Road Trippin’ Best Moments of 2023

To celebrate the to a great year for the Road Trippin’ Crew, we put together some of the best moments of 2023! From adding a new wrinkle to the GOAT debate after LeBron James claimed the all-time scoring record, to a debate over whether Giannis or Jokic is the best player in the world, as well as stories about Gregg Popovich from Richard, and the outlook of the Spurs with Victor Wembanyama, we hope you enjoy our favorite moments from the year, and look forward to many more in 2024!

CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Intro
1:18 – Giannis/Jokic best in the world debate
12:42 – Sleeper Picks of the Week
14:26 – LeBron James all-time scoring champion/GOAT Debate
35:01 – Ja Morant needing guidance
48:21 – How Gregg Popovich will handle Victor Wembanyama

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Hey Road Trippers the hoop season is in full swing are you using the sleeper app for daily fantasy basketball we are you watch and listen to the podcast and Rich and chanting have made their sleeper picks of the week so get some skin in the game and start playing fantasy

Basketball on the sleeper app turn your basketball knowledge into real money with the sleeper app it’s the ultimate fantasy sports app that can turn game day into payday just download the sleeper app and pick more or less on your favorite players with more stats than any other fantasy app just choose

Two or more of your favorite players from either pregame or or live it’s as easy as that again pick more or less from the predicted stats and you can win up to 100 times your money if your picks win download and sign up on the sleeper app today use our promo code road

Tripping and you’ll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit terms and conditions apply see sleeper’s terms of use for details sleeper is currently operational in over 25 States check out sleeper Today welcome into another edition of road tripping I’m Ali Clifton alongside World Champs Richard Jefferson and chanting fry this is a special year end best of edition of the podcast so let’s dive in to our best topics of the year starting with a contentious debate between the

Guys regarding Nicole yic and Giannis an tumbo I mean he is by far the best player on the planet it’s almost not even close who Yannis yic no he you’re wrong no no yic is not the best player on the plan what D in dive in and I want

Channing to go first are you there is no other player in the NBA that is top five in every statistical category and there’s no other players that makes his team what you are blocks and steals offens are are categories or you just saying offensively uh I would say offensively

So like rebounds assist and and points continue there’s no other player that makes his team that much better okay it just in all facets of the game his skill set is the the most is the cleanest skill set in the NBA at an elite level it’s beautiful

At his size he can for a guy to get five shots not complain about his shots and dominate a game there’s no other player that pick his shots he gets to pick his shots yeah but think about this most players if we were going to say an MVP

The his five shot game was more impressive to me CU I watched the whole game of how he do he dominated the game by just going oh y’all want me to pass now here you go and just played the game the right way there was no oh I I need to score

More to help like I want to get my points up he was like oh y’all give me this I’ll take that y’all want to give me this I’ll take that that to me is a sign of wild dominance that I don’t know I’ve seen you can’t name me a time where uh

Giannis or uh KD or uh uh Jason Tatum would take five shots and be able to dominate a game that’s well that’s fair that like but what I’m saying is that that unique ability just because someone has that ability doesn’t mean now I really quickly I’m GNA and again just to

We’re gonna look I want to look at uh giannis’s last few games um like he had their comparisons are insane 44 and 22 50 43 and 20 55 10 and S 30 21 and 10 right now last game he was terrible three of 10 seven points I feel like our

Guy’s getting a little tired but had 18 rebounds and 10 assists so now when we start looking at his assists now this is my thing everything that you said about about joic is 100% true right but we’re talking about the best basketball player on the planet the most dominant player on the planet

Right Giannis is not as impressive offensively even though it’s close but defensively what Giannis also brings to the table is not even remotely close that true that’s not to say that joic is a bad Defender I’m not saying that people what he’s not on giannis’s level he’s an average Defender average to

Slightly above average because of his IQ like you’re not gonna just be able to Target him but at no point in time will he ever dominate a game defensively Giannis dominates games defensively and he is on par offensively with joic even though I would give joic the edge

Because of the things that he does so using that I’m gonna ask you this one more question who is the best basketball player on the planet yic you’re out of your mind that that isn’t even mathing put put put yic on the the the the amount of you can you don’t even

Need plays when you have joic you have to have a specific team to play with Giannis now this is we’re not knocking we we are breaking straws right little straws or whatever that term is the game of basketball is two sides Channing to that point Rich you asked

Channing about stocks and stocks Steals and blocks stocks Steals and blocks right right yic has what does he have 54 steals yeah Tannis is 28 that’s it Tannis is 28 now this is weak that’s jannis edges The Joker by 10 in blocks because he’s playing with Aaron Gordon rebounds Giannis has one more

Assist it’s damn near triple for yic 368 to one 187 um though a completely I mean when it comes to field goals attempted Giannis has attempted 729 to 578 for yic yic has obviously a 62% rate to a 52% you talk about usage there um yage eight threes

More that’s it made no I can’t be eight with less attempts wait 33 of 88 to 25 of 102 for Giannis threes yeah Yas doesn’t shoot a lot of Threes they just he doesn’t shoot a lot of Threes yeah I’m just giving you some comparisons here’s my question then

