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Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Released Friday, 7th June 2024
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Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Mavs in trouble, Woj on Hurley & Lakers, A'Ja Wilson's dominance, Reckoning with Will Smith

Friday, 7th June 2024
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0:11

Welcome to another episode

0:13

of The Steven Asmith Show, coming at you at the very least

0:15

three times a week over the digital airwaves of

0:18

YouTube and of course iHeartRadio.

0:20

As always, I want to stop and take a moment

0:22

to show my love and appreciation to all of my followers

0:24

and subscribers. We've now eclipsed

0:27

six hundred and ninety nine thousand

0:29

subscribers. Can't thank y'all enough

0:31

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

0:33

make sure to go to iHeartRadio to listen to the show

0:36

in your car or whatever audio device you

0:38

may have. Go to iHeart and check that out.

0:40

And by the way, if you want to continue to like and follow the show,

0:42

just click the belt and boom you

0:44

will be the latest member of the Stephen A. Smith Show

0:47

family. While you're doing that, please make sure to

0:49

not forget to pick up a copy of my New York Time's

0:51

best selling book, Straight Shooter, A Memoir

0:53

of Second Chances and First Takes, now in paperback.

0:56

So go to straight Shooter book dot com once

0:58

again at straight Shooter book dot com

1:00

to get yourself a copy. Since

1:02

I am in the studio, I'll make sure to take phone

1:04

calls before I get on out of here for the weekend,

1:07

and give some advice as well. Number the color as

1:09

always its eighty eight seven two seven fifty three

1:11

zero three. That's edited eight s A s

1:13

five three zero three. Now let me get started,

1:16

because it's got a couple of NBA

1:18

items to get into, all right, mainly

1:20

that ass kicking that we saw last night in

1:22

Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics

1:25

opened Game one and sent the message to the Dallas

1:27

Mavericks about who they are in

1:30

this championship series. The game

1:32

featured the return of Chris STAPs port Ziggis,

1:34

who came off the bench to spark Boston, scoring eighteen

1:36

of his twenty points in the first half. Jalen

1:39

Brown set the tone and led the Celtics to twenty two

1:41

points, while Jason Tatum added sixteen

1:43

points in route to a one oh seven eighty nine beat

1:45

down of the Dallas Mavericks.

1:47

Okay, here's the deal. I'm

1:50

looking at it from this perspective. I

1:52

got the Dallas Mavericks winning this series. Let

1:54

me just put myself on front street. I

1:57

swear to Lord, I wish I could change my mind right now. I'm

1:59

not gonna do it, but I damn near one two

2:01

for one reason or one reason only, Kristaps

2:03

Porzingis. Yes, Jason Tatum

2:05

said the tone he was hitting jots, he was attacking

2:08

the basket, had a spectacular dunk, had

2:10

a big tom block of Kyrie Irvin.

2:12

I get that. Jason tATu

2:14

didn't need to do much last night because the Boston Celtics

2:16

had seven different dudes that hit two or more three pointers

2:19

in this game, which was an NBA Finals

2:21

record. You don't see that up there. Sixteen

2:24

to three pointers divided by

2:26

seven different dudes that hit three pointers.

2:28

So everybody who's hitting two three pointers, we gotta

2:30

take that into consideration. It's not about that. Everything

2:34

changed the moment Kris STAPs

2:36

Porzingis came into the game through a

2:38

roar to a roaring ovation. By the

2:40

way, he's seven feet three,

2:42

y'all, so he's gonna cause problems

2:45

defensively when you're driving to the lane, Kyrie

2:47

Irvan, when you're driving to the lane, all right,

2:49

Derrek Jones, when you're driving to the lane, Pja wathed

2:51

it. Kristaphs Jozek is gonna be there

2:53

because he's seventy three. So

2:56

that's problematic in and of itself. Here's

2:59

where it gets work. Porzingis

3:02

hit threes plus he

3:04

hit twos, posting dudes

3:06

all over the place, shoving them aside

3:08

and shooting turn around jump shots and

3:11

on tip at all. When he wasn't doing that, you

3:13

know what he was doing blocking

3:16

shots and

3:18

he was helping out on defense, which caused

3:20

some problems for not only the players that I

3:22

mentioned, Buffalouka Doncik as well, And

3:25

so I look at it from that standpoint, and I

3:27

said, at the beginning of the season, before it even started,

3:29

if kristaps for Ziggis and the Boston

3:32

Celtics are healthy, they win the championship.

3:34

I picked the Maps to win this series because kristaphs

3:36

Forzingis wasn't supposed to be healthy. They

3:38

said he had an injury similar to that of Kevin

3:40

Durant, where it was a calf injury.

3:43

It was irritated, and then ultimately

3:45

he came back after weeks and Kevin Durant tore

3:47

his achilles. So I said, you know what,

3:50

he wasn't a strong lateral move to begin

3:52

with. Boston isn't the greatest pick and roll

3:54

defense to begin with. You put kristaps

3:57

Worzingis in those situations with Luke and

3:59

Kyrie be a problem. That's

4:01

how I looked at it. And then this guy

4:03

came out and showed us that the

4:06

MVP wasn't him. The MVP wasn't James the Brown,

4:08

The MVP wasn't Jason Tatum. The MVP wasn't

4:10

Derek White or Drew Holliday or anybody

4:12

else. The MVP was the Boss

4:14

of Celtics medical staff. Because this

4:16

brother looked big time. He

4:19

looked like he is one hundred percent. And

4:22

if that's the case, the

4:24

Dallas Mavericks have no chance. This

4:26

series will be over in five. They

4:29

can't beat the Boston Celtics in

4:31

a best of seven series with a healthy

4:34

Chris STAPs Porzingis. I

4:36

don't think that's possible. I

4:39

really don't. I thought he was gonna be hobbled

4:42

at the very least. That was

4:44

not the case. It

4:46

was not the case. Now let's

4:48

get to the Dallas Mavericks and most notably

4:50

the struggles of Kyrie Irving, because it's worth talking

4:52

about. Did y'all know that

4:56

Kyrie has now lost eleven straight games

4:58

to the Boss and Celtics. His

5:01

last one against his former team was just

5:03

over three years ago when

5:06

he was a Brooklyn Net and

5:08

last night, to be quite

5:10

honest with you, it just wasn't a good look. Kyrie

5:13

finished gaining one of the finals with just twelve

5:16

points, shooting six to nineteen from the floor,

5:18

zero for five from three point range,

5:21

and was a team worse minus nineteen

5:23

for the Dallas Mavericks. Look,

5:26

it's not a crime that this happened, but I

5:28

think we got to be honest about it. Kyrie

5:30

Erwin was rattled by that Boston Celtics crowd.

5:33

They booed him loudly. They was feeling

5:35

venom in his direction. And

5:38

Kyrie is not a bad guy.

5:41

We all know that. Even

5:43

though he works through a lot of things mentally

5:45

and emotionally. The fact of the matter is is

5:47

that he's a decent guy who wouldn't

5:50

mind being liked. And when

5:52

you look at the Boston Celtics fans, that will never happen

5:54

a because you're an enemy of the Boston Celtics as long

5:56

as you're wearing the opposite uniform. Just asked Draymond

5:58

Green about how they treated him two years

6:00

ago when he was playing. When he's

6:03

still with the Golden State Warriors. But when they were playing against

6:05

the Celtics in the finals, he was a bit rattled

6:07

in the first couple of games in Boston. Ultimately

6:10

overcame in and played like a damn all

6:12

star in that game six, no question

6:14

about it. But let's make sure we understand the importance

6:17

of what we're talking about here. Kyrie Irvin

6:20

is one of those dudes that will

6:23

be religiously hated by the Boston Faithful.

6:26

Why is that the case Because when you look

6:28

at Kyrie Irvin, he's

6:30

the guy that said he was staying as

6:32

long as they'd have them, and then left

6:35

like a thief in the middle of the night to join the Brooklyn

6:37

Nets. They didn't forgive him. He comes

6:39

back as a member of the Net and that's and what happens.

6:41

He steps on a leprechaun on the parque

6:44

floor. He flipped

6:46

the bird at fans. So

6:48

he knows that he was wrong, as he acknowledged

6:51

that. And it's not a crime, and we all move beyond

6:53

that. Everybody's gonna move beyond that.

6:55

But the Boston Faithful Why because

6:57

the more they blew you, the more productive,

6:59

the more unp deductive, it makes you the

7:01

more they're gonna up the ante because they want their

7:03

Celtics to win the championship. So somehow,

7:05

some way, Kyrie is gonna have to

7:07

dig within himself and

7:10

figure out how the hell or bring his a game

7:12

against the Boston Celtics because they're

7:14

going to need it. The Dallas Mavericks

7:16

are going to need it if they're going to beat the

7:19

Bosston Celtics, make no mistake about

7:21

that. Coming up, Will

7:24

Smith is out with his latest film, Bad Boys,

7:26

Ride or Die with mar Lawrence. But

7:28

it's all forgiven with Smith since the Oscar

7:30

slap of star

7:33

Chris Rock. We'll get into that. I'm

7:36

getting into that, but first,

7:38

the Lakers are meeting with Yukon head coach Danny

7:40

Hurley this weekend about taking over

7:42

in LA. Couldn't this be a good

7:45

fit. I'll get into that next

7:47

with the one and only Adrian wolj gen Eowski,

7:49

the ultimate Insider. Up

7:51

next right here, when the Steven A. Smith show

7:53

back for more in a minute.

8:03

Alright, everybody, you know what Tom. It is Tom

8:06

for Stephen as Weekly Picks. If

8:08

you're a sports fanatic like myself, then

8:10

you can't just watch the games. You

8:12

need to be a part of it all. So how do I

8:14

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8:16

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8:25

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8:28

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8:34

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8:36

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8:39

Then sit back, watch and

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to one hundred dollars. Pick more, pick

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less. It's that easy today.

