February 26, 2025 • 15 mins
This episode dives into the transformation and struggles of the NBA All-Star Game, examining player motivations and the implications of recent events. D Turnipseed raises questions on how to improve the competitive spirit of the league while discussing the intertwining themes of nostalgia and modern-day performance standards.
• Discussion on LeBron's last-minute withdrawal from the All-Star Game
• Debate over giving players million-dollar bonuses to increase competitive spirit
• Insights into how nostalgia is affecting perceptions of the NBA presently
Remember to hit the like button, subscribe, and leave a five-star review.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
what's up?
What's up?
It's the third downconversation, your place for
sports and entertainment.
I am d turnip seed and ontoday's episode, the nba
all-star game, how can theleague incentivize players to
actually compete?
Le LeBron backing out at thelast second was that selfish.
(00:27):
And lastly, does the NBA have anostalgia problem?
Well, I'm going to break allthat down and, as you know, I'm
real, I'm authentic and I'malways in context.
Let's ride.
(00:50):
The NBA All-Star Game is justnot what it used to be.
I'm sure people are tired ofhearing about how the league was
during MJ's time or how theleague was during Kobe's time,
but those guys, guys competedand when it was winning time,
they gave effort, they locked in.
It is believed that your alphasuperstar sets the tone for that
(01:14):
game.
D Wade has said that, kenyaMartin has said that.
So LeBron does have to wear alittle bit of this.
As to why the game has becomewhat it has become, one player
stated that if the league gaveeach all-star a million dollars,
then their effort wouldincrease, and that's just wild
(01:37):
to me, because it shouldn't takea million dollars to compete
for fans.
Plus, the NBA already givescash incentives and that hasn't
worked.
So you saying give y'all more.
Come on, man.
So how can the NBA incentivizethis game?
What methods could they use?
(01:57):
Because at this point theytrying everything like what they
did this past year.
It was.
It was confusing.
It was way too many stoppages,it was like a four-team
tournament.
It was so confusing.
They need to take a page out ofapple's book and keep things
simple.
Customers like simplicity.
(02:19):
The easier to understand, thebetter.
So I've got a couple potentialfixes for the All-Star game.
The first thing I would do isgo back to the traditional East
versus West.
All this picking captains anddrafting a team stop, it's just,
it's overkill.
It's overkill, you don't needit.
(02:41):
So go back to just East andwest.
That's my first thing.
The second thing I would do isadd three additional all-stars
to each team, so each team has15 players.
Each player will play at leastone quarter and then the fourth
quarter.
The best five will play.
The third thing I will do isintroduce the Elam inning.
(03:05):
The Elam inning is somethingthat's come from the basketball
tournament TBT that occurs inthe summertime and it's created
to have a more natural ending tothe game.
With a team that is losing,it's not worried about the clock
running out, but instead canfocus on defense and trying to
(03:26):
meet the target score.
The target score is determinedby the current winning team
score and then adding 12 pointsto it.
So if the winning team has 50,you add 12 to that.
That makes it 62 as the targetscore.
This target score will beintroduced at the six minute
(03:50):
mark of the fourth quarter.
At that point the clock turnsoff and it's just basketball and
you just compete and see whocan get to the target score
first.
The fourth thing that I would dois award home court advantage
in the NBA finals to the winningteam, again just trying to add
(04:11):
incentives to the game.
We have to give the playerspurpose.
I think if we can give theplayers that, why that reason as
to why am I here competing?
I think ultimately we can makeit a better product and make it
a better game and make itsomething that the fans will
appreciate from an entertainmentstandpoint and a competitive
(04:33):
standpoint.
I hope you guys enjoyed thatfirst segment and if you haven't
had a chance, go ahead and hitthat like button, go ahead and
hit that subscribe button and afive-star review will sure help
a brother out.
Remember shows will drop everyTuesday and follow me on socials
(04:55):
at the Third Down Conversation.
Now let's continue the show andjump into segment number two.
