LeBron's Historic Streak Ends on Rui Hachimura Buzzer Beater

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – December 5, 2025

Episode: LeBron's Historic Streak Ends on Rui Hachimura Buzzer Beater

Hosts: Dave DuFour, Esfandiar "S" Baraheni
Guest: Law Murray

---

Episode Overview

This episode dissects one of the most thrilling NBA games of the season: the Los Angeles Lakers’ dramatic win over the Toronto Raptors, capped by a Rui Hachimura buzzer-beater—and marks the end of LeBron James’ 1,297-game streak of scoring at least 10 points. The hosts break down the significance of LeBron’s streak, the game's chaotic finish, standout performances from Austin Reaves and Scotty Barnes, and the Lakers’ current status and future needs. Later, Law Murray joins to discuss the Clippers’ tumultuous transition after parting ways with Chris Paul, with an eye on the team’s long-range rebuilding and potential trade moves.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

LeBron’s Streak Ends: Historical Perspective & The Game’s Climax

• LeBron’s Streak Snapped:

  • LeBron James’ nearly 18-year streak of scoring double digits ends at 1,297 games, as he tallies only 8 points in the Lakers’ win, but deals the decisive assist on Hachimura’s game winner.

    "LeBron James makes the game winning assist for the buzzer beater to Rui Hachimura... ending his 10 point scoring streak at 1,297 games."
    — Dave DuFour, [04:00]

  • Only 24 players in NBA history have even played that many games.

    “There have only been around 20 players in NBA history... 24 players that have even played 1,297 games.”
    — S Baraheni, [04:17]

• Sense of History:

  • Contextual details: When LeBron’s streak started in January 2007, Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable” topped the charts and Night at the Museum was #1 at the box office.

    "The number one song when the streak started: 'Irreplaceable' by Beyoncé. And the biggest movie... Night at the Museum, the first one."
    — Dave DuFour, [04:29]

Lakers vs. Raptors – High Drama Game Recap

• Pace and Physicality:

  • The game was fluid, physical, and “fun to watch,” with minimal stoppages and back-and-forth excitement, noted as possibly the year's best.

    "The flow was so much better when there's not that many stoppages... back and forth constantly."
    — S Baraheni, [08:18]

• Standout Individual Performances:

  • Austin Reaves:

    • With Luka Doncic out (due to his wife giving birth), Reeves posts his third 40+ point game of the year, thriving as a primary ball handler and master "grifter" at drawing fouls.

      "Austin Reeves... has mastered the dark arts... It's a gift. I honestly think the grifting aspect is a gift and Austin Reeves does it very well."
      — S Baraheni, [05:31]

    • Notably, Reeves’s scoring surges whenever Luka is sidelined.

  • Scotty Barnes:

    • Dominant defensively, blocks a key LeBron shot down the stretch, and imposes himself offensively, forcing doubles from the Lakers.

      "Scotty blocked that shot... There are so many moments throughout this season where he has just erased a point blank layup. He really is one of the best defenders in the league."
      — S Baraheni, [09:49][10:23]

  • Team Defense:

    • High-scoring affair (Raptors 120), with both teams struggling on the defensive end, especially the Lakers’ interior defense.

• LeBron’s Evolving Role & Legacy:

  • LeBron looked “old” and "a little checked out" this game, spending key moments on the bench and shooting 3-of-15 from the field.
  • Anecdote comparing criticism of LeBron passing up shots, tying back to the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals:

    “That is what he's been doing his entire career... it was a little bit poetic that his streak ended in that way.”
    — S Baraheni (referencing JJ Redick), [09:07]

• Memorable Sequence:

  • The Raptors expect a Lakers timeout in final minute; instead, Reeves scores off a chaotic play, contributing to the frenetic finish.

    "Neither team called the timeout for the last minute of the game... it was a really chaotic finish."
    — S Baraheni, [08:03]

Lakers Big Picture: Record vs. Reality & Future Moves

• Lakers’ Strong Record, Weak Defense:

  • At 16–5, Lakers seem strong but “don’t feel” like a top team:

    “They don’t feel quite like a 16 and 5 team. And maybe it’s the soft schedule... their interior defense is not great.”
    — Dave DuFour, [10:54]

  • Defensive struggles, especially without Marcus Smart. Offense is potent when healthy, thanks to pick-and-roll action with Deandre Ayton and Luka/Reeves.

