NBA Is COOKED?! AAU Falling Apart, Austin Reaves Drama & Play-In Chaos

Welcome To Scorer’s Society 🧑🏾‍🚀🏀

In this episode, we’re getting into everything the basketball world doesn’t want to say out loud. Is the NBA losing its edge? Is AAU doing more harm than good for young players? And what’s really going on with the tension involving Austin Reaves that has the internet talking?

We also break down our Play-In predictions, who’s built for the moment, and who’s about to get exposed under pressure. From development issues to league culture, nothing is off limits in this one.

If you care about the future of basketball, this is a conversation you need to hear.

Welcome To Scorer’s Society.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The AU scene is cooked, man. The NBA is cooked. Everything is cooked. Nas versus Austin Rivers. What are we talking about these days, man? The play in tournament is upon us. The playoffs is upon us. And I'm ready to talk about it all, man. I'm ready to talk about it all with my guy E. What's up, my boy? What's good, bro? How you doing? Hey, man, I'm doing great, bro. But look, I've been online and I'm watching some of these videos about AAU. Now, as some may know, I coach basketball, train. I've also played basketball, played the Division II level, right? I was, and the reason why, well, not the reason why, but I know some of you guys, well, Division II ain't Division I. The reason why I didn't play Division I is because I was ineligible. Did I have Division I schools recruiting me? Absolutely. So let's get that out of there. Okay. Now, everyone is saying if your kid is good enough, they shouldn't pay for A of U. And here's where this conversation stems from. NBA players, former NBA players, who says, I didn't have to pay, my mom didn't have to pay. I never had to pay. I didn't have to pay if you train it. I wonder why. I wonder why. Maybe because you have an extraordinary talent, extraordinary height. When you're extraordinary, when you're an extraordinary player, yeah, you don't have to pay. But then then there's a plethora of players who's not gifted height-wise, not gifted with talent and got to work their way up. I was one of those guys. I was one of those guys. I was a little tall for my age. I'm about 6'3. I was about six foot in the eighth grade, 5'11 in the eighth grade. But I didn't have that much talent. So on my AU team, you know how we got to AU tournaments? How we was able to afford the transportation, the hotels, the uniforms, and we had to at least put some money in our coach's pockets, some capacity. We had to wash cars. Malik Rose, Malik Rose, former NBA player, stepped in and sponsored our team. Um maybe a year or two on this team, maybe a year in or two years in, I was on this AAU team, and Malik Rose sponsored some shoes and also sponsored some uh uniforms for it. But before that, it was washing cars. Washing cars. Would you wash cars and play in the AAU tournament? Yeah, I'll do it for the grind, bro. You do it for the grind?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

