Hour 1: Issues with Luka Passing up the Final Shot?

From 30 for 30 podcasts. Brian Pata, senior defensive lineman from Miami, gunned down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing what's about. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction. They're placing the arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. Wendell dug it out, flipped it up and in. Wendell Carter Jr., dirty, grimy stuff. 6.7 seconds left, Magic up one, and the Lakers will try to set up a game-winning basket. With five seconds, Luka LeBron for the win. And Orlando is going to sneak out of here with a victory. No good, and the Magic are going to win in Los Angeles. I should have picked up the ball. I should have tagged. You know, we're going to dive a little bit more into that last position. Hello, everyone. Happy Wednesday. Welcome to First Take. Shea Cornett here with you. Mad Dog with me. Yes, Shea. How are you? Stephen A. is from an undisclosed location. Hi, S.A. And Wendy is with us from L.A. Hello, everyone. Good morning. Let's get right into it. Let's go to L.A. where Wendy is right now and talk about a loss that happened with the Lakers. And remember the loss? Coming off a tough one to the Celtics on Sunday. They were looking to bounce back against the Magic last night and said a disorganized finish led to a Lakers home loss. Luka Doncic had the ball in the final shot, game on the line, but he opted to pass out of a seemingly open three to LeBron, who then missed the game winner. Here is LeBron on that final shot. I'm not sure. I mean, obviously, you have to ask Luka what he saw on that, but I thought he had a good look and it looked like he kind of just lost his balance. didn't have a rhythm with the ball, whatever the case may be. And it kind of allowed him to get back in front of him. I was kind of off balance when he gave it to me. I thought he had a great look, but that's what I looked. That's my POV. Did you and LeBron have any communication about the final play after it was over? When you passed it to him, did you think he had a shot or did you recognize it would kind of be a tough opportunity? I mean, I just saw him open. I didn't want to lose the ball and we didn't have timeouts. But like I said, I shouldn't have picked up the ball. I should attack. I thought I was getting a clean look, but that's on me. All right, so Luka taking ownership. That's on me. The Lakers have now lost two in a row. Wendy, do you have a problem with Luka passing that final shot up to LeBron? I mean, obviously it was the wrong decision. I don't think it's really debatable. J.J. Redick ran a very inventive play. It was almost like a football play. He put everybody on the other side of the half-court line, and he ran basically a bunch formation. DeAndre Ayton sets one of the best screens you'll ever see him set. He screens two guys. Watch here. He screens two guys. That was pretty awesome. But I will say this. Like, you know, at the end of the day, you know, they're down one. They don't need a 30-footer. Even if Luka takes that shot, it's a 30% shot. So, like, yeah, we can spend all morning, like, criticizing Luka for that. I mean, the Lakers lost for a couple of different reasons. they gave up 60% shooting in the fourth quarter to a Magic team that was missing two of its four best players. And, you know, the play where the Magic got the lead, which was a Wendell Carter putback, Austin Reeves lets his man run right by him. Again, DeAndre Ayton does a great job. He plays awesome defense on Paolo Bancaro, forces a miss, and Austin Reeves lets Anthony Black run right by him here. That's why the ball got to him, because Austin Reeves didn't block out. So if we're going to criticize Luka for not taking that shot, fine. But the play shouldn't have been designed to get a three. They're only down one. Austin Reed's got a block out. Anthony Black, they get the rebound, and now they can shoot free throws to win the game. And they don't give up 60% shooting in the fourth quarter. That's the nature of an NBA game. Well, listen, they're 4-4 on a state game homestand. They're going to end up playing a pretty good team in the first round. They will get knocked out in the first round. The Lakers aren't that good. And we can analyze these plays all we want. They got murdered by the Celtics. Good job by Windy. Got to get an offensive rebound there. They didn't get the offensive rebound. Luka, we're going to kill Luka. He should have shot the shot. I know he had a bad shooting night, but he should have shot that shot as soon as he got it. But I think the bigger issue is the Lakers. I mean, listen, to me, Timberwolves are dangerous. But to me, it's Houston, OKC, San Antonio, and Denver. I mean, those are your four teams that are going to be sitting there after we get through that first round of the NBA postseason. And the Lakers are not going to get out of that first round. I mean, I know they've got three great players, but they're not going to get out of that first round. just like last year, and then we'll get to business with OKC, Denver, San Antonio, and Houston, four pretty good teams. That's the biggest issue I have with the Lakers. This specific play, all right, should have got a better shot, should have beat Orlando, bad homestand, but the bigger issue is this is not a big-time team. That's the bigger issue as far as the Lakers are concerned. Did you have any issue with the Luka not taking the shot? Go ahead, Essay. Well, it's not really an issue. I mean, it was obviously the wrong decision, just like Wendy said, but there's a lot of reasons that go into it. Like LeBron thought he was off balance. Luka wasn't feeling in rhythm when he was attempting that shot, when he was going to attempt that shot. So he passes to LeBron James. Obviously, when you look at LeBron James, 23 total shots in clutch time, 61% from the field, but only 29% from three-point range this year. So you've got to take that into consideration. You're not going to hold that against him. It was a contested shot last second. He would get that part. Luka Doncic, here's the interesting part about him. 20 total shots in clutch time. I'm