Nightcap - Hour 1: Lakers fall 3-1 to Timberwolves + Giannis & Bucks look defeated!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Shay Shay – "Nightcap - Hour 1: Lakers fall 3-1 to Timberwolves + Giannis & Bucks look defeated!"

Release Date: April 28, 2025
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe, Chad Ochocinco Johnson, and Gary Payton
Guest: Gary Payton (Pro Basketball Hall of Famer)

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1. Introduction

In this episode of Club Shay Shay, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, accompanied by Chad Ochocinco Johnson and former NBA star Gary Payton, delves into the tumultuous NBA playoffs. The discussion centers around the Los Angeles Lakers' precarious 3-1 series deficit against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the concerning performance of Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

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2. Series Overview

Chad Ochocinco Johnson kicks off the conversation by addressing the Lakers' significant loss:

[02:20] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "Y'all know who I am... and now we're back to the NBA playoffs... Let's start with the beat down that we just witnessed. The Pacers blew out the Bucks 129 to 103."

He highlights the Bucks' struggles, particularly after Damian Lillard (referred to as Dame) suffered a potential Achilles tear, leading to a loss of momentum.

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3. Bucks vs. Pacers Blowout Analysis

The hosts analyze the Bucks' defeat, emphasizing the impact of Lillard's injury:

[05:34] Shannon Sharpe: "Dang. Just getting back from what he with his injury that he was from, he only had one gang back. It doesn't look really, really good... I think this is going to be a terrible, terrible news for the Milwaukee Bucks."

Gary Payton adds insights into Giannis's frustration and potential future moves:

[07:26] Gary Payton: "Giannis was already frustrated being in Milwaukee and not winning. If they have a sweep, he's gonna ask out... The best place for Giannis to go is Miami because we need a superstar."

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4. Implications for Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo

Shannon Sharpe discusses the possible repercussions for the Bucks, suggesting a major retool:

[07:25] Shannon Sharpe: "I think they're going to retool this whole team. I don't even think Dame's going to be there next year... This team is not the same."

Gary Payton concurs, proposing bold trade ideas:

[10:05] Gary Payton: "We need to make a move for JA. We need to make a move for JA... and also get Ja Morant down here to build around JA and Giannis in Miami."

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5. Potential Trades and Roster Changes

The conversation shifts to the complexities of trading superstars like Giannis and Morant:

[09:18] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "They gonna have to give up something and they gonna get up a lot. It's going to be a lot to give up."

Shannon emphasizes the difficulty in acquiring such talents without significant sacrifices:

[09:34] Shannon Sharpe: "You gotta get four teams at least to get two of their stars or some of their stars and a lot of draft picks."

Gary Payton highlights the strategic planning with Pat Riley and Mickey Harrison:

[09:37] Gary Payton: "We sat down with Pat Riley and Mickey Harrison... We came up with a game plan to get back to our winning ways."

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6. Lakers vs. Timberwolves Game Analysis

The hosts dissect the recent Lakers-Timberwolves matchup, focusing on player performances and coaching decisions:

[26:23] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "Ant man shot 16 of his game-high 43 points and outscored the Lakers 32-19 in the fourth quarter."

Shannon critiques the Lakers' defensive shortcomings:

[27:34] Shannon Sharpe: "They can't play defense. They have no defense at all. That's just a bad thing."

Gary Payton praises Minnesota's bench depth:

[35:14] Gary Payton: "Nas Reed had 26 points in the fourth quarter, 9 of 10 from the field... That's what you want from these dudes."

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7. Performance of Key Players

Key players' performances are evaluated, highlighting both strengths and weaknesses:

• LeBron James: Despite scoring 27 points, Sharpe and Ochocinco express concerns over his fatigue and limited production in crucial moments.

  [57:34] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "LeBron had zero points in the fourth quarter. He's exhausted."

• Luka Dončić: Showcases versatility but also inconsistency.

  [57:39] Shannon Sharpe: "He scored 38 points, 12 assists... But without support, it’s not enough."

• Nas Reed and Don DiVincenzo: Identified as pivotal role players who can change the game.

  [63:31] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "Nas Reed had 26 points, 9 of 10 from the field, and 6 from three-point range in clutch time."

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8. Strategies and Team Chemistry

The hosts debate contemporary NBA strategies versus traditional playstyles, stressing the importance of team chemistry and role players:

[21:03] Shannon Sharpe: "These are basketball players you talking about... in my era, we had players that could perform multiple roles. Nowadays, it's about shooting threes and being one-on-one."

Gary Payton emphasizes the need for smart coaching and adaptable strategies:

[15:44] Gary Payton: "We want to do something out of character, similar to what Dallas did... Get Giannis and Ja Morant and build around them."

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9. Analysis of Coaching Decisions

Criticism is directed towards Lakers' coach JJ Redick for his rotation strategy:

[49:24] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "JJ Reddick became the first coach to play five players for an entire half in the playoffs... Magic Johnson questioned the strategy."

Shannon proposes alternative rotation methods to preserve key players:

[51:05] Shannon Sharpe: "I would have rested LeBron for a few minutes each quarter... Control the game by managing player fatigue."

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10. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The episode wraps up with firm skepticism about the Lakers' ability to overcome their series deficit:

[42:17] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "We going seven games."

[42:19] Shannon Sharpe: "They ain't gonna beat them. No way."

Gary Payton summarizes the critical factors affecting the series outcome:

[55:01] Chad Ochocinco Johnson: "LeBron had 27 points, but without support from the bench, it's not enough."

The hosts collectively agree that the Timberwolves have the upper hand due to their depth, strategic play, and younger roster, making a Lakers comeback unlikely.

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Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe [05:34]: "I think this is going to be a terrible, terrible news for the Milwaukee Bucks."
• Gary Payton [07:26]: "The best place for Giannis to go is Miami because we need a superstar."
• Chad Ochocinco Johnson [02:20]: "The Pacers blew out the Bucks 129 to 103."
• Shannon Sharpe [27:34]: "They can't play defense. They have no defense at all."
• Chad Ochocinco Johnson [63:31]: "Nas Reed had 26 points in the fourth quarter, 9 of 10 from the field."

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Key Takeaways:

• Bucks' Struggles: Damian Lillard's injury has severely impacted the Bucks' performance, leading to significant losses and questions about the team's future.

• Lakers' Challenges: The Lakers face fatigue issues with key players like LeBron James and Luka Dončić, compounded by poor defensive strategies and inadequate bench support.

• Trade Speculations: There's intense speculation about potential trades involving Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant, with considerations for major roster overhauls.

• Importance of Role Players: Effective support from role players like Nas Reed and Don DiVincenzo is crucial for team success in the current NBA landscape.

• Coaching Decisions: Strategic coaching regarding player rotations and managing fatigue can significantly influence game outcomes and series momentum.

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This episode provides a comprehensive analysis of the current NBA playoff landscape, offering insightful commentary on team dynamics, player performances, and strategic decisions that could shape the remainder of the postseason.