I'll do it for the grind.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

But what about every AAU tournament? Every AAU tournament. So you remember, so AAU tournaments, you go on there every other weekend. Every other weekend? Every other weekend. So every so every other week, you're washing cars. That's tough. That's like a job. See, that's what I'm saying. That's like a job, bro. That's what I'm telling you. That's what I'm trying to kick to you. That's mentally draining. I ain't gonna lie to you. So so there you go. And then imagine you losing in the tournament. That's what I'm saying. And you're not getting no trophy. And and what if you're not even a starter? What if you don't even play that much? Yeah. You just really trying to go. Yeah, that's tough, bro. So that's what I'm saying. So imagine how a parent will feel. So the parents say, you know what, I'll pay. Now let me tell you what you guys are paying for, though. You're not only paying for the AAU fees, you're paying for your kid's exposure. Sure, he might not be college ready. That's fine. But do you want him to play at the local YMCA? Drec League? Where the dads is coaching and they're trying to really just coach their son? Or do you want some experience coaching? Which one you rather have? Now, don't get me wrong. Every AAU team doesn't have the same objective to get kids better. But that's something for you as a parent to recognize early on. You have to see that vision for your kid. Now, if you are not, if you are not, did you, if you didn't grow up in that world, well, you might not have been an athlete when you was growing, maybe you were a good scholar, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe you are someone who took school very, very seriously and didn't care for sports, but your kids do. You might need to talk to someone about this. But I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that every kid shouldn't pay. Sometimes you pay in the beginning, don't pay later. Once we started getting uh the sponsorships, we never had to pay. We didn't have to worry about it. That's the same thing. Now, if your kid is good, you want your kid on his Nike team, right? All right, he's not good enough, then you might have to pay. Because that's gonna support the coaches and everything else. Or you can go to a team that's not a Nike team and still pay and your kid gets some playing time. Because that's the real uproar right now. But we got this thing in America, America especially, where we believe, where we believe that the coaches and the teachers of the world should be paid little to nothing. We believe that the teachers should be paid little to nothing, the coaches should be paid little to nothing. But we don't got no problem giving Phil Phil Knight our money every month, every other month. Your kid wants some new Nikes, you don't mind giving them them. They're billionaires. I could tell you this. I remember more from my coaches when I was young than I do with shoes I wore at that time. I can't tell you what I wore in the ninth grade, with shoes I wore in the ninth grade. Actually, I can't. I think I have the Jamar Crawford's actually. But, but, but I couldn't, I can't wear those shoes now. I could tell you the drill my my coach Bob Pimbleton showed me that I still use to this day to help me with my footwork. I could tell you the details of it and why. So when we sit here and we complain, oh my, you're good, you should have to pay. Don't listen to those NBA players, man. They're extraordinary talent, they're less than 1%, bro. If your kid wants to play basketball, just make sure it's in the budget. And then make sure your kid go to practice. Your kid is in school six hours a day, they send them home with homework. You never say to yourself, man, why they sending you home with homework? They wasn't just there for six hours. It's the same thing with basketball. Your kid got two A, you practice a week, send them. Make sure they also train on their own. Make sure you help them out. Rebound for them. If you don't know nothing about basketball, go ahead and rebound for them. You know how to chase the ball and pass it, right? They gotta practice five days a week. Make sure, make sure they are working out on their own for your to get return on your ROI. That's all you need to do. That's all you need to do. But let's not listen to these NBA players that never played for training. No, no, duh. You 6'9 and you can dunk the damn basketball. What they gonna train you to do? NBA scouts are already looking at you. Maybe, maybe if you did have a trainer, you could hit a jump shot, other than just dunk run and dunk. But shoot, this would suffice. You'll get a division one scholarship, you'll go to the NBA. We gotta stop this, man. You know what else is cooked, E?

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Yeah, what's cooked, bro?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

NBA, bro. Damn. The NBA is cooked, bro.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

What would you say?

SPEAKER_01 7:58

You see the Kings, you see the Kings losing on purpose?

SPEAKER_00 8:02

I see a couple of teams lose on purpose, bro.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Bro, my man was filing Seth Curry.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

That's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Come on, bro. This dude is out. Listen, the NBA has to do a better job with this. Right? Now they they're trying. They're trying. And back in February, the Utah Jazz was fine$500,000 because they sat uh Maury Marketing and Jaron Jackson. Um, and it and it and it was against the their vibe, they violated, let me get this right. They violated the league's player participation uh policy. They call it conduct detrimental. So here's what that means, right? Players are sitting out in the fourth quarter, some games, so their teams can purposely lose, so they have a better chance, the better chance of tanking if they're not gonna win. Now, here's what here's the problem with this. I mean, obviously, for obvious reasons. First thing is, what does the fans have to look to? Can you imagine living in Utah and you got season tickets, and you gotta, and you, and some part of your mind, you gotta know that, man, man, I don't think Mari ain't gonna play. His right calf hurt. That that kills the league, man. It kills the league. Then you have all this, you have to gambling. You have to gambling. Now, I'm not against it, I don't do it personally, but there are people who do. And I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at that, but do it responsibly. And I don't think you can you should be betting on certain players and certain teams.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

You want to say all the time?

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Like, for instance, I'm not betting on Maury marketing and the the season damn near over, and you think he's gonna shoot 25 times. He might not be in the game that long.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

You gotta pick your poison.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Pick your poison.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

You can bet the under though.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

