Bird with today's spacing and conditioning would absolutely be a superstar, i think he would be even better today tbh.

That's such a bad take lmao I can't believe someone believes that

Rusty's response to the Harden/AI take is both hilarious and accurate af

That Lebron take was wild. I got a question for this man. How is wilt stat patting for most of his career comparable to Lebron having a good season but missing the playoffs once. Also for all those people that want to use this against Lebron let's remind ourselves he is doing all this great shit on a trash team in his 19th year I believe at a point in his career where everyone has fallen off Lebron is still great.

Rusty you need to do more of these, I enjoy the rapid fire nature of the video, and that it lets you express brief but nuanced opinions in succession that you normally wouldn't have an opportunity to express.

Happy to have you back making videos (consistently) again man 👏🏻

I'm a Rockets fan and I personally really did not enjoy watching James Harden play. The heliocentric offense of the Harden Rockets was always something I personally never enjoyed. It felt like 90% of possesions went something like this. Harden dribbles for 20 seconds and either A: chucks up a deep 3. Or B dishes it to a contested teamate and they do the same thing. Everyone has their own preference of basketball style and Harden's is on the bottom of my list.

Imagine criticizing a pro athlete for being on the floor at any given point during a game. Weirdos.

Bird is in the 50-40-90 club and simulate simultaneously was one of the greatest passers and leaders ever.

Man I hate how few videos and pods come out in the NBA off-season. Love the video buddy, thanks for scratching the off-season itch!

Loving that you're tryna motivate yourself more!

Good take on Harden, always been a fan even though its tough

I think your take on Harden not having success in the postseason because of the KD Warriors is definitely a hot one.

thank god this series is back

i seen this a couple weeks ago that like 15 yrs ago or so they did an outdoor nba game. Could you possibly do a video on it? I think it would b an interesting video

Hot Take: If Jokic doesn’t win a championship in his career, his back-to-back MVPs will be looked at the same as Steve Nash’s.

Yes sir love these vids

Can’t believe some people actually believes Bron plays for stats LMAOOO

Hot Take : Golden State is the healthiest Organisation for a Player to be drafted or traded. The way they transform every player to be the best version of themselves is just leagues above anyone else.

Great topic on that James Harden video. Manz gon have a MVP year

W Rusty fr

of course hot takes are fun to have and talk about, but not every take needs to be so far one way or the other, some fans need to acknowledge that some things are pretty even and can fall somewhere in the middle

U forgot to mention that Bird is also one of the best shooters ever. And this is a league of shooters nowadays. I actually think that between the all time greats Bird is the one that would be better now than in his own era. Ps: Here is a hot take for you,rusty

Rusty looking like a snack with those glasses on

I'm so glad u said that about AD! Been saying that 2020 was all he's ever done for like a year and a half now

The pels are making sm strides defensively by picking up Jose, Herb Jones, and Dyson daniels all guys who can lock down the perimeter. If Jaxson Hayes turns into time lord then theyre the best team in the league but definetly could use some size and shot blocking.

RUSTY IS ALIVE

People get Larry Bird wrong. No, he wasn't stupendously athletic, but he was at least as athletic as someone like Carmelo Anthony, and had one of the highest motors in NBA history. He was an intense competitor, was tough as nails, and was a great defender

Mutumbo was 7’2 260 at that point. Definitely wasn’t scrawny. But still a lot smaller than shaq

Dirk’s run in 2011 is also a legacy-altering one, imo even more so than Kawhi’s due to healthier opponents

Great topic on that James Harden video. Philly hella nice

I love how people talk about Wilt like we actually watched his game. Just remember how the media twists things in today's game so they probably did the same thing in the past. However I do believe there is some truth in it based on what he himself has said (reading between the lines)

If you’d take James Harden over Allen Iverson in any playoff setting, particularly a game 7, I’ve got a mountain of great BC bud to sell you and all I need is an up front $100 money mart transfer.

You started watching basketball after D Rose, don't come and say Harden is better than AI

James Harden Advanced stats 16th in PER 19th in VoRP 12th in WS/48 24th in WS 11th in BPM 7th in OBPM 115th in DBPM James Harden is closer to top 25 (if he isn't already) than Allen Iverson.

Thank god someone agrees with the first take, I thought I was the only one who thought that

I think the “he couldn’t get pass the kd warriors “ is a bit disingenuous. He only played them twice and one of those years kd was hurt mid way through the series and he had the chance to close em out but he blew it. He’s had plenty of series not playing the warriors where he just couldn’t get it done. He even lost to the warriors back to back in 2015-16 without kd in the playoffs and lost.

Here’s my take: truly elite athleticism is unnecessary for scoring. While it can be helpful ie giannis and embiid and ja, there are plenty of players like jokic, luka, harden and even to a degree steph that look slow comparatively but are skilled enough to get the shots they need. Not saying those guys aren’t athletic btw they obviously are

That harden take isn’t just bad it’s inaccurate. Harden was getting scraped by Steph before AND after they had KD. Last time they played mono e mono two guards vs two guards with KD going down hard still choked.

what do you think about Nick Wright's top 50 list?

