0:11

Welcome to the latest edition of The Stephen Ai Smith

0:13

Show, coming at you as I love to do it the very least three

0:15

days a week over the digital airwaves of YouTube. Before

0:17

I do anything else, let me think my subscriber

0:20

and followers. We've eclipped seven hundred

0:22

and one thousand subscribers. We're

0:24

on the rise, continuing to do what we do. Thanks

0:26

for the love and support. Keep it coming, and I'm gonna keep on

0:29

coming. Let me not waste much time, because I got

0:31

a lot of stuff to get into, Okay. I got Andrea

0:33

Carter Talk coming on to talk about Caitlin

0:35

Clark because that story hasn't faded away.

0:37

I got NBA Finals talk to get into

0:40

because there's several people for the Dallas maverage

0:42

that are no shows, and now they

0:45

went from being my favorites to win the championship

0:47

to be in on the verge of being swept. Don't

0:49

get me started with the innftitude we've

0:51

been witnessing from them. So that's something to get into.

0:53

But the first story to a business of course. By the way,

0:56

let me not forget. I'm gonna revisit

0:58

my comments about Will Smith in

1:00

light of Bad Boys Ride and Die

1:03

opening in theaters over the past few days

1:05

and do it quite well, quite better

1:07

than what was initially reported. So I'll get into

1:09

all of that as the show progresses today. Plus, I'm

1:12

hoping to have one of my boys on. You know,

1:14

he's like my boy, he's one of my protectors.

1:17

He watches out for me. You see what I'm saying. See, I

1:19

am loved, y'all. Don't realize that I

1:21

am loved. There's a different subject for another time a

1:23

little bit later on. We'll get into all of that. For

1:25

the moment, at this particular moment in time, we

1:28

got to get into the Los Angeles Lakers because

1:31

breaking news this afternoon, Dan Hurley

1:34

Danny Hurley, the two time reigning

1:36

defending national champion of the

1:38

Yukon Huskies, will not

1:41

be departing from Stewart's, Connecticut

1:43

after all to take the Los Angeles

1:45

Lakers job. Reportedly, he

1:48

was offered a six year, seventy

1:50

million dollar deal, and

1:53

he told the Lakers to kick Rocks go to hell. I'm

1:55

not really interested. He didn't use those words.

1:57

The other platitudes came out of his mouth. Very

1:59

very great for the Genie Buss. Jim Ropa LAKA

2:02

very enamored and intrigued by the Los

2:04

Angeles Lakers, job very flattered

2:06

that they was interested, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

2:09

But the man that had recently signed a thirty two

2:11

million dollar contract turned down a

2:13

deal for thirty eight million more

2:16

to join the Los Angeles Lakers, by

2:18

the way, led by star Lebron

2:21

James and of course Anthony Davis, to

2:23

be all NBA players. I wonder why.

2:26

I wonder why. There's a lot to get into

2:28

it. There's a lot to peal from this. But here's the bottom line.

2:31

This, unfortunately is

2:34

kind of an indictment against the Los Angeles Lakers.

2:36

I should say, I shouldn't even say kind of. I'm

2:39

just trying to be kind. The fact

2:41

of the matter is, if Lebron James is on your squad, of Anthony

2:43

Davis is on your squad, and somehow,

2:46

some way you're in a situation

2:48

where you decide that you're gonna remain at Yukon

2:50

and coach the Huskies, who again are coming

2:52

off with two consecutive national championship

2:55

games. That's an indictment against the Los Angeles Lakers.

2:57

Don't tell me about this love affeld with stories Connecticut.

2:59

I'm not saying he doesn't have it. I'm not saying Danny

3:01

Early and his wife and his family don't love

3:04

being in Storts, Connecticut. I'm not saying they're not East

3:06

Coast people who want to stay East Coast people,

3:08

and they don't want to deal with the allure of tensel

3:11

Town, the warm whether, the palm trees, the sunshine.

3:13

But damn it. The highest tax state

3:16

in the country. Okay, don't get

3:18

me started with the income tax that exist in California.

3:21

Okay, I know how disastrous it's

3:23

been, make no mistake about it. But

3:25

you can't avoid getting into what

3:28

this subject is really really about. If

3:30

the Lakers were a more attractive job, perhaps

3:32

he'd be interested. I'd make a legitimate

3:35

argument that if he got off of the New York Knicks

3:37

job, he probably would have taken it. Now, you're not gonna

3:39

do that, because Tom Thibodeaux just did a hell of a job

3:41

for the Knicks this past year. But the New York Knicks

3:43

have eleven first round picks over the

3:45

next seven years. Plus. They were

3:47

in the Eastern Conference semi finals of Game

3:50

seven, forty eight minutes away from advancing

3:52

to the conference finals. They've got a future.

3:54

What do the Lakers have? We don't really really know at

3:56

this particular moment in time. Lebron James

3:59

is still all world, but he's approaching forty. Anthony

4:02

Davis is all world, but he's brittal.

4:05

Who else do you have? Don't get me started

4:07

with the Angelo Russell. That brother

4:10

walks around and cool's control

4:12

for everything. Austin Reeves's

4:14

talent tied but still got a ways to go. Vanderbilt

4:17

ain't been healthy. Riachimra

4:20

is good but not great. You

4:22

just fired Darvin hamm And and this entire

4:25

staff. You're the Los Angeles Lakers,

4:27

led by Jennie Buss and Rob Paulaker.

4:30

What do you have to offer? You've got the Lakers

4:32

the lord of franchise, seventeen

4:34

championships about to be clipped by the Boss

4:36

and Celtics if things continue to trend in that direction,

4:38

because they're about to capture their eighteen championship

4:40

unless the Dallas Mavericks do something about it. But

4:43

you're the Los Angeles Lakers. That purple and gold, that

4:45

Lake of Nation, it's supposed to be attractive. Tiptel

4:47

Town is supposed to be attractive. That warm weather

4:50

in southern California, it's supposed to be attractive,

4:52

not anymore, not anymore.

4:55

One could also make the argument that the Oklahoma City

4:57

Thunder it's a far more attractive job

5:00

than the Los Angeles Lakers, despite its locale.

5:03

They got Shae Gilges Alexander who's a

5:05

star, who was my vote for League MVP this year.

5:07

Try you got ched Holmgren, You got this brother,

5:10

Jalen Williams. You got a multitude of

5:12

draft picks out of the Wazoo because of trading

5:14

Russell Weston, because of trading Paul George,

5:17

because of doing all the things that Sam Presley is an

5:19

executive is done to position themselves

5:21

to be able to get additional

5:23

help so you can compete legitimately

5:25

for a championship. What the hell do the Lakers

5:28

have? You basically

5:30

asked Danny Hurley to come to Los Angeles

5:33

and rod the wave of Lebron James, who's

5:35

about to retire in the next two to three years.

5:38

And Anthony Davis, whom

5:40

we stopped the presses and put on the back

5:42

pages everywhere because his brother finally

5:44

played seventy six games in one season. There's eighty

5:47

two in ex season. Right away he played seventy

5:49

six It was the most games he played in the regular season. Is

5:51

inside career. And then I'm looking at these salaries.

5:53

You got Lebron James, the forty seven million, he's got a play

5:56

an option. He's getting looking to get a three year

5:58

deal. But with that three year deal,

6:00

with the belief is if my son is available

6:02

at that fifty fifth pick, you grabb Brownie James.

6:05

So you got that a law over and over

6:07

you. You got Anthony Davis. He's at forty million

6:09

this past season. What is he a next season? Forty

6:12

three point two, then fifty seven point six,

6:14

then sixty two point two, and then a damn player

6:16

option in twenty seven, twenty twenty thirty, twenty

6:18

twenty eight at sixty six point eight million

6:20

dollars. And you don't even know how many games he's gonna

6:22

give you, even though the brother's all world. So

6:24

we got that going on. We got D'Angelo

6:26

Russell. He's got a player option for eighteen

6:29

point six this year. He opts out, You could

6:31

do some things, but how much can you do?

6:33

What if he opts in, who knows he

6:35

may not do so because you know you're just gonna ship his ass

6:37

out out of LA. You got Rueyotcha

6:40

Mora. He signed for the next two years. You

6:42

got Austin Reeves. He sighed for the next two years, and then

6:44

got a player option for a thirty year in twenty twenty

6:46

six. Dave Vincent.

6:48

There was an app out for him all year. Lord,

6:50

we ain't see him till the playoffs. Vanderbilt

6:53

was hurt play the playoffs, and he's locked in for the next

6:55

four years. If you're

6:58

the Los Angeles Lakers, what

7:00

maneuverability do you have? As we

7:02

look at the power in the Western Conference, Luke

7:04

and Dallas ain't going anywhere. Sacramento's

7:07

gon to come up. The Clippers

7:09

are still in town. Dead

7:11

Ran Yo, Kischen, jamal Bury gonna come back.

7:13

You know they're gonna have something to say about it. Did you forget

7:15

ant Man in Minnesota? Did

7:18

you forget what a superstar he has emerged

7:20

into. So

7:22

I'm looking at all of that. I'm

7:24

looking at all of that, and I'm saying

7:26

there's a multitudative jobs that was better

7:29

than the Los Angeles Lakers and what they were offering.

7:34

I was hopeful that Danny early would take the job. I

7:36

actually believed he would take the Lakers' job.

7:38

Let me tell you why an

7:41

il name image likeness issue

7:43

in college sports. The fact

7:45

that the trans transfer portal

7:48

was also relevant issues. And

7:50

here's the biggest thing. I don't know if anybody

7:52

has noticed this or not, but nobody

7:54

gives a damn about college basketball anymore until

7:56

March Madness. Ain't nobody

7:59

thinking about this to fill out their brackets. Nobody

8:02

gives a damn about college basketball anymore. This

8:04

ain't the days in the Big East when Dwayne Pearl, Washington

8:07

and Mark Jackson and Walter Berry and those

8:09

boys were at Saint John's and you

8:11

had Edon Pinkney and McLean and those

8:13

boys in Villanova, and you had Patrick

8:15

Ewing and Michael Graham and Michael Jackson

8:18

and Reggie Williams. Have those boys in Georgetown

8:20

led by John Thompson with Hoyer Paranoya.

8:23

You had Sarah Hues even

8:25

when Pearl was gone. You had Derrick Coleman.

8:28

You had Sherman Douglas. You have Billy

8:30

Owens and cats like that. Hell,

8:33

later on in the year, you had god Sham god

8:35

Wells, who's not an assistant on Dallas start

8:38

at Providence, Big

8:41

East was no joke. Had

8:43

Luke Connaffecond with a sweater? Remember the

8:46

Big East was the shit that

8:49

is changed. Then

8:51

you had the ACC You

8:53

had Kennedy, the Jett at Carolina, after

8:56

Jordan. With Jordan, you had James

8:58

Worthy, you

9:00

had him, you had Sam Perkins

9:02

and those boys. You

9:05

had Duke, and

9:07

then later on you had Duke with Leighton

9:09

and Hurley and those boys. You had Kenny Anderson

9:12

and leave the Weapon three at Georgia Tech

9:14

Kenny Edison, Broughan Oliver, Dennis Scott three

9:17

day. Remember that. Remember

9:20

that that's what you had. That's

9:23

what you had. College

9:25

basketball was it? Who

9:29

cares? Now? Until

9:31

March Madness, It's all about the brackets.

9:35

And I thought, because it was all about

9:37

the brackets and you

9:39

had already won two national titles, that

9:44

him, Danny Hurley, being a high end

9:46

competitor that he is, would

9:49

have been about competing

9:51

at the highest level with and

9:54

against the greatest players in the world,

9:58

and that that would be compelling in enough for

10:00

him to take the job. But

10:04

the fact that it wasn't says

10:07

a lot about what people think about the Lakers these

10:09

days. I'm not knocking

10:11

them. I love me some Genie Buss and

10:14

I respect Rob Perlaker, but

10:17

there's a lot of people that got questions about them, and

10:19

they don't consider the Lakers an attractive job,

10:21

which is an indictment. So where do you go now?