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However, I will not be selecting

9:02

any players or sports. I gotta

9:04

go off topic just for this one

9:06

time. Right, that's right, I'm selecting

9:08

either more or less than three and

9:11

a half people A day

9:13

asking more yours

9:15

truly to take a selfie?

9:19

Who the hell asked this question? Who came up with this? Are

9:21

you kidding me? Three and a half

9:23

a day? I get three

9:25

and a half requests every three hours

9:27

minimum. It's at least

9:30

twenty to thirty selfie requests

9:32

I get per day, per

9:35

day. I don't understand it. I'm

9:38

just a personality. You used to be a reporter. I

9:41

really don't get it. Can't see I

9:43

can't do that, can't

9:46

not trying to damn sure,

9:48

wasn't good enough to play professionally in terms

9:50

of basketball or anything like that. I

9:53

don't understand it. But

9:55

I am loved, so I

9:57

guess that explains it. That's why the

9:59

answer is more as in, way, way,

10:02

way more than three and a half

10:04

requests for a selfie from your

10:06

boy. But

10:08

I'm a man of the people, so it doesn't

10:11

bother me at all. Welcome

10:15

back to Steph Nate Smith Show right here over the digital

10:17

airways of YouTube. Now let's

10:20

get to the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching

10:22

search please, that is now focused

10:24

on Yukon head coach Danny Hurley.

10:27

Hurly recently won back to back NCAA

10:29

basketball championships and as a top five

10:32

team returning this season. He's reportedly

10:34

been the obsession of Lakers general

10:36

manager Rob Polinka, whom he'll meet

10:38

with this weekend along with team owner

10:40

Genie Buss. The Lakers, according

10:43

to ESPN's very own Adrian Wojnarowski,

10:45

are looking at a potential deal

10:48

that would be significant in its linked

10:50

and salary. Now, Hurley has not made

10:52

a decision about leaving Yukon, but he did

10:54

inform the university of his interest in taking

10:56

the job. Woldes will join me

10:58

momentarily, but I wanted to give my take

11:00

on this Lakers situation really, really quickly. Danny

11:03

Hurley deserves this job if he wants it. Rob

11:06

Polinka, according to the exceptional reporting

11:08

of woj, has been obsessive

11:11

in his pursuit of Danny

11:13

Hurley, and rightfully so. He's a two time

11:15

national champion. He's the best in the game right

11:17

now. We've seen other coaches

11:19

come on to the pro ranks to Brad Stevens of the

11:21

world, the John klop Parves of the world and others

11:24

and have some degree of success, including Billy Donovan.

11:26

Let's not forget him in the job that he did at the University

11:29

of Florida. I'm not gonna forget the job that

11:31

Darvin Ham did because he did go to the

11:33

Western Conference Finals his first year. He

11:35

did lose all and lose

11:37

in five games to Denver in the first round,

11:39

but both losses were to the Denver

11:42

Nuggets, led by the arguably the greatest

11:44

player in the world in Nicolajokic. So we got to

11:46

take that into consideration. How much

11:48

more could Danny Hurley do. I don't know, but

11:50

I know if anybody deserves the shot, he

11:53

does. And I'll leave it at that because

11:55

I got to get to my next guest right now, joining

11:57

me to talk more about the Lakers coaching search

12:00

is the man who broke the story for ESPN,

12:02

the man who breaks most stories

12:05

when it comes to the National Basketball Association.

12:08

I used to be an NBA inside of ladies and gentlemen.

12:10

Let me say this in all honesty, I

12:12

was never this man. My next guest,

12:14

Senior NBA inside are recognized

12:17

for breaking the news reporting on the league over the past

12:19

decade, plus one of the best in the world

12:21

hosts. He's the host of the Woes

12:24

Pod and The Woes Report, both

12:26

on YouTube by the way, Please welcome

12:28

my buddy, my partner crime on NBA Countdown,

12:31

one of the best NBA insiders

12:33

in the history of this profession, the one and

12:35

only Adrian wolj Niarowski. What's going on,

12:37

big Time? How are you, sir? How's everything? Steven

12:40

A.

12:40

I'm great, I'm great.

12:41

Good to be here with you, man, Thank you for being here. Let's

12:43

get right to it. How much

12:47

do you How big of a possibility do

12:49

you think it's going to be that Danny Hurley

12:51

is going to be the next head coach for the Los Angeles.

12:53

Lakers, Steve, There's

12:55

a real possibility, and there's

12:58

traction in these conversations

13:00

between Hurley and the Lakers.

13:02

The job is his if he wants it, and

13:05

I think that's been clear to him for

13:09

some period of time here, and it's

13:11

really just been the last few days where now he's

13:15

gonna formally meet with the Lakers.

13:17

He told Yukon that he was going to do that,

13:19

he told his players that, and

13:22

he flew to California on a

13:25

Thursday night and today's Friday,

13:28

and so he's going to meet with as you mentioned,

13:30

Rob Polenka, Genie Buss and

13:34

sit down with them and see what this could look

13:36

like. This is not done. He's

13:38

not made a decision. It's certainly

13:41

at the time that we're talking, but

13:43

he is seriously weighing this, and

13:46

the NBA has always been an ambition of

13:48

his and the kind of

13:50

job the Lakers is and what it represents

13:53

and what it means in the coaching fraternity.

13:55

You could make a case.

13:57

It might be the most pressurized,

14:01

the most famous, most storied seat,

14:03

maybe in all of coaching, and maybe

14:05

not just basketball. So I

14:07

think all of that appeals to Dan Hurley,

14:09

and he's looking hard at.

14:10

This to look to get back and to give folks

14:13

on the outside some insight to all of

14:15

this. We've heard numerous people

14:17

reporting that there were numerous candidates,

14:20

most notably our colleague at ESPN JJ

14:22

Reddick. The inside info is

14:24

that I want to let America know that when I

14:26

was thinking about that, the one and only Adrian

14:28

woljs Urowski would come over to me and say, wait a minute,

14:31

it's not quite going down that way,

14:33

stephen A. Let me hook you up with the

14:36

intel, And that's exactly what you did.

14:38

Paint a picture for what

14:41

the situation has been leading

14:43

up to Hurley being in this position. Was

14:46

it always him? Was it numerous people

14:48

like a JJ Reddick? Was it really nobody

14:50

at all? Was it really all about Dan Hurley?

14:53

Break that picture down from my audience,

14:55

please, Steven

14:57

Ay.

14:58

The other candidates who they talk to

15:00

them our viable, legitimate

15:05

coaching candidates, not just with the Lakers, but

15:07

we'll be with other teams. But Rob

15:10

Polank identified early that Dan Hurley

15:12

was the coach that he wanted to hire,

15:14

but he didn't know if he'd be able to

15:17

get him. He couldn't just spend two

15:19

three weeks pursuing Dan

15:22

Hurley and hoping to get a chance to

15:24

get down the road the way they have here

15:26

at the end.

15:28

And so he has interviewed other candidates.

15:30

And if Dan Hurley says no

15:32

to this job, then it's

15:34

going to circle back to the

15:37

JJ Reddicks, the James Barregos,

15:40

amongst some others. Sam Cassell, who's an

15:42

assistant with the Celtics, has interviewed James

15:45

Barrego. There's been different

15:49

variations of interviews in this Barray.

15:52

They did an initial wave of candidates.

15:55

While they're waiting to see if

15:57

they could make any.

15:58

Headway with Hurley.

16:00

They brought in guys, and they got to know guys

16:02

that they hadn't interviewed in the passion. Remember they just did

16:04

a coaching search a couple of years ago, so they

16:06

had met with some of these guys they

16:09

didn't. They did sort of an informal

16:11

like more of a get to know you with a bunch of guys,

16:13

including JJ Reddick, including James

16:16

Barrego. Because there

16:18

just wasn't familiarity. They brought

16:21

Barrego back for a more

16:23

of a sit down formal all day, let's

16:26

really dig into an interview. They

16:28

hadn't done that yet with JJ, and I think

16:30

they would have if the Hurley

16:32

thing didn't start to accelerate here

16:35

and again, if Dan

16:38

Hurley turns down the Lakers or they just

16:40

can't come to an agreement again,

16:42

this could come back. JJ Reddick

16:44

is a coach or a coaching candidate that

16:46

the Lakers have a lot of It had a lot of interest

16:49

in. They preferred Dan Hurley, which you

16:51

could understand. He's, you know, two

16:53

time back to back champion, he's been

16:55

coaching a long time. Uh,

16:57

there's a lot to be intrigued about with Hurle.

17:00

So you know, we've been reporting

17:02

about interviews and permission

17:04

the Lakers have gotten from other teams to talk to

17:07

candidates. But that's

17:10

as far as the Lakers are concerned. Those

17:12

were candidates that they were talking to, that they were

17:14

getting to know and moving down the road only

17:17

if they couldn't get Dan Hurley.

17:19

What exactly are the Lakers

17:21

looking for? And I only asked that question

17:23

WOJ because again, listen,

17:26

I understand why the Lakers felt the

17:28

need to make the move with Darvin Ham.

17:31

I knew Darvin hammy remember you and I were saying together,

17:33

and I knew Darvin Ham's days were numbers. When I

17:35

saw what Anthony Davis said in the aftermath

17:37

of Game two losing Game two in Denver and

17:40

was talking about how disorganized, what I was like,

17:42

Oh my lord, that's bad sign for

17:44

any coach. So I knew it then. But

17:47

what exactly are the Lakers looking

17:49

for in their next head coach?

