- 2 days ago
Hoch and Crowder give major props to Jalen Brunson for willing the Knicks to a game 1 victory. But Solana continues to argue against Brunson being a Super Star.
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00:00Let's get headlines.
00:01Start out the four o'clock hour with Alejandro Solana brought to you by Durell Kia.
00:05You always pay less with your priceito at Durell Kia.
00:08Visit them at Durell Kia or DurellKia.com.
00:11Didn't seem impressed by my Jonathan Uberdo joke.
00:15I did.
00:15I was, uh, I didn't, I didn't know it was a joke.
00:18Was it a joke or do you actually call every Uber a Jonathan Uberdo?
00:21Well, I do call it, but you know, tongue in cheek, obviously.
00:24As most jokes are.
00:26Terrible joke.
00:30You know, it's a joke.
00:32It's just Jalen Brunson.
00:37Because you, you had mentioned, I think when we were talking earlier, oh, well, he got
00:41hurt and he came back.
00:43I think Brunson is genuinely a great player.
00:45He's obviously a top 15 player in the NBA and he's playing like a superstar right now.
00:50Is he an elite superstar?
00:51No, he is not.
00:53He's an elite playoff performer like Jimmy Butler was.
00:56I mean, isn't that almost three quarters of the way to elite superstar, right?
01:01But if you put Jalen Brunson on the Sacramento Kings today, are they in a position where they're
01:07contending?
01:08I don't think so.
01:09You put prime LeBron, prime Giannis.
01:11You put the Joker.
01:12You put SGA.
01:14You put those guys on Sacramento.
01:17I think they are.
01:18I think the Knicks are a very good team and Jalen Brunson is the best player on a great
01:24team.
01:24I made that comparison with Detroit, the 2004-2005 Pistons with Chauncey Billups.
01:30And I think it's a phenomenal comparison.
01:33Chauncey was the best player on a great team, but he's not a superstar.
01:38You already ran Solana hot, so I'm going to run him hotter.
01:42I take Jalen Brunson, bam, straight up right now.
01:46Oh, but yeah, yeah, 100%.
01:48Even like, I would concede that, even though I think Bam's a little bit more versatile.
01:53But then you would have to acknowledge he's a superstar.
01:55I don't think so.
01:56Because you wouldn't trade one star for another star if it was Bam.
02:01You would trade him for a superstar only.
02:05He makes a bigger difference, Solana.
02:08He makes a difference.
02:10Jalen Brunson is better than Bam Adebayo.
02:13I'm not...
02:14But so is Giannis.
02:15I'm not disagreeing with that.
02:16He is.
02:16But you won't make that trade.
02:18I wouldn't have made the Bam for Giannis trade straight up when we were talking about it,
02:24and I still wouldn't because of the age situation and the disparity there.
02:30Jalen Brunson, 28, 29 years old.
02:33He's still got a lot of career ahead of him.
02:35And in the modern NBA, he does what you really need,
02:39which is a combo guard who can just put the ball in the basket and take over in games.
02:43But I'm saying put Jalen Brunson on the Wizards this year.
02:49Are they even a playing team or a playoff team?
02:52No.
02:53You think SGA, you put him on the Wizards and they are?
02:55I think the ceiling is much higher.
02:58I think you're doing a weird thing here because we've seen actual superstars not have talent around them,
03:04and they don't win.
03:06LeBron's an example.
03:07Michael Jordan's an example.
03:09But don't win a title.
03:10I'm not certain what you're doing with Jalen Brunson here.
03:12Don't win a title.
03:13But LeBron carried that 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers team to the finals.
03:21His best teammate was Antoine Jameson.
03:24I mean, those teams weren't good.
03:26LeBron elevated.
03:27But I'm not putting Jalen Brunson on the LeBron level,
03:30but you're doing something weird here with like SGA and Solana.
03:35Two-time MVP, Hawk.
03:37Back-to-back MVP.
03:38And he won a title last year.
03:40But Zachary, nobody else, you think he leads them to a finals?
03:44Not a finals, but I think they're a playoff team.
03:46I think they're significantly better.
03:48I think their ceiling is much higher than it would be with SGA alone.
03:53Excuse me, with Jalen Brunson alone.
03:55And I don't think that diminishes Jalen Brunson.
03:58No, no, no, no.
03:59SGA is better than Jalen Brunson.
04:02I'm nitpicking on is he an elite superstar.
04:05But the thing is, too, SGA is a scorer, right?
04:0830 points a game.
04:10Jalen Brunson is 26 a game.
04:13It's not a big disparity between those two guys as scorers.
04:16It's four points a game.
04:19All right, so you guys tell me when to stop of players who are better than Jalen Brunson.
04:25You just tell me when to stop.
04:27But are we doing players who are better, or are we doing is he a superstar?
