Hoops Tonight - NBA Player Rankings #12-11: Donovan Mitchell & Kevin Durant

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd - "Hoops Tonight - NBA Player Rankings #12-11: Donovan Mitchell & Kevin Durant"

Introduction

Timestamp: 02:06 - 02:55

The episode kicks off with the host expressing excitement about returning from an Alaskan trip, hinting at sharing experiences later in the show. He emphasizes the importance of subscribing to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel, following on Twitter, and engaging with the podcast through ratings, reviews, and social media interactions. The host also introduces the concept of "Friday Mailbags," where listeners can submit their opinions and disagreements regarding player rankings.

Player Rankings Overview

Timestamp: 02:55 - 09:25

The host delves into the NBA player rankings, specifically focusing on the challenging segment between ranks #12 and #5. He acknowledges the difficulty in ranking players like Kawhi Leonard and Joel Embiid due to their injury histories, ultimately placing Kawhi at #13 and Embiid at #14. He then introduces the week's primary focus: Donovan Mitchell at #12 and Kevin Durant at #11.

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Rank #12: Donovan Mitchell

Timestamp: 09:25 - 28:15

Performance and Statistics

Donovan Mitchell is lauded as the best player on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the league's second-best team. Key statistics highlighted include:

• 30 points per game on 57% true shooting during the postseason.
• First Team All-NBA and fifth in MVP voting.
• Notable playoff performances with a 48-point and a 43-point game.

Efficiency and Role Adjustment

Despite a slight dip in individual statistics compared to the previous season (e.g., points, rebounds, assists), Mitchell's role evolved to benefit the team's overall offense:

• 2024 Season: Averaged 6.3 minutes per possession with 26.6 PPG.
• 2025 Season: Reduced to 4.9 minutes per possession with 24 PPG, showcasing a 22.3% decrease in possession time while maintaining scoring efficiency.

Enhanced Team Dynamics

Mitchell's adjustment allowed Darius Garland to take on a more significant role in initiating the offense, leading to a 1.07 points per possession in 2025, marking a 5-point improvement per 100 possessions compared to the previous year. This collaboration resulted in the Cavaliers' offense ranking 4 points better per 100 possessions with Garland on the floor.

Shooting Proficiency

• Pick and Roll Efficiency: Shot 50% on two-pointers and 36.4% on pull-up threes.
• Floaters: Achieved 52% success rate on over 150 floaters.
• Spot-Up Situations: Scored 1.11 points per possession with 47% on unguarded catch-and-shoot threes.

Defensive Improvements

While historically less effective on-ball, Mitchell has shown significant strides in off-ball defense:

• Improved ability to dig into the lane and recover to the perimeter with quality closeouts.
• Enhanced team defense when he is on the court, meeting the mandatory defensive minimum required for his ranking.

Challenges and Limitations

The primary reason Donovan Mitchell is ranked #12, despite his accolades, revolves around his lack of high-level playmaking compared to peers ranked above him. The host notes:

• Game Management: Mitchell lacks the refined game management and offensive engine traits necessary to ascend further in the rankings.
• Postseason Variability: While an elite playoff scorer, his overall offensive impact doesn't consistently match the reliability of those ranked higher.

Notable Quote:

"Donovan was lethally efficient in pick and roll this year. He's actually more efficient as a scorer in pick and roll this year than he was the year before, despite his shooting percentages being down across the board." (Timestamp: 14:30)

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Rank #11: Kevin Durant

Timestamp: 28:15 - 55:52

Performance and Statistics

Kevin Durant remains one of the NBA's premier scorers, showcasing exceptional shooting efficiency:

• 27.6 PPG with 53% field goal and 57% on two-pointers.
• First in Jump Shooting: Over 50% from all jump shots, leading with 1.21 points per attempt out of 500+ attempts.
• Isolation Scoring: Ranked as the best ISO player with 1.16 points per possession, substantially outperforming peers.

Clutch and Playoff Performance

Durant's clutch capabilities are highlighted through memorable playoff moments, such as his decisive shot against Serbia that sent his team to the gold medal game. His reputation as a clutch performer remains unchallenged, often taking control during critical moments:

• Averaged 35.5% true shooting in high-pressure playoff scenarios.
• Efficient Decision Making: Averaged 3.3 seconds per touch with 2 dribbles per touch, contrasting sharply with peers like Luka Doncic.

Offensive Integration and Versatility

Durant's ability to seamlessly integrate into any offensive setup is emphasized:

• Spot-Up and Action Scoring: Excellent at scoring both off the ball and in dynamic offensive plays.
• Quick and Decisive: His swift decision-making and efficient scoring pattern make him a valuable asset without disrupting team rhythm.

Defensive Attributes

While Durant's defense doesn't contribute as significantly as his offense, he remains a solid defender:

• Maintains high block rates and effective isolation defense with a 0.76 points per possession against him.
• However, his defensive rebounding and rim protection have declined, partially due to injuries (e.g., Achilles), impacting his overall defensive ranking.

Challenges and Limitations

Durant's ranking at #11 is influenced by:

1. Decline in Defensive Rebounding: Fell to lowest rebounds per game since his rookie season.
2. Reduced Rim Threat: Averaged only 2.8 shot attempts per game at the rim, ranking 228th in the NBA.
3. Decreased Playmaking: Unlike his peak years in Brooklyn, Durant's role as a high-volume pick-and-roll passer has diminished, affecting his ability to generate plays for teammates.

Potential for Improvement

The host expresses optimism that Houston will leverage Durant's high-level scoring ability and possibly reclaim his playmaking prowess:

• Hope for Enhanced Playmaking: Durant's history as a pick-and-roll facilitator could rejuvenate his role, enhancing team dynamics.
• Fit with Houston: Expected to bolster Houston's championship aspirations through his efficient and consistent scoring.

