August 3, 2021 • 35 mins
Chris and Rob discuss if the Los Angeles Lakers and their slew of 'old' additions (Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore, etc) should be considered the team to beat in the Western Conference next season, and debate whether or not the Golden State Warriors made a mistake by extending Steph Curry for another 4 years (and $200 million). Plus, 3x NBA champion and former Coach of the Year Byron Scott swings by to share his thoughts on the Lakers free agency moves, Russell Westbrook's fit alongside LeBron James, what went wrong for Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma in Los Angeles, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcast.
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the best of the Odd
Cup Off with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. We got
superproducer Rob Gee who has been grinning from ear to
ear with his uh the moves that his Lakers have made.
And Ralph Irvin who might be joining him and grinning
(00:43):
from ear to ear on the updates. All right, rob
let's start only because Ralph is as young as the
rest of the Lakers. That's why he's grinned. You ain't lying.
I mean, them boys are old, all right, Them boys
are old. Now we all be wondering, how in the
world are the Lakers. Ain't too surround. They're big three
that doesn't fit together as it is, But how are
(01:05):
they gonna put these guys around them? So they go
out last night they make a splash. They signed Trevor
Reza thirty six years old, Wayne Ellington thirty three, Pimp
Baysmore thirty two, and Dwight Howard thirty five, the Right
thirty six in December early December. Then they follow that
(01:28):
up with Carmelo Anthony who's thirty seven, and then they
go with the young boys Kendrick Nunn twenty six, Malik
Monk twenty three, and you know they signed there. Of
course thht is back, Taylor Horton Tucker, he's twenty. So
that is the Lakers squad around Lebron, who himself is
(01:50):
will be thirty seven in December, Anthony Davis, who is
not old, but dude, dude gets beat up. That's what
your twenty eight years old. And then of course Russell
Westbrook who's thirty two. Rob, what do you think? Um?
You know, they went out and this is what they're doing.
They may still do a few more things we'll see,
(02:11):
but you know, most of the names are gone and
so this is their squad. Uh it looks like what
do you think? Uh? Not feeling it at all. A
couple things first, the Lakers, though Chris, are in a
win win situation. You know that, right, because even if
they don't qualify for the NBA playoffs, this season, they'll
(02:32):
still qualify for medicare no, Alex, No, my god, here
the sad thing. Here's the sad thing. Rob's been all
day thinking that went up? Did you intervigor the excitement
with which text? Right? They're in a no win situation.
(02:57):
Listen to this, all right, here's no win situation. All right,
here we go, Chris with the addition of mellow. I
see him, he's reading. He's reading, y'all think I'm playing?
All right, God, give him some music. Let's no wait,
wait your music nor music? Hey? So no no music, Alex,
no m music, no music. So with the addition of Mellow, Chris,
(03:19):
I don't know if you know to the Lakers they've
changed their pregame meal for next season. That's right, you know.
It now consists of sodium free bacon, decaf coffee, and
a chest X ray. All right. And also the Lakers
are officially they have a new sponsor. Do you know that?
You know, like they wear the sponsors on their jerseys.
(03:40):
So now they're the l A A a ARP Lakers,
So they were in there. And also I heard you
know these TV networks you're looking for new shows, So
now you know the the Lakers getting together with some
older guys. They now have the casting for a new
sitcom for CBS called The Purple and Golden Guys. You
(04:05):
know that's the new TV show. No, I feel like
I know all this, Rob. I hate to tell you this.
What but my boy, you played basketball with me at
Oberlin College, my roommate when we were on the road.
(04:25):
He was an economics and Honors economics major. So my
point is he's not a comedian. But I think he
sent me a text that was funnier than anything you
just said. He said, the Lakers are like the cast
of the movie Uncle Drew. Yes, which is true. I
(04:45):
didn't see that. Did you see that? Nah? But I
never just you know, I felt like, because here's the thing.
When I saw the little you know, the little five
to ten minute blurbs on the internet when they first
start came out right and Uncle Drew was unleashed on
the world. It was funny, it was great, and so
(05:06):
I thought, Wow, the movie will be good. But I
just never had the desire to go see it. But
it's hard for those movies whenever you take something that
was thirty seconds or a minute, you know, and try
to turn it or skin three minute skit, and you
try to turn it into a full length motion picture,
it usually bombs because it's not it's not sustainable, you
know what I mean. Like, it's a funny skit, but
(05:28):
it ain't funny enough to make a whole movie off it.
But anyway, I'm just saying I'm out on the Lakers.
And yes, they got a cast of people, guys who
are very talented and have done a lot in their careers,
but just too many things. There's there's too many pieces parts,
too many old guys to stay healthy, too many things
that need to work together in order to make a run.
(05:51):
And even if everything works together, I still don't believe
they're better than Brooklyn with those three guys healthy, and
ultimately it's about winning a championship, right, So I don't
believe that they're better than the Brooklyn Nets. Even with
what they put together, I don't believe they'll have be
at the finish line Chris healthy enough, have everything working
(06:12):
the way that they wanted. That's why I was out
on the Lakers. You know, I picked the Suns in
the first round against the Lakers because I said, too
many things have to go right, including guys staying healthy.
That's why I didn't picked the Lakers, and I'm not
picking them here. I don't think that this is a
team that can win a championship. They're a bit reminiscent robe,
(06:33):
a bit of the two thousand and four Lakers, two
thousand and three, two thousand and four Lakers. You remember
when Karl Malone and old Karl Malone and an aging
Gary Payton went to the Lakers to join Shack and Kobe.
Remember that the potentially four Hall of famers on the
(06:54):
same squad, right, And who was the fifth starter? Do
you remember un George? Was it Devin George? Okay, right?
Because he was like the like the the fifth beatle,
you know what I mean. They were trying to talk
about who the other guy was, yep, yep, and and
you know they had there to your point, they had
their struggles in the regular season, you know, but I
(07:16):
mean they still obviously won games. But Gary Payton was
never happy in the triangle offense, which really wasn't built
for you know, great point guard at least has never
been run that way, and so he didn't really like
it and fit in. And you know, he was an
All Star or had put up all star numbers the
year before, and then that's when his numbers began to
(07:38):
go down and his career was never the same. Carl Malone,
to your point, Rob was injured to some degree in
the playoffs, and you know, guys who were used to
being stars in the focal point of their team had
to adjust and it was a tough adjustment. They ended
up finding their stride in the Western Conference playoffs and
(07:59):
beat Sam and Antonio, but then lost to the Detroit
Pistons in the finals, and so ultimately they didn't get
it done. This this is somewhat reminiscent of that squad,
and I'm with you and that so much has to
go right. You still don't know how it's gonna fit.
You know what's the starting five gonna be? I think
(08:21):
Mellow's coming off the bench clearly. Um, they did get
some shooting. It's not great shooting. I know people look
at old so and so Malik Monk shot forty percent
from three last year. Um, yeah, but he's a thirty
four percent career three point shooter. He's got like twenty
something percent the year before. So he now has he
(08:42):
improved that much? You know, going forwards. Yeah, because they
had several forty percent three point shooters last year on
the Lakers team, but they just weren't that great of
a shooting team. Um, but you know, I'm not gonna poop.
I mean, Wayne Elling sends a pretty good shooter. H
Kendrick Nunn. I like that Pickle. That's one of the
(09:04):
younger guys, twenty six years old. He played well in
Miami thirty eight percent from three. So they they I think,
considering all things considered, rob they filled out the roster
pretty well, you know, considering they really didn't have any money.
