Nightcap Hour 1: Thunder SWEEP Lakers + What’s NEXT for LeBron?!

Summary

Nightcap Podcast – Thunder SWEEP Lakers + What’s NEXT for LeBron?!

Date: May 12, 2026
Hosts: Shannon Sharpe, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson
Guests: Joe “ISO Joe” Johnson, Gary Payton (“The Glove”)

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Episode Overview

This episode delivers immediate, candid reactions from Shannon, Ocho, Joe Johnson, and Gary Payton following OKC’s decisive sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Playoffs. The guys break down the Thunder’s dominance, Lakers’ roster challenges, standout individual performances, potential future moves for LeBron James, and broader questions about NBA mentality and development. The show is lively, passionate, and honest—true to the “Nightcap” spirit.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Thunder’s Sweep: Why OKC Was Just Too Good

Timestamp: 05:11 – 18:39

• Thunder’s Depth and Maturity:

  • The Thunder’s ability to extend a lead or recover without their star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, wowed the panel.
  • Shannon: “When Shay went to the bench to start in the second quarter, Lakers had a five point lead. When he came back, [OKC] were up nine.” (05:08)
  • AJ Mitchell’s Emergence: Unheralded coming into the season, his decisive play and shot-making were a major difference.
    • Siniko/ISO Joe: “He fit perfectly...It’s more how decisive he is when he’s out there.” (07:20)
  • OKC plays “fast, but never in a hurry.” They always get good shots, don’t rush or force looks, and everyone embraces their role.
    • Shannon: “Not one time did I ever think somebody took a bad shot.” (11:21)

• Lakers’ Valiant Effort, But Fatal Flaws:

  • Lakers had three players in the mid-20s scoring wise, highest-efficiency night, and even led heading into the fourth—but careless turnovers doomed them.
    • Joe Johnson: “The turnovers beat them…Against a team like Oklahoma, you cannot turn the ball over.” (08:18)
    • Marcus Smart, Austin Reaves, and LeBron combined for the majority of the Lakers’ season-high 19 turnovers. (19:56, 45:42)
  • Defensive breakdowns and mismatch issues—especially with Shea or Mitchell attacking LA’s guards—were impossible to solve.

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2. The Anatomy of OKC’s Excellence

Timestamp: 09:31 – 18:39, 34:54 – 36:37

• Depth and Versatility:

  • Repeated praise for OKC’s ability to go 9–10 deep with productive, unselfish players.
  • Role players (Wallace, Caruso, Hartenstein) delivering in their lanes.
    • Siniko: “You can’t just take Shay out, bro. They got too many ways.” (17:46)
  • Big Man Impact:
    • Hartenstein’s subtle but vital role: “Plus 30 tonight…highest plus-minus…five points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, three steals.” (34:54)

• Intelligent Basketball:

  • “They’re never in a rush, know exactly what spots to get to, make their reads, and kill you with off-ball movement.”
  • “No weaknesses—offensively, defensively, transition, rebounding, bench—nothing.”

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3. What Went Wrong for the Lakers?

Timestamp: 12:50 – 19:56, 45:55 – 53:39

• Turnover Crisis:

  • As above, ball security issues haunted them at the worst moments—“careless ass turnovers…in crucial, crucial times of the game.” (12:50)
  • Shannon/Joe: “19 turnovers…4 players. You ain’t never heard of that.” (45:55)

• Defensive Matchup Issues:

  • L.A.’s perimeter defenders, outside of Marcus Smart, couldn’t stay in front of OKC’s guards.
  • Coaching decisions questioned:
    • Leaving top shooter Canard off the floor at crunch time for defensive reasons, even when LA needed threes.
      • Shannon: “Why the hell was [Canard] not on the court?” (36:37)
      • Joe Johnson: “He thought that Canard couldn’t guard anybody…but you want your best shooter out there.” (37:21)

• Roster Construction Problems:

  • Lack of defensive wings and capable guards exposed.
    • Joe Johnson: “They gotta go get a point guard…someone who can play defense.”
    • Shannon: “What can’t the Lakers defend? Guards.” (51:22)

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4. LeBron James: Performance, Future, and Legacy

Timestamp: 54:10 – 63:50

• What’s Next for LeBron?

  • Multiple theories:
    • Gary Payton/Joe Johnson: LeBron likely signs a 1- or 2-year deal to stay in LA—family’s settled, ties to the city, Lakers need him.
    • Ocho/Chad: He may try to fulfill “his dream” of playing with Steph Curry in Golden State, especially since the Lakers didn’t extend him.
    • Siniko: Could see LeBron making a move East, to lighten his postseason path.
  • Consensus is LeBron still has suitors and plenty left, especially with his production at 41.

• Recent Resume—Grading LeBron’s LA Tenure:

  • Since his Lakers arrival: 1 championship (bubble), but only 3 playoff series wins since then, multiple early exits.
  • Shannon/Joe Johnson: Give LeBron a “C+”—he’s produced but the team hasn’t delivered deep playoff runs. (58:15)
  • Siniko: “I give him a B…he’s kept the Lakers afloat…combining his brand with the Lakers.” (58:41)

• Respect for LeBron’s Longevity:

  • Averaged 23/7/7 in this series, at age 41, against the league’s best defense.
    • Shannon: “At 41, we never seen nobody play with this much consistency for this long.” (62:31)
    • Joe Johnson: “He’d average 30 on a bad team.” (65:49)

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5. Around the Playoffs

Timestamp: 24:10 – 36:12

• Minnesota vs. San Antonio Outlook:

  • Panel sees that series as headed to 6 or 7 games, with Wemby (“the cheat code”) possibly dominating if he stays on the floor.
    • Siniko: “He the cheat code, bro…on both ends.” (25:36)
    • Different opinions if Minnesota can pull the upset—with Ocho feeling an upset coming.

• Other Series:

  • Mention of Detroit and more team-by-team notes, but the focus is on how OKC and Spurs stack up.

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6. NBA Mentality: The Deandre Ayton Debate

Timestamp: 68:03 – 83:50

• Ayton’s “Dominating” Chain Turns into a Roast:
  • Deandre Ayton’s “Dominating” chain goes viral—panel questions the timing, mindset, and whether he’s lived up to #1 pick billing.
  • Shannon: “He need to melt that down…Who is he dominating?” (68:05)
  • Ocho: “He’s not sorry, but when you compare him to his compadres [top NBA centers]…yes, you sorry.” (75:15)
  • Extended reflections on difference between high school/college dominance versus NBA survival—“Not everybody got that dog in them.”
    • Joe Johnson: “Some dudes ain’t got that…that was our gift.” (80:59)
    • Ocho: “That’s not a skill you can acquire over time. Either you got it or you don’t.” (81:34)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On OKC’s Grown-Up Game:

  • Shannon (11:21): “They’re fast but never in a hurry.”
  • Joe Johnson (11:45): “Shay gets whatever he wants. Once that mid-range game gets going, now everyone else can chill—find their shots and make buckets.”

• On LeBron and the Lakers’ Future:

  • Joe Johnson (54:10): “I think Lakers are going to sign him back…Probably a two-year deal with an option.”
  • Shannon (58:15): “What grade do we give [LeBron]? I gave him a C-plus.”

• Roasting Deandre Ayton:

  • Shannon (68:05): “He need to melt that down…Who is he dominating?”
  • Ocho (75:15): “He’s not sorry. But when you compare him to his compadres in NBA…then yes, you sorry.”
  • Siniko (76:33): “I don’t know why the hell he got the domination chain.”

• On the Intangibles:

  • Joe Johnson (77:31): “You’re gonna be a dog or you ain’t gonna be a dog. It is what it is. That’s just facts.”
  • Ocho (81:34): “It’s not a skill that you can acquire over time working on. Either you got it or you don’t.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Thunder’s Closeout & Lakers’ Effort: 05:11–19:56
• What Makes OKC Special: 09:31–12:50, 34:54–36:37
• Lakers Defensive/Turnover Issues: 12:50–19:56, 45:55–53:39
• Crunch Time Coaching Decisions: 36:37–39:08
• LeBron’s Future & Lakers Decisions: 54:10–57:46
• Ayton, Mentality, and NBA “Dog”: 68:03–83:50
• LeBron’s Longevity and Legacy: 62:31–66:00

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Conclusion

The Nightcap crew delivers an engaging, unfiltered analysis of OKC’s decisive victory over the Lakers, with detailed breakdowns of what makes the Thunder elite and the Lakers vulnerable. The episode's second half veers philosophical—what it means to have the "dog" for NBA survival, why some lottery picks (Ayton) never live up to their billing, and the enduring greatness of LeBron James.

This is essential late-night sports talk—passionate, insightful, and full of memorable quotables, perfect for fans who missed the game but want to feel like they were right there in the conversation.

