welcome back to the Stephen A Smith show I want to hit a few NBA topics before we jump into some quick hitters and I can get the hell up on out of here the Lakers open training camp this week with new head coach JJ reic and staff reck told reporters earlier this week that he plans to use the same starting five that ended last season of LeBron James Anthony Davis Austin Reeves D'Angelo Russell and ruy hachimura however reic says he plans to use a nine-man rotation this season to improve their offensive and defensive efficiency let
me say this about JJ reck okay um but before I do I'm gonna add this because I got to bring up LeBron James he was asked about expectations this year on the roster that now includes his son bronnie LeBron said he didn't have any expectations and it's unfair to put any expectations on the team right now miss me with that a I trying to hear that you're a Laker the Lakers always have expectations always now you don't have to be specific with it but you can't sit up there and say no expectations excuse me what's
the starting five a't the same Star Fire you've been playing with ain't Vander gonna be back healthy I think so you got JJ reck there is gay V gonna be able to give you anything who else you got you know who's in the west it's Golden State Sacramento it's Dallas it's Denver it's Minnesota it's Phoenix what's up now LeBron James is one of the greatest ever Mount two number two Mount Rushmore fine and I know the brothers approaching 40 and what he's doing is phenomenal extraordinary absolutely true but he also got a top 10 player
in the world than Anthony Davis it's basketball the hell you mean Ken I have no expectations it' be unfair bump unfair you're a Laker not a Clipper W hear no D nonsense about unfair miss me with that back to JJ Reddit I'm rooing for the brother I'm not blind to the fact that you know you do a podcast while you know Darin ham is on the hot seat and then ultimately he's gone and the man that's doing the podcast with LeBron James gets the head coaching job even though it was offered to Danny Hurley and
he turned it down but you really really didn't want them if you offered them you know 11 million a year when you had all the other coaches getting you know 16 to 17 million we know you didn't want that bad so we know what time it is having said all of that I'm still rooting for JJ reck did a great job when he was with us at ESPN did a great job on first take uh brilliant basketball mind basketball purist highly intellectual knowledgeable will have a game plan and I'm fascinating ated to see how he
coaches and to see how much that's going to help LeBron and the Lakers compete for a championship just compete we should find out we should find out let me transition to the next subject because I want to get into an interesting exchange I saw between a reporter and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors as the team open their training camp this week the reporter named Scott Osler of the San Francisco Chronicle said Warriors fans were worried about Green intimating the four-time champion may not be available for the entire season based on past Behavior take
a listen to The Exchange please before you hear my response listen to this you know people worry about you fans maybe your teammates why they worry about me I am a successful black man in America doing incredibly well what's the worry about they worry about you there are way more people in this world to worry about than me that's right sure but we're here now so we're all here I don't think you should worry about me okay I'm doing pretty well if you would have if you would have told me when I was 13 years
old in Sagen on Michigan without a pot to piss in that you'd be sitting here and somebody would say they're worried about you I would have probably told them they were out of their mind if they I'd be sitting here and they'd be worried about me well they're worried for themselves too they they want to know they don't feed they know the te so why are they worried because they know the team needs you but they don't feed them doing this I'm here I've been here for 13 years now if you're going to be here
every night been here pretty much all every night for 13 years not so very much so you miss we all have look cavon Looney play 82 games two years in a row and everybody will celebrate we all miss games no what I'm talking about they want to know you're going to be here like I'm always here and suspensions the the guideline of getting suspended is is something that's in place because it's a possibility so that's there's nothing changed in that respect I don't know what what would change well I don't get the question I think
my mindset has helped us do some great things it's pretty cool so it's all about how you spin it I love how you trying to spin it but ain't my spin to it player so yeah it's good ah I felt compelled to touch on this subject for a couple of reasons I was very very uncomfortable I didn't know it was Scott Osler for the San Francisco Chronicle that had asked that question um I knew it was somebody White and I know how most black men would take a question considering the manner in which it was