Here's what I say. I agree with you. I think
Brooklyn still the favorite to win it all if everybody
(09:28):
stays like, if all the teams stay healthy, I think
you got Brooklyn as the favorite overall. Here's what I
say about the West. If if I had to pick
the Lakers or the Field, I would go with the Field.
But if I have to name one team that should
be the favorite, I think, just based on sheer talent,
(09:52):
I would go with the Lakers just as the favorite
in the West, not not in the league, but they
got a lot of talent. Again, I'm I don't know
how it's gonna how they're gonna put it together. It's
really gonna be interesting. But there is a whole bunch
of talent there. Defensively, they've lost something right now, you
got bays more maybe, you know, maybe they can get
(10:14):
some of these dudes who aren't typically defenders to dig
in Aresa as a defender. But they're gonna give up
something there. For the most part, they don't have guys
that want to run with Westbrook when he's playing fast,
so they they've got a lot of adjustments and just
things to work out, as you said, But on talent alone,
(10:37):
this helps them. There really is no world beat there
in the West. I said it, Yes, I've been saying it.
I think the Clippers are gonna be down because Kauwhai's
not there. I think that Phoenix and Golden State and
Denver and Utah are going to be good. Dallas you
could throw in there. They're gonna be good. But are
they scaring you? Do they have more talent than the Lakes. No,
(11:00):
it's so if lebron can bring this thing together, then
I think they'd be the favorite in the West. Yeah,
I don't see it. I think one of those other
teams do you have a favorite, though, Yeah, I got
the Clippers. I think, well, he's out the whole year.
I thought I thought he's kind of thing. He's nine
to twelve months, so twelve months would be the year
(11:22):
that his injuries. Nine to twelve months. I just think
you're right. I mean, if he's coming back, we'll see.
I still wouldn't favor them. Yeah, I still like them.
If he comes back, I just gotta wait to see, Uh,
you know what, what else is happening to that point
and the rest of their team. But I'm just saying, uh,
you know, you can look at I'm not a big
(11:43):
I don't think the Sons are making some second run
to the NBA finals. I just think the road is there.
The problem, the biggest problem. There's no joke, but the
biggest problem is they're just They're just older and the
chances of them being healthy at the end is the problem.
Last year, after they won the championship in twenty twenty,
everybody said they won to post the off season and
(12:04):
that they got better and it didn't pan out. I
just don't I don't see this group and the ages
of these guys being able to come together. I don't
be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
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(12:28):
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(12:52):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Steph Curry,
Golden State just signed him to a four year, two
hundred and fifteen million dollars contract extension, which will be
(13:13):
on top of the money that he's making next year,
which is forty six million. So all told, over the
next five years, Steph Curry has guaranteed money of two
hundred and sixty one million dollars big time bucks. And
(13:37):
you have a take on this that I find incredible.
It's not, that's just it's just it depends on how
you want to do business. And Chris, I'm not hating
on him that he doesn't deserve to get paid. They're
paying anybody and everybody in the NBA, So that's not
even the issue, Steph. If you want to give them
(13:58):
money to Steph Curry, fine, But the bottom line is
that they've probably their windows open and closed. They've probably
done all the winning. They got them a new stadium
or a new arena and all that, and they've made
a lot of money. But but this is just like
a reward or a retirement fund or pension or whatever
you want to call it. This is not about them
(14:21):
winning anymore. And like, like you probably like that it's
hard for people to part with players that they like
and all that, and I get it. It was like
when the Cardinals wouldn't pay uh, wouldn't pay um God
Albert Pooholes, Right, they wouldn't pay him Smart. They had
(14:44):
they had won a couple of championships, they'd already would
you say, because he fell off Smart? Well, but but
but that was the point is that they had one Chris,
they had a nice run. They didn't want to They
didn't want to do it because they know what happens
when you pay older players and players you see what happened.
They don't know what they Steph played great last year.
They don't even make the playoffs. And I'm not blaming
Steph for not making the playoffs because Clay was heard
(15:07):
and you know, some things didn't work out. They had
younger players. But to do this and then not to
go give them some other players, some reinforcement, some veterans
to play alongside makes no sense, like they're not in
the mix to win a championship. Well, they compete, shure,
if Clay Thompton is good, Chris or healthy short, they'll
(15:28):
they'll they'll make noise, they'll be involved, but you nobody's
picking them to win the title. And I don't expect
them to win the title over the next five years
with Steph Curry, no matter how much money they pay them,
it's a reward, it's a bonus. You like him, you
love that he's a part of your organization. You can't
sell any more tickets, you know, it's it's just like
(15:50):
we want to reward the guy. And if that's the reason, fine,
But as far as a business situation and whether or
not this is good money or smart money. It's not,
is it not. You act like he's coming off a
sixteen point season. No, he's coming off. So when you
say it's a reward, that's like Kobe got the reward
(16:12):
at the end of his Kobe did get a reward,
and that the mistake he was playing someone he wasn't
playing arguably the best basketball of his career, but they
gave it to him. But they gave Kobe the money
because Chris he had already won for them, right, and
it was this is what I'm saying, But he wasn't
playing at the level that Steph is right now. No,
(16:34):
but Murry had arguably his best year last year and
they didn't make the playoffs. And but now they're getting
Klay Thompson back and they don't know what condition he's
gonna be. Your logic is like, well, if you're not
gonna win the championship, don't pay anybody. No, don't pay anybody,
don't break Are you serious? Don't break the bank on that. No,
(16:55):
I'm telling you, like the smart team business, the smartest
team in the league, everybody can't win the championship. No,
I get it. But they've already open their window. Is
this open? Is open? If we don't know exactly what
Clay's coming back, We didn't know what Kevin Durant was
gonna look like. We don't know what Kawhi Leonard's gonna
(17:17):
look like. They're gonna win a championship. You got to
winn your championship the next five years. I'm just think
they got a shot. Yeah, okay, all right, I definitely
think they got a shot. I don't. I don't think
And even if they don't, even if they don't win
a championship, that doesn't mean you don't pay somebody. Was
Houston wrong to pay James Hard and all those years
didn't bring him a champ No, everybody doesn't win right
(17:38):
when James Hard that No, I get I know, I
understand the business aspect. But I'm telling you, whether you
signed Steph or not doesn't mean you're gonna have an
empty arena. It doesn't mean to get might No, it
does not. It doesn't stay. Because what they look like
before they got Steph Kurry, before they had Steph Curry,
they used to sell out all the time. That was
(17:58):
the amazing thing is that they had a great following
of fans. Chris and well, now this school, look at it.
They didn't have an empty building. They're in a whole
different venue there, to know what, they didn't have an
empty building. You think people they might have an empty
building if they lose Steff No, I don't. I don't
think so. I think that they're different. Fan, talk to anybody.
The Nicks have a hundred championships is nineteen seventy. They
(18:20):
don't even have a so didn't nobody should spend money?
They don't, should not. The Knicks should never sign anybody. No,
I mean, they didn't won the title in almost fifty years,
right and they still sell get rid of the franchise.
All Trail Blazers. Just stop cutting the checks for Damian Lillo.
I would do it. It's ridiculous. No, what I mean
we should have telling you even in the league, that's
(18:42):
gonna win the championship. No, I didn't window. There is
row and you don't pay Steph Curry stop it. If
he was coming off a bad season, that might make
it still the best seasons of his career. They didn't
make the playoffs. So if you want to play and
pay anybody, is he gonna play better as we go forward.