shooting 45% from the field, 42% from three-point range at clutch time, but only 29% from threes in the fourth quarter. So you look at him and you're saying to yourself, okay, you're going to run a play for a guy like Luka. He's your star offensive player in this day and age. You get that part. You can't blame J.J. Reddick, who called a great play, by the way. They just didn't convert, and we get all of that. In the end, it's just a reminder that everything has to click on all cylinders offensively for the Los Angeles Lakers to be anything close to what we hope they will be. Obviously, we all know that I don't want to be in some place like Utah or something like that. Not literally because we know they're not going anywhere. But I mean, if I got a choice of where I want to be in May and June, Southern California is top two on the list. Make no mistake about that. So that's where I want to be. But the bottom line is that the Los Angeles Lakers are not formidable defensively. They can be formidable offensively, but they have to execute. And last night, they didn't do it. So it's a problem from the standpoint that they didn't convert when you expected them to. But in the end, it happens. We all know that, and it is what it is. Okay, so just a miscommunication on that last play. Let's move past that, but let's open it up to the bigger issue now, and that would be the Lakers. You didn't think they're going to get out of the first round in the playoffs. Wendy, I'll go to you. How much trouble do the Lakers appear to be in at this point? Here's their big, big issue. Their big, big issue is – so Austin Reeves came back about eight games ago from his injury. Luka missed some time in there, but when Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reeves play together, they're just not a good team. And I mean, they've been leaning on the fact that injuries over the last two seasons have prevented them from really having a lot of time together, but the data is just the data, okay? When Austin Reeves and Luka Doncic play together, when it's just the two of them out there, the Lakers are an excellent team. When all three of them play out there, they're not. So it's actually a 20-point difference. If you look at every 100 possessions, if it's just Luka and Reeves, or it's the three of them, there's a 20-point spread between how the Lakers play over 100 possessions. I could go more into the detail. That's just the way it is. They're one of the worst offensive teams in the league when those three guys are out there together. And that's crazy. You say, how can that be? These three guys are all scorers. The problem is they all relatively do the same thing. They all need the ball in their hands, and they've worked on it. LeBron's worked off of the ball to learn how to play off the ball. The three of them don't work well together. When it's just LeBron out there by himself, guys, they're a very good team. When it's two of the three, they're a very good team. When they're three together, they're a bad team. They were a bad team offensively during this homestand. Well, first of all, they played about 700. In the case of Luka and LeBron, they played about 747 minutes together. Part 100 possessions, they've been outscored by about 5.7 points. we get that part. The other part that we have to mention, Wendy, is that they're horrible defensively. The fact is, is with Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reeves on the court, you don't scare anybody. In the game of basketball, this needs to be said, Dougie and Shea, Wendy knows this. In the game of basketball, no matter how great you are offensively, when somebody believes they can be just as great as you offensively because defensively you are so efficient that oozes confidence because they know they can score on you in the game of basketball that's just how the mindset works you know Jordan wasn't Jordan Kobe wasn't Kobe just because they could score it's because they could put you under lock and key when they amped it up defensively they could shut you down nobody's worried about that with Luka nobody's worried about that with AR and nobody's worried about that at this stage of LeBron James career, maybe earlier on, but not right now. And so as a result of that, they ooze with confidence and they're going to be in attack mode and they're going to come at you, which is going to put more pressure on the Lakers defense to find a way to be a bit more efficient. And they're having trouble doing that. So in the end, when you talk about them going in the first round, what's the biggest reason we're talking about them going home in the first round? Because you have defensive liabilities and the likelihood is that you're going up against San Antonio. OKC or Denver in the first round because they're going to be the top three seeds in the West you ain't beating any of those three teams not if you're the Los Angeles Lakers by and large everybody believes that and so that's where their problem comes particularly when you talk about the likes Denver has depth and they have yoke but San Antonio has that eraser in Wimbiyama and OKC has a collective eraser because everybody on that squad plays defense and they come for you so So the Lakers don't really stand a chance. That's why you're looking at them and you're saying they're in dire straits. If they were the fourth or fifth seed and you had an opportunity to avoid one of those three teams in the first round, although you still probably would be at a deficit because you'd likely probably have to go against Houston, okay, the bottom line is somebody would give you a better chance because Houston's got issues at the point guard spot and they struggle in the fourth quarter turning the damn ball over like they did nine times against the New York Knicks on Saturday. But the likelihood is San Antonio, Denver, or OKC. And that's why we're looking at the Lakers and saying things seem a bit daunting. Right. And listen, Euston's issue to me, and I watched that whole game on Saturday, is that they only have Durant who can score. In big games, Durant's going to score. And if Durant has a bad shooting day, as he