For the both of you because at the end of the day when you talk about best player in the planet that obviously translates to winning right yeah yeah if you were to have a seven game series who who were you who would you want in a seven game series is hee would

whoop Denver’s tail what was healthy no you’re out of your mind if if was a fifth and we all be drunk listen ain’t no no they’re not healthy what I’m saying is you said they’re not healthy you said but they have the same record they have the same

Record if we’re gonna okay fair and you’ve got Denver and Milwaukee and these team we saw what happened in Milwaukee last year we saw what happened milwauke year you get to create team around these two individuals yeah who do you want who are you who are you picking

That’s a hard Choice Al you can’t go WR I’m taking yic I’m taking yic I would we for Channing and I like so we had a thing we were like who is who is who is the most fun player to watch between the two hypothetically if you’re a fan it’s

Giannis right who is the best playmaker of the two it’s yic who is the person that you would want to play with the most oh it’s yic yic yic but yeah like that’s not a disrespect it’s like do you know do you want to play with LeBron or

Do you want to play with Kobe well LeBron’s gonna pass him the ball ton more than Kobe is take five shots in a game MVP Tak five shots I don’t I don’t describe someone’s dominance by do you want to play with them right like that’s that’s do you want a snow who I

Didn’t ask who you wanted to play with I’m saying who are you taking I am taking I as a GM because this is for my I would take joic because I could put anybody with him here’s on the offensive end on the offensive end you can put

Anybody with him he will make them better defensively there’s a reason why he’s needed and again every player needs something I just think defensively you will have if you build around Giannis it is much easier to build a top five top 10 defense and around him it is much

Easier because he’s very similar to Bron and he’s a willing passer gets multiple triple doubles that it’s easy to have a dominant player on the defensive end on the offensive end that is also a very very willing passer for a superstar now for everyone listening I absolutely y love Giannis so

We are i y i y y yeah y so don’t think that I am we are bashing either one I took a stance you I am not bashing him I would if you gave me Giannis I would be happy we are we are slicing dad jokes yeah exactly to me

It is easier to find defensive players that I can that joic can make better rather than finding offensive players that need to be good defensively like Giannis didn’t win until they surrounded him with Drew holiday uh Bobby Portis you know big big Lopez uh yeah Jamal muray allar All-Star

Player he’s also got uh Aaron Gordon Jamal Murray is actually not an All-Star by the way no but I’m saying he’s an All-Star caliber player before he obviously not no he’s not he’s never been an All-Star so he’s not an All-Star caliber player Richard that’s no

Come on don’t do that don’t don’t don’t just disagree just be a dick I’m not disagreeing it doesn’t make sense playero Jamal Mur Jamal Murray Went to went to the bubble and was getting 50 balls and led a team to the Conference Finals before that doesn’t

Mean okay so so did TJ Warren is he an All-Star player so did TJ Warren TJ TJ Warr Conference Finals in the bubble in the bubble second best player in the bubble like okay really at 50 I’m aru now you’re arguing let’s unpack if you put if you put a jalapeno

And a habanero in a skillet is where we are right now Jamal Murray Jamal Murray he is a allar caliber play a Drew Hol holiday like type player I’m saying this when Jamal Murray you’re Jamal Murray missed an entire season because of an ACL Jamal Murray had Murray and

Drew holiday are not comparable big guy I’m if Jamal Murray at his Peak he is still recovering from a knee injury this is 30 games into a season prior to this if we are referencing Jamal Murray’s Ascension from a top 10 pick to a 18

Point a game scor their team went to the postseason every year he starts going for 50 points in the bubble and then he they two 3-1 comebacks and goes to the Conference Finals as the second best player on a team right let’s not and Y

Was not MVP yic yet so that meant Jamal Murray had more responsibility so if I’m going to say that Jamal Murray by the end of this season or next season is a Drew holiday quality player that’s true right Aaron Gordon what he is doing top 10 pick everyone knows gets out of

Orlando and every year has been ascending right every year he has got better especially with yic that’s all I’m saying we can’t say that joic has nobody and they had to go get Drew and then Chris Middleton yes every player needs somebody let’s not say like joic

Has no and they got Michael Porter Jr also who’s a six foot 10 ratchet like ratet me Richard ratchet that man that man the Duke and he be shoot he shoots like you no no no my was absolute flamethrower his is medium lighter right now I’m joking I’m

Joking Michael por that was a fun conversation what I still don’t know if we figured out who is the better player in the world the best player in the world is joic joic is about to be a three-time MVP if he maintains this season but he’s not the best player in

The world he’s not the best that doesn’t make any sense well wow all right Rich who are your sleeper picks of the week give the audience two players you think are primed to go off this week and score more than their sleeper app projections

Who do you got look look I don’t know if people saw but Anthony Davis he talked about wanting to you know kind of set his Mark it’s his hometown you know so I I think Anthony Davis I think he’s looking to have a big game in Chicago I

Think his teammates want him to have a big game in Chicago so I think that he’s going to get he’s going to get ad he also said last night his first five years in the league he never played in Chicago because he said he was either sick or injured how about that that’s

That’s a going in healthy which is nice that’s a oh I lost my first like 12 games in Phoenix ever right yeah cuz I was in the Western Conference it was whatever I was in the Eastern Conference but he’s the player that I would say would go above his average okay that’s