You can pick the under. You can pick the under for sure. You can pick the under. I'll give you that. But damn, you can pick the under. I think you know what? That's a good listen. I want to play devil advocate, but that's a good strategy. I don't, I probably get y'all some game near. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Or he probably gave y'all some game near. Well, you can just pick the under. Last game of the season, you can pick the under on Memorial Marketing.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Nah, they're not playing the last game of the season. He ain't gonna play him last game of the season for sure. He's here in the fourth quarter's bro.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? But you can pick the, see, that's that's make it challenging. See, they they they crafty. But once they, once they in, here's what you do. Here's what you do. Once you get to the second half of the season, yeah, and they you already know they're not gonna make the playoffs, or the team that's up for the first round pick, you can bet the under on those guys a lot. You can pet you can bet the under, you can bet the under on those guys a lot. After the all-star break. After the all-star break is when you start when you start really betting. That's when you start really betting, man. So I'm just trying to get y'all some game. Real Hoopers understand this, man. Real Hoopers understand this. But I just think the league has to do a better job with the the player participation part of it, bro. Like, at some point, people gonna get fed up, man.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

I don't I I personally don't see a major problem with it. Because it's not happening to like the to the teams that people are are expecting, who are who people have high expectations from. It's happening from the from the bottom teams, teams who are trying to rebuild, tanking teams. So with teams like that, it's like, man, y'all could do what y'all want to do, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 11:52

That's true. I I I agree with that because ultimately we never watch all 30 teams. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Somebody gotta be a losing team. Yeah. But I think it's a blatant disrespect to the fans that come to the game and they're like, oh man, I love Mari Marketer. I love Jaron Jackson. I'm glad they've traded for him. I want to watch him, and they say, all right, we're gonna switch you out for the fourth quarter.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

That is kind of disrespectful. You making that trade for Jaron Jackson, people are getting sad about the team, see how they're gonna play, and then you sit them for the fourth quarter. That is kind of disrespectful. If I'm a fan of the Jazz, I'll be disappointed, bro.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yeah, you know what I'm saying? I got a friend. I got a friend. Shout out my guy, Courage, man. He's he's uh he's from Atlanta, and somehow he loved the Utah Jazz, and he has so much faith in Ace Bailey and all these guys. And I'm like, bro, you're gonna be fighting for your life. He swears that the next two years, three years, the Utah Jazz is gonna be the next 1995, or excuse me, 1996, 97 Utah Jazz. He swear Darren Williams and Carlos Booz was coming back. Now, granted, I think they got a lot of good talent coming in if they do get the guy, uh, get the kid AJ Devanta. But you don't know if he's gonna be a champion in the NBA. You don't know if he can be, he can keep up with the NBA. You don't know if this kid stays healthy. So don't take it for granted. You got some good talent, man. And then the rules keep changing. These little ticky-tac files they keep giving, man. That a lot of that starts to bother some of the die hard fans, the old heads, because what happens is you get guys compared to the greats that don't deserve to be compared to the greats just yet. Now, my man, he's gonna be offended with this. But let's think about Luca. Let's think about Luca, right? Luca averages 33 points. He averages 33 points a game. But 12, but shoot 12 free throws a game. Now, the last player to average over 33 to 35 points in a Lakers jersey is Kobe Bryant. But Kobe Bryant averaged 10 free throws a game, right? And you may say to yourself, oh, that's no big deal. But he averaged 35 points. Now imagine if Kobe Bryant played in this era. If he averaged 35 points when it was no ticky-tack fouls, he might have averaged 40 that yeah. Because you gotta think of it like this. Luca is averaged 12 free throws a game, right? But he only shoot at 78%. Oh, nasty, ain't it?

unknown 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Kobe shot that boy at 85%.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

He would have averaged 40 right now. But then you compare the two. Oh, yeah, this is Kobe. Oh, who's the greatest Laker? Who Luca just broke Kobe Bryant's record of most points scored in a month last month. Right? So now you like, yo, maybe, maybe Luca might be the best Laker ever now. But he ain't put that work in like Kobe. So when you start changing these rules, people get upset. People get offended by that, man. It makes the NBA hard to follow. I'm not taking nothing away from Luca. Is he nice? Absolutely. 1,000%. I think his game is extremely unique. He's not blow by speed. He's not dominant in athleticism when it comes to jumping. He's just going slow walk you. The shots that look like bad shots are great shots to him. His ability to change speed and direction, but not really change speed is amazing. But one of the things that he does really well is get fouled.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah. But see, I don't like when you say get foul. I feel like we can use more technical terms. What? He draw fouls. Get to the line.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Get to the line, draw fouls. I mean, it's shit.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Draws fouls, it makes it has a negative connotation. It don't have a negative.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I think that's, I think, listen, you can't score 33 points with no free throws. It's because of Shay, though. Shea's foul players. Yeah, this is the but it's not. See, here's the thing. It's not even the players, bro. You know who it is? It's the rules. See, the players are blamed for the rules. If you change the rules or you keep the rules the same, you get traditional fans. You get people who love the sport. That's all I'm saying. I'm not sitting here saying that Luca was not a good player. But if we just stop the whole flop, the pop fate lean in, that's gonna take at least out of 12 of these free throws a game, that's gonna at least take away five of them.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

