NBA All-Star Game complaints & defending LeBron James

any of that. Demon's good to see you. You look out just resplendent today. I mean, what is the weather in Los Angeles? Must be glorious.

in the ulsterreehum stuff, just quick story. Yesterday Lowayne filled in, and he didn't fill in as a guest. He sat in wild seat. He did the intros and outros, he did weird and wonderful, and people wondered how did that happen? So I'm going to tell you guys exactly how that happened. So Monday, a week ago, during the Me Eating Crow show, Wayne texted, Brah, I'm crying laughing in this blank a

lot of laughing emojis. That was too funny. Whole sec me because I am if I have one religion, it is an undying belief in being a terrible text replier. I did not reply to that. Low Wayne live texted me during the show, but I was kind of in a text blockout from super Bowl until Wednesday afternoon. So Wednesday evening I finally go back and I'm like, all right, I have five hundred unreplied texts. I probably should reply to some of them. And I'm like, oh my god,

Lowayne texted so I again. Because I'm not very good at text etiquette. And even though this is you know, one of the greatest musicians in the history of the country who took his time out of his day to watch my TV show and then give a live reaction to it. My reply was, I just gave it the little heart. I just clicked it and gave it the heart Wednesday night. And so he then text me immediately flying out there tomorrow to do SNL fifty. Let's get together.

He always says, smoke something, even though I don't smoke, but it's just I just feel like he feels like, this is, you know, the nice offer to make, and he said I exactly. His version of it said, I'm there till the eighteenth, so if you want me on the show, I can do it, and I want to come by Wifey's store. I'm like, this is just the nicest person who's ever lived. So I text him short version is this Wild's out next week. Here's a funny

option if you're into it. You pick a day and sit in and fill in for Wild host the entire show, do weird and wonderful the whole thing. He snap text back, done, I just got to my room. Hit my guy Fabian. We'll set it all up that afternoon. He's the greatest person ever. That afternoon, at the end of the three o'clock hour, this is now Thursday, we run a promo on the show that Wayne is filling in for Wilds. He is watching the show, evidently, because he texts one

minute after the promo, you're way too kind. I can't bleep and wait, I'm gonna knock it out of the stadium. Tell Cadob, I respect the person whose seat will be filling too much to do anything less than kill it. I got us and tell him I said, all caps, thank you. So I read that text to Wilds, and Wilds just said totally matter of factly, he has this relationship totally backwards. You get that right. I'm like, yeah, man, I do like this idea that he is thanking us, Like,

don't worry all, take it seriously. I'm like, bro, twelve hours before the show, you're performing in front of Paul McCartney and Tom Hanks at SNL fifty and then you're coming and doing all Star Clung highlights, weird, doing wild, weird and wonderful. So that's how that happened. He's just the greatest guy in the world. So that was a ton of fun, and if you guys haven't watched SNL fifty,

it's totally worth your time. His medley is great, and Adam Sandler's five and a half minute guitar rendition a tribute to the fifty years of the show is spectacular. So I'm biased, Like my two favorite parts were Wayne's part and then the Sandler thing, but the whole thing was great. All right, let's get to the show. Here's what miss the cut demonte Kansas City allegedly gives Travis Kelcey a deadline. I would call that a soft deadline

of mid March. Mac McClung, I mean, I'm gonna say this with confidence and certainty, the greatest white dude dunker of all time, and I don't know that anyone's ever gonna break that mark. I still think Vince is the greatest dunker ever. And Aaron Gordon and Zach Levine put

on a hell of a show. But Mac McClung is unbelievable, and Wimby and CP three break the skills contest in a really the most embarrassing thing that happened this weekend that deserved criticism was Wimby and Chris Paul trying to rig the skills competition. But of course that is not the thing that got the most criticism this weekend. Instead, it was the reverse engineered What did Lebron James do? Therefore it must be wrong. Let's start right there before we get to the game. And I think this is

one demons. This is gonna be one of the things that I think demands as we start the topic, disagrees with me, and by the end of the topic I might have swayed him a bit. But we'll see.

wore a street clothes. What's your take on this? People are pissed about it.