One got another one and then the next player that I think is going to go above his average now now now here me out I think Anthony Edwards is going to have is going to no man look sometimes you know things happen in your life and basketball is your only escape and he

Had a good game last night I think he’s going to continue playing above his average not saying but the Lakers do catch Minnesota on the second night of a back to back in Minnesota that’s not fun no it’s not but I think he’s going to be

Locked in maybe that’s one of them all right road trip and sleeper picks of the week are sponsored by sleeper fantasy download the sleeper app and use the promo code Road trippin for a deposit match for up to $100 terms and conditions apply let’s go another huge

Story in 2023 was the NBA record that fell and it’s now one that will never be broken here’s our reaction to LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul jabbar’s alltime scoring record should we start with congratul in um our friend guys rich you were the only one in the

Building Allie so mad LeBron Jam Al first of all I think one um yes I think road tripping needed to be represented and since I was I’m not gonna even make a joke about being like that because Allie’s gonna get mad she’s G she’s gonna get mad but no man that it was

It’s still like right here in my throat yeah so this is what happened people so all of us are having conversations our text Jan me Channing and Ally everyone’s having conversations yes I picked up on that Channing um we’re all having conversations about when’s he

Gonna break it stuff like that and and I remember Kevin Kevin sends the picture of him walking into the arena and the all black outfit and and somebody was like y’all better take the over and I was like I was like 38 is a lot if the

Game is close and I don’t have a lot of faith in the Lakers obviously they lost I was like I don’t have a lot of faith so like if that game is is close and he breaks it in overtime or he breaks it with two minutes to go in the fourth

Because that’s 38 points is a damn good night for anybody so I was like I was like oh he’s not gonna break it I think he’ll break it beginning in Milwaukee they’ll do a little thing get back to the game cool so I’m sitting at home watching this game I’m sitting at home

And I was like just let me watch the first quarter and see what the dude does that boy comes out firing I don’t know 12 points in the first I was like oh let me let me get dressed let me let me figure this out so I I shave my

Head I put on some clothes I get in the car I put on my iPad I’m watching this I leave my house probably about five minutes before halftime and he’s got 20 I’m like man let me speed my ass here so I park at ESPN walk down the tunnel I

Get in there and like I I see Doug I see our guy Doug uh then I see Farah and I see dwade and so I’m talking to Ted from Nike talking to Lynn just kind of like I’m talking about as soon as you walk in everyone is there like it’s like LeBron

Sold all you know 25,000 tickets or whatever so you seeing everybody I didn’t have anywhere to sit so I’m starting to talk to Ted the people come back dwade and Farah’s like hey hey come just come sit here so next thing I know 30 minutes prior I’m sitting in my bed

Now I’m at Staples sitting next to dwade and Farah watching LeBron and he’s now cooking it’s like he’s got six more and it was like the arena was just anytime somebody shot the ball that wasn’t named LeBron James the whole Arena you could hear it

Like and this man was just he was just I I haven’t seen him that possessed I truly he was possessed like it was a playoff game he had 38 points in three quarters right like he was locked in on on let’s go get this and I I fult myself for for doubting

Him if he would have just told me that he was want to break it I would have believed him but he just didn’t say anything but 38 and three qus to get this done right think about it in his mind said oh I’ll get it done so then

The fourth quarter we can focus on playing basketball kudos to him shout out yeah it was cool to watch in my hotel my weak ass Hotel I just wish you were a better friend and you came visit I wish you were a better friend and came

Jenning I wish I was was too Richard I wish I was to I know everybody wishes but it was amazing to watch yes you remember were my kids stayed up yep oh wow I I remember I was in a shitty bed in the that was the one thing made my

Kids stay up yeah my Lauren stayed up cried for him right I think people who know Brawn like to to actually get that far people are like well he just had a good career i’m like good career like I had a good career I had a

Good career I yeah you have to be 18 and average 25 not miss a game for 20 years to do what he did and we’re not even including the playoffs so like yeah like for reference we will never and I’m gonna say this now we are never going to

See another player not in our lifetime anything not In Our Lifetime think about how popular Victor wama is and we just knew about him the American public last year we knew about LeBron when he was 15 like and here’s what I compare things to boxing is indicative

To the American public right when you have an uh antagonist like Floyd Mayweather to me that is the Jordan that is the Kobe that is the guy that gets things done but says you to the world I’m going to do things my way if you like me you like me you don’t you

Don’t and 50% of people like him and 50% of people don’t LeBron is a heavyweight American Boxer right where you’re like damn I gotta watch this this show is that is the most watched basketball game I think in the last how many years I mean doesn’t like he is a heavyweight

American Boxer uh like George Foreman or you know and this is a comparison people are going to kill me on this or like Muhammad Ali where obviously his accessib his accessibility to the media you can compare him to muhamad Ali bro you can compare him to Muhammad Ali 100%

Can okay in in this respect we know things about players there is no player that is more uh I would say accessible than LeBron we know everything his kids do we we know everything his wife does we know everything his family does his friends like name another athlete that

Has that much attention on them 24 hours a day and for him to continually exceed those expectations and keep bask the main thing to main thing it’s in itself should be an award because no one else can handle that we’ve seen it nobody else can handle that it’s too much he’s