But what if but some of those things are general genuine fouls? They are fouls.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

They are fouls, but I think some of them are ticky tack though. Some of them you just like, what? Is that a foul? Yeah, no. How is that a foul?

SPEAKER_00 17:22

Fair enough, fair enough, fair enough.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Like, I know you a Luca fan, but I'm pretty sure you watched somebody follow. You like, what? They're gonna follow that? No, every follow. No, bro. Heck no. Like, listen, there's some Jordan fans out there that I know is out there, and I know they watched the Jordan game, they was like, he didn't even touch him. Rex, Rex Chapman did not touch him. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. Come on, man. And then here's the thing Tanking don't always work. Like, look, people keep the NBA cooked because now you got all these rules being changed. You have people losing games on purpose, but tanking don't always work. Like, who's to say your number one pick gonna be good? Right? Like, I did I did some research, right? So when you think about the last NBA, last NBA, let's look up. I I had to pull it up over here. Um, let's look up the the the last MB the NBA number one picks. All right, let me see here.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

We're going down the list. I know Cooper Flag was the last one.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

He's he's the Cooper Flag was the last one. Let's talk about that. Um Cooper Flag, right? Cooper Flag, he he's looking good. He's looking good. But what about the Ben Simmons? Damn, imagine you tank it for Ben Simmons.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

But Ben Simmons, he was nice though. He was okay. Nah, he was come on, nah. He was nice for a second. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

You're right, he was nice for a second. But that was a promise. But it didn't, but look, they had they had the Sixers fan base trusting the process for years because of that.

unknown 19:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

What about the last? What about 2024? Zachary. Zachary. How's he panning out? Atlanta Hawks, but what did you take for that?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Victor Wimbignana, 2023, good deal. Do you think Paulo Benchro was worth it in 2022?

SPEAKER_00 19:29

You see, Paulo shows he he he he shows promises at times.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

But what the number one draft pick used to be reserved for the guys that's gonna change the franchise.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

I see what you're saying, but that's hard to get that down every year.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

That's what I'm saying though. But that but here's here's the whole thing about it, bro. Here's the whole thing about it. You can say it's hard to do, you can say you can say it's hard to do, but that's the role you take on when you're the number one pick. Yeah. That's the role you take on when you're the number one pick. So when people sit here tanking, I mean, I I get it, AJ DeBanta might be the guy, right? Yep. But who's to say? Who's to say he's gonna pan out the way we think he is? He might get to Utah and get Snow Bunny. Crazy. I mean, you're already in Utah already. He are he he already in Utah already. So he knows he got his college fans, friends around him. Yeah. You know what I mean? He might not be ready for the pro life. He might take a while to be ready for the pro life.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

I feel like when you I mean, I've been hearing some stories about Age of the Best and the investments that was made to on him. I feel like when you make that big of an investment, if those stories are true, you make sure your investment is, you know what I'm saying? So I feel like he's gonna be. Says who? Says who like just going through history. There hasn't been a number one pick who failed like from vices or whatever the case maybe.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

Why are that that's not true? Hold up. I'm about to pull it up. 30. I'm about to pull this up. I mean, cause this thing takes too long. Hold on, man. We're gonna look it up right now. Cause that's not true. I I'm thinking of what about um Mark Elf, Mar, Mar, what's his dude's name? Uh so Anthony, Kay Cuttahan panned out, Anthony Edwards panned out. Zion Williams, you tank for him, he was worth it?

SPEAKER_00 21:45

He's worth it. He's doing better this season. He's doing better this season. Seven years later. So that's tough.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

That's tough. And and seven years later, number one pick posed to put everybody. He supposed to be the person who merch you by you bought some Zion Zion some Zion sneakers? All right, let's go keep going. DeAndre Aiden? That's tough. DeAndre Aiden averaged, but he's his career averaged around 17 to 19 points.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

But he's not, but he was almost at the league, though.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

When?