Notable Quote:

"Kevin Durant is the best I've ever seen at scoring the basketball in the flow of an offense, meaning doing so without disrupting the rhythm of his teammates." (Timestamp: 40:10)

---

Closing Remarks: Alaskan Adventure

Timestamp: 55:52 - End

The host concludes the episode by sharing detailed anecdotes from his recent Alaskan cruise:

• Scenic Highlights: Visited iconic locations like the Hubbard Glacier, Mount St. Elias (the tallest mountain sighted), and experienced dramatic glacier calving.
• Personal Significance: Traveled with his parents, marking a rare opportunity to bond and explore together.
• Travel Tips:
  • Opt for one-way cruises to maximize time spent at ports and access remote areas like Seward.
  • Prepare for rough seas and potential seasickness.
  • Explore Kenai Fjords National Park and enjoy the breathtaking Alaskan landscapes via boat or the Alaska Railroad.

The host emphasizes the transformative nature of the trip, highlighting the beauty of Alaska's glaciers and mountains, and encourages listeners to experience it themselves.

Notable Quote:

"It was, like, literally one of the coolest things I've ever seen, just watching that." (Timestamp: 27:40)

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with the host expressing gratitude to listeners for their support and reminding them to look out for the upcoming Friday Mailbags segment, where fan opinions on player rankings will be featured.

---

Key Takeaways:

• Donovan Mitchell (#12): An elite scorer whose strategic role adjustments have significantly benefited the Cavaliers, though limited by playmaking abilities.
• Kevin Durant (#11): An unparalleled scorer with exceptional efficiency and clutch performance, facing slight drops in defensive rebounding and playmaking but poised for further impact in Houston.
• Player Rankings: The top 12 NBA players are closely matched, making rankings highly subjective and open to debate.

Engagement Opportunities:

• Mailbags: Listeners are encouraged to submit their views on player rankings for discussion in future episodes.
• Social Media: Follow the Hoops Tonight channels on YouTube and Twitter for updates and interactions.

Final Quote:

"Our top 12 is completely insane... there's such a small gap there that I think it's at least defensible." (Timestamp: 09:25)

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the critical discussions and insights from the "Hoops Tonight" episode, providing listeners with an in-depth understanding of the NBA player rankings for Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant.