So a few hours before theAll-Star game was about to tip
(05:17):
off, lebron announced that hewasn't playing in the All-Star
game.
He didn't give anybody a headsup, he didn't tell Adam Silver
who was the commissioner.
He just was doing his pressavailability for the All-Star
game and just said that, uh, Imight play.
A lot of people criticizedLeBron for it.
A lot of people called itselfish.
(05:39):
Some people say that he shouldhave gave a quicker notice so
that they could have replacedhis spot.
People felt like Norman Powellcould have been a quicker notice
so that they could havereplaced his spot.
People felt like Norman Powellcould have been added or LaMelo
Ball could have been added ifLeBron had have told the league
sooner rather than a couplehours before the game started.
But then I ran past a clipbetween Chandler Parsons, who
(06:04):
was a former NBA player, louWilliams, a former NBA player.
Take a listen to this exchangebetween Chandler Parsons and Lou
Williams.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Chandler's saying that the league and players in
the league have basically beenforced to indulge LeBron's
family dream and to have Bronnybe there, which is fine, we've
accepted it.
It is what it is.
But he couldn't be bothered togive anybody a heads-up notice
more than 30 minutes before thegame starts so that A somebody
else could have been there.
And if it is in fact becauseyou didn't want to play against
the rising stars, then that'sjust who's going to be in there,
(06:38):
so so again, you have a team ofrising stars.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
If LeBron James sits out, who's going to replace him?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
All of the guys that were going to replace him are in
the game.
Trae Young was in the game.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
The only person that was left on the bubble was
LaMelo.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Ball, that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So you think his ankle and foot thing started 20
minutes before the game started.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Or do you think he's had a few days with heads up?
So again, so again.
Now that's an interesting take,that LeBron was um protesting
because he did not want to playagainst the rising stars.
And what Chandler Parsons wassaying is that's odd, because
you're making other guys in theNBA play against your son now.
(07:17):
That's an interestingperspective.
I'm not sure I agree with it,but it does make you think a
little bit and ask yourself washe protesting Like?
Was he turning his nose up atthe fact that they were going to
have to play the rising stars?
It's possible.
I mean, even Draymond Greencame out and said that the
(07:37):
rising stars shouldn't be onSunday, that Sunday is reserved
for the all-stars, shouldn't beon Sunday, that Sunday is
reserved for the all-stars, thatthe all-stars should get all
the shine and these rising stars, you know, have to pay their
dues.
In so many words, chandlerParsons stated that.
You know, lebron knew his footand ankle was already sore.
He was already missing gamesfor it.
But Chandler asked a very goodquestion there Would LeBron have
(08:02):
played if Bronny was one of therising stars?
I think we all know the answerto that question he would have
for sure played.
Is it possible that Bron wasupset that Bronny wasn't named
to the rising stars team?
And that may have led to hispossible protest.
Possibly.
Again, I don't believe that.
(08:24):
I don't believe that.
I'm just kind of just throwingthings out there as I'm like
thinking out loud about it.
But telling the league,commissioner, when you tell
everybody else that you're notplaying, that's not okay.
For sure should have saidsomething way sooner.
Therefore, someone could havetook your place.
Norman Powell could have been afirst-time all-star.
Lam Norman Powell could havebeen a first-time All-Star.
(08:44):
Lamelo Ball could have been afirst-time All-Star.
And if Bronny was on thatrising stars team, oh yeah,
you're playing.
You're for sure playing.
Please remember to like,subscribe, follow, Drop a
comment, Leave a review.
Five stars, please Remember.
(09:08):
Shows will drop every Tuesdayand I want you guys along for
the ride and also follow me onsocial media Instagram, Twitter,
YouTube at the Third DownConversation.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Nostalgia is killing the NBA.
The 90s basketball MichaelJordan and Kobe was not as clean
as y'all think it was.
Y'all forget that Jordan leftthe league for two years.