(19:05):
He's gonna pick no better than you get better players
around him. Don't you understand that? No, I don't undersconnect
because they didn't do it. Just wish they just drafted
the best kid in the class of twenty twenty one,
John the fuck cominga. They just drafted another kid that
can play. James Weissman was one of the top players
(19:26):
in the country. It be a year older. I'm gonna
building a team. No, no, but but but Chris, he's
too old to build a team around. If he's gonna
pay three in average thirty two points the game last year,
what are you talking about? I'm talking about it. If
you're going to be all in on this and you're
gonna pay stuff, you gotta go get him players for now,
(19:48):
the kids building and hope and wishing, dream that that
these draft players are. They weren't good enough to even
make the bringing back, bring and back a future Hall
of Famer in Clay Thompson. We don't even know if
he could walk. Was gonna be either one you you
(20:09):
were willing to bet on Kevin durand half back to
back injuries he had backed the back he had Achilles
injury people had come back from today have back to
back injuries, is what I'm trying to tell you. Willing
to give up on Kawhi Leonard he made coming over
torn acl and to a killing day. He just got
(20:29):
bumped in the world. Was that stop it? I would
not do it. It's gonna goally ridiculous. You're gonna pay.
You're gonna pay. De Curry what did you read it?
You gotta put around him? Yes, Tray Clay, Yeah, they man,
this is ridiculous. No one they ain't that. Then we close.
They've already have one championship. We know when they stopped
(20:51):
winning championship when Kevin Durant laugh, They're not winning another title.
It's a joke. And golden stain they need to stock
is a joke. It's Utah has never It's like, okay,
old times say, yeah, remember when we were champions Remember
when we won. Yeah, remember when everybody was hurt when
we won that championship in twenty fifteen. Hey, you remember
(21:13):
the time we choked down a three one lead, the
first team in NBA history. You remember that? Yeah, let's
go back to those days. Oh, you remember when Kevin
Durant came and took steps lunch money and his team
and won two NBA titles and won both MVPs. Remember
those years. Let's turn back the clock to that. We'll
give stuff a boatload of money. Yeah, we give them
(21:35):
no unproven players. We'd hate to go hurt years. All right,
can I talk now? That's ridiculous. They made the finals
five straight years, first team since Bill Russell to do that.
Let's go back to that. Oh, that's stupid to go
back to that. This is for the Utah Jazz have
never in their history won a championship, and yet they
(21:59):
play players. They just paid Mike Conley seventy million dollars. Why,
how stupid were they? They're not gonna win anything. The
Phoenix Suns just gave Chris Paul a guarantee eighty to
ninety million. How stupid were they? They're not gonna win anything.
It's called a league. Rob. Even if you don't win
(22:19):
a championship, you gotta play players. And Steph Curry is
winning the best basketball of his career. You can say
all your little jokes that you've been saying for the
last seven years. We've heard them all seventy eight times before.
But years the gotta pay the dude, and they're right
(22:40):
to do. And the young kids are assets. If Bradley
Bill becomes available, they got young players they can give
up to get him. If Damian Lillard or Ben Simmons
or somebody is available, they got assets to try to
go get them. So this is smart. The question I had,
(23:02):
what should Steph have done? It? Should Steph have given
them a get played out this season, see how good
they are and they say, maybe I'll move on. Ultimately,
I like what he did because I do think they
can still be good. They can be as good as Denver,
as good as a Phoenix, as good as Dallas and
(23:24):
Utah and these other contenders in the West. We'll see
if they can rise above. But you gotta have your
best player to rise above. Smart move by the Golden
State Warriors, and we'll see what they do. They should
build around him. We'll see how Clay comes back. I
like their young talent. Maybe they'll turn it into a
(23:44):
veteran star. But this was a smart move by the
Golden State Warriors. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports radio dot com and within the iHeart
radio app search fs to listen live. Our next guest
is a three time NBA champion, a legendary Los Angeles Laker,
(24:08):
former NBA Coach of the Year as well and friend
of the y Couple show Byron Scott. What's up, brothers? Byron?
You know? What's up? Chris RP? What's going on? Hey? Byron?
I just got one question, was your was your self
down today? Because the Lakers didn't call you to join
onto the team? You know they didn't pick it up.
(24:29):
What happened to your call? It does seem like they
call everybody else in the world man just so, Byron.
I guess they didn't want a sixty year old trying
to be shoot to jump shot in the corner anymore.
I guess, Hey, they came close. They came close. Let's start,
we get to the age. Let's start with just the
(24:50):
big three now, Lebron Westbrook a d. I mean you
you were on the showtime Lakers where you, Magic Worthy
and Kareem all fit together perfectly. Westbrooks great. All three
of them are great individually. I don't think it fits.
I mean, I give them a chance. I don't They
got so much talent, But what are your thoughts on this?
(25:14):
I mean my first thought, you know, Chris, when the
trade was man, I was like whoa And I was like, man,
three dynamic players, no doubt about it. And then my
second thought was, Okay, how's this gonna work? You know,
I mean it's it's um you thought. You're talking about
three individuals that are you know, like you said, individually,
they're fantastic. When you look at that that Laker team
(25:34):
back in the day with Magic, Kareem Worthy, You've got
three Hall of Famers and then myself, Coop, Ac, Kurt,
all those guys. You know, we all understood our roles
and everybody on that team, especially those three. You know,
they had to give a little bit more of their selves.
And what I mean by that is they had to
give them less. You know. I mean Magic could have
twenty five thirty points a game, you know, saying with James,
(25:56):
saying with Kareem h. Maybe not in the last two
years with Cap because of that time he was getting
older and we was just like, look, you're just gonna
be along for the ride. We're gonna get this done,
you know, and we just need you at half court
every now and then, you know, to come down here
so we can throw it into you because nobody can
stop that hood shot, you know. But I think those
three guys in particular understood that they you know, yeah,
(26:17):
they could average you know, more points and more rebounds
and more assists. But was that, you know, for the
best for the team. And it wasn't. You know. I
thought when Magic got more aggressive because pat Rowley told
him to, you know, it was better for us because
him being more aggressive made us that much better and
harder to guard. These three guys, and I think particularly Russell,
and I love Russell. I mean, I'm one of the
(26:38):
Russell's biggest fans. I got so much love for the
way that guy plays a game because of his passion
for the game every night. Man doesn't anybody every night.
You know, if you go to if you play to
see him play, you're gonna get some money's worse. And
that's the great thing about Russ And I think he's
the one in this group that's gonna have to give
a little bit more. And what I mean more, I
(27:00):
mean really less of himself. You know, he's gonna have
to give up maybe the triple doubles. He's gonna have
to give up, you know, being able to be the
dominant player on the ball at times. And I think
at this point in his career, I truly feel that
he is willing to do that because I think the
biggest thing has always been with Russ has always been winning.
And I think right now he wants to win a championship,
(27:21):
and why not winning in your your hometown, just like
I did. I was I love being here in LA
I would be like, look, man, I'll get whatever y'all
want me to get, whatever you want me to do.
I'm good, you know, as long as I can stay here,
you know. So I think he's at that point where
he knows less and I'm gonna have to, you know,
give up a few shots more a game and not
dominate the ball as much in order for us to
(27:42):
be successful. And I think if he comes with that attitude,
you know they're gonna be They're gonna be there no
matter what. They're still the best team in the West,
no matter what. But if he converts to saying, you
know what, I don't need to do this like I've
been doing the last four or five years. I can
do less and we can be more successful, and he
buys into that. I think this team is gonna be awesome.
