LeBron James Answers Your Big Burning Questions | MIND THE GAME

Summary

Mind the Game, Season 3: LeBron James Answers Your Big Burning Questions

Date: June 2, 2026
Episode Theme:
This episode of Mind the Game spotlights the nuances, mindsets, and evolving strategies of basketball through the lens of NBA icons LeBron James, Steve Nash, and their co-hosts. The cast dives into Chris Paul's retirement, playoff strategies, leadership, self-doubt, and the impact of the 2026 rookie class, while tackling insightful fan questions that illuminate the mentality and preparation that define elite players.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

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Remembering Chris Paul: Legacy & Moments

Timestamps: 01:21–06:59

• The hosts belatedly address Chris Paul's recent retirement, reminiscing over his journey from AAU basketball to a Hall of Fame NBA career.
• Chris Webber shares moving personal stories of early encounters with CP3, highlighting Paul's competitiveness and friendship:
  • "We kind of started like a friendship. To us playing in a McDonald's game together, to me supporting him while he was at Wake Forest, to him coming into the League, Olympic teammates. It's incredible what he was able to do." (03:14)
• The panel highlights Paul's impact on every team, praising his leadership, basketball IQ, and the emotional story of scoring 62 points following his grandfather's passing.
• Jalen Rose notes: "But when you have a competitor contemporary and your family has become friends. Yeah, man, absolutely. It's pretty special, man." (04:34)
• The group celebrates both Paul's on-court toughness and what it means to have true peer friendships off the court.
• CP3’s significance as a leader and competitor is reinforced, with a look ahead to Hall of Fame induction.
• Quote: "He's definitely going to go down as one of the best point guards that has ever played this game. One of the most fierce competitors ever played this game." —Chris Webber (04:01)

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Playoff Mindset & Strategic Adjustments

Timestamps: 08:21–12:39

• The team re-lives a pivotal LeBron playoff sequence against Indiana, discussing pre-switch tactics and late-game execution:
  • Reading late-game pick-and-roll actions and the process of "pre-switching" defenders.
  • The psychology of elite defense: "It's mano a mano. It's your best player versus our best player. And, you know, for me to kind of make that block was a huge, huge block." —Chris Webber (09:32)
• They explain how team adjustments from game to game define playoff series, illustrating basketball IQ in real time.
• On decision-making: "You can be clever, but you can't have multiple passes late in game. It's too big of a risk." —Jalen Rose (11:41)
• LeBron describes trusting preparation and rhythm to hit clutch shots: "That ball just popped in my hand. I was like, it's time to rise. It's time to rise." (12:26)

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Fan Q&A: Inside the Elite Basketball Mind

Timestamps: 12:45–18:45

1. Immediate Adjustments When Defenses Over-Help

• LeBron emphasizes reading the defense and manipulating spacing:
  • "The best teacher in life is experience. I've always talked about that ... I am manipulating the defense by either driving towards the defender, knowing that I'm going to get someone to step up towards me or eyes going to be on me, knowing I'm going to get my guy shot." (13:06)
• Nash notes LeBron's ability to maximize space before passing, drawing defenders:
  • "Let him get all the way to me and then deliver over his shoulder. Something that you always did that allowed your teammate to have acres of space." —Steve Nash (14:51)

2. Draft Reflections – Going 15th Overall

• Steve Nash reflects on his 1996 draft experience, emphasizing continual improvement:
  • "First question, not necessarily think I should have gone higher like I was. I always had a growth mindset, like I gotta improve, I gotta get better." (15:54)
• He details the intensity and variety of his pre-draft workouts.

3. LeBron's Custom Handshakes

• Asked how he invents and remembers unique handshakes:
  • "I have no fucking idea ... Like right now, like my teammate Dawn Connect, like, we have a handshake where we dap up and then at the end, throw like a bow and arrow. And I kind of got that because of how well he shoots the ball." —LeBron (17:01)
  • He attributes it to a lifetime of creating personalized rituals with friends and teammates.

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Preparation, Accountability & Growth

Timestamps: 18:46–23:32

1. Critiquing Game Film

• LeBron explains:
  • "The first thing I look at is my turnovers ... when I'm having non aggressive turnovers, like if I'm being aggressive, I'm okay with those. But it's the ones that's like unforced turnovers or just not being aggressive, not reading, reacting or decisive." (19:46)

2. Accountability and Leadership

• LeBron describes leadership as a responsibility rooted in authenticity:
  • "The least thing you could do is be accountable, hold yourself accountable ... it just comes with the territory of being a leader." (21:25)
• He differentiates approaches for various teammates:
  • "There's teammates that you can be in their face ... his teammates, you gotta pull them to the side ... You have to understand and take time to learn your teammates and ... how to get the best out of them." (22:01)
• Nash adds that off-court relationship building gives leaders equity for tough conversations:
  • "Developing relationships with your teammate that aren't basketball ... that allows you some equity to have harder conversations." (23:07)

3. Managing Self-Doubt

• LeBron normalizes doubt as part of high achievement, stressing process over results:
  • "The uncomfortable nights would happen if you did not put in the work ... But yes, everyone's gonna have self-doubts. It doesn't matter what field that you're in. You're human." (24:18)
• Importance of a supportive (but honest) inner circle:
  • "Having a good support system can allow you to be like, I'll let you vent. But then like, you gotta bust your ass." —Steve Nash (26:28)