04:32Because I think it's two separate questions.
04:33I only think there is X, and I don't know the exact number.
04:37I think we're about to find out.
04:38X amount of superstars in the NBA.
04:41And I think Jalen Brunson is all-star, just in the category below.
04:46But you tell me when to stop.
04:48The Joker.
04:50Victor Wembanyama.
04:53SGA.
04:55Luka Doncic.
04:58Anthony Edwards.
05:01Giannis Antetokounmpo.
05:04Cade Cunningham.
05:07I mean, that's already nine guys.
05:09And Cade Cunningham, though, you've got to do better in the postseason than...
05:12I think Jalen and Cade are right around the same player.
05:18I think you would probably, just based on postseason, you'd have to take Brunson.
05:22I didn't even say LeBron.
05:23I didn't say Kevin Durant.
05:25I didn't say Steph Curry.
05:27They are 47 years old.
05:29You're taking Jalen Brunson today over Steph Curry?
05:32I think I'm taking him over Cade Cunningham.
05:34Yeah.
05:35Okay.
05:36That's worth a debate, but I think that's fair.
05:39But you'd take him over LeBron.
05:40You'd take Jalen Brunson today over LeBron James, over Kevin Durant today?
05:45Yes.
05:46Yes.
05:46At 28 and there at 48?
05:48I mean, you're saying for...
05:49Are you saying for one season?
05:51For a season.
05:52Oh, for one season?
05:54For a season.
05:54Yeah.
05:55For one season, I'll probably take KD for one season.
06:00KD hadn't won a scratch-off ticket.
06:04Actually, that's true, man.
06:06KD Lundson is playing in the NBA Finals and just led his team to a road victory.
06:11And the team is great, and he's the best player on that team.
06:15But there's no reason to talk about him like he's in the category of Wemby, like he's in
06:22the category of Shea Gilgis-Alexander, like he's in the category of Anthony Edwards or the
06:27Joker, who are the superstars in the NBA.
06:30And it doesn't diminish Jalen Brunson.
06:33It shouldn't diminish Jalen Brunson.
06:35He's unbelievable.
06:36What he did yesterday?
06:37Unbelievable.
06:38Yeah, I don't think anyone's diminishing it.
06:39I was just asking a question.
06:40Is he an elite NBA superstar?
06:44No.
06:44If they win the Finals?
06:46No.
06:46Ooh.
06:47Interesting.
06:48So there's nothing...
06:49If he leaves the Knicks to the Finals, they haven't won in 27 years or something.
06:54There's nothing he can do to be an NBA elite superstar?
06:58So because you win the NBA Finals and you're the best player on your team, you're automatically
07:05entering superstar status.
07:07I think maybe we differ on what superstar is.
07:11But doesn't he have comparable superstar numbers?
07:16No.
07:17He does not?
07:18No.
07:18Okay.
07:20His numbers are right...
07:21Like I said, he's four points on our SGA, who's the MVP, Solana.
07:25It's not like he's up and down.
07:26He is a consistent scorer.
07:29Maybe we just differ on what superstar is, but I believe it's the guys, like there's five
07:35or six of them in the NBA.
07:36I'm listing them to you.
07:38But what does SGA do that Brunson doesn't that makes him an elite level superstar in
07:42your mind?
07:43I don't want to speak without the numbers in front of me because I haven't looked at
07:47them.
07:47But my guess is he's a heck of a lot more efficient.
07:54And defensively, he's much better.
07:56If Jalen Brunson is not a great defender, he's just a better overall player.
08:02Doesn't mean Jalen Brunson's not great.
08:04I'm just asking you what the difference is.
08:05Yeah.
08:06There's a reason why SGA has won two MVPs.
08:09I get it.
08:10No, I'm not trying to convince you.
08:11I'm just saying there's a reason Jalen Brunson hasn't been in the MVP conversation and SGA
08:16has won two MVP awards.
08:18He's more efficient.
08:21Probably a better passer.
08:22Probably shoots the three ball a little bit better percentage wise.
08:26Gets to the free throw line a lot, even though they're both a bunch of foul baiters.
08:29My only issue with what I was saying about yesterday, Hawk, about Jalen Brunson going
08:34down and getting hurt was that people love to do that.
08:38Oh, you saw he got hurt and he still came back and he did this.
08:41Let's be honest here.
08:43He goes down.
08:45He acts like his leg was ripped off.
08:47I mean, his knee got pushed in.
08:49He acts like his leg got ripped off.
08:51And then five minutes later, he's back on the floor like if nothing happened.
08:55Like, save me the dramatics.
08:57You're fine.
08:58You were fine.
08:58Save me the dramatics.
08:59I hate that.
09:01Oh, you're acting for five minutes like your leg got sawed off and then you're completely
09:07fine five minutes later to go drop 30 points in the NBA Finals.