Transcript

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The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great week. It feels amazing to be back from Alaska. Just an absolutely unbelievable trip. If you stick around to the end of the show today, I'll tell you guys about it. Just because it just. I can't imagine it going any better than it did. You know how anybody who's ever been to Alaska knows there's a little bit of A crapshoot with weather and we just got so lucky and I got to see so many cool things. I'll talk about that trip more at the tail end of the show. Today we're getting back into our player rankings with number 12 and number 11, the beginning of a segment of this list that was far and away the hardest segment for me to rank. But we're getting to two more players today. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at_jason lt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast fee. Wherever you get your podcast on our Hoops Tonight, it's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. And last but not least, if you guys want to get questions into the mailbags, we're doing Friday Mailbags, geared around the player rankings here for the next month or so. Again, if you disagree with the ranking, if you think a guy should be higher, lower, should have made the list, shouldn't have made the list. Whatever it is you disagree with, just lay that out as concisely as you can. A little elevator pitch in a comment under this video that says mailbag with a colon, and we'll get to it in our mailbags at on Fridays throughout the remainder of this list. All right, let's talk about some basketball. All right, so this was by far the hardest section of this list for me to rank. Kawhi Leonard and Joel Embiid are very clearly at the bottom. Right? Like, we all know that Kawhi can outplay the top players in the league. We saw him do it against Jokic in Game two, if I remember correctly, in that first round series. He's capable of reaching that level. We, we know Joel Embiid, when he's healthy, could very well be one of the top two or three players in the entire NBA, right? But they both obviously have this injury history that pushes them towards the bottom. And Kawhi is obviously in better shape now as someone who was able to finish his last playoff run. So he got the nod for number 13. Joel was at number 14. That was pretty straightforward, right? But there is an incredibly minuscule gap between number 12 on this list and number five, for example. I'll just go ahead and spoil today's rankings. I Have Donovan Mitchell at number 12 and Kevin Durant at number 11. We'll obviously do deep dives into both of those players today. Donovan Mitchell was just the best player on the second best team in the league this year. He averaged 30 points per game on 57% true shooting in this year's playoff run. He made first team All NBA and he finished fifth in MVP voting. He had a 48 point playoff game and a 43 point playoff game just in this last playoff run. And there isn't a case for him to be above of anybody that I have ahead of him on this list. For me at least. Personally I think you could argue him to be higher, but for me I couldn't find a case to move him up from 12. Top five in MVP voting first team all NBA. And I struggle to put him higher than 12. That's the nature of this part of the list. And Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. KD catches a ton of crap online and I disagree with most of it. I don't blame him for what went wrong in Phoenix. He was getting crap online for not leading his team in shot attempts since 2018. I don't view that as a negative for KD. I view that as a positive. We're going to talk about that today. I think he's going to massively improve Houston's ability to compete for a championship. And I think he firmly meets the criteria of this tier, which again this tier, the criteria is a player who on any given night is can outplay the very best players in the world. They just struggle to consistently get to that level. KD very much is in that tier and like I don't have him in my top 10. It's just a testament to how deep this league is. The top 12 is completely insane. I moved the names around a half dozen times. Multiple guys went up and down several spots in different versions of this list before I landed where I landed. The point is we are very much splitting hairs at this point. And if you disagree with me and you go Jason, I have KD at 5. Jason, I have Donovan Mitchell at 5. I, I, you know, I'm going to argue against it, but I'm not. There's such a small gap there that I think it's at least defensible. The, the guys that I have above these guys at this point in the list I just viewed having a more reliable night to night trait. So maybe an apex athlete who brings insane motor every night or an offensive engine. You guys know how I feel about offensive engines. I don't think Durant or Mitchell kind of fall into that specific category. Guys who make offense easier for everyone on the roster every single night. Or a defensive monster, like a guy who's just a an absolute pain in the ass athlete with super long arms that no one can deal with on the defensive end of the floor. That just sets a super high floor for everybody. Those are the kinds of guys that I ended up favoring over Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant, but these gaps are incredibly close. I just wanted to emphasize that from 5 to 12, I mean, you could, you could just shake it up in like a a bunch of Yahtzee dice and just kind of see how it lands and you're going to be able to make a decent case for that ranking. But let's get started with number 12, Donovan Mitchell. UFC 319 is blowing back to the Windy City for the first time in six years. Check out the fight card and get in in all the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sports betting partner of the UFC, Dricus du Plessis, puts his middleweight title up against Kazmat Chimaev, who's a perfect 14 0. Who are you taking first time betting on the UFC at DraftKings. Just pick something simple like a fighter to win and and make your pick. It's that easy. And if you're new to DraftKings, check this out. New customers who bet $5 will get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Don't miss out on all the UFC 319 action. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app now and use code HOOPS. That's H O O P S. 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Last year in review for Donovan, he played in 71 games. That was his healthiest season since 2019, which was his second year in the league. He averaged 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. 1.5 stocks, 44% from the field, 37% from 3, 82% from the line, 53% an effective field goal percentage. That's just field goal percentage weighted for threes and 58% in true shooting. Really stacked up the accolades this year. He finished his sixth consecutive all star appearance. First team all NBA in fifth in MVP voting. For me, like a classic example of why box score watching is so silly. Donovan, his numbers were down across the board, year over year. Points per game down, reborn. Rebounds per game down. Assist per game down. Field goal percentage down. Block steals down. Three point percentage down. Free throw percentage down. Everything was down year over year and he was flat out better this year than he was the previous year. Keep that in mind when we get to KD and we start talking about his field goal numbers. Because it's the same kind of idea that I think a lot of people get hung up on. Now, to be clear, yes, box score production is an important manifestation of how you're producing for a basketball team. But it is not the only manifestation of how well a basketball player is playing. The evidence is in the play type data. Even though Donovan Mitchell's individual statistics weren't as impressive as the previous season, when Donovan did more with the basketball and when Donovan had, you know, he's running a lot more pick and roll every game. He's just, he was just more on the ball, right? Even though his numbers came down, even though his individual statistics weren't as impressive, Donovan did things that helped the Cleveland Cavaliers as a team score more points. Just shot creation data. In 2024, Donovan ran 1,062 pick and rolls, ISOs and post OPS, including passes. Got 1083 points. That's 1.02 points per possession, which is decent. First our guard, but it's nothing to write home about. In 2025 he ran 1,316 pick and rolls isos and post ups. Obviously higher volume with him being healthier, but 1405 points, that's 1.07 points per possession. That's five points better per 100 possessions than he was the previous year. That puts him into an elite tier as a high volume shot creator. The Cleveland Cavaliers functioned better as an offense with Donovan Mitchell this year than they did last year, even though his individual scoring volume and percentages went down. So the question is how? How did Donovan Mitchell help the Cavs this year compared to last year? And the short answer is he bought in to what Kenny Atkinson was trying to do with that Cavs offense, getting them to play more fast paced, more in transition, more more ball and player movement. It required quicker decision making and most importantly, it required Donovan to give up the basketball more and to play more in the flow of the offense. And he did just that. Here's a simple stat to demonstrate how much Donovan Mitchell gave up the basketball last year. Per NBA.com's tracking data, in 2024, Donovan Mitchell averaged 6.3 minutes of possession time per game. In 2025, that dropped from 6.3 to 4.9. Another way to put it is Donovan's time of Possession drops by 22.3% year over year. That's a significant decrease there. And yet despite a 22.3% decrease in his time of possession, his scoring volume only dropped by less than 10%, a little over 9% from 26.6 points per game to 24 points per game. He basically refined his role to fit exactly what the team needed. He took a step back and allowed the finally healthy version of Darius Garland to do more of what Darius does best, which is initiate the offense with his dribble penetration. And and that advantage creation just greased the wheels in so many different ways for the Cavs as we know. And then in shorter bursts when the situation called for it, Donovan stepped in and was super aggressive. He actually shot the