• Potential Roster Adjustments:

  • Hosts suggest the Lakers need a defensive-minded wing (Herb Jones-type) and might need a trade before the deadline to solidify their status as contenders.

    “Go out and get a player of his caliber, a defensive minded guy. I think that really changes the trajectory for this Lakers team.”
    — S Baraheni, [13:07]

---

Law Murray on the Clippers: Chris Paul Fallout & What’s Next

Clippers Post-Chris Paul Energy Shift

• Immediate Impact:

  • The “energy” focus and the Clippers’ best win of the season after letting Chris Paul go is discussed:

    “Chris gets let go... and the Clippers have one of their biggest wins of the season... That's not something you can completely dismiss.”
    — Law Murray, [18:29]

• Roster & Backup Guard Situation:

  • Clippers bring in Ray J. Dennis (two-way) as their only true reserve small guard; team has struggled with injuries and lack of depth at this position.

• Locker Room Dynamics & Chris Paul’s Fit:

  • The way Paul was dismissed—Harden and Kawhi finding out via social media—points to internal dysfunction.
  • Murray contextualizes Paul’s history as a transformative, demanding leader who can eventually wear out his welcome:

    “We've seen Chris Paul join teams, make them better, eventually wear out his welcome... he's being treated like the variable here, but he's the constant.”
    — Law Murray, [21:37]

  • Paul was “going to be him unapologetically,” but the Clippers needed a change due to their poor record and locker room fit, not as a scapegoat.

Chris Paul’s Future, Trade Rumors, and Team Context

• Minimal Trade Market:

  • Paul's veteran minimum contract makes a buyout or meaningful return unlikely; he’s more likely to be “included with other contracts in a bigger deal.”

• Trade Deadline Expectations:

  • December 15th signals trade eligibility, but not instant fireworks—trades take time and planning.

    “December 15th is not... what June 30th is in the NBA. Things can happen, but... especially in-season trades... they’re complicated.”
    — Law Murray, [26:07]

• Clippers’ Big Picture Plans:

  • The team is trying to keep flexibility for 2026, with expiring deals for Harden/Kawhi. Big star names (Giannis, Zion, Trae Young, LaMelo, etc.) float in rumors, but fit, contract size, and team direction make big splashes unlikely.

    “Usually when you have a plan, you stick to it, whether you are doing better than people thought you would or... far below expectations.”
    — Law Murray, [29:17]

---

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• On LeBron’s legacy and sacrifice:

  "That play, that final play where he sacrificed the game winner to give Rui the ball. That is what he's been doing his entire career. Yeah. So it was a little bit poetic that his streak ended in that way, you know?"
  — S Baraheni paraphrasing JJ Redick, [09:07]

• On Austin Reaves’ knack for drawing fouls:

  “He has mastered the dark arts... Honestly, the grifting aspect is a gift and Austin Reeves does it very well.”
  — S Baraheni, [05:31]

• On Chris Paul’s leadership style:

  “Chris was going to be him unapologetically. There’s no reason for him to change... But we've got to be real about how Chris impacts people over time.”
  — Law Murray, [21:37][23:27]

• On the Clippers' challenge:

  “Finding out that James Harden and Kawhi learned that Chris Paul was... being, you know, dismissed through social media is pretty funny...”
  — Dave DuFour, [20:53]

---

Timestamps: Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------|------------| | Opening/Intro (skipped ads, soccer tangent) | [02:09] | | LeBron’s Streak Ends – Game Recap | [03:40] | | Raptors-Lakers Performances & Reactions | [05:31] | | Chaotic Final Minute, Reflections on LeBron | [08:03] | | Barnes’ Defensive Masterclass | [09:49] | | Lakers’ Soft 16-5, Need for a Trade | [10:54] | | Segment transition (upcoming Clippers talk) | [13:32] | | Law Murray joins to talk Clippers/Chris Paul | [18:09] | | Clippers’ win sans Paul, guard situation | [18:29] | | Locker room, CP3’s leadership, aftermath | [20:53] | | Trade possibilities, December 15th context | [24:51] | | Big-name trades, Clippers’ long-term plan | [26:39] | | Closing thoughts, episode wrap | [29:36] |

