0:01

The 2024 NFL Draft hits to Detroit

0:03

and it's time to see who gets

0:05

the job. Caleb is a unique and special

0:07

talent throwing the football. And

0:10

what sets them apart? The Hysin

0:12

Trophy winner is Jaden Daniels. All

0:14

of the greats were hired here. All the

0:16

proud Bible homes. See who gets

0:19

the job. Are you ready? The

0:22

2024 NFL Draft begins Thursday

0:24

April 25th on ESPN, ABC and NFL

0:26

Network. First

0:31

Take is presented by ESPN Bet. Good

0:39

day. What's going on everyone? Welcome into

0:42

First Take on this Wednesday. Stephen

0:44

A. Smith on the West Coast.

0:46

How we feeling? How we living?

0:49

What's going on everybody? Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.

0:51

How y'all doing? And as you can

0:53

see, Stephen A., I'm not lonely today. I

0:55

got Christopher Mad Dog Russo in the building.

0:57

Good to see you, sir. Good morning. Nice

0:59

to see you. Nice to see you. And

1:01

of course, you know, I'm happy you're back

1:03

in NYC. Brian Woodhorse. It's been great. Yeah.

1:07

I do love to see Wendy. He's always welcomed

1:09

on the show and to have on the suit

1:11

and the tie very, very dap. You

1:14

know how hard it was to get the tie on between get up and now in

1:16

this type of window. That's not easy, Mr. Smith.

1:18

I did it for you. But you

1:20

pulled it off. And I appreciate that. I

1:22

appreciate that there's a standard here that we

1:24

set. Okay. Much appreciated.

1:26

Good morning, Doggie. Good morning, Doggie. I

1:29

do like the blazer. I do like the tie. Only

1:31

one problem. Oh, God.

1:34

You did wear that recently. No, I didn't. If

1:36

it was not last week, it was the week

1:38

before. I did not wear the blazer. It was.

1:41

No, I didn't. Stephen A. Nice

1:43

try. Stephen A. Smith.

1:46

Nice try, hot shot. I

1:48

do not have a problem. Some of us reheat suit. You

1:50

do. You do. Some

1:53

of us have to reheat dresses and suits. You know,

1:55

we're not quite at your level. So you

1:57

have to work with us peasants. Before we

1:59

start, I did. Did you see me in general hospital yesterday?

2:01

Did you see me in general hospital yesterday? I

2:03

just want to just wonder. Did you see brick? America

2:06

saw brick, that's what matters. America

2:09

saw brick and they were here for it.

2:11

Were you proud of your chops, your performance?

2:13

I was, I was, yes. Good, good. That's

2:16

what I like to hear. That's pretty cool.

2:18

All right, the Kings were feeling good about

2:20

their performance. Let's get into it. Ousting the

2:22

Warriors from the play-in tournament and they advanced

2:24

to face the Pelicans where Zion of course

2:26

exited the game last night due to injury.

2:28

Wendy will have more on that in just

2:30

a minute. Sacramento's Keegan Murray scored 32 points.

2:32

Aaron Fox had a 24 and the Kings

2:35

stayed alive in the play-in with a 1-18-94

2:37

win. Now,

2:39

us or the dynasty that was the Warriors,

2:41

Steve Kirk, can this make

2:43

three still be contenders? I

2:47

would say I believe they can. These

2:50

guys are all still really

2:52

damn good players. So hopefully

2:55

we can re-sign Clay. Dreamon

2:57

and Steph are both under

3:01

contract. So we're going to roll it

3:03

back next year. I

3:05

know those two guys have been through it with me.

3:09

At the end of the day, I just

3:11

want to win. And I know that that's

3:16

fully possible. I know that summer is going

3:18

to be a

3:21

lot of conversations and they're trying to

3:24

set up ourselves to win and whatever that

3:26

means. I hope

3:28

that's the outcome. All

3:31

right, so last night may very well have

3:34

been the final game together for Steph Curry,

3:36

Clay Thompson, and Dreamon Green. It would mark

3:38

the end of one of the best

3:40

dynasties in NBA history.

3:42

In the last 10 seasons, the trio

3:44

led the Warriors to six NBA Finals,

3:46

one more championship, as well

3:49

as an NBA record 73 wins in the 2015-2016 season.

3:55

So with that being said, Stephen A,

3:57

do you feel like this is the

3:59

end? end of the Warriors as we know them.

4:02

Yes, it has to be. You

4:05

know, major props and an incredible level

4:07

of gratitude needs to be given

4:09

to them to what for what they've meant

4:12

to the game of basketball. Steph Curry is still

4:14

a superstar, make no mistake about it. Relatively

4:17

pedestrian performance last night hit 50%

4:20

of his shots from the field, went

4:22

three to seven from three point range, only

4:24

finished with 22 points. You were going to

4:26

need more than that to beat the Sacramento

4:28

Kings last night. Clay Thompson obviously approaching free

4:31

agency. I think it was,

4:34

I don't want to call it poetic because I

4:36

certainly don't want to sit up there and try

4:39

to imply anything negative of this four-time champion and

4:41

one of the greatest shooters we have

4:43

ever seen, but there is no doubt that he has

4:45

fallen off to some degree. I still

4:47

think a boatload of teams in the NBA

4:49

could use his services. He

4:51

ain't going anywhere, he's not going to retire,

4:53

but is he what he used to be?

4:55

The answer to that question is no. When

4:58

you look at the Golden State Warriors, we have

5:00

to think from an overview perspective, Wendy and Dougie,

5:03

this is the third time in five years.