Transcript

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[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap. Y'all know who I am. I am your favorite unc, Shannon Sharp, my partner and co host, the Liberty City legend, the Bingo Ring of Fame honoree. The provost will be all pro. That's Chad Ochocinko Johnson. And joining us tonight, we have a very special guest to talk all things basketball, all things NBA playoffs. Y'all know him, he's known as the Glove, Oregon State alum, he won an Olympic gold medal, he's a defensive player of the year in the NBA, and he's one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history. Let's put some hands together for Mr. Gary Payton. GP thanks for joining us. Please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button and go subscribe to the Nightcap podcast feed wherever you get your podcast from. Thank you guys for tuning in. Thank you guys for supporting us. The draft show all the way, all the draft things and now we're back to the NBA playoffs. Thank you guys for your continued support. Please make sure you check out Shay by Laportier. We do have it in stock now. If you cannot find Shay by LaPortier in a city or state near you order it, we will ship it directly to your door. Please drink responsibly and stay safe. Go follow my media company page on all of his platforms. Shay, Shay Media and my clothing company 84 with 84 being spelled out, the link is pinned in the chat. Supplies are limited and once they're gone, they're gone. So please grab yours while supplies last. Tickets for our Not Safe for Work Tour are on sale. Eight stop goes as follows. Baltimore, Philly, Charlotte, LA, Miami, NYC, Chicago and Detroit. Tickets can be found at shayshay media.comtour that's shayshaymedia.comtour that link is also pinned in the chat. I guess guest lineup is looking really good. You guys don't want to miss it. Guys, go get your ticket. Support Nightcap and your favorite uncle nephew Unk and oo. We had a very eventful day. Couple of the games were really close. Interesting. The others first. Let's start with the beat down that we just witnessed. The Pacers blew out the Bucks 129 to 103. D has a potential Achilles tear. I don't want to play. He didn't look good because when he went down. GP he grabbed the back of that. He grabbed the back of that ankle and we know what that seems to indicate. Hopefully it's not that. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Let's pray for that, but they blow him out. 129, 103. The Pacers eight guys in double figures. Siakam 12 points. Nice. Smith 14, Turner 23, Nemhard 20, Halliburton 17 with 15 assists. Obi Toppin had 13, Walker 12. And T.J. mcConnell had 15. And the Bucks only had three guys in double figures, but it wasn't nearly enough. You could see a lot of the momentum leave the building once Dame dollar went down with that Achilles injury. GP Let me ask you this. You played. I don't know if you had any severe injuries that was career threatening. What does this mean for Dane, if this is what a lot of people are surmising or suspecting that it might be?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, you know what, Shannon? It's like this Dame is here from Oakland, California, where I'm from, you know what I'm saying? And, and I grew up with his pops. We got the same as, you know what I'm saying? And I got the, I got the message for him there. It doesn't look really, really good, you know what I'm saying? Dang. Just getting back from what he. With his injury that he was from, he only had one gang back. It doesn't look really, really good, you know what I'm saying? That's my guy. That's like little nephew to me. I don't like it. I just don't like the injury. I think this is not going to be good for Milwaukee. Milwaukee is not that basketball team that everybody need to see. Then they can't compete with this young team in Indiana. It's not, it's not. It's not looking good. And I don't think it's going to be looking good. I think this is going to be a terrible, terrible news for the Milwaukee Bucks.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I'm going to let you go in just a second. Ocho.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Was this Giannis if, if they get swept in the first round again, is this Giannis last game in Milwaukee?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, they're not gonna get swept. You know, with Shannon, they already.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I mean, I mean, if they get, I mean, get put out of the playoffs. 4:1, gentlemen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What I'm gonna think is what's going to happen, Shannon, is they're going to make a retool of everything. You know what I'm saying? They got to think about everything. They got to think about how they're going to get better. What's going to happen. This team is not the same. Same team they tried to make trades with Middleton and all that. It didn't work. I think they're going to retool this whole team. I don't even think Dame's going to be there next year. I'm going to be honest with you. You know, it's something that they got to retool about. This team is not the same. If they get, if they get before one in this series, I think they're going to retool everything. Shannon.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Ocho, go ahead.

[Gary Payton]

Hey, listen, we. We talk about retooling gp this is what's gonna happen. Listen, my ears and eyes aren't too. Aren't as closest to the basketball world as ugp, but I can tell you this. Giannis was already frustrated. Giannis was already frustrated being in Milwaukee and not winning. Obviously he's won a chip already. But the, the addition of Dame dollar was supposed to be that of one that got them over the hump. Now, if they have a, if they, if they get swept or gentleman sweep as we so call it, I think he's going to be frustrated and probably ask. Has to be out with. With Dane with Dame obviously being hurt, hoping. I'm hoping for the best for him, that it's not as, not as bad as what it looked like. I don't think Dame would be there as well. But knowing Giannis, especially with Dame coming off an Achilles injury, if that's what it is, I think he's gonna ask out and, and just. I'm just throw. I'm just throw this out in the pot. The best place for, for Giannis to go is to go from the Bucks and come on down here to Miami because we need a superstar. Listen, I just had to throw that at you so the basketball guards can hear that and I can manifest that for us down here at the crib.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you about that. I get it. But these are got to be big trades, you know what I'm saying? To get Giannis, you got to give a lot of people away. Only person that you go, you know, they're going to be asking for a lot from my end, you know, probably four draft picks. Them players are going to be their top like hero and fam. So what you're trying to say right now, Chad, is. I get it, I get it that that's what you want to say, but they're going to have to put one of them dudes in. And then when you get away getting rid of a lot of them players, you're going to come with a lot of other players that you gotta bring along, you know what I'm saying? So who you going keep? They're gonna try to get rid of Bam.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

If that's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's the case, yeah, Hero's gonna be there, and then it's just only gonna be hero and. And Giannis. So we. We gotta understand that. But it. It's gonna be a lot because they're gonna have to make. They're gonna have to give a lot of weight to get that kid.

[Gary Payton]

See, I understand exactly what you're talking about, too.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Give me.

[Gary Payton]

Give me a minute, y'all. Chad. Y'all stay with me real quick now. Now, I sat down yesterday. I sat down yesterday with Pat Riley and Mickey Harrison, and we.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We.

[Gary Payton]

We came down with a game plan based on what we want to do and. And trying to facilitate a way to get the heat back to what we used to be at one time. When we had our big three, when we had Bosch, we had D. Wade right there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

First of all, you gotta learn 206. I got Y championship, baby. It was us who started that thing, you know?

[Gary Payton]

Yes, sir. Yes. Yeah, you're right. You're right. One thing about it, I'm not gonna forget history. I remember history. I remember history. So what I'm thinking about, I was talking with Pat yesterday. We sat down, you know, we have a cup of tea, you know, with a pinky finger out, And I asked him, I said, listen, we need to do what we need to do. The Grizzlies, they got swept. I think we need to make a move for JA. We need to make a move for JA And I said, listen, you still.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Gonna have to give up PC Though, Cho. You think people just gonna just take ja?

[Gary Payton]

Listen, before. Listen, before you start. Before you. Before you started painting, you got a canvas, right? So the conversation Pat Riley had, it was the canvas. Now allow us to work. Now allow us to paint. We ain't even get to the painting part yet. We gonna figure out a way to get it done. Now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We.