SPEAKER_00 22:20

This past season.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

He wasn't about to be a. I mean, he wasn't. He's just not a star player. What about uh Markel Folks?

SPEAKER_00 22:28

Mark L. Folks, that's tough. He was almost at the league, too.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

He was out the league. He just got back in the league with the Raptors.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Yeah, there you see, there you go.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

That's your number one pick, 2018. That's tough. Then the Sixers tanked again. Well, the Sixers tanked the year prior to get Ben Simmons. Did he pan out? Ben Simmons, he was nice. He was okay. He was nice. He was decent.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Come on, bro. He had a lot of potential. He was nice, though.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

No, bro.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

You don't think he was nice?

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Not no number one pick. But listen, he was probably nice, right? But you talking about him being a number one pick. The number one pick is your Allen Iversons, your your LeBron James.

SPEAKER_00 23:04

That's what I'm saying. He came out the gate averaging like 18-20.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

He was decent for that time. But you gotta think Allen Iverson carried the Sixers for years. LeBron carried the Cavs for years.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

I mean, that would be hard for him to at least Ben Sims in particular, because he had Joe Olympia on that team. So it would be hard for you. It'll be you now at that point you're asking him to come and compliment our star player to play with.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

But I'm not sitting here saying he didn't have a good season or two. But I'm saying though, was it worth it? 2016, 10 years later, you look in, was Ben Simmons worth the tank to lose a fan base to? I mean, Carl Anthony Towns panned out to me, right? He was number one pick 2015. Andrew Wiggins. Andrew Wiggins was decent for the Wolves at first, or at first.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

At first. Would you say he panned out? We say his career panned out, though. I mean, he he he's a he's an extraordinary role player. That's what I'm saying. He's a good player.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

That's not what you get the number one pick for, though. That's that's that's that's something you get maybe maybe after the lottery. First round could first round guys could still be, uh still can be, you know, good players, good assets to the team, but they not they stay the number one pick is like guys you like, yo, I can make a lot of money off this dude. Merch or not injury. Anthony Bennett, 2013. Yeah, I don't know. The Cavs had the number one. Listen, the Cavs had the number one pick in between 2010 and 2014, they had the number one pick three times. Yeah, that's crazy. Kyrie Irvin, Kyrie Irvin panned out. Probably the number one pick. He won a championship. Hit some big shots for a championship. Even after two thousand, even after picking Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett, they still had to go back and get LeBron.

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Right? John Wall, John Wall panned out to a certain extent. I like John Wall. But look at Greg Odin. Greg Odin was drafted before Kevin Durant. You don't think, you don't think uh the Trailblazers is kicking themselves in the ass not picking Kevin Durant?

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Like we gotta look at this type of stuff. And everybody else, LeBron, Dwight, they panned out. Andrew Bogan, injury after injury. Nah, he wasn't bad for going state, though. He wasn't bad for Golden State as a fifth or sixth option. That's not that's not the number one's pick job. The number one pick supposed to change the game. Let me know what y'all think in the comments, man. Hey, make sure y'all guys subscribe, like, share, follow us on all platforms, Score Society, and make sure y'all support the brand, man. You know, goalsActivewear.com. Use code RILHOOPers at checkout to receive 15% off all items. We appreciate the love, man. Let's get back into it. Now, E, you a young guy, man. This is gonna be a good conversation for you. Nas versus Austin Rivers.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

That's crazy, bro.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Is it worth it? Is it worth it for Austin Rivers, bro?

SPEAKER_00 26:12

For Austin Rivers, I would say it is worth it, bro.

SPEAKER_01 26:15

No, it's not. Step out there, bro. It's not worth it for no damn Austin River. I see stuff, guys. I see guys saying stuff like, oh yeah, he'll make 100K in an hour. I take that. That money don't mean nothing to him. These dudes made millions of dollars. Let's be clear. Like, let's go, like, how much how much did he make in his over his overall career?