09:11He didn't know.
09:12Get out of here.
09:13He didn't know.
09:14Flopper.
09:15Remember, Bam acted like he was fine and he was out for the entire game.
09:23Remember, Bam jumped up and he was directing traffic.
09:26If you're going to act like that, you should be out the rest of the game.
09:29But I'm not saying he's not SGA because SGA is the two-time MVP.
09:35SGA, 31 points, 55% from the field, 40% from three.
09:39Brunson, 26 points a game, 47% from the field, 37% from three.
09:45It's not that far off, Solana.
09:51Joker, Wemby, SGA, Anthony Edwards, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
09:59Those are six players.
10:00I believe those are the superstars in the NBA right now.
10:04And then I'm adding.
10:05That's fine.
10:06I'm not putting them there.
10:07I'm just curious if you had them there.
10:09And I was curious what's keeping him away.
10:11I'm adding LeBron.
10:13I'm adding KD.
10:15I'm adding Steph.
10:18And I'm adding Bam.
10:20Well, then I'm putting on Boozellis.
10:21I'm adding LeBron, KD, and Steph as superstars who are no longer playing at a superstar level,
10:30but their brand still puts them in the conversation.
10:32Any of those players, would you trade straight up for Eric Spolstra?
10:38Any of your list of superstars?
10:41Wemby, yes.
10:42Joker, yes.
10:44Yes.
10:46Luka?
10:47Bro, I love Luka.
10:49He's a little fat, though, no?
10:51I mean, he's gracious, alive.
10:53Let him drink some beer.
10:55You know, he's not wrong.
10:56I'm not certain.
10:57He's not wrong.
10:58I'm not certain that there's not anybody on that list, on your superstar list,
11:02that you wouldn't trade Eric Spolstra for, other than LeBron.
11:05Well, Giannis.
11:06I wouldn't do it for Giannis.
11:06Well, we know.
11:08LeBron and KD and Steph Curry, probably.
11:11But now that I see it on wax in front of me,
11:14a little more enticing to look at it like this.
11:20So you think if Brunson wins a title, he's going to be finals MVP, obviously.
11:25He's immediately in this conversation?
11:27I think all of a sudden you've added an accolade
11:31that makes it pretty difficult to keep him off elite-level superstar status
11:36because he led a team that hasn't gone anywhere.
11:41Where they've had how many iterations since their last title?
11:45He's the guy who's leading them.
11:47Their postseason run has been one for the record books.
11:52Like, it's staggering.
11:54I saw some stat.
11:55I didn't screenshot it, but it was like they've outscored their opponents
12:00in whatever last however many playoff games by 200-plus points.
12:04Like, it's insane.
12:05No, it's insane.
12:06He's the guy.
12:07He's the engine.
12:07Had the Miami Heat won that title in 2023, and they didn't.
12:12I realize that.
12:12But they won game two.
12:15They come back to Miami.
12:16It was anybody serious at that point.
12:18Had they won that title, was Jimmy Butler a superstar?
12:23No, but he doesn't have the numbers.
12:26Didn't have the numbers.
12:27In the regular season, he didn't.
12:29But Jimmy Butler's playoff numbers are some of the best individual playoff numbers
12:36that we've seen in a Heat jersey.
12:39Right.
12:39And think about the players who have played for the Miami Heat.
12:42No, I agree.
12:43We were having the conversation, is Jimmy Butler a superstar?
12:47Just based off the postseason.
12:48I remember that.
12:48But if you add a title to it, playoff Jimmy becomes a whole different animal,
12:54and the conversation is had.
12:57And the Heat pay him.
12:58Lana.
12:59Yeah.
13:00He gave Philly 31, 41, 38, 28.
13:04Then he gave Cleveland 46, 40, 41, 35.
13:08Then he just gave San Antonio 30.
13:10Like, crazy numbers.
13:13I mean, they're phenomenal.
13:15I'm not taking away from Brunson.
13:17I think he's really, really good.
13:19I think he's an all-star.
13:21And I think he's just a tier below a superstar.
13:27And there are probably some people that would put Donovan Mitchell in the superstar category.
13:32And that would put, I don't know, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum in the superstar category.
13:40I wouldn't.
13:41I wouldn't either.
13:42But there are probably people who would.
13:43And they have championships.
13:44And they have championships.
13:45And to me, that's where Jalen Brunson is.
13:48And that's not a bad thing, by the way.
13:50Like, that's not disrespecting Jalen Brunson.
13:54Like, to be with Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown.
13:55I'm not suggesting it's disrespect, because we're all agreeing.
13:58He's a great player.
14:00I'm just asking elite-level superstar.
14:02Now, they sweep San Antonio, and he's averaging 30 a game for the NBA Finals.
14:09Like, it would be tough to say that he's not.