The only one to do it yeah and Chan to your point man it’s so crazy when you you think about it like yes comparing him to whoever you want in the sports space like I think there’s only a few people that that you can’t like Jackie Robinson right like let’s let’s keep

Things in perspective Muhammad Ali no Muhammad Ali damn right you know Tiger Woods Michael Jordan right there there’s you know the Tom Brady’s the there there’s only a handful of people I think the part for me that is so Tiger Woods is a good example though go ahead Tiger

Woods is a great example because of we knew tiger College 15 16 was balling went to college came to the pros did his thing but again at the end of Tiger’s career it started to kind of get a little shaky you know that incident LeBron’s never had an incident right

Over 25 years never had an incident kept his nose clean done what he needed to do and continually wins like tiger is the greatest golfer of all time but then it went like this like everyone’s career should be where is the dip in LeBron’s career well he’s he’s like a paper

Airplane that just keeps going there is a dip I I think the craziest thing about LeBron is Richard he’s averaging 30 points but I’m saying he but I’m saying you can see he’s not as athletic he is not as quick like he needs break like there’s things that we can see to the

Naked eye if you’re just looking at the stats and the numbers but that doesn’t tell the whole story it tells a hell of a story though because this is crazy um but no I think in the fact that like even with social media I I I think

You know because people in that Spectrum you know live such different lives but I think the coolest thing that I’ve seen is people know like F I scored a couple points CH scored a couple points we’re all like holy that’s 40,000 point but like to see like Wade who first

Ballot Hall of Famer his boy to see guys that guys that don’t with him and I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way but like kg and Paul Pierce like dudes that comp yes when they said that I said when they when they start saying like man because they know Paul Pierce

Averaged 20 points a game for 10 seasons ain’t even like Paul Pierce or not whether you like kg or not those dudes are bad are those dudes now whether you like them or not when you see Hall of Famers look at that and they’re just like God

Bro like how man like like let me ask you guys this question our guy obviously perk um had his tweet and had his thought what is this do for LeBron’s Legacy what does this do for him in terms of that conversation that one conversation that everyone loves to have

The goat debate does this change your thinking does it cement him in a certain way in your eyes no I think I think LeBron James is the best basketball player we’ve ever seen right is Jordan the goat maybe you like again everyone can have their own goat everyone can

Compare eras like this is why like T like like Channing just said something about uh tiger being the greatest golfer uh is it Jack Nicholas has the most like majors of all time right he has the most majors of all time but now let’s also keep this in perspective in the 60s 7s

When he was doing this the amount of people playing golf was probably far fewer it was probably smaller it was a smaller pool when Jordan was with the bulls and they talked about you know the Dream Team expanding the global game right and now there’s more people

Playing so like the fact that he has achieved this with a larger pool of competition a larger pool of growth that needs to be factored in because again Bill Russell won 11 championships and there’s no disrespect to that but the pool was smaller so so that’s why you

Look at it Jordan doesn’t have the most points Jordan doesn’t have the most championships Jordan doesn’t have the most MVPs J like so I’m not here to say that Jordan wasn’t that dude he is that dude but I think people just get oh well Bron doesn’t have six championships well

Jordan doesn’t have 11 right so it’s like we have to be able to like mix it all into a pot and when you mix it in and you say a guy that was never considered even people that get sensitive when I said that LeBron’s the greatest scorer of this era and like

Well what about Kevin Durant Kevin Durant is a scorer their career averages are like 02 points away from each other like Kevin Garnett keev or Kevin Durant is 2772 LeBron is 2751 like are you kidding me and on top of it LeBron is is fourth all time and

Assist so it’s like that’s the greatest basketball player you’ve ever seen Ethan Steels like but you know like he like you talk about joic winning three MVPs because he’s averaging Brun could have averaged a triple double he could have done that if that was his goal there’s

No doubt he average career averages are 27 seven and seven he’s led the league in assist before so I just don’t think we’ve ever seen a basketball player be able to do whatever they want for as long as they have on the court you need

Him to play point guard you need him to play center you need him like you know magic got some of that but magic wasn’t an elite scorer like that I’ve always said you guys know when you do the um starting lineups for the Cavs when you played for them and you’d

Have to do it for the radio side and you’re like I’m Channing fry Center yeah one night I was like in the back and and I heard that over like the intercom thing from the radio side and it was like LeBron James every position oh he really just said that he

Really just said thate he knows a great quote is like uh like Jordan is the best ever LeBron is the greatest ever like Jordan was the best for his time for that time Jordan was the best in that small window right for those I’m gonna say eight I’m gonna give

Him eight years it was so polarizing eight years it was monsterous though it was it was a Str greatness in dude again when I say Jordan and brown are 1 a 1B it’s if you just don’t if you can’t agree with me on that then you just don’t like

LeBron that’s just it right and I’m a firm believer you know I said the trolling thing all Jordan did was score but literally I go how are you the greatest if you don’t if you aren’t number one at anything right but Jordan is number one all-time career average

Scoring right I think it’s 30 point something which is crazy to think yeah I think yes yeah I think yes yeah think yes but I’m saying if you’re not number one at something at multiple things if you’re not top five at multiple things how are you the greatest at something