[Gary Payton]

Now, not only we gonna get Giannis, we gonna find a way to get John Morant down here as well. And I think we get the position of them two, then we build around JA and Giannis down here in Miami, and we're gonna be fine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How you gonna get both of them without giving up everything you got?

[Gary Payton]

Listen, we don't. We don't have a problem giving up everything we have because we can build with those two as can't.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Because here's the thing. See, you thinking everybody's gonna make the same mistake that Nico Harrison made, giving up Luca basically for evil SWAT with Anthony Davis, and not a whole lot of.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, y'all gotta understand, Nico, my guy, he does, he's a president. He doesn't own that team for you to give away.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Look, we know who did it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you give up Luca, you gotta have permission to give up Luca. I don't care what y'all say. Put that on Nico. Everybody trying to put that on Nico. Don't do that. He gotta be have permission to get rid of that guy. You know what I'm saying? And that owner, she had to say, yeah, let's do it. Don't give it on him.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, for sure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't put it on him. He had to get permission to get rid of him. And it had to be a lot of more reasons to give away Luca. It wasn't just because we trying to make a deal. It's because something else in that situation had to say, I'm ready to get rid of this guy. I don't want to give this guy $350 million because he's not being that guy in Dallas who he was. And that's what you guys gotta understand. He was doing a lot more things in Dallas for them to get rid of him. You know what I'm saying? And that's.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Oh, yeah, for sure. It's kind of. It's kind of like. It's kind of like Adam Silver's commissioner, Roger Goodell is the commissioner, and people get mad at them, but they work at the behest of the owners. The owners run the league, right. Adam Silver is just the mouthpiece. Roger Goodell is the mouthpiece. So you have to take all the booing. Don't you remember Thursday night? You're like, man, they booing the commission again.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

They can't boo the owners because the owners don't get introduced. So they boot, they boo the commissioner. You're absolutely right. But in a situation like that, think about what Minnesota gave up to get Rudy Gobert. Think about what Phoenix gave up to get Kevin Durant. There are not a whole lot of teams other than the only team that I could think of off the top of my head that have the kind of draft capital and some of the players that a team might be interested in is OKC. They got 13 first round pick and pick swaps and Jalen Williams. I don't think they want to part with Jalen Williams.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I really don't.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

They not getting rid of shape. So don't even call. They gonna hang up on you. And then everything that you say after that is gonna be Moot. So it is just hard when you trading superstars. If you're going to talk about Ja and Giannis, you're going to have to get like five or six teams involved.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Gp, you got to. Well, Shannon, you gonna have to get four teams at least to get two of their stars or some of their stars and a lot of draft picks. You know what I'm saying? So let's talk about okc. They not giving away nobody. They just swept. They just swept the team. So I ain't even tripping off that. They young and they gonna be cool and they little young point guard about to get the MVP a league. I don't know. It's going to be hard with Joker, but he going, he, I think he going to win the mvp.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I do, too.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I agree. They're not going to do anything for these teams to be where they want to be. They going to have to give up something and they going to get up a lot. It's going to be a lot to give up. And we are. We're not going to sit here and sugarcoat it. It's not going to happen. They gonna have to give up a lot of their players and they're gonna have to restart. Chad, if Miami give up anybody, they gonna give away their whole team. And I know Pat Riley too. You know, I play for him. He'll fool around and do that, but he not gonna give away hero right now and all them dudes because I just can't see it. You can't give away them dudes for a young, young piece and just say, you gotta give me away these guys and say I'm gonna build with them and eat their own. They can't do that.

[Gary Payton]

See, this is the thing. This is the thing, GP Like, I understand you played for Pat. You have a great relationship with Pat, right? And with great understanding. Some, this is some of the things that Eric. Out of character for him to do. But right now, Pat and Mickey, they're in a different situation. We want to get back to our winning ways. Can we get back to our winning ways with the squad that we collectively have right now? Now we, we got some players, we got a good squad. You know, they put on their. They put on their hard hats. They make it, you know, they, they play just well enough to make it to the playoffs, but we don't want to be, we don't want to do just well enough. Like, we want to get back to the upper echelon of coming out of the east and actually challenging, contending for NBA Championship. And how do we do that? We have to do something that's out of character, similar to what Dallas did.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Tell Pat to sit back, because here it is. GP you know this. Your son is currently in the league. It's a different league now. That Iron fist and that ruling like I'm dictator, that ain't flying with these young cats no more. It ain't all that. Pat Riley, you taking cookies, and it's gonna be my way or the highway guy says, okay, I take the highway. You see, LeBron James left because he took cookies. He had a problem with Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler left. So you. So what do you think Giannis is? Giannis is an apex predator. You think you're going to be able to talk to Giannis like you do Tyler Hero or Bam?

[Gary Payton]

Listen that. You heard what you just said?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Huh?

[Gary Payton]

You heard what you just said? Listen, people like that have ability to change and understand what? Huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

He hasn't.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

No, he's not.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Listen, me and Shannon and Zed are almost in the same era. Chat. Hey, man, you know you're. You're a beef like me, baby. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. You mean you org State was for sure, you know what I'm saying? But right now, this era is a lot different, man. They controlling things in this little era, man, and we gotta accept it. They controlling things. So what's gonna happen is, is that Pac gonna try to get right, but he gotta get that player that's gonna be willing to do whatever. And to get Giannis and to get a Morant, you gonna have to pay a lot. So think about what happened. Memphis caught fired their coach in the middle of the season, right before the playoffs, like 4 and 5, 4 and 5 in a seam. And because of whatever happened, whoever did it, whatever happened, and it didn't work. Didn't work. Now we talking about the same thing. Giannis can go and cry on all he want to do, but we ain't got a lot of players out there that's gonna get out like that now. You know what I'm saying? Because a lot of these dudes want to play with each other. So who want to play with Giants who want to do that, who want to take a, a, a, a two year, three year deal and say, I'm going to Milwaukee. Ain't too many people coming to Milwaukee.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, you have to trade for somebody. Ain't nobody signing.

[Gary Payton]

Hey, so now, you know what they.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Want to come is now where can I go?

