Can Harden change? and Kyrie should retire!? | Dunk Bait
Blockbuster of a trade for Harden. People say that Kyrie is done. The Draymond generation is here!
Video Transcript
- Welcome to Dunk Bait where we talk mostly basketball. Harden's out at Houston. We give a little perspective on Kyrie, and we want to highlight Draymond Generation. To be leaving this quick and going to a team that's, you know, championship bound, or at least to be playing for one, how do you feel about that trade?
- Well, first of all, this can't really come as a surprise to anybody. I think my biggest question is just how much James Harden is-- is willing to change. That's really going to define what happens with the Nets this season. I think, ideally, the scheme that they would want to have is some combination of the Golden State Warriors ethos, but in a way that-- that still, you know, caters to-- to the superstar and maximizes the ISO talents of K.D.
The situation that keeps popping into my head is-- is LeBron James joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. That first year, they had a little bit of a difficult time of it because while you and I over here can say, you know, LeBron James was definitely better than Dwyane Wade, I don't think Dwyane Wade, being the type of player that he was, should ever think that, right? And I think that's exactly the situation that Harden falls into with K.D.
- He's def going to have be off ball with the Nets. Kyrie's a point guard. Harden is not the point guard on his team. That's definitely Kyrie. So he's going to have to change, like, you know, how he approaches his ball dominant way of playing. I don't think the issue was with K.D. I think K.D.'s the most efficient scorer maybe we've ever seen. Him and-- him and Clay? That's what made the Warriors so good. Dwyane Wade was definitely the second best player on that team, right? And, you know, then with Bosh, who was a-- you know, Bosh was great pre-Heat with the Raptors, but he was a far third when it came to those three. I think with Harden and Kyrie it's not the same. It might-- it might be game to game actually. And in the playoffs, you definitely know Kyrie's the guy.
- You mean K.D.?
- No. Kyrie's the guy when it comes to Kyrie and Harden. During the playoffs, Harden might be the third best player on that team. He might be the fourth depending on how we see him the last of the year. This is definitely not the Warriors. I don't think it's the Wade situation. I think it's going to be really difficult for them to figure out, you know, where Harden fits in, and that bench is going to be short.
- They have so much talent. They have so much intelligence. I just don't believe that this isn't a good trade for them, you know. I think they got three superstars on the same team. From there, you figure it out.
- So this is how I feel about the trade. It's going to be cute in the regular season. Real cute. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch. You know what I mean? But Lakers in six. Lakers in six. Lakers in six. Maybe five.
People have been talking a little bit about-- well, not a little bit, a lot --about Kyrie's missing games, not showing up. His teammates are showing a lot of respect for what he's-- what he's going through. We-- we can't make any, you know, assumptions. Stephen A. suggested that he should retire. If we're going to be talking about him retiring, we should come from a different place I believe. I think we should come from a place of, like, if you need some time away from basketball to work on other things, I understand, Kyrie. Don't question his dedication to the game, OK?
99.9% of people, if they have the ability that Kyrie have, they still be doing the exact same thing they're doing now. I don't think I've ever loved anything the way Kyrie loves basketball. He never shows up for, you know-- never shows up out of shape for the season. We never question, you know, if-- if-- if he's given his all out of the court. Kyrie loves basketball. For something to take him away from that, from something he's given his entire life to, it has to be serious, and I think we have to understand that.
Being that there's any time that somebody may be struggling with something, it's this year. And they want to spend time with family rather than at the job, it's this year. So let's show some grace and mercy that we would want people to show to us to these players. They're not just entertainment. They're not just athletes. These are humans, and they contain multitudes, and let's approach them in that way.
- John, how differently do you think people would be approaching the Kyrie conversation if we looked at the NBA more like what it is? Which is a workplace, as opposed to, you know, a lovey-dovey team environment, which is-- that's-- that's the idea that you have to uphold. But at the end of the day, these guys are going to work, you know?
- Every day. And they work in ways that nobody else-- like, they work-- it's very hard to be a professional athlete. Work for them is more of a job than it probably is a job for you and me with all the effort and energy that's consistently put into it. And we work tirelessly, you know what I'm saying? So I think if people change their perspective in that way, I think they would think about them as they think about themselves and have some more understanding, and I think that's the way we should approach this. We're just saying somebody was tired and question their love for basketball in a year like this, I think that's irresponsible. I think that's the wrong way to approach this.
- The only thing I'd even add to that is that, you know, the last few years, guys have been very open about things that they deal with off the court. DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Love really, you know, headed up the mental health movement in the NBA. And I think, obviously, they've-- they've been handled by the NBA and the NBA media with a lot of, I think, grace, and I think that's admirable. At the same time, I think we should also be cognizant of what people go through when the storm is happening right now, right? Like, we love hearing about mental health issues after the storm, right? This is messy, right? Like, I don't think anybody would disagree with that. But at the same time, this is life. Like, life is messy for a lot of people right now.
- And I love the point you make. We all love the story after, you know, the storm. Let's-- let's show them grace and mercy, potentially, during it.
SEERAT SOHI: In the beginning, there was Chuck, but the game demanded defense. Then came Boris. Wait, Boris? Defense? Everyone laughed, but he got the last one, a championship. LeBron James, the freight train, couldn't barrel through him. Reports of DL's defense against James have been greatly exaggerated, but there was a lesson in his girth. That hit would eventually give LeBron nightmares.
At first, nobody wanted Draymond Green, an overweight 6'6 tweener. Could he shoot? Could he rebound? Was he tall enough? Fast enough? Eventually, fat turned into strength, and he flipped all those questions. Steph revolutionized offense. Draymond changed defense. He made it more physical putting a modern spin on toughness, making the game look more like football than it ever has.
Now, everyone else is adjusting. Suddenly, everyone wants a Draymond Green, paving the way for a new kind of NBA player: guys who dominate with strength, and not length. Guys like Lu Dort and Grant Williams, maybe Xavier Tillman. They're the Draymond Generation. Out tomorrow, at Yahoo Sports.
- All right, well, that's the show. I'm LaJethro Jenkins.
- I'm Seerat Sohi.
- It's great talking to you about these things. You have so much perspective. You're such an interesting--
- You have so much perspective.
- Thank you. Thank you.
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