5:06

Now I know Joe Laker

5:10

and Peter Cooper a little bit and I can

5:13

tell you something about Joe Laker ain't gonna stand

5:15

still. I promise you that. I haven't spoken to

5:17

him in a while, but I'm telling you, I

5:20

know this man well enough to tell you he is not

5:22

gonna stand still and just let

5:25

these twilight years of Steph Curry's career

5:27

fade into oblivion like this. This is

5:29

the third time in five years the

5:32

Golden State Warriors have missed the

5:34

playoffs. I understand they got a

5:36

championship recently, but it's still three times in

5:39

five years you've missed the playoffs. And by

5:41

the way, against the top six teams this

5:43

year, their record is four and 19,

5:45

if I remember correctly, four

5:47

and 19. That's unacceptable, that's

5:49

unacceptable. And so sometimes in life, listen, business will

5:51

be the first to tell us you got to

5:53

see the forest from the trees, you got to

5:55

see, you got to read the tea leaves, you

5:57

got to see what's coming down the pipe. Well,

6:00

this has been coming down for quite a long time.

6:02

You got a guy in Andrew Wiggins that, you know,

6:04

when he's there and he's vibrant, he

6:07

can do some big time things. Far more

6:09

often than not, he's inconsistent, or dare I

6:11

say, an absolute positive no-show. Family issues and

6:13

things of that nature, I get it. But

6:15

at the end of the day, a whole

6:17

bunch of folks in this country and throughout

6:19

this world got issues. They still show up

6:21

to work. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't.

6:23

And so we look at it from that

6:26

perspective. We look at it from Clay Thompson's

6:28

perspective. We look at the youth movement that

6:30

they have and you've got some talent. But

6:32

clearly when you look at the rest of

6:34

the West, as Wendy alluded to yesterday, there's

6:37

a whole bunch of talent throughout

6:39

the Western Conference. And people seem

6:41

to, more competition seems to have

6:44

elevated to the point where the

6:46

Golden State Warriors are on the

6:48

verge of being left behind. Joe

6:51

Lake up is not going to

6:53

stand for that. I can promise you that.

6:56

There's no way that this goes stamped.

6:58

The end of the Warriors, as we know

7:00

it, this isn't the end of the Warriors

7:02

because they still got Steph Curry. But as

7:04

we know it, as we see

7:07

them presently constructed, it's a

7:09

wrap. Trust me on this, change

7:11

is coming. Yeah, so it's

7:13

interesting you brought up about how Clay has received

7:15

it. There's no doubt about that. He wasn't a

7:17

$43 million max player in terms of production this

7:20

year, which is why he's gonna take a pay

7:22

cut probably in Golden State, but maybe elsewhere. What

7:25

they had done when they won their championship two

7:27

years ago is they'd gotten this incredible rise from

7:29

Andrew Wiggins. He's received

7:31

it himself. So the problem here

7:33

is, is that even though Steph Curry is still playing

7:35

at all NBA level, what you

7:37

need to compete in the Western Conference, this

7:40

high level of assistant talent, this

7:42

isn't there. So it's not

7:44

gonna improve, I don't think, with Wiggins and

7:46

Clay. Maybe they can get more back to

7:48

where they were, but I don't think you

7:50

can bet on that. So the question really

7:52

becomes, guys, what does

7:54

the ownership do? Because one of the things that

7:56

is an issue here, this is a $400 million.

8:00

million team, $380 million when you

8:02

include the taxes. What

8:04

Joe Laker said on the record is

8:06

that they need to get under the luxury tax and

8:08

not just because you're tired of spending money, although I

8:11

wouldn't blame them if they were if they had a team

8:13

that they spent this much money on that didn't even make

8:15

the playoffs. I would understand why they wouldn't want to run

8:17

that back. But doing

8:20

what they need to do to get under the

8:22

tax, which is very doable, by the way, you

8:24

have a non-guaranteed contract on Chris Paul for $31

8:26

million. You just say thank you

8:28

and goodbye. You get Clay Thompson, take

8:30

a pretty big pay cut. I mean, in all honesty,

8:32

you should come down at least 20 million ish. You

8:35

can negotiate that right there. That's $50 million right there.

8:38

That puts you in a whole different status here and

8:40

you open up some other options. But

8:42

if you're talking about not standing past even

8:44

a, the only way to really

8:46

bring in major talent with

8:49

where they're at right now is to

8:51

keep that Chris Paul contract. Add

8:53

the young players that you've got in a couple of

8:55

future draft picks that you've got and go out into

8:58

the marketplace star hunting. And I'm just

9:00

not sure that that's where this team is going

9:02

to go. I think what they're more likely to

9:04

do is to say, hey, we finished the season

9:06

27 and 12

9:09

when Draymond played this year, we were 33 and 22

9:11

when he didn't play, we were under 500

9:15

in those 20 games with the suspension, the

9:17

return from that. If we get Draymond to

9:19

not get suspended for 20 games next year,

9:21

and we can improve around the edges, we

9:23

can still be competitive. I think that's more

9:25

likely as opposed to them going hunting in

9:27

the market. But I have to acknowledge that

9:29

that is still possible if they're willing to

9:32

spend. Well, first off,

9:34

Sacramento's got to calm down. The Kings lighten

9:36

the beam, I mean, because they beat the

9:38

Golden State Warriors. And what did they

9:40

do? What is Sacramento? They're not even in the body of work yet.

9:43

They got to play a road game in New

9:45

Orleans to get into the postseason. So the

9:47

Kings think they've made this logical. Look at us.

9:50

We beat Golden State. Nonsense. You're

9:52

not even, you're in the ninth seed right now.

9:54

Go beat the Pelicans on the road, Brian

9:56

I. And then at least they can say

9:58

they made the playoffs. for that. And they made

10:00

a plus. And they got knocked down the first guy anyway.

10:03

So it's not going to make the sound like they've

10:05

really accomplished anything. They've accomplished nothing. And as Wendy

10:07

said, what do you want to do, Steve? And

10:09

then I get in the honest, this

10:12

is, this happens to all great teams. It

10:14

happened to the Celtics. It happened to

10:16

Jordan's Bulls. I would have, would have

10:18

been done. How about Popovich? He ended up

10:20

aiming since Duncan and Robinson left. You

10:22

win some championships and the players get

10:24

old. Salary cap comes in the mix. This

10:27

is not baseball. And obviously, you know,

10:29

you fade and you try to make

10:31

another run with a lucky draft pick. Maybe

10:33

your fans when that great player comes

10:35

out, something along those lines, I know they got

10:37

lucky with the red, that one year when he was

10:39

a free agent, he went to Golden State. That probably

10:41

not going to happen again. This is the logic of

10:44

sports. You know, you

10:46

have a run. They won four championships.