---

Final Thoughts

This episode expertly blends immediate game excitement with broad historical context and franchise strategy, spotlighting a symbolic end to an iconic LeBron streak, the emergence of new stars, and the perpetual churn of NBA roster-building drama. Both Lakers and Clippers fans will find plenty to chew on as the season’s storylines deepen.

---

Listen to future episodes for more analysis and subscribe to The Athletic NBA Daily for your weekday NBA fix!

Transcript

[A]

Hear that? It's holiday cheer arriving at Ulta Beauty with gifts for everyone on your list. Treat them to fan favorite gift sets from Charlotte Tilbury and Peach and Lily. Go all out with timeless fragrances from ysl, Ariana Grande and Carolina Herrera and you can never go wrong with an Ulta Beauty gift card. Head to Ulta Beauty for gifts that make the holidays brighter and even more beautiful. Ulta Beauty gifting happens here.

Hi, this is Sherrell Dorsey from TedTech and this episode is brought to you by Solidigm. The world runs on data, and data relies on storage. But most businesses rarely think about how crucial that storage really is. The truth is it's no longer just a commodity with new demands and constraints, especially from AI. The old ways of managing data are holding innovation back. Solid State Storage from solidigm is changing that. It helps reduce energy use, shrink physical footprints and accelerate data at the edge, unlocking more from your AI infrastructure. Learn more at whatstestateofyourstorage.com.

[B]

Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another great doubleheader. The action starts with one of the best rivalries in sports as Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers face Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. Then Cooper Flag and the Dallas Mavericks meet SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Lakers and Celtics, the Mavericks and Thunder, both really intriguing matchups. What can the potential rookie of the year do against the potent Thunder defense? And then Luka just doing anything is magical against this frisky Boston Celtics team that is led by Jaylen Brown, who's had a really nice year. Coverage starts Friday at 6:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

[C]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 5, 2025. I'm Dave Defor here with ESP Baraheny. Coming up, S was at the Lakers Raptors game, which I think was the best game of the year. We're going to talk about that. And then I sat down with Law Murray to talk about the latest with the Clippers and their next step. Good morning everybody. What's up? S? How about that game?

[D]

What a game. My goodness, that was awesome.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Amazing game. We'll get to that in a second. S I I know you're a big soccer fan.

[D]

Yes, I am actually.

[C]

You guys call it soccer up there?

[B]

I don't.

[C]

I Don't know, I'm just.

[D]

We do, we do call it soccer up there, but my, my Liverpool fandom, I have to say, footy, you know, football, that's the way I go.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Well, in case you've been living under a rock, the, the draw for next summer World cup is Friday at 12 Eastern, 5 GMT. That's Greenwich, meantime. So if you're in London 5pm in the evening and you can watch the Athletic FC's podcast live stream reacting to all the fallout immediately after the draw is wrapped on their YouTube channel. Guys, I mean, look, we, you know, we've been going live way more often. This is a huge, massive event. So go and check out the Athletic fc, the best soccer podcast in the world. So, yeah, I can't wait.

[D]

I need, I need to see where Canada falls, you know, hopefully not in the Group of Death. Yeah, very excited. Obviously the World cup is going to be here in Toronto for the first time ever. So. Yeah, it'll be a crazy summer in 2026.

[C]

I'm sure you've already got tickets. Speaking of, you had tickets, you had tickets to Raptors, Lakers, although I don't think they charged you any money. Look, the, the end of that game is where we're going to start because it's, it's a huge deal. LeBron James makes the game winning assist for the buzzer beater to Rui Hachimura to win the game when he was stuck at 8 points, ending his 10 point scoring streak at 1,297 games. S. You were born then, right?

[D]

I was born then, yes.

[C]

January 6, 2007 is when it started.