Transcript

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Joe Johnson]

What is it man? What's up Shannon, man? And then you go, you're gonna short me down off of one of my Olympics, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I had some of them 96 at 2000. Please make sure you hit that subscribe button. Please make sure you hit the like button. And do us a favor, eyes, ears and your word of mouth. Because none of this is possible without you. So again, thank you for your support and your continued support. Those looking to purchase a bottle of Shea by La Portier, head over to laportiercognac.com if it's currently unavailable in a state or city near you. Remember it is a premium VSOP cognac that drinks more like an xo. Try it compared against other cognacs you may have tried or looking to try and you'll see we have the best tasting smoothest cognac on the market. Please drink responsibly and stay safe. Well guys, the Lakers put up a valiant effort. They scored 39 points in the third quarter to give them a four point lead heading into the fourth quarter. But it wasn't enough. The turnovers did a man tonight. Far too many careless turnovers but they played a value game. And think about it. You had three guys in mid-20s and you still couldn't get it done. That's a very good team. A Jay Mitchell. Oh my goodness. He is sensate to watch him up close. Guys, look, you got to think about this. When Shay went to the bench to start in the second quarter they had. The Lakers had a five point lead. When he came back in the game they were up nine.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So that is the difference because that is what they can do. That very few teams can do that when their best player goes to the bench. A lead, they eat that up. And if they got the lead, they'll extend the lead. If they're behind, they'll come and get the lead and he comes back in the game and Shay did. They did what to do. But thanks all the big shots that they hit down the stretch. McCain big three after big three. A.J. mitchell, the A1. It was just. It was just too much for them to overcome. Joe what did, what did you like most about what you saw from the OKC Thunder? Because a lot of teams might have. Would have panicked. Like, look, we got three in the bag. Let's go back home and close this thing out. But they say, nah, we want to go on and finish this thing up the right way. Do it tonight, man.

[Siniko Johnson]

Listen, hey, as we all know, man, you know, champions prevail, bro.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, they.

[Siniko Johnson]

They found ways to win. I agree with you. I think the AJ Mitchell kid, I don't know where he came from. GP Ocho, I don't know where he came from, but he fit. He fit perfectly. You know, when I watch him play, it's more how decisive he is when he's out there. Like, he don't have no indecision on what it is he trying to do. He get right to it, bro. It's like, look, I know the game plan. Yeah, we got J Dub out, who's an all star. Oh, well, I'm gonna step right in. I fit. I fit like a glove. You feel me? And I think the Lakers played.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is.

[Siniko Johnson]

Is. Is as great as they can play. I mean, they had three guys with 20 and high efficiency. I'm like, damn. They might have a chance to win, but OKC just got too much, bro. They got closers, they got defenders, they play great team defense. And everybody on their team know they role, man. They a true champion. True champion.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, J.P. go ahead, take it away. What you thought, what did you see in this game?

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, well, well, you know, Shannon, I think the turnovers beat them really toughly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Joe Johnson]

When they had. When they got key stops, even though Oklahoma made big shots, even when they had big time stops, they turned the basketball over on unnecessary situations. And against basketball team like Oklahoma, you cannot turn the ball over because they're going to capitalize because they are a great half court team. And that's what it was. I just thought they turned the ball over. Just even though, even when, at the end of the game, when it was 107-109-lebron gets a big time, a stop, get a rebound, and he turns the basketball. You know what I'm saying? You can't do that. And then they come right back and then what they do, they hit a three and go up five. So you can't. You can't do that in this situation. I think the Lakers lost this game on their own. But you got to understand, Oklahoma City, they got eight deep. We haven't even talked about the boy Wallace Du. Boy Wallace is, is a key Key ingredient to this too, the boy Mitchell comes up. But you go nine and ten deep on his Oklahoma team. And the way they play aggressive, I think it's, it's hard to beat this basketball team.

[Siniko Johnson]

Man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right, guys. And you think about it, Chad, I think Chad had maybe like 2 points, maybe 4 points heading into that fourth quarter. And he ends up with like 16, 17 points. Shay. Shay was. Shay started getting to the free throw line, hit big shots. But I just think the thing is, is that it's just so hard because I know JJ wanted to play Kenard and Austin Reeves together, but the problem is, is that they're going to set the pick and one of those guys gonna have to guard Shay one on one and he's gonna eat every single time. Go ahead.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Now, I want to tell you, obviously most of the people watching the game, especially you guys, you knew how the result would be. In order for the Lakers to win this game, Unc Joe and Gary and gp, The Lakers would have had to be perfect. They would have had to damn near be perfect. And obviously the turnovers, that was their Achilles heels night. Obviously defensively they got beat a few times. They had no answer for Mitchell. Hell, they had no answer for goddamn Shay as well. But obviously no one's had an answer for Shay. But what, what Mitchell has been able to do and, and coming through in clutch moments and being a resurgence that, that we, that we didn't even see, you know, before, like this has been phenomenal. I thought, you know, for your sake, being that you went to the game and I know it was a pretty penny, I was hoping they could pull

[Joe Johnson]

this game off just for you.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Listen, it would have been a good one for you too, to be able to watch them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

But, oh, it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable. I mean, goddamn Oklahoma City Thunder are so strong and really have no weaknesses offensively, defensively, in transition, on the glass, on the board. I mean, there's really no answer to really stop these individuals because not only are they, not only is it starting five deadly, they can go to the bench and give you whatever you need when it start when the starters are out as well.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, listen, guys, watching them up close, not one time did I ever think somebody took a bad shot. They get whatever. They don't, they don't, they don't take bad shots. They're never in a hurry. Yes, if they can get a chance to get out in transition, they get out in transition. But you know what it is? They're fast but they're never in a hurry. But you understand what I'm saying.

[Joe Johnson]

But you know what, the reason that is, is that Shay gets whatever he wants when he gets there. And once it's that mid range game going, a lot of people are now focused on him. And then the other guys just sit where they gotta sit. You may receive Chad, he always around the basket. They throw up lobs, they throw that. And then the other guys sit there in their, in their, in their comfort zone and just shoot their shots and make buckets. And that's why they don't speed up, because he has the ball in control. I think sometime to get them out of their situation, I think you gotta, you just gotta double, double shank sometimes. Yes, just get the basketball out of his hand and then see what everybody else does. I would do that more to make it understanding because I can't beat them with him having 35 and everybody else having something else. If I can get him to have 14, 16 and everybody else around has to have a big, big time game and the Lakers couldn't do that because they don't have anybody to guard it, I would have doubled him, I would have just got the ball out of his hands because pressuring pretty well and he would have denied him the basketball. But they just didn't do that.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah. Hey, I think when you think about it, when you look at the Lakers, bro, it seemed like, yeah, yeah, these guys shot high percentages from the field tonight. They, I mean it's probably the best game they played, but it seems, it always seems like it's hard for them to come by buckets. You know, they always got to make tough shots. It seemed like soon as they make a tough shot, hell, OKC come down and score so easy. Because Shay and Mitchell, they great in isolation, bro. They great in using their body, they great in using them bumps to create a little space just to get their jumpers off. They not, they never in a rush, bro. They, they have an understanding on the spots that they're trying to get to and you can't stop them from getting to them spots. If you don't double team him, hell, this what you're gonna have to deal with. And I just think the Lakers as great as they played tonight, here you get what, 18 from Jackson Hayes, you probably ain't gonna never get that again. Six for eight. I thought it was perfect for him to win the game, but the last three minutes, the back and forth, oh my God, you talking about basketball at his highest level. But I Knew they couldn't stop okc, bro, it don't matter, you know what I mean? AR making tough buckets. Braun making tough buckets. And gp, you spoke on, you know, you spoke on another thing earlier. It's them damn careless ass turnovers that they have that lead to points. Bro, I'm talking about in crucial, crucial times of the game. Under 2 minutes, 3 minutes. Man, you got to value the basketball against this OKC team because this is how, this is how they thrive. You know, their defense creates offense. Hell, they already got great offensive guys. The defense creates offense. Too much of a juggernaut. Hell, we didn't think the Lakers gonna win this series, but we thought they.

[Joe Johnson]

And Joe, you've seen it too. Oklahoma. Like you said, make shots, you know, and they make crucial shots.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Joe Johnson]

And see, you remember when LeBron went in there and was fast and missed that little, that little runner and stuff like that. He's got to go get into somebody body and get to the free throw line, you know, in a, in a situation like that, get to his body, get him free throw and then see what happens. But you know, okc, they go there, Shay gets in his bag and then next thing you know, he makes a great pass. And it was great. Look what Chad did when he was down there. He pumped fake, pump fake, went up, they thought he traveled and he dumped the basketball on a crucial time of the game. And they go up one. See that? That's the difference between them two teams.