Y'all forget that Kobe rest inpeace, quit on his team in the
(09:54):
playoffs and did not shoot thebasketball.
So all this Kobe Jordan?
Oh, he's not this, he's notthat.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
That is propaganda you just heard a clip from
Channing Frye, former NBAbasketball player played for the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
He went through this wholebreakdown as to why it's hard to
find someone to be the face ofthe league.
(10:23):
Now what he's alluding to inthat clip is guys not wanting to
be talked bad about.
He used a explicit word.
I won't use that word, but hepretty much said that guys don't
want to be bashed on mediaoutlets.
Therefore they don't want to bethe face of the league, which
kind of gives credence to peoplesaying that, let's say, not as
(10:47):
mentally tough as the previousera.
But I'm not here to debate that.
If you want to think this newera is soft, go ahead.
That's not my opinion.
If you want to think the 90swas better, go ahead.
I want to focus in on what hesaid about MJ and Kobe.
He said that nostalgia iskilling the NBA and nostalgia is
(11:10):
just an affection for the past.
He stated that the 90s wasn'tas clean and highlighted that MJ
retired or left the game fortwo years and how Kobe quit on
his team when MJ retired.
He retired because his fatherhad just passed away.
He was murdered, actually, andhis father had always wanted him
(11:30):
to play baseball.
So, on the heels of winning achampionship, losing your father
, mj decided to leave the gameto go play baseball because he
knew that was his father'sfavorite sport.
I don't knock him for that.
I wouldn't use that as a well.
Mj left because of thepressures, so I think he's
(11:53):
missing the context on that.
Now let's switch to Kobe.
He states that Kobe quit on histeam and what he's talking
about is the 05-06 season.
The Lakers are playing the Sunsin the playoffs and this
narrative that Kobe quit on histeam is so, not true.
It's so, not true, and the onlypeople that really say this are
(12:14):
the media, and the only peoplethat really say this are the
media.
You haven't heard many playerscome out and say that Kobe quit
on his team.
They don't say that becausethey know Kobe is the ultimate
competitor.
But I'm going to back up whatI'm going to say with facts,
with numbers.
As I started to research didKobe really quit on his team?
(12:36):
I came across a video from aguy by the name of Johnny Arnett
that really broke this down.
During the 2005-06 NBA season,kobe led the league in scoring.
He averaged 35 a game that year.
However, there was somethingvery, very odd about that year
(12:57):
for the Lakers.
When Kobe scored not as muchand got his teammates involved,
the Lakers won more often.
In fact, when Kobe scored lessthan 35, the Lakers were 15-3.
When he scored 35 or more, theywere 13-15.
(13:18):
Now Phil Jackson is the coach.
The offense that they ran thetriangle, and Phil always felt
it was best for the offense tobe free-flowing.
The triangle worked when theball was moving, but when one
player dominated the ball theoffense became bogged down.
He even told MJ this and got MJto change his ways, aka trust
(13:42):
his teammates to make theoffense work, which would lead
to wins During the playoffsagainst the Suns that season.
The games they won Kobeaveraged 23 a game.
The games they lost Kobeaveraged 39 a game on 49%
shooting.
(14:02):
So his numbers when they lostlook great.
But Kobe cares about winning.
The series goes to a game sevenand in the first half of game
seven Kobe scores 23 points on61% shooting.
But the Lakers are down 15going into the third quarter.
(14:23):
This shows that Kobe trying todominate the ball and force his
offense was not working.
So did Kobe quit?
Nah, instead he tried to gethis teammates involved because
(14:44):
they had had success during theseason when that was his
approach.
The end result did not work inthe Lakers' favor.
Kobe's teammates they shot 33%from the field.
Combine that with thefrustration that Kobe had with
the organization.
People just assumed that Kobequit because he only took three
shots in the second half.
However, when you look at thenumbers, put it all in context,
(15:07):
it shows a player so desperateto win that he changed his game
and did what everyone said heshould do more pass the ball.
But these are just my thoughts.