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Overall career.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Yeah, look, look that up for me. How much did Austin Riz make in his overall overall career? But it's levels to this, man. Y'all gotta stop this, bro. It's levels to this. Like, here's my thing. I don't understand if you making money on YouTube, right? And you played in college, you probably wasn't the greatest player in college. Like, I looked up some stats for Nas, and I think he averaged like seven points in college, right? Which is cool, okay? Because that's even hard to do. But don't come on, man. Why can't YouTube be enough? See, y'all challenging these former athletes, and you when y'all should be collabing with them. Yo, man, what can I be doing better? Yo, man, I got a business idea for you. Now, when you guys go to those people and you got some business ideas, they're gonna look at you like you're crazy. They're gonna look at you like you're crazy, man.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Y'all, I have the career earnings for you. Wait, wait, wait, how much me? Austin Rivers and his 11th year's earned about$57.3 million.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

And you think$100,000 mean anything to him? And he's still getting paid now.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

So you already know he got the connections. He had his own podcast, so you know they're gonna pay him for that. He on TV, they're gonna pay him for that. You don't think he's making more than$100,000 a year? Still probably making some great money off investments. If he plays Nas, right, let's say he loses. That only does things for Nas. Let's say Nas lose, that only does things for Nas. Lee may held his own, man. Remember that move. If the score was 33-3, people gonna highlight the three points that Nas scored. They're not gonna highlight Austin Rivers. I've had people on my show who from Florida, Tampa, and said it. Austin Rivers was the best high school player they ever seen. And this is coming from other basketball players, bro. This is coming from basketball players who seen T-Mac. AR, mixed tapes was crazy back in the day. Austin Rivers averaged double digits in the league. He played for dudes, 16 points a game. Only played one year. It's levels, man. It is levels to this shit. You think about, I think about when Blueface fought Floyd Mayweather. And you sparring Floyd Mayweather. Now we expected Floyd Mayweather to do what Floyd Mayweather did. But we was like, yo, man, little Blueface, he got a little hands on him. That only did something for Blueface. Nothing for Floyd Mayweather. Now, if Blueface would have dropped Floyd Mayweather, it would have been like, oh, Floyd Mayweather, oh, and we would have never, we would have never heard the end of it. So if I was those guys, I wouldn't, I wouldn't be trying to play y'all one-on-one neither. For what? I have nothing to prove to you. I've already proved it. And then another thing, too, and this is not Austin Rivers situation. Everybody's not good at one-on-ones. I used to play one-on-ones non-stop when I was in college. Then it was guys on my team who ran off screens non-stop in college. And they had more points than me in the game. Some dudes know how to play in the game better than how to play one-on-one. So it doesn't say anything, it don't mean anything. I saw a clip where Nas was like, man, man, I can get you 75,000. You think he cares about that? It's chump change. It's chump change.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

That's crazy to say that, bro.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

75k is chump change when you made$57 million over your course of your career, bro. It's chump change. You know what I'm saying? These dudes' mortgages is probably that much. It's chump change. It's chump change, bro. Like, I mean, hopefully it's not$75. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, man, I don't think these guys understand the levels. Like there was one YouTube guy, I forget his name. He played one-on-one. He came out and said Isaiah Thomas didn't want to play one-on-one for the culture. And he lost respect for Isaiah Thomas because he didn't want to play one-on-one. What? Isaiah Thomas was in the in the comments, like, yo, bro, that wasn't the energy you had when we when we was face to face. What? Why does Isaiah Thomas average 28 points a game for the Boston Celtics? Eastern Conference Finals. Now he's trying to gain the respect of a YouTuber? Like nothing, no disrespect to YouTube. But it's levels, bro. Like you could be making the money on YouTube. You making them bread on YouTube. But it ain't Jay-Z. Like, let's be clear. You could be the greatest actor on YouTube, but you ain't Denzel Washington. It's levels. It's levels. You could be the best one-on-one player on here. But it ain't Jamal Crawford, J.R. Smith. It ain't Kobe. And like we gotta respect it. Instead of always competing, let's talk to him. What you think I can improve on? Can I work out with you? Do you still work out? Can we get a training session together? Maybe. You would do better doing that. He would do better doing that, bro.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Asking for a training session.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

If y'all worked out together in content and you let's say you hit more shots than him. That'd be way that'd be better. Because now you got net now you actually collabing with someone, you earn you earning his resource, y'all earning respect of each other, and people can really see you get into the grind. People see you really working out. Now, don't get me wrong, a one-on-one could be better, right? But you know they're not gonna take the challenge because they already succeeded that. They already exceeded that.