17:51

Crystallize that for us,

17:54

the Lakers want to build out

17:56

a program, a way of doing

17:58

things on top to bottom

18:01

organizationally and giving the coach, giving

18:03

Hurley a lot of latitude

18:05

to do that and to partner

18:07

with Polenka the front office in

18:10

really allowing him to kind

18:12

of redefine to them of what a

18:15

Laker it would be a Laker.

18:16

Hurley player, style of play.

18:19

System, all of those

18:21

things that they think Dan Hurley

18:23

can bring and what they've seen him do at Connecticut.

18:26

You know, you look at Billy Donovan

18:28

going to Oklahoma City and listen, he inherited

18:31

a team that was ready to win a championship. Hurley

18:33

wouldn't be doing that. Quinn Snyder

18:35

in Utah took over a team that was in

18:37

the lottery, drafted Rudy go Gaubert, Donovan,

18:40

Mitchell, developed them became a

18:42

viable Western contender.

18:44

You've seen college you guys come in, the ones.

18:46

Who've had success have kind of had

18:48

a partnership with the front office to

18:51

build.

18:51

Out a way of doing things.

18:53

That's what Polenka wants to do with a Hurley he

18:56

is certainly you've seen players

18:58

just really develop at

19:00

Yukon, Donovan Klayon, the

19:02

seven footer who will be one of the top few

19:05

picks in this draft, stuff

19:07

on Castle in one year at Yukon, we

19:10

can go down the list they've had. They've gotten

19:12

guys better, they have maximized

19:14

the guys they have, and you've seen a system in place

19:17

there that has dominated

19:19

college basketball. They were, they

19:21

laughed everybody. This year they had a

19:24

they won a national championship where they outscored

19:26

their opponents in this tournament, steven A by one hundred

19:28

and forty points.

19:29

John Wooden never did that.

19:31

And so the level of dominance

19:34

is you know, has

19:36

Rob Polenka's attention, and

19:38

so what he wants is instead

19:41

of just going team year to you know, a team

19:43

team, team is again building

19:45

out a program. Can a coach who can get

19:47

Austin Reeves and Ruy Hatchamurra and Max Christy

19:50

improve those guys, drafting

19:52

well, developing those guys. But you're in LA

19:55

and you're always gonna have access to either

19:57

through trade or free agency to great

19:59

player who want to come here.

20:01

You have to have those players. You know who they are, Steven

20:03

Ang.

20:04

If you're gonna play for a championship, we

20:06

can list I don't know, one of six players,

20:08

seven eight players, you better have one of them

20:10

where you're not competing for a title.

20:12

Maybe the list is even shorter than that. So what

20:17

Plenka sees is this history

20:19

in LA of you know, Jerry Buss

20:21

had pat Riley and Genie Buss

20:24

had Phil Jackson. He

20:26

sees Dan Hurley as that next

20:28

legacy couch for the Lakers.

20:30

That's what he's banking on.

20:32

Here, That's where I was going next because

20:34

we know Lebron James is there, we know

20:36

Anthony Davis is there and a little

20:38

bit younger than Lebron James. So he's considered

20:40

the future, even though some of us wonder how much time

20:42

he has left at times because he's always

20:45

in it, even though that wasn't the past case this year when

20:47

he plays seventy six games. There's also

20:49

the Palinka Genie Bus element, the Laker

20:51

nation situation, and

20:54

you look at a coach and you hear the word development.

20:56

That's not something that's synonymous

20:58

with Laker and.

21:00

It's win now, win every year.

21:02

That's right, it's win now, win every year. So

21:04

if you're a Rob Polinka, you're a Genie

21:06

Buss. How do you answer that

21:09

question for the doubters, especially

21:11

when people wonder what role

21:14

did Lebron James have? Did he have a

21:16

role with JJ Reddick, does he have a role with Danny

21:18

Hurley being the target for Rob po Linka?

21:20

Now, how do you answer that as

21:22

the ultimate inside of it you will.

21:24

I know people want to believe Lebron

21:26

James is in the middle of these coaching searches.

21:30

And I'm going to tell you he's not.

21:32

And I know people don't necessarily want

21:34

to accept that at the surface, but

21:36

it's been the case, and it's been the case in the other

21:38

searches. Now, the first search,

21:40

Rob Polenka, did you look back

21:42

and they could have had Tylo. They

21:44

couldn't get there on a contract. They

21:46

didn't offer him enough years. I

21:49

wouldn't necessarily say enough money, but certainly

21:51

enough years. They didn't get it done. He

21:54

goes to the Clippers as an assistant Monty

21:56

Williams. They didn't get there with him. He goes

21:58

to Phoenix. They hired Frank Vogel.

22:00

I don't think there's anybody who would say, hey,

22:03

Lebron was really pining for Frank Vogel

22:05

to be his coach. I don't know that they knew each other, had a

22:07

relationship. Now they want a championship together.

22:10

Same with Darvin Ham. The search started out

22:12

in one place, Juwan Howard. Juwan

22:15

stays at Michigan and eventually finds

22:17

its way to Darvin Ham. He takes the job.

22:20

I think especially in this case where Lebron is

22:22

in his career. He's

22:25

really left it to them and Rich Paul, his agent.

22:27

They've been very consistent with this. Anthony

22:30

Davis is the one who we really need to talk

22:32

through things with about how

22:34

the new coach impacts We're talking about how

22:36

he impacts a player, is how he impacts ad

22:39

and I saw a d a few weeks ago in LA and he

22:41

and I talked about it. This was before the Hurly stuff,

22:44

but just in theoretically, Anthony

22:47

Davis would like.

22:48

To have and the team wants to have.

22:50

The organization wants to have him on

22:52

the same page with a new coach, like he wants to

22:54

know what's it going to look like, what are the actions

22:57

that your system can put me

22:59

in? And I think they're excited about

23:02

Hurley's bringing. Hurley potentially would

23:05

be bringing. I think a really sophisticated

23:07

college system. I've talked to a few NBA

23:10

head coaches who is they're preparing for the draft

23:12

or watching a lot of yukon tape because they're watching kling

23:14

In and Castle and they

23:17

didn't see it, and they're not spending a lot of

23:19

time watching regular season college basketball.

23:22

They are.

23:23

They are really taken with the kind

23:25

of actions Dan Hurley's running, how innovative

23:27

it is, and more than one of them have said to me, this

23:30

would really translate to the NBA.

23:32

It's it's not common that you see NBA

23:34

coaches looking

23:36

to take some things from our college system,

23:39

but that's gone on here in the last couple of years.

23:42

And so listen, they

23:44

want Anthony Davis to be on the

23:46

same page with this, But.

23:49

You're right, stephen A, it is going to take.

23:52

I think people need to see it to believe it.

23:53

In LA that you are taking a little

23:55

bit of a longer term approach here in

23:58

terms of a program and building

24:01

something out for the long term. And

24:03

I think people may be cynical about that until

24:06

they seed an action, because a lot of people are just gonna

24:08

say, hey, if this guy doesn't win in year

24:10

one or year two with this team, we're

24:12

gonna be on to another coach. And I think the best way

24:14

Hurley can protect himself against

24:16

that are the years on

24:18

his contract and the money, because you're.

24:20

Making it a lot harder to just fire you if

24:23

you are owed.

24:24

You know, yeah, fifty sixty,

24:27

name the number. Name the number. Listen,

24:29

you brought up the word cynical. A couple of questions more

24:31

on this subject, and that's it. Bronnie

24:33

James projections

24:35

he could be a second round pick, the

24:37

son of Lebron James. The Lakers

24:39

have the fifty fifth pick in the draft. Danny

24:42

Hurley is known as a guy that knows

24:44

how to develop talent, which is what

24:46

people are speculating. Has Lebron

24:48

James so excited, etc. What

24:51

level of credence do you

24:53

give to that?

24:55

A lot?

24:56

A lot, because if you're the Lakers right

24:58

now, I don't know that that you can say

25:00

to Lebron James, Hey, I.

25:02

Guarantee you by the end of free the

25:04

draft and free.

25:05

Agency and the building of the offseason

25:07

roster, that we have a team that's a

25:11

championship favorite. Now we

25:13

know how loaded the West is, we don't have to list

25:15

all the teams. We know Memphis is people

25:18

we keep forgetting about Memphis. You're gonna have John

25:20

Morant back and Jaron Jackson junior,

25:24

and you know, this

25:26

really talented team back in that Western

25:28

mix.

25:29

We don't have to go through all the names in the West.

25:31

It is hard to just say, hey, Lebron, we're

25:34

sure we have a championship team next year.

25:36

You're gonna try to put the best roster you can together.

25:39

But what you can't say to him is it

25:41

has been a dream of yours and an ambition

25:44

of you and presumably

25:46

Bronnie to have a chance to play together.

25:49

And what better situation if we

25:51

take Bronnie at number fifty five and

25:54

we have Dan Hurley and his development

25:57

system in place to give

25:59

Bronny the best chance he can to

26:01

develop into an NBA player. And you

26:03

know, part of what you do when you're an organization

26:06

like the Lakers, and if people say, hey, this is you

26:08

know, special treatment, this isn't well yeah,

26:10

no kidding, there's.

26:12

Special treatment all over the NBA. And I will

26:14

say this.

26:15

I saw Bronnie James a year

26:17

ago, before the hard episode that

26:19

he went through last summer that that curtailed

26:22

his freshman season.

26:23

Steven A.

26:24

He was at the I saw him in Portland,

26:26

Oregon at the Nike Hoops Summer You practice

26:28

all week with the best American players, they played the

26:30

best of the international players. He belonged

26:32

there, he fit, He was outstanding in the

26:34

practice sessions.

26:36

Go back and watch the game.

26:37

He held his own and did really well,

26:40

hit all the best players in his class.

