May 13, 2023 • 13 mins
Colin gives his instant reaction to the Lakers closing out the Warriors in 6 games, why they would be an all-time outlier if they win it all, what future hall of famer the Dubs need to cut ties with for the dynasty to survive another season. He also previews the Nuggets/Lakers Western Conference Finals matchup, and who he expects to face off against the Heat in the Eastern Finals.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. Well, it is a beautiful Saturday morning where
I sit in southern California. I hope you're having a
great day. This is a not so instant reaction about
(00:23):
sixty and eighteen hours after the Lakers in six games,
finished off the Warriors, and I have some thoughts. First
of all, the reason that a Lebron James, or a
Kobe Bryant in his last game, or Tom Brady in
his last year can still be so dynamic is because
(00:44):
the better you treat your body, the better it treats
you as you age. We've all seen somebody who's fifty
years old and looks sixty and they haven't eaten right,
haven't slept right, haven't taken care of themselves, and you
can see it. And then you'll see somebody that's seventy
and looks fifty eight because they've taken care of their body.
And as you age, it is punitive if you don't.
(01:04):
And so Lebron has this ability to not on a
nightly basis, but in a series once or twice, to
summon this energy and this greatness that no other player
in year twenty has ever had. He was the best
player on the floor last night. For a majority of
the basketball game. And by the way, some of it's generational.
I mean, Michael Jordan was steaks, cigars, wine and late
(01:28):
night card games. That was his generation. So now when
Michael with the enormous amount of money today, I think
Michael was smart enough to know I'm going to extend
my career, get another contractor too. So much of this
is economic where players see, you know, if you can
get that extra contract because you've taken care of your
(01:49):
body's it is life changing, right, It's generational money for
your kids' kids. Lebron has always been smarter than the
average player, and the average star takes great care of
his body. And last night is the reason why this
has been a team I think, for me, a very
unique Laker team. They were bad before the big trade
(02:10):
deadline move. Bad. They're a bad team. They weren't great defensively.
Westbrook wasn't engaged defensively. It was toxic. And then they
made sweeping changes, bringing in guys who have been abandoned
or bounced around the league. Malik Beasley, Jared Vanderbilt, D'Angelo Russell.
Dilo was abandoned by the Warriors quickly. Minnesota gives him away,
(02:34):
so he comes back to Los Angeles. And I think
one of the reasons I've struggled to appreciate the Lakers
in the second half is and I've never thought the
Warriors were a championship team this year or the Lakers.
Lakers was easier to say that, but people I respect
really did. And because generally championship teams and there's four
teams left and Denver's going to be a handful, and
(02:55):
so I presume will be the Celtics in the championship.
I think they'll beat Miami and probably about five games,
five six games. But the great teams and we know
what they are. Let's take the MJ Bulls, because that
was the most discussed in our lifetime. You knew almost
every night the production you were going to get and
the game you were going to get from Scottie Pippen
(03:15):
and Michael Jordan. You knew you were going to get
Packson and Steve Kerr dependability or a Tony Kukoch or
Rodman's rebounding or defensive effort. And that's the difference between
great players and good players is consistency. Right, You kind
of get though he can drive me crazy at the
end of games. Jason Tatum pretty much delivers eight out
of ten games the exact same performance. You know what
you're gett You're gonna get your twenty five plus points,
(03:36):
You're going to get real good defense, good players. James
Harden now he's a good player. Game to game, you're
not sure what you're going to get. And I think
with this Laker team, think about it, if it did
become a championship team, it would be one of the
least consistent championship teams. Ever. Anthony Davis is great offensively
(03:56):
every other game, and he is your best player. Michael
Jordan was not great every other game offensively, either with
Shack or Kobe or Tim Duncan. So Anthony Davis, always
good defensively, is great offensively every other game. Lebron James
is truly great in Spurts only, although last night's the exception.
(04:18):
Generally in Spurts three or four times a series, he
can take the game over for four to five minutes.
That's what he is now. Austin Reeves is your third
most dependable player, and he's undrafted. Di Loo is hot
and cold, though very talented. But again there's a reason
he's bounced around the league, and he's coming to the
Lakers for a second time. And then it's a bunch
of guys that role players who are generally not dependable
(04:40):
on the road, slightly more dependable at home. Alonnie Walker
a Vanderbilt that's not a championship team, and so their
inconsistency and they're low ceiling offensively is just hard to
wrap my brain around. Now. Some of it may be
the West is weaker this year, Paul George and Kawhi
not available, Sons fell apart. Maybe it's just the West.