[D]

Yes, I was absolutely born then. Yeah, I was, I was a conscious human being at that point. I will say, look, it's crazy because that number that you just mentioned, there have only been around 20 players in NBA history.

[C]

24 per our friend Sean Woodley. Yeah, he looked it up. 24 players in NBA history that have even played 1297 games. By the way, the number one song when the streak started, irreplaceable by Beyonce. And the biggest movie at the box office was Night at the Museum, the first one.

[D]

Also a great movie.

[C]

Shout out. Yeah, it was a good week. It was like maybe the last good week in America. I don't know.

[B]

So.

[C]

S. All right, look, it was a great game and I said off the top, probably the best game of the year. Number one. I, I thought the game flowed great. Like it was fun to watch. Beyond just the back and forth of the action, it felt fun. You Were there the refs, I thought called a really, really good game while allowing them to be physical. Talk to me about just the game experience itself because this, this game was so much fun and it wasn't national tv. This is like a league pass or, you know, you were watching it on Spectrum in la.

[D]

Look, it was, it was an awesome game. Obviously, no Luka Doncic for the LA Lakers who came in here and, and Luka is, you know, I believe his, his wife is giving birth to his child and that's excellent. Congrats to Luka and his family. But ultimately the Lakers had to do this without him. And what happens when Luka is out for the Lakers? At least this season, it is the Austin Reeves show. He has been awesome. This was his third 40 plus point game this year. I believe all of those have come with Luka out of the lineup. He is just unstoppable at this point as a pick and roll ball handler, as a shooter. And I asked Darko Rajkovic after the game because there were some frustrating free throw calls, admittedly throughout this game where the Raptors got frustrated at some of the calls that Austin Reeves get. But that's kind of like, you know, he has mastered the dark arts in that aspect. Right. He knows exactly how to harness the power of the force to be able to do those certain things and draw fouls. It's a gift. I honestly think the grifting aspect is a gift and Austin Reeves does it very well. But post game, post game, Darko Reakovic kind of mentioned like there are certain players in the league that will get those type of calls because of just how good they are at selling them. And it's not a disrespect to Reeves for that. It's more about like his ability to put himself in those positions to do that on top of the three point shooting, on top of the finishing. It was a really fun game from him and it was a very fun game from Scotty Barnes who despite a pretty poor Brandon Ingram effort in this game. Yeah, really tried to will the Raptors back and give them a punchers chance, especially in that fourth quarter. Scotty was awesome. Obviously defensively he was part of the reason LeBron was 3 of, I believe 3 of 15 tonight from the field. He was a major reason why LeBron struggled in this game.

[C]

Look, LeBron, we're going to start having conversations about LeBron and the way he looks, he looks old. The, you know, the streak because of could have easily ended in the last game and there was a little Bit of cheesing, maybe, to get him to. To this game, but this is two games in a row where it really is struggling. And I know, look, is only six games back, whatever, but he's looking pretty old compared to last season. But he's also, in my opinion, looking a little checked out. He was sitting on the bench when Austin Reeves tied the game up, which makes absurd. I, I was so lost as to what.

[D]

The Raptors were also lost. I thought they thought that the Lakers were going to call a timeout, and then Austin Reaves darted to the basket and got a layup. It was, it was a really chaotic finish because neither team called the timeout for the last minute of the game.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And to your point about it being game of the year, the flow was so much better when there's not that many stoppages in the final minute.

[B]

Right.

[C]

So many challenges.

[D]

We see challenges, we see foul calls, we see, you know, fouling up three in this game, we didn't have any of that because it was just back and forth constantly. And to your point about LeBron and the Streak ending and everything like that, you know, it's funny you talk about. Were you old enough to remember it? I'm old enough to remember game one of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals when LeBron passed it to Danielle Marshall. And all the headlines post game was, how dare LeBron pass up the game winner. They lost the game because of LeBron James. And that's something that has been a part of his career throughout the rest of his career.

[B]

Right.

[D]

Like the next 17 years was LeBron passes, he's not built for the moment, etc. Etc. And I thought JJ Redick had a really great quote postgame saying this, that play, that final play where he sacrificed the game winner to give Rui the ball. That is what he's been doing his entire career. Yeah. So it was a little bit poetic that his streak ended in that way, you know?