Did Kobe quit?
Nah, not Kobe.
Nobody truly believes that thishas been the Third Down
(15:29):
Conversation.
I am D-Turnip Seed.
Jesus loves you and I'm outPeace.
Thanks for watching.
what's up?
What's up?
It's the third downconversation, your place for
sports and entertainment.
I am d turnip seed and ontoday's episode, the nba
all-star game, how can theleague incentivize players to
actually compete?
Le LeBron backing out at thelast second was that selfish.
(00:27):
And lastly, does the NBA have anostalgia problem?
Well, I'm going to break allthat down and, as you know, I'm
real, I'm authentic and I'malways in context.
Let's ride.
(00:50):
The NBA All-Star Game is justnot what it used to be.
I'm sure people are tired ofhearing about how the league was
during MJ's time or how theleague was during Kobe's time,
but those guys, guys competedand when it was winning time,
they gave effort, they locked in.
It is believed that your alphasuperstar sets the tone for that
(01:14):
game.
D Wade has said that, kenyaMartin has said that.
So LeBron does have to wear alittle bit of this.
As to why the game has becomewhat it has become, one player
stated that if the league gaveeach all-star a million dollars,
then their effort wouldincrease, and that's just wild
(01:37):
to me, because it shouldn't takea million dollars to compete
for fans.
Plus, the NBA already givescash incentives and that hasn't
worked.
So you saying give y'all more.
Come on, man.
So how can the NBA incentivizethis game?
What methods could they use?
(01:57):
Because at this point theytrying everything like what they
did this past year.
It was.
It was confusing.
It was way too many stoppages,it was like a four-team
tournament.
It was so confusing.
They need to take a page out ofapple's book and keep things
simple.
Customers like simplicity.
(02:19):
The easier to understand, thebetter.
So I've got a couple potentialfixes for the All-Star game.
The first thing I would do isgo back to the traditional East
versus West.
All this picking captains anddrafting a team stop, it's just,
it's overkill.
It's overkill, you don't needit.
(02:41):
So go back to just East andwest.
That's my first thing.
The second thing I would do isadd three additional all-stars
to each team, so each team has15 players.
Each player will play at leastone quarter and then the fourth
quarter.
The best five will play.
The third thing I will do isintroduce the Elam inning.
(03:05):
The Elam inning is somethingthat's come from the basketball
tournament TBT that occurs inthe summertime and it's created
to have a more natural ending tothe game.
With a team that is losing,it's not worried about the clock
running out, but instead canfocus on defense and trying to
(03:26):
meet the target score.
The target score is determinedby the current winning team
score and then adding 12 pointsto it.
So if the winning team has 50,you add 12 to that.
That makes it 62 as the targetscore.
This target score will beintroduced at the six minute
(03:50):
mark of the fourth quarter.
At that point the clock turnsoff and it's just basketball and
you just compete and see whocan get to the target score
first.
The fourth thing that I would dois award home court advantage
in the NBA finals to the winningteam, again just trying to add
(04:11):
incentives to the game.
We have to give the playerspurpose.
I think if we can give theplayers that, why that reason as
to why am I here competing?
I think ultimately we can makeit a better product and make it
a better game and make itsomething that the fans will
appreciate from an entertainmentstandpoint and a competitive
(04:33):
standpoint.
I hope you guys enjoyed thatfirst segment and if you haven't
had a chance, go ahead and hitthat like button, go ahead and
hit that subscribe button and afive-star review will sure help
a brother out.
Remember shows will drop everyTuesday and follow me on socials
(04:55):
at the Third Down Conversation.
Now let's continue the show andjump into segment number two.
So a few hours before theAll-Star game was about to tip
(05:17):
off, lebron announced that hewasn't playing in the All-Star
game.
He didn't give anybody a headsup, he didn't tell Adam Silver
who was the commissioner.
He just was doing his pressavailability for the All-Star
game and just said that, uh, Imight play.