14:11If they sweep San Antonio, as much as it pains me, because I am actively rooting against the Knicks like
14:19I've never rooted against any team ever before, they will go down as one of the greatest NBA title teams
14:28ever.
14:28If they sweep San Antonio, they sweep the conference semifinal.
14:32They would have ended up with one postseason loss, I think, right?
14:34Two.
14:35Two.
14:35Two.
14:35The Atlanta Hawks and CJ McCollum.
14:38That's funny.
14:39They would have swept the Sixers in the conference semifinal.
14:44They sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference final.
14:47And then sweep the NBA's golden boy in its first-ever NBA Finals after taking out the defending champs in
14:54seven on the road.
14:55That would be, without a doubt, one of the most impressive NBA titles in the history of the league.
15:00It's not going to happen, though.
15:01Brunson for Spoh.
15:03Done.
15:07Brunson for Spoh and Riley.
15:11Brunson for Spoh and Riley for Jalen Brunson.
15:14And Brunson can live in my guest room for a couple weeks until he figures out the real estate situation.
15:21Would you trade Pat Riley for Giannis?
15:30Milwaukee says, you know what we need is stability.
15:33And we know that Riles probably is only going to do this another season or two.
15:37But we need stability.
15:39And so we'll give you Giannis because he wants out.
15:42But we want Pat Riley.
15:46I would not.
15:47You would not make that trade.
15:49That's why I hate getting on these Solana Islands.
15:53Because he's going to let me down as soon as the food gets low.
15:57I would not trade Pat Riley.
16:03I would not trade Pat Riley for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
16:08I mean, Hawk, who's going to build the team around Giannis Antetokounmpo?
16:13If it's not Pat, if it's not the Godfather.
16:16Fair.
16:18Nick Arison.
16:21Oh, no.
16:22Come on.
16:25Isn't that what our future looks like?
16:27Would you trade Tommy Tide?
16:47Would you trade Tommy Tide for an original Chop Chop from Chicken Kitchen?
16:55Like, with mustard curries on it.
17:03If you throw in a full pita instead of a half pita.
17:08Yeah.
17:09And we got a deal.
17:10We're talking.
17:12Why do they do that?
17:13Why do they only give you a half pita?
17:16Like, the pita is so expensive, we're only giving it half.
17:19Well, I would imagine at the end of the year, when you've given out half the number of pitas that
17:24you could have given out, then you've probably saved some money.
17:27I don't think he understands business, Hawk.
17:38The Marlins are off today.
17:39They're going to play tomorrow.
17:40Tommy Tide is texting me.
17:42No, I'm teasing.
17:48The Marlins will play tomorrow.
17:50They got the Tampa Rays coming to South Florida, to Miami.
17:54The real South Florida.
17:55Yeah.
17:56And you've got game two of the Stanley Cup final tonight.
18:00And you've got game two of the NBA finals tomorrow.
18:05Dr. Lascano texting me.
18:08Riley hasn't built anything in years.
18:10I would trade Riley.
18:13Oh, those are fighting words, Dr. Lascano.
18:17You've got Solana.
18:18Solana's going to be there with blood in his eyes.
18:22You're going to have to deal with it.
18:29Lascano's got magic hands, man.
18:31I walked in there.
18:32I thought I was going to have to have my eye just taken out.
18:35It was hurting so bad.
18:36He's like, oh, you're fine.
18:38Boom.
18:39He does have magic hands.
18:40He is good.
18:42Terrible sports takes.
18:46All right.
18:47Your weather in South Florida right now.
18:49It is 88 degrees.
18:51Oh, someone has texted in.
18:53John Crotty for Peyton Pritchard.
19:01You can never trade a J.C.
19:03I'm just throwing it out there.
19:04You can never trade a J.C.
19:06You would not make that trade.
19:07I would not make that trade.
19:08You would not make that trade.
19:10No.
19:10Crotty's got better hair.
19:11All right.
19:14And there is no doubt in my mind, Peyton Pritchard's DMs and group chats would get him canceled.
19:20There is zero doubt in my mind.
19:22Peyton Pritchard.
19:2688 degrees tonight.
19:28The lows will be in the mid-70s.
19:30Weather report brought to you by tornado roofing and contracting storm season.
19:34It's the dumbest show.
19:43We're trading analysts.
19:45I traded Tommy Tye for a lunch that's $8.99.
20:03Get your free roof and window estimate today.
20:06Visit tornado roofing.com.
20:07And no, I would not trade the golden oldies for Chris Paul.
20:12I would not trade the golden oldies for Chris Paul.
20:16What about Uptown Dale?
20:18Oh, Uptown Dale.
20:19What's the offer?
20:19How dare you, Jimmy?
20:20What's the offer?
20:21What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
20:23What's the offer?
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