did in the fourth quarter against the Knicks, they're going to lose. Because they shot it last year against Golden State. They couldn't throw the ball in the ocean in big spots against the Warriors. So they bring Durant in, who's one of the all-timers. We all love him. great, and when he's on, he scores his 35 points they can win but there is a limit of what they can do offensively against a good team in a big spot in the fourth quarter That the problem I have with Houston myself Well you should have that problem with Houston but you got to remember Doggy they went to the playoffs last year They gave the Warriors a run for their money. They didn't have a number one offensive option. They do now. And the likelihood is that when you talk about Durant struggling, let's be very, very clear. We don't expect him to struggle, but so much. This is a career 27-point per game scorer, a 50-40 close to 90 guy because he shoot about 88% from the free throw line. The brothers are automatic. And so you're not really anticipating it. Or rather, if you are anticipating and hanging your hat on Kevin Durant struggling to score the ball, good luck. Because that ain't going to happen often. Steve, you need two guys. Murray and Jokic, you need two guys. Tatum and Brown, you need two guys. To win a championship, not necessarily to win a first-round series. Well, they're going to be playing a pretty decent team in that first round. They're going to be playing. They might be playing a decent team. They can play the Timberwolves. Well, who was the bonafide second option on Minnesota? Even though Julius Randle can score, he wasn't considered like a prolific scorer and stuff like that. But the Minnesota Timberwolves were in the Western Conference Finals. You can make some noise in the playoffs where you can start four dudes, six feet, 11 and above, especially if Kevin Durant is your number one option. I'm not saying it's automatic, but you certainly can pull it off. I can't sleep on Houston when it comes to that. All right, down the stretch here will be interesting. Do you have a final word, Wendy, on the situation with the Lakers? Go ahead. Here's the bottom line. These three guys don't fit together. They're not working. Next year they're probably only going to have Luka and Austin Reeves. And yesterday Lon Rosen, who is their brand-new head of basketball business operations, said that Rob Palenka is – and this is not a surprise – but Rob Palenka is going to remain in that seat and be the general manager. So it's now on Rob Palenka to figure out how to use their cap space coming up this summer to reform around Luka because this triumvirate, it's not working. It's just not. it's not working and another thing is when you talk about lon rosen or you know obviously a longtime agent a big time a big time figure in in nba circles and sports figures all together incredibly incredibly close close to magic johnson represented magic johnson for years very very close to genie buss very very connected so even though rob palika is going to be there trust me lon rosen going to have a lot of say as to what goes on and what moves are made and as it pertains to those three not fitting. We also have to remember that we walked into the season basically with this sort of arrogance we were all wearing on our sleeve thinking, don't worry about it. LeBron James, the basketball savant, the four-time champion, the four-time league MVP would figure it out in terms of how to play with both Luka and Austin Reeves on the basketball court. Based on what we've seen, like Wendy has pointed out, That has not been figured out. So that is a story in and of itself that LeBron, because Luka and Austin on the court together were sizzling. The three of them on the court together hasn't necessarily worked. That is a storyline to watch out for as this season continues to progress because we certainly didn't expect that to happen when the caveat was that LeBron James was going to be coming back and he would need to figure stuff out. We expected that to be resolved, and that has not. Not that I disagree, but the unfortunate part of this as they haven't even played that many games together because of all the injuries the Lakers have had. So, anyways, we'll see how this progresses. Let's go to the NFL now, though. We turn our attention there because it sounds like the Steelers are open to running it back this year with Aaron Rodgers under center. Steelers GM Omar Khan said he is open to an Aaron Rodgers return. Rodgers threw for over 3,000 yards last season, led the Steelers to an AFC North title, and a playoff loss in the wild card round. Here's Khan with more on Aaron Rodgers. Like all the fans, we're all searching for the next franchise player. This guy's going to be our quarterback for 10 to 15 years. The door's open to have Aaron back. I've had conversations with him. I spoke to him last week. Mike McCarthy spoke to him. He knows how we feel about him. It was a good experience for both sides. Unfortunately, we didn't reach our goals on winning the games that we wanted to win at the end. But, you know, there's a mutual respect there. All right. Remember the Steelers and Mike Tomlin parted ways earlier this offseason. Now Mike McCarthy is in place there in Pittsburgh. Just as a little reminder for everyone, McCarthy obviously coached Aaron Rodgers for a long time. But now the question is, would it be a mistake, as Damian Woody joins us here on First Take, would it be a mistake to bring Aaron Rodgers back to Pittsburgh? I don't think it would be a mistake. I just don't know the type of effect that Aaron Rodgers would have as far as winning. Remember, Steelers on our run at the second say, we don't rebuild. The expectation is for us to contend and compete every year. So if that's going to be the case, then with the limited options that are out there for veteran free agent quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers might be your best option right now. Now, I would expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to go out here and probably draft a guy relatively high, maybe even in the first round, to try to prep for the