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February 6, 2025 19 mins

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What truly makes an NBA player a superstar? Could it be their all-NBA selections, MVP candidacy, or perhaps their ability to influence the game on both ends of the court? Join me as I challenge conventional wisdom by narrowing down what defines the top-tier talents in the league today. I propose that only ten players hold this elite status, categorizing them into "old guards" like LeBron, Steph, and KD, and the "face of the league" contenders like Giannis, Jokic, Tatum, Luka, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai, in particular, is making waves as the potential new face of the NBA, with his on-court prowess and off-court charisma shining brightly.

We also tackle the seismic shift in the NBA landscape with Luka Dončić's stunning trade to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, hey, before we start the show, I want to
welcome you to the Third DownConversation, your place for
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(00:28):
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Speaker 2 (00:37):
All right, let's jump into the show the difference in
how a lot of normal peopledefine superstar and how players

(01:01):
in the nba define superstar aretwo totally different things.
The fans say there's like 40superstars.
No, they say there's like five.
Superstar is I'm here, we win.
So if you define it as that,who would you say is a superstar
?
Jokic Superstar?
Okay, giannis.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Superstar, embiid Superstar.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Luka.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Superstar.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
LeBron James.
So, lebron, obviously we don'tknow, because it's your fan, but
Welcome in.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Welcome in to the Third Down Conversation, your
place for sports andentertainment.
I am your host, d-turnip Seedand, on today's episode,
superstar star.
What's the difference?
Surely there's not 20superstars in the league, right?

(01:50):
Well, I'm going to break thatdown and, like always, I keep it
real, I keep it authentic and Iput it in proper context.
Let's jump in.

(02:29):
So I posted on Instagram a reelabout Kobe.
The comments were insane.
People were at each other'sthroats.
It quickly became a Kobe versusLeBron debate and I I'm here
for that.
I'm here for it, but as I'mreading the comments, I'm

(02:52):
realizing people will sayanything to downplay my guy.
A handful of comments said thatPhil Jackson taught Kobe how to
win.
The coach's job is to teachplayers how to play the game the
right way, aka how to win.
I don't understand how that's aslight towards Kobe, but hey,
if that's what you want to use,that's a bold strategy.

(03:14):
A few other comments said thatShaq taught Kobe how to win,
which is crazy, because Shaqdidn't win until Kobe became
Kobe.
So how could he have taughtKobe how to win?
It's like when you learn inmath your teacher knows how to

(03:40):
do the equation and they teachyou the equation.
But Shaq didn't have the answerto the test to win a
championship.
But the comment that reallycaught my attention in the reel
I stated Kobe didn't need tojoin other superstars and so

(04:00):
many people were like, yes, hedid.
He had Paul Gasol, lamar Odom,metal, royal Peace, andrew Bynum
, and as I read the comments ofpeople saying these same names,
these same players, I'mrealizing that most people don't

(04:22):
know what makes a player in theNBA a superstar, because
there's no way you can thinkPaul Gasol, lamar Odom, metta
Roepies or Andrew Bynum aresuperstars All good players, but
they're not superstars.
So I'm going to explain whatmakes a player in the NBA a
superstar, and no, this won't besome random opinion that I have

(04:45):
.
I will be combining how sportsmedia defines a superstar and
how NBA players define asuperstar, and I think most will
agree with my criteria.
So, in my opinion, a superstaris a player that is a perennial
all NBA selection, perennial MVPcandidate, a player that

(05:10):
affects the game offensively anddefensively and his team is a
threat to make the conferencefinals.
To be considered a superstar, aplayer must check at least
three of those four criterias.
A player must check at leastthree of those four criterias.
Currently, there's probably 10superstars in the league and I'm
going to list these 10 playersin tiers.