[Siniko Johnson]

Oh, yeah, you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the thing is, you said the problem that they had tonight, that even when they doubled and got the ball out of Shay hands, hey, Mitchell hit a three, McCain hit a three. And what they do is that they play high, low with the big. So they trap Shay, he throws it, he throws it to Hartenstein. To Hartenstein, takes one dribble, he throws the lob, and here come Che hammering it down. So I thought they did. Look, I was saying the same thing. Get the ball out of Shay hands. But you say let somebody else beat you. Well, I'll be damned if Mitchell didn't do it. And Kane, Kane hit a. McCain hit a couple of threes. I'm like, bro, he been sitting for like 10 minutes. He just come out, he come off a pick and shoot it from 25 at some point in time. Yeah, Joe, GP, you know, this guy Ocho, you just tip your hat and say, man, that's just too good.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, that's just too good. Well, Shadow, you know, they gonna make shots. But like we say, I still have to let not have Shay have 35. I can't do it. I gotta let them beat me another way. You know, the team that makes. Makes them do that is the San Antonio Spurs. They make them do that. San Antonio makes other people play. And then that big boy over there block his side. So hopefully, if we see that series, I think it'll be a little different. I think they're going to trap Shay a little bit more, and then we'll see what happens. And that, That'll be a great series, you know, for me. You know, I would love to see that again.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, G.P. hold up, though. I ain't think. I didn't think Marcus Smart done a bad job on this series. This the first game he out on him, if just to be honest. I mean, he shot 15 free throws. He won 12, 15 from the line. But I, I, I. I'm like, y', all, man. I think Shay understood the moment. And the way him and Mitchell play off each other, bro, it's. It's unbelievable to watch because you, like, damn. We ain't even really know nothing about Mitchell until this year. If y' all just want to keep it 104. And for this team to sacrifice the way they do, look at Caruso, look at Isaiah Joe, look at. Look at Wallace. Like, those guys, they never rush the issue, bro. They play the right way. The system is great. And like you say, when Shade's not on the court, hell, you still can't. You still can't run away. And if you trap him on the pick and roll, fellas, Hardenstein is too clever when it comes to distributing the ball, making plays. He ain't gonna do nothing that's gonna hurt you. So you trap, and it goes to him. He got the hollow with big fella. He can spray out the three. You just got way too many options. You can get up. And his touch around the basket is impeccable. He has a nice little flow game, Hardenstein. So I think OKC is tough to beat.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you.

[Siniko Johnson]

You can't. You can't just take Shay out, bro. They got too many ways.

[Joe Johnson]

True.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, gp and they.

[Joe Johnson]

And they ain't even got Williams.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, yeah, that's.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But here's the thing, though. Here's the thing, though. I mean, you know, Mitchell only make $3 million a year, and they got him under contract for the next two years, plus a club option now. And now. Hey, hey, hey. I like Williams, too, but y' all telling me Williams is that much better than this kid?

[Joe Johnson]

Well, no, he ain't. That much better. But he made 230 million.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's my point. But just think about it. But just think about If I take Mitchell 3 million and then I go get me, so I can go get. I can get a lot of player for two plus GP and ISO.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, they might.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's in the. This is a playoff. This ain't no regular season game. Now, he doing this in the playoffs.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He do.

[Siniko Johnson]

He did a hell of a job. He did a hell of a number on the Lakers. But I think the test will come if they have to play the spurs, because he gonna have guys who gonna be able to go off the dribble go at him and guys who can defend. You know, Lakers. We already know Lakers ain't got no damn guards who could defend outside of Marcus Smart. And he was doing a hell of a job against Shane.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, you're right.

[Joe Johnson]

He can.

[Siniko Johnson]

He can only guard one of them. You know what I mean?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's the problem that they got Joe, when you look at San Antonio, they can throw champagne at him, they can throw Vasil at him, they can throw, obviously Castle at him. So they can throw a lot of different bodies at him. And so they don't necessarily have to trap. Because when you want to run your offense and you want to put Austin Reeves, who can score, you want to put a guy that can space the floor and Luke Canard, the problem that you run in is that all they're going. All he's going to do is call for the pick. Whoever's guarding their guard, he going to call for the pick. They're going to come pick the. They're going to come get the pick. And then guess what? They got to deal with him one on one. And it's every time. And that's every time. And so I was saying trap him and get the ball out of his hands. But he was making the right decisions. He was getting the ball out of his hands and the guys were knocking down shots. And that's when I say, you know what? Hey, guys, I done did everything I possibly could. I kicked him, I hit him, I called the cops on him. And they said, well, nothing. They said, nothing we could do.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, them 19 turnovers just hurt you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Officer Reeves had eight. He had eight by himself. I think Marcus Smart had. Marcus Smart had six. I think LeBron had four. Yeah, that's just far too many turnovers. All right, guys, I'm. I'm at the hotel now, so I'm

[Siniko Johnson]

heading up to the room.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'll see y' all in about two minutes.

[Siniko Johnson]

All right.

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[Announcer]

Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped capped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures Last support

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

through Telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may Vary not medical advice. Eligibility required. See cite for details. Wasn't that delicious?

[Siniko Johnson]

So good.

[Joe Johnson]

Your bill, ladies. I got it. No, I got it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Seriously, I insist. I insisted first.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't be silly.

[Siniko Johnson]

People with the Wells Fargo active cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, rock, paper, scissors.

[Joe Johnson]

Shoot. No.

[Siniko Johnson]

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[Joe Johnson]

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[Siniko Johnson]

Kitchen Hey, Ocho.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Yes, sir? Talk to me.

[Siniko Johnson]

That was a hell of a game, though, bro.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

It was. It was. But listen, Joe, I think there are a lot of people that were watching the game. Those that are fans. Fans of just NBA basketball in general. Yeah, I think they were probably hoping that the Lakers could pull this off.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I was.

[Siniko Johnson]

I ain't gonna lie.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

I think they were hoping.

[Joe Johnson]

Well, Chad, you know, they wanted to see another game, man. They don't want everybody to be. Because that San Antonio, Minnesota game, Minnesota series is gonna go get seven games. They gonna go seven. So it's gonna give Oklahoma too much rest, man, and then we gonna see what happened. I wanted to see if the Lakers go one more. Let's go one more to make. To make TV and make us see basketball, you know, Jeff, we want to see basketball, man. We didn't want to see them sweep them, man. So the other man, it's crazy that we see we got two sweeps, but the other two series is two. Two. I'm. I'm happy Detroit lost today so we

[Shannon Sharpe]

can see them a little bit more.

[Joe Johnson]

They gonna go.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Go.

[Joe Johnson]

They gonna go seven, I think.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You think?

[Siniko Johnson]

Oh. So hold up, G.P. you think Minnesota and the spurs gonna go?

[Joe Johnson]

I think so. I think.

[Siniko Johnson]

I see. My thing is it's an even game. Hell, if we've been out there, we just playing pickup. But when we out there.

[Joe Johnson]

GP Different. It's different.

[Siniko Johnson]

It's because Joe, he changes shots.

[Joe Johnson]

He do things. He's so big, he can handle the basketball. He. He just Altering a lot of things, man, and he changes the game, but when he get out, everybody else is whatever, you know what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So, yeah, I mean, it's whatever.

[Joe Johnson]

And if he don't play 44, 45

[Shannon Sharpe]

minutes, they ain't gonna win.

[Joe Johnson]

They're not gonna win. You see, when he got kicked out the other night, they couldn't do nothing for him, man. You know.

[Siniko Johnson]

Nah, it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's, it's an even game when he, when he's not out there. But when he is out there, I agree with you. He the cheat code, bro, because not only can he score, but he's a hell of a distributor. He get guys involved because he draws so much attention. And hell, all you gotta do is throw the ball toward the rim and he gonna go get it like it's just too much. He puts so much pressure on you, and even if he don't block your shot. Gp Hell, when you drive in there, he the first person you thinking about like, damn, hold on. Can I get this off? Do I need to just kick it out? Yeah, where he at? You know what I mean? So he always got you thinking, you know, when you, when he's out there on the floor and when he went out the other night, you seen how the, the lane just opened up. Guys were just kind of getting what they wanted, you know, they were playing. Both teams playing small ball. And I felt like the advantage was for Minnesota because they got Randall. You know, Randall has to be that bull in the china shop. He got to continue to put his head down and make things happen. And I think, you know, Minnesota got a chance, but I don't know if they can win the series.

[Joe Johnson]

I don't think they can win the series either, Joe, but I know that. I think they're going to beat him. They're going to beat him in Minnesota in Game 6. I think San Antonio will come out and probably try to destroy him in game five. So I don't like it. Shoot, man, we can get on a Sunday and see tv. Maybe we can see one of. You know, that would be good to see two game sevens, man, to just

[Shannon Sharpe]

see who go, who can go to

[Joe Johnson]

the, to their conference final. That'll be great.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, I think. My bad. Go ahead, Ojo.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Now, I want to say, for some reason, I don't know why, Joe, and, and, and I, I, I've been right with my basketball take so far, especially during the playoffs. I've been right about all my takes so far, right. But. But I have a feeling, I don't know why, as much of a difference as Wendy makes when he's on that court, whether it's defensively, offensively. For some reason, I think Minnesota's gonna find a way to get done. I don't know why I'm saying I do a GP out of gp. I don't know why, Joe. I, I have no idea. Obviously, both of you have played the game at a very high level. They, you know much more about the game than I do. The people in the chat are probably gonna laugh at me and say, ocho, please, you don't know ball, sit this one out. But for some reason, GP And Joe, I, I have no idea why. I just feel they're going to find a way to get it done.

[Joe Johnson]

Just like last year. Chad, they did it last year, man. They fooled. They got into the Western Conference final the same way. And people didn't think if that boy, if that boy Edwards get hot or something like that, man, hey, it could

[Shannon Sharpe]

happen because it's too, too nasty.

[Joe Johnson]

And we didn't think it was going

[Siniko Johnson]

to be like this now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nah.