10:23

If you're the Los Angeles Lakers. If you Danny Hillier, you

10:25

go back to Yukon, you try to three P,

10:28

plain and simple and he

10:31

might pull it off. You are the

10:33

Lakers, where do you go from

10:35

here? I don't

10:37

want to hear a damn thing about James Murreo,

10:40

the former head coaches, Charlotte and the sister. Just

10:42

stop it, Just stop it. Lebron

10:45

James doing the podcast with JJ ready for a Reezon and

10:47

fooling nobody. I'm not

10:49

saying he's sitting up there picking up the phone, calling Genie

10:51

Buss and telling them what to do. That's not what I'm saying. What

10:53

I'm saying is when Darvin Ham, who took

10:55

you to the conference finals, When Darvin Ham, who

10:58

lost in the first round this year back

11:00

to back, he is losing to the Denver Nuggets, but they would

11:02

have rgan in defending NBA champions when he lost to them.

11:04

This time around, they won a championship. When he lost to them at the

11:06

conference finals last year, the brother didn't

11:08

do a bad job. But

11:11

you're doing a podcast with JJ Reddick

11:13

in the middle of the damn season, knowing he was

11:15

on a hot seat. And

11:17

then it's the title of it, Mind the Game,

11:20

So you're talking logistics, you're talking

11:22

schemes, you're talking about things schematically.

11:24

That was intentional. He knew exactly

11:27

what the hell he was doing, and he didn't

11:29

care. And Darvin

11:31

Ham is out of a job, and

11:34

now Danny Hurley has turned down the job, even though

11:36

Lebron James saying he's so damn good and he

11:38

would have loved to have him as a head coach. But now that you

11:40

don't have that, the likelihoods that the Lakers

11:42

are gonna come back to

11:44

JJ Reddick. Now for those of

11:47

you who would say, what has he done, because

11:49

he's never coached. Neither

11:53

did Steve Kirk, neither

11:55

did Doc Rivers when he came out of the booth and he got

11:57

a head coaching job. Neither did Mark

11:59

Jackson. So

12:01

JJ Redick is gonna say what about me? And

12:04

he's gonna have a legitimate case because everybody

12:07

knows he's smart. Does

12:09

does that mean he can coach?

12:10

No?

12:11

But I bet that he can. And

12:14

we gotta respect the fact that Lebron respects

12:16

him. We gotta respect the fact that

12:20

if it's what Lebron wants, no matter

12:22

how detached he wants to be from the situation,

12:24

no matter the reality that it has to be focused

12:26

on appeasing Anthony Davis because

12:29

he is the future, not Lebron, who's the best

12:31

player on the Lakers last year, As great as

12:33

Anthony Davis was, they went where Lebron

12:35

James took him. And

12:37

you know it's a priority for

12:39

Jenie busting the Lakers to appease Lebron

12:41

James because he's the ultimate draw. Anthony

12:45

Davis, as great as he is, ain't the draw

12:49

Lebron James is. You

12:52

ain't doing a podcast about mind the game,

12:55

talking schematically and beyond about

12:57

the game of basketball with JJ Recortdick

13:01

just for recreational

13:03

purposes. There's a method

13:06

to Lebron's madness. Having Danny

13:08

Hurley there would have

13:10

been great, and Lebron knows

13:12

that. But if you got to go to the NBA

13:15

route, why wouldn't you go? JJ Reddick would

13:18

it surprise me at all if that's the route that

13:21

the Los Angeles Lakers take In

13:23

the event that

13:30

you know Danny Hurley passed and

13:32

he's passed, could

13:35

they go a different route? Sure, we don't

13:37

know what the hell they're gonna do. But

13:40

JJ Reddick is still in the mix. And

13:43

this is a devastating blow as far as I'm

13:45

concerned to the Los Angeles Lakers, because

13:48

it validates that they're not the franchise

13:50

they want to were, that they're not nearly

13:53

as attractive as they once were,

13:55

which means the Lakers have their work cut out for them.

13:58

Congratulations with Danny or Early. When

14:00

you're that successful, you deserved and have earned

14:03

the right to do what you want. I

14:05

wish Genie Buss and Rob the Lincoln and the rest of

14:07

the Lakers brass nothing but luck, nothing

14:09

but the best. They gonna need

14:11

the best of luck, because

14:14

there's nowhere around it. This is not

14:16

a good luck.

14:18

Now.

14:18

I just want to take a moment to make sure everyone knows

14:20

my favorite time of the year is happening

14:22

right now, y'all. D NBA Finals. It's

14:25

in full swing. And how do I make them

14:27

even more exciting than they already.

14:29

Are I play Prospects of course, so

14:31

I can cash in all the big game action.

14:34

You see. Prospects is a daily fantasy sports

14:36

app where you can select two or more of your favorite players

14:38

and then choose more or less on their projected

14:41

stats for the game. But Prospects

14:43

is not just basketball. No no, no,

14:45

no no. It has choices for every

14:47

sports fanatic. You can pick players from the WNBA,

14:50

the NHL, tennis, or even golf, all

14:52

in the same entry. Okay, I

14:55

make my picks and submit early,

14:58

all in less than just sixty second and so right,

15:00

and get this, prith picks will match

15:03

your first deposit of up to one

15:05

hundred dollars. Or say that again, Prospects will match

15:07

your first deposit of up to one hundred dollars.

15:09

That's right, So go to prozepets dot com

15:11

and use the code sas that's my

15:13

initials of course, for a first deposit batch

15:16

of up to one hundred dollars. That's code that say yes.

15:18

When you go to prizepects dot com, pick more pick

15:20

less. Guess what, y'all, it's really,

15:23

really really that easy. Coming

15:25

up, well, Smith makes a big return

15:27

to the box office. I'll get into what bad

15:30

Boys Ride a Dica mean for Smith going

15:32

forward, plus revisiting my

15:34

feelings and thoughts that I

15:37

expressed before the weekend begin

15:39

I'll get into all of that. Plus I

15:41

got to get in the Team USA and how

15:43

they left Caitlin Clark off the Olympic roster.

15:46

I got a whole lot to say about that. So don't missus

15:48

state right there, that's coming up next right here on

15:50

the stephen A. Smith Show. Be right back. Welcome

16:00

back to stephen A. Smithshold right here over the digital

16:02

airways of YouTube, you know,

16:05

before I get into my next guest,

16:08

to continue a conversation we had this

16:10

morning on ESPN's First Take, I

16:13

just wanted to express my thoughts

16:15

about the news that Caitlyn Clark

16:18

was being left off of Team

16:20

USA, the Olympic team as

16:22

a rookie. I was on the record this morning

16:25

saying this was an idiotic decision by

16:27

Team USA. I just want the world to

16:29

know I haven't changed my mind one damn bit.

16:32

I think it was idiocy personally. I

16:34

want to make sure that everybody understands what I'm

16:37

saying from a basketball standpoint.

16:39

I'm not talking about that at all. Every single

16:41

player that's on Team USA

16:44

deserved to be there ahead of Caitlyn Clark,

16:47

without question, without question,

16:49

every single person that's on that roster. We

16:52

all know Asia Wilson is the one

16:54

in the league. She's the standard. Okay, we

16:56

know that. We understand that everybody

16:59

that's on this team has deserved it. Their

17:01

play has warranted it. They've played

17:03

better than Kaitlyn Clark. Thus far, I

17:06

get all of that. I'm not thinking about

17:08

basketball. I'm thinking purely about

17:10

marketing. I'm thinking about the fact that the WNBA

17:13

swears they want to elevate its brand, that

17:15

women's basketball obviously deserves

17:17

a higher profile. They've been lamenting

17:20

the fact that they haven't gotten the shine

17:22

that they so richly deserved and has

17:24

worked diligently for for decades.

17:27

The WNBA is entering his twenty

17:29

eighth season, For crying out loud, they've never

17:31

gotten a hype that they've received over

17:33

the last month or so since Kitlyn

17:35

Clark has arrived on the scene. Record

17:38

ratings, record revenue, I

17:41

mean everything that you could think, record attendants,

17:43

everything, They've never had it before.

17:46

Knowing that and knowing what a global

17:48

platform the Olympics provides

17:51

and what that could ultimately do for the

17:53

WNBA if you had her participating.

17:57

I think they missed the boat on

17:59

passing that up. That's

18:01

where I stand with it. That's what

18:04

I believe is fair to say. But I'm

18:06

not the only voice here that matters. I

18:08

brought on what I consider to be who

18:10

I consider to be an elite voice.

18:13

She has emerged as a star

18:16

in this business. She does a phenomenal

18:18

job as a basketball analyst

18:21

for ESPN, WNBA

18:23

Basketball, Women's college Basketball,

18:26

NBA Basketball. The list goes on

18:29

and on. I think she's brilliant. I think she's

18:31

fantastic. I love having her on any platform

18:33

that I am on. I am talking about the one

18:36

and only Andrea Carter, former

18:39

college basketball player at the University of Tennessee. By the

18:41

way, what's going on, Andrea, how you doing? How's everything?

18:44

What's up?

18:44

Stephen A?

18:45

First of all, always happy to chat with you, always

18:47

happy to break it down, to get into it.

18:49

I let me just start by saying this.

18:52

I am a fan of Caitlyn Clark.

18:54

I have a serial blocks with her face on it

18:57

by my door. I got into an argument

18:59

with you about her goat status

19:01

and like this has nothing to

19:03

do with how I feel about Caitlin

19:06

from the basketball perspective. You already

19:08

said it, I said it all morning. There's

19:10

not a basketball reason for

19:12

Caitlin to be on this team. She did

19:15

not participate in any camps,

19:17

she could not participate in any qualifying

19:20

tournaments. These players

19:22

on this roster have been working

19:24

for this opportunity since twenty

19:27

twenty two. Let's just go ahead and

19:29

make that very very clear. Multiple

19:32

players on this roster they played

19:34

with each other, they have played together.

19:37

And I've also heard people talking about the first

19:39

notion that usay is going

19:41

to win anyway, why not just give Kaitlyn

19:43

Clark a spot bots

19:46

eleven.

19:47

Twelve, ten on that roster.

19:49

Those spots matter in terms

19:52

of chemistry, in terms of continuity,

19:54

in terms of familiarity. The Olympics

19:57

is a tall task. And for people

19:59

to just say, well, USA is going to win anyway,

20:01

why not sacrifice a little of the integrity

20:04

of the roster for a marketing perspective.

20:06

Blows my mind.

20:08

One you see the roster the men's

20:10

team just put together. They're not playing

20:12

around and I know the NBA might

20:14

not need.

20:15

They can't afford to on they

20:17

can afford even a But I think

20:20

the W can afford to in the long run

20:22

because hear me out, the men aren't playing

20:24

around because they've realized the rest of the world

20:26

is caught up.

20:27

The reason why it takes the rest of the world to catch up

20:29

is you take some els. The women's

20:31

side on Team USA can't afford that. They

20:34

can't afford lack of continuity,

20:36

they can't afford lack of chemistry. Because, whether

20:38

people believe it or not, women's

20:40

teams around the country are also

20:43

catching up. Like, what's

20:45

a worst marketing tool to lose

20:47

gold?

20:48

And there are people saying, oh, there's.

20:49

No chance, but why not make that

20:52

as sure a possibility as you

20:54

possibly can?

20:56

Winning gold is the ultimate

20:58

marketing tool.

21:00

I get what you're saying, Steven, and I get what you're saying,

21:02

but I watch a matter of fact, I'm gonna let you go.

21:04

I'm gonna let you go. I just think marketing.

21:08

While it's great Caitlyn is already

21:10

marketing the W and a little bit

21:12

of rest for Caitlin and having her come back from

21:14

the Olympic break and having her be in the All Star

21:17

Game and having her finished the season strong.

21:19

That's marketing in itself. People

21:21

are going to tune in. It's the Olympics.

21:24

It's the Olympics. People have more grievances,

21:27

people have more grievances.

21:28

Against this country, and they still find a way to tune into

21:30

the Olympics.