10:48

They won four. And now

10:50

they're going to go the other way for

10:53

a while. All right, Wendy's right. Maybe they'll

10:55

be, you know, green playing more games. I

10:57

got to see that to believe it. But

10:59

green playing more games and you know, Curry's

11:01

older. This is what it is. They're a

11:04

40 to 45 win team from now into

11:06

the end of the Curry time. You got to

11:08

live with it. If you're a warrior, your friend,

11:10

you won four titles. That's not going to change

11:12

in the salary cap year of the NBA. Well,

11:15

first of all, there's several points that you just made

11:17

that I want to address. But before we do any

11:19

of that, fix your tie, straighten it out. Come on

11:21

now. You're on first take, baby. Get it together. Fix

11:23

the tie. That's number one. Number two, I

11:25

don't know why the hell you're getting on

11:28

the Sacramento Kings. Yeah, the right in the

11:30

beam and all of that other stuff. The

11:32

point is, doggy, they're going up against the

11:34

Warriors. If you know anything about that matchup,

11:37

how close in proximity they are, it's a,

11:39

it's a personal thing. And so I don't

11:41

think that you saw the one

11:43

thing that they didn't want to, want to

11:45

happen. They didn't want their season to end

11:47

at the hand of the Warriors. That's what

11:50

that's about, particularly in that location. And so

11:52

you got to take that into consideration as

11:54

well. That's all that was. They noted a

11:56

night scene. They got to go beat New Orleans. Let's

11:58

see what happens in that matchup. Obviously

12:00

the season isn't what it was last year

12:02

and we get all of that so their

12:04

whole objective is to make the playoffs But

12:07

I think last night celebration was about making

12:09

sure you don't lose to the damn warriors

12:11

again You know, they're coming in you don't

12:13

celebrate a play in win. I mean, you

12:15

know I'm just I think you're playing you

12:17

know, celebrate out they've celebrated Regular

12:20

season wins against the Golden State Warriors.

12:22

I'm not talking about it It's

12:25

my house and but number three and get

12:27

and and let's get to a bigger point

12:29

here The question is is this the end of the

12:31

Warriors as we know it you sit up there what you

12:33

want them to do What listen, I'm not

12:35

saying that you want them to do anything at

12:37

the end of the day What I'm talking about

12:39

is you're not gonna stand pat You're not gonna

12:41

stand still because you got a superstar in Steph

12:43

Curry who's still playing like a superstar And so

12:46

what you really really want to do is you

12:48

want to maximize the potential of

12:50

your superstar? You want to make sure you exploit

12:52

that to the max? What you don't want to

12:54

do is sit around and have

12:56

somebody as elite as he is as great

12:58

as he is And you're just

13:01

withering away because there's nothing that you can

13:03

do to surround him with what's needed in

13:05

order for him to still shine That's

13:08

what you don't want to do. Here's where you

13:10

relent and you say, okay What do you want

13:12

them to do to your point dog is

13:14

this curry feet? Now

13:16

there was a precipitous drop off

13:19

in the quality of play that

13:21

Steph Curry's giving you We

13:23

stand down. What are you supposed to do?

13:26

He gave you four rings. He gave you

13:28

six trips to the NBA Finals What the

13:30

hell are you supposed to do then you

13:32

do that? But when you have your superstar

13:35

Playing like a superstar you don't stand

13:37

pat You got to figure out something

13:39

and that's what i'm talking about. They

13:42

got some young pieces You got maybe

13:44

somebody will take andrew wiggins off your

13:46

hand and you'll get somebody who isn't

13:49

comatose 50 percent of the time Okay,

13:51

draymond green Look bro. Don't get suspended

13:53

anymore. We can't afford you see these 20 games Do

13:56

you realize that had you played these 20 games what

13:58

kind of position we would have been? been in,

14:00

we might've lost in the first round, but we

14:02

damn sure probably wouldn't be in the play-in. So

14:04

you understand what you cost us. You got to

14:06

have those kind of conversations, but you got to

14:09

try something. And I'm telling you, I'm not asking.

14:11

I didn't talk to anybody, but I think it's

14:13

fair to say that I, as Wendy would say, I

14:16

kind of know a few owners. One

14:18

of them is Joe Laker, and I

14:20

can promise you, I can,

14:22

as sure as I can promise you,

14:24

that I'm going to leave from here

14:26

and go down there, go to some

14:29

spot in LA to get some breakfast

14:31

after this show. I'm promising you, Joe

14:33

Laker is not going to stand back

14:36

and accept, well, you know what, what do you

14:38

want us to do? We gave you four rings

14:40

and six tries. No, this man

14:42

once told me to my face, doggy. The

14:46

Lakers have 18 Boston Celtics.

14:49

That's what

14:51

I want. That's what I want.

14:53

I understand that. I understand. Take it easy.

14:56

Take it easy. Take it easy. You're right about that.

14:58

That's a long way off. But

15:01

when you have Steph Curry and you

15:03

got four, you're damn sure

15:06

aiming for five. That's all

15:08

I'm trying to say. He's not going to stand

15:10

back. Change is coming. Change

15:12

is coming. And you know what I'm

15:15

saying, Wendy? Change is coming. He's not going to stand

15:17

still. It's going

15:19

to be expensive if he doesn't want to stand still. Hey,

15:22

hey, I'm Molly Karam. And thanks so

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apply. Would

18:10

you characterize this season as a failure

18:12

for the Warriors? I wouldn't and

18:14

I know that that really fired up Stephen

18:16

a and Shannon yesterday. Here's the thing. Let

18:18

me just ask you this question really basic.