(05:32):
Now, the first tier I'm goingto call the old heads, the old
guards.
However, either one worksthat's LeBron, either one works,
that's LeBron, steph KD themguys are aging out.
The next tier I will call theface of the league.
That's Giannis Joker, tatum,luka, sga and that last tier I

(05:59):
call it Unicorn, and that's ADand Embiid.
However, embiid almost didn'tmake it for me.
Yes, I understand he has a MVP.
Yes, he's been in all NBAselection multiple times.
However, he's only been to oneconference finals.
He's never made an NBA finalsand he's missed 400 games during

(06:26):
his career.
That's almost equivalent tofive seasons.
And your best ability isavailability.
He's just not available enough.
I mean, look at the Sixers thisseason and he's not playing.
But he somehow was able to playin the Olympics.
But hey, I guess that's not.
I guess that's not either herenor there.
Let me circle back to the faceof the league, tier SGA is the

(06:53):
next face of the league.
I'll say it again SGA is thenext face of the league.
What about Joker?
My guy wants to race horses.
He ain't trying to be the faceGiannis.
If Giannis was going to be theface of the league, it would
have happened after he won thechampionship.

(07:16):
Tatum For some reason Tatumdoesn't get the respect.
Look what happened in theOlympics.
Luka, it could be Luka, but Ithink his durability is a real
question, like a real question.
But SGA total package he's 26.

(07:36):
He's averaged 30 the last twoseasons.
He's currently averaging 30again.
His team finished with thenumber one overall seed in the
West.
His team is currently numberone in the West.
His game is complete.
He can shoot the three, has ahella nice mid-range game and

(07:58):
can finish at the rim.
He finished inside the top 10of the defensive player of the
year voting, so he can hold hisown on defense.
He has the mindset and attitudeand will give you buckets and
then make an Instagram postboasting about how he gave you
buckets.
Dude is a killer and off thecourt he's got the fashion, the

(08:30):
style, the swagger.
He's this generation's AllenIverson.
Sga the next face of the league.
I had to just put that out there.
I had to put that out there.
But there are some notablenames missing from my list
Ant-Man, ja Devin Booker, kyrieJamal Murray.
Are these guys superstars orare they just stars?

(08:51):
I hope you guys enjoyed thatfirst segment and if if you

(09:16):
haven't had a chance, go aheadand hit that like button.
Go ahead and hit that subscribebutton and a five-star review
will sure help a brother out.
Remember, shows will drop everyTuesday and follow me on
socials at the Third DownConversation.
Now let's continue the show andjump into segment number two.

(09:54):
As I was searching the net formy superstar criteria, I came
across a really good definitionof what makes an NBA player a
star.
It states that a star issomeone who gets good individual
stats, it's a high levelcontributor to the team and it's

(10:16):
someone who good-to-great skillset, with maybe one or two
elite skills, but wouldgenerally be a second, maybe
third option for a championshipteam.
And I can think of a handful ofplayers who fit that definition
Kyrie, dame, jamal Murray.

(10:37):
Those guys have had superstarmoments, especially Kyrie and
Jamal Murray, but they're notsuperstars.
They possess an elite skill.
Kyrie is the best ball handlerin the league.
Dame and Jamal Murray are twoof the toughest shot makers in

(10:57):
the league, but in ClevelandKyrie was a second option.
Currently Dame is a secondoption, jamal Murray second
option.
Again.
These players are great.
They are so talented.
They're just not superstars.
Ant Edwards and Ja, those'rejust not superstars.

(11:19):
Ant Edwards and Jaw those guysare French superstars For
Ant-Man, I just need to see more.
Last year, phenomenal season,got the Timberwolves to the
Western Conference Finals forthe first time since KG.
But I gotta see him do it again.
But I gotta see him do it againand, if he can do it again,

(11:42):
superstar.
As for jaw, jaw was well on hisway until he got in all that
trouble on IG.
If jaw can get the grizzliesback to where they were when
everyone was like, oh yeah, thatguy's, he's got necks and he
can reclaim his superstar status, because only the old heads are
grandfathered in as far assuperstars.
Everyone else I listed well,you got to earn it each year.

(12:03):
Each year, you got to earn thatsuperstar status Because you
can be a superstar for severalyears.
However, that status can getremoved if your play dips.

(12:41):
If you guys are enjoying theshow, please remember to like,
subscribe and follow.
If there's a certain topic youwant me to talk about, drop it
in the comments.
Remember, this podcast can befound on all podcast platforms,

(13:01):
as well as Twitter, instagramand YouTube at the Third Down
Conversation.
Now let's finish the show.