[Gary Payton]

Miami.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, you can come to Miami. But how you gonna give up? You Gonna give up all your team and then you're gonna have two players and then you gotta fill up 13 more positions.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I give you a prime example, Ocho GP and you can attest to this. It's the same thing that happened when Carmelo Anthony left Denver and went to New York. They had a nice team if they could have kept that team and got Carmelo. But when they got Carmelo, the Nuggets gutted them. And now look what you got. You got a superstar in New York and Carmelo was a superstar, but he had nothing. And so now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then you went and got a. My boy AI, he was aging, you know what I'm saying? So what you gotta do is, what is you gonna put with these dudes, man? Nowadays in this era, you don't want to gut your whole team, you know what I'm saying? We can take Oklahoma City for example. They didn't gut they team, they started drafted, drafted, drafted. And now look at them, look at them hunted yard now. Not going to gut. You're not going to gut everybody to do that. And I don't think that's going to happen because this team of waltz, if they lose, I don't know what they going to do. But they not going to be sitting around here and say, we going to give 6, 7 players and 4, 5 draft picks for y. It ain't gonna happen. No, he not a basketball player for y'all to get rid of y'all team and say, okay, we gonna build around him and do this, that and that. But we ain't got nothing around me. It ain't gonna work. It ain't gonna work like that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

No. When you look at this game and when you look at the Bucks, outside of Giannis and Dane, they really not that good. Brook Lope. Brook Lopez played 15 minutes tonight. He has six points. He had one rebound, one assist, one steal, one block, four personal fouls. Here's a guy that's seven foot tall and I don't think he's ever averaged more than eight rebounds in a season. Let that sink in. He's seven foot tall, he doesn't want to play with his back at. Once upon a time, GP he played with his back to the basket. Now he's a seven foot perimeter player. That's no good because Giannis needs space. So he has the space. He has to stand out there. Serves you no purpose. Dame goes down. Now you look at this lineup. Kyle Kuzma. Now everybody complained. Well, Kyle Kuzma didn't have to get. He played 16 minutes tonight, he was one for six. Oh, for one from the three, one for two from the free throw line. He had zero rebounds. Again, one assist, no steals, no blocks, zero turnovers, three fouls. Hey, Doc, that's on you because you say, how can you get in the rhythm if you don't shoot the ball? You're the head coach. It's your job to diagram blades to put him in position. That's again. Now, remember the O, the other stat line? The other night, it was zeros across the board. Now, at least he made one shot. At least he made one free throw. And then he had one re. No, he had no rebounds, one assist, no steals, no blocks.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But, Shannon, these are basketball players you talking about. You trying to put something on there, man. Listen here, man. In all my age, in my era, man, these dudes got to get down, man. These ain't players like that, man. We only talking about athletes. At least we talk about players, right? In my era, man, in the 90s, man, we had players, man, that's gonna go get here now. So think about that, man. You kind of put something into some players that really ain't into that situation to have that type of role. You feel what I'm saying? That ain't the type of role they in, man. They ain't in that type of role, man.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You ask him to be something that is not.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When have you ever seen these players that you just link be a primary or a player that you need to put in that role? You ain't never right.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

That's why the Lakers were so willing to get rid of him. That's why the Wizards were so willing to get rid of him, because that's not what he is. Yeah, he can get hot and give you 25, give you 30. But routinely, if you go back and study Kyle Kuzma, this is what he is. He's wildly inconsistent, and it's hard to be a championship team unless you got. When they won in the bunny, they had AD playing at best. AD. You had LeBron at LeBron level.

[Shannon Sharpe]

4. And then he had. He had Howard, he had McGee fan. And he told y'all that when he was think, he said, man, my best position at the 4, when I can get out. You know what I'm saying? And that's how that game goes. It's just like with the Lakers right now. They do not have a chemistry, man. With that team, you watch one person on one side go one on one. You watch the other player go one on one. You can't win at that type of basketball right now in the NBA, you can't watch that. That's why they not winning. That's why that little young, that team in Minnesota who got that little dog down there efforts, they know who the dog he the Batman, you know what I'm saying? Or the Superman and them other dudes come and win, you feel what I'm saying? And he knocking down shots. But that's what they do, man. They young and they getting at it. That's why they up 3:1 right now. And we gotta understand that basketball right now, Chad, you know it. It ain't like it our day, man, when we had four, five people on our squad that can get out. We had a one, a two, a three, a four and a five. Nowadays you got one or two guys on the team that's getting down right? That's it. Ain't nobody else gonna get down with y'all. And if you ain't got the right chemistry, you're not gonna win basketball games, right?

[Gary Payton]

Thanks.

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[Black Effect Podcast Host]

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[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Looking at this game, I mean, I mean I watched this game from start to finish. I never felt the Bucks was going to win this game because the other night when, when Milwaukee won, you got 37 point a career high from Greg Trent Jr. What was the likelihood he was going to be able to replicate that? Because at this juncture, yeah, he's a streaky shooter. But what was the likely likelihood of lightning striking twice? I didn't think it was going to happen. Now did I think Giannis could go get 37 again? Sure, absolutely. But and I said this Ocho you and I was talking about it. I say I'm looking at, I'm looking at the Pacers. They only got three guys with double figures. That's not how they win game. They are a committee and they might not have anybody with 30, but they're going to have a bunch of teens and twenties. And you look at it, they have a 14, a 17, a 13, a 12, a 15, a 23 out of 20. They had eight guys of the guys that they had played, you know, they got a couple of guys to get in there mop up duty. But most of the guys that play got double figures. And it's hard to beat a team when you get eight of your 10 main guys playing and they in double figures.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Who do we check?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

We can't check everybody. And that's why they blew, that's why they blew them out. That's why they read them off the court.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me ask you this. Yeah. Why, what teams are being successful now with what Shannon is saying? I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna give you them teams. Cleveland, Boston, Oklahoma City, Golden State warriors right now who are playing very well when they playing that way. And that's how they play. What Shannon is saying is they gotta know who is Batman and Robin. You gotta be a role player, you know what I'm saying? And you don't have. When them teams don't go like that, they're not going to win basketball games. I'm telling you.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Sometimes you got to be, you got to be. You got to have a Commissioner Gordon. There you go, you got you. Hey everybody, you got to have an Alfred brother, you know what I'm saying? Okay, you got Batman, you got Robin, okay? Who Alfred. Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got to have four to five people who on the same page level, Oklahoma City is great like that. Cleveland is great like that. You know, Boston, Boston is playing like that. And then you got, you know, a lot of these teams are playing like that. I think Denver and the Clippers are playing like that. And that's why that series is a very equal series. And they're two, two right now. You see what I'm saying?

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And it's gotta work that way. And once you put that together, then I'm with you, you know what I'm saying? But you can't have one or two dudes. Cause you can't win with one or two guys. You can't do it. Not in this league right now. How they're so athletic and how they just play off the talent and they shoot threes. It's not going to happen. You're not going to win that one. It's not going to happen this year.