Drake May gets to call himself a pro bowler when he didn't actually make the team and then tweeting this week, why aren't people thinking about Norman Powell. The fans in San Francisco definitely wanted to see him play. It's disingenuous nonsense, and the idea that there was any way for Lebron to thread this needle and not end up being criticized is just disingenuous and not true. So if he would have a week ago said I'm not playing, the media cycle would have been this is why nobody takes the

All Star Game seriously. This is you know, people are excited and the face of the league doesn't do it. Lebron gave it to the last possible minute to figure out can I play? And it's not so much can I as much as it is should I, Like if it were a playoff game, would Lebron have played? Of course?

Does that mean that when he clearly believes this Lakers team has a real chance to do something and this Lakers team, because of the California Wildfires, has the shortest break of any team with them and the Hornets because they play Wednesday and the rest of the league plays Thursday, that he was like, you know what, not going to push it on this ankle? That makes total sense to me? And then number of people who failed to acknowledge the

following truths. Okay, first of all, is this Has anyone given more time, effort, sweat energy to All Star Games in the history of basketball than Lebron James? The answer is, of course no. He's played in twenty of them. Kareem played in eighteen, the next closest or Kobe and Duncan at fifteen. Has Lebron consistently shown up to this event more than any player in the history of the league. Yes,

by a massive margin. This broke his streak. And but the other reason that people are just so out of their damn minds about This is one criticism of Lebron that I don't even look at as a criticism but is true. Is the guy cares about streaks and records

and accolades. He does, and he would have liked to keep this thing going twenty one straight All Star appearances because the record prior to Lebron playing in twenty in a row again, twenty in a row was held by John Havlicek and Bob Coosey, who both played in thirteen in a row. That was the record. So Lebron set the record for consecutive All Star Game appearances back let me do them before he was a Laker, when he was with the Calves, midway through his second sit with

the Calves and has just been spreading it out. Of all the active players other than Lebron, Durant is the only one who has played in ten of these in a row. He did that pre Achilles. The new active streak for consecutive All Star Games played is Joker at seven. So this is the guy that we're gonna say, oh it to everyone to play to play, the guy who's played in twenty straight of these, the oldest player in the league, a guy who has literally played more professional

basketball than any human being ever to live. Were like, give us more, and if you don't, you're selfish. It's just so ludicrous. And then there's this piece of it and I'll get to the picture stuff later. There is so Nick Fredell, who I really like. I really like him. He was with ESPN. I think I don't want to speak for him, but the way I understand it, I think he was absolutely foolishly a part of their layoffs

months back. He is a great NBA reporter opinionist. Chicago guy love Nick Nick quote tweeted it and said, there is just absolutely no way mj would do this. He always understood what his presence to the game meant. Guys, Michael Jordan at this point in his career had quit the game three times. It meant to his presence to the game meant so much that he quit the game. He went and played minor league baseball, then he came back, then he quit again, Then he came back, then he

quit again. Do you know the most consecutive years that Michael Jordan played in an All Star Game? Seven seven years, the longest streak of consecutive All Star appearances. Michael Jordan had was seven. Well, there's no way MJ would do. So this is where the criticism. People just lose their minds. So if Lebron had just retired four years ago, no problem, no problem, you win your championship with the Lakers. You've played at that point eighteen years. You know what, You've

given a lot to the league. But because he keeps playing, because he's good enough to be a deserving, top tier All Star, he then to these and I'm gonna talk about Nick here, talking about the folks at large, folks that have just become entitled that no, you owe us this. He he's not allowed to be cautious with an ankle injury. Uh, Nick, where did this injury come from? From Solomon Hill three and a half years ago, the only real injury he's

ever suffered his entire career. That ankle and foot have been messed up since then, He's and if you're if you watch the Lakers, Lebron all the time pops up on a morning of injury report because the ankle tightened up on it. And do I imagine that in the days leading up to the All Star Game he actually took some time, maybe didn't do his regular every day cryogenic chamber treatment that he would do if they had actual games coming up, so it was more likely to

tighten up. Of course, of course, that this being such a universally criticized thing that even Shannon and Kendrick and guys who are normally you know, on Lebron's side, on Stuffer's like, ah, this was this is a bridge too far from me? What are we talking about me?