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Rookie of the Year & The 2026 Rookie Class

Timestamps: 29:00–36:40

• The hosts debate an especially strong rookie class:
  • Top Contenders: Cooper Flag, Khan Knippel, VJ Edgecombe, Dylan Harper.
  • Cooper Flag’s record-breaking performances and raw upside highlighted:
    • "He had 49 versus Charlotte. Youngest player to score 46 in a game ... for a team that's not in the playoffs, you know, you look at the plus four while he's on the court ... that's just good ball." —Chris Webber (30:08)
  • Knippel’s complete offensive game and leadership on a winning team cited as rookie of the year frontrunner.
  • The group notes the rarity of such immediate rookie impact, especially leading the league in threes made at 43% efficiency (32:33).
  • Deliberation on fairness for contenders in different team situations.
  • Reflections on character, future potential, and the sustained inflow of young talent.

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Notable Quotes

• "He's definitely going to go down as one of the best point guards that has ever played this game." —Chris Webber on Chris Paul (04:01)
• "It's mano a mano. It's your best player versus our best player ... for me to kind of make that block was a huge, huge block." —LeBron (09:32)
• "The best teacher in life is experience ... you know where your outlets are." —LeBron (13:06)
• "I always had a growth mindset, like I gotta improve, I gotta get better." —Steve Nash (15:54)
• "The least thing you could do is be accountable ... it just comes with the territory of being a leader." —LeBron (21:25)
• "Everyone's gonna have self-doubts ... But if you've put in the work and the time on their craft, then the self doubt will, will trickle his way out more often than not." —LeBron (25:03)

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Memorable Moments

• Hosts sharing personal stories about Chris Paul’s beginnings and his and LeBron’s daughters forming a friendship (04:05).
• Strategic breakdown of a pivotal playoff sequence, detailing both defensive and offensive perspectives (08:21–12:39).
• Lighthearted banter about handshakes and the challenges of remembering them over decades (17:01–18:43).

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Final Thoughts

This episode underscores the multi-layered nature of basketball greatness, highlighting preparation, psychological resilience, and authenticity as the keys to both individual and team excellence. Whether honoring Chris Paul’s career, analyzing clutch plays, or answering fan curiosities, LeBron and friends blend firsthand experience with deep love for the game, giving listeners a master class in the mindset and mechanics that define NBA legends.

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Listen to new episodes of Mind the Game every other Tuesday on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[Steve Smith]

Coming up on this episode of Mind the Game.

[Chris Webber]

Let's get some fan questions out here. Yes. Damn, it's a lot.

[Jalen Rose]

Just a few for Steve.

[Chris Webber]

In 1996, you were drafted 15. Do you feel like you should have gone higher?

[Steve Smith]

Well, first of all, it was 30 years ago. How does LeBron come up with all these handshakes and how does he remember them all?

[Chris Webber]

People want to know, were there times when you thought negatively or had doubts about yourself? And how did you manage those thoughts in order to win?

[Jalen Rose]

How do you guys go about taking accountability with your teammates and staff while still upholding your confidence and leadership?

[Steve Smith]

We're late on this, but we haven't

[Jalen Rose]

talked about Chris Paul retiring.

[Chris Webber]

We are late and apologies. So in the eighth grade I got a couple stories. So in the eighth grade,

[Steve Smith]

This episode is sponsored by American Express with AMEX Platinum.

[Jalen Rose]

Enjoy a range of premium travel, dining and entertainment benefits, all backed by American Express's award winning service.

[Steve Smith]

There's nothing like Platinum. Well, speaking of cool ones, we're late

[Jalen Rose]

on this, but we haven't talked about Chris Paul retiring.

[Chris Webber]

We are late and apologies.

[Jalen Rose]

One of the very best point guards and players to play in our league and play our game.

[Steve Smith]

Where do you start?

[Chris Webber]

CP3, man. I mean, AAU basketball. So in the eighth grade I got a couple stories. So in the eighth grade in Orlando, Florida at the Worldwide Sports, there was a AAU national tournament there and my AAU ball club was there. And in the Final Four it was our team. Southern Cal All Stars, I believe they were. It was Chris Paul. It was Chris Paul's team. I think they were maybe the Carolina Hornets, maybe I could be wrong about their name. And then one other team in the Final Four and there would have been a chance that we met them in the finals, but they lost in the semis. We ended up losing to Southern California All Stars. They were the best team. But I saw him there, didn't get an opportunity to meet him, whatever the case may be. Obviously I didn't know him. We were 14 years old. Fast forward to my senior year in high school. We're playing in Greensboro, North Carolina during HBCU weekend and there's a tournament down there. Our high, St. Mary goes down there and we're playing the team out of North Carolina. And after the game, Chris Paul comes in, we win that game and Chris Paul comes into the locker room. And that's the first time I officially met him. I was 17. I think he was 16. He was the best point guard in North Carolina at the time. And I Believe he was playing in that tournament. I believe his high school played in that tournament. But he came to the locker room, we met, and from then on,

[Analyst/Guest]

we

[Chris Webber]

kind of started like a friendship. To us playing in a McDonald's game together, to me supporting him while he was at Wake Forest, to him coming into the League, Olympic teammates. I mean, it's incredible what he was able to do in all the stops that he was in New Orleans with the Clippers. Obviously, I think his Jersey is going to be raised with the Clippers someday. You know, even his short time in Houston, you know, making an impact there, his finals appearance with Phoenix, you know, and so on and so on. And he's definitely going to go down as one of the best point guards that has ever played this game. One of the most fierce competitors ever played this game. And to add the icing to the cake, his daughter and my daughter happen to be best friends.