asked it was very uncomfortable because when you say if you're going to bring up the suspension say the suspension if you're going to sit up there and ask are you gonna be available for the team or you gonna get yourself suspended that's that's one thing but if you want to talk about being responsible enough to the team to not get yourself suspended because the two suspensions that Draymond Dre green suffered last year clearly cost to Golden State Warriors a player bro if Golden State if Draymond Green is a suspended they were 11 games over 500
when he played and a game under five and a in a game uh under 500 when he didn't play he's he accounted for a 12 game difference 17 games suspended Draymond Green is pivotal to the success of the Golden State Warriors if Scott Osa had asked a question in that regard that would be different he did not instead he said we're worried about you and you know who else was guilty of that it was Kevin Durant not to bring that up but the parallel are the parallels are warranted here Kevin Durant when he sat up
there last year after Draymond got hurt for hitting nage Kevin Durant a former teammate of Draymond Green said I hope he gets the help he needs oh hell no that's extreme this man ain't walking off the court and committing crimes abusing people in the streets or anything like that and don't get me started with when he punched his former teammate in the face I know that was extreme he knows he was wrong had a lot going on but we don't talk about how he was Eggo when you going through tough times in life in your
moments and the people closest to you are the ones agitating you on purpose sometimes you bring stuff on yourself even though that was a bit extremee nobody's going to sit here and say to you that Draymond hasn't made mistakes and Draymond gotta own that and he has he's Gott mad at me for saying so so be it I love the brother anyway he's good dude really good dude Scott Osler I felt asked a question that connotated something different I'm not accusing him of intentionally doing it and I'll get to that in a second but it
connotated something different it's almost the equalent of when somebody talk about me Stephen a screaming a screaming a because I'm loud I'm loud I appreciate that now back in the day I was labeled angry but white folks who were loud all the time especially on ESPN Sports reporters they were considered passionate I was considered loud I was considered angry black folks have been fighting off of those off those stigmas for a long time but let me get to Scott Osler because I have been in the journalism business for many years ladies and gentlemen Scott Osa
is one of the best in the business he is an outstanding columnist outstanding he's covered about five Olympics he's an 11 time winner of the California sports writer of the Year award 11 times ladies and gentlemen Bill plashy writes for the Los Angeles Times I think one of the best effort this man Scott Osa is is on that level and I'm not going to accuse him of any intentional wrongdoing I'm just simply saying as a black man talking about the question that was posed and how that question was posed how it could be interpreted and
I say respectfully the Scott Osler that's my only issue everything that involved their back and forth after the question I was cool with because you got into the specifics we're talking about your suspension we're talking about whether or not you're going to be available all of that's fair game but you don't started off and ignite the dialogue The Back and Forth by saying folks are worried about you that implies a lot more than whether or not you gonna get yourself suspended because some on the court matters of physicality when Draymond Green place for an organization
that relies on that depends on his physicality his passion his fervor Etc they want you to hone it in enough so you don't get yourself suspended but outside of that they ain't trying to stop Draymond so let's just be careful about that let's just be careful about how we ask black men certain questions go up to the white dude and ask and tell him we worried about you we worried about you well what does that mean that's all I'm saying nothing more than that Scott Osa is a pro he's a phenomenal phenomenal columnist universally respected
in this business certainly by me and I'm not going to question his intent I'm only talking about what happened and saying maybe next time phrase the question a little bit differently that's just my personal opinion he knows more about this than me but it doesn't mean that we all don't have moments where we could be corrected that's all I want to say about that nothing more nothing more let's get to some quick hitters before we get on out of here for the day please Devonte Adams you know gonna start off with him and his time
in Las Vegas because it's coming to an end that's because he's requested to be moved and the Raiders have informed teams they would consider trading Adams for a package that would include a second round draft pick and an additional compensation easy decision you don't really have a quarterback and you have an elite receiver in the game who knows you don't have really have a quarterback and knows that he's not going to really be successful in that system yardage wise touchdowns and stuff like that he's up there but he's not going anywhere the man played for