ball, or I should say passed the ball less per touch last year than the year before. So he actually passed the ball less when he had it. But that was what the team needed. The team needed him to cede control of a large portion of the offense to Darius in a larger extent than he did in previous years and for him to, when he had the ball, do what Donovan Mitchell does best score the damn basketball. The team needed him to be a scorer and so he took back some of his touches and refined and simplified his approach to being more of a score. In short, he cut down on his touches but focused on what he does best. And that led to a explosive scoring season for the Cavs offense. Donovan was lethally efficient in pick and roll this year. He's actually more efficient as a scorer in pick and roll this year than he was the year before, despite his shooting percentages being down across the board. Overall, he was one of only six players in the entire NBA last year to attempt at least 500 shots in pick and roll and to get over a point per shot. He did this by shooting 50 on twos. Again, that's a big part of that shot making in pick and roll, right? Fueled by a deadly floater, he shot 52% on over 150 floaters this year. Donovan was one of only eight players in the NBA to attempt at least 150 floaters and make more than half of them. We're going to talk about it more and when we get to here in just a second, but he had a really useful set of counter moves in the mid range and he's always had these, but he's really refined it into a super efficient part of his game. We'll get to that in a second. Then he shot 36.4% on pull up threes and that's a very good number because of the efficiency boost that you get from that three point shot. That was 1.09 points per pull up three in pick and roll. That's very good. Classic for Donovan. Mitchell is a combination of what we've talked about with a lot of the athletic guards in the league. The combination of that downhill burst mixed with the pull up jumper that can get defenders either on their heels or he can easily pull up or up on their toes where he can easily go past them. And then again, this is where the mid range counters come in. Donovan had this ridiculous over the top gather, I should say has. He's had it for years. This ridiculous over the top gather that he would pull over a defender that would step underneath him and he'd step into a floater out of that. And then he was really nasty with that Euro step. Those little moves in the mid range allowed him to quickly get separation. Almost like John Morantes with his ability to quickly get separation in that short range, that 5 to 10 foot range where he could get to an easy shot that he could make over 50% from of the time which removed some of that variance and gave him a reliable piece of shot making that gave him the ability to be one of only six players in the NBA has shot over 50% in pick and roll on a massive volume with that or over a point per possession I should say on that massive volume of over 500 attempts in pick and roll, he also scored really efficiently off the ball. Donovan got 1.11 points per possession in spot up situations fueled by him shooting a crazy 47% on unguarded catch and shoot threes and then some really good closeout attacking when guys would chase him off the line. The biggest boost for Donovan Mitchell on this list, the reason why he is higher than many of the guys who scored more points per game than him this year is the simple fact that Donovan is one of the best playoff risers in the NBA. Darius Garland, who did not make my list this year, he hits many of the similar markers that Donovan hits that we've talked about in this segment. Darius was excellent shooting and pick and roll had an excellent floater. He shot like 43% on pull up threes in pick and roll. Darius I would actually argue in terms of just the regular season is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell because of his ability to consistently cut teams to pieces with his dribble penetration and pass effectively out of it. It really greased the wheels for this Cavs team. Their offense was actually 4 points better per 100 possessions this year when Darius was on vs off, but consistently every single year, whether it be because of health or him struggling in that environment, or a combination of both, Darius just kind of falls apart in the postseason relative to his regular season impact. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell is like straight up one of the very best playoff scorers of this era. Once again last year 30 points per game in the postseason on 57% true shooting for six consecutive playoff runs spanning 47 games. Donovan Mitchell is good for 35 and five on 59% true shooting in the playoffs. To put it very simply, he is one of the very best playoff scorers in the entire NBA and that puts him in this special tier of players who is capable of outplaying any top tier superstar on any given night, which is what put him in this grouping. Now defense has always been a bit complicated for Donovan, but I actually think Donovan's made real strides over the last couple of years. He's never been good on the ball. He competes there better than he used to. You guys remember how bad it was in Utah. Just was just a Disaster on the ball there. But nowadays he still struggles a little bit, even though he competes better because he can get too handsy. He commits a lot of fouls. He's just overly physical on the ball as a defender. But he's made major strides over the last couple of years as an off ball defender. The main thing is, is it's an excellent opportunity for him to weaponize that trait that he loves to be physically aggressive and go after the basketball well on the ball. That can give up dribble penetration too easily off the ball. It actually is useful for him digging down on driving lanes or digging down on cutters. And so Donovan has gotten really good at like digging down into the lane, attacking the basketball, but having the foot speed and the fundamentals in terms of his closeouts to get back out to the perimeter to a shooter. And that's made him a very good help and recover player. So as a result, like the Cavs defense was actually better this year with Donovan Mitchell on the ball versus off. And it's given him the ability to meet that mandatory minimum which we always talk about. Like, in order to be one of these guys in this tier, you have to be able to at least fill a role on a team as a useful defender. You have to be able to do something that helps your team on that end of the floor. And Donovan has found that role off the ball. He can dig down into the lane, attack the basketball, and he can recover out to the perimeter with really quality closeouts for a star player at that position. You look at Darius Garland and we talked about it like, Darius Garland, he's not a better scorer than Donovan Mitchell. I don't even think he's a better playoff offensive player overall than Donovan Mitchell. But in the regular season, Darius Garland is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell. But even in that context, the CAVS defense was 5 points worse per 100 possessions with Darius on versus off. And it undercut a lot of his success. A lot of his success. It's a big part of why he didn't make this list this year. In addition to the playoff struggles that we talked about, Donovan has become a useful defender for a good defense. That was the mandatory minimum that he needed to reach as a small guard and he got there. So now why isn't Donovan Mitchell higher on this list? Jason, he's fifth in MVP voting. He made first team all NBA. Why is he all the way down at 12? The big thing for Donovan is I just don't think he has enough of that, like game management. Flow of the game piece, that offensive engine piece that you need to compete with the elite offensive players that are above him on this list. So let's look at last year in the playoffs. The injuries start to stack up. Darius Garland's got the bad toe. He's not moving as well as he used to. He's not cutting the defense up the way he used to. He's sitting out for entire games. A lot of their shooters go cold in, in large part because of that lack of advantage creation. And so Donovan Mitchell like kind of flashed a lot of the old Donovan Mitchell, right. Really taking control of the offense in more of a heliocentric manner. In the. Excuse me. In the regular season his usage rate was below 31%. In the postseason it was over 37%. So he kind of like reverted back to that hyper aggressive on ball, heliocentric kind of ball hoggy type of player. Right. And for the record, I don't blame him for that. It was the right thing for him to do in that situation. Darius didn't have it. He needed to be more in control of things. I do not blame Donovan for that. It was the best chance that Cleveland had to survive their set of circumstances. But when Donovan goes that route, he misses a lot of the easy reads that are available to him and it can be a lot of make or miss, feast or famine type of stuff. And it can lead to him not having the same level of offensive impact as the guys that are above him on this list. For example, in this postseason run, when Donovan Mitchell was on the floor, The Cavs managed 117.6 points per 100 possessions, which is fine, but it's well below what the Cavs are producing in the regular season and it's well below what they did when Darius Garland was in control, especially in the regular season. Right. So like, I just don't see Donovan as that overall offensive engine that you get from the offensive players that I have above him on this list. I have a couple of guys on the list above him that are more defensive minded players, but are defensive weapons, I should say. But among the offensive players in this tier, Donovan's lack of that high level playmaking talent is what kept him, kept him below the next step for Donovan if he wants to move up this list and get into that top seven. Top eight for me is that game management piece becoming the type of guy who you can give control of the offense to. And he's going to average 8, 9 assists per game like the Damian Lillards of the world. Right? Because he weaponizes that downhill force to generate advantages early in possession that grease the wheels for his offense. That's the next step. But for right now, I have Donovan as the 12th best player in the NBA. Number 11, Kevin Durant.