[Gary Payton]

Thanks.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

The most. One of the two most interesting games today. And this is the game the chat's been begging us to talk about. The Lakers, he's a close one. At Minnesota they have a 12 point, I mean a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter. But Ant man went berserk. He scored 16 of his game high 43 points as they outscored the Lakers 32 13. Lakers 32 to 19. Excuse me. The Lakers shot just five of 18 in the fourth, including three or nine in the last five minutes. LeBron legs. I text Ash this and I text this early. I said it looks like JJ is going to roll with these guys the entire second half. I say you talk about 46 minutes for LeBron on 40 year old legs. You talking about Luka, 45 and a half minutes. You talking about Rui and Doe and Ar. I say that's a lot of, that's a lot of wear and tear. I say it's going to be very, very interesting if this game come down to the last three, four, five minutes. It's going to be very interesting if the Lakers can hold up. And you see LeBron took two shots in the fourth quarter. He had zero points in the fourth quarter. He's exhausted. I think it's the first time in what, 20 years that the nobody subbed for the Lakers in the second half of a ball game. Everybody that started the game played 24 minutes of a possible 24 minutes. And now I'm concerned because I don't know how the Lakers play better. You got 23 points on nine or 16 shooting from Rui, five or 10, 23 points. You got LeBron 27 points, 15 to 18 from the free throw line. He had 2712, eight, three steals, three blocks. Okay, you got Luka played, gave you 38, seven to seven from the free throw line. He only had one rebound, two assists. They turned him into a score. You can live with that. I just don't want him to get 38 and 12 an assist total. You got AR. He scored. He only scored 17, but he got all of those in the second half. The bench gave us six points and I think that was the difference in the ball game because their bench gave you 20 points. Nas Reed gave you 12 points, DiVincenzo gave you eight points and Nikhil Alexander Walker gave you six, five points. But it was Ant man and Drew Randall that really was. And jaden Daniels been. McDaniels been playing. Unbelievable. I don't know where this guy came from, but he's been sensational in the postseason. But Ant man did what a superstar is supposed to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Daniels is a, is a, is a defensive stopper. He plays like that, but he gives you more. I'm a compare Daniels to my son. They give you everything they have to do to win basketball games, not just defense. When they start scoring and they do special stuff, their team is going to win. We're going to go back to that. Chad, listen what I'm saying. We're going to go back to what Shannon just say why do you think Minnesota won? First of all, the Lakers can't play defense. They have no defense at all. You feel me? That's just a bad thing.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

And they need a big to protect the rim. Once they get beaten, they don't have that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So now what happened was is that ant man got busy. So let me tell you about this. What should you do about a guy who gets hot double get the ball out of his hand and make somebody else be special. But what, you know what they did. Minnesota got other people to come off the bench and be special and make shots. See, that's a difference. I was at my son's game them last night and they were beating up Curry for a long time. I kept saying get him off the ball, stop having him be on the ball so they can double him every time. And then they finally listen and start getting him at the bottom and he started coming off picks. But when they started doubling him and all of a sudden who started getting busy? My son and other people and they beat him. You know what I'm saying? You have to have a cast to support you. That's what the game is about. It ain't about superstars now when this playoffs come, it ain't about superstars. It's about who gon support my superstar to get me to win basketball games and the teams who are winning now. Parts of a guy, a cast that can support the supporting cast superstars. So when a superstars get to start going reason why Edwards got busy today because he was one on one with everybody and ain't nobody gonna stop him one on one. If you start doubling on him and doubling him and everybody else and not making shots, you're not gonna win games. It's not gonna happen. So when you start doing that, what's he going to do? If my superstar passing play, passing the ball and my other supporters are making buckets, then what? The coach is going to start saying, man, don't leave him, don't leave him. We can't do it. But when you're a superstar go one on one. It's hard to guard a superstar one on one. Ain't nobody gonna guard nobody and stop nobody one on one. Is it like with you Chad? And with you Chad and they got single coverage on y'all that is like fish grease y'all. I mean like going out there and picking something. Boy, I'm kill y'all every time I see y'all one on one. I'm gonna get Everything on y'all. So then I gotta get double. Then who we gonna go to next? We're gonna go to those, man, and we're gonna start killing them. That's how the game goes. And if you don't have that supporting pass, it's not gonna work. It's not going to work in this league right now because these dudes are too athletic, and they can get it. So dats who are winning games now because they're athletic and they not make. They making shots. And superstars don't have to work as hard as they do. Yeah.

[Gary Payton]

Hey, and GP When I looked at the next game, obviously watching the Lakers play with. With Luca having a good game and then doing what he did, LeBron doing what he did early in the game, and they had contributions from everybody else. Obviously the bench didn't score and support the top. The big. Their big three, as. As you so want to call it, in a sense. But the wolves having 20 off the bench and then having goddamn ant man go crazy tonight with 43, you know, nine and six, you know, that's what he's supposed to do. And unk. You can't say or have a reason. We know LeBron is 40, you know, we understand that he's still playing the game. Especially in a time like this, it ain't no time to come out. Yeah, it ain't. No, you can't come out. You got to play the whole game, but you have to contribute more in that time, in crunch time, in order for your team to win. You got to. Legs tired, legs feeling good. It don't matter. That's just what it is. So we can't make excuses.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They don't do nothing anyway. They don't practice. They don't do nothing. They ain't tired. You know what I'm saying? And what I tell y'all is, is Sally, he might be 40, but he's still doing what he do in his league. When you do what you do in this league and don't get no support and everybody keep focusing on you and beat you down, you're gonna get tired. But you ain't got no support from nobody. Who making shots that free me up, then that's gonna happen. Both of them got 38, 27, whatever they want to. But at the end, if ain't nobody doing Nothing But Us 2, all we gotta do is focus on YouTube. And then what's gonna happen? You two ain't. My other people ain't doing no cash. UC Minnesota came off the bench and had support so when it got time for the crucial time, you can't go and double Edwards. Because I'm worried about these dudes off the bench.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Julius Randall worried about Nas Reed. I'm worried about McDaniels. I'm worried about demon chimps.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Reed made a big three at the end, the three minutes, two of them. You right. And busted them. So now am I worried about him? Yes, I'm worried about him. So I can't go and say, no, I ain't gonna try to guard him because he gonna make sense. So that's freed up Everybody. And with LeBron and Luca, you can't say that it ain't gonna work like that. We just go and double them and hope that when they go to this other player, he gonna miss shots. And what did the Lakers do? They missed shots.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

LeBron had zero points in the first. In the fourth quarter, Luka had one rebound, two assists. It's his fewest rebounds and assists ever in a playoff game. The bench Naz Reed had. Nas Reed had 12, DiVincenzo had six. Lakers, excuse me, DiVincenzo had eight and the Lakers had six. And so it seems to me that they were like, you know what? We're content. We're going to make you. We'll let you score.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But what we're not going to do is let you get 38 and 8 assists. 38 and 10 assists. Because now the others are involved. And so. And that played right into their hands. You see. And you look at Ant man, what did Ant man have today? Ant man. Ant man had 43 and six assists.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You see, he got others involved. If you see assist people like, well, why he didn't have no assist? Well, I would have had a. I would have had a double digits, in a sense, if God could have made shots.

[Gary Payton]

Shots. Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Luca smoked two layups. LeBron smoked the layup. Austin Reeves smoked the layup. When you playing a team like this, you have to cash in on every opportunity.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Every opportunity. Let's make another case for this. Look at the Denver game yesterday against the Clippers. You seen a joker, he was killing, right? They all tried to go and go at him on the last second. 99, 99. He go and take a fade away.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

3.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They worried about him. Everybody worried about him. And then the airball. And who make the. Who make the final dunk to win the game?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Aaron. Gordon.