18:21

Was this season or last season better for

18:23

the Warriors? I

18:26

didn't hear your question. Uh, Wendy, because the producer was

18:28

in my ear. Could you ask again, please? What, what,

18:30

what, what, what the Warriors better this season or last

18:32

season? They were

18:34

better this season, especially on the road. That's right.

18:37

They were a better team this season. They

18:39

won more games despite

18:41

the Draymond situation than

18:44

they did last season. Now you would say, well, how

18:46

could it, how could you possibly say that? Because they're

18:48

home. They didn't even make the playoffs last year. They

18:50

made the second round and went out

18:52

in that tough series against LeBron, but

18:55

they were a better team this year. They

18:57

actually were there. Their numbers were better. They

19:00

had more wins. The circumstances with the suspension

19:02

and the strength of the West pulled

19:04

them back. But that, but, but

19:06

the idea that they're withering, I don't, they're

19:09

withering compared to where they were in

19:11

22 when they were there withering with

19:13

where they were in 2018. I'll agree with you

19:16

there, but this team actually is

19:19

growing. They had four young guys,

19:21

22, 23 year olds and

19:23

younger who play key roles on this team. None

19:26

of them are going to be hall of famers. I don't think not.

19:28

We're going to be number two on championship

19:30

team. Those guys should get

19:33

better. I know that

19:35

today it's very, it's very comfortable to say,

19:37

well, it's over, but

19:39

this team still has growth potential. Just not where they

19:41

were in 18. No, no, no, no.

19:44

CCC, that's you

19:47

being the astute NBA

19:50

analyst who by the way, is also an

19:52

incredibly nice guy, America, an incredibly nice guy.

19:54

You know what I'm saying? I'm a little

19:56

bit more harsh than you. It's

19:59

about the. competition. So

20:02

I get what you're saying about them,

20:05

but you can't in the same breath

20:07

sit on national television like you did

20:09

yesterday with me and Shannon talking

20:12

about the parody that exists

20:14

within the Western Conference, looking at

20:16

Phoenix, looking at Dallas, looking at

20:18

the Clippers, looking at Sacramento, I'm

20:20

sorry, yeah, Sacramento's the limit, looking

20:22

at Minnesota and Oklahoma City along

20:24

with Denver and just literally all

20:27

of a sudden a day later,

20:29

judge the Golden State Warriors in

20:31

the vacuum. I know they've gotten

20:33

better, but in the end, who

20:35

are you going against and how

20:37

much better will they get? How

20:39

much better has the competition gotten?

20:41

That's where we are with this. And

20:43

by the way, let me be very clear to the

20:45

Golden State Warriors. The season's a

20:47

failure. The season's a

20:50

failure because you didn't make

20:52

the postseason. I understand you got

20:54

better. I say you look better than you did last year. 46

20:56

and 36, 10 games

20:58

over 500. Ain't nothing to sneeze at. You

21:00

were considerably better on the road this year than you

21:03

were last year. I get all of that. You're

21:05

home when the

21:07

playoffs begin this weekend. That

21:10

is the definition of

21:12

failure in the

21:14

National Basketball Association for a playoff

21:17

contender. Now, if you stink and

21:20

you're one of the impurgatory and

21:22

then you improve, that's different. But

21:25

when the expectation is postseason

21:28

and you don't make it, you have

21:30

failed. Go ahead, Dougie. Yeah, I

21:32

happen to agree with you, Steve. I wish I

21:34

could take your side, Brian. Who the heck wants to

21:36

agree with him? But he's a thousand percent right. I

21:38

mean, you know, they lost a home game last week

21:41

to the Pelicans in their building and all curse that

21:43

after the game. Hey, don't look at us. The Pelicans

21:45

played a fantastic game. Nick Nye Bird's going to say

21:47

that. Nick Nye Bird, when he lost the playoff game

21:50

at home, just say, you know what? Hey, we did

21:52

okay. I can't help it. I couldn't stop Julius. This

21:54

is a team that's won four championships. Teams

21:56

that win four championships when they're playing for a home

21:58

game at the end of the year. don't

22:00

lose on New Orleans Pelicans on a Friday night, 1.14 to

22:02

1.09. And

22:04

then they went into Sacramento two days later,

22:07

they didn't get beat. They got blown out, I

22:09

wasn't in the half, they were not winning that game. They

22:11

got blown out, they made the freaking kid

22:14

from Iowa look like, you know, what's his

22:16

name? Alan? Murray, he was

22:18

killin', he killed them all day. They couldn't

22:20

stop him. He played great. And you know this

22:22

idea, the Draymond Green, well you know what, we're

22:24

gonna teach Draymond and next year you came in,

22:26

what is he gonna listen? He's not, on a

22:28

cold night in Cleveland next year, is he gonna

22:30

think about the idea, well you know, last year

22:32

I got to spend a 20 game, so this makes

22:34

sure I don't yell at the referee so I can play

22:36

the, he's not gonna, I still have his personality.

22:39

He's just gonna get himself in hot water occasionally.

22:41

That's who he is. So the Warriors are

22:43

just not, I don't know what Steve thinks,

22:45

he must think that Rick Perry and Nate

22:47

Thurman are coming. Warriors are

22:49

not, that's it, it's over. Curry's old,

22:52

Thompson's not as good as he was,

22:54

Green's old, they got no draft capital,

22:57

they're not gonna be able to bring a free agent, you

22:59

can tell me more about that than

23:01

I know. So as a result, and

23:03

the OKC's good, Minnesota's not going anywhere,

23:05

Houston's gonna get better, San Antonio eventually

23:07

wins some games, I mean they certainly

23:09

got Denver, I mean, so there's a

23:12

lot of good teams, so from that

23:14

standpoint, it's finished for Golden State. They're

23:16

not winning another NBA Step 3, unless

23:19

it gets traded, he is not

23:21

winning another NBA championship in San

23:23

Francisco to go one step further. He's not playing

23:25

at a conference final. And

23:28

he's great, we all know him, he's just fits over. He

23:30

is not ever gonna play again in a conference

23:32

final in the West, I'll make that point. By

23:34

the way, you brought, you're bringing up your scenario

23:37

for a team that did not make the

23:39

playoffs, you want me to tell you who's

23:41

the success story thus far this year? Was

23:44

that? The Houston Rockets. I hear that,

23:46

I hear that. That's a success story,

23:48

Wendy. You see on the cover, where

23:50

they were, you know where they are?