[John Lithgow]

Hello, I'm John Lithgow.

[Unknown Host]

We choose to go to the moon.

[John Lithgow]

I want to tell you about my new fiction podcast, that's One Small Step for Man. It's about Buzz Aldrin, one of the true pioneers of space.

[Unknown Host]

You're a great D pilot, Buzz.

[Jake Hofer]

As far as I'm concerned, the best I've seen.

[John Lithgow]

That's the story you think you know. This is the story you don't predisposition.

[Unknown Host]

To depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide.

[John Lithgow]

We'll see Buzz try to overcome demons.

[Unknown Host]

What do you say, Buzz?

[Jake Hofer]

Another beer.

[John Lithgow]

And triumph over addiction.

[Unknown Host]

Here's to you, Buzz Aldrin.

[John Lithgow]

Good luck to you and become a true hero.

[Unknown Host]

Buzz and I will proceed into the.

[John Lithgow]

Lunar module not because he conquers space, but because he conquers himself.

[Unknown Host]

Buzz, we intercepted a Soviet radio transmission.

[John Lithgow]

Starring me, John Lithgow.

[Unknown Host]

Can you put it through?

[John Lithgow]

Can you Translate on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown Host]

Columbia.

Imagine that you're on an airplane, and all of a sudden you hear this.

Attention, passengers. The pilot is having an emergency, and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane.

Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control.

And they're saying, like, okay, pull this.

Until this, pull that. Turn this. It's just I can do my eyes closed. I'm Manny.

I'm Noah. This is Devin.

And on our new show, no Such Thing, we get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence.

Those who lack expertise lack the expertise. They need to recognize that they lack expertise.

And then, as we try the whole thing out for real. Wait, what? Oh, that's the Runway. I'm looking at this thing.

See?

Listen to no such thing on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast guests.

Welcome to Pretty Private with Ebony, the podcast where silence is broken and stories are set free. I'm Ebony, and every Tuesday, I'll be sharing all new anonymous stories that would challenge your perceptions and give you new insight on the people around you. On Pretty Private, we'll explore the untold experiences of women of color who faced it all. Childhood trauma, addiction, abuse, incarceration, grief, mental health, struggles, and more and found the strength to make it to the other side. My dad was shot and killed in his house. Yes, he was a drug dealer. Yes he was a confidential informant. But he wasn't shot on street corner. He wasn't shot in the middle of a drug deal. He was shot in his house unarmed. Pretty Private isn't just a podcast, it's just your personal guide for turning storylines into lifelines. Every Tuesday, make sure you listen to Pretty Private from the Black Effect Podcast Network. Tune in on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Jake Hofer]

I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access?

[Unknown Expert]

Should you? That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand.

[Jake Hofer]

Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[Unknown Host]