21:33

Let me, let me, let me, let me interject, let me

21:35

interject. Hea Andrea. Okay, so let's go down to

21:37

Frost Okay, Asia Wilson, Brianna

21:39

Stewartsbrini and at School, Kelsey Plum, Jewel

21:42

Lloyd, Britney grind and Diana Tarossi,

21:44

Chelsea Gray, Alyssa Thomas Nafisa,

21:47

Kalia Jackie Young and Khalia

21:49

Copper. All right, let me ask you this question. One

21:53

of those players come off because

21:56

of Caitlyn Clak. You telling me

21:58

Team USA gonna lose? Who

22:01

stephen A, any one of

22:03

them?

22:04

Tell stephen

22:06

A.

22:06

I hear you, but listen, just hear me out for a second

22:09

on this because who

22:11

who are you taking off the roster?

22:13

Because let's just think, I don't know, I have no

22:15

clue.

22:15

You're not gonna You're not gonna take a post

22:17

off.

22:18

You're gonna take the twenty twenty one WNBA

22:20

Finals MVP.

22:21

Off that list. That's Kalia Copper and

22:23

two of her teammates are on that team.

22:25

You're gonna take Jackie Young, Kelsey You're gonna take

22:27

Jackie Young or Kelsey Plumb off that list. They're the most dynamic

22:30

duo, one of the most dynamic duos in basketball,

22:32

and they're Asian Wilson's teammates. Those

22:34

three plus Chelsea Gray, which we don't know Chelsea's

22:36

great status and I get that, but we can't make assumptions

22:39

on Chelsea Gray until we see Chelsea Gray, period.

22:42

Because Chelsea Gray is the greatest point guard that the

22:44

W has seen. So if

22:46

she's saying she's well.

22:47

She hasn't played all yet duty injury, she

22:49

hasn't played all your duty injury. Right.

22:51

We don't know what her individual workouts

22:53

look like. We don't know what she's been doing.

22:56

We have no idea.

22:57

We can't say that she's attended camp

23:00

she like, so we can't speak

23:02

to that now. If Chelsey Gray comes out and she

23:04

can't move and she can't walk in whatever, then maybe

23:06

people could have some grievances, and that's fine, but we're speaking

23:08

too soon. We're speaking on things that

23:10

we don't know. I don't know what chesse Gray has been doing

23:12

on the court. Nobody does, so there's

23:14

that. I also want you to think about

23:17

this, stephen A. While Caitlyn has been an

23:19

incredible marketing tool for the

23:21

w what we have seen this

23:23

season already is that anything

23:26

that looks like a slight against Caitlyn

23:29

has been taken as a slight against

23:31

Caitlyn.

23:32

So think about this. Just picture it for me for a

23:34

second, just think.

23:36

And this is what Kate. These are Caitlyn's own words.

23:38

No disappointment. It gives me something to work for. It's

23:40

a dream. One day I can be there. Caitlyn

23:43

handled this quote perfectly, just like Caitlyn

23:45

has handled a multitude of quotes

23:48

perfectly. Caitlyn, in my opinion,

23:50

has said a ton of the right things

23:53

and at times, stephen A, it's still

23:55

hasn't mattered what Caitlyn

23:58

has said. Kitlyn herself came out and

24:00

said this was a physical league in this what she expected

24:03

and what were we But hear me out, stephen Imagine

24:05

this. A picture is

24:08

taken at the Olympics in Paris. The

24:10

team is standing together. Caitlyn

24:12

got caught talking to somebody and she's on the outside

24:15

of the little team group, that picture

24:17

is gonna be taken, and what's the headline

24:19

going to be?

24:21

What's the headline going to be at the Olympics if that.

24:22

Picture's taken, Caitlyn

24:25

Clark left out of the team meeting, Caitlyn

24:27

Clark standing on the side, Caitlyn

24:30

Clark not embraced by Team USA.

24:32

I'm just saying, when Caitlyn

24:34

has no familiarity with these players, no

24:36

familiarity with the coach, no chemistry

24:39

with anybody, Why why put her in that situation

24:41

when you know people are going to be waiting for Therea.

24:45

Andrea, you are such a

24:47

fantastic basketball analyst. I

24:49

can't believe how lost you are

24:51

on this subject. Nobody me

24:54

now, no, listen to me. Nobody

24:57

is saved from a basketball

24:59

perspective that Caitlyn

25:01

Clark belongs in this team against ahead

25:04

of any of these players. We all

25:06

know she does not. What we're saying

25:08

is and nobody and nobody has

25:10

brought up her feelings of

25:13

disappointment. We don't care.

25:15

In the grand scheme of things, stuff happens.

25:17

Like I told you on first take this morning, Isaiah Thomas

25:20

wasn't to me. That's the biggest crime Isaiah Thomas not

25:22

being on an original Dream Team. We all know this,

25:24

but what I am saying Christian Layton was on the Dream

25:27

Dream Team ahead of Shaquille O'Neil and Alonso

25:29

Morning. There's a lot to debate about in regard

25:31

to people who have been snubbed and

25:34

people who have been chosen. What I am saying

25:36

to you is that women's

25:38

basketball and recognition

25:41

for the great work that women

25:44

have done to promote the

25:46

sport has spent a vast

25:48

majority of the past two

25:50

plus decades falling on

25:53

deaf ears because people

25:55

did not care. You now have

25:57

somebody that has the world

26:00

transfixed on the

26:02

sport to a point where,

26:05

regardless of what she's

26:07

lacking compared to the others, the

26:09

eyeballs are following her,

26:12

and as a result, she's elevating

26:15

the brand. By elevating

26:17

the brand, everyone stands

26:19

to benefit. Why would you pass

26:21

up an international

26:23

stage to promote your

26:26

sport just because you

26:28

want things completely done

26:31

on its merit when the merits

26:33

don't necessarily get you paid,

26:36

because it doesn't get you the cachet and

26:38

the recognition they undoubtedly

26:42

richly have deserved

26:44

forever. How is that a point y'all

26:47

are not getting.

26:48

I hear you on the marketing

26:51

perspective, steven A, I promise you.

26:53

But when Caylin first

26:55

joined the W and she was taking hits

26:57

left and right, she gets hit by

27:00

mag Bagore in the head. Asie Magnagor plays for

27:02

Seattle, what do people start to say, Wow,

27:04

Caitlyn's being targeted in the league. Meanwhile, me

27:07

Cheney, anyone who knows the league

27:09

says, no, that's just as the Magnigore, like,

27:11

that's what that's that's what she's used to. Now, this

27:14

negative narrative is

27:16

painted on the league for targeting

27:18

Caitlyn Clark.

27:19

So now I want you to keep that in mind, right,

27:21

keep that in mind. Yes, a ton of eyes are on.

27:23

The league, but every little thing that

27:25

happens to Caitlin is dissected,

27:28

and it's not Caitlyn's fault. We have

27:30

dissected every hit, Kennedy Carter's

27:32

hit aside, because I already told you,

27:35

I already told you aside that I thought

27:37

Kennedy Carter's hit was out of line.

27:38

I thought her comments on the back end were comments

27:41

that a hater would make.

27:42

So Kennedy Carter aside everything

27:45

else that has happened to Caitlin. We

27:47

have dissected it to a t, and

27:49

even when Kaitlyn has come out to say

27:51

it's not a big deal, people have still

27:54

claimed it's a big deal.

27:55

So you want to put Caitlin.

27:56

Which now we have seen, Yes, she can grow the market,

27:59

wonderful, we love that. But now

28:01

you want to put her in a situation where she doesn't

28:03

know anybody, she doesn't know the

28:05

coach, she hasn't had any time to

28:07

Joe with this team.

28:08

She might not get very much playing time. It's

28:11

more physical overseas.

28:12

And I'm asking you why do you care? I'm

28:15

asking you why do you care? Why

28:18

do you care? If that's going to lead to

28:20

uplifting the profile of the sport,

28:23

which will get everybody their rich

28:25

what they've richly deserved for years,

28:27

Why do you care about that? That's my

28:29

point?

28:30

Why when there's potential

28:32

for it to be dissected to a t, everything

28:34

that happens a potential, something

28:36

that is unintended be taken in a negative

28:39

light.

28:40

And what is that, stephen A.

28:41

It's a distraction to the ultimate

28:44

goal for Team USA.

28:46

For Team US.

28:47

Distractions, distractions, I

28:50

think I think Team USA will still

28:52

get the goal gold and ultimately,

28:55

distractions are what ends up

28:57

funneling money into.

28:59

Your conference, which pays the bills.

29:01

What's the problem.

29:02

That's the impress.

29:05

The news. The news every

29:07

day is led with some form of negativity,

29:10

murder, robbery, crime,

29:12

whatever it is. They don't leave with the leave

29:15

with the feel good stories. Why

29:18

because it doesn't sell. That's

29:20

what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the w

29:22

NBA selling Team USA, selling

29:26

stephen A.

29:26

The news station is not trying to have

29:29

a team focused on a mission. The

29:31

news station. Okay, according the news, that's what

29:33

they're supposed to do.

29:35

But when you think Kayln Clark will compromise

29:37

the mission, you think Kaitlin Clark

29:39

will compromise the mission, You think herby in a twelve

29:42

spot on this team, she would compromise

29:44

the mission.

29:46

The media, anybody trying

29:48

to pick this apart, anybody trying to paint

29:50

it in a negative light, just like they did when she joined

29:52

the.

29:52

W Now, I'm just saying

29:54

it's a distruction. And what Team USA seems

29:57

to be focused on is the mission.

29:59

That's why they put together the best basketball

30:01

roster, That's why they've eliminated any

30:03

possibility of anything being speculated.

30:06

Because stephen A.

30:07

It goes back to the chemistry when

30:10

Caitlin knows her teammates, when she's

30:12

played overseas with some of them on an international

30:14

stage for the Pan American Games or a qualifying

30:17

tournament, and she knows them and she can speak

30:19

to them and they could speak to her, and she's ready

30:22

for this stage in four

30:24

years, if the opportunity is there, the

30:26

growth will be astronomical.

30:29

It's you're saying I'm thinking small, but I

30:32

think you're thinking small, which is of course, arguments

30:34

go right like, there are two sides to this, but

30:37

to me, the bigger pictures.

30:38

You're arguing marketing. I'm arguing

30:40

marketing, and you're talking about you're talking

30:42

about the integrity of including on the

30:44

Olympic team as a rookie. I'm talking marketing.

30:47

That's the difference between the arguments that we're making.

30:49

Let me ask you this question.

30:51

No, you're ignoring the potential negative

30:54

aspect of the market.

30:56

You're ignoring You're right about

30:58

that, You're right about it. But the reason I'm

31:00

ignoring it, the reason I'll

31:03

admit it, the reason I'm ignoring it

31:05

because I know what the committee wants.

31:08

I know what the w n b A wants. I

31:10

know what women throughout this world want

31:13

when it comes to women's basketball,

31:15

and I believe that supersedes

31:17

the valid concerns that

31:20

you're bringing up. That's really what it comes down

31:22

to. Let me ask you this, Are you gonna be okay?

31:24

If Caitlyn Clark is left off the team? But

31:27

ratings a compromised, the cachet

31:30

that you could have capitalized off of you missed

31:32

out on, and the w n

31:34

b A led by the Great Asia

31:37

Wilson, Team USA led by her,

31:39

the Great Diana Tarassi, and and

31:42

and and and Chelsea Gray and others. Are

31:44

you gonna be okay? If

31:46

the ratings and the revenue

31:50

it's reported that it doesn't

31:52

equate or doesn't reach anywhere

31:55

close to where it would have been if

31:57

Caitlyn Clark had been on the squad? Are

31:59

you gonna be okay with that?

32:00

Andrea Cotter, how do we

32:03

know what they would have been with Caitlyn on

32:05

the squad?

32:05

I'm like, I'm asking you, I'm just I'm

32:08

asking a hypothetical I don't know, I'm asking

32:10

you a hypothetical question. Are you gonna be okay?

32:12

With that.

32:13

That's what I want to answer to. I.

32:16

I'm okay with growth in the long

32:18

term if it sacrifices the immediate,

32:21

if it's better in the long term, I am okay with that.

32:23

I am because what we

32:26

don't want, what I'm not okay

32:28

with is.