26:42

Well, he's yeah, I've never

26:44

seen Bronnie James play, and

26:46

I'd avoided it on purpose because

26:48

I had so many critics of Lebron

26:51

James looking to take aim at

26:53

him that I thought it was so unfair. I didn't

26:55

want to watch him until I absolutely had to, and

26:57

then he had the hot ailment at us,

27:00

so I said, it's really unfair to

27:02

judge him at this particular moment in time. So

27:04

I really really appreciate that intel.

27:07

But I guess what I'm wondering about

27:09

if this guy ends up in

27:12

LA with his dad, Well, first

27:14

of all, it should be any problem for Lebron James

27:16

to commit to a three year deal. After that, it should

27:18

be no problem whatsoever. Okay,

27:21

But you often wonder about

27:23

the level of scrutiny. So this is not an insider

27:25

question, per se. I'm asking

27:27

you, as somebody that's covered the NBA for decades,

27:30

that talks to so many players

27:32

and coaches and executives, that knows

27:34

this league inside and out, what do

27:36

you think that's gonna be like for Lebron

27:39

and Bronni if they're together in

27:41

Los Angeles. I'm just talking about

27:43

in terms of the cynicism.

27:46

That's what I'm asking about.

27:49

Listen, this is a results league and

27:51

it's a results driven profession.

27:54

You're gonna have to show value. But you're

27:56

not asking Bronni James to come in to

28:00

the league or to the Lakers

28:02

and be a rotation player. He's

28:05

like almost any other nineteen year old

28:07

twenty year old player who's a one and done, He's

28:09

going to spend a lot of time in the G League.

28:11

Their G League team is right there, same

28:14

facility as South Bay Lakers, and

28:16

so like you could see a world where let's

28:18

say the Lakers draft him and he goes through preseason

28:21

and you know, opening a week, Lebron

28:23

and Bronni play there one

28:25

or two games together, and then

28:28

you know, he comes in and it's and it's

28:30

you know, there's obviously gonna be a lot of attention and

28:32

it'll be an incredible moment. But then he's

28:34

probably back off to the G League and that's

28:37

where he's gonna play and develop.

28:39

And now, listen, who knows, maybe

28:41

he moves along quicker and he can be on an

28:43

NBA rotation.

28:45

I don't know that that's what's gonna be.

28:47

But typically if you are being drafted in the fifties

28:49

or the forties in the NBA, you're

28:51

you're starting your fight is through the G League

28:54

and getting to the NBA. If

28:56

your time may not be till you're twenty three, twenty

28:58

four years old.

28:59

But we can show you a lot of examples of

29:01

those guys.

29:01

But where he is and

29:04

where he was, I would say a year ago coming out

29:06

of high school, he was on par with a lot

29:08

of other guys who you saw, as you know,

29:10

potential role players in the league. It's

29:12

not this is not outlandish, and anyone

29:15

who shapes

29:17

it that way I think is not being fair.

29:20

He was away from the game for five months, and I'm sure

29:23

there's like not just the physical coming

29:25

back, but the mental coming back.

29:26

From what he went through. That takes some time.

29:28

So again I

29:31

do think though, so if you're the Lakers back, maybe

29:34

you can't say to Lebron we are

29:36

just positive, we have a championship team around

29:38

you.

29:38

That's not easy to do, but.

29:40

This is something we can do for you, and

29:45

Dan Hurley helps us maximize

29:47

that situation. So I do

29:50

think this is a significant factor

29:52

in Hurley's candidates.

29:54

Very last question on this subject. Mike wilboan o colleague

29:57

and NBAC count that expressed some reservation

29:59

because you're a college coach coming to the

30:01

NBA. Polink, is there what level of

30:03

real decision making

30:06

power is Danny Hurley going

30:08

to have, particularly working in concert

30:10

with Rob Polinka, if indeed he takes

30:13

the Lakers job. How do you answer that question

30:15

for us?

30:16

Yeah, Rob Polank is still going to be the decision

30:18

maker, but the fact that he's committing

30:21

to that he would be committing to Hurley, committing

30:24

the years and the money. You're saying

30:26

is I've got to make this work. How do I make

30:28

this work? I've got to find players

30:30

who fit this coach? And I

30:32

think that's part of again what putting

30:35

a program in place in Miami. When

30:37

Miami is out and you see them

30:39

bringing guys who are undrafted and guys

30:42

who have been overlooked other places, they know what a

30:44

heat player looks like, they know who can play for Eric

30:46

Spolstra, and they have a tremendous

30:48

ability in that organization to find.

30:50

Those guys develop them.

30:52

The Lakers want to be able to do that, and so there's

30:56

going to have to be a level of trust on Hurley's part

30:58

with Rob Polanka in that front office. The

31:00

head coach isn't out there evaluating

31:02

and scouting, and he may have some understanding

31:05

in the next couple drafts of a lot of these young players because

31:07

he's seen a lot of them, but you're ultimately

31:09

leaving it to your organization. So you do

31:11

have to be you have and

31:13

that's why you have to be going into this job, be

31:16

really talking about who

31:18

are the kinds of players in this kind of style

31:20

we want to play, and the skill sets that are important.

31:22

But this is an adjustment for any college

31:25

coach. And when you're in college, you're

31:27

the GM and the coach. You're not

31:29

the GM in the NBA and

31:31

there's lots of other Hurley's

31:34

going to have to adapt in a lot of ways, how

31:36

he deals with officials, how he deals

31:38

with fans, how he deals with players.

31:41

You have to understand when you're going to the NBA

31:44

and the guys who've done it well, Billy Donovan,

31:46

Brad Stevens, Quinn

31:49

Snyder and all of those guys

31:51

understand in

31:53

college, the head coach may be the star, the

31:55

players are the stars.

31:56

In the NBA. I think John cal Perry Rick

31:58

Patino harder time.

32:00

On accepting that they

32:02

weren't the star, and players aren't

32:04

going to respond to that. But I think the

32:07

head coach can be the driver of the culture,

32:09

the environment. And I

32:11

think one of Dan Hurley's great gifts, and

32:13

I think he got it from his father and

32:16

is he watched his dad

32:18

as a high school coach for a very long time.

32:20

He could coach his players very hard.

32:22

But part of why he could was they knew he cared,

32:25

They knew he was going to be there in their lives.

32:28

The relationship is different in the NBA.

32:30

It's going to be more transactional than it is

32:32

a high school coach or a college coach. But

32:34

if you are authentic, in my experience,

32:36

if you are authentic and you're not trying to be anybody

32:39

else, it doesn't matter if you were an ex player

32:41

or a non player, if you're a man or a woman, if you're

32:43

a black or white, players will

32:45

respect that you are

32:48

prepared, that you can get them better,

32:50

you can help them win, you can help them get another contract.

32:53

They don't care what you look like or sound

32:55

like. If you can help them do that,

32:57

I think Hurley fits that crime.

33:00

You know what.

33:01

He will have to adapt. He will

33:04

he will have to adjust.

33:05

He said to me one time in the past, when we're talking about

33:07

the Lakers job.

33:08

We're talking about the NBA though, he.

33:10

Said, I understand that I don't talk to my son

33:13

at twenty one years old the same way

33:15

I did when he was ten years old.

33:16

Right, I would understand that about the NBA.

33:19

But there's gonna be some trial and error with that

33:21

too.

33:21

You've leaned on your extensive experience. I

33:23

want to get a bit personal here. I've known you

33:25

for years, You've been covering the NBA for a long

33:27

time. But one of the greatest honors

33:30

of my career are the people that I've been

33:32

blessed to work with. You are one

33:34

of those people. You are the best in the business,

33:36

my man, and it's such an honor to work

33:38

with you on NBA count Down and work with you

33:40

at ESPN all the time. I want

33:42

you to remind my audience of

33:45

how long you've been covering this league

33:47

and what you've been doing where you work at

33:50

before you got to ESPN. How long

33:52

you've been doing what you've been doing for ESPN.

33:54

Talk to me, well, well, first of all, that

33:56

means a lot. Stevenda, you know how I feel about

33:59

you. I've

34:01

been at full time on the NBA.

34:05

When I went to Yahoo, I was at the Bergen Record.

34:07

I was in northern New Jersey. I was a suburban

34:09

newspaper columnist. I went to

34:11

Yahoo in two thousand and six

34:15

and I did the NBA there for ten years.

34:17

And now I'm on my I

34:20

don't know, seventh year, seventh year at

34:22

ESPN.

34:23

But you know, listen, we go back

34:25

to when I started covering the NBA, when

34:28

Byron Scott and Jason Kid were

34:30

with the Nets, and Rod Thorne Jeff Van Gundy was

34:33

the Knicks coach, and those were fun times

34:35

to cover New York sports teams. And I saw the

34:38

John Caliperi arrival

34:41

in New Jersey. Yeah, and you saw the missteps

34:43

of somebody. John in his second

34:45

year got to the playoffs and he did an outstanding job.

34:48

They got swept by the Bulls, and I think Jordan's last

34:50

stand, and I think back when it was

34:52

best of five, yep. And then in his

34:54

third year he had a bunch of injuries. He had alienated

34:56

everybody in the front office, and so the minute he

34:59

struggled, he was gonna

35:01

get fired because he hadn't built any relationships.

35:03

John didn't adapt to the NBA,

35:06

and I think Dan

35:08

Hurley potentially would

35:11

learn from some of the mistakes of those before

35:13

him. But again, I'm not gonna sit here and say,

35:15

hey, this is easy and seamless. But

35:19

he's as good of a basketball coach as I

35:21

think there is out.

35:22

There right now. But staying on you, how

35:24

much are you still enjoying what you've been doing?

35:26

I talked about the WOJ pod and everything else you're

35:28

doing. How much are you enjoying what

35:31

you're doing at such an elite level?