This was an impossible one for me. I'm just such a huge fan of Kevin Durant and his game and I really do believe he's going to be amazing for Houston this year. But again, every time I looked at a guy above him, I just personally couldn't unseat one of those guys. But again, if you argued KD as high as five, I could. I could at least respect the case there. Same goes for Donovan. Is this more again a testament to how talented the rest of the NBA is? Our top 12 is insane right now as you guys will see as we continue to work through this list. Last season in review for KD, 62 games played. He averaged 27.6 rebounds and four assists. Two stocks per game, 53% from the field, 57 on two is just outrageous from two. We're going to talk more about that in a minute because that's considering almost no RIM attempts relative to his peers. 43% from 3, 84 from the line for a 60% effective field goal percentage and 64% in true shooting. The shot making from KD is just completely outrageous. Like just just listen to these numbers. KD was the best jump shooter in the entire NBA last year. He shot over 50% on all jump shots. Even if you wait it for threes, he got 1.21 points per attempt. That ranked number one out of the 58 players to attempt at least 500 jump shots. Kevin Durant best jump shooter in the NBA last year. End of story. 48% off the catch. 51% one unguarded 52% on off the dribble jump shots. He had a rough year on pull up threes, didn't take very many, took 73 all year, shot 4, shot just below 33%. But Kevin Durant shot 56% on pull up mid range jump shots in short range. When he got inside of 17ft he hit 58%. That's, that's one of the most reliable shots in the NBA right now. It's encroaching on that Jokic territory of like mid-60s, high-60s of like unbelievable reliability and immunity to variants. Katie's become so incredibly deadly on those short range jump shots that shot making led to insanely efficient isolation numbers. KD was the best ISO player in the NBA last year by a mile. There were 22 players that shot out of ISO at least 200 times. KD's 1.16 points per possession was far and away number one. To give you an idea, Shea was in second place and he was a full 6 points per 100 possessions. Less efficient shooting out of ISO than KD was on twos in ISO last year. KD shot 59% 109 for 186. He's just the best to ever do it. When you need a bucket, there's never been a better guy to give the ball to. I was seeing the clips going around on social media the other day while I was gone of that Serbia USA game and that still to this day is my very favorite basketball memory that I can think of. Just the intensity, the stakes, the fear, the legitimate fear that they were going to lose and than seeing everyone step up and specifically Katie, Steph and LeBron run the show down the stretch. And each one of those three guys show their greatness in unique ways from like Steph keeping the team afloat early in the game with his shooting and then late in the game hitting that three coming off the left wing. That was the lead changing shot. He had the transition layup as well. LeBron James showcasing his versatility. He's guarding Jokic on one end of the floor, having those two somehow having the leg strength to get those two crazy transition finishes in crunch time. And then in the final minutes I think they were up to at the time, super important possession. I think it was under a minute. If I remember correctly, they desperately need a bucket. And Steph, LeBron, all those dudes, they turn to Kevin Durant and they say get us A bucket. I'm standing off my couch screaming at the TV like, get a bucket kd, we need a bucket. And he hits that left to right crossover and hits that pull up jump jumper and knocks that shit down to send him to the gold medal game. It wasn't a fluke. He's literally the very best player in the NBA still at it today. And he's been the very best player at it that I've ever seen. This is where I want to touch on that shot attempts thing. So KD has been very active on social media in the last couple days regarding several things, but the big one was this idea that KD hasn't led a team in shot attempts since 2018. As if it's a bad thing. I think this is one of KD's strengths. This is where we have to get away from box score watching. Look, scoring the basketball is a very important basketball trait. And I'm not going to roll my eyes at guys who are putting up big points per game numbers. It's too hard to score in the NBA to just gloss over that. But we had 25 players in the NBA last year average at least 24 points per game. Not all points per game totals are the same. The goal of an NBA offense is for the team to score points, not for an individual player to score points. And there are a lot of guys in the NBA that can score the basketball, but at the expense of the rhythm and flow of their teammates and of the offense. Overall, Kevin Durant is the best I've ever seen at scoring the basketball in the flow of an offense, meaning doing so without disrupting the rhythm of his teammates, without stopping ball and player movement. This is what makes him so easy to fit in any basketball situation. Every time he changes teams, it just looks like such a natural fit on the offensive end of the floor. This is why I think it's going to fit so great for him in Houston. I think it comes down to how comes down to two things. First of all, Katie is excellent at scoring off the ball, both in spot up situations and attacking in the action that NBA offense runs. So like driving closeouts. KD, when he drove closeouts, shot 64% on twos last year. That's insane. That was on 81 attempts. So once a game, more than once a game, he'd put the ball on the floor against the closeout and shoot and make almost 2/3 of them. Like that goes in hand in hand with him shooting over 50% on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots. So you just an incredibly useful spot up player if you can create an advantage for him. But then he also could score out of action. He shot 60% out of dribble handoffs. He shot 48% coming off of off ball screens. He's excellent at scoring in the flow of NBA offense. And then when he's on the ball, he's always super decisive and super efficient with his dribbles. KD averaged just 3.3 seconds per touch last year and just two dribbles per touch. That's per NBA.com's tracking data. Now compare that to a guy like Luka Doncic who averaged seven seconds per touch and four dribbles per touch. Now Luke is a better player than kd, but I'm trying to show the difference in just the quickness, how quickly and how efficiently KD attacks when he has the ball. And even though I do believe in Luca and his supreme ability, I have talked about how him dribbling the air out of the basketball can disrupt the rhythm and flow for other players. It's been part of the reason why I've talked so much about LeBron and Austin and how they have to become better catch and shoot players because a lot of LeBron and Austin's on ball ability can get a little bit of a diminishing return in the context of a Luka led offense because he can dribble the air out of the basketball. Kd, him being hyper efficient, him taking less than half as much time per touch and less than half as many dribbles per touch as a Luka Doncic is what makes him super easy to play with. You know what he's going to do. He's predictable in a good way to play offense alongside of. You know when to cut, when to relocate, when to screen because he's not pausing, he's super decisive. We've all played with guys like that before that dribble the air out of the basketball and you like don't know what to do. You don't know if you're going to cut or relocate. You don't even know if he's looking at you. You don't know if he's trying to set something else up. That unpredictability can be difficult to play off of. If you're playing basketball with Kevin Durant and you pass in the ball and he has an advantage he likes with some good spacing, you can count on him to quickly put the ball down or throw a jab step and do something super efficient, one or two dribbles rise and fire within a like two or three seconds max. He's not going to stop and stare. He's going to attack quickly. And that makes him super easy to play with. And it's not like, you know, I saw some of the criticism. Oh, it's because KD doesn't want all that response. Bullshit. Yeah, it like every time the game's on the line, KD wants the ball. He's always been that guy. He's literally one of the best clutch players ever. I mean he literally the whole beef he had with Draymond literally stemmed from him wanting the basketball at the end of a game. That it's, it is this hyper efficient, quick, decisive scoring that fits extremely well in the team context. We've talked a lot about this idea, the scoring player versus the offensive engine and how scores can be susceptible to variance and scores can disrupt the flow. A bad game for a score is way worse than a bad game for an advantage. Crater not as much so for a guy like Kevin Durant who shoots well over 50% from 2. And on his pull up jump shots he makes over half of his jump shots. So he's less susceptible to variance. And he's so quick and so decisive that he's just super easy to play with. And he's never going to disrupt the flow of your offense. Now why did I leave KD down at 11? It has nothing to do with defense. Do I wish KD would have devoted more energy and focus to defense over his career? Sure. But even in that context he's still an excellent defender even today. His tools are just insane. And he can move. He's got good anticipation. He's good both on the ball and off the ball. He's been well over a block per game for years. That's that off ball anticipation and his ability to use his length at the rim. And he is a nasty ISO defender because he has that length and mobility to give ground to keep the ball in front but also close that gap and get great contests. Guys shot just 12 for 45 from the field against KD and ISO last year. Out of 151 players to guard at least 50 ISOs last year, his 0.76 point per possession ranked 16th 16th out of 151. He's literally one of the best isolation defenders in the NBA. KD Bing being outside of the top 10 came down to three things for me. One, he's declined as a defensive rebounder. He posted his lowest rebounds per game total since or rebounds per game number since his Rookie season two. He straight up does not pressure the rim. He averaged just 2.8 shot attempts per game at the rim last year that ranked 228th in the NBA. Guys like Kevin Herder and Corey Kispert attempted more shots at the rim per game last year than kd. A lot of it has to do with the Achilles injury. He's stopping short a lot of the time, but him not threatening the rim prevents him from generating some of the advantages and kick out opportunities that his peers generate. And then lastly, he's just not the same level of playmaker as his peers at the top of the league. Now I'm hoping KD proves me wrong on this particular point. I saw KD reach crazy heights as a pick and roll passer in Brooklyn and he's kind of just gone away from that, that role of the high volume pick and roll weapon. And I actually think Houston could really benefit from it. So I'm hoping they dig that back out of KD and I hope that we get to see a higher level playmaker this year. But in the last several years, he has not been the same level of advantage creator, the guy who generates easy opportunities for his teammates as his peers that are above him on this list. Overall, this was one of the hardest rankings for me to make. You could easily argue Katie as high as number five on this list, but for right now, I have him at number 11. All right, before we get out of here, guys, I'll tell you a little bit about Alaska. So we had gone on an Alaskan cruise when my wife was working for this company. She got an incentive