23:52

What you're talking about. That's a successful season. Stephen

23:55

A., what you're talking about there is nuance. You

23:58

can, because you can look at the... with nuance

24:00

and understanding and say, they did a great job

24:02

this year. You can look at

24:05

the Warriors and say, they achieved this

24:07

year, but it didn't work out

24:09

because of these four things. It's not you

24:11

win the title or you're awful. Sometimes

24:14

you can have a successful season and

24:16

things don't go your way. The difference

24:18

between the number two team in the

24:20

West, which is whoever you want

24:22

under Denver and the number 10 team

24:25

is negligible. But Wendy, anybody in this

24:27

Western conference other than the Lakers

24:30

in Denver, anybody wins to me. There's

24:33

nothing that's an upset other than the Lakers. There's

24:35

no upset. All the teams are the same and

24:37

the Warriors this year. I've never, ever, ever,

24:40

ever, ever on air. I've

24:42

never insulted you in all the years I've known you

24:44

because I love you to death. I've never insulted you

24:46

one time, Wendy. I'm going to do that right

24:48

now. You

24:51

just imitated some damn troll

24:54

on Twitter. I never

24:56

said you win a championship or

24:58

your failure. I didn't say that. That's

25:00

right. You see how you twisted that? I didn't

25:02

say that. Those words never came out of my

25:04

mouth. That's the way modern NBA fandom unfortunately operates

25:07

all the time. All right, I'm just saying, but

25:09

modern day NBA fandom ain't this. They

25:11

ain't me and you talking on first take.

25:13

You understand what I'm saying? This is who

25:15

we are. I'm saying to you, the

25:18

Golden State Warriors, the

25:20

expectation was playoffs. If

25:23

the expectation is playoffs and you don't

25:25

make it, you have failed. I didn't

25:27

say championship. I said,

25:29

if you miss the playoffs and

25:32

you're the Warriors, you have

25:35

failed. Now the reasons why could

25:37

be the reasons why. You can bring up Draymond. You

25:39

can bring up Clay. I can bring

25:41

up Andrew Wiggins. If the man had done

25:44

something consistently, I think they would have been

25:46

there. I love committing for Jimski's growth. No

25:48

doubt about it. I like Moody a lot.

25:50

I see the youngs. I see the young

25:52

dudes. I get it. But

25:54

the expectation with a superstar who's

25:57

playing like a superstar is to

25:59

at least. make the playoffs. Not

26:02

the championship, not the finals. Not

26:04

the championship, just make the playoffs.

26:06

Especially when you got 10 teams

26:09

that got a chance because of the play-in and

26:12

they didn't do it. Period.

26:14

And if Draymond didn't get suspended

26:17

they probably do and they're down

26:19

one. He always gets suspended. You

26:21

can't say if he does and he always does. Because

26:23

he's also played great in finals and been a big

26:25

factor. I agree with that. That's the thing. That's why

26:28

we go through this whole thing. That's why there's 30

26:30

teams, not two. Yep. All right.

26:32

That trio has 98 playoff

26:35

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That's l-e-c-t-r-i-c-e-bikes.com. Hey, Molly Karam here

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and thanks so much for listening to the First Take Podcast.

27:58

We all know breakfast is part of your

28:00

day. But sometimes when you're traveling for business,

28:03

you end up staying at a hotel that

28:05

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28:07

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28:09

the meal entirely. We've all been there. But

28:11

if you book a room at La Quinta

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La Quinta, tomorrow you shine. Book

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direct at lq.com. The

28:31

Lakers defeated the Pelicans. We'll now face the

28:33

Nuggets again this time in the first round.

28:35

LeBron James had 23 points and the 110-106

28:37

win. The

28:40

Lakers get a rematch with Denver who

28:42

swept LA last season. That was in

28:44

the Western Conference Finals Game 1 Saturday

28:47

night. Here's Darvin Ham on the notion

28:49

that the Lakers should have ducked the

28:51

Nuggets. Insane

29:00

asylum sources say. Okay.

29:14

Someone that just got

29:17

out of the insane asylum. Someone

29:22

that got out of the insane asylum.

29:25

Before we ask a question, before we answer

29:27

this question, I'm going to do something I

29:29

never do. As you know, Wendy and Doggy,

29:32

I'm incredibly protective of

29:35

the industry. But every

29:37

now and then there's some weak ass

29:39

reporters out there that bring

29:41

up questions like that, talk, TV, talk, and

29:44

all of this other stuff. Shut the hell

29:46

up or ask a direct question.

29:49

We didn't sit up here and

29:51

suggest that the Lakers should avoid

29:54

the Denver Nuggets.

29:56

What we asked were where

29:58

you're going to. because the Denver

30:00

Nuggets been whipping your ass. They've

30:03

beaten you eight straight. It's

30:05

been nearly two, it's been over a year

30:07

and a half since you've recorded a victory

30:09

against them. That's what we

30:11

said. You see, this is the kind

30:13

of stuff that irritates me about our

30:16

industry sometimes, which I am very, very

30:18

protective of, because I understand that everybody

30:20

doesn't have the platforms that we have,

30:22

guys, and I get it. But

30:25

when you sit up there in front of

30:27

the coach and you ask a question, could

30:29

you have the decency to represent the question

30:31

accurately? People weren't talking about how the Lakers

30:33

should throw a game and avoid

30:35

Denver. What we were saying is, would

30:37

they? Do you have

30:40

the courage to sit up there and say, they've

30:42

been whipping our ass and we want them? Or

30:45

are you gonna take the path

30:47

of easiest resistance? That's an entirely

30:49

different question than saying, oh,

30:52

the public, the media out there was saying

30:54

you should avoid them. They were not Darvin

30:56

Ham, I'm reaching out to the

30:58

coach of the Lakers. Darvin Ham, that is a lie.