[Gary Payton]

Gordon.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So that's what I'm trying to tell y'all. Y'all tell you, we gotta understand that other role players gotta be that type of guy, man, with this, with this Denver stuff, that's what it is. And he wind up with what, 30 something, 20 something rebounds to eight of God assist man, two steals.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, he had like 36, 36, 21 and eight.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's what it's all about. Your role players have to be with you in this day of era, in this basketball game to win. Basketball game. It is what it is.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Check this stat out. Check GP check this stat out. Nas Reed in the fourth quarter of this series has 26 points. He's 9 of 10 from the field and field goal. He's 6 or 6 from 3 in clutch the last five minutes of the ball game. Ocho the game with this within five points. That's what they consider clutch time. He's six or six from the three in clutch situation. He's nine of 10 for the floor with 26 points. I mean you talking, you talk about Jordan, you talk about Kobe, whomever, they've never been like this. You talk about a guy that's missed one shot, he's perfect from the three.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's crazy. What we're talking about Ocho here, man, these type of dudes you have to have on your team. You remember the Lakers had Robert Hori who did the same thing in a day, you know what I'm saying?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

When you have, yeah, big shot at.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The big shot box, you want a guy. And I tell people as I coach now in junior college, I said, you want to be on the flow with six minutes, you're the closer, you're the closer. I want you to make big shots. But with him and Reed, what was he last year? Sixth man of the year? You feel what I'm saying? He coming in and making these big time shots and that's what you want from these dudes. And that's the way you're gonna win championships. That's only way you're gonna win championships in this NBA.

[Gary Payton]

Okay, well listen, now that we got, we got all that good stuff out the way, let's talk about the meat and potatoes of this series and what's going on right now. The lakers are down 3:1 and GP. GP, you could probably attest to this and have a better answer, but I'm sure uncle, you probably know as well being that your knowledge and acumen game of basketball is good. Do you see any scenario at all, any type of magical situation with a laker?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

They going 7ocho GP, I see GP shaking his head.

[Gary Payton]

They going, wait, wait, wait. So you still feel there's a possibility that the Laker can come back down from going seven.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Stop it, man. You can bet a dinner on this. That ain't gonna happen. Anywhere you want to go, man, I'm with it. There's no way the Lakers gonna beat them three in a row. Ain't no way. No possible.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

We going seven. It's going seven games.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They're not gonna beat them.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Because guess what? We got to see the. See, the problem that. The problem that JJ ran into is that LeBron had just played 38, 40 minutes a night ago. And then you follow that up. Now, the best thing about this, they don't play again till Wednesday. So LeBron get an extra day. Luka get an extra day. We got this. We gonna go back to Minnesota, we gonna get that one, and then we coming back to la.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Huh?

[Gary Payton]

So are we. Are we saying the fact that. That they're losing is because their legs are tired?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because they too many?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

No, no, no, no. That's a good team. But I'm saying. Oo. When you play, just imagine how your legs feel. Just imagine if you had to play a football game on Monday and then you had to play another one on Wednesday. Not Thursday, Monday. Wednesday.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah, I'd be good. I'd be good.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I'm surviving.

[Gary Payton]

I don't know about nobody else be.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Good at 40 playing wide receiver. I think you would.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I think you would.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Our mentality is different than that, though.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You can't compare them kids to us. You know what I'm saying? Our mentality is way different.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But gp, you can have a mentality all you want to. That body. No, the mind willing. The body just ain't able to sit.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Up and down a Jacuzzi. I'mma kick it. I'm gonna get my legs right. I ain't going to practice. I ain't doing none of that. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna come back and give you 50. I'm telling you right now. And first of all, these dudes got a lot, but you gotta understand, they lost in la. They lost in la. Minnesota came in at home. It's gonna be hard for you to beat them. They gonna go to LA. Minnesota, LA. Minnesota ain't gonna lose at home. I'm. I'm guaranteeing that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

We got them. We. We spoke. We actually. We supposed to have took two of them. We supposed to have took both of them. Get home good. We got this, GP we got that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on.

[Gary Payton]

Well, wait, wait, hold on. When y'all. When y'all have a bet?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Gary Payton]

When y'all have a bet and you talk about this dinner bet, is there a certain amount? Is there certain restaurants you can and can't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You want to go, man?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Do you? Yeah, we got this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I'm saying? Because I'm confident on three one, they ain't coming back like that. They hold their whole mentality.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, you. Now, you know if anybody know how to come back from a 3:1 deficit. GP, are you with me?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But look what I'm telling you. I get it, but that ain't gonna happen. That ain't gonna happen. Look it, Shannon, this ain't no mentality of us. I'm gonna tell you one more time, man. These dudes ain't cut like that, man. I don't care what you're saying. Matter of fact, they ain't cut like us, man. They ain't cut like. Man, I'm gonna go, man. We gonna bust them for three games, dude. These dudes want to go on vacation, man. You understand? Look here. They ain't doing.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah, I want to make a sad. I want to make a sad bet. I can make a sad bet.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

You owe. You can't make no bet.

[Gary Payton]

Oh, I'm saying. I'm saying I'm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, I'm saying because Santa said you can't make a bet because you already owe something.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

What?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You already owe.

[Gary Payton]

Listen, listen, listen, listen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm doing.

[Gary Payton]

I'm doing right by him. I owe him 5,200.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

But as long as I know, 5,200 plus 15%.

[Gary Payton]

Okay, but you not the bank. You can't add. You can't add that much.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, you can. Let me ask you a question.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Have you ever gone to the bank and borrowed money without paying interest on the money?

[Gary Payton]

I ain't never borrowed no money from the bank.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We ghetto, man. You can't. You can't do it like, man, we in. In the Mafia. You can't do all that. Let that go, man. Let that 15 I got. Hey, let that. I gotta put some juice on.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey, gp. I gotta put a little juice on. It been too long.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Get you a bottle or something. You don't understand me. And get you a bottle or something, man. Let that go.

[Gary Payton]

I mean, listen, I'm.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I'm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, gp.

[Gary Payton]

I'm just trying to give him. I'm giving. I'm trying to give him a chance to double his money. So if he.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I didn't want that. I just did.

[Gary Payton]

I just played with double or nothing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Chad. I gotta go Shout it, Mike. Just give me 52 fire. Okay, okay.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

He wanna bet. He want to double up my money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You can't do that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Hey bank. Hey bank. I know I owe you. I know I owe you a couple of hundred thousand, but there'd be another. Hey, double or nothing.

[Gary Payton]

I'm just saying. Listen, I'm giving opportunity. I'm giving you opportunity to double your money. So when I do pay you, you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Had more than what you was going.

[Gary Payton]

To get in the first place. That ain't happening.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Well, considering that I hadn't got what I was supposed to be gotten at the end of the season, the likelihood of me getting that double ain't happening either.

[Gary Payton]

Nah, I told you, when I see you, I'mma pay you.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

That's all.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

59.80 you owe me. 59.80 plus that 15%.

[Shannon Sharpe]

59. It went to 52 to 59.

[Gary Payton]

In this economy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, I don't know.