Thank you as a sixers fan for giving harden his resepect

Bird would be the best stretch 4 of all time in today's league, with all time passing and decent switchablity on defense while being an elite rebounder, and an excellent team player and leader

4:25 there are multiple players and even a coach in tye lue who have said lebron only cares about the stats.

Honestly wilt should get more criticism for his stat padding. He played with several hall of famers. More than jordan, bron and magic. He just didnt like to pass the ball 😂

Even if you’re only counting peak. Peak Kawhi was 2017. He has played greta other seasons but only playing half the games. 2017 was his best in a large enough number of games. You can still find 15 other peak years that were better than that. Then if you’re so ignorant of sustained excellence to say that his peak was only that 2019 playoff run which in total is just 25 games. Even that run, as great as it was, still had some games in which he was bailed out by his teammates. That same roster was a top 4 eastern conference team the following season without him and other role players like Green and Ibaka. those raptors outside of Kawhi were extremely underrated. Love Kawhi, but he needs to show a lot more to be top 15 by any standard you want to look at.

Those who don’t think bird can cut it in todays nba are completely ignoring how Luka plays in todays nba just fine

Timberwolves had the best off season in the NBA this year. We did a pretty good job replacing everyone we shipped off in the Gobert trade.

Anyone who thinks Bron only cares about stats are stupid as hell. Just the type of people you know you shouldn’t be having a serious basketball discussion with.

I think Bird is probably closer to Luka if he played in todays league

The difference is look at wilt's stats on games that matter or what other great players thought of him.

The people that say Bird wouldn't be a superstar are the same people that think Jokic isn't a top 10 player in the league let alone top 3.

Larry Bird is basically just Chandler Parsons on the Houston Rockets.

Hot take: Jalen green is the most underrated young player in the league! Most people don't watch the Rockets and try to fit him in the Zach Lavine mold when he has potential to be much better

was kawhi ever in mvp conversations?

The dude literally wore a shirt that said check my stats and another time posted his stat line on ig after a loss. That’s not a hot take at all

Harden doesn't get it done when it matters. Neither did AI, but at least he got outplayed. Harden legitimately chokes often times. As of late, like last 2 seasons, Lebron definitely was padding. Only padding. Watch his defense and his over-production in garbage time. Man was playing for himself.

I definitely think Bird would atill be great today especially with putting more focus into training his 3 shot, now he’d be a PF not a SF imo.

9:09-9:20 Mostly agree, though his longevity is so much of an issue it puts him at like 17. Almost, but not quite.

Question NBA fans have alot of opinions how many games of each team do y'all watch a year to have those opinions? And ppl talk about coaches but ok what makes a good coach and don't say rotations?

When he said 2 superstars I thought he was talking bout Kyrie and bron

I disagree with the wilt one because of it was stat-padding that caused him not to win then why did no else beat bill russel? What about Jerry west? Was he stat padding too it’s not his fault that he lost 3 game 7s to bill russel by like 2 or 3 points

James Harden has nothing on A.I. NOTHING

what about 2011 dirk

If LeBrin cared about stats he would play all 82 games and have broke Kareems record years ago.

Hot take: if the warriors lose draymond in free agency, they are definitely not gonna win the championship

Okay but LeBron is so fun in Multiversus

Calling AD a superstar & Kyrie just a all star is crazy

I think the NBA and basketball fans could take something about their approach to and enjoyment of the game from soccer/futbol fans worldwide, in how soccer fans really appreciate aesthetic beauty and magic and displays of skill and memorable feats. NBA fans seem to actually look down on those. Futbol is called "jogo bonito" or "the beautiful game" by fans and the teams that played the most beautifully or players that were the most entertaining are revered for generations They're constantly chasing not just winning but pulling off something incredible, some amazing team goal or incredible move to beat a defender or transcendent display. It's seen as a responsibility of the greats to entertain the fans of the team, the fans of the sport, and fans of the future to come. Some of the best clubs have fired their coaches because winning wasn't enough and they wanted to win with style Winning should matter but NBA fans are way too focused on ring culture above all else. Any player that tries to be entertaining for its own sake is criticized. Some foreign players who grew up in soccer-dominated countries have internalized that too. Luka played for the basketball franchise of Real Madrid, which is the most glamorous team in world futbol (soccer equivalent of the Lakers). At Real Madrid's soccer games, the fans will wave handkerchiefs and boo the team for playing boring or overly defensive *even if they're winning*. So he has that approach to games where he sees part of his job as being an entertainer. Ja also has a similar approach even if it didn't come from soccer culture, I like that he tries the most audacious dunks every single time Checking your stats and statpadding if you're close to achieving something iconic is great. It's not inherently bad. Most of Wilt's achievements being statpadding that hurt the team are bad and it reduces his greatness a lot. A lot of his supposed feats are kinda "fake" for me, to be honest. But for just some of the feats specifically I think it's fine. Like if Wilt had been at 90 points with a few minutes left in the 4th quarter of a meaningless regular season game I absolutely want him to chuck up a shot every time to get to 100 for the myth of it instead of make "the right basketball play" in that instance. I think that feat just matters more than winning a regular season game and people overvalue certain wins. I remember some of Blake's most insane in-game dunks more than I remember several dozen regular season games combined Winning without style or entertainment is viewed as impure in the football world, which might be a bit too extreme, but I do think the NBA would be more fun if being memorable was viewed as a good thing. Where a player that's close to some insane statistical feat wants to make it happen so the fans have memories of a moment that'll become mythical. With football mentality if Steph was around 60 points in the 3rd quarter, the whole stadium would egg him on and it'd be seen as a gift to the fans if he rode that wave and pulled off the mythological feat of hitting 70+ or 81 I'll never clown Devin Booker for staying in in a lost game to get 70 when its a memory the fans will have for way way longer than if he'd had 35 but the Suns won and finished the season 25-57 instead of 24-58. No fan is gonna care about 25 vs 24 wins in a 15-seed tank season but we all still remember the 70 points