You may have been the best at what you did but how are you the greatest a six year stret six year stretch though oh my God Ally the best six year stretch you’ll never like that stretch six year stretch can I ask you guys this how long did

Michael Jordan play how many seasons did Michael Jordan at this point where does that because from now on LeBron’s going to just continue to rise and he’s going to because I think when it’s all said and done he’ll probably be number two and assist right like he’ll be at the

Top of because but that’s a credit to him right I’m not disrespecting but do you factor in that at all when you have these conversations about just in general being at the top of statistical category statistical category JJ reck no one is ever gonna go six and0 in the

Finals it just you you got to respect the out of what Jordan did he put the NBA on his back created 50 other players Everyone is always baby Jordan Remember Harold Miner where it’s like Brant Hill’s the next Jordan or Kobe’s the next Jordan or this guy’s the next Jordan right now it’s

Like Jason Tatum is the next Kobe or Kyrie is the next Kobe but like who’s the next LeBron that like that doesn’t exist because it can’t exist because he is in a Stratosphere himself he is a son while other people are planets or meteorites that rotate around something

Nick Wright Nick Wright from uh it’s a good analogy very good he said something that’s good and and again I’m gonna butcher this but you guys get the premise he was like look if we’re talking about total basketball at 17 years old LeBron James was better than

Michael Jordan he was right at 20 years old at 20 years old LeBron James was was all he’s like Michael Jordan was losing in the sweet 16 LeBron Leon James was leading a team to the NBA finals right let’s let’s keep these things in perspective yes when Jordan gets there

And again we can’t equate it but like let’s not doubt Jordan was losing in the sweet 16 he won a national championship with big game shout out Sam Perkins shout out North Carolina Dean Dome all that and and you can’t compare it but it’s like what were they doing at those

Ages you’re like well Jordan’s career when he turned 28 and he was a champion till he turned 26 he’s the greatest of all time and you’re like okay but like at 20 years old LeBron James was leading a team to the NBA finals and you did the

Math and and Michael Jordan was was in the sweet 16 like are we gonna account that greatness for what we saw at that age do that go into the pot of what were of a resume that if we’re going to compare and again I know you went to

School back then LeBron came out of high school but it’s like bro if you don’t like LeBron you’ll never like though when we say that we act tou we act when we say but LeBron never had to go to college Leon never went to college as if

The responsibility to come in the NBA at 18 years old isn’t a high responsibility like he didn’t he didn’t have to go sit in class and we didn’t go to class yeah no tell me who did I did I did I did I anyway did anyways I went cuz there were ladies

Ladies anyway the one that you had before Lauren okay okay W shot fired shots fired Al cut cut it cut it out so hey Isaiah Thomas Zeke makes a good point he goes think about the runway most players have to be great they go to college they learn they

Compete LeBron went from dominating High School to now given a NBA franchise and then dominating that immediately who taught LeBron how to be great like where was that space for him to make mistakes there is no space where LeBron does not dominate or is not Elite

In his career and whether you want to say he’s top five right now he’s top 10 he top eight who right like when has he never been top eight ever in 20 years maybe maybe only his first year his second year he was a top 10 player his second

Year in the league he was a top 10 maybe his first year when he was 18 years old I just the high school game by the way I think are so stupid okay car on that Carmelo average 20 points a game was a leading scorer and took a team to the

Postseason he he should W he should want hey Road Trippers the hoop season is in full swing are you using the sleeper app for daily fan fantasy basketball we are you watch and listen to the podcast and Rich and chanting have made their sleeper picks of the week so get some

Skin in the game and start playing fantasy basketball on the sleeper app turn your basketball knowledge into real money with the sleeper app it’s the ultimate fantasy sports app that can turn game day into payday just download the sleeper app and pick more or less on your favorite players with more stats

Than any other fantasy app just choose two or more of your favorite players from either pregame or live it’s as easy as that again pick more or less from the predicted stats and you can win up to 100 times your money if your picks win download and sign up on the sleeper app

Today use our promo code road tripping and you’ll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit terms and conditions apply see sleeper terms of use for details sleeper is currently operational in over 25 States check out sleeper today Steph Curry makes you believe you

Can do anything and the curry 11s are specifically designed with ultimate bounce grip and stability to allow everyone to do their thing new generations of ball players are coming up and showing the basketball world but the old rules do not apply the future is exciting fast positive and hungry this

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Kicks with you when you leave the scrimmage and rep Under Armour wherever you go so do your thing change the game the curry 11 future Curry is available now at Curry brand.com one of the NBA’s brightest budding Stars John Morant has been out until recently this season due

To issues stemming from last Spring’s League investigation Morant was seen waving a gun on social media live streams not once but twice in a 90day span last spring here’s the discussion around John Morant the future of the Grizzlies and League Commissioner Adam Silver’s handling of the situation now

There’s a couple of things here and I know everyone I think jayen Rose I don’t know you guys can Google what Jaylen Rose said about it I think he was 10 out of 10 because a lot of people know Jaylen Rose’s story and like if you he’s

A little bit older now so like our generation knows that like he was hanging out in houses and cops were raiding them and he was a top five guy and we understand like the Fab Five and their impact on Sports culture like you talk about how basketball and and pop