(28:03):
The only problem I have, and this is my concern,
is a lot of older guys, So a lot of
things have to work, a lot of guys have to
be able to stay healthy. Uh, you got Carmelo, Anthony's
thirty seven. I mean you start to look around and
those are old for NBA players. I know Lebron. Even Lebron,
as good as he is and physically fit, he's been
(28:25):
hurt two of the three years in LA. The only
year he hasn't been hurt was when they had the
four months off for COVID. So I just that to
me is a concern if you're the Lakers. Is that
a concern about the age of the team. Well, I
tell you RPI, I was looking at everybody that they
were picking up in the fridge market, and that's the
first thing that came to my mind was hud they
(28:45):
go you know, you know what I mean exactly hit me.
I was like, whoa, you're Carmelo, you know Howard? I
was like, who they get? They get some older dudes
coming in here, you know. So I think it is
a concern for them. Obviously, Frank is gonna have to
manage those guys time, not only you know, on the
playing court, but practicing things of that nature, because you
(29:09):
know it's a long season. They two games in long season,
and what you want with that group, obviously they got
a world of experience. You want to get them to
the playoffs relatively healthy. And if you can get them
to the playoffs relatively healthy, then they got a great
chance to win it all. I've said that I would
put Lebron on the point. I mean, Westbrook obviously can
(29:29):
push it in transition and when Lebron's on the bench,
but I like him as the primary decision maker in
the half court. I think he should kind of take
on the thoughts of the mindset of Magic Johnson and
let me make sure Russ and a d eating everybody
else because Lebron gonna get his twenty points just by
being out there. So what are your thoughts on that.
(29:49):
He's talked about playing power forward, but I kind of
like him at the point. Well, well, Chris, you know,
he can play pretty much any position he want on
the basketball court. I mean that guy is you know,
he's so dynamic with the ball without the ball, I mean,
he makes everybody else on that court better. Uh, and
and that that was kind of the point earlier about
Russ being off the ball at times to let Lebron
(30:10):
create for other guys. And I like that because of
the fact that when Lebron does create, he does kick
it to Russ. You know, he's there with a triple
threat position he doesn't and now you've got to come
out at him and he's got his live dripple where
instead of him and having to create, you know, now
he can really look to attack or just you know,
or look to shoot the ball. So I love Lebron
in point I think he I think his whole mentality
(30:32):
is a point guard mentality anyway, the way he plays,
so you know, he's the most unselfish player you know,
on the in the team and probably in this league,
one of the most you know, selfish players in this league.
So I love him at that point guard position because
again he can switch you know, one through four and
sometimes one through five. So I mean, you know, him
being the facilitators always to me one of the best
(30:54):
decisions that can make. He can get you a better
shot than you know for most of these guys, and
they can get by theirselves Byron let me ask you
about two young players. At one point, the Lakers were
so high on Kyle Kuzma the first time, they wouldn't
even trade him for Anthony Davis. He couldn't be involved
in that trade if you remember that. And the other
one I want to know. I want you to tell
me about him and just what happened to him. And
(31:17):
the other one is a Lonzo Ball who signed with
the Bulls, who's now on his third team in four
NBA seasons, and at one time, you know, Magic was
talking about hanging his rafter, his jersey up in the
rafters and you know at the Staples Center. Just tell
me about those two players in their directions and you
know why they're not with the Lakers and where the
(31:37):
Lakers just off or just change because of Lebron being here. Well,
I'll start with Alonzo Ball. First of all, I think
he's at lef a basketball player. I don't think he's
a franchise type player. But I think he's a great
shit pretty much with every team because he is the
past first type guy. He's long, he's athletic. You know,
(31:58):
he can defend better than most people. To get for obviously,
he's going to do a better job, you know, shooting
free drows and increasing his three point percentage. But I
like the way he plays, to be honest with yea,
I think when he first got here was way too
much pressure and way too much expectations put on him
from the get go, and I don't think he could
live up to it, to be quite honestly, you know,
(32:18):
with his dad putting all the pressure on him saying
that he's better to stuff people with my board magic,
saying you know he's gonna come in here, you know
he's gonna be the face of the franchise, I was like, no, no, no,
you can't. I just didn't see that, you know, the
times that I watched him player, you said, I didn't
see that. I saw a guy who I feel can
playing this league ten, twelve, thirteen years and be effective
(32:38):
and be very successful. But I didn't see a five
time All Star or you know, or face of a
franchise type player, you know. So I think that to
me was kind of the reason that they kind of
trade them. He didn't live up to the expectation. But
I thought the expectations at the beginning were way too high. Kuzman,
You know, I think he showed, you know, flashes of
(33:00):
of you know, just great play, you know, his rookie year,
his second year. But when they started talking about trading
Fanthony Davison, he would he was the one they wouldn't trade.
I was like, you know, he should be the one
in the trade instead of brandon Ingram. I liked. I
thought brandon Ingram and he's turned out to be a
pretty damn goad basketball player. I thought he had a
better upside because he could do more things, you know,
(33:22):
But you know, Kuzman had played better. But you know,
one of the reasons is because he was more seasons.
You know, he has he spent four years in college.
Brandon Ingland was you know, played one year at Duke,
you know, so it was gonna take him a little
bit longer. And I think the fact that you know,
he just never to meet this is Kouzman is in
my opinion, he just never continued to get better each year.
You know, he seemed to taper off going into the
(33:44):
second year, and then last year he didn't get any
better at all as well. And I thought that was
probably one of the main reasons that they decided to
make that move this year. Byron, you coached in New Orleans.
Of course, do you think they made a mistake by
letting h lines because I thought when when they got Zion,
I thought Linzo like the perfect point guard for him.
(34:05):
But yeah, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I do.
I think, you know, Lonzo, if he could have stayed
in New Orleans, I think they would have been a
much much better basketball team. I thought they had to
make use of a team on the rides. I thought
they had a chance this year coming into this year
with you know, Zion and Lonzo being together, a little
bit more of being and having that pick and roll,
(34:27):
you know, combination with those two guys, Yeah, a lot
of people would switch because they're almost the same size.
Zion get you down in that post with that big body,
he gonna punish you, you know. So I thought that
they might have jumped a gun a little bit too quick,
because I thought he did show flashes last year being
the type of player that we thought he could be
as far as facilitating run the offense. You know, he's
very unselfish, That's what I mean. Anybody would love to
(34:47):
play with a guy like him, because if you get
out on the break, he's gonna look, he's gonna look
up and he's gonna find you. H you know, on
the offensive end, he's gonna find you. He's not looking
to shoot the ball first. So most guys want to
play with a guy like Lonzo Ball. So I think,
you know, I think in Chicago he's gonna flourish. I
think it's time for him. He really starts stepping up
his game, and I think he's gonna play well. And again,
like I said, I think he's underrated on that defensive
(35:10):
end as well. All right, that's our man, Byrus Scott Byron,
keep your phone on tonight because I got a few
spots left. Hey looking for more shooting song. Hey, Byron,
and the Lakers have a new sponsor. It's l A
A A ARP now Lake. Alright, hey Ben, if they
(35:33):
let if they let me play on one end of
the court, which is the offensive end, I could probably
give it a goal. Do that, That's right, Just hey,
just cherry pick and stay there the whole time, exactly.