A lot of people criticizedLeBron for it.
A lot of people called itselfish.
(05:39):
Some people say that he shouldhave gave a quicker notice so
that they could have replacedhis spot.
People felt like Norman Powellcould have been a quicker notice
so that they could havereplaced his spot.
People felt like Norman Powellcould have been added or LaMelo
Ball could have been added ifLeBron had have told the league
sooner rather than a couplehours before the game started.
But then I ran past a clipbetween Chandler Parsons, who
(06:04):
was a former NBA player, louWilliams, a former NBA player.
Take a listen to this exchangebetween Chandler Parsons and Lou
Williams.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Chandler's saying that the league and players in
the league have basically beenforced to indulge LeBron's
family dream and to have Bronnybe there, which is fine, we've
accepted it.
It is what it is.
But he couldn't be bothered togive anybody a heads-up notice
more than 30 minutes before thegame starts so that A somebody
else could have been there.
And if it is in fact becauseyou didn't want to play against
the rising stars, then that'sjust who's going to be in there,
(06:38):
so so again, you have a team ofrising stars.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
If LeBron James sits out, who's going to replace him?
Speaker 3 (06:43):
All of the guys that were going to replace him are in
the game.
Trae Young was in the game.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
The only person that was left on the bubble was
LaMelo.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Ball, that's it.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So you think his ankle and foot thing started 20
minutes before the game started.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Or do you think he's had a few days with heads up?
So again, so again.
Now that's an interesting take,that LeBron was um protesting
because he did not want to playagainst the rising stars.
And what Chandler Parsons wassaying is that's odd, because
you're making other guys in theNBA play against your son now.
(07:17):
That's an interestingperspective.
I'm not sure I agree with it,but it does make you think a
little bit and ask yourself washe protesting Like?
Was he turning his nose up atthe fact that they were going to
have to play the rising stars?
It's possible.
I mean, even Draymond Greencame out and said that the
(07:37):
rising stars shouldn't be onSunday, that Sunday is reserved
for the all-stars, shouldn't beon Sunday, that Sunday is
reserved for the all-stars, thatthe all-stars should get all
the shine and these rising stars, you know, have to pay their
dues.
In so many words, chandlerParsons stated that.
You know, lebron knew his footand ankle was already sore.
He was already missing gamesfor it.
But Chandler asked a very goodquestion there Would LeBron have
(08:02):
played if Bronny was one of therising stars?
I think we all know the answerto that question he would have
for sure played.
Is it possible that Bron wasupset that Bronny wasn't named
to the rising stars team?
And that may have led to hispossible protest.
Possibly.
Again, I don't believe that.
(08:24):
I don't believe that.
I'm just kind of just throwingthings out there as I'm like
thinking out loud about it.
But telling the league,commissioner, when you tell
everybody else that you're notplaying, that's not okay.
For sure should have saidsomething way sooner.
Therefore, someone could havetook your place.
Norman Powell could have been afirst-time all-star.
Lam Norman Powell could havebeen a first-time All-Star.
(08:44):
Lamelo Ball could have been afirst-time All-Star.
And if Bronny was on thatrising stars team, oh yeah,
you're playing.
You're for sure playing.
Please remember to like,subscribe, follow, Drop a
comment, Leave a review.
Five stars, please Remember.
(09:08):
Shows will drop every Tuesdayand I want you guys along for
the ride and also follow me onsocial media Instagram, Twitter,
YouTube at the Third DownConversation.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Nostalgia is killing the NBA.
The 90s basketball MichaelJordan and Kobe was not as clean
as y'all think it was.
Y'all forget that Jordan leftthe league for two years.
Y'all forget that Kobe rest inpeace, quit on his team in the
(09:54):
playoffs and did not shoot thebasketball.
So all this Kobe Jordan?
Oh, he's not this, he's notthat.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
That is propaganda you just heard a clip from
Channing Frye, former NBAbasketball player played for the
Cleveland Cavaliers.