[C]

Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

And.

[C]

And again, also poetic that it was against this Raptors defense. Right. I mean, you know, Scotty Barnes was physically, I thought, imposing on LeBron. And, and that's, that's kind of amazing because LeBron, you just don't see a lot of guys, even at this stage of his career, who are able to do that.

[D]

Yeah, no, look, Scotty, I thought on both ends was really great. The way that he was able to impose himself in the post as a, as a finisher. He was making plays. They basically automatically had to double anytime he caught it in that mid post area. And then defensively, to your point, he had a play near the end of the game where LeBron tried to get into the paint, settle into a fade away, and Scotty blocked that shot. He erased it. And there are so many moments throughout the game, and this is part of why he won, you know, Eastern Conference defensive Player of the Month.

[E]

Right.

[D]

But there are so many moments throughout this season where he has just erased a point blank layup. He really is one of the best defenders in the league. And of course, the Raptors winning has helped to reward him in that regard. This was just a funny game because the Raptors probably should have won this one. You know, Luka Doncic, you know, this was obviously an opportunity. I know the Raptors themselves, they were missing Yaka Pertle and RJ Barrett, and so both teams missing a couple guys, but this was a game they probably should have won.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, they held LeBron to eight points. Yeah. But 11 assists without a turnover, though, for LeBron, it was impressive. Yeah, I mean, he, listen, he's. He can still play. It's just. What's the, what's the level? What does it look like when this team gets competing? And I, I want to swing back to the Lakers because, like, the Lakers are a fascinating team right now. They're 16 and 5, but they don't feel quite like a 16 and 5 team. And maybe it's the soft schedule and I'm not even knocking them. They can score. This offense is one of the best ones out there right now, especially when they're at full strength. But man, their interior defense is not great. And you know, when, when they're trying to guard up front, like without Marcus Smart, it has not been good. So, you know, what did you think about the way that they defended against the Raptors? I mean, the raptors put up 120 on them. It's not like it wasn't an easy. To be honest, there was.

[D]

There was not a lot of defense being played on either end tonight.

[C]

Right.

[D]

It was. I mean, I think by the end of the third quarter, it was like 100 to 98. It was one of those barn burner type of games. And you could see that the Lakers were outmatched physically, especially by Scotty Barnes, who was really imposing himself on that end. They were sending multiple bodies and that became the clutch offense for the Raptors where it was like, hey, feed it to Scotty. They get a double, we're going to get some offense going. He found Mamu on a really nice cut towards the end of the game because of that. And then for the Lakers side of things, their pick and roll is so bread and butter to them. It's either Austin Reaves and deandre Ayton or Luka Doncic and deandre Ayton. And Ayton credit goes to him. Ayton is so good at timing his roles and understanding like intuitively where he has to go playing off of those guys that it's just been a seamless process for them. So I'm not surprised their offense looks good because they have a lot of very talented offensive players. To your point about the defense, I kind of wonder whether they end up making a trade. I mean, you know, Giannis is obviously the guy.

[C]

Everybody saying that Luka is asking them to try to get Giannis, you know, I, I don't want to go that far. I think we've got plenty of time to talk about that. But I do. I mean, the Lakers are gonna make a trade, right?

[D]

They should, they should. Like, especially because I think there are some wing defenders out there. You know, hello, Herb Jones, right? Herb Jones might be a guy that could be interesting for this Lakers team. A perfect wing defender. You go out and get a player of his caliber, a defensive minded guy. I think that really changes the trajectory for this Lakers team. Adds another wing that they can trust, you know.

[C]

Yeah, I, I'm, I'm with you on that one S. Thanks man. I appreciate you hanging out. Guys. Stick around after the break. We got Law Murray with the latest on the Chris Paul saga and what the Clippers are going to do next.