[Siniko Johnson]

But hey, but listen, listen, gp, you know, Ant man, he continued to. He's getting healthier and healthier by the day. I think that's been the key thing because to start the series, you remember now, he was coming off the bench and, and by, by Game 3 when they got home, hell, he was starting and he's been a whole totally different monster. But my thing is, when you think about it, fellas, with Wimby getting kicked out the other night, I know he pissed off about that G.P. you know, he probably going to come out trying to prove a point, you know, put his stamp on the game hella early. So I think it's going to be a tough. I think it's going to be A tough Game 5 for Minnesota, but obviously they've won on the road. They've won in San. In San Antonio before. I think they can. They may can do it again, but I think, I think the spurs going to be way too desperate, you know, to be able to lose games.

[Joe Johnson]

Not this with Joe. Joe, they gonna blow them out, Joe. I know San Antonio gonna get out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Blow them out.

[Joe Johnson]

They're gonna blow them out in San Antonio, man. Watch what I tell you. Yeah, Minnesota ain't gonna have a chance.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But you know what, guys watching the game up close in the Y shape, because I, I've seen the Thunder play before and I've watched him before. Yeah, bro, he is so methodical.

[Joe Johnson]

He knows.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's like, I want to get here. Now, I'm gonna let you push me all over here, and I'm gonna let you. If I gotta go. Look here, all I know is I'm going to California. Now, if I gotta go to New York and I gotta go to Massachusetts and come back down to drive down to Miami, cut through Georgia and Alabama, I only know all of that, but I'm gonna get to California, and you cannot stop me, bro. Think about it. In that fourth quarter, the. And one that he hit, Marcus Smart can't play it any better than that. He played it. Beat it to the spot. He challenged the shot. He hit the shot. He fouled it, and he made it. What do you do? He get Jackson Hayes in a switch from three. Boom.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Jay Mitchell. What he do? He get him in a switch. Boom. And no matter what, just. And Mitchell, man, bro, he made some shots tonight. He made some shots tonight. I still. Cause I was at the. I was at the end where they. In the second half. So I can see. I like, ain't no way he gonna make. How you make that with that angle?

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the guys around me like, man, how did he. Bro, hell, I'm asking my damn self how you made that. I just want y' all to know y' all gonna see this outfit again. I got had it on for two hours tonight. It's an lv, and I'm wearing it a damn game. So when you say, hey, you're damn right. And I got it on again. So I'm just telling you now, keep your mouth closed. Cause I'll wear it again.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, I'm telling my.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Hey, I'm telling the man their business, man. Hey, get your ways out there.

[Joe Johnson]

Get your money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Take Club Shay episode in it tomorrow. So you gonna see it again in three weeks, and you gonna see it again out somewhere.

[Joe Johnson]

You gonna wear that thing out. It ain't gonna be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Get my money worth out of this, you damn skippy.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, fellas. Hey, when you look at it, oo, gp, the great ones. The great ones, bro, they. They understand the moment. They know how to get to their spots. I don't give a damn what you do, bro. You know, they know how to manipulate the game. Gp. You know this, bro. Playing at the highest level, winning title. Hey, the. The great ones, the great guards, bro, they know how to manipulate the game to get to wherever they want to on the floor. Hey, if you don't trap him and get the ball out of his hands, he probably gonna Make Hey, Joey.

[Joe Johnson]

Just like a Michael Jordan, man. I played against that dude all my career, man. He. When it's time for him to play, they play. You know what I'm saying? They go and get their money's worth. Where is that? He reminds me because of his mid range game as a young demar. Demar Derosan. They right there in their mid game and they stay that way and he makes shots, you know what I'm saying? Like I tell people, you cannot stop a score. You just got to contain him and hope that he have a bad game and then let everybody else hit him. But this Oklahoma team, they got too many weapons around them and they make yes. And it opens everything up. And then you can't. You can't doubling. You can't. Because if they make his shots, you can't doubling. And then you gotta hope that somebody can guard him. And the Lakers didn't have nobody. Reeves and, and Canard can't guard him. You know, if they switch on him, they lunch me. That's, that's not here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, they can't guard it because think about how they started the game. Lou door hit three, two bomb threes. So now you're like, well, damn, Caruso comes in, he makes three bomb threes. And so you say, well, damn, if we trap him. And they hitting shots. Mitchell, Mitchell was 12 of 18. We've seen Mitchell play at a level, at an elite level. Now look, some of it is the Lakers because they can't defend. But I don't want to shortchange the guy because the guy's been playing extremely well. They, he, he didn't make, he didn't make the playoff roster last year. Now this man looking like, he like, hold on. I got team out there looking like, hold on, wait a minute. He could. He need to be on our team doing that. He don't need to be on no bench. He don't need to be on OKC's bench. He needs to be on our bench starting. He's good. Look, and Chad and those big guys, they deter you because they everybody seven foot tall and you ain't getting anything easy. Cause even when they just go straight up, you can't see the basket.

[Siniko Johnson]

I'm like, no, sir.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But they, but they play well off because they're not a whole lot of team. They ain't. But what two teams, them in Cleveland that really play two bigs in their starting lineup? Everybody, everybody, everybody else got a big. And then everybody basically, you know, they got two legit big 6, 6, 11, 16. Now, granted, Alan, Jared Allen is only 6 9, but he got a 75 wingspan. But these guys, these two guys are legit 7 foot tall. You watch this team. I watched them watch the. I watched the substitution pattern. They're going to keep a score on there. They're going to have three. They're going to have three defenders and a big. They're going to keep a score. Three defenders and a big. So it is going to be Ludor, it's going to be Wallace, it's going to be Caruso, it's going to be some combination and then you're going to have Shay and you're going to have one of those big. You have Hartenstein or you're gonna have chat. So they're like. So they can switch a lot of things and those big guys move better than you think. They not slugs. They're not slugs. They're not. They are not nailed to the floor.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey. When you look at Hardenstein, he was a plus 30 tonight, fellas. He was the highest plus minus tonight. The men only had five points, 10 rebounds, five assists, his three steals. He is such a pivotal part of what Oklahoma City does offensively and defensively. Like, he plays hard as I don't know what. And then he's a great facilitator, bro, in getting other guys involved. I think OKC got a great mixture. Now. I. I think everything is yet to be seen whether they can, you know, compete with the spurs like this because the spurs is such a juggernaut and I think it'll be a hell of a series. But obviously they got to get out of that series against the T Wolves. But OKC got everything you need, bro. From scores to hard workers, great teammates. I think from top to bottom, it's going to be hard to beat these boys.

[Joe Johnson]

But Joe, the thing that they got over Everybody is all 10 of them dudes coming in. They play deep, they play and you know what I'm saying? And they don't let off. So you don't ever get a let off when somebody sub for somebod. So that's why it's so hard to beat this team. But I think that that spurs team match up with them very, very well, athletically wise.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because they got defenders also.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, they got defenders too. And you remember they, they won. They won 41 in the regular receipt, but they didn't make the regular season. Now this is playoffs, so we got to see what happens. But I still think that'll be a good matchup. Because I think both of them teams are going to play deep. And both of them got on. All of them got dogs. And everybody got people coming off the fe. They both got dogs. So I think I need somebody to

[Shannon Sharpe]

explain this to me. The game time 3. The guy that has the highest field goal, the highest 34 percentage in playoff history, the guy that's leading the Lakers in threes, why the hell was he on the court? I need G.P. you play, Joe. You play, Joe. You an all star GPU in the hall of Fame, got Olympic gold medal. I need you to explain. OO is the equivalent of your best wide receiver if the same thing would happen. And you, I don't know if you guys remember, y' all remember USC played Texas and they have a 4th and 1 and Reggie Bush ain't on the field. The guy that won the high trophy, he ain't on the field. We got a big a fourth down situation. And the way y' all tell y' all throwing the ball and Ocho ain't on the field, what the hell are we doing? Well, he's your best three point shooter.

[Joe Johnson]

Well, Shannon, you know what that, that was called? I think JJ really went off the defensive end because he thought that Canard couldn't guard anybody. So he didn't want to switch up because they were getting in the pick and roll and they was keeping Canard in the pick and roll. And every time they got in the pick and roll with Canard, something special happened. So he couldn't guard nobody. So he said, man, if I could stop him, I can go down there and score with Reaves and them like that. And I think that's what his decision was made, you know, for defense instead of offense. And it probably wasn't a good. Good, a good choice, but that's just the way it go, man. That's what I thought he thought.

[Shannon Sharpe]

GP oh, Joe, you get the rebound, you get a stop. I'm taking a time out because I want the best. I want the best three point shooter in the game. In the game.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I gotta think about something. He hit a four point play to tie the game up. He hit big shot after big shot after big shot. He's been hitting big shots. If you look at it the four games, he's been their most consistent offensive player.

[Siniko Johnson]

No question. No question.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I got to get him in the game, guys. And I understand what you're saying. It's like, okay, defense, okay, we've done what we're supposed to do. And I know you don't want to burn your time out, but I got to have him on the court. I just got him.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, I, I hey, look, I understand what you're saying. I think, I think due to timing and the set that they ran when Austin Reeves kind of came up and got the ball up, I don't think they wanted OKC to foul. You know what I mean? Which is why I think AR kind of, you know, he probably should have shot as soon as he caught it, but he took an extra dribble to try to get a little closer. But I, I, I mean, I get it, you know. Really probably should have been in the game and you're right, he been the most consistent guy.