trip a while back where we got to go with a bunch of the people that were in her industry. And it was like a loop that went out of Seattle. And the loop was kind of a bummer in a couple of different ways because one, you just didn't get to see all the same ports. When you're doing a seven day loop, you've got to account for a return trip. So there's like three of the seven days. You're just on the ocean. And so you just don't get to spend as much time. Each port call is like five hours, four hours. So you're just like really not having the time to explore all of the different areas that you're going. And then secondly, because you're going in a loop, you don't get to go as far up into Alaska, which is like the further you get up, the cooler it is. Right. For those of you guys have been, you know what I'm talking about. And so we really wanted to go back for two reasons. We wanted to go outside of a work context. We wanted to be able to enjoy it more just like without the all of the constraints that came from my wife's job at the time. And then two, we wanted to do the one way. We wanted to do a one way cruise so that you could actually spend a lot of time at each port. Now I'm not much of a cruise guy, but you kind of need to do a cruise to experience the majority of Alaska just because a lot of these places are not accessible by road and you get to see a lot of really cool things that you only get to see on a boat in that sort of instance. So like for instance, we got to see the Hubbard Glacier on this particular trip. That is the largest tidal, tidal glacier in the entire world. So you're not going to see that unless you take a cruise ship into that bay. Right. So I'm not much of a cruise guy, but it's kind of the way you have to do it. And so we traveled my parents, which was a lot of fun. I haven't traveled with my parents since I was a kid, since I was a teenager basically. And so my dad was always big into outdoorsy stuff. And so it kind of just worked out with our schedules. And my dad and mom are both finally retired and so we were able to do it. And we, we did a whole, we did a little trip to Victoria beforehand. So we like went up to Vancouver and we got an Airbnb in Victoria. The weather was amazing in Victoria. We went to like Butchart Gardens, which is a really cool like basically like a botanical garden that's up there where you can get to see some incredible stuff. And you know, hung out in that area. We had a. The weather was just so great. I got like great views of like Mount Olympus and you could literally see Blue Glacier from inside Victoria. You like got to see seaplanes landing and all this good food. It's kind of a fun little trip before we went on the cruise and we got to take the ferry to and from Victoria from Vancouver, which was beautiful as you kind of get into all those islands that surround Vancouver Island. Then we left out of Vancouver. And if you've been on the Alaskan cruise before, you know that the ports that are on the southern end are not super interesting. Like Ketchikan is not my favorite place. It's just super rainy there all the time. The one thing that was cool is when we went three years ago. For whatever reason, there just wasn't a lot of salmon activity. I think we just got there a little too early. But we got there at like the peak of the salmon returning. And so as you know, the salmon, they like go out to ocean and then when they're ready to reproduce, they go back up into fresh water, like by jumping up these like, like creeks and rivers and stuff. And then they spawn and then they die, right? And so like you see them out in the ocean up against these like what, you know, whatever you call it, the deltas, where like the rivers in the, in the ocean meet, where it's like a mix of fresh and ocean water. And they like practice jumping. You just see them jumping, just. You literally look off the shore and you just see hundreds of salmon just jumping in and out of the water. And then like, you'd see them jumping up the creeks, you'd see them climbing those salmon ladders. It's basically like a structure that the locals build to help the salmon get upstream. So that was kind of cool. But it's just so rainy up in Ketchikan. And then we went to Juneau and the weather was amazing in Juneau. We got super lucky there again. But like we went to go see Mendenhall Glacier and we like canoed up to. It was super cool. We. But it's retreated so far back that it's literally out of the water now. Like when I went there three years ago, it was in the water. And now Mendenhall Glacier is like completely out of the water. And when you're canoeing to it, they have all these like orange signs that like demonstrate different times in the history where the glacier was further out. I can't remember the exact number, but like it retreats at some crazy pace. It was like 200ft per year or something like that. So that one's like really retreating back in there. And thankfully we did all that stuff first because each subsequent port that we went to that was further to the north was crazier and crazier that we got to see. And like the Hubbard Glacier was absolutely unbelievable, but we just got perfectly clear weather. So as you're like pulling in, you see this massive glacier, but out in the distance, just all these like 15,000 foot peaks. I have always had a thing for super tall mountains, particularly volcanoes, but I've also had a thing for super tall mountains. And you get to see. We got to see Mount St. Elias, which is over 18, 000ft. That's now the tallest mountain that I've ever laid eyes on. So that was super cool. We got to see it on a very clear day. I got to see another big volcano up there. I can't remember, I think it was, I can't remember what it was called, but it's the volcano that's right outside of Sitco. We got a crazy view of it as we were going around on the cruise ship. But then, you know, my, my mom and my wife were shopping in, in Juneau and I was looking at our, our itinerary and we had, we had like six hours to kill in Seward. And Seward was the final port. And we never even thought of it as a place to do an excursion because we're like, oh, we're just leaving. Like that's when we get off the boat and that's when we'll go home, right? And then I looked at it, I was like, okay, we're getting off the boat at 7:30 and we're not getting on the train until 6pm so we got all this time to do. And so I did some research and then I heard about this like Kenai Fjords national park, this big national park that's like right by Seward, but you can't get there unless you go by boat or like helicopter, right? And so I found an excursion, like a boating company that would take all four of us out into the, into those fjords. And that ended up being like by far the coolest part of the trip. Even though we had amazing weather everywhere else, it was like super rainy. But even though the rain had some downsides, what was cool about it was the rain actually essentially like lubricates the glaciers and causes them to move a little faster into cav. A little bit more calving for a glacier. All it means is as the glacier kind of flows downhill, these big pieces of ice like fall off into the ocean. And by like sheer luck, I happen to have my iPhone out like zoomed in on a spot where this massive piece of ice fell off of the Ilex Glacier, which was one of the two glaciers that we went to go see. And it was, the guy who was on the boat said it was literally the biggest cabin they had seen in the entire season. It launched like this massive wave, like this 30 foot wave that was like coming towards us from the, from the glacier. So we had to like turn the boat away from it and like go further away so that we could like wait for the wave to spread out and like hit us at a, at a lower, at a lower level. But I Have a video of this. You guys can find it. It's on my Instagram and it's on my Twitter at underscore. JASON LT but it was, like, literally one of the coolest things I've ever seen, just watching that. That piece of that glacier fall off. And, like, one of the things that's cool with glaciers, too, is when it's super sunny, they appear white, but when it's super cloudy, they appear like, almost like a radioactive shade of blue because of the. Just the. The lesser amount of light that they're absorbing. And so it just was like this eerie, creepy, like, cloudy, rainy day with these beautiful glaciers that were just, like, calving like crazy in front of us because of the rain. And. And it was just an incredible experience. And then, like, I kept waiting for things to get more difficult, but it's like, then we get on this train, this Alaska railroad train, and it goes from Seward up to Anchorage, and it's just four hours of incredibly beautiful scenery outside of a train. Look, I saw three additional glaciers, beautiful mountains. The bay that goes there by. I can't remember what it's called, but the bay that goes there right by Anchorage is super pretty. It just was, like, one thing after another of incredible sightseeing, and I just felt so lucky. I felt so lucky that the weather was the way that it was. I felt so lucky that we got to see the things that we got to see. It was obviously super cool to get to spend some time with my mom and dad, which I. Who haven't traveled with in years. And it just was a really special trip. I think it might be my favorite trip that I've ever gone on. Couple things. If you're. If you're ever going to go to Alaska, there's several cruise ships that do it, several companies that do it. We use celebrity. I've been pleased with them. They give a very good experience. I actually think they're relatively affordable, too. They have really good food, which is something that my wife and I are, you know, pretty picky on. We're foodies. We just really like to have good food. But a couple things to be prepared for. Do the one way, don't do the loop, because you actually get to spend so much more time in each of your ports and less time at sea. Also, the one way takes you further north in Alaska. Like, you get to see Hubbard Glacier. You don't get to see that on the Loop. You get to go up into Seward, which you don't get to see if you're on the loop, so you get to see the better stuff that's further north in Alaska. A couple of things, though, if, if you do the cruise, when you leave the last port and you go into the Gulf of Alaska, it's a famously rough ocean. And so, like, come prepared for, you know, seasickness by having, you know, Dramamine or, you know, weed or whatever it is you use to survive seasickness. Make sure you're prepared for that. And then if you want to do Alaska without doing a cruise, Seward kind of captures a lot of the same vibe as some of the other ports. And so just fly to Anchorage and then take the Alaska Railroad down to Seward, buying an Airbnb or a hotel somewhere there. And then just make sure you do the Kenai Fjords tour because it's just super cool and it's an awesome way to get to experience, like, the glaciers and a lot of, like, that kind of stuff that you get to experience in Alaska. But it was just a ton of fun and I, it's kind of crazy because I'm. We're, we're preparing for our phase two of our move to Denver on Wednesday. So it's kind of hectic and obviously there's work surrounding it, but, like, it just felt really nice to disconnect from a little bit. There's like almost no cell service out there and WI fi on cruise ships is terrible. So it was like an opportunity for me to disconnect from work a little bit. And I just had a great time and I just, I just highly recommend if you ever have a chance to go check out Alaska, go check it out. And, and if you want to see some pictures, I've shared quite a few on my Twitter feed. You guys can see them there. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. I'll see you guys on Friday. For our mailbag.