[Gary Payton]

Y'all know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thank you.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I need my money in this economy.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail] LeBron said tired legs.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Was not the cause of the misses JJ Reddick became the first coach to play five players for an entire half in the playoffs. JJ said on his starters playing the entire second half it wasn't planned but we just made the decision at halftime. Magic Johnson questioned the strategy. I'm just sick to my stomach that the Lakers lost this game after being in control most of the second half. I don't know if it's smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day rest between game three and four. We needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter and he couldn't. He scored zero points in the fourth. I agree, I agree. The refs missed the trip. Luka got tripped. I mean that was a blatant trip. He doesn't fall on his own. We, we watched it. He gets tripped. So we should have been at the free throw line. Yes. Luka missed a smoked the layup. That would have put him up seven. They come down here to three. So now all of a sudden been up seven. You're only up two. You see, you see how momentum swing. LeBron missed the layup had they come out of timeout, had a great curl set, smokes that layup. Arkansas smoked the layup. It's just look, I think it was lebron said like he don't want to make excuses but GP when you ask that man to do the man had he let he had the most rebounds of anybody that touched the court today. He had the most assist of anybody that touched the court today. He had the most blocked shots, he had the most steal. Well nah, DiVincenzo had the most steel. But you talk about a 40 year old.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Been led in rebounds, led in block shots, led in assists. You're asking a think about what you're asking a 40 year old, a 40 year old what you're asking him to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And Shannon, I'm a comment on that. We own a freak of a nature type dude. I get it. What you're saying about we ask. He's different. He's a lot different. I don't agree with him not getting no rest in the second half. I think you rest him for two or three, four minutes each quarter. Rest him for like two or three minutes and bring him back and do the same thing. But what I do with jj, I'm gonna go to JJ Ready's defense. He was saying, I can't lose this game. I'm gonna go with my player who I think gonna give me something, you know what I'm saying? He shouldn't have did that, you know, and timeouts don't cut it. Sometime it don't work. I would have gave him three to four minutes or five minutes every quarter. I would have did five minutes and then still controlled it. I get what Magic is saying, you know what I'm saying? Give him his legs. I would have gave him third quarter. I would have said it five to six minutes and then played him the whole fourth quarter, you know what I'm saying? That's what I would have did. It was a bad decision on his behalf, but I thinking what JJ is thinking. As the first year, he needed that.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

He got to get this game and.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It didn't work out for him. Now what he's going to go back, he's going to re evaluate everything. He's going to give him rest because they need this win in LA on Wednesday and I think they gonna get the win on LA on Wednesday. They get it, but I'm just saying he should, he should have evaluated that a little bit different. I don't think it's legs and all that. I think he got tired and they went away from everything that they did to me. You go put LeBron on the block, see if they gonna double him. Let him guard one on one and go out. You know what I'm saying? If you watch the game, is that too high? Watch Luka, watch LeBron. I'm focusing on all of y'all. Put him on the block. Let them come down there and double, you know what I'm saying, and do things like that. But they don't play that way. Y'all know Shannon and Chad, this game ain't like if I see you and Chad on a disadvantage, man, I'm gonna run. Y'all play every game until they stop it.

[Gary Payton]

Until they stop it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And with me, with LeBron being 6, 8, 2, 6, I'm gonna put you on the block. I'm not gonna put you up top where everybody can focus in on you and we can suck in, put you on the block. And if you gotta come down with me, let me kick it to somebody, hit a jumper, then you gonna start being irrelevant that way. And they didn't play that game.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

I knew LeBron was gonna play a ton of minutes today because he normally takes his break at about six minutes, 6:30. He didn't take his break today until about four minutes. He got two minutes and then he was right back in the game and he didn't come out again. So I knew it was going to be one of those. And I was texting Ash. I said, ash, first of all, I knew they were in trouble. GP LeBron is going off, Luka is going off, and they got a four point lead. Let that sink in now. All my artillery, right? And I only got a four point lead. And these guys are going haywire in the first half. So that's not good. Because if normally when guys going off, that's a 10, that's a 12, 14 point lead, you got both of your big guns and Minnesota's right there, so they gotta feel good. And as a matter of fact, they had a three point lead at the half. They're like, hold on. LeBron had 22, Luka got 21. That's 43 right there. And we still got the lead. Are we good? It's the same thing with the Lakers when they lost to the Nuggets. When LeBron went crazy in the first half, he had like 30, 32 points. You remember that game in the first half, they like, oh, he done, he.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He, he done spinning hard.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

He blew his load. We got this. Yeah, he ended up, he. After he had 32 at the half, he ended up having 40 for the game because he exerted so much and it wasn't enough to get the separation that he needed. Luke and LeBron exerted so much. LeBron. I think LeBron had five points in the third quarter, none in the fourth quarter, but they did a great job of taxing them. Yeah, and because I think a lot of this. GP Because LeBron is so tired, they like, he's not even a threat when he's on the block because that's normally Julius Randle. Julius Randall takes a lot out of you because he's a big body guy. He wants to bang on you. He's going to bang you when you playing defense on him. He's Going to bang on you. When you're playing defense on him, he's going to bang on you. So it's just bang, bang, bang. And after a while, that takes that zap.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you this. Even doing that, why'd I get him in five trouble? Let him bang bang me mad. I'd go at him, spin on him, do the things you do. But that means you gotta work the game to work the right way. Y'all remember when I played, give me the ball on the block. I want you to bang on me because I'm gonna spin on you and I'll kill you every day. You know what I'm saying? So you gotta get to that level where LeBron has to learn. Don't bang, bang, bang. Work with him. Get Randall out the game. Because what's the next person that's gonna come in that game on Minnesota's bench that can handle me? Not too many people. Not too many people. So that's being coached and being smart. That's why I say nowadays, IQ ain't in this game. It's all about athletic ability. It's athletic ability. This ain't no IQ game right now. I'm telling everybody, ain't too many guys in here got IQs like that. You know what I'm saying? LeBron don't have to bang that boy. If he hit me one time on my back, spin on him, get a foul, get him in foul trouble, then what's gonna happen? You gonna suck, right? You gonna suck. And ain't nobody gonna come up that bench that gonna handle LeBron, who muscle and bullying them. But when you get a guy who's checked out and he tired.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And let's say again, Shannon, let's think about the last play of the game, what LeBron did. He turned the ball over again. He turned the ball over.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

They can't get. Why can't they get the ball inbounds? Because we've seen Reed. We've seen so many times, guys. Does anybody know how to hard cut? Does anybody know how to do this?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Shannon, what about just putting your forearm on the motherfucker and just post and get off and throw the ball down that way.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Post it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why you don't do that? That. Why you don't do that. And then if they try to double me, what are you going to do? I'm going to get the ball to the next dude and post it up. I'm telling you once again, I Q IQ in this game. And then if you want to get me the ball I'm going to get the ball, especially if we can go on the back court. I'm going to hold you off, push you off, and you throw that ball out there, and I'm going to go get it. I'mma go get it. Don't try to make none of them heroic pass that you see, man. These dudes is not having IQs like that. They don't have IQs like that. Hold on.