Culture have an intersection like Jordan magic fab five they’re all in the same like pop culture lexicon they’re all there that’s how big jayen Rose is so he said it best you know from my situation it I would say this people that kind of know and whatever like I

Remember I there was a tweet there was a tweet probably a couple months ago and someone says you would never he was like Richard Jefferson’s dad is one of the original Bloods you would never know that from listening to him talk and I actually quote tweeted it and said

Because I was taught to never glorify it I was taught to never to never that that it wasn’t a positive thing that that type of Lifestyle when I moved at eight years old with my my single mom with two other brothers on welfare and we left

South Central because it was that bad in the 80s you know snowfall and NWA and all boys in the hood yes that’s where I was living right South Central LA my mom went to dorsy high school my dad went to Morningside in Englewood I know about

All my my a my aunt was shot and killed and I have three girl nephew or our cousins that are the exact same age as me and my three brothers so we used to hang out their mom was struggling with things and ended up getting shot and

Killed when we were like eight no no I was probably like nine or 10 when she ended up getting shot and killed right I know about all of that lifestyle and so the reason why I was never glorified is because there was nothing ever positive about it and there’s nothing cool about

It there’s no rep about it I don’t bring it up I don’t talk about it because there’s nothing there right I got removed from the situation and my mom went to school and worked her way up to a spot where we could leave that behind and I understood why it was left behind

Because I know about people that were killed my father was shot and killed now he was older but he was just hanging out in broad daylight in an area in Compton that he had friends and grew up in it wasn’t late night at 3:00 am it wasn’t

You know it wasn’t you know 12 o’clock it was still sunny out and he was shot and killed so it’s just like those areas and the things that you might want to glorify from thems are really bad and John Morant is in a space right now

Where I I can’t speak on detail because I don’t know but it just sounds like he’s trying to be a part of something or not leaving something behind that he should that’s it he should leave it behind I don’t care about street cred and rep if you’re taught the right way

So either he’s trying to represent something that he shouldn’t and it’s like bro what are you doing or the converse part about it is that he’s not leaving something behind that he should and hopefully this moment lets him recognize that he can talk to maybe he needed some different influences in his

Life and there’s people that are reaching out to him being like bro we’ve seen this story before with too many players like players that were better than you greater men have fallen to some silly so that’s my thing on Jah I feel like he didn’t do anything that is

Like irreparable he’s not going to jail he’s not a he’s not a criminal he’s a young kid that needs to re-evaluate some decisions and the things that he is doing and that’s okay if you’ve never been a 23 year old millionaire that is in that position

It’s hard for you to really speak on it but yeah we can lose sight very very quickly at times of reality uh I think for me it really comes down to number one like I hope he gets it together and I think to be honest this is just me

That’s not saying this as a punishment I think him taking the rest of the season this is no offense to everyone else on the Grizzlies no John Morant no Clark no Stephen Adams good luck right whatever you end up in the playoffs the West is stacked right so you know they’re not

Going to have a chance to win a series without those Stars I think jiren Jackson Jr is great but I don’t know if he’s the man the man yet so if they prove me wrong I’ll come on here and say I was wrong but to me you look at jaah

Jaah stopped getting attention from basketball and Started Loving attention from the wrong things to me right and that attention was you know maybe he does have a drinking problem maybe he does have some other things that are going on in his personal life that he’s not dealing with so the attention that

He was getting or giving himself wasn’t coming from the work on the court right like that to me is the biggest thing you look at like Kevin Durant or Devin Booker or Kobe or so Dirk Nowitzki or like some of the players that we look up to they were getting they were filling

Their their body their soul up with the game right with their friends and family and they made the main thing the main thing and I think jaw lost that but losing that within a that culture I know and Richard knows this we’ve lost a lot

Of guys to uh bad habits we’ve lost a lot of guys to going out to to clubs too much but why are you going out to clubs oh it’s you’re getting attention for being some you’re just being famous right whether your team wins or loses you’re getting attention for the biggest

Chain or how many bottles you’re ordering or how much money you have or things that you may be able to give to other people what I want John Morant to do is take the time to really re like re-evaluate himself in this situation and find that love within basketball

Right within his family structure within the right people that are going to challenge him to be everything that he should be every year John Morant since his first year comes in the first month of the Season John Mor MVP conversation right a long list three months later

He’s not on there John Morant has the ability to be an MVP in this league with his people want to love johnar his tenacity his um emotional investment into the game would it seemed like his leadership had fallen off a little bit this year but the past years you saw it

So for me I want him to take time off to really get himself right so that when he comes back we can see that emotional investment into the game in the process and taking advantage of this short window that each player has playing basketball so get yourself healthy get

You know move everything else off and make the main thing the main thing the one thing and this is the last thing I’ll say and or that there’s two parts to it is one I understand players right they like there’s some people that have said you can be a Target when you’re in

These spots I don’t disagree with that but I also believe this to be true I have played with Steph I have played with Tim Duncan I have played with LeBron in his prime Jason kid in his prime I have played with yogur Channing fry I play with Kyrie in his

Prime you can have security a lot of those guys never used security but all of those guys I would say are in the same ilk of notoriety as johnar those guys are those John Morant is not F more famous than any of those guys that I said not