future. But if the Pittsburgh Steelers want to contend, who else are they going to turn to besides Aaron Rodgers right now? So I think of all the available options, this would probably be the best one for them. Great to have Damian here, and he's sharp right out of the gate. Sorry, Steve. Let me say this. I want to be very, very careful because I'm rooting for Omar Khan. I want him to do a good job. But could you please do your job? Please? Pretty pleased with sugar on top. Could you do your job? You know, you've been the general manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last four years. How much time do you need to go out there and find a quarterback? My God, could you find one? Could you go out and get a Kyler Murray or somebody? Could you find somebody? I mean, Aaron Rodgers is 42 years of age. Omar Khan has been there for the last four years, taking over for Kevin Colbert, all right, as the GM. you've won 9-8 your first year, 10-7 the last three years, lost in a wild card spot the last three years, haven't won a playoff game. You're going on your fifth year, and you're still looking at your quarterback. And look at what we're talking about here. The Pickets, the Mitchell Trubitskis, the Russell Wilsons, the Justin Fields, now the Ammon Rides, whatever. Could you do your job? Please, please. What the hell is going on in Pittsburgh? You know, I don't care that Mike McCarthy is there. First of all, that hire didn't move me at all. You got a cowboy to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers? Who the hell thought that was going to happen? All right, but we're here. You know what? Chuck Knoll was hired in his 30s. Bill Cowell was hired at age 35. Gave you 15 years. Mike Tomlin was hired at age 35. Gave you 19 years. Now you go out and you get 62 years. You got somebody doggie's age. Okay, you got somebody doggie's age. to coach the team, all right? And he's supposed to be some quarterback developer. Well, Aaron Rodgers don't need development. He don't need development. What he needs is to figure out how to fight off Father Tom. Last year, 24 touchdowns, seven interceptions, completed 65% of his passes. Not bad, but a QBR, 44, okay? And I can't, I mean, I never learned, I never had dip and dunks as a part of my vocabulary that much in my damn life, okay? because most of the time he was throwing the ball, it was under five yards. So we get what's going on here. Omar Khan, could you do your job? Where's the NFL meetings at right now? Is it in Orlando? Where is it? Where is it, Woody? I forgot where it was. Indianapolis. Because, damn it, it's Indianapolis. Okay, yeah, yeah, the scouting combine. My bad. The point that I'm trying to make to you is this. Look, do your job. How long is it going to take for you to find a damn quarterback? at some point in time you ain't playing what are you doing what are you doing somebody got to say it i mean damn go find something other than a 42 you gotta go you're gonna go to geriatric route and literally sit here dependent on this man to come back you're not only waiting for aaron rogers who's one what is it 163 and 93 as a quarterback in his career super bowl champion three four time league MVP. We know what he is, but he's 42. It's one thing to have him on your roster. It's another thing to sit back and wait for him. That's a different issue altogether. That shows me you ain't doing your damn job. Could you do your job? Please. Pretty please. Steve. Steve. Steve. They were 20 and 14 the last two years, and they made the postseason. Two years ago, they lost to Baltimore. Last year, they won the division. Rodgers was great in Week 17 against the Ravens. I understand. Go get a quarterback. You could say that about half the teams in the league. Jets don't have a quarterback. Half these teams don't have a QB. Don't compare them to the Jets. I mean, Minnesota, we don't know if they have a quarterback. Say again? Could you say it for five straight years? Well, I mean, they've been pretty competitive, Steve. I mean, they haven't had a top five pick. Drake May was the third pick in the draft. I mean, Caleb Williams was the first pick in the draft. They haven't had that. They're down in 18, 19. I got a draft. Can he pick it? With the 23rd, 24th pick in the draft. Why? Because they're pretty competitive. They never tank. And they never go 3-15, 3-14. So they're not the Raiders. Well, maybe they need to. Get Mendoza with the number one pick. And I'm with Woody, Steve. You got to bring Rodgers back. There's nobody else. Kyler Murray's terrible. I don't want Kyle Murray on my team. I can't play for Arizona after five years. I don't want him on the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't want anything to do with him. I just do it. I don't want Cousins on the team. him. Cousins is too old. Steve, you can't have cousins. If you're going to have cousins, you must have Rodgers for crying out loud. I did not say cousins. Well, where are you going then? I did not say cousins, and I didn't mean Kyler Murray. I'm just saying, my God, doggy. That's why I brought up the five years, man. I'm saying, what have you been doing? Listen, in the offseason, doggy, do you know they went out and spent about 160 to 170 million dollars? 