[Announcer]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures Are you

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

trying to get weight loss support through telehealth? But it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging. So your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice, eligibility required. See cite for details. Wasn't that delicious?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So good.

[Joe Johnson]

Your bill, ladies.

[Cindy Crawford]

I got it.

[Joe Johnson]

No, I got it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Seriously, I insist. I assisted first. Oh, don't be silly. You don't be silly.

[Siniko Johnson]

People with the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card prefer to pay because they earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases. Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Rock, paper, scissors for it. Rock, paper, scissors.

[Joe Johnson]

Shoot.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Siniko Johnson]

The Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card.

[Joe Johnson]

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[Cindy Crawford]

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[Joe Johnson]

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[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

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[Joe Johnson]

Next time, skip the pain and get fast free delivery. With Amazon Pharmacy, healthcare just got less painful,

[Siniko Johnson]

You know, from an offensive standpoint, I mean, hell, he shot the lights out. This whole entire series fell. Yeah, I mean, he played great off run and a. I mean, I'm like you, man. I'm watching, like, damn. Big shot after big shot, you know, just. Just staying engaged, bro. I thought they played well enough to win offensively, man, they just can't stop no damn body. Hell, we knew that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The turnover. Like you said, if I. First of all, if I got a. If I got a back. If my offense is pedestrian, the last thing I can do is turn the ball over because it's so hard. I have to expend so much energy GP to get back into the ball game that by the time I get back, I get even. When it's two, three minutes left, I'm out of gas.

[Joe Johnson]

And then Shannon, it's unnecessary turnovers. Yeah, he's throwing the ball away, man. Just throwing it up there. And they tipping the Ball. One time, Smart just turned around and threw the ball, and it was the interception. Wasn't nobody even there at that point. I said, what are you doing?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I was right there. I know what to play. And Austin Reeves tried to throw, trying to feed. Tried to feed Rui from half court,

[Joe Johnson]

and he threw the ball underneath. Underneath. I'm like. And then you remember. And then you remember, Smart did it again, and they kicked the ball off the backboard and came back. You know what I'm saying? Them turnovers right there is costly, especially with LeBron's turnover with only a minute to go, man, it was a minute.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, you. Because at that point in time, what were they? Were they down?

[Joe Johnson]

They was only down 2. 107, 109. They could come down there and put pressure on them, but they came right back. And then, you remember, they hit a three and they went up five.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep.

[Siniko Johnson]

Listen, they. They playing too many damn minutes, fellas. Them dudes tired, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Played 40 minutes. Rui played. He played. Rui played 43. I mean, he's trying to give Bron. The problem is, is that he's trying to give Bron a minute here. Okay, time out there, so we'll give you a minute. They're going to take a time out, so that'll give you extra. But he was exhausted. He was exhausted. And the thing is, look, your recovery, I don't care what anybody tell you, as you start to get older, your recovery ain't what it once was.

[Joe Johnson]

GP Absolutely. You know it, Shannon. Shoot, when you get in them 40s, man, your body, you gonna go lay down, man, and that stuff gonna be hurting for like, seven.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, back in the day, you like, hey, all right, baby, let me catch my breath now I. I ain't what I used to be. A glass of water inside the bed. You get hot, I go drink.

[Joe Johnson]

Now it take me 8, 7 days to get back.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You got to think about that, man, and then you.

[Joe Johnson]

You playing against people's bodies now and.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Exactly, man.

[Joe Johnson]

What you think that's gonna happen?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Marcus Smart tonight has six turnovers, five files, two buckets.

[Siniko Johnson]

Damn.

[Joe Johnson]

What it reads down. I mean, how many turnovers? Reeves.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Reeves had eight. Oh, I knew it.

[Joe Johnson]

I knew it. Yeah, they came in like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Reeves had eight, Marcus Smart had four. I mean, had six, LeBron had four, and Jackson Hayes had one.

[Siniko Johnson]

Damn, it's hard to win, man. You get 19 turnovers, bro, in a game like this here, you gonna lose, bro. Cause okc, they don't turn the ball over like that. They had 11 tonight, but they. They normally don't turn the ball over, Joe.

[Joe Johnson]

They had 19 turnovers within four players.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's. That's the problem.

[Joe Johnson]

You ain't never heard of that? Nine, 19 turnovers. They four players. Come on, that's insane. You can't do that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Mitchell tonight was sensational again. 28 points, 4 assists, 4 steals on 12 of 18 shootings. He's averaging 23 points and 6 assists. This series.

[Joe Johnson]

Hey, this series. This series is over now. So it was that series that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, that series. That series is that. You're right, GP and check. What if I told you the Lakers would attempt more free throws than the Thunder and they still lose.

[Siniko Johnson]

Damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's because LeBron averaged 23 points. He led the Lakers, and re. He led the Lakers in points and assists. Hell, I'm not so sure he didn't leave both teams in points and assists. No, Ash, look that up. He averaged 23 points, almost seven rebounds, seven assists.

[Joe Johnson]

At 41. Now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

At 41.

[Joe Johnson]

At 41. Now that's something else. Boy, that. Hey, I don't know what he doing, but he keep on doing it. If you're gonna keep doing that, you

[Shannon Sharpe]

gonna keep doing it that level.

[Joe Johnson]

Hey, hey, look here, man. I wouldn't quit neither, man. Forget that, man. Get me some more of that cheese, man. Cause if they gonna give me that paper, man, and I can kill these

[Shannon Sharpe]

young, little youngsters like this, I'll keep doing it, too. Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey, G.P. you know, he playing from the shoulder up while the young boy playing from the way down. Yeah, like, he play. He playing a totally different game from these cats, bro. He stood the test of time. Hell, over two, what, two and a half decades. Like, man, he. He. He has an understanding of the game and how to be effective and how to use these guys around it. Now, if they had. If they had Luca,

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because they're gonna have to double. Luca.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, I was just gonna say that they missing him, Shannon, man, he was 30 points. He would have gave you 30, man. And it would have been a little bit more different series, I think, because he would have been making shots, See, he would have been making big time. Yeah, he is a shot maker. So that they miss him. And then that ball where they play that offense and give it to LeBron right there on the block, and then Oklahoma is just too strong right there, man. They gonna. They gonna clog it up. They gonna go after everything, and you can't just do that, especially if they ain't making shots. And I'm still with you. I would have Kept Canard on the floor all day because I would have kicked it to him and let him make shots. Just keep making shots.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The thing I. I think the thing is, is that when you look at it, is that because of the. And you said it earlier, gp, because of the defensive prowess? Because whoever he's guarding, Shane's going to call to come get the pick.

[Joe Johnson]

Yep, yep.

[Siniko Johnson]

And.

[Joe Johnson]

And.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And whoever Austin Reeves is guarding. But when you think about it, that's what teams do to Luca. Whoever Luca's guarding. Yeah. Call and get the pig. Yeah, that's been that. That's been. That's been the mo. When you doing. Dealing. Dealing with Luca. Make him play defense.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because you're not fitting to stop him unless you get the ball out of his hand. One guy ain't stopping Luca. I don't give a damn who the defender is.

[Siniko Johnson]

You're right. So you want to wear him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Absolutely.

[Siniko Johnson]

You want to wear it down. You know, you think. You think you gonna just rest on. You gonna rest on defense while you go. Hell no. We gonna make your ass work on defense just as hard as you working on offense.

[Joe Johnson]

See, the only thing wrong with that, though, you guys, Shannon and Joe, he gonna get the ball back in his hand.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He gonna go.

[Joe Johnson]

Go get it. You know what I'm saying? See, Canard. Canard ain't gonna do that. See, he gonna go get it, so he gonna give you 30 to 40. You know what I'm saying? So that's why they don't worry about him in the defensive side.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, so if you. The Lakers, though, what you do now? Where you at now, fellas?

[Joe Johnson]

Home.

[Siniko Johnson]

I'm saying.

[Joe Johnson]

Well, I think. I think they gotta go get me. They gotta go get a point guard. They gotta see what they gonna do with. With LeBron. Get Luca healthy. I will keep Canard and Rivers, and then you just gotta build from there. But they gotta go get somebody can play defense. I think they got.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They need wings.

[Joe Johnson]

Defense. This is what this NBA is about right now. Six, seven. Six. Six guys who can do it, you know, like. Like the. The Johnson brothers from. From Detroit and what you call.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thompson.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, Thompsons. I mean, the Thompson brothers, there's ones from here from Oakland. Them two dudes can defend. You gotta get players like that to come on your team to help, and that's what it's gotta be. And I think the Lakers gotta do that. They gotta make moves, and then that's what I think they gotta do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I Look, I think Austin Reeves. I mean, to watch him, to watch the Match maturation that he's gone through as an undrafted free agent to average 7 points, to average 12 points, to average 18 points, to average 23 points. Yeah, but the guys, if you put him and Luca in the backcourt, the one thing the west have is that they have guards.

[Joe Johnson]

You look at.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You look at. You look at books, you look at Murray, you look at Castle, you look at Shea, you look at all everybody in the west, what do they have? Guards? What can't the Lakers defend guards at the McGaha. David say guard.