[Steve Smith]

No way.

[Jalen Rose]

Really? I didn't know that.

[Chris Webber]

And that's pretty cool. They hang out all the damn time.

[Jalen Rose]

That's very cool.

[Chris Webber]

So that's pretty cool.

[Jalen Rose]

Same age.

[Chris Webber]

Cameron is a year or two older than my daughter, but they're super close. But, man, what an unbelievable career.

[Jalen Rose]

Well, I want to keep talking about Chris Button.

[Analyst/Guest]

Yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

All that means less than the daughters being, you know what I mean?

[Chris Webber]

Like, it does.

[Jalen Rose]

Like, at the end of the day, you hoop and you do everything you can. You try to get better, you try to compete.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

But when you have a competitor contemporary and your family has become friends.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, man, absolutely. It's pretty special, man. And, you know, I think, like, you know, a couple of his stories, like, his individual stories, like what he did in high school when his grandfather passed away.

[Steve Smith]

62.

[Chris Webber]

63, I believe, or 62, something like that, you know, that moment, you know, you know, the moments that he had at Wake Forest, the moments that he had in New Orleans, like, I just think about all his. His moments, his personal moments. You know, I think about the spurs series when he was with the Clippers, when he was playing with the hamstring, but he makes the floater over Tim Duncan, Ohio, off the glass. You know, it's just. Yeah, yeah. I'll be sitting here the whole episode of this one. Right. Because I have so many stories, but, man, shout out, you know, Chris Paul, and. And now he gets to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor and enjoy his career and he could be full time Cliff Paul. Yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

Cliff Paul. Yeah. Now he can be the real Cliff.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah. He can throw that thick mustache on and Be the full time Cliff Paul. But in all seriousness is incredible career,

[Jalen Rose]

incredible career point guard to point guard. He's you know, right up there with any of the greats. I played played against Stockton, Kidd, Peyton. I mean he's amazing. I remember, I think it was his rookie year. I didn't know what to expect. I think he might have had 40 and I had 36 or something. Went like toe to toe and I can't really remember but I was like oh yeah, he can play. Really, really play. And then you know, just built his career on you know a combination of iq, skill, toughness and you know the

[Steve Smith]

skill was, was elite.

[Jalen Rose]

Right. But like what I respect as much as that is like the, the toughness and that, that's the stuff when you finish playing for me I remember and appreciate yeah is people's competitive nature toughness more than things that they happen to be able to do.

[Chris Webber]

Right.

[Jalen Rose]

And he loved the game. He loved to compete and love to fight and all that stuff.

[Chris Webber]

So hall of Fame next. That's the next hall of Fame. Hall of Fame next.

[Jalen Rose]

And truly, truly one of the, the all time great point guards. Easy. So shout out to CP3.

[Chris Webber]

Yep, shout out.

[Steve Smith]

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[Chris Webber]

Oh man. Yo, we're taking it back. Back huh?

[Jalen Rose]

Taking it back. Just get your thoughts here.

[Chris Webber]

I had a little hair.

[Steve Smith]

Had a little hair there but here we go. So they come down, they're going to go high screen and roll Victor Oladipo.

[Chris Webber]

Yep.

[Steve Smith]

You recognize what they're going to and pre switch so you have Sabonis and

[Jalen Rose]

you can take the matchup and take away their advantage and pick and roll

[Steve Smith]

so now Victor isolates you. He actually gets you.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah, but that's why you took the switch.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah.

[Steve Smith]

We didn't even get you to close the speed.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, first of all, shout out Victor Oladipo because, I mean, that year, wow, he was amazing. He was electric. But yeah, I figured they, you know, they, we, we scouted them a lot and a lot of their late game situation it was, you know, Victor and Sabonis either if you didn't switch, you was able to get Sabonis in the pocket, which he was really good. And so I wanted to pre switch it because I didn't want him to bring Kyle Culver up into a pick and roll to get that switch or any one of the other guys out there. To be completely honest, I feel like, you know, Jeff Green I would trust on that. Larry Nance junior's pretty good too, but it's mano a mano. It's your best player versus our best player. And, you know, for me to kind of make that block was a huge, huge block.

[Steve Smith]

Huge block now.

[Jalen Rose]

But I think what's interesting about that

[Steve Smith]

a little bit is these are the

[Jalen Rose]

adjustments that happen in the playoffs now.

[Steve Smith]

They need to try to adjust that

[Jalen Rose]

you're going to pre switch, so now they have to move the potatoes and say you can't just pre switch.