All right, man, we appreciate it. Byron, Thank you, thanks man.
Appreciate you guys. Talk to you soon.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching f
(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the best of the Odd
Cup Off with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. We got
superproducer Rob Gee who has been grinning from ear to
ear with his uh the moves that his Lakers have made.
And Ralph Irvin who might be joining him and grinning
(00:43):
from ear to ear on the updates. All right, rob
let's start only because Ralph is as young as the
rest of the Lakers. That's why he's grinned. You ain't lying.
I mean, them boys are old, all right, Them boys
are old. Now we all be wondering, how in the
world are the Lakers. Ain't too surround. They're big three
that doesn't fit together as it is, But how are
(01:05):
they gonna put these guys around them? So they go
out last night they make a splash. They signed Trevor
Reza thirty six years old, Wayne Ellington thirty three, Pimp
Baysmore thirty two, and Dwight Howard thirty five, the Right
thirty six in December early December. Then they follow that
(01:28):
up with Carmelo Anthony who's thirty seven, and then they
go with the young boys Kendrick Nunn twenty six, Malik
Monk twenty three, and you know they signed there. Of
course thht is back, Taylor Horton Tucker, he's twenty. So
that is the Lakers squad around Lebron, who himself is
(01:50):
will be thirty seven in December, Anthony Davis, who is
not old, but dude, dude gets beat up. That's what
your twenty eight years old. And then of course Russell
Westbrook who's thirty two. Rob, what do you think? Um?
You know, they went out and this is what they're doing.
They may still do a few more things we'll see,
(02:11):
but you know, most of the names are gone and
so this is their squad. Uh it looks like what
do you think? Uh? Not feeling it at all. A
couple things first, the Lakers, though Chris, are in a
win win situation. You know that, right, because even if
they don't qualify for the NBA playoffs, this season, they'll
(02:32):
still qualify for medicare no, Alex, No, my god, here
the sad thing. Here's the sad thing. Rob's been all
day thinking that went up? Did you intervigor the excitement
with which text? Right? They're in a no win situation.
(02:57):
Listen to this, all right, here's no win situation. All right,
here we go, Chris with the addition of mellow. I
see him, he's reading. He's reading, y'all think I'm playing?
All right, God, give him some music. Let's no wait,
wait your music nor music? Hey? So no no music, Alex,
no m music, no music. So with the addition of Mellow, Chris,
(03:19):
I don't know if you know to the Lakers they've
changed their pregame meal for next season. That's right, you know.
It now consists of sodium free bacon, decaf coffee, and
a chest X ray. All right. And also the Lakers
are officially they have a new sponsor. Do you know that?
You know, like they wear the sponsors on their jerseys.
(03:40):
So now they're the l A A a ARP Lakers,
So they were in there. And also I heard you
know these TV networks you're looking for new shows, So
now you know the the Lakers getting together with some
older guys. They now have the casting for a new
sitcom for CBS called The Purple and Golden Guys. You
(04:05):
know that's the new TV show. No, I feel like
I know all this, Rob. I hate to tell you this.
What but my boy, you played basketball with me at
Oberlin College, my roommate when we were on the road.
(04:25):
He was an economics and Honors economics major. So my
point is he's not a comedian. But I think he
sent me a text that was funnier than anything you
just said. He said, the Lakers are like the cast
of the movie Uncle Drew. Yes, which is true. I
(04:45):
didn't see that. Did you see that? Nah? But I
never just you know, I felt like, because here's the thing.
When I saw the little you know, the little five
to ten minute blurbs on the internet when they first
start came out right and Uncle Drew was unleashed on
the world. It was funny, it was great, and so
(05:06):
I thought, Wow, the movie will be good. But I
just never had the desire to go see it. But
it's hard for those movies whenever you take something that
was thirty seconds or a minute, you know, and try
to turn it or skin three minute skit, and you
try to turn it into a full length motion picture,
it usually bombs because it's not it's not sustainable, you
know what I mean. Like, it's a funny skit, but
(05:28):
it ain't funny enough to make a whole movie off it.
But anyway, I'm just saying I'm out on the Lakers.
And yes, they got a cast of people, guys who
are very talented and have done a lot in their careers,
but just too many things. There's there's too many pieces parts,
too many old guys to stay healthy, too many things
that need to work together in order to make a run.
(05:51):
And even if everything works together, I still don't believe
they're better than Brooklyn with those three guys healthy, and
ultimately it's about winning a championship, right, So I don't
believe that they're better than the Brooklyn Nets. Even with
what they put together, I don't believe they'll have be
at the finish line Chris healthy enough, have everything working
(06:12):
the way that they wanted. That's why I was out
on the Lakers. You know, I picked the Suns in
the first round against the Lakers because I said, too
many things have to go right, including guys staying healthy.
That's why I didn't picked the Lakers, and I'm not
picking them here. I don't think that this is a
team that can win a championship. They're a bit reminiscent robe,
(06:33):
a bit of the two thousand and four Lakers, two
thousand and three, two thousand and four Lakers. You remember
when Karl Malone and old Karl Malone and an aging
Gary Payton went to the Lakers to join Shack and Kobe.
Remember that the potentially four Hall of famers on the
(06:54):
same squad, right, And who was the fifth starter? Do
you remember un George? Was it Devin George? Okay, right?
Because he was like the like the the fifth beatle,
you know what I mean. They were trying to talk
about who the other guy was, yep, yep, and and
you know they had there to your point, they had
their struggles in the regular season, you know, but I
(07:16):
mean they still obviously won games. But Gary Payton was
never happy in the triangle offense, which really wasn't built
for you know, great point guard at least has never
been run that way, and so he didn't really like
it and fit in. And you know, he was an
All Star or had put up all star numbers the
year before, and then that's when his numbers began to
(07:38):
go down and his career was never the same. Carl Malone,
to your point, Rob was injured to some degree in
the playoffs, and you know, guys who were used to
being stars in the focal point of their team had
to adjust and it was a tough adjustment. They ended
up finding their stride in the Western Conference playoffs and
(07:59):
beat Sam and Antonio, but then lost to the Detroit
Pistons in the finals, and so ultimately they didn't get
it done. This this is somewhat reminiscent of that squad,
and I'm with you and that so much has to
go right. You still don't know how it's gonna fit.
You know what's the starting five gonna be? I think
(08:21):
Mellow's coming off the bench clearly. Um, they did get
some shooting. It's not great shooting. I know people look
at old so and so Malik Monk shot forty percent
from three last year. Um, yeah, but he's a thirty
four percent career three point shooter. He's got like twenty
something percent the year before. So he now has he
(08:42):
improved that much? You know, going forwards. Yeah, because they
had several forty percent three point shooters last year on
the Lakers team, but they just weren't that great of
a shooting team. Um, but you know, I'm not gonna poop.
I mean, Wayne Elling sends a pretty good shooter. H
Kendrick Nunn. I like that Pickle. That's one of the
(09:04):
younger guys, twenty six years old. He played well in
Miami thirty eight percent from three. So they they I think,
considering all things considered, rob they filled out the roster
pretty well, you know, considering they really didn't have any money.
Here's what I say. I agree with you. I think
Brooklyn still the favorite to win it all if everybody
(09:28):
stays like, if all the teams stay healthy, I think
you got Brooklyn as the favorite overall. Here's what I
say about the West. If if I had to pick
the Lakers or the Field, I would go with the Field.