[Joe Johnson]

You forgot about the clip, Chad. You forgot the Clippers, the Warriors, all them guards.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what they got, and that's their. And gp. That is their problem. They can't defend the guards because they come to WC every time they try to trap Shay, Shay, find the open guy, they knock the shot down. Now, granted, guys gotta knock the shot down and you gotta roll the dice, but at some point in time, you're like, look, we gotta. We. We gotta play you. We gotta play you straight up. Straight up. We gotta play you straight up. And with the exception of Marcus Smart, he's the only one that can play really on the wing. Straight up.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah. Hey, hey. And when you think about it, the Lakers know them dudes can't guard, fellas.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah. What they got to do is they. They offense has to be their defense. I mean, that's how they gonna have. That's how they have to offset it. That's why you got Lucas scoring 33 a night. Hell, you can deal with him not being a. Being a hell of a defender. If you're gonna give me 33 a night, hell, we'll have to live with the results that we get defensively. And I think they know that it's just to play against this OKC team, bro. Without him, you have no chance.

[Joe Johnson]

No, not at all. You know this. Okay? Like we said, so they so deep. You know what I'm saying? So you can't make mistakes against them and think that they. And like what Shannon said earlier, they play at their pace. They do not let you run, speed them up. They don't let you do nothing. And once they do that and they get you in that bag and they start hitting and them dudes making them shots is too hard, and then them two big. Two big. Them two twin Towers are playing very, very well. They just playing very, very well together. And then. And they. And they play together and they get it done. So it's just hard to beat them. You can't make mistakes. And like we said, like you said Shannon, they knew, I mean Chad, you knew they couldn't come in, the Lakers couldn't come in there and make no mistakes. They couldn't make mistakes. They had to play a perfect game for them to win the basketball game and they did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If you think about it, the question is now the Lakers seasons is over now it don't just start now. This is something that upper management had to been thinking about for a period of time. Because no matter what, whether you went out in the first round, the second round or you won the NBA Finals, there's going to come a time that you're going to have to make some decisions. LeBron James is not under contract. Austin Reeves is going to want max money. What we doing? Is this the last time we see LeBron in the Lakers uniform? GP ISO, you know what?

[Joe Johnson]

I, I don't think so. I, I, I, I, I think they're gonna probably give him a one year deal for about 30, 35 million. Do it like that and then get Austin Reeds and do it. They're gonna restructure him. I don't think LeBron wants to leave anyway neither Shannon. He, he's too comfortable in LA right now. His family is comfortable with that. He's not gonna go anywhere if he does. The only person I think he would play with right now is Steph Curry. The only player I think he'll play with. He'll come, he'll come down here to Golden State, they'll do something, make some moves. But that's the only thing I think he'll do. He'll be so, he can be close. Think he's not going, he ain't going back to Cleveland. He ain't doing none of that. But I think the Lakers are going to sign him back. I really, really do think so. And I think he gonna get a two year deal or something with him having an option in his second year and, and, and then they'll go from there and then they're gonna have to revamp their team.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

I don't know. Hey Uncle Joe and G.P. we just talked about this the other night and the first thing I said, LeBron always wanted to play, play with Steph. LeBron always wanted to play with Steph. Steve Kerr signed a two year deal obviously to, to remain the head coach. Steph is still there for two more years in LeBron now with this opportunity, the Lakers not extending him, the fact that it didn't extend him, you know, before knowing that his deal would be up at the end of the year I don't think he's going back. I think he's going to take this time to fulfill one of the dreams that he's always had outside of playing with Stephen Olympics, playing with Steph in a regular season game, you know, wearing the same jersey on the same team.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, listen, when you think about it, I understand what G.P. saying, I hear you, Ocho. But we, we know LeBron to do something a little different, man. He, he, he, he normally, hey, he'll go against the grain now. You know, I think he's going to assess everything that's going to happen in this post season. And I think, if you asking me, I think, I don't think he'll mind getting out that Western Conference now. I don't know if he's going back to Cleveland, but I just think I can see him making a move because I think he always gonna have his place. Obviously he's probably still building, have his place in la and hell, he gonna be able to, he the money he make off the court, you know, he always gonna be good. But I can see him, man, I can see him come, I can see him leaving the Lakers. I can see him coming somewhere out east, you know, to kind of lighten that load a little bit.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, yeah. Joe, I, I, I really think you're gonna say West, Joe, you know, built that big old house, man. He doesn't spend so much money over there, man. Them kids is loving it and his wife love up there.

[Siniko Johnson]

I know, man, I don't think he

[Joe Johnson]

gonna come to the east because that's gonna be a little toll for them to go back and forth. Like I said, I think, Chad, it's a good shot. He coming to go. He could go. If he leave, he going to Golden State. I'm telling you, coming to Golden State if, if he leaves and, but if he don't, and I don't think Jeannie, Jeannie Bush bus gonna let him go. I don't think she gonna let him get nowhere, you know, because, you know, she's still running that thing for a little bit until, for like the next, what, seven, eight years, you know, she got five years. She got five years so she can run in and steal and she not gonna let him go nowhere. I think Harry, him and Luca, they'll be okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's a draw. They sell out everywhere they go.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, and I don't think, I don't think he wants to, he want, he don't want to get that up. You know, he got all them movie deals and stuff. In la, it's always sunny there. Keeps his body right. He ain't coming. I don't think he come to the cold, you know, I don't think he gonna go that cold.

[Shannon Sharpe]

LeBron James, he just finished his eighth season. His first year, he missed the playoffs entirely. Next year he won the championship. Second year. The third year, he was eliminated in the first round. The next year, he missed the playoffs. Then he got swept in the conference finals. Lost in the first round, eliminated in the first round, swept in the second round. One championship. Only three playoff series wins since the bubble. What grade we giving him?

[Joe Johnson]

I gave him a C plus.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what gp that's what I. I would go. That's what I was gonna.

[Joe Johnson]

C plus. I'll give him an average. He doing what he got to do with what this team that he's having, the stuff that he's having. You know what I'm saying? And you getting older and things is happening.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He, you know, he's been put with

[Joe Johnson]

players that is and all that. But I, I gotta give him a secret. Plus, I'll give him a C plus on my. On my end.

[Siniko Johnson]

Damn, y' all give him a C plus. I give him a B. Man. Considering the fact of what he had to deal with when he first got. When he first got to la, obviously him winning that title, a lot of people put an astro by because it was in the bubble. But damn, man, he. He's kept. He's kept the Lakers afloat, bro. Like, he's. He's kept them relevant. Obviously, they, the Lakers, everybody gonna always pay attention to him. But. But I think combining his brand with that Laker, man, I just think, I think he's done more than what people really give him credit.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bad look. He got a bad look because AD Couldn't stay healthy.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah. And Joe, we not really saying about what he's done. I think what Shannon was saying is about the team and they probably of what they were doing. Because he get out of the first round, then he gets swept this round. Every championship. We're not saying what LeBron did because LeBron is doing work. He just averaged 23 in this one. 23, 7 and 7. So he not at 41, at 41 years old. So he's not doing it. But we're talking about the progress of moving on, you know what I'm saying? Being in the second round, being in the conference final.

[Siniko Johnson]

Right, Right.

[Joe Johnson]

Once after he won the championship, you know what I'm saying?

[Siniko Johnson]

Right.

[Joe Johnson]

And then he was in the first round. Didn't make it, then just got swept. So that's on the organization to me, to put a team out there that can do it. You know what I'm saying? And then what you said, Shannon, some of them players ain't showed up, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the thing is, the question is, how many times did he lose a series where he was the favorite? Most of the time, he was starting the series on the road. He wasn't fake. Oh, but. But I know somebody gonna say, well, if it was another player, they. He would have beat the Thunder. Y' all already know that he beat the Thunder. But when I look at it and. And I'm like, okay, how many playoff series did he lose where he was the favorite favorite? And all these guys that y' all say, well, look at the young talent that they had. How that young talent doing elsewhere?

[Joe Johnson]

Not that good, man, but that good.

[Shannon Sharpe]

God. They told. They told us that Kuzma was going to be the guy. Kuza done been the two stops. Oh, Washington. He gonna be the guy in Washington. Now he in Milwaukee scoring four points a game. So when you look at. When you look at it, and I thought ad. AD couldn't stay healthy, but they. But that. But that's been AD's MO. AD hadn't been. AD hadn't been able to stay healthy. And so I would have liked to seen if AD could have stayed healthy. But it is what it is. You remember that at this juncture, not gp, you know, as you get older. And this is what I always say, when you are a great player, as you get older, they don't compare you to other great players. They compare you to a younger self.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

See a GP starting to get old. They like, man, GP came, but he can't be the glove now. We got to start calling the mitten. Yeah, you got a little.

[Joe Johnson]

Some.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's some looseness in the glove.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, it is.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They compare GP when he got 32, 33 to the GP. That was 21, 22. What the hell are y' all doing?