[B]

Hey, Andrew Schlecht here. The NBA on Prime is back this Friday with another great doubleheader. The action starts with one of the best rivalries in sports as Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers face Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics. Then Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks meet SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you're not a Prime member, that's not a problem. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to get started today. The Lakers and Celtics, the Mavericks and Thunder, both really intriguing matchups. What can the potential rookie of the year do against the potent Thunder defense? And then Luca, just doing anything is magical against this frisky Boston Celtics team that is led by Jaylen Brown, who's had a really nice year. Coverage starts Friday at 6:30 Eastern only on Prime. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com Amazon prime for details.

As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind. 24 7. So when you're hiring, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that can manage all in one place. I've been in a position where I need to hire many times and I never had the luxury of having LinkedIn jobs help me. As a user of LinkedIn jobs now I find it incredibly easy to find the most qualified candidates. Here's how LinkedIn Jobs works. Number one, post your job. LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. You can post your job for free or you can pay to promote promoted jobs. You get three times more qualified applicants. Number two, get qualified candidates. And at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn, you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of small businesses using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. And finally, share it with your network. You can let your network know that you're hiring. You can even add the hashtag hiringframe to your personal profile and get two times more qualified candidates. Find out why more than two and a half million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com athletic mba that's LinkedIn.com athletic mba to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Gab. It's that time of year again. The holidays are coming fast, and if your kids are anything like mine, that list is already getting pretty long. And let's be honest, some of the things on that list make us stop and think like a smartphone. I've got three boys that are all of age to have a smartphone. I'm telling you, it's something that we talk about constantly and there are tons of concerns around it. And that's why I was so relieved when I found Gab. Gab offers phones and watches made just for kids. No Internet, no social media, and just the right features for their age. Kids want phones to feel independent and connected. As parents, we want them to know they're safe. With Gab, you can have both and protect them from scary stuff. With Gab's tech and steps approach, kids get the right tech at the right time from watches with GPS tracking for the youngest explorers to the perfect first phone with no Internet or social media to the teen phone with parent approved apps. So get ready for a Christmas morning they'll never forget the one where they get their first phone. And really, it's a gift for you too because these kidsafe phones will give you peace of mind. Visit gab.commbadaily and use the code NBA daily for a special holiday offer that's G A B B.com NBA Daily Gab Tech and steps independence for them. Peace of mind for you.

[C]

If you guys have been listening to the show this season, you you've seen Law Murray on the show a lot. You might have seen him on CNN or Sirius xm because the Clippers are having a weird one right now and Law is the man of the hour. Where do we stand as of December 5th? Friday, December 5th heading into the weekend.

[E]

I'm interested in the fact that energy has been a buzzword around the Clippers even before we knew that Chris Paul was going to get dropped off at the hotel 2 o' clock in the morning like it's a damn series finale of your favorite sitcom. Okay, Like I had been hearing that word on and off the record often. And so Chris gets let go and the very next time the Clippers have a chance to play basketball, they wind up having one of their biggest wins of the season. They've only won by 20 points or more twice all year and their first opportunity to play with Chris, not on the bench, not in the locker room, not on the plane, was this game. So I thought that that was not something that you can completely dismiss. You can talk about how shorthanded the Atlanta Hawks were or if some of you are listening, don't even can't even name three Atlanta Hawks. I'm cool with that. I'm not going to judge you, but these are the Clippers. We're talking about a team that through 20 games was on a 60 loss pace. Any win is notable, let alone a win where they held an opponent to a season low scoring scoring total. So I thought that was something they made a little. A little move. You can only make little moves when it comes to the roster right now as it relates to Chris. And they have Ray J. Dennis as a two way contract. That's notable because this team had zero guys who you could look at besides James Harden and Chris Paul as reserve small guards, guys who grew up being guards and continue to be guards. Kobe Sanders is a point guard to me, but he's A wing to the people that matters, to.

The guy coaching and the guy who picked them in the draft. Right. Chris Dunn is starting, so you can't really look at him as any kind of backup guard. Bogdan Bogdanovich is hurt and has been hurt for weeks, even though they want to keep saying day to day. So going forward, it's like, okay, you got a big win.

[B]

Have you.

[E]

Can you do what you haven't done all year? And that is build on that. And they get to do they get Memphis and Minnesota back to back. I mean, if they win both of those games, then you get a week off essentially to really reconfigure your basketball team.