(13:38):
The Mavs trade Luka to theLakers.
Wow, I mean, that's thatshouldn happen.
We're talking about a25-year-old superstar in the
league, a guy that's going towin MVPs, a guy that's going to
get back to the finals.
He was just there last seasonand the Mavs trade him.
That's just unheard of.
But I think it's a lot oflayers to why Luka got traded.

(14:03):
I think it's so much more thatwe don't know like so much more
that we don't know.
But first let's look at thetrade.
Dalek sends, dallas sends Lucato the Lakers and they receive
AD in one first round pick.
Now that sounds like a robbery.

(14:26):
Like how does Dallas only getAD in one first round pick?
Now, to be fair, most of thetime when a superstar player
gets traded, the team receives alot of draft picks, usually
first round, a couple pick swapsand a lot of like role type

(14:47):
players.
Usually they don't receive asuperstar in return.
So if you look at it from thatstandpoint, it looks like a good
trade.
But when you think about MikaelBridges going for five first
round picks or Rudy Gobert goingfor all those first round picks
, you got to get like a boatloadfor Luka right?

(15:10):
Most people believe Rob Pelinkagot over on the Mavs GM and it
kind of does look that way.
There's no way.
I'm just taking AD and onefirst round pick.
I want everything.
I want it all In the immediatefuture.
This looks good for Dallas.

(15:31):
You still have Kyrie who can runthe show.
He averages about 25 points.
You got AD.
He's around 25 points,contributes on the offense and
defensive end should be acontender in the west for the
next two to three years.
After that they're gonna be insome trouble and I think around

(15:52):
year three that's where youreceive the Lakers ascend
because Luka is a problem.
I mean, he averages 30 in theplayoffs.
The only other player that cansay that is MJ.
Luka is a problem, and now he'sin LA where free agents want to

(16:12):
go.
The Lakers are set up for thefuture.
The next layer of this is is itreally true that LeBron had no
clue, because supposedly he wassurprised?
And if that's true, then whatthe Lakers just told LeBron and
the NBA world, then what theLakers just told LeBron and the

(16:35):
NBA world, is that LeBrondoesn't have the power anymore.
They have literally snatchedthe power back from LeBron,
which in LeBron's career that'snever happened.
I've watched several sportsshows, read several articles.
They all believe this is a goodtrade for the Lakers now we can
all see that currently, rightnow, that team is not built to

(16:57):
win.
I'm sure the Lakers will makemore moves, but those moves will
be about building around Luka,not around LeBron.
And I think, secretly,mainstream media, nba execs they
love the fact that the Lakershave taken the power from LeBron
.
Lebron has been one of the mostpowerful players to ever play

(17:21):
the game of basketball.
You gotta know, people didn'tlike that, and now it appears
that that moment where they cantake the power back is occurring
.
Another element of this is thebusiness side of things.
It's no secret, nba viewershiphas been down and they just
signed this mega TV deal.

(17:43):
D-wade said something veryinteresting about this whole
Luka trade to the Lakers.
He stated that it's amazingfrom a business standpoint.
Luka is an international star,so him being on the Lakers
should help viewership acrossthe world, places like Europe,

(18:04):
spain.
When I read his comments, Istarted to think to myself.
The Lakers always seem to getsome superstar in an odd way.
I mean, look how they got MagicJohnson.
That team went 47-35 andsomehow got the first overall
pick.
To pick Magic Johnson.

(18:24):
They always somehow end up witha superstar in the most random
way.
It's a little odd Conspiracy.
Maybe a little odd conspiracy,maybe a little bit, maybe a
little bit.
But hey, lucas is on the Lakersand I'm still in shock.
I'm still in shock, but thoseare my thoughts.

(18:47):
I would love to hear you guysthoughts how how do you define a
superstar?
What's the difference between asuperstar and a star?
Can you believe Luka got tradedto the Lakers?
Do you believe Luka and Braunwill work?
Hey, let me know in thecomments.
All right, peeps, this has beenthe Third Down Conversation.
Jesus loves you and I'm out.

(19:09):
Hey, I know you.
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