Currently none of those guys were carrying around guns with them so don’t tell me because you’re famous that you’re a Target that’s true but there’s been other people more famous that for some reason weren’t necessarily Target that they were carrying around guns in that manner I’m not saying that those

People do not own firearms I’m saying in that manner carrying them around and showing them off and we’re trying to make this oh he has security it’s like no you’re not that famous none of those guys were in that position like and some of them came we know LeBron came from

One of the shittiest situations that people can come from there’s a lot of people that have come from worse situ sitations than the one that J was raised in so again it takes us back to the point of either he’s doing something and getting himself involved in situations

He shouldn’t or he’s not leaving things behind that he should and it leads us to a problem place that hopefully and I believe that he is I have optimism and faith that he is going to do all of the right things because he’s technically never really been in trouble it’s just

There’s these incidences that are leading up that the trouble could be ridiculous right Richard one thing not to interrupt are you done I’m done I’m done I will say this think about every think about like Charles Barkley right think about what happened charlesy went to Phoenix went

To some now one thing that I know one thing’s for sure two things for certain shout out Cam Newton is that John Morant now will have if he accepts it not only the NBA that wants him to succeed think about how many players have the opportunity to have their own

Shoe not that this is just about money but think about now Nike goes you know what you are not only an we’re not only invested in you when it comes to money we’re invested in you as a human so now and we know this will happen you you

Have you have made some bad habits now we need to make sure that we protect you from yourself until you shown us differently we can’t invest this much into you and just let you go by the wayside that ain’t happening now think about his endorsements Powerade Nike you

Can’t just you’re not just going to fall off with that people are going to make sure that you succeed if you want to succeed and that to me is what’s exciting about this next iteration you know volume two of J Moran like if him getting

Himself I don’t I’m not going to use the word clean because I don’t know if he has a problem but I had read somewhere that he may go to rehab to really kind of figure himself out now people go to rehab for all clean can be mentally also

Right and you know your body for most athletes 99% athletes everything is Habitual so if somebody drinks every Monday if they drink a gallon of liquor every Monday at 9: your body just Tunes in to do that if you’re used to eating a steak before every game you you’re not

Even going to consciously think about it you’re going to order a Stak whether you play it not Richard is Now 44 years old still takes naps why because he’s been taking naps since he was 18 years old and this is just the truth I taking naps

Since I was like 15 or 16 see and like he it just fall into the wrong habits and that’s what I’m saying he needs to take time away from basketball to rebre those habits to make new ones so that we can get the best version of J and I’m

Excited about J version yeah the scariest part of the whole situation it was like how are there all these back-to-back incidences there was a lack of touch of reality in my space and we’ve all done stupid stuff at 23 and drunk but to be drunk after a loss in a

Strip club on your IG live you weren’t caught on somebody else’s it wasn’t a boy that was recording video and someone stole it it was you actively promoting all of these things like you wanted to get caught coming off yeah coming off a report from The Washington Post that you

Brandished a gun coming off a this was like days before days before that’s where it got scary you’re like wait these are all over the last couple of like weeks and days oh we need a moment here we we we need a moment and I say that with respect we’ve all channy when

When your parents you know passed away you you need you had a moment right there he dealing with I when my when my father’s passed away I I’ve had some moments we all need some moments like I’m fully support him I think he’s gonna be fine that because

That’s what I want to believe summer league is always a chance to catch up with the League’s players coaches and front office Executives in person Richard bumped into his Old Coach Greg papovich while we were all in Vegas this past summer and here’s what Rich had to

Say about how pop when handle grooming the League’s number one overall pick and generational Talent Victor wimy I was waiting for you in the hallway mhm and I was waiting and I was waiting mhm and then I found out that you were talking to pop the one and only the one and only

What did Greg papovich have to say to you well this is the thing like pop is still like he’s pop is pop he’s still like your grandfather so like I’m kind of like ducking through the wind quick trying to go and all a sudden grabs me I

Was like oh hey Pop and I was like hey it gives me a hug I’m like hey man congratulations you know on the contract I’m like I’m five years and I’m like I’m so glad that kid is with you I the two two years that I had with pop were two

Of the most pivotal of my entire career maybe my entire basketball life it didn’t go great but it didn’t go great on a scale of 1 to 10 ah for you know there’s scales but I I say this is that they taught me how to be a better

Spot-up shooter he taught me the the I won’t say taught me but just he he stayed on me about the about the staying in shape and keeping all these things that you know Popp and Spurs have always been a of it and I shot 40% because of

Chip England because of pop because they taught me so many things and that extended my career so I am forever grateful to that man and when we were talking about wimy he’s like look look wm’s great he’s talented it’s G to take time because because again you’re comparing him to Tim Duncan you’re

Comparing him to David Robinson David Robinson went to school in the Naval Academy for four years then he did like a year of military service by the time David Robinson showed up he was like 24 years old or 23 years old yeah Tim Duncan went to school for four years had

David Robinson and a monster squad around him and it was like Tim Duncan was Rookie of the Year and First Team all NBA but he was 22 years old so to compare all of these guys to or to compare wimy to them who were three four