[Gary Payton]

But both of y'all said the same thing, right? You, you and un got a friendly dinner. You say Lakers gonna lose. Well, both of you came, came to, came to the party and both said, hell, the Lakers might win, are gonna win Wednesday. You said they're gonna win the game Wednesday. GP Yeah. So if they could win the game Wednesday, if they could win one, they could win two.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I don't think that. But you're gonna exert, Chad, you gonna exert a lot. Then you on home against a team that's in Minnesota that plays well at home. They play well at home. I get it. You exert all your time. But think about the. Really, the odds of everything done came back from a 31 series deficit and win as many games as they win. They're not going to win three in a row. I'm just not going to say that I can't do it. You done one. You done lost two games in Minnesota. You lost one game at home, and you lost the first game, Chad. At home.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So what do you think now? And what have Shannon said? Shannon say they're getting old, legs are tied, they got two days off.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

What you gonna do?

[Shannon Sharpe]

How you gonna work that out? All right. Is your mindset that I'm gonna try to win this? Chad, I'm gonna ask you again. Do you think they mindset is. And then we gonna come back and win three in a row. They not doing that. They talking about going home. They talking about going to Cancun. You know what I'm saying? And we'll work with it next year. You feel what I'm saying? But I'm just saying it's gonna be hard for the Lakers to win three in a row against this young hall team that Shannon has just told you. People are coming off the bench doing what they do. You feel what I'm saying? And doing what they do. Yeah, we thinking about the NBA. NBA don't want it to be like Oklahoma City go full blank. They trying to get tv. Tv. Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah. Y'all, y'all, y'all cutting to the church.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what I'm saying now I ain't gonna keep like this. I'm just gonna do whatever. I'm gonna call calls that I had to call. Whatever, whatever. And you got to think about it though, Chad. Who you think is more talented? What team you think was more talented, Chad? Minnesota. Lakers. Minnesota. They're not gonna do that, man. And people coming off the bench doing what they do. Shannon just told you. Yeah, their bench is being more productive than the Lakers bench. That's what it comes down to. Who gonna be the people that support that superstar cast. I think Minnesota got that. Damn.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Yeah, I agree, I agree. And that's the thing. I mean you, you, they were so close. They had a 10 point lead. I'm not so sure. With a 10 point lead. I think I tried to get, I think I tried to get LeBron two minutes to start the fourth. We got a lead.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, Chad, I say like this, like they. With the, with the warriors subbing three minutes, bring him in, sub him at seven. He got five minutes on the clock, then back in the fourth quarter. Let him play the whole fourth quarter. You see what I'm saying? That's how you gotta do it. But I just don't think that chemistry is right. When you got two guys on both sides eyesoreing a basketball and you watching them play basketball, that's not a good deal for me. It's just like what we did when we played basketball. We put it in the post and let our big man dominate. If you don't get him, he gonna score every time. But if you start scoring, we gonna doubling. And what do our big men do? Kick it. And we kick it out buckets and we rotate, rotate and make people rotate. That ain't the game. Nowadays we just talking about shooting threes one on one, ISO trying to do what we do and it don't work if you don't have that cast. That's making them big time shots, which Minnesota did today. They gave big time shots and it don't work. It won't work. It just won't work.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

They definitely. Lakers definitely got their work cut out for them. They're going to have to play hopefully. I don't know if you can get another 25 point game out of Rui Hachimura. Rui was sensational today. This is by far his best game in the playoffs and he played extremely well. I don't know if you're going to be able to get. Cause he was 5 or 10, he was 9 of 16, played 41 minutes, gave me 23 points. LeBron was 27, 12, 8, 3 3. Austin Reaves, he came in and he didn't play. He was terrible. He got in foul trouble. He was terrible in the first half. 17, 17, 7 and 4. I can live with that. I like having something spread out, but Julius Randle started that game off. He was extremely aggressive. And that's, that's his game. He, he's, he's an aggressive player. He's going to try to put the ball on the floor, he's going to put pressure, he's going to attack the rim. Jaden McDaniels didn't start off strong, but down the stretch he made all the hustle plays. He got the and 1. He made a big time 3. Ant man was Ant man, but it was Nas reed and Don DiVincenzo. DiVincenzo getting a rebound, knocking down a three. You get Nas Reed knocking down two big threes.

[Gary Payton]

Yeah.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

DiVincenzo getting an and one. And I thought I was like, you know what? Cause DiVincenzo got one. And LeBron Scott is like, oh, the old man still got so many. Still got some juice in the tank. GP but it was, I just think the thing is, yeah, they were tired. But Ant man, he said he's dreamed his whole, he's dreamt his whole life of these moments. And you can tell 12 of 23, 5 of 10 from the three point line, 14 to 17, nine rebounds, six assists, and he only had one turnover.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, Chad and Shannon, he told you did something when he was in the way, when he started shooting threes, playing his Steph Curry and he said, man, I was in them games shooting them threes. What does he came back and did. He said, I'm gonna shoot more threes this year. And look at his percentage come over the threes. His confidence is way here. When you give a player like that that type of ability to do that and become that type of player, put him on an Olympic team, give him that type of ability to become a super star, a real superstar. Yeah. And he make his shots and he get confident. It's hard to stop a basketball player like that. And he has proven it. He has proven it that he is the primary player to be that NBA player and take over this league. And that's what he's doing every day after them, after them games. And he's doing his poster. All he doing is smiling because he know it's easy. It's easy for him. It's easy. And that's what he's doing. And he's showing you that he can put this team on his back. They thought when they got rid of the cat that it was going to be all over. No, that boy took his. Took this game to another level and did what he do. And they didn't six, they didn't succeed beating the third seat. That's what these teams did. That's why I tell everybody, stop talking about these seeds and all that. These 82 games, that is, that is just crap to me. I don't care about you. You, you gotta go play in these playoffs and get out. And they showing the Lakers that I don't care what seed you are, we gonna go get at you. And they get down.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

The thing is that when you look at it, GP Is that because he can shoot the three, you gotta hug up on him. And now he can go by you. You see what he's going by. He's gonna kick or he's going all the way to the rim. So it's like, okay, I'm gonna play off him. Hand down, man down, Mark Jackson. And so now he's got that three ball in his bag. He always had the ability to go around you and finish over top of you. So how do I defend him? If I give him two, if I give him too much airspace, he gonna rise up and shoot the. He gonna raise up and shoot the three. If I, If I hug up on him to take away the three, he gonna go by me and finish on top of me. So, I mean, you're at his mercy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you.

[Chad Ochocinco Johnson]

Same thing with Steph Curry. Steph Curry used to be he settled for the three. Now you'll see Steph put the ball on the floor and get to his float game.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then, Shannon, you think about that. When I was at the game last night, what Houston tried to do to Steph, Curry was doubling every time. I kept screaming, right? I said, get him off the ball. Don't let him dumb. Let him come off the baseline and do like Reggie Miller or Rip Hamilton. And they, they had his mercy. Houston fell apart. They fell apart. But, yeah, what did the warriors do? They had other people who made shots and did things that they knew because once. And then what Curry did, he started being one on one. And then he started being curved. He liked to. He like PlayStation, you see, it's PlayStation, right? And he started cooking and he started hitting shots, and then they start doing it and he started making a right pass. And then they start finishing. They start saying, man, what can I do? And when they start finishing, he start going one on one. And it ain't nobody can guard nobody like that with no talent like that one on one there's no way, no way the volume.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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