[Steve Smith]

And these are the things that go on.

[Jalen Rose]

And plus, what makes it really difficult

[Steve Smith]

is how can we get it that

[Jalen Rose]

they can't get LeBron or Larry Nance or whoever their better perimeter defenders are

[Steve Smith]

in the pick and roll.

[Jalen Rose]

So that's playoff basketball. You got them that night. The next night they're going to say, how do we get our screener coming out?

[Chris Webber]

How do you manipulate the game space,

[Steve Smith]

move the potatoes so that we've got

[Jalen Rose]

the worst defender getting in the pick and roll?

[Steve Smith]

So. But you got him on that one.

[Jalen Rose]

All right.

[Steve Smith]

And then off the stop, you read

[Jalen Rose]

the play, you got the matchup.

[Steve Smith]

Three seconds left.

[Jalen Rose]

Inbounds.

[Steve Smith]

Game time.

[Chris Webber]

Series 2, 2.

[Steve Smith]

Tied the series 2, 2. That's pivotal at home.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, at home. No, we went up 3, 2 after that.

[Steve Smith]

Otherwise you go on the road down.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, otherwise we go. And they haven't played great basketball. They was confident versus us, you know, they had beat us twice already. And listen, that's just a game five. You, you, you definitely don't want to lose game five at home and go to somebody else's building being down. 3, 2. Indiana is a great place in the postseason to play, you know, playoff basketball. And they're super loud. But.

[Steve Smith]

Well, this, yeah, that's.

[Jalen Rose]

That, that's important.

[Steve Smith]

But this play basically like you think

[Jalen Rose]

about the two sides.

[Steve Smith]

So they tried to get Victor in a ball screen so that he could

[Jalen Rose]

get on the worst defender. You actually blew it up by switching onto him, making a great defensive play

[Steve Smith]

and then this essentially again looking for a little rub screen here. They try to keep their matchup and

[Chris Webber]

even bogey trying to shadow me, but I made one move in and just dipped out and.

[Steve Smith]

Yep, got. And see, this is the thing that

[Jalen Rose]

I think is interesting for fans.

[Steve Smith]

You can be clever, but you can't

[Jalen Rose]

have multiple passes late in game. It's too big of a risk. It's.

[Steve Smith]

Can we get the ball to our

[Jalen Rose]

best player and let them make a play under our conditions? Right.

[Steve Smith]

So for you, in this situation, you got your catch. Now let's get everyone as flat as possible in space. And I'm just trusting hard dribble to

[Jalen Rose]

get them to separate.

[Chris Webber]

I just trust in the work right there.

[Jalen Rose]

Right there in this situation.

[Steve Smith]

What. Why the three ball here?

[Jalen Rose]

Were you just thinking, were you feeling good?

[Steve Smith]

Were you?

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, I just felt like, you know, that was just a rhythm. Just a great. I had a great rhythm to that dribble there. Like.

[Jalen Rose]

Yep. Space to explode into it and I,

[Chris Webber]

you know, I had a great rhythm and I was able to get that left right down and that ball just popped in my hand. I was like, it's time to rise. It's time to rise. And yeah, that was fun.

[Jalen Rose]

Fun times. Nothing like it in the playoffs.

[Chris Webber]

That's nothing like it. A walk off. A walk off in the playoffs is insane.

[Steve Smith]

That's good. Throw some fan questions.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, let's get some fan questions out here. Yes. Damn. It's a lot.

[Jalen Rose]

Just a. Braun got game.

[Steve Smith]

Wow.

[Jalen Rose]

He.

[Steve Smith]

He hates you.

[Jalen Rose]

Clearly.

[Steve Smith]

Braun got game on X. When a defense starts over helping on

[Jalen Rose]

you, what's the first adjustment you personally make before the coach calls anything? I think this is a simple question for you, but I'd love to.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah. When defense starts over, helping you just make the right play. I mean, the best teacher in life is experience. I've always talked about that. So you've. I've always been in situations and I kind of know how to react to certain defenses or whatever the case may be. And a lot of times I am manipulating the defense by either driving towards the defender, knowing that I'm going to get someone to step up towards me or eyes going to be on me, knowing I'm going to get my guy shot, or if I'm running a pick and roll, you know, and I have a great roller. Then I know the bottom guy on the defense is going to, you know, attract in and I can get my guy on the weak side of the shot. So it's just about like, you know, knowing the defense, the coverages that the defense is in, but also knowing the, the magnet that you have. You know, if you have the ability to attract eyes and multiple bodies, you kind of, you know where your outlets are. So I've been fortunate enough to be in those positions. So yeah, the first adjustment, the first adjustment that I personally make is literally just watching the game. You know, it could be from one play. I can one run the play, one play, see how they played it and come right back to it, knowing what I'm gonna do the next play, just on the fact of how they reacted.

[Jalen Rose]

Sure, you're always great at making adjustments like that. But I think like to the question,

[Steve Smith]

I think one, being in that position,

[Jalen Rose]

having played against you, having watched you

[Steve Smith]

play, one of the things clearly you try to do with your skill level, size, iq, is try to pull the defense, whether it's driving at them to get to as tight to you as possible or letting them get as close to you as possible, throwing over their ear, shoulder, so that now your teammate has as much space as possible, right? So that's a natural innate thing that you do, is to try to create as much space, not just, oh, they're

[Jalen Rose]

coming, let me throw it to my teammate.