[Jake Hofer]

I'm Jake Hofer and this is back 40, a limited series show on Wire to Hunt, part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network. Each episode I'll be asking eight whitetail hunting pros a focused, thought provoking question about hunting and land management. How do I hunt the best part of the farm with less than ideal access?

[Unknown Expert]

Should you? That's what the real question is. Stand without good access is not a good stand.

[Jake Hofer]

Listen to Back 40 on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Dr. Lea Tritate]

If you're looking for another heavy podcast about trauma, this ain't it. This is for the ones who had to survive and still show up as brilliant, loud, soft and whole. The Unwanted Sorority is where Black women, femmes and gender expansive survivors of sexual violence rewrite the rules on healing, support and what happens after. And I'm your host and co president of this organization, Dr. Lea Tritate. Listen to the Unwanted Sorority. New episodes every Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[John Hope Bryant]

It's Black Business Month and Money and wealth podcast with John Hope Bryant is tapping in. I'm breaking down how to build wealth, create opportunities and move from surviving to thriving. It's time to talk about ownership, equity and everything in between. Black and brown communities have historically been last in line. Let me just say this AI is moving faster than civil rights legislation ever did. Listen to Money and Wealth from the Black Effect podcast network on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Unknown Host]

From tips for healthy living to the latest medical breakthroughs, WebMD's Health Discovered podcast keeps you up to date on today's most important health issues. Through in depth conversations with experts from across the healthcare community, WebMD reveals how today's health news will impact your life tomorrow.

It's not that people don't know that exercise is healthy, it's just that people don't know why it's healthy. And we're struggling to try to help people help themselves and each other.

Listen to WebMD Health discovered on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is an iHeart podcast.