170 million dollars. Okay, on a defense. How'd that defense look, Woody? How'd that defense look this year? Look, at some point in time, could you do your job? It's $170 million. I mean, you went out there. What are you doing? What are you doing? Do something. You ain't playing. And to go to Indianapolis, thank you for reminding me of that, okay? You go to Indianapolis and you're chilling, you're sitting back, chilling out, having all these meetings and these press conferences or whatever. Listen, he's lucky people want to talk to him. I wouldn't want to talk to him. Look, that's minutes you could be doing your job. Go find a quarterback. Damn, it's only been five years at least. Ben Roethlisberger's been gone for a while. And you're waiting for a 42-year-old, you understand, to come out of basic retirement, essentially, figuratively speaking, to play for you. That's what you're doing. That's not working. That's not working. You got to do something. And you got to make sure you build a piece around your defense. What excuse do you have that your defense wasn't elite? What excuse for that? What excuse did you have for letting Pickens walk out the door and rendering DK Metcalf as your number one DK Metcalf is a stud and we get that But he might not be quote unquote number one material You know what I saying All of those things We can ignore that I just saying Come on DK Metcalf is a stud and we get that But he might not be quote number one material You know what I saying All of those things We can ignore that I just saying come on now You got to do your job You ain't playing. You should be exhausting yourself doing something else to get it done. I'm serious. It's ridiculous. It really is. Okay, Pittsburgh Steelers have had six different starting quarterbacks since Big Ben retired in 2021. They do have Will Howard on their roster. You've been chuckling over here for like 10 minutes straight, Woody. I have. I have. Because I feel so sorry for Stephen A. He sounds like a lot of these Steelers fans. They're just miserable right now because there's no easy way out at the quarterback position. And listen, I don't even know. They should have wiped the whole slate clean if I'm the Pittsburgh Steelers. When Tomlin went out the door, everyone else should have went out the door. Like, start the whole thing over again. Because honestly, that's what the Pittsburgh Steelers need. They got an old and expensive defense. They have no solution at the quarterback position. They have no number two wide receiver. The offensive line is average. Like, to get the Pittsburgh Steelers to what Tomlin was doing, it's going to be almost a miracle with that roster. They need to lose in order for them to try to get a quarterback in there because that's the only way this thing is going to change for the long term. Well, you could evaluate. You could evaluate. I mean, like I said, we do have situations where quarterback play hasn't been stellar. but the pieces around that quarterback. Like, for example, we look at a team like the Cleveland Browns and how miserable they were because they haven't had a quarterback. And we hope that Shador Sanders is going to continue to develop and grow. But you know what you couldn't say about Cleveland? Look at their defense. That's why we were all flustered and we didn't blame Schwartz for resigning from the position because how do you not give him the head coach a job considering what he was doing with that defense? You got to pay attention to stuff like that. I'm just looking at it and I'm saying as the GM, you know what? Yes, I want you to go out and find a quarterback. That is absolutely positively true. But I also want to see you build a team around the quarterback where we're not able to say much else is wrong with them as it pertains to what they bring to the table. I'm going to repeat it. $170 million. $170 million. You had that money to go out and free agency and you went and you spent it. On what? How did it work out? This is a problem. And somebody got to say it, man. Omar Khan is not playing. You the GM. Do your job. Get behind that desk. Work those phones. Scout. Do what the hell you got to do. Find somebody out of the scrap heap. Find a diamond in the rough. Do something. Anybody can do the obvious. Anybody can sit up there and tank and stink up the joint and get and have a 1-16 season and end up with a top two pick in the NFL draft. I got that part. And we know you go. Who the hell don't know? Vegas ain't going to pick Fernando Mendoza. But the point is, what do you do after that? What do you find? Where are the diamonds in the roughs? What's up? That's all I'm saying. Just do it. Just do it. The Steelers have the 21st pick in the upcoming NFL draft right now. Mel Kuyper Jr. does have them taking a quarterback in Ty Simpson out of Alabama. We'll see how that all transpired. I know that doesn't probably move you, but that's what Mel Kuyper says. Coming up, after the Cavs just cruise past the Knicks, which team are we higher on in the East? My goodness, did the Knicks look disappointing last night. We'll see Stephen A's reaction to that. Plus, it's a huge showdown tonight on ESPN between two MVP candidates. But who has been more impressive this season? Is it Jokic or is it Jalen Brown? More First Take after this. Welcome back to First Take. The Knicks fought for about one half against the Cavaliers last night, but then Cleveland took over and the Knicks never really could catch back up. The third quarter was really the worst shooting quarter by the Knicks since 2018. And at one point in the fourth, the Cavs were up by 20. The Cavs are now tied with the Knicks for third place in the East. But let's go back to that bad third quarter. Coming out of halftime, the Knicks were down six. Then they only scored 11 points. They made only three field goals. That is their fewest points in any quarter since 2022 and their worst field goal percentage in any quarter since 2016. team. Not good in the second half at all for the Knicks. Shanae Agumakay is here with us. And so Shanae, I'll go to you first. Were you more encouraged by Cleveland or discouraged by the Knicks? Help Stephen A. Oh, poor, poor Stephen A. Smith. I can see it right here. You know that LMA song? Feeling so deep in my feelings. Watching that game, I knew Stephen A. Smith was going to be deep in his feelings. Stephen A., when did you turn it off? Third quarter? Fourth quarter? When did you put the misery away? Third quarter. Yeah, I knew it. Sorry, let me not laugh at your pain. I knew it. I knew it. I genuinely feel for Knicks fans because at the start of the season, this is a team on paper that to me was a clear-cut favorite. It took a generational run by Tyrese Halliburton and the best offense at that time in the NBA to keep them from advancing to the NBA Finals. And this year it's like, okay, we made the controversial coaching change. We're going to right the wrongs. But so far in the sample size against the best teams in the East, they are sub 500. They are four and five against the Cavs, the Celtics, and