32:30

Something negative happening or

32:32

being painted in a negative way. Again, this is

32:34

not Caitlyn's fault, but every

32:37

single thing, a MISTI five, a

32:39

miss chest bump, standing on the outside

32:41

of a huddle, every single thing is dissected.

32:45

And if it's painted in a negative light and.

32:47

It's distracting and she's not ready

32:49

to even play on that stage, why

32:52

would we.

32:52

Do that right now? Why would

32:54

we do that right now? We being the committee, I'm just thinking

32:57

like the committee.

32:57

I'm not saying I just I just I, But

33:00

I think I think you on behalf of

33:02

the committee based off of what you're saying,

33:05

is thinking about hull well being.

33:07

And I can give you countless examples

33:10

where the individual's well being

33:13

was ignored and shoved to the side

33:15

for the betterment of the whole

33:17

collective product and the game

33:20

itself. It's been done over

33:22

the years. It's being done with the NFL

33:25

right now they're talking about safety.

33:27

But remember they had games on Sundays and

33:29

Monday nights, and then they got games on Thursdays.

33:32

Now this year they planning on having a game on a

33:34

Wednesday. For crying out loud, they don't

33:36

get I mean, damn everywhere you I

33:38

mean, you hear all of this stuff. You ain't thinking about

33:40

the well being of the individual. You're

33:42

thinking about the well being of the collective whole.

33:45

It happens in business. It happens in the business

33:47

of sports all the time. It has been happening

33:49

the men for decades. It has been happening in the women

33:52

for decades. How in God's name is that's

33:54

suddenly a surprise to us? Now, I'll

33:56

give you the last word, Andrea.

33:58

It's not a surprise, Stephen.

34:00

Ay, I'm just saying then, thinking about

34:02

the committee, there is one mission and.

34:04

Players ten, eleven, and twelve

34:07

are all a part of that mission.

34:09

In terms of chemistry, in terms of familiarity,

34:12

in terms of knowing each other, in terms

34:14

of knowing how to push each other's button.

34:17

Saying Caitlyn should go sit on the sidelines

34:19

to be a marketing tool is

34:22

absolutely egregious to me.

34:24

It doesn't make any sense at all. It's

34:26

the Olympics. There's no The marketing

34:29

for the Olympics is exactly what it is. Millions

34:31

of people watch Team USA take on gold.

34:33

Go look at Team USA when

34:35

they played in Beijing. Go go look when

34:37

they played for the gold. The stadium was full.

34:40

Caitlin playing in the W will

34:42

continue to grow the W putting

34:44

her on this stage with players that she is

34:47

not familiar with after not participating

34:49

in any camp and playing

34:51

basketball since November, so

34:53

she can be a marketing tool.

34:55

I know it's happened before, but just because

34:57

it's happened in the past doesn't mean we need to keep it going.

35:00

I get what you're saying. And also just think about this, Steven

35:02

Ay.

35:03

If I held up my pet snake right here, if

35:05

I held him up like he's been chilling

35:07

with me the whole time, he's been fine, he's

35:10

chilling, he's comfortable, he's

35:12

nothing.

35:13

Nothing wrong is going here, nothing nothing bad is going

35:15

on here. As I showed him on the screen, it

35:18

would be right that a snake.

35:22

Yes, so did you? Yes?

35:26

Right?

35:28

You think about I

35:31

know, but hear me out, hear me out, no matter

35:34

what I say.

35:35

Well, about this.

35:36

You're not gonna hear me. You're not gonna listen to me.

35:39

It's a distraction. He's going to be the focus

35:41

no matter what I say.

35:42

He is going to be the focus, no matter how many good

35:44

points I make, no matter what is no matter

35:47

what is going on, you have already made up your mind about

35:49

this situation. That is

35:51

what the media at times has shown

35:53

to do with Katelyn. They have their mind

35:55

made up and nothing else matters.

35:58

And that's simply not the case. That's

36:00

simply not the case.

36:01

Here.

36:02

We can go, we can go back and forth about this

36:04

all day, but I respect the hell out of your opinion,

36:06

but you have distracted me. And before I let you get on

36:08

out of here, I just got to ask you another

36:10

thing that I ain't asking you business. He's trying to get two personal

36:12

Andrea. But you know what, you're a very beautiful

36:15

woman. You're a very accomplished woman. You

36:17

know what I'm saying in all of this other stuff. And I'm quite sure

36:19

you have a significant other in your life.

36:22

They know about that damn snake. They

36:26

have snakes in your house.

36:28

They know that I'm

36:30

single. This is the longest life partner I have

36:32

had. I've had him for eleven years. He'll live

36:35

for about twenty to thirty.

36:36

He's super stmonch.

36:37

The longest life on you've ever had was a snake.

36:40

Is that what you're telling me?

36:42

This is my boy right here?

36:43

This is my boy.

36:44

You don't see anything wrong with that? You

36:47

see anything wrong with that one soever? Andrea nothing,

36:49

I.

36:50

Don't see anything wrong. But Steven Ay, I

36:52

just want to let you know the

36:55

way distractions

36:57

work is they take away the point of

36:59

the mission. And I just gave you a distraction

37:02

that took away the point of this mission, and

37:04

the committee is trying to avoid that

37:07

at all costs while they chase gold.

37:09

Marketing is not the mission. The committee

37:12

is the mission. And that's it.

37:14

That's it.

37:14

That's all you gotta say.

37:15

That's what That's what.

37:19

I hope. I hope, I hope, I hope. Okay,

37:22

fine, fine, fine, because I'm preoccupied right now

37:24

because I just saw you kissed that damn snake. I

37:27

just saw you kissed that damn snake. So I'm very very

37:29

distracted just so you kissed that damn snake, right,

37:32

said? You single? Right? Is that your

37:34

plan to stay that way? To stay single?

37:37

Because the snake is the longest part that

37:39

you've had in your life for eleven years, and you're satisfied

37:42

with a snake who, by the way, the other day,

37:44

while you were on to it with me, you had to audacity to

37:46

call sweet. I've never heard a snake in

37:48

my life. He is no

37:51

such thing as a sweet snake.

37:54

Look he is, he's sweet,

37:57

he's sweet.

37:59

What what's it? What is his name?

38:01

What is his name?

38:02

Name is?

38:03

His name is nothing? Capital

38:05

n like hey, nothing like that.

38:08

Nothing. Snake's name is nothing.

38:11

Yep, it's from a book. It's it's it's too much

38:13

to get into. But his name is.

38:14

I want any potential part, I want anybody

38:17

who's looking at Andrea and

38:19

you're mesmerized by her intellect,

38:22

her vernacular, her beauty, and the whole bit

38:24

to understand that she has something

38:26

in her life called nothing, and

38:28

it's not a human being. It's a snake.

38:32

Okay, you do understand. I'm very happy to be talking

38:34

to you over video. I don't want to be around

38:37

you, Andrea. I don't want to be around

38:39

you.

38:40

I just want you to admit that, Wow,

38:42

Caitlin Clark would be an incredible marketing

38:44

tool. She'll be a marketing tool for years

38:47

to come, and it's a distraction from the

38:49

mission to focus on marketing the same way.

38:51

Nothing just distracted.

38:53

I will agree. That's only thing I will agree with

38:55

you. I will agree with you on that. I

38:58

just think the distraction that she

39:00

is is worth it for women

39:03

across the world as it pertains the

39:05

basketball. That's where I stand. I gotta

39:07

get on out of here, Andrea, but that's where I stand.

39:09

I appreciate your time. Thank you so much, girl,

39:11

I really appreciate it.

39:13

Spen real Gopher goal at USA.

39:15

Let's get it anyway. Let me move

39:17

on to the NBA Finals, are right? Because the

39:19

Celtics had taken the two oh series lead in the Dallas

39:22

after beating the Mavericks one on five to ninety eight in Game

39:24

two last night. It was truly a team

39:26

effort as Boston let a balanced

39:28

attack against the Mavericks. Drew Holliday

39:30

was big time twenty six points, eleven rebounds,

39:33

three assists, and that was on the offensive side

39:35

of the ball. As for his defense, do

39:37

y'all remember what Drew Holliday said before the finals

39:39

when asked about guard and Kyrie erv He

39:41

said, quote pray well.

39:44

Kyrie struggled once again in Game two, scoring just

39:47

sixteen points seven to eighteen, shooting from the field,

39:49

zero for three from deep. And that's where I'm

39:51

going, because Dallas has no

39:53

chance whatsoever in the series if Kyrie

39:55

doesn't get his act together. See Drew

39:58

Holliday showing you and he and in

40:00

the edwards, See Drew Holliday didn't ask

40:03

for Kyrie. He said I got him and

40:05

woke up that giant. Drew

40:08

Holliday's a quiet storm. He's already a champion

40:10

from his days in Milwaukee. He's one of the elite

40:12

defensive players we've ever seen. In this game.

40:15

He brings that kind of defensive tenacity to

40:17

the basketball court. Remember that big time Steele he made

40:19

in the series against the Indiana Pacers. Right,

40:22

But he ain't the only one guard in Kyrie.

40:25

Irvin, Kyrie, Irvin. If

40:27

it ain't Drew Holliday on him, woman, this is Derek

40:29

White on him. Another, it's Jalen Brown on him.

40:32

Another it's Jason Tatum on him. Another

40:34

it's Porzingis clog in the middle somehow

40:36

at seven feet three, it's Al Horford

40:38

at six feet eleven, causing problems.

40:41

They're all over Kyrie. Kyrie shooting

40:43

thirty five percent for the fee average of fourteen points. This

40:45

is not good. And Luka Doncik

40:48

with a chest contusion, leg

40:50

soreness and all the brother averaging thirty

40:53

ain't got no help. Nobody's helping

40:55

Luka Doncik. So it's gonna be incoming

40:57

upon Kyrie Irvin. But PJ. Washington,

40:59

you do where Dallas Maverick's uniform? Could you hit

41:01

some threes? Please? Shot zero for three yesterday.

41:04

Kyrie Irving hasn't hit a three point

41:06

shot in eight attempts in this series. Don't

41:09

get me started with Derek Jones. He

41:11

can't buy damn basket. He's shooting to a nine

41:13

from the field. Derek

41:16

Lively, the rookie. I know people have been

41:18

getting on him. He's the

41:20

reserve center coming in behind Gaffick

41:22

because they never played together. I

41:25

want to say this about Derek Lively. He

41:27

lost his mom right before the playoffs.

41:32

He has no siblings and

41:34

now none of his parents are alive. The

41:37

brother twenty twenty one years of age, and

41:40

a lot of people look at him and say, well, you know what he performed

41:43

during the playoffs against Okac. He did

41:45

it against Minnesota. Remember

41:48

there wasn't idle time prior

41:52

to those series, but there was

41:54

idle time between him winning

41:57

in the conference finals and ultimately

41:59

that week off they have for the NBA Finals.

42:03

As somebody who lost his

42:06

mama in twenty seventeen, as somebody who

42:08

knows a lot of people who've lost their mom, that

42:11

idle time is a bit

42:15

you're laying back by yourself.

42:17

You got nobody with you. All

42:20

you do is got additional

42:22

time to collect your thoughts and

42:24

remember how lonely you are, and

42:28

remember that the person who loved you most,

42:30

and the one person in this world who loved

42:32

you unconditionally is no

42:35

longer there. That's

42:39

a lot to deal with. So

42:42

I didn't realize that until one

42:45

of my boys reminded me he lost his

42:47

mom right before the playoffs. I

42:49

totally forgot about that because of the way

42:51

he had been playing in the playoffs. So

42:55

my heart goes out to Derek Lively. Man, he's

42:57

going through a lot. I'm sure I wish

42:59

him nothing but the best, but I will say this, he

43:01

got to play better. Gafferd's

43:03

got to play better. Kleaver is supposed

43:06

to be Luka Dancik one of

43:08

his best friends. What kind of friendship is that?

43:10

That brother? You leaving you hanging? That's the equivalent

43:13

of somebody jumping you and beating your ass on the

43:15

streets and you run. That's what he doing

43:17

in this series, he hasn't done shit.