[Joe Johnson]

That's true. That's true. That is. That's definitely true. And you can't compare him to when he was young, man. You get older, man. But I still love it the way he doing it, because he's still Santa relic. He still averages 23, 24 points. You know, some players would dip down, but it's like he's still on the floor. He. He played, what, 40 minutes tonight, man, 40 minutes at 40, at 41, man. So people can't. Can't compare. That's why I said you can't compare generations and people who didn't play with people because that is not. It's not, is not thinking sensible. And I get it, Shannon. It's not thinking sensible. He's not a 21 year old LeBron James. No, he's not that.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey, he ain't no 21 LeBron, but at 41, we never seen nobody play with this much consistency for to have this longevity in the game. He superseded expectations from the time he walked in through the door. Like, I, I mean the, I think the guy is special, man. I mean, I've had a, you know, hell of a time competing against the man, watching him play. I hope he continues to play, especially at this high level. But I thought we were a bit cheated, obviously not getting a chance to have Luke out there for them to be full strength. But hell, when you think about it. Yeah, they were the underdogs in the Houston series if kd. Yeah. You know what I mean? So we. Nobody had them beating the Rockets, I think.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And plus the other thing is, is that he averaged 2377 against probably a top two, top three defensive team in the league. Everybody don't play defense like OKC.

[Joe Johnson]

They didn't know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Imagine number one, huh? Okay, they're number. The number one defensive team. Everybody in the NBA doesn't play defense like that. He averaged 27. He averaged 20 points, seven rebounds, seven assists as the third option. What third option? You know, can give you numbers like that.

[Joe Johnson]

That. Not too many.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Not too many.

[Joe Johnson]

No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you saw when goes down, AR was out a little while, but he's like, I got it. Get into the playoffs. Ar, AR miss the top. He's still doing what he did.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, but, but, but remember when they both was out, he carried them in the last part of the season, they won about 12 out of. Out of 14 games. Games. You remember that? To move up to the number four spot, you know what I'm saying? And he was killing. He was actually like 30, 10 and 12 or something like that. And it was, it was, it was amazing to see a guy like that work like that every night for like 15 games in a row.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, and I think he cherished that moment too because, you know, he, he started the season late, obviously missing what, the first 15, 17 games of the season. And the Lakers were playing so great that he didn't want to be disruptive. He just came in and he was at Swiss Army Knife. And he played that all the way through the season until them boys got hurt and Went down. And then he stepped up and kind of showed, look, I could still be the primary option, you know, score points, get guys involved, be the guy who I've always been, you know, I just think when you get into a series, a playoff series, gpu, you know this, bro, we trying to expose it. We. We trying to expose you. Whatever your weakness is, that's. That's what we trying to expose. And I think OKC just done a great job of just being relentless throughout the whole entire game with their pressure. And at some point, you know, you, you, you'll have a tendency to fold. And Lakers, normally it was the, the third quarters, but I thought today, man, they played a well game. They stayed within reach to just. OKC got closer.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

And that, that's the dip.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's the difference. And you know, and GP and guys, I was thinking, if you put LeBron James on a bad team and say, oh, you the number one option, he still could give you 27, 28 points a night.

[Joe Johnson]

He averaged 30, Shannon. He averaged 30 in this league. He averaged 30 on the bad team. You put him on Sacramento right now. He averaged 30. Easily. Easily a half 30.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because in the postseason, because think about it, LeBron was like tops and fast break points in the post. You'll get a whole lot of runouts. You got to get all your points. You got to get a lot of your points in the half court. Set.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The teams value the ball. Well, most teams value the ball. Clearly the Lakers didn't value the ball this playoff said because, hell, they had 19 tonight. They had 20. They had 20 something the other night. And that's why the game got so lopsided. But they played because normally the third quarter is where they lose the ball game. But I thought they played. They outscored them, what, 39 to 31. 39, 31 something. 39, 35, 39, something like that. But then the fourth, because in the second quarter, they had a five point lead and OKC going a 17 nothing run.

[Joe Johnson]

Sure did.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And went up 17 nothing.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They had two turnovers, they made two threes. Two turnovers they make. And next thing you know, they don't

[Joe Johnson]

score 10 points and they're down 12 easily. Quickly, they were down 12 quick.

[Siniko Johnson]

You can't. You and y' all know you can't have them lows against okc, brother, where you can't score the damn ball because they always gonna be able to get points. And with them being the number one defense, this is how they win, bro. They they're gonna have a quarter to where they're gonna hold you at bay, you know what I mean? And typically it's been the third quarter for the Lakers, but like tonight in that second quarter, I was like, damn, they couldn't get, they couldn't buy a basket.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They went, they went on six minutes, Joe, without scoring a point.

[Siniko Johnson]

I seen that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause Shay went to the bench. Because Shea always start the second quarter on the bench. They down five.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When he comes back in the ball game, they're up nine, DeAndre Aiden says he hadn't thought about his player option for 26, 27. Says he Trust his agents. I love it here. Regardless, early in the day, deandre Ayton showed off his brand new dominating chain. Take a look. Look at this guy,

[Siniko Johnson]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

He need to melt that down. He need to melt that ish down. Look what that man say? That man say dominating.

[Joe Johnson]

Who?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want to know who is he dominating? What is he dominating? Look at that. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

[Siniko Johnson]

Aiden enjoying life, man?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I might send them goons to snatch that. Ain't no way you supposed to. Come on, come on, come on, G.P.

[Joe Johnson]

look at that. Hey, I don't know what he thinking about that one, man. Hey, man, look at him.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hold on, GP of all Joe Ocho. Of all the. Of all the situations before game four, you re after what you got benched in the coach. You hear the coach read his lips. He says I can't play him and you go get a chance. You talk about tone death. You talk about not understanding a situation.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Hey, it was probably already made or in the process of being made.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't take delivery of it before the game. Ocho, you got. Your coach said he can't play you. What are you dominating?

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey, hey, I get it, I get it. Hey, I'm like, oh, he should have hid that. He shouldn't even brought that out. He shouldn't even been. No video.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Hey, that's the jeweler fault. Matter of fact, the jeweler should have took it back. The jeweler shouldn't delivered it.

[Joe Johnson]

Hey, Chad, he just made a mistake. What is you gonna go advertise that for in the first place? What do you talk about? You should be worried about that game and you gotta be commenting on that. Yes, be dominated on that flow and then bring it out. Win a game and see you dominating, though. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, look here. Hey, hey. She'll say, hey, I give you, I give you. I get 50 guy, 50 grand for it. That ain't for you. I mean, think about it. When you look at that change, who gonna say. When have you ever heard somebody say deandre Ayton dominating?

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

You know, we need to blame the Jew.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why am I gonna blame him? I'm gonna get that 250000 for that change.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

We need to blame the jeweler for stealing money. You're stealing money. You know, listen, GP and, and Joe, when. When Aiden brought the idea of having a chain that goes with Aiden and putting dominating in front of it, the jewelers should have said, no, I can create something else. I should create something.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm in the business of making money. Ocho, there you go.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, that man went in there without a ski bass and robbed him. He didn't have no ski mask on. He just said lay down. That's all.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That was just all but of all the time. But his. But my problem is, look, I ain't got no problem. The man making big money, he want to get him a chain. But you gonna get that chain and you gonna put it up on social media the day of game four after you got benched in game three and your head coach says, I just can't play it, bro. What he Score? 4 points. What he score tonight? What do you have tonight? Six points tonight.

[Siniko Johnson]

I think he had like. Yeah, he had 6.3 rebounds. 20 minutes, 21 minutes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So that's dominating, huh?

[Siniko Johnson]

He was three. Hey, he was three for three from the field though. He was 100.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

He was. Yeah, he was efficient, huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And think about it, they took him out in the third quarter, he ain't play no more.

[Siniko Johnson]

Jackson Hayes was balling though.

[Joe Johnson]

Oh yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

DeAndre Aiden had Jackson Hayes more motor.

[Siniko Johnson]

Well, come on. Damn, you can't. I mean hell, he'd be. Hey, he'd be an all NBA player.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, you know, that's what you expect the guy to be taking number one overall to be, Joe. I'm just saying that's what you expect. Kind of expect him to be. He's supposed to be. I gotta go number one overall. Gp, correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't he supposed to be franchise altering?

[Joe Johnson]

That's what that potential. But you know what?

[Shannon Sharpe]

The number one over our pick.

[Joe Johnson]

A lot of those number ones in the last 10 to 15 years ain't been too good. Ah, yeah, that's potential. He should be like you said, Shannon went that way. But a lot of these number one picks ain't been like that late. It's only been about two or three. Damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, I don't think that Joe. I don't think that's asking too much. It ain't to be dominant. Oh, Joe.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Especially if you're going number one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Think about it. Eight billion people. How many of them are seven foot tall? Okay, let's just say of all the. You know what? I'm gonna see, how many. You know what? I gotta see this for myself because I want to know how many people in the world seven foot tall. Y' all laughing, man. Don't laugh. Come on, man. He got this. How many? Because this is. This is crazy. Hold up. They said there's an estimated 2, 800 to 3,000 people in the world who are 7 foot tall or taller. They are extremely rare. Represent five standard deviation. So an event meaning 1.6 people every 4 million or at least 7 foot tall. And the estimate in the United States is estimated between 85 and 150 people. The United States got 360 million people. They said there's between 85 and 150 in the U. S that are 7 foot tall or taller.