obviously the Pistons. And what I'll say here is I am more encouraged by far by what I've seen from the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I say this because it is not easy to drop in a new player, James Harden, and honestly play your best version of basketball right after. Mind you, James Harden is probably one of the most heavily criticized players. Also, he left a good thing, the Clippers, that win streak, when he left for a great thing, which is now the Cleveland Cavaliers being 6-1 since he has arrived. I am in awe of what is happening in Cleveland because right now we're talking about no longer the Knicks coming out of the East. And obviously the favorites are the Detroit Pistons, but the Cleveland Cavaliers have absolutely entered the conversation. And that three right there probably made you sick, Stephen A. It probably made you sick because there was no New York Knicks defender in sight. They gave them too many easy looks. The Cavs just disposed of them quite easily, especially in the second half. Last, I'll say this. James Harden came, you know, for three reasons. One, he said he wants to win a championship. And to me, that was interesting to say that and also back it up with his play. Two, he has to make Donovan Mitchell look great. And so far, Don has looked happy and brought new life to this organization, to this franchise. Three, he had to really unlock the bigs. Jarrett Allen, since James Harden has arrived, 11 from 12 from the field, 10 for 16, 8 for 8, 5 for 8, 11 for 15, 4 for 6, 7 for 8 last night, averaging 20 points and shooting 77% from the field. I did not have that on my bingo card with where the Cavs were about two months ago. Now we're talking about them potentially being the ones, the squad, to make it to the NBA Finals. Good point, Jaday. I wanted to look up what the New York Knicks gave up for Mikel Bridges, because I want everybody to understand the magnitude of that move. They gave up Bogdanovich, including four unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029 and 2031 and a protected first round pick via milwaukee to get mikhail bridges now we know that the brother can be relied upon to show up on the court and we know that um he's an eye he's an iron man in that regard but he's not even an all-star the phoenix suns you know didn't get that in return for Kevin Durant. The Dallas Mavericks didn't get that in return for Luka Doncic. You see what the Knicks have given up. And I tell this to America in the basketball world, it is literally the only thing you can blame Jalen Brunson for. Because being the face of the franchise, the star of the New York Knicks, knowing basketball well enough to know what help you would need, you want your boy yes you sacrificed over 100 million dollars by signing early so the new york knicks could go and get your boy they ultimately give him 150 million so you have your former college teammate at villanova that's now with you in the new york knicks jalen brunson didn't look at the nba landscape and and understand what it would take to win it all because the new york knicks have Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, this past summer, if they had about two or three of those picks. They have him, doggy. They have him, Sinead. But that didn't happen. And the reason why I find myself miserable is because I'm looking at the New York Knicks team right now that's clearly not the same without Tom Libido. That grit and that grind that we saw from them the last couple of years, we're not seeing that now. There was slippage defensively, which we knew would occur. What we expected was an upgrade offensively. Carl Anthony Towns doesn't look the same. They don't look the same offensively from three-point range. I'm looking at a New York Knicks team right now, three of 24 in the fourth quarter, one of 12 from three-point range. In their three losses to the Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers this month, they've shot a collective 26 of 105. That is 25% from three point range. Ladies and gentlemen, I usually don't say this on national television, but I'm pissed off. You don't even understand how pissed off I am at this New York Knicks team right now. You have a championship appearance at the very least within your grasp. And it looks like they've blown it because Boston has upgraded because Jalen Brown has ascended and Jason Tatum is going to return. The Detroit Pistons have ascended and they got an ax to grind with the New York Knicks and they've shown us because they've outscored them by 84 points and stomped them so bad, there's immigration issues going on in the National Basketball Association because the New York Knicks are being exiled from the state of Michigan. That's how bad they've gotten their ass kicked by the Pistons, okay? And then you've got the Cleveland Cavaliers that go out and they get James Harden to pair with Donovan Mitchell. And by the way, despite James Harden's struggles in big games, we know the brother is an elite scorer when he wants to be. He's an elite point guard when he wants to be. And big men religiously are better with him on the basketball court because he knows how to get them the ball, and he's gifted enough to be able to spread the floor for them to operate in space. when he's getting it to them and he's not choosing to launch long range. The New York Knicks have about three teams that are standing in their way right now, and I'm sick to my stomach because next year don't look no better when Tyrese Halliburton gets back. Orlando continues to ascend. I'm so disgusted I can't even put in the words. Go ahead doggy Well McHale Bridges is the fifth best Knicks so you can give up five picks for your fifth best player He not as good as Hart not as important to the Knicks He not as good as Towns He not as good an OG and he certainly not as good as Brunson And an OB. That was a bad trade. Now, I'm not going to kill Rose because that was a phenomenal move. Brunson GMs are not going to be 100%. I hated the Thibodeau firing. I don't care what Steve says. I don't care what anybody says. That was Dolan who did it. I don't hear about the players. you