Could you that if Tom Brady is second to last year with Tampa was like guys, which he did do. By the way, I know, I was named a pro bowler. I'm not gonna play and it's not because I'm hurt, it's just because not interested. It's exactly what happened. Was there a could you imagine how stupid folks would look if they went on TV and they were like, Tom Brady, this is why it's a flag football game. Now see

this guy. Hey, look at the direct line of the Pro Bowl's popularity with when Tom entered the league and where it is now. Blood's on his hands. And then we get to the photo stuff. Guys, there's like, this is all documented. Injured players still are in the photo. Oh, they don't have to be at the middle. You guys, go look at the picture of Yao when he was hurt, and obviously the middle of that picture has to be Lebron, Steph,

KD just has to be. Those are the guys you and people are like, oh, they'd haven't a criticism if often what'd you say, demonse? First of all, First of all, the injured players. When Kobe was injured, he didn't suit up. When other guys were injured, they don't suit up. But everyone is lying if they are acting like if Lebron had suited up for the picture, there wouldn't be this exact criticism. It would just be the exact opposite this.

because he's twenty three of the of his powers, young athletic. No, it's so dumb. This whole thing is so stupid, and it is. I don't understand how people call this selfish. I don't get that.

the last two years. And for it's just folks say, oh, he's the face of load management. The guy is going to play more games in more minutes than any player in the history of the league. And he's the face of not playing. I mean, give me a fucking break. This suffs. People are out of their mind. And I again, I mean Kendrick saying put your damn uniform on. He messed up the whole picture. Again, Where was this for Kobe or for yow sees.

find so much of this to be just insane. By the way, just because I invoked stephen A, did you see it demands, steven A did a whole segment responding to us responding to him about the top ten list. So a couple things. One is he was incredibly kind, very nice to me personally there called brew maybe the greatest human being he knows. I think like he was incredibly kind, uh, And I should reach out to stephen A. Didn't shout you out, which is a shame. But I'm

gonna work on that. I am. I would like at some point I'm throwing this out there now, at some point in the next year, we have to do a family crossover episode because you know, he does stuff.

Because he brings up the guys I mentioned. He brings up Uh, Kobe and Bird primarily, and he says off the front end, he was like, of course, we would never have Kevin Durant ahead of Kobe. Bryant says it like three times, and then he's like, but he averaged more points and was more efficient and its taller. But then he's like, bo, we wouldn't have him ahead of him, And then he brings up Bird. He's like, of course we wouldn't have Durant ahead a Bird because Bird's a

champion and a three time MVP. But he did all these things, which was the exact point I was making like, you can say all these things, but if you actually put pencil of paper, you're going to come down on my side of things. And so shout out stephen A for his kind words. I also am going to reach out to him, not only about the nephew thing but about some other stuff. But regardless, I disagree with him

that this was selfish. I disagree with again. And let me just cause I tried to tweet out the link, the YouTube link, and when I did that, I saw the like pre show chat and one of the snap One of the first things I saw and I'm glad I don't read that during the show would distract me. Was on Here comes Nick defending Lebron. Got to make sure those clutch checks clear. I've said this once before, let me say it again because I don't think people understand how agents work. So my agent, this guy named