[C]

Finding out that James Harden and Kawhi learned that Chris Paul was. Was being, you know, dismissed through social media is pretty funny. I realize we're all trying to crack jokes, or at least we are. You're not. You're out there reporting. But this points to some signs of, like, some dysfunction that was in the locker room. Like, how much of this is Chris Paul doing Chris Paul stuff in a place where.

It wasn't needed? You know what I mean? We talked before the season. This is the oldest roster in the league, and Chris Paul is one of the oldest players in the league. And so you almost have like a bunch of uncles sitting around anyway, and then you brought in like an older uncle to talk to him. Does that make sense to you?

[E]

It absolutely makes sense to me. And it makes sense to me that Chris Paul, he's being treated like the variable here, but he's the constant. We, we've seen Chris Paul join teams, make them better, eventually wear out his welcome. We've seen that. Like, it's really funny how Chris Paul gets discussed. And I say this as a huge Chris Paul fan. I feel like the point guard position should be played like Chris Paul played it. Like he is the point guard. You know, if he was selling a word of scripture, I would be on that thing. Seriously. I download the app and I don't even download apps. You know what I'm saying? Five page minimum. Maxim him over here. But the thing with Chris is that he was going to be him unapologetically. There's no reason for him to change. What are y' all gonna do? Y' all gonna let me not continue to see it turns out, yeah, that's exactly what was going to happen. They. They're not going to let him continue to be him because no one expected Chris to have to be functioning in ace in an environment where they were losing to the level that they were. We're not talking about 9 and 11, 8 and 12, 5 and 15, and then they trail by 38 in Miami. And, and, and so you have to you, when you listen to Lawrence Frank speak about it, he was very correct in saying it ain't Chris's fault. You know, you don't scapegoat one guy, but you can start with one guy as far as how you're going to address the many issues that you have. And one of the issues is you're not changing Chris and Chris has no reason to change. So what are you going to do about it? You're going to try and remove the situation as far as one problem and address the other problems from there. We're going to wait and see how the other problems get addressed because you might need another month or two of losses for some more drastic things that happen. But we got to understand this. As great of players Chris is and a great a figure as Chris is, you, you got to be real about how Chris impacts people over time. And if you're the median, you're a fan, you don't care. You love Chris. If you are a coach and, or if you are his co star, if you are a guy who is trying to meet a standard that you are unable to meet for one reason or another, yeah, it's probably difficult and, and that is not Chris's fault. But we got to be real about who Chris is.

[C]

Yeah, well, we always, we all know people who like chirp all the time, right. And they're, they can be grading. And especially like you said with Chris Paul, it does seem like the, these shorter stints that he's had the last few years, it's like leaving just in the, in the nick of time, you know, getting himself out of town. So December 15th is the date that's on the calendar. We've all got it circled. That's when trade season opens up. That's when the team can move Chris Paul. I, I just don't think that there's much of a market. What happens to Chris Paul here? I mean, is this just like they work out a release, a buy? I mean, it's, it's a minimum contract, so the buyout isn't even a real thing. I don't, I'm not sure how it would work.

[E]

You would need to trade him. And the thing with this situation, it reminds me, first of all, the Clippers have been here with a much more expensive contract. This was literally PJ Tucker a year ago.

[C]

Yeah.

[E]

You know, PJ Tucker didn't show up for media day after opting into his contract $10 million. Of course you opt into that, right? And then he goes on to play in the Y. He doesn't play in the preseason game. He sits. And before I get to the airport, I get the. I get the. The statement from the team saying, PJ ain't going to be here. You know, DJ wound up being on the roster as a nwt, not with team for three months. And then they included him in a Utah Jazz trade. I think he was traded, like, three times before he was finally waived by somebody. And then he latches on to the New York Knicks. Now, the New York Knicks has been one of the teams that's been banning about is, hey, would Chris Paul be interested in going there? But again, maneuvers have to be made for that to not that to happen. And I don't think. See, December 15th is funny because everyone knows that's the date that the gates open. That's not necessarily meaning, man, we got deals ready to go. You know, this isn't free agency where, you know, some of y' all people know exactly what's going to happen before y' all supposed to be announcing it. You know what I'm saying? You're that law.