31:01

The media was not, not that he said

31:03

that, I'm talking about the person who asked

31:05

the question. Darvin Ham, the media was not

31:07

saying you should avoid Denver. We

31:09

were asking, would you? And

31:12

that was a legitimate question going into last

31:14

night's game. That's all I wanted to say

31:16

about that. Go ahead, y'all. Fair enough. Well,

31:19

Steven, ain't no avoiding them now, because they're gonna

31:21

face off in the first round. But Madduck, here's

31:23

what I want to ask you. Watching that game

31:25

last night, obviously we saw the Pelicans get back

31:27

in it. Zion, just when he was heating up,

31:30

unfortunately had to exit the game with injury, with

31:32

windy, he'll give us an update on, momentarily. Were

31:35

you more encouraged or discouraged by

31:37

that Lakers win? Well, first off,

31:39

I got a fair break to Lakers when

31:41

Denver lost to San Antonio, because because of

31:43

that, they got nailed with this two seed

31:45

thing. And you can't expect any

31:47

team to lose a game. In

31:50

actuality, they would be better. Let's be

31:52

honest, as a sports fan, they would

31:54

be better playing OKC than the Nuggets.

31:56

There's no other way around it. lose

32:00

last night, they get the home game Sunday against Sacramento,

32:02

a fight against Sacramento, a game they would have won.

32:05

Then they get OKC. That's a better

32:07

match. Let's be fair. That's a better

32:09

matchup for them. From a sports fans' perspective, they got

32:11

to rule. It'll be a better matchup for any team in

32:13

the league, not playing them. That's exactly right. I played for

32:15

the Lakers who haven't beaten them, got swept last year. I

32:18

am more wrapped up right now on the Pelicans.

32:21

You're right, Lakers would let these guys

32:23

handle that. How about the Pelicans? They can't beat

32:25

the Lakers. They got a double-digit lead at the

32:27

first quarter. They got Williamson playing

32:30

great, Ingram's second game. They're at

32:32

home, huge game. And then they

32:34

get blown out. They got blown

32:36

out. They had a good fourth quarter, but they were

32:38

down 18 in the second half. How about

32:41

New Orleans shows some guts once in a

32:43

while and beat the Lakers in a big spot.

32:45

And now they're in a death game here on

32:47

Friday against Sacramento. So I'm more down on them.

32:49

But if anybody thinks, Stephen A,

32:52

if anybody thinks that somehow, someway, because

32:54

the Lakers figured out a way to beat

32:57

the New Orleans Pelicans, that they are now

32:59

going to beat the Denver Nuggets or challenge

33:01

the Denver Nuggets, that ain't happening. Maybe

33:03

they'll win a game. I expect maybe

33:06

not a sweep. Anthony Davis says,

33:08

hey, we're ready to go. We're embarrassed

33:10

by last year. Nonsense. Because

33:13

now it's Jokic, Murray, home

33:15

court, mile high. See

33:18

you later, alligator. Denver will win that

33:20

series easy. Go ahead, Bruce. Go ahead. Yeah.

33:23

So Zion's going to get an MRI

33:25

this morning on that leg. This

33:29

is a basketball tragedy, I believe

33:31

this was Zion's moment. He

33:33

has been working towards this moment for years.

33:35

He's had so many setbacks. He's

33:37

really in much better condition. The

33:40

second half of this season, it

33:42

worked so hard. Guys, he was

33:44

going at LeBron James and Anthony

33:46

Davis and winning. He

33:48

was getting into them at both

33:50

ends of the court. He had 40 points for

33:52

three minutes to go. His second career, 40 point

33:54

game in a play in game on

33:56

his home court. This is what you want from

33:58

Zion. You want playmaking on defense and want

34:00

the ball and taking it to the rim

34:03

on offense can't stop him it was great

34:05

and then he comes up lame and you

34:07

could see in his eyes that he

34:09

knew he was hurt and he's had these muscle injuries

34:11

in his legs before and will wait for

34:13

the MRI before make any assumptions but

34:17

he knew that he's in trouble and now they've

34:20

actually beaten the Kings five times this year

34:22

which is unbelievable that did you have five and oh

34:24

against them including the end season tournament but

34:26

to beat him a sixth time they may have to do without

34:28

Zion and in this game it was

34:31

a very professional win for the Lakers because they

34:33

didn't have their best stuff LeBron

34:35

was exhausted by the fourth

34:37

quarter in this game and I'll give LeBron credit he

34:39

stepped up and took the Zion defensive assignment

34:41

for a lot of this game and he did

34:43

it on Sunday and what was a

34:45

much win game but LeBron was paying the price at

34:48

the fourth quarter his legs were gone I think it

34:50

was one of eight down the stretch threw up an

34:52

air ball late which Anthony Davis he's

34:54

doing his own back injury he wasn't having

34:56

a great night it was six to sixteen

34:58

but he rebounded the

35:00

Lakers you know really got a great performance from

35:02

D'Angelo Russell he made a big steal in the

35:05

last two minutes hit the biggest shot of the

35:07

game Austin Reeve set him up the Lakers ground

35:09

this game out and they're 14 and 5 in

35:11

their last 19 games and

35:13

their reward unfortunately is that

35:15

beast Nikoli Jokic I

35:18

do think that the takeaway from this game is

35:20

that Zion is getting closer to the

35:22

guy we want and Brandon

35:24

Ingram got benched for the last seven minutes

35:26

of this game his team

35:28

was all cheering he's over there sitting on

35:30

the bench with a push on his face

35:32

that was a problem he's up for an

35:35

extension this offseason that's an issue and CJ

35:37

McCollum got benched for a big part

35:39

of the fourth quarter in this game too this was

35:41

not a high-level game this was survival of who could

35:43

ever hang on but the Lakers did they get credit

35:46

for that let me get to let me I got

35:48

a few things I want to say about this number

35:50

one I was

35:52

incredibly proud of Zion I

35:55

got knowing them New

35:57

Orleans got on me and I had to

35:59

remind them that that they have is

36:01

many playoff series victories in their

36:03

22-year history as they do names.