43:20

I mean, he gotta get it together, he

43:23

really really does. But

43:25

no one has to get it together more than Kyrie Irvin.

43:29

Kyrie Irving is too great, too magnificent,

43:31

too marvelous, too spectacular, with

43:34

too many credentials to be getting

43:36

handcuffed like this in this series. He

43:40

don't get it together. Even

43:42

if Chris STAPs for Zingis who tweaked

43:44

his calf now, even

43:46

if he's compromised, if Kyrie Irvin don't get

43:48

it together, Dallas might get swept.

43:51

And I thought they were gonna win this series because Forzingis

43:53

was hurt. Perzinger's been back and playing.

43:56

He blowing up one minute, Drew Holliday

43:58

blowing up another minute, Jayalen Brown blowing up

44:01

period. Dubt's

44:03

better get it together or they gonna

44:05

get run out of here. I'm just telling

44:07

you what I know. I'm just telling

44:09

you what I know. Let me transition to this

44:11

other topic real quick, because it's time to get

44:13

to the world of social media and an interesting

44:15

story I saw it this week and in the NBA that

44:18

had me absolutely laughing and hysterics.

44:21

If you don't know, Lebron James

44:23

has fifty two point eight million

44:25

followers on x formerly

44:28

known as Twitter, and only

44:30

follows one hundred and eighty two people.

44:33

Well, this weekend, the Lakers star decided

44:36

to unfollow ESPN NBA

44:38

analyst Kendrick Perkins, and

44:41

social media noticed. Needless

44:43

to say no, my man, Big Perk. He responded on an

44:45

X and posted and gave a post

44:47

that generated millions of you so far. Guess

44:51

what he said, y'all everybody

44:53

didn't follow Jesus, I'm

44:55

okay. That

44:58

was hilarious. It was hilarious. Okay,

45:02

here's the deal. The tension

45:05

between Lebron and Perk can be traced

45:07

back to when Lebron spoke about Kyrie Irving

45:09

on his Mind the Game podcast with JJ Reddick.

45:12

Lebron basically said he's happy for Kyrie

45:14

and proud to watch his growth heading into the NBA Finals,

45:16

but he added that at the same time, he's mad that

45:19

they're no longer teammates. Perk took

45:21

issue with the comments, accusing Lebron of quote

45:23

weaseling his way into somebody else's

45:26

moment son

45:29

going on. I don't know what it is between

45:31

Perk and Lebron. I haven't asked people

45:35

in Lebron camp is alluding personal

45:37

stuff that's going on. I don't know that I believe

45:39

my man Perk whatever he said, because the brother don't lie

45:41

to me. I don't know anybody that he

45:44

lies to, because Perk is a pretty honest

45:46

and straight up dude. Here's

45:48

what I will tell you. However, Perk

45:50

is a former player and a former teammate, and

45:53

the kind of things that maybe

45:55

I can say and others can say, we're

45:58

not hold to hell to the same level of accountability

46:01

because we didn't wear the same uniform. We weren't in the locker

46:03

rooms, and so they might be looking at it differently. And

46:06

I get that part. Having

46:08

said all of that, Perk

46:11

wasn't lying. Now

46:13

Lebron James to me, ain't committing

46:15

a crime by quote

46:18

unquote weaseling his way into a narrative. I'm sure

46:20

he was very sincere about Kyrie erving the finals

46:22

are going on here, I get that. I

46:24

just think it's important to note that

46:27

Lebron does have a history of

46:29

trying to manipulate and control narratives.

46:32

It's not a crime, Lebron. It's nothing to take

46:34

offense to. Some people could accuse me of

46:36

that. Some people could accuse Purka that, some people could have use

46:38

anybody of that. It doesn't mean it's not true. It

46:42

doesn't mean it's not true. And I think

46:44

unfollowing Perk proved

46:46

Perk's point because

46:48

by unfollowing him, the world knows you

46:51

unfollowed him, which is another narrative

46:53

you wanted to create when

46:56

you didn't have to say anything and didn't have to

46:58

do anything, just didn't have to respec's

47:00

coming. But by doing

47:02

so, he clearly hit

47:05

a sensitive nerve of Lebron's and

47:08

his camp. By the way, I mean, Rich Paul

47:10

still follows Kendrick Perkins. But I'm

47:12

just saying it was hilarious. Some

47:15

people didn't follow Jesus, I'll be okay,

47:19

that's Perk for you, that's Perk for

47:21

you. I am mad at him because

47:24

sometimes Lebron needs you to be as

47:26

aloof as a nonchalant as

47:28

that, because he's counting on everybody caring

47:31

because he's lebron and sometimes

47:34

the carring is warranted, sometimes

47:36

it's not. That's

47:39

all I got to say about that matter. I got better things to do

47:41

with my time coming up. Bad

47:43

Boys Rider Died debuted over

47:45

the weekend and scored big at the box office. I'll

47:48

get into the larger meaning for

47:50

Will Smith in that movie

47:54

and the Black community when

47:56

I return. This is the stephen

47:58

A. Smithshaw back more in

48:01

a minute. What's

48:06

up, everybody? Welcome back to the sedition

48:08

of The stephn Ai Smith Show, coming at you like I love to

48:10

do at the very least three days a week over the digital a YouTube.

48:13

I gotta get back to the

48:15

Will Smith topic that I tackled

48:17

because it created some noise. As

48:20

most things that I usually do, it's

48:23

just the way it goes for me. I'm

48:26

not here to apologize for

48:28

anything, but I am here

48:31

to clarify because I want to make sure that everybody

48:33

understands where I was coming from when

48:35

I spoke Friday about Will Smith

48:38

and the new Bad Boy movies, the Bad

48:40

Boys rodor Die movie coming out with him

48:42

and Mart Lawrence that had been out for a couple of days.

48:45

First things first, our initial

48:47

reporting was stating that it

48:49

was coming up short compared to what

48:52

it had done numbers wise

48:54

in the past at the box office for Bad Boys

48:56

one, two, and three. Well, it turns out

48:58

that this was a very productive weekend

49:01

for Bad Boys Ride to Die and Mart

49:03

Lawrence and Will Smith deserve a boatloader

49:05

credit for that because they got people returning to

49:07

the movie theaters. So that was a huge,

49:10

huge plus, and we can't ignore that. And let's get

49:12

props where props is do. But I want

49:14

to get more specific into what my take

49:16

is before I have my boy on. Even

49:19

though we're both us in

49:21

a similar venue, we're right near one

49:23

another. I was having some technical difficulties,

49:25

so he's gonna be in a separate room because we down here

49:27

in Florida. But he's right here in the same

49:30

vicinity as me. I just got him in a separate room,

49:32

and I'll I'll let you see who he is

49:34

in a second. Let me say this to y'all.

49:40

I don't know if

49:42

I'll ever get over what

49:45

Will Smith did to Chris Rock. But

49:49

that doesn't mean I have to, and

49:52

it doesn't mean that it's a license for me

49:55

to negatively impact Will

49:58

Smith. Will

50:00

Smith slapping Chris

50:02

Rock was a devastating thing. I'm

50:06

not talking just for Chris Rock, who's a friend

50:08

of mine. I'm talking for the black community because

50:11

obviously, Will Packer was the first

50:13

black producer to be doing the Oscars in

50:15

its history, and that was

50:17

a devastating blow to him. Will

50:21

Smith came out with Emancipation a

50:23

year later, for Apple and all of that stuff.

50:25

Will Smith was sensational in that movie. So

50:29

was Antoine Fuqua, the

50:32

esteem director and producer extraordinaire.

50:35

One could easily argue that both of them would

50:38

have won an Oscar for that, and

50:40

that Will's slap cost Will Smith

50:42

and Antoine Fuqua an oscar. That's

50:46

what I was thinking about. I

50:48

was thinking about black folks everywhere

50:51

aspiring to be in this business, aspiring

50:54

to succeed, and

50:57

something like that happens, and it was a blemish

51:00

on all of us because I know how much

51:02

White America reveres Will

51:04

Smith, and the thinking along

51:07

the lines in my mind was, hell,

51:09

if he did that, what

51:11

would the rest of us do? There

51:14

are certain things that happen in

51:17

the lives of an individual where

51:19

those incidences are used as a license

51:21

to castigate the rest of us. And

51:24

that's what I was thinking about

51:26

when I said what I said Friday

51:28

about being torn as to wanting

51:31

to go see the movie but not wanting to see

51:33

Will Smith. I wasn't encouraging anybody

51:35

else not to do it. I

51:38

was just saying that I was having trouble

51:40

dealing with it. And then

51:42

I got a call from

51:45

my man, Charlie Mack. Charlie

51:47

Mack is Will Smith's form of security,

51:50

good friend of Will Smith, closely connected

51:53

to Will Smith for decades. I've

51:56

known Charlie Mack for nearly thirty

51:58

years of love

52:00

for him, and he

52:03

was on fire calling me because

52:05

he disagreed with my opinion and

52:09

was going back and forth with me about it. And

52:12

then he caught me because

52:15

he says, stephen A, what about grace? What

52:19

about grace? This is how he feeds

52:21

his family, This is how he earns his living. He

52:24

don't have a right to earn a living ever. Again. He can't

52:26

make a mistake, stephen A, when he never made

52:28

a mistake before. It's

52:30

a damn good point. Bigger

52:33

point he made was Mark Lawrence,

52:36

because we all look at Martin Lawrence. If you watch Marin

52:39

from back in the day, ladies and gentlemen. You can't

52:41

find nobody that love markin Lawrence more than me. That

52:44

brother is brilliant. That brother

52:46

has done nothing but create laughs

52:49

and laughter for us for decades.

52:53

We should all revere him. And he's the one

52:55

that brought Will Smith on to

52:58

bad boys. And Will

53:00

Smith's still doing bad boy movies with him

53:02

because you know he damned she I ain't trying to do it with anybody

53:04

else. That's love right there, that's

53:07

loyalty right there. And then you

53:09

got to take into account then orderate

53:12

amount of people who work on a movie and

53:15

how they're employed, and

53:17

how they have opportunities and

53:20

all because Will Smith is

53:23

doing what he's doing. And

53:25

then you got to take into account the fact that throughout

53:28

Will Smith's life, not just his career,

53:31

there has been exponentially far more

53:34

good than bad. And

53:36

I certainly did not mean the gloss over

53:38

that. I didn't mean to act like that wasn't

53:40

reality, that didn't happen. And

53:43

so I really appreciate my man, my

53:45

brother, Charlie Charlie Mack for

53:48

calling me and passionately making that case

53:50

to remind me of what Will Smith is, who

53:53

he is, and what he has meant to all of us.

53:55

You see black people gravitating

53:58

to him. I'm getting text message is

54:00

and emails all over the place who said

54:02

he lost our support. He never lost it. We didn't

54:04

like what he did. It was unfortunate what he

54:06

did, but damn it. We love Will Smith

54:08

and we forgive him. You don't hear Chris Rock

54:11

talking about it, complaining and complaining about him.

54:13

Eventually they'll meet and they'll talk. Stephen Ay,

54:15

we heard all of that, so

54:18

I gotta stand down. And

54:20

then I saw this video right here. Y'all

54:23

take a look at this, and that just elocutes

54:26

my point even better.

54:28

We're in Baldwin Hills. Was about to go into the theater. It's

54:30

a ritual I have.

54:31

I do it like I whenever a movie come out on

54:33

Friday Saturday, usually a Matt

54:36

Nail on Sunday.

54:36

I like going to theaters.

54:49

I'm glad.

55:18

That was Will Smith at the Baldwin Hills

55:20

movie theater in LA. You saw how fans swarmed

55:22

him, You saw all them black people swarming him. Because

55:26

he's still loved. It's loved

55:28

by all of us. He's loved by me. Still

55:32

as salty as I am about what happened in the

55:34

effect that I thought and

55:36

still think to some degree that they could have on

55:39

us in the industry. But

55:41

I really appreciate Charlie Mack checking

55:44

me on that, and I also

55:46

appreciate my next guest because you

55:48

know, whenever I'm near South

55:51

Beach, my man always looks

55:53

out for me. My man always takes care of me. He's always

55:55

my right hand.