Ryan Hayden, does an awesome job. He works at UTA. Rich Paul is a partner at UTA. Ryan and Rich work together. Rich has helped me with a few things, so you know, I'm clutch client adjacent. But Rich is not my agent. But I've done stuff with him, right, Okay, So I've made that very clear in the past. Here's the other thing. Not only do they not pay me, guys, I pay them. It's the exactly you got this relationship

exactly wrong. Your agent doesn't pay you. You you I work super hard building this family empire for Demons and Danielle and diora Indiana TV podcast, all of it, and then every month like a you know, almost ten percent of my money goes to them. Like it's not it's it's so the idea that I'm on the take quite the contrary. I provide a balance to the Lebron James equation and then I pay them for the pleasure of it. So if you're gonna roast me, don't get it right.

And not only am I not on the take, I'm paying out all right, Demanda, let's talk All Star game. By the way, speaking to my agent, my dad about once a year, uh, Hayden, if you're listening about once a year my dad comes for your job. He's like four, yeah, he wants to yeah, because he's a professionally. You know, he was ran a firefighters union for thirty five years, negotiating with the city and he just the he's like, you know, I could negotiate this way cheaper than you

know what you're paying your guy. Like, okay, pops, I appreciate.

it was a step in the right direction. I would propose this tweak, have the games beat a fifty instead of forty and instead of having four teams of eight guys, and therefore you have thirty two guys, and you have to have the rising stars involved, have four teams of seven guys, and expand the All Star team from twenty four to twenty eight. So that accomplishes a couple things. First of all, we won't have to worry about the ignominy of Norman Powell snubs in the future, because everybody

was so fucking worried about Norman Powell's feelings. But the All Star Game had twenty four guys in it back when the league had twelve teams, and it has stayed at twenty four guys now that we have thirty teams, So expanding it slightly to twenty eight probably makes sense. And we don't have to worry about the you know, there won't be as many snubs or whatever it is. The league is deep, that deep with talent and I so I didn't mind this tournament format. I thought it

was cool. I thought the TV production could have been tighter. I think the games could have been a touch longer, and then you fix a lot of it. But I I love the idea of a one one on one contest. I love it I will guys do it. I don't know if guys will do it. I think it would be exceptional TV and way more fun than a horse or the different things that we've you know, that we've heard about. So I really like the idea of the one on one tournament. But I didn't hate I did

not hate this. Uh. I didn't hate this the way other people did, and I thought it was I think sometimes what happens is we once again take our cues. I think the fans take their cues from the media and social media, and I think Draymond and we'll get to Draymond in a minute being on the broadcast just saying how much this sucks. Like I thought that was bad. I really thought it was bad. And I just can't imagine that ever happening with another sport, and that to

me is now. I have been critical at the beginning of the year, said the NBA has some real concerns. The load management thing is a real concern, and the just every team playing the same way with all the threes, that's a real concern that needs to be addressed. But that can be true, and then it also can be true that during the event it should be a celebration of your sport. I just can't it's I can't imagine Fox has the Major League Baseball All Star Game. Can

you imagine? Even the lead up to it, Poppy and a Rod and Jeter were just like, here's why the game sucks. Here's why people don't care. Here's why it was better back in my day. Like that's that's a downer for the fans. And again, I'm not acting like I thought it was a perfect event. It was not a perfect event, but I thought the actual basketball was way better than the last couple of years. I also think people have been overly dramatic about how bad it's

been for the last ten years. Twenty twenty post Kobe passing was a great game, twenty twenty two had an awesome finish, twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four were terrible, and Durant I think nailed it in some of his tweets when he was like, listen, the All Star Game's always been about three quarters of screwing around, so to speak, and then if it's close, lockdown for the fourth quarter.

The problem the last couple of years has been the three pointer allows teams to get to such a huge lead that there is no period of oh it's close late, let's fight for this. So tweaks were needed, But the NBA just also needs like better pr like nobody thinks that demands a that the Pro Bowl being a literal flag football game is a massive indictment on the NFL. Nobody thinks that, And go ahead if it look like you want to.