Years older than him you know I I think I’m glad that pop is there for his development yeah right however long pop decize a coach I know this if the kid is going to make it he’s in the best situation possible and I think that’s great wow yeah that’s well said and I

Don’t think anyone would doubt that mm um obviously we’re we’re talking about this having coming off his debut where he finished with nine points eight boards three assists five blocks but just shot the ball two of 13 from the field um I don’t care about the two for

13 I yeah I was gonna say I we also kind of talked about it you weren’t here at the end of the other episode with Channing when it comes to just like the purpose of Summer League right but for someone like him does that change no no no the and that’s the thing

About being a player especially it doesn’t matter if you’re the number one pick or if you’re a guy trying to make the team it’s all a very similar process your head is spinning right like he just left Euro league where he’s been with his team he’s been in France there’s no

Language barrier there’s no you know what I’m saying like it’s all he left his team it’s like imagine leaving your college team and which a lot of these guys do and then playing basketball couple weeks later not like you know ncaa’s been done since March you know

Early April so these guys have you know whatever a lot of time he’s been playing playing playing and then boom straight here so a lot of these guys have had months shooting NBA 3s months understanding what they’re going to do getting ready for the draft getting ready for the draft working two three

Hours a day he just finished and came so I I look at the things his passing his shot blocking those are the things that I look at that you can’t teach and and pop you know again very very briefly he was like man I love his passing you know

Blah blah blah I think he’s going to be a really good player you know but pop is always a downplay guy yeah and he’s always a patience guy like understand Tony Parker look at Tony Parker came into this league they almost traded Tony Parker they almost traded him for Jason

Kid like my second year Jason decided to stay in in Jersey but it’s just like pop is the master of building it Brick by Brick he’s not like we’re gonna turn you into a 20-point game score we’re gonna make no he’s like no let’s give you the

Bases let I want you to focus on defense I don’t care this is what say I don’t give a how many points you score I want to know how many rebounds I want to know how many blocks it was the same thing with Kawai Kawai showed up was

Just a Defender and then slowly but surely he built kawhai up with the work that kawhai put in and then kawhai turns into that guy but kawhai was the 14th pick yeah Kawai was all of these things he wasn’t like top five pick and no and

It was gradual it was gradual I remember pop one of my stories about kawhai kawai’s rookie year kawhai comes in it was like you know game eight kawhai comes in shoots a couple of pull-ups which is his staple shot now like in transition pull-up another one pull pop

Takes him out of the game halftime come pops like what the that pull you think if you think you’re going to make an offensive impact on this team I want you to defend and I want you to rebound at a high level right and then didn’t play him the second half this is

Kawhai as a rookie sending a message and again po will bring you into his office like hey look I love you but this is what we’re going to do yeah so what I’m saying the the whole point of this is that pop can take a great player and be

Like no no no no no no no we’re going to do this by Basics you got English class you got math class you got Spanish class you got science we’re gonna focus on math today this is what we’re doing this is all you’re GNA do Zach Collins literally shared this exact story from

Pop yeah that’s who he is pop ain’t he told him that he wasn’t allowed to shoot pick he wasn’t allowed to shoot pick in pop 3es anymore yeah he’s like absolutely he’s like he went three I believe of like 21 or something he said he was like a stretch of like a terrible

Shooting um and pop basically in front of everyone like kind of was just like you’re not shooting these pick and pop threes anymore you’re done blah blah blah um but then Channing made that point I just from a standpoint of like he kind of says that to you because he

Knows that you’ll figure it out like in a sense um what were you more surprised about Pop’s extension or wm’s debut NE honestly neither you’re not surprised by the five years no because I think pop that he like want to be around well look at what the he got fair right fair

But as if he didn’t or has not already had this incredible I’d be curious so you think it’s the only reason why no I don’t think it’s the only reason why but I’d be curious if the if the Spurs got the the the the six pick would he be

Yeah would he be fine but I think this again this is old Sports Mike Tyson Mike Tyson I think is Vic deato some somebody will correct me but he was an old like Legend trainer let’s call him pop right he was that guy like he was one of the

Greatest trainers of all time he found Mike Tyson at 19 and was like you’re going to be my greatest achievement and just got Mike and one of the reasons why Mike started to struggle is because Vic passed away he was very very old but my point is sometimes these once in a

Generation these once in a lifetime guys can give you purpose they can give you a reason they can give you that energy to be like hey look I might not be with him for his whole career but if my last stretch is to give this kid the base that’s

Going to allow him to be great then oh that’s purpose every day yeah that’s you know what I’m saying because you po a guy like pop who is the San Antonio Spurs there is no San Antonio Spurs without pop so you imagine that at some

Point in time he might go to the Pat Riley role and find his Eric spola but he wants to leave them like Eric spola didn’t take over a rebuild he took over a very good team so I just think I I don’t know when I look at it I was like

If pop can get this base then move on and then make sure that the thing that he spent the last 20 plus years building building is in a great place then he’s done his legacy is is Flawless it’s perfect everything is right there you have it Road Trippers all the best of

2023 and we appreciate you staying locked in for over 300 episodes happy holidays we wouldn’t be where we are without you our amazing community of listeners we’ll see you back here next week as we react to the NBA’s four Christmas Day games and put a bow on 202

3 it’s another edition of Road Tri