55:57

You know.

55:57

I've known him for over twenty years and

56:00

got a lot of respect for him. He was

56:02

talking to me about P Diddy weeks ago, and

56:05

he text me about Will Smith

56:08

today and I said, what you're doing come

56:10

on the show? When we were supposed to be sitting right next

56:12

to each other, but we got to be in separate rooms because

56:15

one of my mics wasn't working and stuff. But

56:17

it don't matter. My man Shabez is in

56:19

the house and I like y'all and hear his

56:21

opinions from time to time because the brother's

56:24

quite smart, and I know how feelings

56:26

he is and how thoughtful he is. Plus I got

56:28

love with him. He's my brother, and that's how I want to talk to

56:30

my brothers when I'm doing my own damn show. That's just how I roll.

56:32

What's up, Shabaz? How you doing? Man?

56:35

I say, what's fobbing on me?

56:37

So so so talk to me and

56:39

let the world know. You know how

56:42

you felt about Will Smith

56:44

and how you felt about what comments you heard

56:46

me say about Will Smith this past

56:49

Friday. Share your thoughts, bro.

56:52

I mean, first of all, thanks for having

56:54

me.

56:54

I appreciate you, you know, always giving me love,

56:56

grace, latitude, respecting what I do, you

56:59

know, for society and community, and

57:01

you know, just always showing me love. So I appreciate

57:03

you having me on to day so quickly,

57:05

you know, after I just text you this morning. So I

57:08

appreciate that. Thank you again as

57:10

it relates to well, you know I'm from West Philly.

57:13

You know Will from West Philly, so it

57:15

starts there. You know, I've been

57:17

familiar with Will since I was eighteen, and

57:20

like you said, if he's been a phenomenal example

57:22

you know for our culture, our community, and

57:25

the industry alike.

57:27

Back to the smack. You know me personally,

57:29

you know me, I'm a straight shoot.

57:30

That didn't bother me because you

57:32

know, seeing things that I saw and

57:35

how Will felt about other incidences

57:37

that led up to that. I personally

57:40

wouldn't have did it in front of millions, but

57:42

I probably would have did it backstage.

57:44

You know what I mean?

57:45

The time and pray for everything is what my mother taught

57:47

me. That's how I felt about that. But

57:50

as it relates to you, you know, my

57:53

social media platform for as the OG

57:56

moves around a lot of people looking

57:58

for my opinion on social events,

58:00

yep, like this one. So

58:03

needless to say, I don't know how many people

58:06

sent me this because they know you, my man, and

58:08

they like, come on, dog, you man tripping. So

58:11

before I was going to say anything, I text you and

58:15

your response was that

58:18

you were going to revisit it. So then I said,

58:20

okay, cool, I'm not going to say anything. I

58:22

was gonna let you revisit it, and I wasn't even gonna

58:24

talk about it, And but then came here.

58:27

My thing was, along with

58:29

what you already expressed, the

58:32

disdain and pushback that I was receiving

58:35

and which I agree with, which I understood

58:37

and related to, was most

58:39

people were upset with

58:42

you, not so much about

58:44

what you were saying in terms

58:46

of.

58:48

Well owes the black community and apology.

58:50

In addition to apologizing to Chris rock,

58:53

But most people felt the way

58:56

that you were so hard on him

59:00

and seemingly so lenient

59:04

and compassionate when your friend

59:06

Dana White was in the same seat. And

59:10

I understand your friend

59:12

f enough. It's no secret

59:14

puff as my friend did

59:16

e P Diddy to other people, puffsh

59:19

my friend, and my friend is in a sports

59:21

and hot seat right now. But I didn't

59:23

abandon my friend.

59:25

And even when I.

59:25

Spoke on my friend, I spoke with

59:27

grace and latitude. I can't speak the way

59:30

to masses Will, because the masses don't

59:32

have the same relationship, just like I

59:34

don't know your personal relationship with

59:36

daint A White, which caused you to

59:38

approach your situation with about

59:41

him the way that you did.

59:42

But for the masses and our community,

59:44

it was like damn.

59:46

He went ham on Puff, he went ham on

59:48

Will, but he looked like he was about

59:50

to cry when he was talking about DANEA.

59:52

White. And Dana White was just

59:54

as wrong as Will, if not more wrong, because

59:56

he hit his wife.

59:58

So I believe

1:00:00

that that's what was the bulk of the disdain

1:00:03

was it felt unfair to the

1:00:05

culture, like as say, didn't ride

1:00:09

against Danel White like you

1:00:11

rolled against Will so well. You know,

1:00:13

but when you said you was gonna revisit it, I

1:00:15

know what type of guy you are.

1:00:17

So I wasn't surprised.

1:00:18

I'm gonna tell you this, bro, I

1:00:21

appreciate that. First of all, I'm gonna

1:00:23

say this about Dana White, what I've said about many

1:00:25

many people before, relationship

1:00:27

between husband and wife and all that other stuff. So

1:00:29

a whole bunch of stuff that goes into that. I

1:00:32

look at Dana White. I was

1:00:34

the only one that did address it. There was a whole

1:00:37

bunch of shows with black folks on the air,

1:00:39

they never touched it. I was the one

1:00:41

that brought it up, showed the video everything. So

1:00:44

you know, when people talk that stuff about letting them

1:00:46

off the hook, I don't be wanting to hear that. That's

1:00:48

number one. Number two when

1:00:50

we talk about Will Smith, it

1:00:53

wasn't just the slap of Chris Rock. Now,

1:00:55

obviously none of us liked that and the whole

1:00:57

bit, but two cats get into it. Backstage,

1:01:00

you get down, you get down the

1:01:03

fact that he walked up on a stage and

1:01:06

slapped that man the way that he did in the

1:01:08

public, on a public stage,

1:01:11

an international public stage, essentially

1:01:14

was what I was talking about, because I was talking about

1:01:16

the collateral damage that it would do to our community.

1:01:19

Now. To me, a lot of times when cats are bringing

1:01:21

stuff like that up, I often say

1:01:23

to myself, chabez, Okay,

1:01:26

so what do you want? If

1:01:29

this black man had gotten slapped

1:01:31

by somebody else and we said

1:01:34

nothing, what were folks had said then? If

1:01:37

Chris Rock had retaliated and then a

1:01:40

fight broke out in front of an international

1:01:42

audience, what would we have said? Then?

1:01:45

We would have lamented the big picture?

1:01:48

And a lot of times when you and I talk as

1:01:50

brothers, as friends, we talk

1:01:53

about that big picture. We

1:01:55

talk about that picture shabaz where it's like we

1:01:58

ain't even talking about the individual. Certainly

1:02:00

at the immediate moment. Because Chris Rock is my

1:02:02

friend of COOLi shit with him the whole bit that

1:02:04

stung me. But what I'm saying is,

1:02:07

over the course of time, I

1:02:09

was basically bringing up do we

1:02:11

not see the collateral

1:02:14

damage that this could potentially have? Had

1:02:17

you had other folks within the industry talk

1:02:19

about, they would have sued. You had other folks

1:02:21

talking stuff about, you know what, We'll never

1:02:23

get an opportunity to host the Oscars

1:02:25

again, you know, stuff like that,

1:02:28

I'm thinking about that collateral damage.

1:02:30

And it wasn't until Charlie Matt called me that

1:02:33

I said, you know what, Bump

1:02:35

all that at the end of the day, Will

1:02:38

has done far more good than bad.

1:02:41

Will's soul is in the right place

1:02:43

for the most part. And when

1:02:46

Charlie talked to me about Grace,

1:02:49

I said, damn, that's

1:02:51

true, because I wasn't even thinking about the fact that, you

1:02:54

know what, this could interfere because I

1:02:56

was with their premiere because I'm thinking, Yo,

1:02:58

I'm gonna go see the movie. It's

1:03:00

just I was confessing what I was feeling, and I certainly

1:03:03

didn't tell anybody else not to go see it. I

1:03:05

was just talking about what I was thinking about. But

1:03:07

Charlie was like, y'all twice, yeah,

1:03:10

yeah, yeah, and I'm going to see

1:03:12

it. I'm going to see it this week. But that's

1:03:14

where I was going. So where are you on

1:03:16

that front when you think about the

1:03:19

overall impact? I know Will has

1:03:21

done more good than bad, and I think

1:03:23

that that should be the focus.

1:03:25

Where are you at a million percent?

1:03:27

I mean, I agree with you wholeheartedly

1:03:30

on that, and I believe

1:03:32

that you know, as I'm listening to you, and as I'm

1:03:34

listening to what you say, Charlie said that your as it relates

1:03:37

to grace and latitude.

1:03:38

Right.

1:03:39

I believe we're talking about two

1:03:42

sets of people when we're talking about

1:03:44

concern. You're

1:03:47

on one side of the coin, and

1:03:50

myself, maybe people

1:03:52

like Charlie and other people on.

1:03:54

Another side of the coin.

1:03:55

You're talking about a corporate perspective,

1:03:59

and then you're talking about out a street

1:04:01

perspective. Okay, from a corporate

1:04:03

perspective, I understand you a million

1:04:05

percent. A corporate perspective

1:04:07

is Will

1:04:09

Packers is a black producer.

1:04:12

This is his first time being able to

1:04:14

produce the oscars.

1:04:17

Any black has ever produced No

1:04:19

black has ever produced oscars before.

1:04:21

Yeah, never been done. So this is a monumental

1:04:23

moment.

1:04:24

So from the side of the coin, in the purse from

1:04:26

which you sit and stand, you're saying this

1:04:30

puts a black.

1:04:30

Eye on a monumental moment.

1:04:32

This overshadowed something that should have been

1:04:34

spectacularly celebrated at the end of

1:04:37

the night.

1:04:37

Instead of talking about that, we're talking

1:04:40

about this.

1:04:41

Yes, So on that front,

1:04:44

I agree with you wholeheartedly, But I

1:04:46

also understand the other side

1:04:48

of the demographic that says, man,

1:04:51

we don't care nothing about that.

1:04:52

That was two years ago. We writting with

1:04:54

Will because he's done more good

1:04:57

than bad.

1:04:57

We're writing with Will because Will has in

1:05:00

an iconic superhero

1:05:02

for black culture and movies, and everybody

1:05:05

looked forward to the fourth of July to catch a new Will

1:05:07

Smith drop. So that

1:05:10

part of the that part of the spectrum. They

1:05:12

don't care about that. As you just noted

1:05:15

and saw an expression showed, people

1:05:17

came out and drove. Like I said, I went to

1:05:19

the movie premiere here in Miami, and

1:05:22

then I went to see the movie again a

1:05:24

couple of nights ago, so I've seen

1:05:26

the movie is phenomenal. They kept

1:05:28

stepping from Bad Boys one till now,

1:05:31

and as you see people still supporting

1:05:34

them. You know, he up to one hundred and four million globally,

1:05:36

fifty six million in the United States, and

1:05:39

they did a great job. So I understand

1:05:42

where you're coming from in terms of the

1:05:44

overall problem, because you know, we don't pigeonhole.

1:05:46

We look at everything across the board,

1:05:49

and I just think we're talking about this group

1:05:51

having a concern and this group

1:05:53

just not being concerned.

1:05:55

You and I have been friends for over twenty years. So I'm

1:05:57

gonna go a place that I wouldn't go with more most

1:06:00

people, right, we gonna shove

1:06:02

Will Aside. From this perspective, willards

1:06:05

done more good than Willi's done more good than

1:06:07

bad. He deserves

1:06:10

our support, he deserves a second chance

1:06:13

whenever him and Chris Rock need

1:06:15

to handle their business, they need to handle their business. I

1:06:18

just wanted to see him doing an interview where

1:06:20

he's acknowledging damn, this is

1:06:22

some shit that I should not have done

1:06:24

because the black community was affected.

1:06:26

I wasn't even thinking about just Chris Rock. But

1:06:29

that's neither here nor there at this particular

1:06:31

moment in time, He's a superstar. He deserves

1:06:33

it. He's done more good than bad, and

1:06:36

I'm good with it. I'm gonna go see the movie.