35:34

Listen? I love it.

35:35

This is all I've ever wanted to do, Steve, And all

35:37

I ever wanted to be was a

35:40

sports writer. I wanted to be able to be at

35:42

a newspaper where like

35:44

they would let me take overnight trips to cover

35:47

something and I could put a dateline on my story

35:49

right by those old little radio shack.

35:52

No one is more surprised than I am of

35:54

how this is all turned out. It's the only

35:57

job I ever wanted as a kid. It's the only profession

36:00

I've ever wanted to be a part of. And

36:04

I still love, like every

36:06

day. You know this, Steve, And every day this job

36:08

is different. Every day there's something

36:11

coming down the road that's a little bit different, and

36:13

I still love working at it.

36:15

I've loved covering the NBA. I love dealing

36:18

with the players.

36:19

I love dealing with the coaches and the

36:21

gms and the agents, and

36:24

I love all the people around it.

36:26

They're great.

36:27

There are lots of great characters and storylines

36:30

to cover. People have a tremendous appetite.

36:32

I think I always tell people my job

36:35

really changed in twenty ten

36:37

when Lebron and Chris Bosh went to Miami.

36:40

That changed this job fundamentally because

36:43

because free agency became

36:47

such a different beast, and then all of a sudden,

36:49

teams clearing cap space, all the little

36:52

deals around the

36:54

NBA that were going to lead to the big deals, there

36:56

was such an appetite in those Chris

36:58

Paul wants out of New Orleans, Carmelo

37:00

Anthony once out of Denver.

37:02

Player empowerments coming.

37:04

Players are starting to move the pieces around

37:06

the chessboard and it became a

37:08

different game to cover. The game

37:10

within the game became its own industry,

37:13

and for me, that

37:16

recognizing that then that

37:18

there was just this tremendous appetite

37:20

in all of that.

37:23

Changed my career.

37:24

I like steven A, you and I both

37:26

started as our goal. I think when we both

37:28

started was what was the big job in

37:30

our profession. You wanted to be in a big

37:32

city newspaper columnist. We grew up idolizing

37:35

the guys in New York. You and I we grew up reading

37:37

Lupica and Harvey Araton and all

37:40

those guys, Mark Kriegel, and you wanted

37:42

to be them. And then the business started changing, and it

37:44

kind of moved towards specialization, and then you took

37:46

it to a place none of

37:48

us ever imagined. But I

37:51

would just say, like, no one's been luckier

37:53

than me and this profession. There was nothing

37:55

about my background or how I grew up.

37:58

My dad worked in a fact for

38:01

thirty years about a mile and a half

38:03

from ESPN and Bristol.

38:06

You know, he worked in a factory bar

38:08

bearings plant, and his.

38:10

Second job was working the cash register

38:12

at a liquor store. Or he worked

38:14

second job at a shoe store with a

38:16

friend of his for a friend of his. And

38:19

so there was nothing about my background that would

38:21

ever ever suggested that I

38:24

could do this, And I had so many great mentors

38:26

and people along the way.

38:27

You kept giving me opportunities.

38:29

So I hope I can do this for as long as

38:32

they'll have me, because I

38:35

know when I stopped doing it, I'll miss it because it's again,

38:37

it's the only life I've ever really wanted.

38:38

How much has social media

38:41

changed the job for you,

38:44

whether it be in a good way or

38:46

a bad way.

38:49

It changed it in a good way. When I was

38:51

I remember being at Yahoo. Remember the first big

38:54

story I felt I broke. It was

38:56

pre Twitter. It was Greg Odin's knee.

38:58

Injury, unfortunately in Portland.

39:01

In Portland, and I got word one day that

39:03

he had it was the knee fracture.

39:05

It was right early in his rookie year, and then

39:07

he was going to be out for the season.

39:08

And I confirmed the story. I mean

39:11

think I confirmed the story. I wrote the story.

39:13

I put it on Y'aho's website, and

39:15

I'm waiting for someone to see it and notice it, Like,

39:17

unless you're refreshing the site, you're probably

39:19

not seeing it. But there wasn't Twitter,

39:21

and or at least I wasn't on Twitter,

39:24

and and to think of

39:26

how it's gone from that, literally waiting for

39:28

the ap like an hour after I posted it to acknowledge

39:31

it was there. Two

39:34

you're now putting that out in a moment right

39:36

in social media. And so the twenty

39:38

four to seven nature of the job, social media

39:41

has impacted that.

39:45

That certainly changed it.

39:46

And so if you were breaking news, I always

39:48

felt early on when I started

39:50

covering the NBA on a full time basis, how

39:52

do I get Jerry West and Donnie Walsh

39:55

and Arn Tellum.

39:56

Who is the big agent?

39:57

Then how do you get any of those guys to return

40:00

and your calls or know who you are? What I found early

40:02

was if you broke news, they started noticing

40:04

it, and so you'd break

40:06

news and you'd break a little bit of chicken in the egg.

40:08

How can I break news if I don't know these guys? And

40:10

then how you know?

40:11

So?

40:11

But you did over time, and so

40:15

social media started to change it because there was this immediate

40:17

scoreboard of what was everybody

40:20

saw right away the stories, and

40:22

that changed it. But you

40:24

know, I think, certainly, yeah, there's a downside

40:26

to everything, But for me, I

40:30

have nothing to complain about. I've been No

40:32

one's been luckier in this profession than me, and

40:35

I know how hard it.

40:36

Is to make a living in this business. And I

40:38

see what's.

40:39

Happening in our industry now, like people

40:41

that I came up in the business with, you came up in the business

40:43

with Steven, who are so talented

40:46

and so gifted and have done such incredible

40:48

work. And I do think there's fewer good

40:50

jobs out there, fewer platforms

40:52

right than when we were coming up. And

40:55

so again I just acknowledged

40:57

that I've been like incredibly fortunate

41:00

to do this and to do it at ESPN,

41:02

and to work with people like you and Michael Wilbond

41:05

and Adam Schefter. You

41:07

know, I get inspired the inspired

41:09

being around the best of the best. That

41:11

inspires me every day because you better raise

41:13

your level at our place or

41:15

you're gonna you're gonna be out

41:17

of you stand out

41:20

out of place if you're not, you

41:22

know, trying to really do this at.

41:23

A high level. I'll close by saying this by

41:25

revealing to my audience something that you may

41:28

not have even known from us. You

41:30

know, at ESPN, if

41:33

it's football is Adam Schefter, if

41:35

it's basketball, it's you. They've

41:37

come to people like myself, Will

41:40

Bond and various others years ago, and

41:42

they said, we want to make sure no matter what it

41:44

is, you know most of the time. Obviously everybody's

41:47

got their sources. You guys have been around for ages. But

41:49

if we want to make sure on

41:52

certain stories that you don't say anything

41:54

until it goes through Woes or until it goes

41:56

through Adam Schefter and all of us

41:59

said, absolutely, we

42:01

know a lad. These are the

42:03

dudes. Adrian woljs Darowski

42:06

is definitely one of them, the absolute best

42:08

in the business.

42:09

Man.

42:09

I'm proud of you. I'm happy for you. I really thank you for

42:11

being on the show before I let you go.

42:14

When do you expect a decision on Danny Hurley for the Lakers.

42:18

I think it's gonna be relatively soon, steven

42:20

A, whether that's Saturday, Sunday,

42:22

Monday, I don't think this goes very

42:24

far into next week.

42:26

I'med to have you on the show, buddy, looking forward to seeing

42:28

you Sunday in Boston. By the way, my

42:30

prediction for the MAVs didn't look too damn good

42:33

last night. I didn't know Presica

42:35

was gonna be healthy. I

42:37

didn't know Presiicas was gonna look like that Woch,

42:40

I'm thinking he can't do this. He's got a

42:42

KD injury for crying out loud. He

42:44

was awesome, I said, damn. I'd have never

42:47

picked the MAVs if I knew he was if he was

42:49

healthy. I didn't expect that, Woch.

42:52

Well, listen, I think this is still gonna be a

42:54

long series. You've seen Dallas

42:56

punchback in

42:59

the playoffs when they they've watched, they've looked not good.

43:01

In Game one. I think I

43:03

think Kyrie and Luke could come back, and the

43:06

Game two is down to the wire.

43:07

I don't see another blowout.

43:08

Appreciate you, my man, to my audience out there,

43:10

my sister Carmen loves me. She actually

43:12

loves him more, loves him more, love anything

43:15

for woes. You take it easy, buddy, Thank you so

43:17

much. Man.

43:18

Take it right, Bud, Appreciate it.

43:20

Yeah. Yeah, let's get to the

43:22

w NBA. Okay, where

43:25

it's time to put some weekly sean on the star players

43:27

in the league. With Steven A's w

43:30

NBA Player of the Week

43:32

down Hona go to the Las Vegas as a superstar.

43:35

Asia Wilson. You know I got a soft spot for that girl.

43:37

She came through for me in the Celebrity All Star

43:40

Game on ESPN a few years back in Chicago,

43:42

when the NBA collaborated with Mike Wilbond

43:44

to rig stuff against me. She was the only one that showed

43:47

up. She's the only one that showed up. I always loved that girl,

43:49

But anyway, I digress. On

43:51

Wednesday Night, this woman

43:53

dropped thirty six points, twelve rebounds,

43:56

and six steals to help

43:58

the Aces beat the Dallas Wings ninety five up to eighty

44:00

one. Wilson became the first player in

44:02

WNBA history to have at least thirty

44:04

five points, ten rebounds, and five

44:07

steals in a game. She's

44:09

also the first player with at least thirty five

44:11

points and five steals in multiple

44:14

games. And this year she also

44:16

became a New York

44:18

Times best selling author. I

44:21

would know a little sign about that. By the way,

44:23

I too, am one. Welcome to the

44:25

family, Asian, welcome to the family. Anyway,

44:28

She released her first book and it

44:30

was entitled Dear Black Girls. Obviously,

44:32

if you know anything about Asia Wilson, you know that she's

44:34

philanthropic. You know that she's very conscientious.