I understand that, which is why the tweaks are needed. But again, people are just uh way way too nostalgic about things that did or didn't exist, And so I do think the NBA smartly wants to tweak some things, and I think they're trying to We'll get to the Draymond stuff in just a second, But first, who's scoring big in the NBA this season? You with all the new ways to get in on the action at DraftKings

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so that just is no action. The Anthony Edwards one hit under twenty eight and a half, so there is only one game on Wednesday. It is Los Angeles against Charlotte. I'm not really sure am if I'm allowed to say the team names there, So just stick with me here, uh. I like Luca's over and Lebron's under. So Luca over twenty four and a half Lebron under twenty three and a half are where they set are set right now,

lines and odds, of course, subject to change. Thought process on that is Luca Lebron clearly dealing with a bit of an ankle. I think wants to get Luca involved. Luca hasn't is yet to have an explosive Laker game. So the Luca over the Lebron under little core related. I think, you know what, Maybe I could have it dead wrong, but that's where I sit. Luke over twenty four and a half Lebron under twenty three and a half lines an odd subject to change first time. Here's

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expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see DKNG dot co slash b ball. All right, demonse, let's get to self appointed all stars are Draymond Green, who had, I mean just a treasure troil of quotes this weekend? Go ahead, So do you.

the new format one through ten was a zero. It sucks the same basketball.

he now. He came on strong at the end of the before the break, but I would be they are far far more likely to lose in round one than they are to reach the finals. And now let's get to the other stuff. He's right about the Rising Stars shouldn't be playing Sunday Night. I actually think that is correct, and that is a tweak they should make. I get why they did it to make it to where there was a real pressure on the stars, like we can't let these kids beat us, but it should be a privilege.

But as often happens with Draymond, he while being correct, his delivery of the information is so poorly done that it's lost. And being on the pregame show for an event, I felt so terribly for my dear friend Adam Lefko, who is the one who asked him the one to ten question, and then Draymond says a zero. This sucks that buddy. Your job in that moment is to create excitement for the event. Like that's people like, oh, I applaud the honesty.

It's just that's just rude, and it's it's profession.

Would you like to do this? I think that if you'd have been like, well, I think that if he had been like sure, but just so you know, I'm gonna tell the audience how much the game sucks, they might be like, ooh, all right, maybe we'll find something else. And this is the other piece of it that I find really galling. Why is he the the grand person on the game yet? Like I, why so of NBA history Draymond Green. There are one hundred and forty seven people who have played in more All Star Games than

Draymond Green. One hundred and forty seven. Like was Chris Webber on that panel? I can't remember. I don't think he was. Maybe I'm not sure, because Chris Webber is one of them. Karl Anthony Towns, who was in the game, is one of them. Kevin who seems available, is one of them. Like the Vince was on the stage. Vince has played in double the All Star Games? Is stray hungry? Like who he is? Not the the the arbiter or the czar of All Star history? He he just isn't.

And the idea that he I just found it. Really I'm gonna use a nerdy word, uncouth. It would you would not have before? I mean, Stephen Durant are there and playing in it. They are taking it seriously, and for you to be like this sucks, it's not basketball. I would he be feeling that way if he had been selected? Maybe? I don't know.

good comp for it. It would be as if who is a like a really good but not all time great NFL player, if Brandon Graham before this year's Pro Bowl was like holding court about the way football must be played in a game that had all time legends playing in it, Like, buddy, you you have less experience with the All Star Game than Demarta Rosen, Like, I'm not the you need to make one more for your career total of All Star appearances to be the same as Al Horford or like, like what I'm just saying

those are five times as like I mean, I'm just I'm not taking my All Star history lesson from a guy who has the same number of appearances as Otis bird Song. I'm just not. And so like you can go somewhere with that, and if you want to do it, that's what the pod is for. Like, that's what the pod is for, not for the game broadcast. All right, let's move on.