1:06:38

I don't want to discourage anybody to go see Go

1:06:41

see the movie. Him and Martin Lawrence are phenomenal.

1:06:43

I'm a huge Martin Lawrence fan, and

1:06:47

that is what it is. Here's

1:06:49

where I'm gonna get a little deep. First

1:06:52

of all, let's understand something here. When

1:06:54

we talk about us as a community and

1:06:57

what we talked about corporate and you talked

1:06:59

about the street. Now, you

1:07:01

and I going back pretty much close

1:07:04

to twenty five years now, Yoshiabaz,

1:07:07

how many times have me and you gotten

1:07:09

into the base because I would say to you, yo,

1:07:14

all of us from the streets. But

1:07:16

at the end of the day, when you're talking about

1:07:18

getting paid, where the hell of money coming

1:07:21

from? And so for cats

1:07:23

to act like they get to distance themselves

1:07:25

and disassociate themselves from corporate

1:07:27

America or how you getting paid. And

1:07:30

so I'm talking about the vast majority. And

1:07:32

so when you look at the vast majority of our society

1:07:35

understanding that the mechanism

1:07:37

or the venue or the avenue that you

1:07:39

got to go through is corporate America.

1:07:42

For cats to be out there because

1:07:44

they connected to the streets, I'm not talking about you. I'm not

1:07:46

talking about Charlie Mack. For cats

1:07:48

out there to be out there from the streets

1:07:51

acting like you a sellout, you're a weak

1:07:53

ass, bastard, or whoever you are, just

1:07:55

because you aren't as connected

1:07:58

to the streets as you once were or

1:08:01

as they think that you should be, even

1:08:04

though you dabbling and dancing in corporate

1:08:06

America. I'm sitting there going

1:08:08

like this, well, how the hell you What

1:08:10

are you teaching your kids? What are you teaching?

1:08:13

What are you hoping for? Your brother? And says, ain't you hoping

1:08:15

for them to have a good job? Ain't you hoping for them

1:08:17

to get paper? Ain't you hoping for them to have success?

1:08:20

And when they would when they acquire that level

1:08:22

of susists, where fuck you think the money's coming from?

1:08:25

So, in other words, just because you dipping

1:08:27

in corporate America and have to deal with it, don't

1:08:30

mean you forgot the streets. You don't.

1:08:32

For me, it doesn't mean you forgot where you came

1:08:34

from. It just means even

1:08:36

though you from it, you ain't of

1:08:39

it. That is not a crime,

1:08:41

And you and I have talked about that on

1:08:44

many many occasions. So when you explain what you

1:08:46

just explained, I know you get it. I

1:08:48

know Charlie Mack and others get it. What

1:08:51

makes me wonder about is when the rest

1:08:53

of us gonna get it. This is the game

1:08:55

that's played and as a result,

1:08:58

most people, not all, but most people

1:09:01

have to dabble in it. No matter

1:09:03

where you come from or

1:09:05

no matter what you are of, it

1:09:08

is what it is. How do you respond to that?

1:09:12

I believe it comes down to discernment, right.

1:09:15

I believe it comes down to discernment, because you're right,

1:09:17

you know, the corporate structure is where

1:09:19

the checks come from. Unless you you know, unless

1:09:22

you bless un fortunate enough to you know,

1:09:24

as we say, get it out the mud, grind

1:09:26

it out and become independent success.

1:09:29

Right.

1:09:29

But ultimately and overall, there's still

1:09:31

some type of structure that

1:09:34

you're gonna have to you know, adhere to and

1:09:36

listen to.

1:09:38

But I believe it comes down to discernment.

1:09:41

I think most people understand about the corporate

1:09:43

structure and understand that, you

1:09:45

know, whether you're from the streets or not, there's

1:09:48

still some level of there's

1:09:51

still some level of.

1:09:54

We'll just call it best behavior for lack of a better

1:09:57

term, my brain frozen.

1:09:58

You still have to exhude some form of good

1:10:00

behavior when you're even

1:10:02

if you're from the street, and you have to understand

1:10:06

a time and a place. So the

1:10:08

discernment that I'm talking about is even

1:10:12

if you have to be in the corporate world. I

1:10:14

think a lot of people have an issue with people

1:10:17

that come from the street that transition in the

1:10:19

world of corporate not that they forget

1:10:22

but they look back and they look

1:10:24

down versus look back and

1:10:27

reflecting that I come from that.

1:10:29

I understand why they look at it that way,

1:10:31

because I'm from that.

1:10:33

Let me, if I'm going to speak on it, let

1:10:35

me speak about it in a way that

1:10:37

they understand that I'm not with

1:10:40

you, but I dig you because

1:10:43

I can't act the way I may

1:10:45

have acted twenty years ago.

1:10:46

Even me being why in right now, I

1:10:49

still like, it's your bazz move.

1:10:51

Yes.

1:10:52

Now do I have this thing where on my.

1:10:53

Platform I say it takes three

1:10:55

to thirty seconds to

1:10:58

change your life from three to thirty

1:11:00

years. So

1:11:03

I teach this on a daily basis to youngins

1:11:05

people in prison my platform, it

1:11:07

takes three to thirty seconds to change your life

1:11:09

from three to thirty years. So even though I'm

1:11:11

still connected to the streets and the corporate

1:11:14

world, I still implore everyone I

1:11:16

think before you act, because

1:11:18

things that are done are much harder

1:11:20

undone. So I respect

1:11:23

the people who still carry their street perspective,

1:11:25

but they must. It's some imperative that they understand

1:11:28

how to move in the corporate structure. It's

1:11:30

the last point I said. I wouldn't have done

1:11:32

that in front of millions, but he

1:11:35

might have had to see me backstage.

1:11:37

But I also understand.

1:11:39

Because because because

1:11:41

because you're saying that he had been doing you're

1:11:44

saying that Rocke had been doing

1:11:46

this for years when it came to Jada, that's

1:11:48

what you're saying. And Will had a conversation with m

1:11:50

Right.

1:11:51

From what I understood, this wasn't cool. This

1:11:53

was something, This was something that brewed. This

1:11:55

was just something that stemmed from a

1:11:57

prior request of hey,

1:12:00

you know, take it easy.

1:12:01

On my wife.

1:12:02

But that.

1:12:05

Last point, I want to get to this last point because

1:12:08

I want to stay on point

1:12:10

in regards veering away from Will Smith

1:12:12

and getting into that general thing, because

1:12:15

this is the last point I wanted to make. Okay,

1:12:18

you got cats in the streets and

1:12:20

they're like, yeah, you from the streets. Don't

1:12:22

forget, don't forget, don't forget. But

1:12:25

the other thing they tell you is that they want you to reach back

1:12:28

me. And you have talked about

1:12:30

this for many many years. That's why you my man,

1:12:33

That's why I'm yours. We talk all the time about

1:12:35

stuff like this. And I said, Joe Shabbaz,

1:12:39

you dabbling in corporate America. Yo. For

1:12:42

example, let's take first take on ESPN. You

1:12:46

see how many black contributors on the show. You

1:12:49

see that. You know that I said black

1:12:51

contributors that are on the show. Okay,

1:12:54

you know there's black producers behind the

1:12:56

scenes. You know there's a black

1:12:58

boss that overseas the show.

1:13:00

That's all of our bosses. So my

1:13:03

point is is that when you working through

1:13:05

the terrain maneuvering

1:13:07

through corporate America, you

1:13:10

got cats that want you to still act

1:13:12

like you in the damn streets, but in the same breath they

1:13:14

want you to make a difference. How the hell

1:13:16

are you supposed to make a difference if you

1:13:19

rolling like they want you to roll. I'm just

1:13:21

sharing with the audience things that I've said

1:13:23

to you in the past, which is why You've always

1:13:25

had my back because it was like, Yo, I know

1:13:27

what essay doing, I know what they doing

1:13:29

behind the scenes, But every truth

1:13:32

ain't meant for everybody to be told in the

1:13:34

time that they want to hear it. They

1:13:36

popping shit, but they don't know. And

1:13:38

all they doing is talking about being real for the streets.

1:13:41

But you can also be real dumb. You

1:13:43

can also be real immature. You could also

1:13:45

be real ineffective. Because you won't

1:13:48

let the streets go. In moments, you

1:13:50

need to let the streets go to accomplish

1:13:53

what you said you want us to accomplish.

1:13:55

For cats that come from the streets, Remember

1:13:58

how that how many times we've had that discussion over

1:14:00

the years.

1:14:01

Let me let me, let me say

1:14:03

something so so there's no confliction

1:14:07

when I say the streets for me, let

1:14:10

me be unequivocally clear.

1:14:12

I'm not in the streets anymore. You

1:14:14

know, I'm not involved in the street activity.

1:14:17

That life is behind me. When I when I'm

1:14:19

speaking about the streets, I'm talking about our

1:14:22

black culture, our hip hop culture, the

1:14:24

people that are still connected to the people that still

1:14:26

relate to me, that I still relate to. I've

1:14:28

never abandoned that union.

1:14:31

However, I play in corporate structure,

1:14:34

you know. I have businesses that are that I have

1:14:36

business that are in the in the middle

1:14:38

of being comprised as we speak. So I

1:14:41

understand both worlds, and

1:14:45

that's what a lot of people don't know how to do.

1:14:47

They don't know how to relate

1:14:49

to both worlds. And I think people in over

1:14:52

in this world that I'm speaking about, look

1:14:54

at the corporate world and they want to see something

1:14:57

that they don't see, like and I just use you as

1:14:59

an examp. People

1:15:01

be wanting to see stephen

1:15:04

A that says I'm

1:15:06

from Queens. They

1:15:08

want to see stephen A from Queens sometimes,

1:15:13

but sometimes they just may see too much

1:15:15

of corporate stephen A and they

1:15:17

feel like you may be disconnected. So

1:15:21

it's a very thin line between being

1:15:24

from the streets relating to the streets

1:15:26

reaching back and I'm not even from my reaching back

1:15:28

financially.

1:15:29

Sometimes the streets just want to be relating

1:15:31

to. They just want people to understand

1:15:34

them.

1:15:34

So when you say I'm from Queens,

1:15:37

but they never see I

1:15:39

don't call you stephen A.

1:15:41

I call you. That's

1:15:43

right.

1:15:43

Sometimes they want to see essay, they don't want

1:15:45

to see if you're from Queen's, I show its you

1:15:47

from Queens. Act like you can queen sometimes

1:15:50

yeah, but but you use the word at

1:15:53

the wrong time. Don't like Queens.

1:15:56

When you can go to.

1:15:57

Jail, tell you yeah in jail,

1:16:00

oh yeah, but tell it like

1:16:02

it is though. The fact of the matter is you

1:16:04

gotta take first take. You take this podcast. I do

1:16:06

this podcast three times a week. I do

1:16:09

First Take five days a week. I'm on to aird two

1:16:11

hours a day. We debate fifteen different topics,

1:16:13

seventy five different topics a week, over

1:16:15

three thousand takes a year. Okay,

1:16:18

the vast majority of the time, I'm always

1:16:20

that dude. Now, obviously, you gotta

1:16:22

dabble in corporate America. You gotta communicate

1:16:24

with that lingo. You gotta make sure you're being heard,

1:16:27

not just listen to. And the

1:16:29

fact of the matter is, I've graduated to a point

1:16:31

where I know how to communicate to whomever

1:16:33

I need to communicate to when I need

1:16:35

to communicate them about what message

1:16:38

I need them to receive. And so sometimes

1:16:40

they sit up there and they sit up there and they xod.

1:16:43

So how many times and this is the last point,

1:16:45

how many times have you talked

1:16:47

to me? And you was like, yo, man, they

1:16:49

say in this about you, and I was like this, well,

1:16:52

I've done about seventy

1:16:54

five takes. They

1:16:56

complain in about three you

1:16:59

want me to do, And you'd be like this as

1:17:01

a good damn point, essay, it's a good thing

1:17:05

you got. You gotta like every take that's

1:17:08

not gonna happen. It's gonna happen. And

1:17:10

by the way, all of us as

1:17:12

as black people in this country. Put

1:17:15

us in a room together, it's

1:17:17

rare that we all agree.