But if I have to name one team that should
be the favorite, I think, just based on sheer talent,
(09:52):
I would go with the Lakers just as the favorite
in the West, not not in the league, but they
got a lot of talent. Again, I'm I don't know
how it's gonna how they're gonna put it together. It's
really gonna be interesting. But there is a whole bunch
of talent there. Defensively, they've lost something right now, you
got bays more maybe, you know, maybe they can get
(10:14):
some of these dudes who aren't typically defenders to dig
in Aresa as a defender. But they're gonna give up
something there. For the most part, they don't have guys
that want to run with Westbrook when he's playing fast,
so they they've got a lot of adjustments and just
things to work out, as you said, But on talent alone,
(10:37):
this helps them. There really is no world beat there
in the West. I said it, Yes, I've been saying it.
I think the Clippers are gonna be down because Kauwhai's
not there. I think that Phoenix and Golden State and
Denver and Utah are going to be good. Dallas you
could throw in there. They're gonna be good. But are
they scaring you? Do they have more talent than the Lakes. No,
(11:00):
it's so if lebron can bring this thing together, then
I think they'd be the favorite in the West. Yeah,
I don't see it. I think one of those other
teams do you have a favorite, though, Yeah, I got
the Clippers. I think, well, he's out the whole year.
I thought I thought he's kind of thing. He's nine
to twelve months, so twelve months would be the year
(11:22):
that his injuries. Nine to twelve months. I just think
you're right. I mean, if he's coming back, we'll see.
I still wouldn't favor them. Yeah, I still like them.
If he comes back, I just gotta wait to see, Uh,
you know what, what else is happening to that point
and the rest of their team. But I'm just saying, uh,
you know, you can look at I'm not a big
(11:43):
I don't think the Sons are making some second run
to the NBA finals. I just think the road is there.
The problem, the biggest problem. There's no joke, but the
biggest problem is they're just They're just older and the
chances of them being healthy at the end is the problem.
Last year, after they won the championship in twenty twenty,
everybody said they won to post the off season and
(12:04):
that they got better and it didn't pan out. I
just don't I don't see this group and the ages
of these guys being able to come together. I don't
be sure to catch live editions of The Odd Couple
with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm
Eastern four pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the
iHeartRadio app. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre. Join me every
(12:28):
weekday morning on my podcast Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre.
This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired
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(12:52):
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Steph Curry,
Golden State just signed him to a four year, two
hundred and fifteen million dollars contract extension, which will be
(13:13):
on top of the money that he's making next year,
which is forty six million. So all told, over the
next five years, Steph Curry has guaranteed money of two
hundred and sixty one million dollars big time bucks. And
(13:37):
you have a take on this that I find incredible.
It's not, that's just it's just it depends on how
you want to do business. And Chris, I'm not hating
on him that he doesn't deserve to get paid. They're
paying anybody and everybody in the NBA, So that's not
even the issue, Steph. If you want to give them
(13:58):
money to Steph Curry, fine, But the bottom line is
that they've probably their windows open and closed. They've probably
done all the winning. They got them a new stadium
or a new arena and all that, and they've made
a lot of money. But but this is just like
a reward or a retirement fund or pension or whatever
you want to call it. This is not about them
(14:21):
winning anymore. And like, like you probably like that it's
hard for people to part with players that they like
and all that, and I get it. It was like
when the Cardinals wouldn't pay uh, wouldn't pay um God
Albert Pooholes, Right, they wouldn't pay him Smart. They had
(14:44):
they had won a couple of championships, they'd already would
you say, because he fell off Smart? Well, but but
but that was the point is that they had one Chris,
they had a nice run. They didn't want to They
didn't want to do it because they know what happens
when you pay older players and players you see what happened.
They don't know what they Steph played great last year.
They don't even make the playoffs. And I'm not blaming
Steph for not making the playoffs because Clay was heard
(15:07):
and you know, some things didn't work out. They had
younger players. But to do this and then not to
go give them some other players, some reinforcement, some veterans
to play alongside makes no sense, like they're not in
the mix to win a championship. Well, they compete, shure,
if Clay Thompton is good, Chris or healthy short, they'll
(15:28):
they'll they'll make noise, they'll be involved, but you nobody's
picking them to win the title. And I don't expect
them to win the title over the next five years
with Steph Curry, no matter how much money they pay them,
it's a reward, it's a bonus. You like him, you
love that he's a part of your organization. You can't
sell any more tickets, you know, it's it's just like
(15:50):
we want to reward the guy. And if that's the reason, fine,
But as far as a business situation and whether or
not this is good money or smart money. It's not,
is it not. You act like he's coming off a
sixteen point season. No, he's coming off. So when you
say it's a reward, that's like Kobe got the reward
(16:12):
at the end of his Kobe did get a reward,
and that the mistake he was playing someone he wasn't
playing arguably the best basketball of his career, but they
gave it to him. But they gave Kobe the money
because Chris he had already won for them, right, and
it was this is what I'm saying, But he wasn't
playing at the level that Steph is right now. No,
(16:34):
but Murry had arguably his best year last year and
they didn't make the playoffs. And but now they're getting
Klay Thompson back and they don't know what condition he's
gonna be. Your logic is like, well, if you're not
gonna win the championship, don't pay anybody. No, don't pay anybody,
don't break Are you serious? Don't break the bank on that. No,
(16:55):
I'm telling you, like the smart team business, the smartest
team in the league, everybody can't win the championship. No,
I get it. But they've already open their window. Is
this open? Is open? If we don't know exactly what
Clay's coming back, We didn't know what Kevin Durant was
gonna look like. We don't know what Kawhi Leonard's gonna
(17:17):
look like. They're gonna win a championship. You got to
winn your championship the next five years. I'm just think
they got a shot. Yeah, okay, all right, I definitely
think they got a shot. I don't. I don't think
And even if they don't, even if they don't win
a championship, that doesn't mean you don't pay somebody. Was
Houston wrong to pay James Hard and all those years
didn't bring him a champ No, everybody doesn't win right
(17:38):
when James Hard that No, I get I know, I
understand the business aspect. But I'm telling you, whether you
signed Steph or not doesn't mean you're gonna have an
empty arena. It doesn't mean to get might No, it
does not. It doesn't stay. Because what they look like
before they got Steph Kurry, before they had Steph Curry,
they used to sell out all the time. That was
(17:58):
the amazing thing is that they had a great following
of fans. Chris and well, now this school, look at it.
They didn't have an empty building. They're in a whole
different venue there, to know what, they didn't have an
empty building. You think people they might have an empty
building if they lose Steff No, I don't. I don't
think so. I think that they're different. Fan, talk to anybody.
The Nicks have a hundred championships is nineteen seventy. They
(18:20):
don't even have a so didn't nobody should spend money?
They don't, should not. The Knicks should never sign anybody. No,
I mean, they didn't won the title in almost fifty years,
right and they still sell get rid of the franchise.
All Trail Blazers. Just stop cutting the checks for Damian Lillo.
I would do it. It's ridiculous. No, what I mean
we should have telling you even in the league, that's
(18:42):
gonna win the championship. No, I didn't window. There is
row and you don't pay Steph Curry stop it. If
he was coming off a bad season, that might make
it still the best seasons of his career. They didn't
make the playoffs. So if you want to play and
pay anybody, is he gonna play better as we go forward.