44:37

You know that she's about uplifting a bunch

44:39

of people, but especially young

44:42

black ladies in this society

44:45

that we're living in today. A message like that, the

44:47

kind of message that she conveys, the kind of example

44:49

that she sets, I cannot say enough

44:51

about it. Have you ever seen this woman play? Asia

44:53

Wilson is the truth face of the WNBA. Caitlin

44:56

Clark could potentially be that

44:58

one day, and obviously she's been boxed

45:00

office. But Asia Wilson is the one

45:02

with the credentials. She's the one that steps on the

45:04

court and delivers championships. Are back

45:07

to back, champion, favorite to three

45:09

p for crying out loud. She gets on

45:11

the court and she annihilates competition. She

45:13

is clearly the superstar that

45:15

exists within the WNBA.

45:18

She sets a shining example. And

45:20

no matter what smile you see her wearing,

45:23

no matter what outfit you see her walking

45:25

into the arenas with or whatever, when

45:27

this young lady steps on the basketball

45:30

court, she is all business and

45:32

she takes no prisoners. There's

45:34

a tweet right up here, right now. This

45:36

was courtesy of the one and only Lebron James.

45:39

Quote the absolute best

45:41

when an abundance of exclamation points.

45:43

Because she is. She is the

45:46

true gold standard in

45:48

the WNBA. Asia

45:51

Wilson, She's that big time. Congratulations

45:54

continued success moving forward.

45:57

By the way, speaking of the WNBA,

45:59

staying with that, don't forget to check out too Eastern Conference

46:01

powerhouses meeting up this Saturday.

46:03

That's when he undefeated Connecticut Sun hosts

46:06

the nine and two New York Liberty led by

46:08

Brianna Stewart. The Sun aimed

46:10

to build on their nine game winning streak

46:13

and the New York Liberty have won five

46:15

games in a row. So make sure y'all check

46:17

that out before I get on out of here. For this particular segment,

46:19

Let's switch to some softball, Okay,

46:22

because now let's quickly turn our attention to that because

46:24

it's necessary. Because the Oklahoma Sooners

46:26

beat the top seed of Texas Longhorns for a

46:28

record fourth straight nc

46:31

Double A softball title. The

46:34

Sooners won their eighth title

46:36

overall all under coach

46:38

Patty Gasso and moved into a

46:40

tower with Arizona for the second most

46:42

World Series championships, trailing

46:45

only UCLA. Oklahoma

46:47

senior class finished with as many national

46:50

titles that would be four as NCUBA

46:52

tournament losses, which was four

46:55

forty one and four over

46:57

the course of their career. What was their record

46:59

in that over these last four years.

47:02

I think their record was somewhere like two hundred

47:04

and thirty five and fifteen. That's

47:06

what we're talking about. Women talking about

47:08

the softball team at the University of Alfahomer.

47:12

This girl's a big time Congratulations

47:14

ladies. You know I was out there and I'm

47:16

trying to swing softball.

47:21

I struck out twice. I

47:23

struck our twice. I'll leave

47:25

it at that. Where to go, y'all?

47:28

Where to go? Coming up? There's

47:30

a new bad boy film out. Will

47:33

it do as well as the last ones? It's

47:36

all forgiven with mister will

47:39

Smith since the slap, should

47:42

it be forgiven? I'll

47:44

get into all of that and a little bit more

47:47

up next. Don't go anywhere. You're watching the

47:49

step Nina Smith Show. Be right back. Let

47:55

me take just a few seconds to make sure everyone

47:57

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49:02

Welcome back to the Steph Ni Smithshow right here over the digital

49:05

airwaves of YouTube. Before

49:07

I get to my next subject, a

49:09

subject that I really really want

49:11

to talk about for a second, especially

49:14

with the black community. I want

49:16

to show y'all a few of the pictures I've

49:18

been blessed and fortunate enough to be a part

49:20

of over the years. This

49:22

is me with the great Aaron Judge

49:25

right here, before I embarrassed

49:28

myself internationally by throwing

49:30

out that awful first pitch. Yes, I can

49:32

suck it up. This is me

49:35

at a Big Three tournament game in

49:37

Philadelphia. The one and only

49:40

ll cool j to my right, the

49:42

one and only Ice Q, co founder

49:44

of the Big Three to my left.

49:47

Right here the great Denzel

49:50

Washington and yours truly

49:53

when we went out to an event together and we hung

49:55

out one evening. Still love that brother, the greatest actor

49:57

I've ever known. Me with

49:59

the great Lebron James the basketball

50:01

court before a Lakers game. My man

50:04

Snoop Dog at a game

50:06

I think this one was in Golden State. Me

50:09

with the great Aaron Rodgers. He is a bad

50:12

man. This was at a Warriors game during

50:14

the NBA Finals. You see

50:17

the one and only Floyd Money Mayweather behind

50:19

me. But all

50:21

of these pictures that I've taken throughout the years,

50:24

one of, if not

50:29

one of the greatest photos I've ever taken?

50:32

Was this right here? This

50:37

is me with the one and only

50:39

Will Smith while

50:41

he was promoting his movie Concussion

50:45

many years ago. I

50:48

bring that up because I wanted to

50:50

get to the latest installment of the Bad

50:52

Boys franchise, Bad Boys,

50:55

Ride or Die, which debuted

50:58

Wednesday. It's

51:01

the second best reviewed film

51:04

after Bad Boys for Life. That's what they're

51:06

telling me. It's also the biggest

51:08

film for Will Smith since his infamous

51:11

twenty twenty two Oscar slap

51:14

of the great comedian himself, the one and only

51:16

Chris Rock. Pre sales for

51:18

Rid to Die are behind that

51:20

of Bad Boys for Life, of course, which

51:23

at a franchised high opening of one hundred

51:25

and one million worldwide back in early

51:27

two thousand and twenty. Domestic

51:30

projections for Riad to Die well add

51:32

fifty million, but that reportedly

51:35

similared to forty million. Could

51:38

the lack of pre sales be

51:41

because people have not

51:43

forgiven Will Smith for

51:46

that that slap

51:48

right there? How

51:51

much you wanna make a better does And

51:54

this is why I wanted to have this discussion with y'all,

51:57

because I wanna emphasize that right

52:00

now. As we see Will

52:02

Smith and Martin Lawrence on the

52:04

circuit promoting this new film.

52:08

Once upon a time, you couldn't find a bigger fan

52:10

of Will Smith than me Mark Lawrence.

52:14

You can't find a bigger fan of Mark Lawrence than me, Ladies

52:17

and gentlemen, In all likelihood, I'm gonna go see

52:19

Bad Boys, Rod or Die

52:22

because I'm such a huge Martin Lawrence fan.

52:25

And believe it or not, I still will never stop

52:27

being a Will Smith fan. I'm

52:31

not surprised at all that

52:33

pre sales have simmered.

52:36

It wouldn't surprised me at all if it ultimately plummeted

52:39

once all is said and done. And

52:42

you know why I feel that way, ladies and gentlemen, because

52:45

I think that I'm speaking

52:47

not for everybody, not for most,

52:50

but at the very least millions of people

52:52

out there. When

52:54

I say what I'm about to say, I'm

52:57

not nearly as interested as seeing

53:00

Will Smith in the movies

53:03

than I am of seeing him doing

53:06

an actual sit down interview

53:08

with somebody to

53:10

explain why

53:13

he did what he did. Now,

53:16

I want to emphasize this. Will

53:19

Smith apologized

53:21

just days after that infamous

53:24

slap on March twenty seven, two thousand

53:26

and twenty two, at the Oscars

53:29

in writing. Then

53:31

he went on his social media platform

53:34

I believe it was Instagram four

53:36

months later, at which

53:39

time he apologized again to Chris

53:41

Rock articulated that he

53:43

reached out to Chris Rocks people and

53:45

Chris Rocks and was told that

53:47

Chris Rock wasn't ready to sit down with him.

53:49

That's not what he wanted to do. And

53:52

if you don't believe me, there here

53:55

for yourself.

53:56

I've reached out to

53:58

Chris and

54:00

the message that came back is

54:03

that he's not ready to talk,

54:05

and when he is, he will

54:08

reach out. So

54:13

Will I will say to you, Chris,

54:18

I apologize

54:21

to you. My behavior

54:24

was unacceptable, and

54:28

I'm here whenever you're ready

54:30

to talk fair.

54:31

Enough normally

54:34

under certain circumstances

54:36

such as this. It's egregious

54:38

as this was, as much

54:40

as Will Smith deserved to get his ass

54:42

kicked for what he did, being

54:46

a bully somebody that's sixty pounds at

54:48

least heavier than Chris Rock.

54:50

I don't think he would have done this to Mike Tyson.

54:52

I don't think he would have done this to Jamie Foxx. I

54:54

don't think he would have done this to Snoop Dogg. Or

54:57

fifty cents of somebody like that. He knew who

54:59

he was doing it too, and

55:02

that's the personification of a bully, And in

55:04

my opinion, he deserved to get his ask kicked because of

55:06

that back then. But

55:11

it's not just about Chris

55:13

Rock. See

55:15

as upset as I am and still

55:17

remain to that degree, that's because Chris

55:19

Rock is my friend and I know him.