1:17:20

So what's You're not supposed to agree with everybody all

1:17:22

the time anyway, that's no fun. I mean it's as

1:17:24

positive as as I am on my platform

1:17:27

and as and as many lives as I've touched

1:17:30

and changed and enhanced, everybody

1:17:32

don't agree with me. It's and I'm okay with

1:17:34

that, you know, because you learn within

1:17:36

disagreements, is there's learning lessons if

1:17:39

if you can remove their emotions.

1:17:41

So I mean, you're absolutely right. I mean I

1:17:43

know you on a personal level.

1:17:45

I know you mean no harm.

1:17:46

I know the conversations that we have and were

1:17:49

living in the age of the internet.

1:17:50

You know, everybody has an opinion, and everybody feels

1:17:53

like they want to see what they want to see

1:17:55

when they want to see it every time, they want

1:17:57

to see it every time, and how they want

1:17:59

to see it, and it's just not gonna

1:18:01

It's just not gonna happen.

1:18:02

You know.

1:18:03

I just like to share with you what

1:18:05

comes to me behind.

1:18:07

The scenes, because you always have been known

1:18:09

as as as as as the video t

1:18:12

P you know, the voice of the people, and so sometimes

1:18:14

I have to bring it to the forefront and let you and

1:18:17

said, you know in the fact seconds.

1:18:20

And and half the time

1:18:22

and half the time, I'm like, yo, man, appreciate your

1:18:24

halftime like I don't give a ship. Your bads is

1:18:26

where I stand. Listen, let

1:18:29

me they do what they want.

1:18:31

Let me say this to your credit. Let me

1:18:33

say this to your credit, so people just don't get inquished.

1:18:36

Him and I don't always agree. I'm

1:18:39

gonna say what I'm gonna say, and he'll listen,

1:18:41

and sometimes he just he'll he'll pause

1:18:44

and he'll say you bad.

1:18:46

You're my man, and I

1:18:48

love it, but I just don't

1:18:51

give a dam. I

1:18:55

just don't give a dam. And

1:18:58

when he say that, all

1:19:00

right, what were you eating at tonight? It ain't nothing else to

1:19:02

say.

1:19:04

I got you, man, I gotta get on out of

1:19:06

here. Man, love you, Appreciate you.

1:19:07

Bro.

1:19:08

I know you write of course the way and whatever we get

1:19:11

we getting up to dinner later. Bro, I holler at

1:19:14

you, all right, say that my

1:19:16

boys bad. That's my man right there, that's

1:19:18

my man, that's he right, he right. I

1:19:20

do say that maybe I need to be better about that.

1:19:23

Maybe I need to be better about saying I don't give

1:19:25

a shit. I don't give a damn. Maybe I just need to

1:19:27

be kindent in my delivery and my presentation

1:19:30

about not giving a damn. Maybe that's

1:19:32

the way to go. Last topic before I

1:19:34

get to y'all tweet, y'all. Last topic. Okay, did

1:19:36

y'all see the video James Harden over the

1:19:38

weekend? It went the

1:19:43

Clippers guard attended a

1:19:45

wedding and his girlfriend.

1:19:49

Yo, y'all, she caught the bride's bouquet.

1:19:51

Take a look at the y'all, please take

1:19:53

a look at this. Damn. The

1:19:56

cameras were rolling, man, I

1:19:58

mean, you got to hide that just a little bit better. You

1:20:00

can hide that just a little bit. Good ladies and

1:20:02

gentlemen, ladies especially, I want

1:20:04

you to take a look at that. That is not

1:20:06

a man that wants to

1:20:08

get married. Now, whether

1:20:11

it's him not wanting to get married or

1:20:13

him not wanting to get married to her,

1:20:16

it's only an answer he can provide.

1:20:19

But it's safe to say that brother

1:20:22

right down with that look with

1:20:24

them beetle juice eyes of his. That

1:20:27

brother don't want to look like that brother

1:20:29

looked like he don't want to get married. I mean his

1:20:31

eyes popped open so wide he looked

1:20:34

like a relative of Anthony Davis. Them

1:20:36

beetlejuice eyes, that's how he looked. I'm

1:20:39

serious, y'all, I'm serious. Ain't

1:20:41

no insult ber both good looking brothers. I'm just say

1:20:43

it. Damn damn

1:20:46

James, man,

1:20:48

this was so funny. It was funny

1:20:50

as hell because I felt bad for him. That was not

1:20:53

a brother that wanted that girl to catch that bouquet.

1:20:55

It's just safe to say that if you want to keep him, you

1:20:57

might not want to talk about

1:21:00

average to him because that

1:21:02

look right there, that's all

1:21:05

I needed to see to know that

1:21:08

brother ain't trying to

1:21:10

get married. Whether it's

1:21:13

to you or not. Like I said, that

1:21:15

remains to be seen. But damn I

1:21:18

felt bad. It was like James got caught. He

1:21:20

like, what the hell y'all doing to me? What the hell y'all doing

1:21:22

to me? Anyway, Let's get to the

1:21:24

tweets before we get on out here for the day

1:21:27

at CE underscore Riley five

1:21:30

plus three h steven a better

1:21:32

chance of happening next year Knicks win the Finals

1:21:35

or Jets win the super Bowl. I

1:21:38

say the Jets win the Super Bowl. They got Aaron Rodgers, they

1:21:40

got Breese Hall, they got Sauce

1:21:42

Gardner. You're to see what I'm

1:21:45

saying them brothers are loaded and Aaron

1:21:47

Rodgers coming back. Aaron Rodgers healthy, proved

1:21:49

your offensive line got a big

1:21:51

time wide receiver, y'all. I

1:21:53

ain't sleeping on the Jets. Clearly the Jets. Nicks

1:21:56

got a chance, but they got to go out there and get somebody else.

1:21:58

We'll see whether it's poor George, Kevin Durant and

1:22:00

somebody else. But they need help. New

1:22:03

York Nicks a winning the championship. Now we're bosster looking

1:22:05

the way they're looking right now, that's for sure anyway.

1:22:08

Next tweet at

1:22:10

Little Kenny p Underscore twenty three.

1:22:13

The Man, the Myth, the Legend. Stephen A. My

1:22:16

wife decided to enter a cooking contest

1:22:18

after I lied to her and said

1:22:21

her peach cobbler was amazing.

1:22:24

Parentheses didn't want to hurt her feelings.

1:22:27

She came in seventh place of

1:22:30

people and has now upset

1:22:33

at me because she didn't

1:22:35

win. Like sleeping

1:22:38

on the couch, mad, was

1:22:40

I wrong for lying her? Pleased

1:22:43

at vos Yo bro, you

1:22:46

are wrong for lying the her, but

1:22:49

only because you put her on

1:22:52

public display and

1:22:54

ended up embarrassing her. When

1:22:57

you do that, you say that privately

1:23:00

because you want her to feel good, because

1:23:02

the better she feels, the

1:23:04

better she'll make you feel. But

1:23:07

you ruined all that shit the

1:23:09

second you exposed the publicly, because

1:23:12

publicly they confirmed

1:23:15

that you aly in. So

1:23:17

not only now did you lie to her, you

1:23:20

embarrassed her. Get

1:23:24

used to the couch for a little while, bro, just

1:23:27

a little wild. She has needs. She'll

1:23:29

eventually comfort to you for those needs

1:23:32

to be satisfied, but not

1:23:34

before you pay a price that

1:23:38

you deserve. You know what I'm saying. Beat

1:23:43

it. There's different definitions

1:23:45

to that, my brother, think about

1:23:48

it. Let's move on at

1:23:52

rgch underscore. Right,

1:23:55

how do you sleep? Question mark? How

1:23:57

does it change with the seasons? Well,

1:24:05

I wind down a couple of hours before

1:24:07

I go to bed. I try not to eat too late,

1:24:09

because you don't want something churning in your belly.

1:24:12

Do a little exercise to you

1:24:14

know, not to work up your heartbeat, but to

1:24:17

get in a little something that makes you get

1:24:19

refreshed. Sometimes a nice hot shower

1:24:21

will make you sleepy as well. All

1:24:24

right, glass of water, you gotta

1:24:26

turn off the lights, and you gotta turn on the

1:24:28

TV. Now. Keep in mind, I'm not

1:24:30

practicing what the hell I just preached because

1:24:32

I always have the TV on. But I'm

1:24:35

telling you that's where it goes.

1:24:38

That's where it goes, and I just need

1:24:40

you to know that, okay. So

1:24:43

and in terms of what I would wear, man,

1:24:46

I just have on a tank top or a T shirt

1:24:48

and pier of shorts called the day. That's

1:24:50

me. The other stuff is more

1:24:52

important, though. Turn on the lights,

1:24:56

lighted candle, all

1:24:58

right, turn off the TV. Play little

1:25:00

calm music, don't play no damn hip hop music, nice

1:25:03

R and B. You know, quiet

1:25:06

sound, that kind of smooth sound, stuff like that. That helps.

1:25:09

That helps. But sleep is very very important,

1:25:11

especially as you get older. So make sure you get it. Last

1:25:14

tweet here at budget

1:25:16

iq Rights, you

1:25:18

can only have one for the rest

1:25:21

of your life. Which one are you picking?

1:25:24

Popey's Windys covers, KFC,

1:25:26

Chick fil A, McDonald's Burger

1:25:28

King. I'm gonna

1:25:31

go with Chick fil A. I think

1:25:33

Chick fil A is a little bit healthier. I

1:25:35

think their fries are better, even though McDonald's

1:25:37

fries are delicious most of the time. Chicken.

1:25:41

It's better than the beef. Sometimes they

1:25:45

got the nuggets, they got the chicken sandwiches,

1:25:48

they got a variety of things. I'ma roll with Chick

1:25:50

fil A. That's where I'm gonna go with it.

1:25:53

Gotta get on. I think I got one more tweet

1:25:55

here. It's hard to see this. It's

1:25:58

a bonus tweeter, right, what they telling

1:26:00

me? And I gotta see this, So I gotta see

1:26:02

what this is and make sure I can read

1:26:05

it properly. At key

1:26:09

key key ss nine

1:26:12

rights. What do you think of this picture? That's

1:26:15

me at the Celtics game last

1:26:17

night, looking pretty

1:26:20

damn smooth, I might add, but

1:26:23

I'm just telling y'all the smoothness is kind of throwing

1:26:25

me off because now that I've lost weight and I'm

1:26:28

getting in better shape, women are objectifying

1:26:30

me. You know, I'm looking

1:26:32

at these old women. These older

1:26:35

women, they sat up there. I walked into the restaurant

1:26:37

and I m hm, I was

1:26:39

like, and I ignored

1:26:41

it. And then I just went over with

1:26:44

a friend of mine and eat at the at

1:26:46

the restaurant, and then I had to get up to go to

1:26:48

the bathroom, and these women slid

1:26:50

the chair out and slid back and lean

1:26:52

back.

1:26:53

To watch me.

1:26:54

Now, look, damn it, ain't nobody gonna confuse

1:26:57

me with j Lower, Beyonce and SOB. I ain't got nothing

1:26:59

like that back there. You understand I'm saying. My jewels

1:27:02

are in other places. But my point is they

1:27:05

were looking at me like that, and

1:27:07

I was like this, Oh my god, is

1:27:10

this how it is for women? It

1:27:13

made me ashamed of how we can be. It

1:27:15

made me ashamed how we could

1:27:18

be. It

1:27:20

made me think about changing how I look at women,

1:27:24

but only for a second. I'm

1:27:26

still a man. I'm gonna look.

1:27:29

Does help that I have a qtie, you

1:27:31

know. So I'm all

1:27:34

right, but you get what I'm

1:27:36

saying. You get

1:27:38

what I'm saying. That's it for this

1:27:40

edition. To that Stephen, they spent show. I got to get on out of here.

1:27:43

I'll holler at y'all live Wednesday from

1:27:45

Dallas, Texas, sight of Game three of the NBA Finals

1:27:47

and tell then everybody piece of love. Hope

1:27:49

y'all enjoyed the show.