SPEAKER_00 32:54

You know, I saw uh online Kyrie Irvin play a one-on-one with um some YouTube creators. Right? He's got you even seen. I've seen that, yeah. I've seen that. I feel like doing stuff like that, you earn the respect of the basketball community more. Like when Kevin Durant went to Record Park and played, when Cole went to Record Park, doing stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

But I think I agree with that, right? I I I think that's I think you definitely earn more respect, but I don't think you lose respect if you don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

You don't lose respect, but I'm saying, but what if these creators came up to the former pro athletes and instead of proposing it in the like in the one-on-one, like 1v1 the crowd of people and it's wild in a control setting where it's like maybe you're that's fine. That's that's that's that's what normally happens after you work out. That okay, yeah, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Right? Like I don't like you can work out with Kyrie and then like, yo, check it up.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

You know what I'm saying? Like, check it up. You're better off doing that than saying, all right, I wanna play you one-on-one for 50,000. Like sometimes it's like it's like a slap in the face.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

You know what I'm saying? Like, just imagine, right? I remember, I'm I'm gonna be real with y'all. I remember I reach I reached out to someone, and I ain't gonna say his name. He's a trainer, and but he's a popular trainer. And I was like, yo, you know, I'll give you a few hundred for the interview. He already said yes to the interview. I'm thinking, like, first off, I didn't really know how popular he was to the basketball community. People told me about him. I did look at his page, but I was like, you know what, man? Like, I, all right, like I wanna give him something. He already said yes. He never responded after that. After I oppose a few hundred or whatever the case, he never responded after that. Because he was probably looking at it like, yo, bro, I don't need your money. And the fact that you only gonna give me that, that's crazy. I'm cool on that. I get paid more than that, the hour just to train. So sometimes you offering money is a slap in the face to people who already have it. It's a slap in the face. You know what I'm saying? So we we gotta understand it's levels to money, it's levels to all of it, man. Let's talk about basketball, man. Let's talk about the play-in, man. The play-in. Do you like the play in? Do you like the idea of the play in?

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Yeah, I enjoy it, bro.

SPEAKER_01 35:19

I like the play-in. You know, you know what, you know what I think though about the play-in? If I was the eighth seed, I'm like, damn it. Because ultimately, traditionally, right, I should be in. Seventh and eighth seed should be in. But now y'all like, nah, let's get a ninth and tenth, some opportunity. And it's what, one game?

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Yeah, one game.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

It's one game. So they can get hot, and now your whole season down the drain. Yep. So imagine the seventh to eighth seed fighting for their life. You got so the seventh and eighth seed for the East, right? Is the magic, is magic in the Sixers. You follow me? Yep. Now the Sixers, they've been fighting for their life through injuries. Maxie out, Joel Embiid is out next. Paul George do whatever he did. He's out. So now they eighth seed. But they held on. They held on through the through the skills, uh, through the skills of VJ Edgecomb. Some young guys stepped up. Now they like, damn, we might not even make it. We might not even make it in now. Because now the Hornets or the Hornets and the Heat got to play against each other. So the Hornets and the Heat, because they want to give the 9th and 10th an opportunity, right? Now the 7th and 8th might not get in. Or one of the 7th and 8th get in. But it's crazy though. Like, I like it as a fan, because that's why they do it, right? That's why they make these new rules, these new tournaments, because they want fans to enjoy it. But it sucks for the players, though. It sucks for the players. Now you have uh the Hornets and the Heat in the ninth and 10th spot. I like the heat winning that. I like the heat winning that. The heat actually, you know what? It's up in the air. Because here's why. Charlotte is now finding his way. Charlotte is actually playing really well. Miami and Charlotte, um, their season series is 3-1 Miami way. Miami is averaging 126 points in their meetings. Um, Miami won most of the games early, most of their games early uh before Charlotte can actually, for sure, Charlotte actually get hot. Uh, the last game they played, the last game they played, uh Charlotte won. And Miami shot 53% from the field, 40% from three-point line, and um they was out rebound. They was also out rebound, but uh Bam Alabio didn't play. Bam Alabio didn't play that game. And here's the common denominator for the for the Charlotte Hornets when it comes to losing to the Miami, to the Miami Heat, is the turnovers. You gotta take care of the ball. I think if Charlotte can take care of the basketball, they can win that game. They can definitely win that game. And that'd be excited that listen, that'd be exciting. That'd be exciting to see for LaMelo in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 38:35