New series suggestion: Reacting to Hot Dudes

So those Jordan ever wonder why they got Scottie pippen is to let Jordan focus more on offense

Larry Bird argument - see Jokic and Luka. Enough said.

Id take AI over Harden from an intangible standpoint. The talent gap isn’t wide enough.

2 Hot takes in 2 days 🤭

Larry Bird is a dawg in any era.

9:56-10:04 i actually think 17 is where he should be at retirement. He’s gonna end up playing Manu Ginobili minutes. Not good enough for top 15. P.S.: Still better than Kobe.

Larry Bird wasn't even as unathletic as people say. He looks unathletic as a white dude with a terrible haircut and a grandma face, but he was more like average athletically. Not on the same level as Jokic athletically. His highlight reel has many big dunks and he could bring the ball up in transition effectively enough. It's just like with Luka, who's white and chubby but is an average-ish athlete who has a lot more drives ending in dunks than people would think (about as often as Middleton from stats)

The more I watch rust the more I believe he knows a lot less about basketball than I thought he did. I'm low on AI, BUT he's easily top 30. The pelicans could easily make WCF AS WELL

It’s harden but the gap isn’t that big

2011 dirk?

Hot Take: Giannis is debatable top 15 all time and is the second greatest PF of all time

James Harden never advanced his defense. Allen Iverson lead the league in steals, twice if I’m correct, and took his BOGUS TEAM to the NBA Finals 🤷🏾‍♂️

Honestly I’d say that LeBron does stat pad in some scenarios. Mainly during the regular season because he plays garbage time minutes. A majority of stars sit out, during that time when their team is winning by a ton or losing. But other then that the take was sort of sus.

A.I. has 1 of the biggest avd on Harden A.I. lead his team to the NBA finals how many to Harden went too.

0:07-0:14 There’s an argument, but it’s not a winning argument. Harden is definitely better.

Harden is more skilled yes, but AI always played hard and was never scared in the clutch. That matters. See Karl Malone.

I hate Harden but he’s easily the 4th best SG of all time and potentially even 3rd depending on who you’re taking to. (I’m not one of those people btw)

How on Earth can a man who uses 3 offensive moves be better than one of the most creative packages. Harden never did what AI did taking his team to the finals, 48 point game forcing that Lakers team only loss in the entirety of the playoffs. AI clears lazy Harden.

Kobe matching up against Bruce Bowen is of course gonna look better than Shaq bs Duncan’s lol

Please make that James harden video I BEG

The Shaq hate was out of line smh. No one is dominating a series while being doubled by both Tim Duncan and David Robinson. That’s like saying Luka isn’t great enough since he can dominate while running into a Kawhi and PG double every time he crosses half court.

I think they’re getting Lebron mixed up with westbrick 😭 because westbrick is the one who only cares about stats. Lebron is trying to win championships NOT get triple doubles

The problem with kawhi is that he peaked on defense way before his offensive peak so now his defense is extremely overated unlike Jordan or kobe or lebron or other all time greats who's peak was a combination of both

Idk how one maybe two bad seasons with the lakers makes people think Lebron is a stat patter. He is still an all time great who has won multiple championships which I think separates Lebron from Wilt.

Who is Big Mac lmao ?

the pelicans did not make the wcf

Idk about LeBron take. People get pressed when he stops playing when the game is out of reach, so then he actually tries when the game is out of reach. Then he gets called a stat padder.

Jokic is 7 foot 280 and bird is 6'9" 220. If we fit him in this era he'd be a 3 or 4. With that being said, he's way too slow to be a 3 and play on the perimeter. Being a 4 maybe i could see him in a Bertans role. He would be such a defensive liability and based on his 3pt percentage not even sure it would be worth it.

4:00 No, LeBron plays against people 100x more skilled than Wilt’s competition of the time. If anything I believe that Wilt is overrated and wouldn’t be averaging 50 against Curry or Durant.

The Lakers are already now "on paper" a super team.

Also wilt chamberlain's scoring dropped in the playoffs a good amount and lebron gets better in the playoffs. Wilt had way more inexcusable opportunities to win more lebron really only had 2011