There is a lot of occasional greatness. There's not a
(05:03):
single Laker that you know what you're getting every single
night offensively, not one. I mean even the Warriors, who
the Lakers beat, you kind of know what you're getting
from Steph every night offensively. You know it's twenty four
over some nights better than others. Dominant ball handling, he's
going to break down your defense, You're gonna get a
number of assists. You gotta know what you're getting. So
(05:25):
it's a very unique team. I think Denver's a tough challenge,
first of all, because it's at seven thousand feet. It's really,
really a tough place to play. They also, unlike Golden State,
have a formidable, productive offensive center. They're gonna stretch out
a little bit. That are also younger and more athletic
(05:46):
in spots Michael Porter, Gordon Jamal Murray. It's a younger,
more athletic team, and they don't have a player like
Andrew Wiggins, who took a large chunk of the year
off and we felt like coming into the last two
series he was playing his way into shape and playing
his way into form. They're a number one seed, They've
been good all year. They're healthy, they're deep, and they
(06:08):
spread the scoring out. So Denver's going to be a
handful and they're really really good at home, and the
elevation is a big part of that. I think Denver
match is already well up with the Lakers, But at
this point I've doubted the Lakers the entire second half.
I'll have to think about it more this weekend. Maybe
I should just surrender and pick the Lakers that win
at all. As far as Golden State, they've got their
(06:28):
own issues here. So there's a big difference between losing
and feeling you were better and then realizing you were
probably lucky the series went this long. I mean, let's
be totally honest about the Warriors. If Dearon Fox doesn't
hurt his hand, do they beat the Warriors? You got
to break. They got to break against the Lakers because
(06:49):
the schedule was every other day. That was not playing
in LA's favor. With Lebron's age and eighties brittleless, that
kind of played in the Golden States favor. There's two
things that end a dynasty, ego and age. They don't
have a ton of ego. Age is a factor. The
other thing that extends a post dynasty drought is delusion,
(07:13):
where you start rewarding players and can't be honest about
what they now are. Klay Thompson, we all know that
you bring Steph back, everybody they acquire will be on
Steph's timeline. That's why they moved off number two pick
James Wiseman, he just wasn't ready and why Cominga didn't
play in this series. Anybody they acquire will have to
(07:34):
be on Steph's timeline capable of helping him win a title. Now,
Draymond Green is still second team All NBA defense. He's
a catalyst, a screen setter, excellent passer, he's going nowhere.
Those two are the heart and soul of the Warriors.
But Klay Thompson is a shadow on both ends of
what he was four years ago pre injuries. He's not
(07:55):
an elite defender. He's often a liability. It's why they
brought Gary Payton the second back, and offensively he is.
He really struggled in this series outside of one game
and mostly one half. So if you want to give
him a contract and romanticize rear view mirror Clay Thompson's
career and reward him for what he's done previously, that's
(08:17):
how you extend droughts post dynasty. If I was the
Warrior's front office, I would try to initiate something that
creates some front court scoring beyond Andrew Wiggins. They get
all their scoring Wiggins and smaller, and with Kayvon Looney
incapable of really adding much offensively, it's hard to have
(08:37):
him and Draymond on the floor at the same time.
So I think they have to create some sort of
scoring threat. Karl Anthony Towns maybe, I'm not sure. If
he's a great fit. He can be kind of squarely
and they don't those kind of players don't work with
a Warrior system. They have to find somebody offensively, a
big who's at least sixteen to eighteen point a game
score to take the burden off Staph and Andrew Wiggins.
(09:01):
Maybe you have to give up Andrew Wiggins for that.
Maybe you finally make the pivot to Jonathan kaminga who's
just too raw for Steve Kura play now in big games.
But I think if you look at the history of dynasties,
they end when they get old or they have egos.
Kobe and Chak was ego. Warriors now feels like Age,
Spurs felt like age, Miami Heatles felt like age. Not
(09:22):
really ego, maybe some ego. But I think when you
really get into trouble is when you don't reconstruct it.
So I would look for the Warriors to try to
make some move, move some parts. I really like Moody
off the bench, Gary Payton, Steph Draymond. I'd like to
keep Wiggins. You know, Jordan Poole is somebody I'd be
willing to part with. I think he's a much better
player being the man instead of backing up the man.
(09:46):
Be that as it may. I thought he was under
control last couple of games of the series. How great
have the NBA Playoff been so far? If you live
in one of those cities and wanted to go to
the games, there is only one place to get tickets.
The game Time App, the fastest growing ticketing app in
(10:07):
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with the NBA. They do baseball, hockey, concerts, comedy shows too.