know, well, they don't like the minutes. Nonsense. When they beat the Celtics, they were dancing on 7th Avenue, and everybody loved Thibodeau. Hal Burton makes a shot out of a miracle, bounces nine miles in the air, it goes in, that board doesn't go in, the Knicks are in the final, and Thibodeau is still coaching the team. Now, as far as the scenario is with these four teams, I understand what Steve's saying. I get it. But I thought the same thing, and then I saw the Knicks play the fourth quarter against Houston on Saturday night. But that was a great come, down 18. That was a great comeback. Grit guts, figured it out, got the job, the little kid played well, the kid from the Pelicans did a very good job again, Alvarado did a nice job, played well, did an excellent job, and they won the game. So every time you're ready, then they came back and beat the Bulls, they were going to be flat, they win the game in the fourth quarter. Every time you think the Knicks are, eh, you know what, they're the fourth best team, they surprise you, and they go on these little runs here, and they win games, and they are still very dangerous in these four teams. First off, the Celtics, let's see how Tatum handles it when he returns. Secondly, everybody in America is on the piston bandwagon. They've won two playoff games. They don't have a second scorer. I gotta see it. And thirdly, before everybody wants to go crazy about Harden, here's the problem with Cleveland. He has to dominate the game if you have him on your team. His ball's in his hands, the whole nine yards. And when you have that kind of player, quarterback, same way. When you have that player who has to dominate the game when he plays badly, which he does all the time in big games, you're finished. Philadelphia, Clippers, Oklahoma City in the final, Houston, when he plays badly, when the chips are in the middle of the table, they lose. So I can't think that Cleveland now is going to be a team that's going to win the East. I still think, despite what Stevie just said, I still think the Knicks have a chance to get out of the conference. Hold on. Jene, really quick. Mikel Bridges. Yeah. A hell of a time to bring in Mikel Bridges, in my opinion. I mean, he shot better, you could argue, and took more shots last night than Carl Anthony Towns did. I mean, I know. Go ahead, Shanae. Go ahead. I'll finish. Go ahead. You're right on the money there, Shea, and I'm going to come back to it. But first, Doggy, I want you to know that the James Harden that you knew maybe 10 years ago is not the James Harden now. We've seen multiple iterations of James Harden, the guy who was a six-man at OKC. I know him from the Houston Rockets. That was the MVP. We have the guy that called himself between Brooklyn and Philly, the system, right? And people looked at him crazy. But now the James Harden that we know is truly a facilitator. And he played alongside Kawhi Leonard, who I think was fifth or sixth in usage, which is very similar to the usage that Donovan Mitchell had, which is why this transition actually is quite seamless, because he's not necessarily that dominant guy anymore. He's not the guy that—and I think the reason why he left Los Angeles for Cleveland is because he understood, especially with the up and down availability of Kawhi Leonard, he could not be that number one or number two consistently. He goes to a place where he's expected, honestly, to be more so number three. This is Donovan Mitchell's team. And then secondly, you have those bigs out there. You need Evan Mobley to eat, the reigning defensive player of the year. And on top of that, I mentioned Jarrett Allen's numbers. Those guys are kind of more priority in this scenario where James Harden is more of a facilitator than the old guy that we knew that was truly ball dominant. And then to get to Shea's point, the biggest issue, Stephen A. Smith, because Stephen A., I don't know if I can see you. I hope I have enough power to bring him back on my screen. I want to see that chocolate. Stephen A., the biggest issue that you have and what you outlined with the top four teams in the East, all of the other teams, the Boston Celtics, you know, the Detroit Pistons, all of these teams, the squads, the Cleveland Cavaliers, they now have found consistency. And the lack of consistency for the New York Knicks is their biggest problem right now. And the reason why they have a lack of consistency is the reason why you look at the box scoring, you see how in the world could Carl Thee Towns only have five shots in this game? When your team is when you're outside shooters, Mikkel Bridges and Jalen Brunson are 12 for 36 from the floor and shooting 25 or 27 percent as a team from three. You go to your big man, but then the big man only has five shots. That is the problem. If you fix that, maybe you'll have more of a chance. He only took one shot in the second half. It's just all bad. It's all bad. And the problem with the Knicks is— That's him, too, though. That's him, too, though. That's him, too. Listen, Carl Anthony Towns, you know my man, I did the commercial with him before the season began. I love Carl Anthony Towns. I've known him for years. Let me tell you something right now. I'm not putting that totally on Mike Brown. You know, at some point in time, you've got to have an attitude. And this falls along the lines of what Shaq was trying to tell him the other day, Saturday night after they beat Houston, when Shaq was like, you've got to be great. That's why Shaq was right. In other words, you've got to go get it. You got to be some kind of attitude. Cats got to know if we don't get Carl Anthony Towns the basketball, we're going to have a problem with Carl Anthony Towns because he ain't having it. You got to want it and you got to go get it. There's no excuse on God's green earth unless he was just hurt and it could not go at all for Carl Anthony Towns to be taking one shot in the second half on this New York Knicks squad. There's no excuse. It's bad. I thought they would respond better, especially after being down by so much in the fourth quarter against Houston. The loss to the Pistons. We were talking about