36:07

Okay? They're once the Hornets, they're not the

36:09

Pelicans. Those are the two names, and they

36:11

got two playoff series victories in 22 years. Shut

36:13

the hell up and go out there and play. And

36:16

for the most part, they've done that, especially

36:19

Zion. He's

36:21

gotten focused, he got himself in shape,

36:24

and after another no-show

36:26

in the regular season finale on

36:28

Sunday, he showed up, showed some

36:30

pride, showed some heart, was demanding

36:33

the basketball with an attack mode.

36:35

That dude that we saw yesterday

36:37

before he got hurt is

36:39

the number one pick we've been looking for, okay?

36:41

That's who he is, and I loved seeing

36:44

it. I was proud of him. I'm sorry

36:46

that his legs hurt. I think he'll be

36:48

fine, but if Zion holds on to that,

36:50

he's got an incredibly, incredibly bright future. I'm

36:52

talking about that psyche. That's how he has

36:54

to be all the time, all

36:56

the time. He's gotta be in a attack mode,

36:58

because he's a man child, and you can't stop

37:01

him. So that was a beautiful thing to see.

37:03

Brandon Ingraham, I'm

37:05

not giving him the max, and I usually don't say stuff like that,

37:08

because I love the brothers to get paid. I love them to get

37:10

their paper. I love them to get money. But

37:12

let me just say this as diplomatically

37:14

as I possibly can. When

37:17

you look at his face, he

37:20

consistently looks a bit detached,

37:23

dare I say. Just

37:25

doesn't seem to be all there, and

37:27

I'm gonna leave it at that. Now let me

37:29

tell you something. He was going for 12

37:31

games, and I understand that.

37:34

He had an injury, I get that.

37:36

And we know that Brandon Ingraham is

37:38

a big time talent. We

37:40

don't see it enough. We

37:43

don't see it enough. And

37:45

I look at him, physique looks the

37:47

same, game looks the same, doesn't

37:49

seem to be growing and evolving.

37:52

That's hard to invest in. Remember,

37:55

ladies and gentlemen, when people invest

37:57

money in you, one

37:59

point. is because of your production. The

38:02

other part is because they

38:04

trust that you

38:06

will continue to produce. And

38:08

I don't know if the word trust can

38:11

be associated with Brandon Ingram at this

38:13

point. He needs to show me something

38:15

against Sacramento. That's number two. Number three.

38:18

Doggie, let's get to you. And what you

38:20

said about the Los Angeles Lakers, and I'm

38:22

not disagreeing with you. What you said about

38:25

the Los Angeles Lakers, let me tell you

38:27

where I'm gonna crystallize your point, Doggie. You

38:29

waving bye bye to them. A

38:32

lot of people are waving bye bye to them because

38:34

they get ready to go over against the rain of

38:36

defending NBA champions. That shouldn't

38:38

be the case. Anthony

38:41

Davis is an all world player. LeBron

38:44

James has played all world. Austin

38:46

Reeves has been thriving. D'Angelo

38:49

Russell has been thriving. Rui

38:51

Hachimura, excuse me, this brother can

38:53

play. You got Gabe Vincent

38:55

back into the lineup. You've got some

38:58

pieces that you could throw in there

39:00

to spell for these dudes for minutes.

39:02

But Lakers from a personnel perspective is

39:04

universally recognized as dead

39:06

for being this kryptonite. But somebody capable

39:09

of beating anybody else. Well, if you're

39:11

capable of being anybody else, why the

39:13

hell can't you compete with

39:16

the reigning defending champions? They waxed

39:18

your ass eight straight. What

39:20

you gonna do about it? Anthony

39:22

Davis opened training

39:24

camp. Am I lying, Wendy?

39:26

Open training camp and said,

39:29

Yo, we want them. We

39:31

heard them chirping about us. They beat

39:33

us and they swept us and they

39:35

talked smack to us. They came at

39:38

us. That's why I asked the question

39:40

going in to that game last night.

39:42

You gonna avoid them or do you

39:44

want them? Because it was my way

39:46

of reminding America. You remember what that

39:48

brother said? You said you wanted them.

39:50

You said they were chirping. You said

39:52

they were talking smack. Now, doggy, you've

39:55

been around for a long time. Hall of Fame.

39:58

And you've seen people. that

40:00

perceived to be the better

40:02

team, but they

40:05

talked a little bit too much, and

40:07

they galvanized the opposition, and they elevated

40:09

the level of adrenaline and ultimately fervor

40:12

that was coming their way. That's what

40:14

I wanna see for the Lakers. What

40:16

you gonna do? We gonna get swept

40:19

again? Do I gotta get brew sticks?

40:21

When ABC shows up to the crypto.com

40:23

arena a week from Saturday night, is

40:26

that gonna be with brew sticks cause

40:28

y'all down 3-0? You lost

40:30

eight straight. I mean, can

40:33

I go over a list? Let me

40:35

tell you the last three times that

40:37

the Los Angeles Lakers lost to

40:39

the Denver Nuggets. Not only did you get

40:42

swept in the Western Conference, check this out

40:44

doggy and Wendy. Wendy knows this, regular

40:46

season, Open the Night championship rings. They

40:49

floss it right in front of you.

40:51

Bad enough you got beat and swept,

40:53

but then the schedule put you in

40:55

Denver for Open the Night so you

40:57

can watch them get their rings. All

41:00

Yocich did was drop a triple double. Ruined

41:02

that night. What happened the second

41:04

time they played against that? Early

41:06

February, put Nuggets played spoiler. What

41:08

happened? They beat them that night.