(19:05):
He's gonna pick no better than you get better players
around him. Don't you understand that? No, I don't undersconnect
because they didn't do it. Just wish they just drafted
the best kid in the class of twenty twenty one,
John the fuck cominga. They just drafted another kid that
can play. James Weissman was one of the top players
(19:26):
in the country. It be a year older. I'm gonna
building a team. No, no, but but but Chris, he's
too old to build a team around. If he's gonna
pay three in average thirty two points the game last year,
what are you talking about? I'm talking about it. If
you're going to be all in on this and you're
gonna pay stuff, you gotta go get him players for now,
(19:48):
the kids building and hope and wishing, dream that that
these draft players are. They weren't good enough to even
make the bringing back, bring and back a future Hall
of Famer in Clay Thompson. We don't even know if
he could walk. Was gonna be either one you you
(20:09):
were willing to bet on Kevin durand half back to
back injuries he had backed the back he had Achilles
injury people had come back from today have back to
back injuries, is what I'm trying to tell you. Willing
to give up on Kawhi Leonard he made coming over
torn acl and to a killing day. He just got
(20:29):
bumped in the world. Was that stop it? I would
not do it. It's gonna goally ridiculous. You're gonna pay.
You're gonna pay. De Curry what did you read it?
You gotta put around him? Yes, Tray Clay, Yeah, they man,
this is ridiculous. No one they ain't that. Then we close.
They've already have one championship. We know when they stopped
(20:51):
winning championship when Kevin Durant laugh, They're not winning another title.
It's a joke. And golden stain they need to stock
is a joke. It's Utah has never It's like, okay,
old times say, yeah, remember when we were champions Remember
when we won. Yeah, remember when everybody was hurt when
we won that championship in twenty fifteen. Hey, you remember
(21:13):
the time we choked down a three one lead, the
first team in NBA history. You remember that? Yeah, let's
go back to those days. Oh, you remember when Kevin
Durant came and took steps lunch money and his team
and won two NBA titles and won both MVPs. Remember
those years. Let's turn back the clock to that. We'll
give stuff a boatload of money. Yeah, we give them
(21:35):
no unproven players. We'd hate to go hurt years. All right,
can I talk now? That's ridiculous. They made the finals
five straight years, first team since Bill Russell to do that.
Let's go back to that. Oh, that's stupid to go
back to that. This is for the Utah Jazz have
never in their history won a championship, and yet they
(21:59):
play players. They just paid Mike Conley seventy million dollars. Why,
how stupid were they? They're not gonna win anything. The
Phoenix Suns just gave Chris Paul a guarantee eighty to
ninety million. How stupid were they? They're not gonna win anything.
It's called a league. Rob. Even if you don't win
(22:19):
a championship, you gotta play players. And Steph Curry is
winning the best basketball of his career. You can say
all your little jokes that you've been saying for the
last seven years. We've heard them all seventy eight times before.
But years the gotta pay the dude, and they're right
(22:40):
to do. And the young kids are assets. If Bradley
Bill becomes available, they got young players they can give
up to get him. If Damian Lillard or Ben Simmons
or somebody is available, they got assets to try to
go get them. So this is smart. The question I had,
(23:02):
what should Steph have done? It? Should Steph have given
them a get played out this season, see how good
they are and they say, maybe I'll move on. Ultimately,
I like what he did because I do think they
can still be good. They can be as good as Denver,
as good as a Phoenix, as good as Dallas and
(23:24):
Utah and these other contenders in the West. We'll see
if they can rise above. But you gotta have your
best player to rise above. Smart move by the Golden
State Warriors, and we'll see what they do. They should
build around him. We'll see how Clay comes back. I
like their young talent. Maybe they'll turn it into a
(23:44):
veteran star. But this was a smart move by the
Golden State Warriors. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports
talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows
at Fox sports radio dot com and within the iHeart
radio app search fs to listen live. Our next guest
is a three time NBA champion, a legendary Los Angeles Laker,
(24:08):
former NBA Coach of the Year as well and friend
of the y Couple show Byron Scott. What's up, brothers? Byron?
You know? What's up? Chris RP? What's going on? Hey? Byron?
I just got one question, was your was your self
down today? Because the Lakers didn't call you to join
onto the team? You know they didn't pick it up.
(24:29):
What happened to your call? It does seem like they
call everybody else in the world man just so, Byron.
I guess they didn't want a sixty year old trying
to be shoot to jump shot in the corner anymore.
I guess, Hey, they came close. They came close. Let's start,
we get to the age. Let's start with just the
(24:50):
big three now, Lebron Westbrook a d. I mean you
you were on the showtime Lakers where you, Magic Worthy
and Kareem all fit together perfectly. Westbrooks great. All three
of them are great individually. I don't think it fits.
I mean, I give them a chance. I don't They
got so much talent, But what are your thoughts on this?
(25:14):
I mean my first thought, you know, Chris, when the
trade was man, I was like whoa And I was like, man,
three dynamic players, no doubt about it. And then my
second thought was, Okay, how's this gonna work? You know,
I mean it's it's um you thought. You're talking about
three individuals that are you know, like you said, individually,
they're fantastic. When you look at that that Laker team
(25:34):
back in the day with Magic, Kareem Worthy, You've got
three Hall of Famers and then myself, Coop, Ac, Kurt,
all those guys. You know, we all understood our roles
and everybody on that team, especially those three. You know,
they had to give a little bit more of their selves.
And what I mean by that is they had to
give them less. You know. I mean Magic could have
twenty five thirty points a game, you know, saying with James,
(25:56):
saying with Kareem h. Maybe not in the last two
years with Cap because of that time he was getting
older and we was just like, look, you're just gonna
be along for the ride. We're gonna get this done,
you know, and we just need you at half court
every now and then, you know, to come down here
so we can throw it into you because nobody can
stop that hood shot, you know. But I think those
three guys in particular understood that they you know, yeah,
(26:17):
they could average you know, more points and more rebounds
and more assists. But was that, you know, for the
best for the team. And it wasn't. You know. I
thought when Magic got more aggressive because pat Rowley told
him to, you know, it was better for us because
him being more aggressive made us that much better and
harder to guard. These three guys, and I think particularly Russell,
and I love Russell. I mean, I'm one of the
(26:38):
Russell's biggest fans. I got so much love for the
way that guy plays a game because of his passion
for the game every night. Man doesn't anybody every night.
You know, if you go to if you play to
see him play, you're gonna get some money's worse. And
that's the great thing about Russ And I think he's
the one in this group that's gonna have to give
a little bit more. And what I mean more, I
(27:00):
mean really less of himself. You know, he's gonna have
to give up maybe the triple doubles. He's gonna have
to give up, you know, being able to be the
dominant player on the ball at times. And I think
at this point in his career, I truly feel that
he is willing to do that because I think the
biggest thing has always been with Russ has always been winning.
And I think right now he wants to win a championship,
(27:21):
and why not winning in your your hometown, just like
I did. I was I love being here in LA
I would be like, look, man, I'll get whatever y'all
want me to get, whatever you want me to do.
I'm good, you know, as long as I can stay here,
you know. So I think he's at that point where
he knows less and I'm gonna have to, you know,
give up a few shots more a game and not
dominate the ball as much in order for us to
(27:42):
be successful. And I think if he comes with that attitude,
you know they're gonna be They're gonna be there no
matter what. They're still the best team in the West,
no matter what. But if he converts to saying, you
know what, I don't need to do this like I've
been doing the last four or five years. I can
do less and we can be more successful, and he
buys into that. I think this team is gonna be awesome.