[Steve Smith]

No, let him get all the way to me and then deliver over his shoulder. Something that you always did that allowed your teammate to have acres of space

[Jalen Rose]

rather than, you know, catching it. And they recover, right? So I think that's an important thing

[Steve Smith]

is like how skillful can you be, how well can you read, how good is your timing to be able to invite as much pressure as possible, but still be able to release the ball

[Jalen Rose]

and have your teammate have more, more time.

[Chris Webber]

That was great, great question. Mine is at Hulliside on YouTube For Steve, in 1996 you were drafted 15. Do you feel like you should have gone higher? And how was your team workouts and what teams did you work out for, man?

[Steve Smith]

Well, first of all, it was 30 years ago. I worked out for, I mean I think I went to 12 plus teams. I went to almost half the league,

[Jalen Rose]

like all over the country, you know, still in school, graduating, all that stuff.

[Steve Smith]

Crazy.

[Jalen Rose]

First question, not necessarily think I should

[Steve Smith]

have gone higher like I was.

[Jalen Rose]

I always had a growth mindset, like I gotta improve I gotta get better.

[Steve Smith]

So for me, I was like, I

[Jalen Rose]

just want to get there and then prove that I can keep going.

[Steve Smith]

That was the biggest thing for me. Workouts went well, you know, obviously. Yeah, I mean, workouts went well. Did my thing.

[Jalen Rose]

Did some workouts on your own, some workouts with other guys. Some workouts one on one, Some workouts, five on five. Went pretty well.

[Steve Smith]

Did well in the Desert Classic, they

[Jalen Rose]

don't have that anymore. It was like Desert Classic was in

[Steve Smith]

Phoenix ironically, but basically it was like the top. It was if Portsmouth was like the lowest one.

[Jalen Rose]

Phoenix at the time, Desert Classic was like kind of the more elevated one.

[Steve Smith]

So that went well.

[Jalen Rose]

I think I made the all tournament team there. Kind of cemented myself as a first round pick.

[Steve Smith]

Went 15th, but I always was like, I'm just getting started.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

I'm just getting started. So that was my toy hunter.

[Chris Webber]

Okay.

[Steve Smith]

On X, how does LeBron come up with all these handshakes and how does he remember them all? People want to know.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah. I have no fucking idea. I have no idea. Some of the handshakes are like. I kind of like, try to learn my teammates over the course of time. Like early on, I kind of like what they're into, what they like, things of that nature. So, like right now, like my teammate Dawn Connect, like, we have a handshake where we, you know, we kind of dap up and then at the end, we kind of throw like a bow and arrow. And I kind of got that because of how well he shoots the ball. So it was like when, you know, last year when he was a rookie, I think he one game, he had like 30 something in one of our games. And I was just like this fucking flamethrower.

[Jalen Rose]

Not because of Dominic Solanke, striker, Striker for Tottenham.

[Chris Webber]

No, no, not at all. Not at all, not at all, not at all. But also, like, some of them is just like off the top of the head. Like, I don't even. I've been doing it for so long, I don't even know, man.

[Jalen Rose]

Just comes.

[Chris Webber]

Me and my best friends, we've been together for what, since we were eight years old. We've had handshakes since we were young. And I got teammates that I was like teammates in like 2008 that got hand. Like, it's just. It's. I don't know. I'm.

[Jalen Rose]

I'm so old. I don't even know what we're talking about right now.

[Chris Webber]

It's just weird that I can remember a lot of these. I mean, I got handshakes with you

[Jalen Rose]

still remember ones from like 2008.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's weird. It's a lot of. It's time consuming.

[Jalen Rose]

It's brain cells.

[Chris Webber]

It's very time consuming. I need to bandwidth, I need to stop.

[Analyst/Guest]

But it's cool.

[Chris Webber]

It's cool. I don't know.

[Analyst/Guest]

Question.

[Chris Webber]

I have no idea how I remember them. A John on IG with three Y's. You watch film after a game. Hey, hey, John, when you watch film

[Analyst/Guest]

after a game, what is the first thing that you critique about your own performance?

[Jalen Rose]

That's a great question.

[Analyst/Guest]

Great question.

[Jalen Rose]

It's been a long time for me. I think usually when you go into a film session, if you're watching film, you already have an idea so you're already biased about something. But if you're not biased, I think that what's more interesting is like sometimes when you have a good game.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

And you watch film, how it wasn't as good as you thought.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think for me, I mean, I second, second that exactly what you said. I think for me, like some of the games where I'm like, like super passive or super passive in a sense of when I've had high turnover games and it was because I was too passive, you know?