55:22

But that ain't the only reason. The

55:25

biggest issue that I have a problem

55:27

with. And I'm not saying that advocating

55:30

any kind of violence like Will Smith deserves

55:32

that now that all of this time has passed,

55:36

but at the very least, the black

55:38

community especially

55:42

deserves seeing Will

55:44

Smith sit down. I don't care if it's

55:46

with the Breakfast Club. I

55:49

don't care if it's with Oprah, because

55:52

you know it ain't gonna be me right, You're

55:54

gonna sit down with me because some questions

55:56

are gonna get asked. Okay, but

55:58

I don't care who's swift.

56:02

You gotta provide an explanation

56:05

as to why that happened. It

56:07

can't be that you went to therapy and you

56:09

learn the era of your ways or you've addressed

56:12

some of the demons that were plaguing

56:14

you mentally and emotionally and spiritually.

56:16

That's not good enough. And

56:19

even though we weren't the ones that were slapped

56:21

literally, ladies and

56:23

gentlemen figuratively, the black community

56:26

was slapped. Will

56:30

Packer, a big

56:32

time producer who happens to

56:34

be black, was

56:37

also the first black

56:40

individual ever

56:42

assigned to oversee the Oscars.

56:45

It was a live event, his biggest

56:47

live event of his career, nationally

56:49

televised on ABC, reaching

56:52

over two hundred territories

56:55

worldwide. According to numerous reports,

56:58

When Will Smith did what he did, that

57:02

didn't just hurt Chris Rock. It

57:05

hurt Will Packer's production. That

57:08

became the story rather than

57:11

the extraordinary excellence his

57:14

production talents exhibited for

57:16

the world to see.

57:21

And instead of us talking about that, we

57:23

were talking about this. So

57:26

it wasn't just Chris Rock, it

57:29

was also Will Packer. It

57:31

was also every black

57:33

producer that's out there that's

57:35

aching for an opportunity to get this shot

57:38

at producing a program

57:41

like the Academy Awards. That's

57:45

what Will Smith did thereafter.

57:50

Did you see in the movie Emancipation, Will

57:54

Smith was sensational.

58:00

Smith could

58:03

have won an Oscar for that. Who

58:06

is standing next to Will Smith. That's

58:09

a black director, that's

58:11

a black producer. His

58:14

name is Antoine Fuquah, one

58:18

of the best in the world. You

58:21

ever see Olympus is Fallen? You

58:23

ever see Training Day? You

58:26

ever seen Antoine Fisher, You ever seen the

58:28

Equalizer movies with Denzel Washington.

58:32

I can't even tell y'all about

58:35

the movie that's coming out on

58:37

Michael Jackson. Oh

58:40

my lord, that's

58:42

Antoine Fuquah, one

58:45

of the best, one of the planet.

58:49

He might have won an Oscar, but

58:52

Will Smith did what he did, and

58:55

that movie came out or I believe he was on

58:57

Apple the

59:00

next year or so. Residue

59:03

from the infamous slat still

59:06

permeating through in the mind's, hearts

59:08

and souls of so many people in

59:10

Hollywood, but especially the black community.

59:14

Black excellence, it's

59:17

all over the place. Ladies and gentlemen. Black

59:21

folks don't play in

59:23

front of the camera, behind the camera, producers,

59:26

directors, writers,

59:31

talent everywhere, all

59:33

over the place. It

59:37

was on the verge

59:40

of getting exponentially more noticed.

59:45

And then Will Smith did that, and

59:49

all of a sudden that became something

59:52

that was attached to so many instead

59:55

of their excellence. Antoine

59:59

foo Well is

1:00:02

incredible, Will Packer

1:00:05

is incredible. The staffs

1:00:08

they have working for them that they've assembled

1:00:10

are incredible. Will

1:00:14

Smith thought about none of that when he did what he

1:00:16

did. He

1:00:19

didn't think about the fact that Denzel Washington

1:00:21

was just a few feet away from him and had to talk to

1:00:23

him and get him calm down because he was screaming,

1:00:25

keep my wife name out of f and mouth.

1:00:29

Tyler Perry was right there. Black

1:00:35

excellence all over the place, either

1:00:39

indirectly connected, directly

1:00:42

connected, or

1:00:46

inevitably attached and

1:00:49

tarnished by

1:00:51

Will Smith's actions. When

1:00:55

we use the word forgivable or

1:00:58

forgiveness, that's for Chris to

1:01:00

deal with. This is his call. He

1:01:02

could have had the man arrested that night and insisted

1:01:05

to the LAPD that that not be the

1:01:07

case. Could have pressed charges thereafter

1:01:09

and insisted on not doing that to Will

1:01:12

Smith, not making the incident

1:01:14

any bigger than what it was. Yes, he came out with his

1:01:16

own flip the next fix got about twenty million

1:01:18

for after tacking. He probably walked on with about

1:01:20

six. But

1:01:25

Chris Rock is damaged. In

1:01:28

the day and age of mental illness

1:01:31

or traumatic incidences that affects

1:01:33

one mind and psyche and what have you. Yeah,

1:01:36

you might see him at Knicks games. Yeah,

1:01:39

you might see him still going about the business of

1:01:41

performing on tour, doing his job or

1:01:43

handling his business. Chris

1:01:46

Rock will never get over that. Ever.

1:01:52

Will Smith apologized. I'm

1:01:56

not saying he even has to apologize.

1:02:00

I'm saying that while I watch him and Martin Lawrence

1:02:02

promoting this movie, and

1:02:05

I'm quite sure the reason he hasn't addressed

1:02:07

it is because the studios

1:02:09

don't want him to, and there's an obligation

1:02:12

that you have with them all fear.

1:02:14

I get it. But

1:02:17

somewhere along

1:02:19

the way

1:02:22

he has to sit down and

1:02:25

talk to the black community. You can see all the white people

1:02:27

around Will Smith all you want to. Black

1:02:31

folks have loved

1:02:33

and revered this man for

1:02:35

decades. He

1:02:38

was the closest thing to perfection, as

1:02:40

his friend Charlie Mack once told me, for

1:02:43

decades. Everybody

1:02:46

makes a mistake. This is not hatred.

1:02:49

I love Will Smith still, but

1:02:52

you got to have a conversation as

1:02:57

to why you did that, and

1:03:00

when you're apologizing, and when you're

1:03:02

getting emotional, and when you're thinking about

1:03:05

all the lives or the people that you've

1:03:07

affected. It's

1:03:09

primarily us as black people who

1:03:11

have loved and supported you and

1:03:15

watched you go

1:03:17

on an international

1:03:19

stage and slap one

1:03:22

of us in the face and

1:03:26

tarnished an historic event for

1:03:29

one of the great black producers

1:03:31

of modern times. And Will Packer possibly

1:03:34

costing yourself and Antoine

1:03:36

Fuqul and Oscar for emancipation

1:03:39

along the way.

1:03:44

I'm not gonna say what you did to the comedic community.

1:03:47

Hell, Jim Carey spoke about that, along with various

1:03:49

others. We know you wouldn't have smacked Ricky Gervais,

1:03:53

Bill Maher, Bill

1:03:57

Burr or a host of others. We

1:03:59

know you have done that. No

1:04:03

apology necessary. I'm

1:04:06

just saying a

1:04:09

lot of folks ain't get over that. A

1:04:12

lot of folks find it hard to just go to

1:04:14

the movies to watch you. I'm

1:04:17

one of those people, and

1:04:20

I never missed a Will Smith movie,

1:04:24

Hitch Concussion, all the

1:04:26

Bad Boys movie from the first one that y'all

1:04:28

were, Gabrielle Union, who by the way, should

1:04:30

have been in three and four, by the way,

1:04:35

along with a host of other things. I

1:04:38

am legend Independence

1:04:42

Day, Men in Black one, two

1:04:44

and three,

1:04:46

Will Smith You're phenomenal, phenomenal

1:04:51

talent, phenomenal actor, phenomenal

1:04:54

individual. You lost

1:04:56

your way one night. We

1:05:01

need to hear that from you. I'm

1:05:05

sorry. That's what

1:05:07

I need to do before I look

1:05:09

forward to seeing your movies again

1:05:11

more than seeing the sit down. Let

1:05:14

me go to the calls to get on out

1:05:16

of here for the

1:05:18

weekend because I got a lot of stuff to do with the NBA

1:05:20

Finals and beyond. So that's the

1:05:22

way that's gonna go. Number

1:05:24

the call up is always eighty eight seven two seven

1:05:27

five three zero three. That's eighty eight s

1:05:29

as fifty three zero three.

1:05:32

Let's go to Ernesto in Houston.

1:05:34

You're live with Steven A. What's up, ernest Tho?

1:05:35

How are you, hey,

1:05:37

Stephen? Pretty good? My question

1:05:40

is for the upcoming NFL season, how

1:05:42

do you project the Houston Texans

1:05:46

not only in the AFC, but do

1:05:49

you see them as like a top five team?

1:05:50

And I don't know if I'm gonna go hold let me talk. I don't

1:05:52

know if I'm going to go as far as top five or nests

1:05:55

though I've got them as one of the top three teams in

1:05:57

the AFC. I'm going with Kansas

1:05:59

City. I'm going with Baltimore, and then

1:06:01

after that, I think it's up for grabs between

1:06:03

them, Cincinnati, Miami,

1:06:06

the Jets, Buffalo. I'll even

1:06:09

throw Cleveland and the Pittsburgh Steelers in

1:06:11

the mix. That's how I got him. And of

1:06:13

course we can't ignore the

1:06:16

AFC West and what's transpiring

1:06:18

they're right now, particularly with the San Diego

1:06:20

the Los Angeles charges. I'm sorry now that they got Jim

1:06:23

Harbaugh as a coach. So that's where I'm

1:06:25

at with it. The Houston Texas are in the

1:06:27

mix. You got CJ. Stroud, you got

1:06:29

Stefan Diggs there. Now, you got the

1:06:31

weapons that you have available. There's

1:06:33

no question that they could make some noise.