[C]

Come on, man. Don't look at me like that.

[E]

I'm not saying no names. You know, I'm gonna let y' all speculate since, you know, we on the other side of it anyway. But, yeah, that's the thing. That's the thing. December 15th is not, you know, what June 30th is in the NBA, you know, December 15th is just a date to let y' all know things can happen, but it takes. Trades are complicated, especially in season trades, because you have your team, you either doing well, it's like, okay, can we do more? You're doing well. We don't need to do anything. We're the Washington Wizards, which I want.

[C]

You know, the thing is, his veteran minimum contract doesn't get you back much of a player anyway. You're not really going to get any ass for him. Right. It's either it's a dump or it's included with other contracts in a bigger deal where they're trying to go out and get someone. Right? Is this a team where, if Giannis is available, like, we hear about it, they have nothing to go get him with, but it is the Clippers. And I know that they just were like, we want to talk about every big player that's available. You know, like, what would they. Like, what could possibly be on the menu for them. When we look at this trade season, man, there's a lot of guys out there. I mean, Zion, Williamson, Anthony Davis, Lamelo. There's a lot of people with names that could theoretically be available. I don't know. Like, the Clippers seem to be really, really into a name, you know, so what are they going to do?

[E]

I really am interested to see what it means for stars now, because the stars that are available are available for a reason. You bring up Zion. I mean, the last thing the hospital ward Clippers need is a player who tried his best to get himself in the best shape. And he looked like it. I mean, he, he definitely looked like a diet GQ this off season. And Zion's still out for weeks, right? The Clippers don't need that. You know, Trey Young, he's out right now. The Hawks are, you know, Wednesday night aside. They look like they are a team that can win, at least with him. I'm not saying thrive completely. They could use him, but they clearly can win with this. They. They didn't collapse because Trey Young is out. Right? And so you talk a Lamelo ball, John Morant, those kind of guys, it's like, first of all, that means you're trading James Harden. You are not pairing James Harden with those guys. But also those guys have massive deficiencies. Why are you trading pieces away and acquiring those contracts? And Dave, my last point on this is the contracts. You talk about Giannis, you talk about a lot of these guys. The Clippers are trying to clear the books. They're trying to have maximum cap space and an avenue to. That includes if you're going to trade for somebody, the plan right now is to have guys with expiring deals. James Harden can be a free agent next summer. Kawhi Leonard, it could be the last year of his contract. If the contract is still upheld by the NBA after all this investigation stuff is. Is concluded, we'll see how long that takes. The Clippers have had a plan in place since Paul George walked in 2024 last year. We didn't talk about that plan as much because they overachieved to the degree that they did. This year. It's the opposite. They're underachieving. It's the same thing. You kind of have a plan, and usually when you have a plan, you stick to it. Whether you are doing better than people thought you would or this year when you are far below expectations. That is a consideration for anything that the Clippers might do in terms of acquiring talent.

[C]

All right? Well, they definitely need some talent. So however this goes, if they're going to try to win basketball games, hopefully they can find a way to get some. Thanks to Esperahenny for talking to me before the break. Thanks to Law Murray for always being available for the Show. I'm Dave DeFore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U B R-I K.com group health insurance can.

[E]

Challenge company budgets with large and unpredictable rate increases. Now, a new form of employer coverage called an Ichra or Ichra can help ichras make health plan expenses more predictable and affordable by tapping into a much larger risk pool. That means businesses know what to expect and what to budget. If you're tired of expensive surprises, plan on something predictable. Plan on an ichra. Learn more at ambetterhealth.comichra.

[A]

Is the job market demanding more speed and flexibility than ever? Disruption is happening faster than you can prepare. Get the skills that protect your career agility, adaptation and problem solving. Scrum alliance is the global leader in agile training and certification. Our new focused courses give you high demand skills to become a strategic operator fast. Build your career on your schedule, take control of your future and get started [e-mail] enroll today and enjoy 20% savings on micro credentials with code YEARN20.