[Jalen Rose]

Casual.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, just super casual, you know, and those are some of the games that like, like a lot of people see when I come to the bench, I grab a stat sheet, you know, from our, one of our assistant coaches and the first thing I look at is my personal turnovers, you know, and then I kind of look at the opposing team's office rebounds and their fast break points. And the reason for that is like those are like effort plays. Like are we boxing out? Are we getting defensive rebounds and then are we getting back in transition? But the first thing I look at is my turnovers. So that's kind of one of the one things that I kind of critique myself on when I'm having non aggressive turnovers. Like if I'm being aggressive, I'm going to the hole. You know, I try to make a skip pass to my teammate, it gets a turnover. Or if I go to the hole and I get stripped or whatever, it's a turnover. I'm okay with those. But it's the ones that's like unforced turnovers or just not just not being aggressive, not reading, reacting or decisive. Yeah, just not decisive one. So I would say that would be for me.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah, yeah. I think it's. Sometimes you play so many Games. There's nights where you almost fool with the game.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, right.

[Jalen Rose]

You know, like, so you get into this mode of, like, trying stuff or thinking you can get away with stuff, and it never really works.

[Chris Webber]

No, it never works out. Never works.

[Jalen Rose]

It never works out.

[Chris Webber]

It never works out.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah, I can relate to that. All right, let's go to playoff. Chris 23. Great handle. LeBron. You've always been a selfless guy in your career.

[Steve Smith]

Steve, you.

[Jalen Rose]

Me, too. How do I say that? Third person. Steve, too. How do you guys go about taking accountability with your teammates and staff while still upholding your confidence in leadership?

[Chris Webber]

It just comes with the territory of being a leader. When you're a leader and guys look for your leadership and guys, you know, run through a wall for you, the least thing you could do is be accountable, hold yourself accountable, you know, and take accountability when you mess up or you, you know, not feeling like you. You've done your job and even more. Like, even when you think you could have done more and maybe you could have, but you still feel that responsibility. So this thing is just a responsibility, just being a leader.

[Jalen Rose]

How do you handle it as far as keeping your teammates accountable? Like, finding the right balance between their confidence.

[Chris Webber]

Yes. Is. You have to every. You have to learn your teammates over the course of time, and I think that's what the regular season is all about, unless you've spent multiple years with one teammate or whatever. But you have to know how to talk and approach each and every teammate differently depending on the outcome that you want to get out of it. You know, so there's teammates that you can, you know, be in their face and, you know, what the. Are you doing Moments right in their face, in the moment, his teammates, you gotta pull them to the side and pull them away from the coaches and the players. There's teammates that you could, like, you know, go all hail storm for, and they react to that. So you have to understand and take time to learn your teammates and what. And how they. How to get the best out of them. Depending on how you. How you say it. Because it's. At the end of the day, it's not. Sometimes it's not what you say, it's how you say it. Yeah, but, you know, you have to have that responsibility, too.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah. I mean, I think if you're bought in, you're authentic, your teammates believe in you, they know your motives are pure, you have more leeway. The other part for me was always, like, developing relationships with your teammate that aren't basketball. Like, getting to know where they're from, what their family's like, all that stuff that allows you some equity to have harder conversations. Right, you're up.

[Chris Webber]

Do I want to ask a question that directed to you or try to find one that was. No, this is a good one at spyrustesimus. I hope I said that correctly.

[Jalen Rose]

That's a hell of a spirus

[Chris Webber]

on YouTube. And this is a good question for both of us. Were there times when you thought negatively or had doubts about yourself and how did you manage those thoughts in order to win?

[Analyst/Guest]

It's a great question.

[Chris Webber]

I don't want to say negatively. That's a very strong word. But doubts for sure. Yeah. There's no way the human mind in competitive sports or life in general that you just don't have some doubt.

[Steve Smith]

Right.

[Chris Webber]

And that's okay.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah.

[Chris Webber]

And I think for me, how you

[Analyst/Guest]

manage those thoughts is by one.

[Chris Webber]

If, if whatever that you're doing, whatever field that you're in and ours happen to be professional sports, if you know that you're giving the time to the

[Analyst/Guest]

process and you're putting in the work in order to get the results, then you're okay with whatever happens.

[Chris Webber]

The win, the loss, the draw, whatever

[Analyst/Guest]

the case may be. The uncomfortable nights would happen if you did not put in the work and you're not seeing results. That is more self doubt than anything because you were expecting results from things that you haven't put in the work.

[Chris Webber]

So.

[Analyst/Guest]

But yes, I mean you're, we're. Everyone has self doubts. It doesn't matter what field that you're in. You could be a stay at home mom, you could be a, you could be somebody that's working nasdaq. You could be a professional basketball player. You could be a nurse, a doctor. Everyone's gonna have human. You're human. But the, I think the one common goal and everybody I just mentioned, if they've put in the work and the time on their craft, then the self doubt will, will trickle his way out more often than not. And also helps to have a support system too. I think that's, that's very important.

[Jalen Rose]

That's a good point.

[Analyst/Guest]

That you can kind of, when you have that self doubt, if you can have someone to kind of be like, hey, this is what I'm feeling. Hey, what would, what, what's your, what's your intake?

[Chris Webber]

Sure.

[Analyst/Guest]

What's your take on it? How would you handle it? So I think that helps too.

[Jalen Rose]

That's a, that's an interesting actually point. Like I think your first, the bulk of your answer There is amazing about process. Basically process over outcome. You gain confidence from your process and if you stick to your process, you put the work in and you fail.