1:06:36

We'll see. Definitely appreciate it.

1:06:38

Yeah, no problem.

1:06:40

Thanks living men taking on us. Sid James

1:06:42

in Fargo, North Dakota. Elive

1:06:44

of Steven A. What's up man? How are you.

1:06:47

Hey?

1:06:48

Stephen?

1:06:48

So the Timberwolves captured a lot of interest

1:06:50

and excitement with their playoff front and

1:06:53

ultimately fell short, which was disappointing.

1:06:56

Is the bigger disappointment, though, that they failed

1:06:58

to win the title. With all these bizarre subplots,

1:07:01

the owner is trying to sell the team a month before a

1:07:03

title run to a New York baseball player

1:07:06

who blows it up. No coach

1:07:08

gets his leg cut off on the sideline.

1:07:10

No. Now, First of all, respectfully,

1:07:12

we wish Chris Finch nothing but the best. We

1:07:14

hope that he heals one hundred. But

1:07:17

he wasn't dead. He hurt his knee,

1:07:19

he was still at the game. He was walking around

1:07:21

with crutches. He wasn't dead. So

1:07:24

again, let's not act like the dude had a heart attack

1:07:26

or something like that. Okay, he got his knee hurt

1:07:28

when Mike Conley Jr. Ran into

1:07:30

him, we understand that. But he was still there even though

1:07:32

somebody else was on the sidelines. He was behind the

1:07:34

bench, but he was still coaching. In

1:07:37

terms of ownership, ownership had been going on for a

1:07:39

long time. Glenn Taylor foolishly valued

1:07:41

his franchise in the immediate aftermath

1:07:43

of COVID at one point five billion, when

1:07:45

with Anthony Edwards ascending now

1:07:48

clearly their situation where they're worth

1:07:50

double the amount, And that's probably why he wants

1:07:52

to get out of this deal. I don't think he will. I

1:07:54

think Alex Rodriguez and Mark Lurie signed

1:07:56

an ironclad deal to get sixty

1:07:58

percent of the franchise. I've already paid for

1:08:00

forty percent of the franchise, which was six

1:08:02

hundred million. They owed another three hundred million.

1:08:05

They tried to act like they didn't make it in time, but

1:08:07

from what I was told, they had the money for the

1:08:09

deadline, but Glen Tilla didn't want it

1:08:11

because he wants to maintain majority control

1:08:13

of the franchise because there's a bundance of people

1:08:15

in Minnesota that don't want him giving up that franchise.

1:08:18

They want him to keep it for as long as he's

1:08:20

alive, even though he's in his eighties. So I

1:08:22

don't think that that's a situation that

1:08:25

tainted their run in any way. I

1:08:27

think the problem is is that

1:08:29

Anthony Edwards is a superstar

1:08:32

this Brother's box office. I believe he

1:08:34

is the air appearent. He is coming here is something

1:08:36

special. Can they keep the pieces

1:08:38

around him or elevate the pieces around and remains

1:08:40

to be seen. But the biggest mistake that

1:08:42

was made is that he opened his mouth and he talked to Kyrie

1:08:45

Irving, I want him. I'm going

1:08:47

now. If you said to Kyrie Irvan, I'm gonna drop forty

1:08:49

on you. That's different because Anthony Edwys

1:08:51

can score on anybody. But when you sit up

1:08:53

there and say I want you, I'm

1:08:55

guarding you to Kyrie

1:08:57

Irvin, that was

1:09:00

a colossal mistake. Kyrie

1:09:02

Irvis started off that series with momentum. Luka

1:09:04

Dancik finished and that's why they're in the

1:09:06

finals and in Minnesota, Timberwolves

1:09:08

a home. It's that simple. All

1:09:11

right, let's go to Katie.

1:09:13

You live with Steven A. What's up, Katie? How are you?

1:09:16

Hi, Steven, I'm good.

1:09:17

How are you all right? How's everything going? Talk

1:09:20

to me? Pretty good?

1:09:20

Pretty good?

1:09:22

Talk to me. I'm listening.

1:09:23

You're live on you go ahead. So I'm

1:09:26

from Chicago, but I'm currently in Raykovic

1:09:29

Iceland, and you'd be shocked

1:09:31

to find out in Raykovic Caitlin Clark

1:09:33

is the talk of the town.

1:09:34

I'm not shocking by that.

1:09:37

I mean, I didn't know they'd paid attention to girl

1:09:39

basketball over here, but I'm super excited about it.

1:09:42

I used to play against her in Angel reeson AAU

1:09:44

and I feel like, you know, all the

1:09:46

focus is on Caitlin Clark right now,

1:09:49

and my girl Angel Reese from Chicago is not getting

1:09:51

enough love. What do you think about the rivalry

1:09:53

between them and do you think too much focus

1:09:55

is on Kaitlyn Clark.

1:09:56

Andrew Reese is a terrific talent that I

1:09:59

think is gonna do really, really good in her

1:10:01

WNBA career, at

1:10:03

least on the collegiate level and in all likelihood

1:10:05

on the WNBA career level. She's

1:10:07

not the player that Caitlyn Clark

1:10:09

is. She can't shoot from the logo,

1:10:12

she can't pull up from the parking lot. She

1:10:14

don't have that kind of ball handling skills

1:10:16

and the sizzle will go along with her game. Andrew

1:10:19

Reese is a big body in terms

1:10:21

of, you know, being a female basketball

1:10:23

player. She will rebound, she will defend, she

1:10:25

will average a double double, she

1:10:28

will come up with winning

1:10:30

elements to contribute to a winning Formula

1:10:32

fourteen. But she's

1:10:34

box office because she waved her hands

1:10:37

in front of her face to mimic Caitlyn

1:10:39

Clark while she was beating her down

1:10:42

in the NCAA tournament en route to

1:10:44

LSU winning a national championship.

1:10:46

And then we saw how they

1:10:48

would be revisited and they'd have

1:10:50

a rematch before Kitlyn Clark

1:10:52

and Iowa exacted their

1:10:55

revenge on Andrew Reese and

1:10:57

LSU. So that's what we're talking about

1:10:59

here, that's what transfired. But

1:11:01

it's all a byproduct of the stardom

1:11:03

that comes associated with Caitlyn Clark.

1:11:06

Caitlyn Clark is believed

1:11:08

to be the Steph Curry of women's basketball.

1:11:11

Now. Sabrina Unescu and others

1:11:13

may have something to say about that when all is said and

1:11:15

done, because they've got a resume and a reputation

1:11:19

that is warranted in terms

1:11:21

of them being worthy of more consideration than Kaitlyn

1:11:23

Clark. But Kate and Clark, this is her first year in there,

1:11:25

and if the Indiana Fever get her a better coach

1:11:27

and get better talent around her, who knows

1:11:29

what she's going to be able to do. And

1:11:32

Neil looking at that, and she's clearly box

1:11:34

office. They walk through the turnstiles

1:11:36

to see her. They're not saying that about

1:11:38

Angel reshit. She's not the only reason

1:11:41

they watch the WNBA. The Las Vegas Ace

1:11:43

is led by Asia Wilson, who's the

1:11:45

real face of the WNBA. That

1:11:47

has a lot to do with it. But Caitlyn

1:11:49

Clark is a transcendent

1:11:52

figure that has generated

1:11:54

profound interest in the WNBA,

1:11:56

And as I've said on many occasions, it's nothing

1:11:59

to complain about milk it. I

1:12:01

mean, I shouldn't say anything, because nothing,

1:12:03

because there are players that

1:12:05

came before her that pounded that pavement black

1:12:08

and white, the Diana t Rossi's, the Sue

1:12:10

Birds of the World beyond the Stewards of the World, and that

1:12:12

Schools of the World kandas Parkers of the World least,

1:12:14

the Leslie's of the world, Sheryl

1:12:16

Swooped, Cynthia Cooper. I mean, the

1:12:18

list just goes on and on and on of

1:12:20

so many great players that came before

1:12:23

Caitlyn Clark, but they weren't able to

1:12:25

take the pop yar labrity of the

1:12:27

WNBA to this level. It's

1:12:30

a different time and if Caitlyn

1:12:32

Clark garners that kind of support,

1:12:35

While it's fair to lament

1:12:37

the fact that it should not have come to this for

1:12:40

the WNBA to receive this support,

1:12:43

if you're getting it, focused on the

1:12:45

fact that you're getting it, and use

1:12:47

Caitlyn Clark to milk whatever

1:12:49

you can in terms of cachet, popularity,

1:12:52

etc. To get what you want. Out

1:12:54

of it, because a rising tide can

1:12:56

truly raise all boats.

1:13:00

Gotta get on out of here. That's it for this edition of

1:13:02

the Steven Nate Smith Show. I hope you all enjoyed the show. I gotta

1:13:05

get on out of here. I have a wonderful weekend. I gotta

1:13:07

get set to cover Game two of the NBA Finals

1:13:09

in Boston. Boston's up one to o with

1:13:11

Porzigis looking the way he looks at that continues.

1:13:13

I can't see the Maps winning this series, even

1:13:15

though I picked the Maps to win a six cause I assume

1:13:18

that Porzigers will not be as healthy.

1:13:20

But my god, it's something to behold.

1:13:23

Dallas Maveris have to be ready for Game two Sunday

1:13:25

night. If they not. If they are not,

1:13:28

they're in a world of trouble. We'll

1:13:30

revisit that conversation, that portion of the conversation

1:13:33

on Monday. Until then, this is Stephen

1:13:35

a signing off peace of love. Everybody, have

1:13:37

a blessed and wonderful weekend. God

1:13:39

bless

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