how there was maybe some sort of oomph that was missing, and then they showed up like this in the second half against Cavs. Disappointing, the New York Knicks. Coming up, huge showdown between Nikola Jokic and Jalen Brown tonight on ESPN. Which of these two stars is more likely to win an MVP when all is said and done? We'll tell you next. This first take rolls along. The ESPN app is your new home for WWE premium live events, and that includes the Elimination Chamber on February 28th, right in my hometown of Chicago. And to watch, you need the ESPN Unlimited plan. You can sign up at the URL below, or if you have a paid TV provider, you might already have ESPN Unlimited included at no additional cost. Just head to activate.espn.com, follow the steps to get set up, and you're good to go. Then sign in to ESPN F and boom! The biggest WWE premium live events, all in one place, anytime, anywhere. Welcome back to First Take. So the Celtics beat the Suns last night without Jalen Brown. They'll now head to Denver to face Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets on ESPN. The MVP race, though, is heating up in the NBA. Jokic currently has the second-best odds to win the award, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, as he is averaging a triple-double this season and leads the NBA in assists per game and total rebounds per game. On the other hand, Jalen Brown is averaging career highs in all three of those categories as well. So who has the better case for MVP this season? Is it Jokic or is it Brown? When Horace is back with us, Wendy, what do you think? Yeah, it's Jokic. But, you know, Jokic, he's had a tough couple of weeks. Coming back from this knee injury, he hasn't quite been the same player. He's also dealing with a wrist injury right now. He's averaging like almost five turnovers his last eight or nine games. Their offense has been struggling a little bit. he's never gone through a midseason injury like this. And I feel like he's learning how to come back. And so his lift is enormous every single night. Jalen Brown's is as well because he plays both ends. But Jokic is still leading the league in rebounding and assists and having the best shooting season of his career. He is still having an amazing season. But he and the Nuggets have not played their best in the last few weeks. Well, the problem is he has to play 65 games, right? He's only played 41 and I got 24 left. So he'd have to play 23 of the 24 games. Only miss one more game, right? And he's not going to do that. So, I mean, from a standpoint of that, you know, he's not going to be in consideration at the end of the year. But I'm with Brian. If you look at it just right now, you've got to give it to – Jokic is the best player in the league. Still is. I mean, if I had to take one guy right now in a playoff series for my life, that includes Wembeyama, that includes SGA, that includes, you know, So, Dulkic, Luka, that includes anybody in Boston, Cunningham, it's him. I've got to win a series for my life. He's the guy I'm going to take. And I think everybody who follows basketball would say the same thing. But from an MVP standpoint, he is the MVP, but you're not going to get it because he's not going to play the 65. So, it's probably going to be. Well, listen, I'm not even taking into account. I mean, we all know the rules, and we know that if he doesn't play at least 65 games, he's not eligible. We understand that. But I'm looking at Jalen Brown, and I'm saying I would give it to him. The MVP doesn't always go to the best player. If that's the case, Michael Jordan would have won it about ten times, okay? The fact of the matter is sometimes it goes to the most valuable individual that particular season, taking all things into consideration in terms of what you're bringing to the table and what you have to work with and what you're working against. And when you look at Jokic, yeah, he's missed a few games, and we get that part. The other side to it is that he's had a guy like Jamal Murray. They've gone out and they've retooled in terms of their depth, on their bench. And we've seen the elevation of Watson as well when he's been available. And Jamal Murray has become an all-star, even though this man's a champion and a big-time clutch player throughout his career and all of that other stuff. Jalen Brown, signed for over $300 million, was called upon to step up once Jason Tatum went down. We knew he had gone down to the Knicks series that he was going to be out most, if not all, of the season. And the $304 million man, who had been perennially a number two option, was asked to step up and show what he's made of. And the man is averaging nearly 30 a game. And he's second in the entire NBA in usage rate. Jokic is 21st. Now, we know he leads the league in assists and rebounds, and he's phenomenal. And his numbers say he should be an MVP. Jokic is phenomenal. The man can't jump onto a curb, and you can't stop him. He's unbelievable. I get that part. And nobody is going to be upset if he gets a league MVP because he deserves top two consideration every damn year. That's how phenomenal he is. But when you look at Jalen Brown, there's no Jason Tatum. There's no Al Horford. There's no Porzingis or anything like that. Who is he playing with? Derek White's a damn good player. I know that. Peyton Pritchett is that Energizer buddy that was coming off the bench, even though he started a few games this year. Most games this year he started. We get that part. But who are you playing with right now? And the Boston Celtics are a top two, top three seed in the Eastern Conference. with Jalen Brown leading the way, averaging nearly 30 in the absence of a Jason Tatum. I'm sorry. I have no problem with Jalen Brown being a league MVP right now. Zero. Through 57 games, the Boston Celtics almost have the exact same record as they did a year ago when they did have Jason Tatum. The reason why, obviously, is Jalen Brown. No SGA, no problem. The Thunder roll without their superstar last night, but Stephen A. has quite the take on OKC that everyone can't wait to get on him about. More First Take after this. We'll see you next time.