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(10:29):
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(10:56):
So the Lakers move on to Denver. Can't wait to
watch it tomorrow. I'm going to take the Celtics to
beat convincingly the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. That has been
a wildly entertaining series. The Sixers, to me, are a
pretty easy team to figure out, a lot of flair,
a lot of personality. Do not trust them at all,
(11:22):
And for all the misgivings I've had about the tandem
of Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum. I trust them to
come prepared, play defense, to take leads. I think. I'm
not sure, but I think the Celtics led the NBA
first or second in the NBA in point differential this year.
They win comfortably a lot. I worry when it's tied
(11:44):
with two minutes to go and Marcus Smart is getting
the best shots. But my feeling is the Celtics will roll.
They will then beat Miami in five or six. And
I don't know what the heck to make of the
Nuggets and the Lakers. I need to watch a couple
of games. My gut tells me Denver's a number one seed, deeper, younger,
real scoring at all three levels. But I haven't been
(12:06):
right about this Lakers team in two or three months,
and that's what makes it so fascinating. I know there's
this constant, you know, the sky is falling opinion on
the NBA, But a lot of that comes from two areas.
The NBA season is too long, Come on, eighty two
regular season games, let's evolve, get down to sixty eight.
And load management, which stinks, hurts the league. Fans go
(12:29):
to games on big Friday and Saturday nights, you take
a date, you take the family, and three of the
four stars don't play. It's not good for business. Sorry,
we'll all get over it, but it's not good for business.
I think it feels like a disconnect between stars and fans,
and fans pay a lot of money to go to
NBA games, but you can't deny the passion, the intensity,
the fun, the storylines, and the drama. Even though last
(12:50):
night was a blowout. I mean, you were watching a
dynasty potentially end and you're watching one of the most
unique potential championship teams with Lebron and ad I can
ever remember good stuff a not so instant reaction. Hope
you're having a great Saturday afternoon talk soon the Volume.
(13:29):
Make sure to check out The Draymon Green Show. I
brought Draymond Green into the volume because one of the
more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective understands behind the rope,
also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine,
Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green Show wherever
you get your podcasts, only on the Volume podcast Network.
The volume. Well, it is a beautiful Saturday morning where
I sit in southern California. I hope you're having a
great day. This is a not so instant reaction about
(00:23):
sixty and eighteen hours after the Lakers in six games,
finished off the Warriors, and I have some thoughts. First
of all, the reason that a Lebron James, or a
Kobe Bryant in his last game, or Tom Brady in
his last year can still be so dynamic is because
(00:44):
the better you treat your body, the better it treats
you as you age. We've all seen somebody who's fifty
years old and looks sixty and they haven't eaten right,
haven't slept right, haven't taken care of themselves, and you
can see it. And then you'll see somebody that's seventy
and looks fifty eight because they've taken care of their body.
And as you age, it is punitive if you don't.
(01:04):
And so Lebron has this ability to not on a
nightly basis, but in a series once or twice, to
summon this energy and this greatness that no other player
in year twenty has ever had. He was the best
player on the floor last night. For a majority of
the basketball game. And by the way, some of it's generational.
I mean, Michael Jordan was steaks, cigars, wine and late
(01:28):
night card games. That was his generation. So now when
Michael with the enormous amount of money today, I think
Michael was smart enough to know I'm going to extend
my career, get another contractor too. So much of this
is economic where players see, you know, if you can
get that extra contract because you've taken care of your
(01:49):
body's it is life changing, right, It's generational money for
your kids' kids. Lebron has always been smarter than the
average player, and the average star takes great care of
his body. And last night is the reason why this
has been a team I think, for me, a very
unique Laker team. They were bad before the big trade
(02:10):
deadline move. Bad. They're a bad team. They weren't great defensively.
Westbrook wasn't engaged defensively. It was toxic. And then they
made sweeping changes, bringing in guys who have been abandoned
or bounced around the league. Malik Beasley, Jared Vanderbilt, D'Angelo Russell.
Dilo was abandoned by the Warriors quickly. Minnesota gives him away,
(02:34):
so he comes back to Los Angeles. And I think
one of the reasons I've struggled to appreciate the Lakers
in the second half is and I've never thought the
Warriors were a championship team this year or the Lakers.
Lakers was easier to say that, but people I respect
really did. And because generally championship teams and there's four
teams left and Denver's going to be a handful, and
(02:55):
so I presume will be the Celtics in the championship.
