in itself is something that will continue to go.

On and on and on.

It will have a never ending story because there's so many barrierals that go into it and what people to them makes that individual their goal. Yeah, it's like one of those things that I personally would stay away from because it's never in debate when it's like three things that I've always stayed away from when it comes to being on a certain platform or any platform for that matter, because it's never ending.

Race, religion, politics, and politics.

It's never ending, and it can go on and on and depending on who you talk to, he could be there for twenty four hours because they will always be something to discuss and something something to talk about. And that that that the broad that Lebron joined debate managed. It's just one that just but here you never see the light of day here.

Here's the beauty about that that he's in the conversation.

That he's in the conversation.

If you're one of the top one of the top five players that ever to play the game.

Period, that's enough for me. I don't need no more than that. You don't need to have the best.

No, he's one of the top guys that ever lace his shoes up.

Although he although he is the Laker now and I hate him because of that.

I hate him Because of that, I still respect him because just like Magic Jos, I don't like Magic, but I respect him for what he's done for, you know, the people in the black people in the communities, what he's done for the people at age or aren't you but dours, all that stuff.

I respect him for that.

Now, if he if I would do this, if I wouldn't give him, I wouldn't give him a glass, if if he was on fire, wouldn't put the going on, I drink it.

Because that's hate that dude.

I just say to say, you look, it's easy to say that because I think Michael, I think will Bond does have a great relationship with Jordan's because I've heard him have other takes on other being the greatest when he talks about boxing and he talks about ali and

Michael Wilbourn, But that's his boy. Mike is his boy. Mike and Chicago, Mike Michael, Well, boy in Chicago. You can't go against that man, And I get it. Yeah, say that. Yeah, just because a lot of time when people ask me a question a little better than I'm biased. Yeah.

I played with y'all anyway, So I y'all want me to say no, come on now, my brother, I'm in certain situations I'm biased. I'm not gonna be able to I can't separate it. Most of the time I can't. I can be objected, but in this situation, when I'm talking about a family or something like that, I'm biased.

No, I can't separate it.

I walked in the room my first year, my second in the league. I was averaging eighteen and ten. There was a white guy that came on the court for our first practice, and I gave him a clap like this.

Great white hope and it was Larry Joe Bird. Uh huh. Let me tell you what.

By the time that practice said, I went to the first black person I could see. I say, you know what a damn white guy can play down there. So I I learned to think, you don't judge your book by company. You really don't.

And you know, God's the funny God, God doesn't give me one, but God gives me the two best white players ever to play together in Birds and Michael and I dare say I might have the best.

White team ever.

When I think about if I got those two and I put Cablet Check in there, I put Dave Cowen's in there, I put Pep Marybage in there, all white teeth. I got it. I got it down hands pat in basketball. So I was prejudiced as a player, But my god, those guys can play the game at a high level.

You want to talk about this.

Michael Beesby also chimed in on the Jordan Lebron debate. With Jordan, they don't talk about negativity. What will Lebron? We watch it's good, it's bad. We watch his ups is downs, and he's been so great. We don't have anything else to say, so we talk about his son. Well, here's the thing. During this era, there wasn't social media like it is now that you know you and you and you know how social media is.

Okay, absolutely, I'm all over the paper social media either never read about some of the things that some of the people have done and said a social media has changed the landscape for any ath laid out and if you don't understand that, then you're a fool out there.

I said that.

I mean Jermezola said, I want to insulate Jason Tatum. I said, Joe, you ken, he said what I said. Because of social media. That man got five six seven leadion.

People following him every time he's doing every commercial out there, God blesson.

But you cannot have the good without the back and the fourth.

On it because social media is so big now, it absolutely is.

And Jordan has said it but saying he don't know how he could have handled social media because think about how he's done. You know, how he's been able to despoke this life now, he's been in a bubble from the first eighty four. I mean, he doesn't know what it's like to have a normal life. He can't go anywhere. He can't go to the movies. He had written the whole movie Thaate out. He can't go to the he couldn't take his kids to the skating rink. He had

Lebron loves the social media.

He dictates any acts in a way that he is able to orchan strain some of the things with the social media that doesn't.

Happen when you talk about Lebron, when you talk about what happened on with Jordan.

Jordan was looked at as this guy and from then on he didn't worry about it.

You said, then, and then you saw how he was exposed.

When it was the last dayance, I had my parents on my podcast, he said, he said, let me tell you right now.

He said, Michael Jordan's a damn brilling.

He said, we played him and I was on his team that time, and we beat him.

And then after the game, he said, there were locker room.

He said, Michael was standing there and he said, Michael hyen like the mask kickers. We gave it that and Michael said, if you keep talking, our kick your ass.

Well, my buddy Rob Robert Parris said, look you and nobody else said.

Robert walked up to me and said, you know what, I got rings already before I got here. So there was some exposure to who Michael Jordan was as a player.

I admire him.

He's from Love, Carolina, from Wilmington, right down the street from my hometown to Kenston.

I understand who he is.

But nobody would have ever thought that we would have had a guy that would become that big, that big in basketball.

And I played with the Birds that played with magic.

But none of those guys will ever ranked what Jordan has done a standpoint of being on that route Mount Rushmore, except maybe Lebron Jente.

The shoe because Corn Brad.

You remember, like gods had shoes like mos Malone and ice Man, they weren't Nike. Nike wasn't that big back in the late seventies early eighties until Jordan took it over and then you had to wear is the cons bird water CONSU, magic water cons. Doctor j made the corn really famous. But when they retired, okay, the shoot went away. He ain't nobody wasn't nobody else rocking the weapons and the Jordan and the Birds and the magic.

Right about that? And people say that right now by this his ex wife Janeda, How the hell do you try to go date her when you're walking up in his shoes?

Hey? Baby, whoa what you got on your shoes up to come?

Before you come here? So man, you guys, you know what. Let me tell you this before I go. You guys have been brilliant. I am so appreciative of being on your show. Can't wait to come.

Back and thank you.

I see when I see you two young black men working and doing what you've done. Man to me, I just loove you. You're young black, get brilliant. He and I always remember who you are and that's why I love both you guys.

So Corl bred I appreciate that. Man. Thanks for coming on.

And you get a look when you get another moment to stop back by, because probably when you come back by, the Lakers probably be happy. Hey, oh Joe, we spent like twenty minutes trying to get him sit up with the camera talking to him and his wife talking through it. So he had his camera on. He been on there for like an hour. He wait, so he been there for an hour. That was corn bred. Max Well the nineteen eighty one Finals MVP over the Houston Rockets when

Moses Malone? I'm trying to think. I don't think Rodney McCrae was on that team yet.

I think that he was on the eighty sixteen, but uh, the Celtics beat them in six games. But uh, it was great to have corn bread on. Man, I I know you, Like I said, I used to follow the Boston Celtics.

That was my team.

Ladd Bird was my guy, and uh, it was great to have cornbread on. So cornbread when you get a chance, start back by the volume