[Steve Smith]

You can live. Right.

[Jalen Rose]

It's the times when you don't work. Like you said, you're like, maybe I.

[Steve Smith]

You know.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah. Why you shouldn't be confident.

[Chris Webber]

Right.

[Steve Smith]

But I think it's interesting.

[Jalen Rose]

The support system is interesting because that's tricky too. Like, you don't want yes men. You know, you want people that.

[Steve Smith]

But there's also you need a space to vent.

[Jalen Rose]

Like, sometimes you want to just vent and get off your chest and then realize like, okay, let's get back to what can I do better? My environment or my whatever it is. Now you start looking back at yourself. But having a good support system can allow you to be like, I'll let you vent. But then like, you gotta bust your ass.

[Chris Webber]

You got a group. Okay. Yeah, yeah, I heard what you said. You're done, right? Done. All right, so now let's get to the like. But yeah, no, it's. It's very important. So. Yeah, man. Spirus T on YouTube.

[Steve Smith]

Thank you, Spirus Zimas.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, I think I've come close to it.

[Jalen Rose]

It was very good.

[Chris Webber]

Very good.

[Steve Smith]

And now over to our producer Jason for a word from one of our partners.

[Producer Jason]

Thanks to DraftKings for sponsoring the show. The NBA playoffs are heating up and DraftKings sports has you covered so you don't miss a second of the excitement. DraftKings sports app is now available in all 50 states, bringing the excitement straight to your fingertips wherever you are. From Florida to Texas to California, you'll never miss a beat. Follow every moment, every match up and every highlight. Sweat all the games you love in real time in a seamless experience. No matter where you're watching, you're always connected and in the game. In one app, new DraftKings customers sign up with code MIND, spend five bucks and get 200 in total rewards. That's code MIND. Download the DraftKings sports app today and stay in the game. The crown is yours.

[DraftKings Sponsor]

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[Jalen Rose]

Sometime soon.

[Steve Smith]

Rookie of the year is gonna be

[Jalen Rose]

announced in the next three weeks. Two, three weeks. So yeah, depending on when this is

[Steve Smith]

released, you know, like the mvp. We have a hell of a rookie class.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, we got a hell of a rookie class this year. These guys are playing some Cooper Flag,

[Steve Smith]

Con Knippel, VJ Edgecombe, Dylan Harper to name a few. I'll start this by saying I still think Cooper Flag has the biggest upside. I think Khan's my rookie of the year and I think if Dylan Harper

[Jalen Rose]

wasn't on such a good team, he could be rookie of the year and I think he's an 8 to 10 plus time all star. Yeah, let's go run the horn on the rookie class.

[Chris Webber]

It's between the two Duke boys, I mean roommates. That's an unbelievable, talented roommate group. It's between those two. I mean obviously Cooper, like we talk about the biggest upside I believe of all of them, you know, and he's had some unbelievable moments this year. Obviously the team is not, you know, up to par of what he is expecting of himself. Expecting of the team, whatever the case

[Jalen Rose]

may be, ends up being a tank.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, yeah. But that doesn't take away from what he's doing. I mean like you look at this, right? He had 49 versus Charlotte. Youngest player to score 46 in a game. More than any, more than any younger player since Brandon Jennings. I mean, broke my record for most points scored by an 18 year old. I think that might be a misprint. And in December and January, averaged 22, 5, it was plus 4 on the court. I mean, I mean for a team that's not in the playoffs, you know, you look at the plus four ways on the court for a two month period, that's just good ball. But then you look at Khan. I mean, I mean we can't give him any more great supports of what he's doing. He's 22 points a game. You know, the four assists is even more surprising than a lot of people would think.

[Jalen Rose]

Right.

[Chris Webber]

You know, because everybody just think he's just a shooter, a three point shooter. But if you actually watch their games, he's in the lane, he's finishing at the rim, he's bumped, fades he using his pivots. All that reads the D. Yeah. Reads the defense, that, that obviously that accounts for the four assists a game. And I mean 257 threes made shattered the most threes by a rookie and that was key. Keegan Murray's rookie year.

[Steve Smith]

He's leading the league.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, he's leading the league of threes made.

[Jalen Rose]

He's made I believe not just as

[Steve Smith]

a rookie by any number one as

[Jalen Rose]

this gets fact checked in real time by.

[Chris Webber]

Well, yeah, I mean with. No. Well, I mean. Yeah, because I mean Steph. Steph hasn't been able to be available as much. Dame hasn't played. Buddy Hill hasn't, you know, played much since he's went to Atlanta. Those are kind of been like our league leaders and threes made. Anthony Edwards, Khan's number one. Anthony Edwards been a little hurt. So yeah, that's.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah. You know. Yeah, yeah. I mean that, that's some.

[Steve Smith]

The lead the league in threes made as a rookie.

[Chris Webber]

As a rookie. That's insane.

[Jalen Rose]

I think that's another thing for, for fans to understand. Like that's a hard thing to do.

[Steve Smith]

The NBA's line is different. The speed of the game is different. You're not comfortable.