(28:03):
The only problem I have, and this is my concern,
is a lot of older guys, So a lot of
things have to work, a lot of guys have to
be able to stay healthy. Uh, you got Carmelo, Anthony's
thirty seven. I mean you start to look around and
those are old for NBA players. I know Lebron. Even Lebron,
as good as he is and physically fit, he's been
(28:25):
hurt two of the three years in LA. The only
year he hasn't been hurt was when they had the
four months off for COVID. So I just that to
me is a concern if you're the Lakers. Is that
a concern about the age of the team. Well, I
tell you RPI, I was looking at everybody that they
were picking up in the fridge market, and that's the
first thing that came to my mind was hud they
(28:45):
go you know, you know what I mean exactly hit me.
I was like, whoa, you're Carmelo, you know Howard? I
was like, who they get? They get some older dudes
coming in here, you know. So I think it is
a concern for them. Obviously, Frank is gonna have to
manage those guys time, not only you know, on the
playing court, but practicing things of that nature, because you
(29:09):
know it's a long season. They two games in long season,
and what you want with that group, obviously they got
a world of experience. You want to get them to
the playoffs relatively healthy. And if you can get them
to the playoffs relatively healthy, then they got a great
chance to win it all. I've said that I would
put Lebron on the point. I mean, Westbrook obviously can
(29:29):
push it in transition and when Lebron's on the bench,
but I like him as the primary decision maker in
the half court. I think he should kind of take
on the thoughts of the mindset of Magic Johnson and
let me make sure Russ and a d eating everybody
else because Lebron gonna get his twenty points just by
being out there. So what are your thoughts on that.
(29:49):
He's talked about playing power forward, but I kind of
like him at the point. Well, well, Chris, you know,
he can play pretty much any position he want on
the basketball court. I mean that guy is you know,
he's so dynamic with the ball without the ball, I mean,
he makes everybody else on that court better. Uh, and
and that that was kind of the point earlier about
Russ being off the ball at times to let Lebron
(30:10):
create for other guys. And I like that because of
the fact that when Lebron does create, he does kick
it to Russ. You know, he's there with a triple
threat position he doesn't and now you've got to come
out at him and he's got his live dripple where
instead of him and having to create, you know, now
he can really look to attack or just you know,
or look to shoot the ball. So I love Lebron
in point I think he I think his whole mentality
(30:32):
is a point guard mentality anyway, the way he plays,
so you know, he's the most unselfish player you know,
on the in the team and probably in this league,
one of the most you know, selfish players in this league.
So I love him at that point guard position because
again he can switch you know, one through four and
sometimes one through five. So I mean, you know, him
being the facilitators always to me one of the best
(30:54):
decisions that can make. He can get you a better
shot than you know for most of these guys, and
they can get by theirselves Byron let me ask you
about two young players. At one point, the Lakers were
so high on Kyle Kuzma the first time, they wouldn't
even trade him for Anthony Davis. He couldn't be involved
in that trade if you remember that. And the other
one I want to know. I want you to tell
me about him and just what happened to him. And
(31:17):
the other one is a Lonzo Ball who signed with
the Bulls, who's now on his third team in four
NBA seasons, and at one time, you know, Magic was
talking about hanging his rafter, his jersey up in the
rafters and you know at the Staples Center. Just tell
me about those two players in their directions and you
know why they're not with the Lakers and where the
(31:37):
Lakers just off or just change because of Lebron being here. Well,
I'll start with Alonzo Ball. First of all, I think
he's at lef a basketball player. I don't think he's
a franchise type player. But I think he's a great
shit pretty much with every team because he is the
past first type guy. He's long, he's athletic. You know,
(31:58):
he can defend better than most people. To get for obviously,
he's going to do a better job, you know, shooting
free drows and increasing his three point percentage. But I
like the way he plays, to be honest with yea,
I think when he first got here was way too
much pressure and way too much expectations put on him
from the get go, and I don't think he could
live up to it, to be quite honestly, you know,
(32:18):
with his dad putting all the pressure on him saying
that he's better to stuff people with my board magic,
saying you know he's gonna come in here, you know
he's gonna be the face of the franchise, I was like, no, no, no,
you can't. I just didn't see that, you know, the
times that I watched him player, you said, I didn't
see that. I saw a guy who I feel can
playing this league ten, twelve, thirteen years and be effective
(32:38):
and be very successful. But I didn't see a five
time All Star or you know, or face of a
franchise type player, you know. So I think that to
me was kind of the reason that they kind of
trade them. He didn't live up to the expectation. But
I thought the expectations at the beginning were way too high. Kuzman,
You know, I think he showed, you know, flashes of
(33:00):
of you know, just great play, you know, his rookie year,
his second year. But when they started talking about trading
Fanthony Davison, he would he was the one they wouldn't trade.
I was like, you know, he should be the one
in the trade instead of brandon Ingram. I liked. I
thought brandon Ingram and he's turned out to be a
pretty damn goad basketball player. I thought he had a
better upside because he could do more things, you know,
(33:22):
But you know, Kuzman had played better. But you know,
one of the reasons is because he was more seasons.
You know, he has he spent four years in college.
Brandon Ingland was you know, played one year at Duke,
you know, so it was gonna take him a little
bit longer. And I think the fact that you know,
he just never to meet this is Kouzman is in
my opinion, he just never continued to get better each year.
You know, he seemed to taper off going into the
(33:44):
second year, and then last year he didn't get any
better at all as well. And I thought that was
probably one of the main reasons that they decided to
make that move this year. Byron, you coached in New Orleans.
Of course, do you think they made a mistake by
letting h lines because I thought when when they got Zion,
I thought Linzo like the perfect point guard for him.
(34:05):
But yeah, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah, I do.
I think, you know, Lonzo, if he could have stayed
in New Orleans, I think they would have been a
much much better basketball team. I thought they had to
make use of a team on the rides. I thought
they had a chance this year coming into this year
with you know, Zion and Lonzo being together, a little
bit more of being and having that pick and roll,
(34:27):
you know, combination with those two guys, Yeah, a lot
of people would switch because they're almost the same size.
Zion get you down in that post with that big body,
he gonna punish you, you know. So I thought that
they might have jumped a gun a little bit too quick,
because I thought he did show flashes last year being
the type of player that we thought he could be
as far as facilitating run the offense. You know, he's
very unselfish, That's what I mean. Anybody would love to
(34:47):
play with a guy like him, because if you get
out on the break, he's gonna look, he's gonna look
up and he's gonna find you. H you know, on
the offensive end, he's gonna find you. He's not looking
to shoot the ball first. So most guys want to
play with a guy like Lonzo Ball. So I think,
you know, I think in Chicago he's gonna flourish. I
think it's time for him. He really starts stepping up
his game, and I think he's gonna play well. And again,
like I said, I think he's underrated on that defensive
(35:10):
end as well. All right, that's our man, Byrus Scott Byron,
keep your phone on tonight because I got a few
spots left. Hey looking for more shooting song. Hey, Byron,
and the Lakers have a new sponsor. It's l A
A A ARP now Lake. Alright, hey Ben, if they
(35:33):
let if they let me play on one end of
the court, which is the offensive end, I could probably
give it a goal. Do that, That's right, Just hey,
just cherry pick and stay there the whole time, exactly.
All right, man, we appreciate it. Byron, Thank you, thanks man.
Appreciate you guys. Talk to you soon.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
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