[Joe Johnson]

So what you saying, Shannon?

[Shannon Sharpe]

He.

[Joe Johnson]

He so close to be better.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So let me ask you a question. So if there. If there's between 70, 85 and 150 in the US at 380, how many of those play basketball? How much money could you make if you was one of five or six people in the world that did what you did? Whatever it is, there's only five to six, seven of you in the entire world that did what you did. How much money could you make, Ocho?

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

A pretty penny, huh?

[Joe Johnson]

Well, right now they're making 3,400 million. They making 300, 400 million.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Think about it. Yeah, there's. There's. There's somewhere between 2500 and 3000 people in the world of 8 billion, 2500 to 3000 that are 7 foot tall. So you take all the people in the world. Deandre Ayton is one of them. He might be the sorry as one of all of them.

[Siniko Johnson]

Oh, man, come on. Come on, man. Come on.

[Joe Johnson]

He doesn't.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

He's not sorry. But when you compare him to his compadres that in NBA based on centers, then yes, you're sorry.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ain't no way. Ain't no way. Ain't no way. I could. I couldn't live with myself, Joe, could you live with yourself? God gave you that height, gave you that ability. And you like, you know what? I'm cool with it, man. And they gonna pay me regardless, so. Hey, I'm cool.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, I know what you mean, bro. I couldn't. I mean, obviously, he. He he, he, he's a service will be serviceable. Big. He just not. He, he, he, he not the dog.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No.

[Joe Johnson]

There you go.

[Siniko Johnson]

I think he, he is, he is so offensive minded.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

You know that when he's not engaged or he's not involved offensively, it, it, it deters with his defense, it messes with his defense. And he's not as engaged as you would, you know. Hell, he played against Hardenstein and Chick, bro. Like, he ain't no score like that, Uncle Ocho. Y' all know that. And his mentality to go out and dominate and be better than his. The guy who he's playing against, that's not his makeup. I don't know why the hell he got the domination change.

[Joe Johnson]

And, and Shannon, I was around this kid for a long period of time. He played with my son at the prep school in Phoenix. So I see when you always dominating someone and then you get to the next level and can't be that dominant basketball player was always that one. And then somebody picks it up and then it's like the bully going to the playground and always bullying and then somebody else tries to bully and get him. He came to the NBA and couldn't do that because other people were like that because he's always the man. He was always the man. And when you don't be always the man is a little different. You know, when you get to people who are either either your level or better than you.

[Siniko Johnson]

Right.

[Joe Johnson]

That's just something that he couldn't overcome. You know what I'm saying? He couldn't overcome that. He hasn't come overcome it yet, you know what I'm saying? So I think that is it. And what you said, Joe, it's all up here mentality.

[Siniko Johnson]

Yeah.

[Joe Johnson]

You're gonna be a dog or you ain't gonna be a dog. It is what it is. That's just facts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But when I watched him in college and I peed with somebody, he gonna be, if I'm not mistaken, his team got beat in the first round at Arizona. Yes, they did.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm looking at him, I'm like. And I'm like, okay. I'm not. I don't have the trained eye to look at, to project, because in basketball, you're projecting. Okay, I see what he is now, but I'm projecting in two, three, five years, Joe, this kid's gonna be unbelievable. Yeah, I'm looking at. I'm like. I just don't see a motor. I just don't see effort. I don't see hustle. I don't see hard, I don't see determination. I see a guy that's seven foot tall, that's gotten by because he's always been taller than everybody else. And as GP said, he can dominate because he was. But now the NBA got a lot of 6, 10, 6 11, 7 foot tall, 71 guys. So you're not the only one.

[Siniko Johnson]

Right.

[Joe Johnson]

And that everybody look at play.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You work out and you work out, you go to the gym, Joe, you look in the mirror, you look good, wake up. But you by yourself. 15, 20 other people come like, well, damn, let me put my shirt back on. Hold on. I don't look at, I don't look as good as I thought I did. And that's him. Yeah, he was fine when he was the only seven footer. Ain't a whole lot of. And you're not going to go against just a whole lot of 7 footers in high school. Hell, you ain't gonna see a whole lot of seven footers in college.

[Joe Johnson]

Nope.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

You know, you know, one of the issues here are two, when you talk about it, you talk about how good he was in high school. He was the number one pick for a reason.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Obviously they bank it on you continuing to evolve your game. You continue to get better at your craft, you sharpen up your tools and evolving over time to where everything equates to you being that number one pick. It just hasn't, it just hasn't happened. It doesn't have that happen for him.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah, hey, everybody catch it.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

You let everybody catch up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

And when you bet and when you bigger than everybody and you know, you got a nice little touch around the basket. Hell, in high school and college, can't nobody do nothing with you. That's why they draft you on potential. Well, damn, maybe potentially he can come to the NBA and still be as dominant as he is. It just don't happen that way. Hey, bro, you got a word? You, you, hey, you come in as a 20 year old, 21 year old GP, you know this. You got a dude already in the NBA. He been in the league for eight years. He 28, 29 years old. Hell, he got a family to feed. Boy, please. You think you finna outwork him or outplay him, you got no thing coming. So mentally you got to tap into something else, bro. You know, you ain't never been challenged like this. That's what I feel. I feel like Aiden didn't really get challenged, bro, until he got into the NBA.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, what's. And Imani tried to challenge me. Then he buck and he wanted to leave. Leave. Because he's never been challenged.

[Siniko Johnson]

But that's what we dealing with.

[Joe Johnson]

But we all got it. We all know it, too, though. Shannon, Joe, Chad. When we went to the pros, we was different. It's a different mindset about a lot of things. Man, everybody ain't got that dog. Where we gonna be like, man, if you come on the floor, on the floor against me or the field against me, we go, I'm gonna tear your head off. You know what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Joe Johnson]

So we don't. We.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We.

[Joe Johnson]

There ain't too many people like us four. You know what I'm saying? Us four knew he's gonna go in there and dominate. You see what I'm saying? So it's a different story. Even though we did play against people in college and whatever, and we got better and better. That's what we.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We was working.

[Joe Johnson]

That's what we wanted to happen. This other stuff, it's like some dudes ain't got that, but we had that. That was our gift.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

And, you know, and the funny.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Yeah, the funny thing, too, about it, GP when you talk about that gift, that uncanny. Talk about that gift that you had. And, Joe, you had that dog mentality. You didn't even have to say nothing. Joe, you didn't have to talk about it. But your game and your presence and your aura on the court was just that of what GB talk about that gift. And the problem is, GP it can't teach that. It's not, is it?

[Joe Johnson]

It's just in you.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

It's not a skill that you can acquire over time working on. Either you got it or you don't.

[Joe Johnson]

And you're gonna come every day, chat to the show, and you go, and you gonna give everybody a show. Every game, you're gonna give them a show.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey, hey. And if you met with a little resistance, you know, some guys will kind of fall back and like, damn, I don't want no more of that. But then you got some guys who like, okay, next time you see me, you're gonna have hell to pay. It's a.

[Shannon Sharpe]

A.

[Siniko Johnson]

It's a mentality you gotta have.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Siniko Johnson]

It's a mentality that you gotta have to play professional sports. And that's why you see a lot of these cats be good when they're young. And then you like, damn, when he got to the NBA, why he wasn't here? Cause he ain't had that, man. He never been challenged like that, bro.

[Joe Johnson]

And. And And Shannon, you said it don't too many people. Y' all gotta think about it. And Joe, you know this. When are. You was playing some really, really good players. When did you start really playing good players in college? Probably in the tournament or. If y'. All. If y' all bet a game against one of the top players and you wanted to do that and y' all was on tv. So in college years, we're just rolling through stuff. You know what I'm saying? You weren't playing the top dude every night until you got into the ncaa. And he never had that. He didn't. He didn't play like that all the time. And then when you said Shannon, they got busted in the first round of the NCAA tournament because they would. They went with.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Get somebody that was gonna go get. Go to East. I. I just. I. I don't know what it is. I just.

[Siniko Johnson]

I just couldn't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ain't no way I could be that big and be that sorry. Ain't no way. But, you know, back then, GP if you were big, people would tell you. But you big and sorry for no reason. Yeah.

[Joe Johnson]

People would tell you, oh, they'll know. They're gonna let you know. Let you know. They're gonna be like, man, you big doodoo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, you know, you can't say that. You don't want to hurt their feeling. Man, please. Your damn feelings back with GPU and I, we the same age.

[Joe Johnson]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So. Hey, Joe, you don't. Hey, the people that care. Boy, you. Oh, you know, you sorry.

[Siniko Johnson]

Hey, hey, hey, look, look. You can't even say it nowadays. And I know mental health do exist, but, hell, that's what they. That's what they throw it. They throw that at you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You messing up my mental health. I gotta watch this. My mentality.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Chad Ocho Cinco]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Announcer]

I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The sound of a Seat belt it's one of the most important sounds in our car.

[Chad Ocho Cinco]

It means everyone is ready and everyone is safe. The more our kids see us put on our seatbelts, the more natural it

[Announcer]

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[Chad Ocho Cinco]

Make it a priority.

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[Joe Johnson]

Challenge me.

[Announcer]

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