[Jalen Rose]

You might shoot it while you're rookier. I think I shot it while my

[Steve Smith]

rookie but it's not comfortable.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah. And then the opportunity alone.

[Jalen Rose]

Right.

[Chris Webber]

How do you even get the opportunity to even see if you can make enough to be the league leader in

[Steve Smith]

threes as a rookie and lead liga. Lead liga.

[Jalen Rose]

How does this go?

[Chris Webber]

League leader.

[Jalen Rose]

At 43%, right?

[Chris Webber]

That's a clip. Oh my goodness.

[Jalen Rose]

The guys.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, it's a two man race. If like we go back to the MVP race like the conversation. If one of those two guys were to get rookie of the year and one didn't, I wouldn't. And you and Khan is making a huge impact on a winning team as well.

[Jalen Rose]

It's not really. It's not really. It's just this is the thing, it

[Chris Webber]

doesn't matter for a kid here.

[Jalen Rose]

It's not. It's not fair though in a way. But that's the deal, right? Is that Khan has affected a team that's played as good a basketball as almost anybody for three months coming into the playoffs here as a rookie, he's changed our culture. His compete, his steadiness, his seriousness. He's brought that team together. I don't want to overstate his impact, but it wasn't quite there before he got there.

[Chris Webber]

No, it wasn't.

[Steve Smith]

Do you know what I mean?

[Chris Webber]

So like in the same. And pretty much all the same guys are there.

[Jalen Rose]

Right. And I don't want to Take anything away from his teammates. I don't want to take anything away from the coaching staff. Has been outstanding, but Khan has made a big impact. He's a great competitor. He's done his deal, so I give it to him right now. However, like, when you talk about fairness, Cooper obviously basically got into a no Kyrie. The AD trade got into a kind of a little bit of a tanking situation in a sense. So that's, that's not really necessarily right for him. And then Dylan Harper, like, I think is almost as good as. He's so good, but he's on a winning team and he comes off the bench behind Darren Fox and Stephon Cassidy.

[Chris Webber]

He can't win Rookie of the Year, but damn, he sold. He's damn good. He can't. He can't win Rookie of the Year,

[Jalen Rose]

you know, but he's as good as anyone.

[Chris Webber]

But he's as good as anyone.

[Jalen Rose]

That's my point.

[Chris Webber]

Has there ever been an MVP and a Rookie of the Year on the same team? I know we've had a Rookie of the Year. Have we? We've had a Rookie of the Year in the MVP by one individual. Correct. In NBA. No, I didn't win MVP my rookie year. No, I'm saying in the same year. In the same year.

[Jalen Rose]

Oh, wow.

[Steve Smith]

No, I don't think. I think the youngest MVP ever is Derrick Rose. I think Wemby would be the youngest if he won it this year.

[Chris Webber]

Have we ever

[Producer Jason]

won both in 1969?

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, he won both. Okay, so he won Rookie of the Year and mvp. Has there ever been a team with an MVP and a Rookie of the Year on the team individually, other than him? And I'm saying, yeah, like individual.

[Steve Smith]

And Wes must have been older because Derrick Rose is the youngest MVP supposed

[Jalen Rose]

to years of college, which is normal back then.

[Steve Smith]

That's impressive.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, but I mean, obviously my lifetime. I've never seen a team that have an MVP and then a Rookie of the Year.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah.

[Jalen Rose]

Be hard.

[Steve Smith]

I mean, especially maybe if he started the year.

[Jalen Rose]

But they're stacked. Yeah, they got.

[Chris Webber]

But Dylan's great.

[Jalen Rose]

Yeah, I'm a big fan.

[Chris Webber]

Yeah, Dylan's great. I mean, his daddy ain't shit, but he's good. I see him when I see him.

[Steve Smith]

How cool is it that him and

[Jalen Rose]

his brother going at it the other night?

[Chris Webber]

Oh, my goodness.

[Analyst/Guest]

That's so awesome. That's so awesome.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, yeah.

[Analyst/Guest]

That's so awesome.

[Steve Smith]

Yeah. Anyways, I, I and Vijay, we didn't

[Jalen Rose]

really talk much about him, but another

[Steve Smith]

guy, like, I think, I guess my beyond the rookie of the year, it's fun for the league to have all these guys making a big impact.

[Chris Webber]

That's one thing about this league, man. There's one thing about this league in a game of basketball, it's some great young talent and the fact that we can continue to put great young talent into our league and also great young men. We talk about. We talk about talent.

[Jalen Rose]

Really good, really good characters.

[Chris Webber]

These four guys are great young men, too, you know, and it's a great representation of what our league has to offer and what's to come. I mean, Cooper, Khan, vj, Dylan, like,

[Steve Smith]

you root for all of them.

[Chris Webber]

I root for all. All four of them, man. Like, I love watching those guys play. And they have my utmost support and loyalty for forever. I mean, I just love the game of basketball and I love what these guys do for our game.

[Jalen Rose]

It's a beautiful thing to watch, 100%. And now we got a heck of a class following it up this year.

[Chris Webber]

Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

[Steve Smith]

Thanks for watching Mind the Game. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Remember to, like, subscribe or follow wherever you're watching.