I think they'll beat Miami and probably about five games,
five six games. But the great teams and we know
what they are. Let's take the MJ Bulls, because that
was the most discussed in our lifetime. You knew almost
every night the production you were going to get and
the game you were going to get from Scottie Pippen
(03:15):
and Michael Jordan. You knew you were going to get
Packson and Steve Kerr dependability or a Tony Kukoch or
Rodman's rebounding or defensive effort. And that's the difference between
great players and good players is consistency. Right, You kind
of get though he can drive me crazy at the
end of games. Jason Tatum pretty much delivers eight out
of ten games the exact same performance. You know what
you're gett You're gonna get your twenty five plus points,
(03:36):
You're going to get real good defense, good players. James
Harden now he's a good player. Game to game, you're
not sure what you're going to get. And I think
with this Laker team, think about it, if it did
become a championship team, it would be one of the
least consistent championship teams. Ever. Anthony Davis is great offensively
(03:56):
every other game, and he is your best player. Michael
Jordan was not great every other game offensively, either with
Shack or Kobe or Tim Duncan. So Anthony Davis, always
good defensively, is great offensively every other game. Lebron James
is truly great in Spurts only, although last night's the exception.
(04:18):
Generally in Spurts three or four times a series, he
can take the game over for four to five minutes.
That's what he is now. Austin Reeves is your third
most dependable player, and he's undrafted. Di Loo is hot
and cold, though very talented. But again there's a reason
he's bounced around the league, and he's coming to the
Lakers for a second time. And then it's a bunch
of guys that role players who are generally not dependable
(04:40):
on the road, slightly more dependable at home. Alonnie Walker
a Vanderbilt that's not a championship team, and so their
inconsistency and they're low ceiling offensively is just hard to
wrap my brain around. Now. Some of it may be
the West is weaker this year, Paul George and Kawhi
not available, Sons fell apart. Maybe it's just the West.
There is a lot of occasional greatness. There's not a
(05:03):
single Laker that you know what you're getting every single
night offensively, not one. I mean even the Warriors, who
the Lakers beat, you kind of know what you're getting
from Steph every night offensively. You know it's twenty four
over some nights better than others. Dominant ball handling, he's
going to break down your defense, You're gonna get a
number of assists. You gotta know what you're getting. So
(05:25):
it's a very unique team. I think Denver's a tough challenge,
first of all, because it's at seven thousand feet. It's really,
really a tough place to play. They also, unlike Golden State,
have a formidable, productive offensive center. They're gonna stretch out
a little bit. That are also younger and more athletic
(05:46):
in spots Michael Porter, Gordon Jamal Murray. It's a younger,
more athletic team, and they don't have a player like
Andrew Wiggins, who took a large chunk of the year
off and we felt like coming into the last two
series he was playing his way into shape and playing
his way into form. They're a number one seed, They've
been good all year. They're healthy, they're deep, and they
(06:08):
spread the scoring out. So Denver's going to be a
handful and they're really really good at home, and the
elevation is a big part of that. I think Denver
match is already well up with the Lakers, But at
this point I've doubted the Lakers the entire second half.
I'll have to think about it more this weekend. Maybe
I should just surrender and pick the Lakers that win
at all. As far as Golden State, they've got their
(06:28):
own issues here. So there's a big difference between losing
and feeling you were better and then realizing you were
probably lucky the series went this long. I mean, let's
be totally honest about the Warriors. If Dearon Fox doesn't
hurt his hand, do they beat the Warriors? You got
to break. They got to break against the Lakers because
(06:49):
the schedule was every other day. That was not playing
in LA's favor. With Lebron's age and eighties brittleless, that
kind of played in the Golden States favor. There's two
things that end a dynasty, ego and age. They don't
have a ton of ego. Age is a factor. The
other thing that extends a post dynasty drought is delusion,
(07:13):
where you start rewarding players and can't be honest about
what they now are. Klay Thompson, we all know that
you bring Steph back, everybody they acquire will be on
Steph's timeline. That's why they moved off number two pick
James Wiseman, he just wasn't ready and why Cominga didn't
play in this series. Anybody they acquire will have to
(07:34):
be on Steph's timeline capable of helping him win a title. Now,
Draymond Green is still second team All NBA defense. He's
a catalyst, a screen setter, excellent passer, he's going nowhere.
Those two are the heart and soul of the Warriors.
But Klay Thompson is a shadow on both ends of
what he was four years ago pre injuries. He's not
(07:55):
an elite defender. He's often a liability. It's why they
brought Gary Payton the second back, and offensively he is.