only one guy, and he is lurking. Who do you think I'm gonna say.

fifty five the other night. But Joker's been spectacular.

he is. He has been a part of forty total wins in his career nineteen last year, in twenty one this year, like the Spurs right now have the same number of wins as the Blazers. Wimby is not an mv HE candidate Yannis is an interesting one, but they would have to get red hot like Yana. Is it eighty to one? What go ahead?

is how it. And then Giannis running away with third, Tatum running away with fourth, and then Donovan Jalen and Karl Anthony towns Neck and neck for fifth, and then after that again Wimby got a third place vote. Get out of here. Jaron Jackson got us two fourths and a first and a fifth. Anthony got two fifth bron You're twenty two three fifth place votes. Shout out. Cad Cunningham got one fourth. Okay, Shingoon got a fifth. That's fine. Uh yeah, Shay or Joker right now, it's got to

be Shay. But Joker's got a Joker has a real shot at it, and that team is scary. Top ten man, Joker finished top ten all time.

is the barrier and maybe he'll do it. Maybe one, four and four Yeah right, two mbps equals one title, No, because because the Steve Nash doesn't have a title, and mb doesn't have half a title, I would you know, but three maybe three mbps is a title. I'm okay with that. The the yeah, but listen, sorry, I got Shaye right now is the huge favorite and should be UH and he's been spectacular. I still worry about them a bit, just a bit. In the UH in the playoffs,

if they yeah, just the youth plus I need. Last year in the playoffs, Shaye played up to his level. All the other kids didn't quite so that worries me. That worries me a bit, all right. This episode of What's Right is brought to you by DAYA Pizza featuring dairy free cheese made with their new Daya Oat cream blend dairy free cheese come a long way, DAYA leading their charge their pizzas off of the Melton stretch or

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and sprouts. Follow Daya on Instagram and TikTok for more updates and recipes. All right, Demanse, let's get to some listener questions and if we can put some more in the chat, if the producers can, I'm gonna ask the first one because the first one is for you and it says, uh, I'm from Eric, I'm a big Celtics fan. Just wanted to ask where your Celtics fandom came from and how you feel about the team's chances this year.

wanted this Green team to beat Kobe. And it's just uh and the Rondo, Rey Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce tandem. I just love that squad and to this day, Ray Allen and Rondo are two of my favorite players. But yeah, I was it squad?

thousand and eight. This is I mean, this is just I mean, we're going back in the archives now, this is right around the time that you and I met exactly you know what I mean, This is like right, and you weren't you didn't play basketball yet or anything, but that was that was your team and then yeah and then later in life. I think the only other player that came close from me watching it from you for fandom, individual player fandom to those two guys was Crawford.

I also think that if any of these old heads that swear the game was better in a previous era, if we set up a livestream mystery science theater two thousand style or a three thousand style where they have to sit and watch a full game, just pick a random it can be a playoff game from different decades, we'd be like, oh, maybe it isn't quite as glorious as I remember, and maybe that we do see having to guard all segments of the court and the athleticism,

there are some real benefits to today's game. Ask AJ's question, Aj.

the best twenty four players are not international players. You'd have, you know, you'd have a really solid eight, But then after that we're kind of we're falling off a bit. I do think that could be interesting. I also think that the weird spot is you have a disproportionate number of the great international guys play the same position. Is a lot of Biggs in jokicch embiid honest Wimby like

just basketball wise, it doesn't quite fit all right. Is also somebody asked, now that football's done, you're watching any TV shows? Watching White Lotus. Now the football's done, I'm just playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption. I just gotta tell you, I am so. It is therapeutic. I enjoy it. I look forward to it. Last night, your mom and I turned on White Lotus.

Things First in a few hours. Great job, Demond's a great job. Folks at Blue Duck and our folks at volume. Thank you guys. Appreciate you guys, watching View and listening the whole thing. Talk to you guys soon.