41:10

The unveiling of the Kobe Bryant

41:12

statue. Remember that? They lost the

41:15

Denver that night. They love doing

41:17

it. They lost the Denver that night.

41:19

And then last but not least, Yocich

41:21

35, Porter 25, Murray 24, combined for 84 points. Right?

41:27

What was that night doggy? The

41:29

night LeBron James dropped 40,000 points

41:32

for his career. They have ruined every

41:34

single moment for the Los Angeles Lakers

41:36

over the last year and a half.

41:39

What you gonna do? I'm

41:41

gonna be there Wendy. I'm gonna be

41:43

there. All right, Lord willing. I'm gonna be

41:45

there right in that arena. Cause I want

41:47

to see what the hell you gonna do.

41:49

You gonna get your ass kicked again? Or

41:52

you gonna show up? Last time I

41:54

checked LeBron, A.D., D.

41:56

Russ, Reeves, Hachimora and

41:58

these boys. are fully

42:00

capable of doing it. I understand Denver's a

42:03

favorite, but I don't want no damn excuses.

42:05

You go out there and you fight. This

42:08

should be a seven game series from

42:10

a talent perspective. Don't

42:12

get beat down again. That's

42:15

what I'm looking for. That's player

42:17

under court is

42:20

not LeBron and Jokic.

42:23

Okay. Murray, I'll tell you right now, forget

42:26

LeBron. I'll take Murray over Anthony Davis.

42:29

Murray can shoot. He plays

42:31

the tremendous two on two thing with

42:33

Jokic. I love Murray. And

42:36

D'Angelo Russo is very up and

42:38

down. Reeves is a nice player.

42:40

D'Angelo Russo is very up and

42:42

down. And they have enough resources

42:44

from the Gordons, the Porters to

42:46

do enough. Listen, I'll

42:48

give the, I'll be nice. I'll give

42:50

the Lakers a game. I'll give them

42:52

a game. They are not winning this series. But

42:56

the one thing that happened last year when

42:58

the Nuggets were a little vulnerable and it

43:00

was small in the

43:02

playoffs was when Jokic was just a scorer.

43:05

When he had those games where he put up over 40 and

43:07

it wasn't Aaron Gordon getting those back cut dunks

43:09

and it wasn't Murray playing in the pick and

43:11

roll. So the Lakers

43:14

game plan, they've got days now to think about

43:16

it and figure it out. Also, I

43:19

know that it would be better for the Lakers

43:21

fans and more enjoyable if this was a conference

43:23

final series, but in the conference finals, you play every day.

43:26

In this series, there's some more time off which

43:28

LeBron and AD are gonna need. So

43:31

let's see what their game plan is and

43:34

see if there's anything that they can do to try to

43:36

make Jokic just a scorer. I doubt that you're gonna solve

43:38

him, but let's see what their game plan is. And

43:41

let's see if the rest, because LeBron was gassed

43:43

last night. If that would have been the second

43:45

play in game and it was just 24 hours

43:47

rest before the start of the series, I would

43:49

feel bad. But with three days, big

43:51

difference. They're gonna have a good chance. And

43:53

their goal is simple. It's what

43:55

every team's goal is, going up against the favorite.

43:58

Go to Denver and get one. Get

44:00

one is hard. You haven't beat them in a year and

44:02

a half. Go to Denver and get one and

44:05

see what happens from there Listen, listen to

44:07

what you're saying Put

44:09

this in its proper perspective, please The

44:12

reigning defending NBA champions

44:15

are clearly the favorites Everybody

44:18

knows and everybody expects you

44:20

to lose So the

44:22

pressure of trying to win Eradicated

44:24

you got four days rest before the

44:27

series even starts to address the back

44:29

spasm All right, and the fatigue right

44:31

on Anthony Davis and LeBron James. You

44:33

got that going on, right? You just

44:36

highlight it because of that and the

44:38

fact that once the series starts You

44:40

don't have to play every day like

44:42

you would be if you were in

44:45

the conference finals You're brought that up

44:47

to the mix So I'm looking at

44:49

all of those things on top of

44:52

the stuff that I already told you

44:54

about how they've been beat down By

44:56

Denver eight straight. Yeah beat him since

44:58

December on 2022

45:01

this is the last time you beat

45:03

him I mean all the incentive in

45:06

the world plus no pressure the only

45:08

pressure that the Lakers have on them

45:11

Just don't just sweat. That's it.

45:13

Nothing else. You can't do that You

45:16

can't make sure you live up to that. We

45:18

gonna find out Anthony Davis said they were

45:20

chirping They were talking junk. He said that

45:23

the summer was long Because they

45:25

were talking so much smack and he wanted to

45:27

get at them and then on top of it

45:29

all he shows up On the

45:32

court and plays 76 games and

45:34

plays all world. Yeah This

45:37

is what it's about. This is

45:39

basketball. We gonna see What

45:41

the Lakers are made of because there's no

45:43

excuses to at least make this a series

45:46

you losing Seven get six seven games to

45:48

Denver. There's no game in that there is

45:50

no excuse not to make this

45:53

a series That's what

45:55

I'm saying. He sounds like Bill Belichick before the

45:57

Patriots played the Rams when they were big under

45:59

the door Steve why do you go into the

46:01

lake of locker room on Right

46:08

now I don't need to they're watching

46:11

they're watching Trump is

46:13

so sure Oh trust me. Trust the pep

46:15

talk. They don't miss first take baby. Don't

46:17

let them fool you Don't let them

46:19

see Denver six Denver 16 and four

46:21

in a playoff last year was six road wins

46:25

Whoa Even

46:28

if you're not the same on the road this year All

46:31

right, you should be able to you should make this a

46:33

series You should make this it

46:35

don't make me come to the crypto.com arena

46:37

with a broomstick next Saturday There's no excuse

46:39

for that. We know it's not to make it

46:42

a series