He really struggled in this series outside of one game
and mostly one half. So if you want to give
him a contract and romanticize rear view mirror Clay Thompson's
career and reward him for what he's done previously, that's
(08:17):
how you extend droughts post dynasty. If I was the
Warrior's front office, I would try to initiate something that
creates some front court scoring beyond Andrew Wiggins. They get
all their scoring Wiggins and smaller, and with Kayvon Looney
incapable of really adding much offensively, it's hard to have
(08:37):
him and Draymond on the floor at the same time.
So I think they have to create some sort of
scoring threat. Karl Anthony Towns maybe, I'm not sure. If
he's a great fit. He can be kind of squarely
and they don't those kind of players don't work with
a Warrior system. They have to find somebody offensively, a
big who's at least sixteen to eighteen point a game
score to take the burden off Staph and Andrew Wiggins.
(09:01):
Maybe you have to give up Andrew Wiggins for that.
Maybe you finally make the pivot to Jonathan kaminga who's
just too raw for Steve Kura play now in big games.
But I think if you look at the history of dynasties,
they end when they get old or they have egos.
Kobe and Chak was ego. Warriors now feels like Age,
Spurs felt like age, Miami Heatles felt like age. Not
(09:22):
really ego, maybe some ego. But I think when you
really get into trouble is when you don't reconstruct it.
So I would look for the Warriors to try to
make some move, move some parts. I really like Moody
off the bench, Gary Payton, Steph Draymond. I'd like to
keep Wiggins. You know, Jordan Poole is somebody I'd be
willing to part with. I think he's a much better
player being the man instead of backing up the man.
(09:46):
Be that as it may. I thought he was under
control last couple of games of the series. How great
have the NBA Playoff been so far? If you live
in one of those cities and wanted to go to
the games, there is only one place to get tickets.
The game Time App, the fastest growing ticketing app in
(10:07):
the US, for last minute, amazing deals. They don't stop
with the NBA. They do baseball, hockey, concerts, comedy shows too.
Download the game Time App and use the code colum
cliin get twenty dollars off your first purchase. Twenty bucks
(10:29):
off first purchase. Terms apply again. Download the game Time
App use the code colin seeli last minute tickets, lowest
prices guaranteed. The game Time App, the fastest growing sports
app in the United States. Use the code colin ceeliin.
(10:56):
So the Lakers move on to Denver. Can't wait to
watch it tomorrow. I'm going to take the Celtics to
beat convincingly the Philadelphia seventy six Ers. That has been
a wildly entertaining series. The Sixers, to me, are a
pretty easy team to figure out, a lot of flair,
a lot of personality. Do not trust them at all,
(11:22):
And for all the misgivings I've had about the tandem
of Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum. I trust them to
come prepared, play defense, to take leads. I think. I'm
not sure, but I think the Celtics led the NBA
first or second in the NBA in point differential this year.
They win comfortably a lot. I worry when it's tied
(11:44):
with two minutes to go and Marcus Smart is getting
the best shots. But my feeling is the Celtics will roll.
They will then beat Miami in five or six. And
I don't know what the heck to make of the
Nuggets and the Lakers. I need to watch a couple
of games. My gut tells me Denver's a number one seed, deeper, younger,
real scoring at all three levels. But I haven't been
(12:06):
right about this Lakers team in two or three months,
and that's what makes it so fascinating. I know there's
this constant, you know, the sky is falling opinion on
the NBA, But a lot of that comes from two areas.
The NBA season is too long, Come on, eighty two
regular season games, let's evolve, get down to sixty eight.
And load management, which stinks, hurts the league. Fans go
(12:29):
to games on big Friday and Saturday nights, you take
a date, you take the family, and three of the
four stars don't play. It's not good for business. Sorry,
we'll all get over it, but it's not good for business.
I think it feels like a disconnect between stars and fans,
and fans pay a lot of money to go to
NBA games, but you can't deny the passion, the intensity,
the fun, the storylines, and the drama. Even though last
(12:50):
night was a blowout. I mean, you were watching a
dynasty potentially end and you're watching one of the most
unique potential championship teams with Lebron and ad I can
ever remember good stuff a not so instant reaction. Hope
you're having a great Saturday afternoon talk soon the Volume.
(13:29):
Make sure to check out The Draymon Green Show. I
brought Draymond Green into the volume because one of the
more entertaining voices in sports, unique perspective understands behind the rope,
also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine,
Tracy McGrady. Make sure download The Draymond Green Show wherever
you get your podcasts, only on the Volume podcast Network.
Host
Colin Cowherd
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