Aaron Rogers played with Aaron Rogers was throwing him the football okay and then he had to go from that to supposedly garoo and Derek Carr and all of this stuff really Derek Carr so yeah fine and Derek Carr is going these in New Orleans now you Devonte Adams you want to try to get to the Jets because Aaron Rogers is there you want to try to get to Baltimore because Lamar Jackson is there you certain wouldn't mind shouldn't mind going to Buffalo because Josh Allen is there and you should consider the Dallas Cowboys because they're
America's team they're in desperate need of an additional wide receiver Jerry Jones has to justify the $60 million he gave to a Dak Prescott which means Mike McCarthy is gonna want him to fling that football which means he needs to have somebody other than CD lamb to fling the football too Brandon Cooks I know that he's quality number two but he's really a number three want him in slot in the slots receivers position you put Adams on one wide out spot you put CD lamb on the other you can do some things with you you
the Dallas cowb especially since you don't have a running game so that's something that should be considered we'll see what happens all right let me get to item number two on my quick Hits list all right that's involving the WNBA playoffs with a two-time defending Las Vegas Aces find themselves in an 0 and two hole the aces were beaten Again by the New York Liberty Tuesday night 8884 led by Sabrina UNESCO who dropped 24 on them now the top seat of Liberty have never won a championship but they have been in the finals five times
WNBA teams are 18-0 in playoff history when leading two- in the best of Five series I got to say this I've been saying all year long you got to show me that you can beat Asia Wilson for me to believe it if anybody has done that it's the Liberty they've beaten the aces all five times they've played them this year after losing in the NBA Finals now they up 20 and on the verge of sweeping them now can I see that happening no because I think Asia Wilson the best in the world is going to
respond to the challenge but there is something to be said as Becky coach Becky Hammond pointed out when you win your back-to-back Champions you can get distracted the priorities that you once had you no longer have and those distractions take away from the level of Excellence you could once put forth because you didn't dot every eye and cross every tea and you make yourself more vulnerable that clearly appears to be what's happened to the Las Vegas Aces or it could just be that the New York Liberty are better Banna Stewart dropping 34 and game one
was Sensational I'm rooting for the Liberty I never root against Becky Hammond Las Vegas Aces but their number might be up I'm going say that staying with the WNBA playoffs let's stay here let's just say the ratings aren't the same with Caitlyn Clark and the Indiana FIFA now eliminated game one of the aces Liberty match up on Sunday Drew an average of 929 th000 viewers it's a good number for the WNBA on an NFL Sunday however that was down nearly 50% from last Sunday's fever Sun contest by the way Not only was viewership down but
attendance was as well do you want me to just say I told you so or are you willing to say Stephen A you did tell us really Caitlyn Clark is the Golden Goose not most not all but some people spent some time resenting her for it Cheryl sus was one of those people want to give shine you want to give love to others other than her just say what you truly feel sisters black women who were absolutely positively fantastic in helping to build the WNBA did not receive the shine the Acclaim the allore the attention
the marketing and everything else with it that they richly deserved and there are very very few people but there are some out there who resent the fact that this young white girl came out there and did her thing Rookie of the Year fourth in the league for MVP voting assist leader one of the top leading scorers after the Olympic Games she put on the show validating all the attention she was receiving a rising tide lifts all boats if folks were more receptive to it even more moments would have arrived I still contend Caitlyn Clark should
have been on Team USA imagine the international the global audience that would have followed her but folks missed it because of feelings not business that's all I have to say about that I'll leave it alone on a sour note our final story is a tribute to the one and only John Amos it was announced that the legendary actor passed away of natural causes according to his son Amos is probably best known for playing James Evans senior the father of the hit series good times he was also Emy nominated for playing couta in the miniseries Roots
he was 84 years old a phenomenal actor a phenomenal figure and I had the pleasure of meeting him once what a wonderful wonderful human being James Evans senior I don't care what role he played even when I watched him and coming to America even when I seen him on various other movies no R the clips the iconic figure that served as an inspiration to us all is James Evans senior no matter how poor he was or was depicted as being in that show family was first and every means necessary was exhausted to make sure he
provided for them showing us all what a man should be from a character standpoint John amamos gone at age 84 but never ever forgotten that's it for this edition of the Stephen A Smith show I'll catch y'all in a couple of days peace and love