He went through this wholebreakdown as to why it's hard to
find someone to be the face ofthe league.
(10:23):
Now what he's alluding to inthat clip is guys not wanting to
be talked bad about.
He used a explicit word.
I won't use that word, but hepretty much said that guys don't
want to be bashed on mediaoutlets.
Therefore they don't want to bethe face of the league, which
kind of gives credence to peoplesaying that, let's say, not as
(10:47):
mentally tough as the previousera.
But I'm not here to debate that.
If you want to think this newera is soft, go ahead.
That's not my opinion.
If you want to think the 90swas better, go ahead.
I want to focus in on what hesaid about MJ and Kobe.
He said that nostalgia iskilling the NBA and nostalgia is
(11:10):
just an affection for the past.
He stated that the 90s wasn'tas clean and highlighted that MJ
retired or left the game fortwo years and how Kobe quit on
his team when MJ retired.
He retired because his fatherhad just passed away.
He was murdered, actually, andhis father had always wanted him
(11:30):
to play baseball.
So, on the heels of winning achampionship, losing your father
, mj decided to leave the gameto go play baseball because he
knew that was his father'sfavorite sport.
I don't knock him for that.
I wouldn't use that as a well.
Mj left because of thepressures, so I think he's
(11:53):
missing the context on that.
Now let's switch to Kobe.
He states that Kobe quit on histeam and what he's talking
about is the 05-06 season.
The Lakers are playing the Sunsin the playoffs and this
narrative that Kobe quit on histeam is so, not true.
It's so, not true, and the onlypeople that really say this are
(12:14):
the media, and the only peoplethat really say this are the
media.
You haven't heard many playerscome out and say that Kobe quit
on his team.
They don't say that becausethey know Kobe is the ultimate
competitor.
But I'm going to back up whatI'm going to say with facts,
with numbers.
As I started to research didKobe really quit on his team?
(12:36):
I came across a video from aguy by the name of Johnny Arnett
that really broke this down.
During the 2005-06 NBA season,kobe led the league in scoring.
He averaged 35 a game that year.
However, there was somethingvery, very odd about that year
(12:57):
for the Lakers.
When Kobe scored not as muchand got his teammates involved,
the Lakers won more often.
In fact, when Kobe scored lessthan 35, the Lakers were 15-3.
When he scored 35 or more, theywere 13-15.
(13:18):
Now Phil Jackson is the coach.
The offense that they ran thetriangle, and Phil always felt
it was best for the offense tobe free-flowing.
The triangle worked when theball was moving, but when one
player dominated the ball theoffense became bogged down.
He even told MJ this and got MJto change his ways, aka trust
(13:42):
his teammates to make theoffense work, which would lead
to wins During the playoffsagainst the Suns that season.
The games they won Kobeaveraged 23 a game.
The games they lost Kobeaveraged 39 a game on 49%
shooting.
(14:02):
So his numbers when they lostlook great.
But Kobe cares about winning.
The series goes to a game sevenand in the first half of game
seven Kobe scores 23 points on61% shooting.
But the Lakers are down 15going into the third quarter.
(14:23):
This shows that Kobe trying todominate the ball and force his
offense was not working.
So did Kobe quit?
Nah, instead he tried to gethis teammates involved because
(14:44):
they had had success during theseason when that was his
approach.
The end result did not work inthe Lakers' favor.
Kobe's teammates they shot 33%from the field.
Combine that with thefrustration that Kobe had with
the organization.
People just assumed that Kobequit because he only took three
shots in the second half.
However, when you look at thenumbers, put it all in context,
(15:07):
it shows a player so desperateto win that he changed his game
and did what everyone said heshould do more pass the ball.
But these are just my thoughts.
Did Kobe quit?
Nah, not Kobe.
Nobody truly believes that thishas been the Third Down
(15:29):
Conversation.
I am D-Turnip Seed.
Jesus loves you and I'm outPeace.
Thanks for watching.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.