Playoff LaMelo, that's a new look.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

But they gotta win two games. So ninth and ten gotta win two, gotta play the loser uh seven and eighth for the eighth spot.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

They gotta, so ninth, so the ninth and okay, so they gotta play two games.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

No, I thought it was it's one game, like one game elimination, but seven and eighth, they play one game for that seventh spot. Right. Then they're gonna play the winner of ninth and tenth. So ninth and tenth gotta win two games.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Ah, gotcha. Got you. Okay, that that that makes it a little fair. That makes it a little fair. I mean, I still, I still it's out. It was that's tough. That's kind of tough though. But um, but even in a win against Charlotte won against Miami, they still were just one turnover less. But they won by a wide margin. So I'm I'm I'm rooting for Charlotte. I'm rooting for Charlotte. I think Miami can win it, but I'm gonna go with the underdog because this is what the brand is about. So I'm gonna say Charlotte. I'm gonna say Charlotte. We're gonna see what Charlotte can do with Lamello, uh, Khan Knipple, uh, my boy Brandon Miller. You gotta hold it down. You gotta hold it down. And go to the West. The Clippers play against the Warriors. I like the Clippers coming out of that.

SPEAKER_00 39:48

Yeah, the Clippers coming out of that.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Yeah, the Clippers have been the Clippers been, listen, bro, Clippers have been hot. Clippers have been hot, man. They found their way. They found, they found their stride. Um, they found out what they need to do to win. I like the Clippers, man. The Clippers, uh, they beat the Warriors. Uh, I believe uh they they played tonight. They played tonight. I don't know who won the game because I've been preparing for the show. But the Clippers got the season series. The Clippers got the season series. The Clippers out-rebound them every time. The Clippers out-rebound them every time, and they get to the free throw line more than the Warriors. So they have ample amounts of opportunity to uh to score. So all offensive rebounds means extra possessions, and if they're getting fouled, they're getting some free points in there. And you know, the Warriors are gonna come out trying to shoot and do all this other stuff. I think the Clippers are gonna be ready. I think this is gonna be the staple or the signature for the Clippers season. After everything that went down, the Chris Paul, the losing, the Bradley Bill never played, um, James Harden being traded in midseason. I think this is gonna be the signature for the Clippers.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

So you see the Clippers back in the playoffs?

SPEAKER_01 40:55

I don't think they you say it again?

SPEAKER_00 40:56

You see the Clippers in the playoffs?

SPEAKER_01 40:58

I see the Clippers in the playoffs. Okay. I see the Clippers in the playoffs. Uh the next one is the Suns and the Trail Blazers. The Suns leads the series of two to one. Um Booker and Brooks didn't play. Uh Dylan Brooks didn't play the games that the Blazers won. All right. So I so here's the thing, man. I I think the Phoenix could take care of business. I don't think the Blazers, the Blazers fell off after the uh after the All-Star break.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Okay, after the All-Star break. They fell off after the All-Star break. Of course, of course. They'll try to get Denny into the All-Star game. His points drop.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

His points dropped from like 26 to like 18 or 19 or some shit like that. So it was like the lights might be too bright for them. I think Devin Booker has been there. He can lead the way. He's been leading this series, averaging 26 points a game. So I so I see the Suns getting out of this one. I see the Suns getting out of this one. Um, but you know who I got winning it all, man? You know who I got one in it all? Spurs, brother. I got Spurs, man. Shout out to Wimby, man. Look, Wimby, Wimby got a lot in the tank, bro. He got a lot that's left. He's scoring 25 points a game in 29 minutes. You see, I mean, Joker got the best of them in the last series, the last game they played, but that was an overtime game, and then it was Aaron Gore who was the egg factor in that one. So I do see the Spurs going far. Um, I think they need to increase Wimby minutes when necessary. I don't think the first, I think the first round, they keep the same minutes for them, but as the the the playoffs move on, you're gonna see a different Wimby. I think you see a different Spurs team. But that's all we have for you, man. That's all you have for today, man. Make sure y'all guys continue to follow, continue to subscribe, continue to share. We're doing all this from the muscle. We appreciate the love, we appreciate the support. Until next time, let's continue to think elite, and together, welcome to Scorer Society.