FIRST TAKE | The next face of NBA – Stephen A. on Anthony Edwards makes strong case for dunk of year

FIRST TAKE | The next face of NBA – Stephen A. on Anthony Edwards makes strong case for dunk of year

All right it’s time for a quick take uh I want you to take a look at this dunk by Anthony Edwards throws it off the backboard to himself Steph I know you’re a very tough judge of dunks how do you feel about this one it it it it was nice it was

Spectacular in real time but let me say this y’all I I I need my boys to listen to me I need you to listen to me Christina because regardless of what people want to think because of my presentation and delivery my boy CCE I see you right there big boy here’s the

Deal y’all I don’t really engage in hyperb nearly as much as I engage in fact this brother is something special yes he is he is something special he brought he brings out the dog and the rest of their team let me tell you something right now he is rapidly

Evolving into my favorite player in the NBA he’s got an NBA body he’s a Manchild he’s a Skywalker he’s got game he’s got heart listen to what I’m saying to you on National Television right now when I see Anthony Edwards I see in the making Vince Carter Kobe Bryant

MJ Michael Jordan I see listen y’all know how I L I hate cold weather I’ll fly to Minnesota to see that brother he is box office Anthony Edwards you hear what I’m saying to y’all he is special he ain’t there yet in terms of the names

I mentioned but he’s coming and he is box office worthy of walking through the turn styles to see that brother play he is a showstopper I want the NBA to put the Minnesota Timberwolves on National Television even more yes yes yes on for for this uh trade deadline

Season was Pascal sakam and he got moved um going to or with the Indiana Pacers um in exchange for Bruce Brown um Jordan Nora and 2 2024 first round picks and W 2026 conditional first um Kyra Lewis you was sent over to Toronto um as part of like a third third team in

The deal Let’s uh revisit just just how this big trade impacts obviously the Pacers um what do you think about the fit uh for cakam I mean their offense was already efficient uh how do you think he’s going to fit with them yeah I

Think he fits like a glove and I have a lot of appreciation for for Bruce Brown’s game his ability to to guard obviously one through four one through five he can initiate the offense plays a great role but sakam is a different Beast this is a three-level score guy

Who’s over 70% at The Rim efficient from mid-range can catch and shoot threes and obviously gives them another dynamic in terms of being able to hunt matchups and find isolation opportunities and you pair him alongside Holly they’re going to be really really good and looking at Carlile The Way their offense is ran

Right now it’s fastpaced it’s lots of screens ball screens they run isos um they have some flare screen actions similar to what we ran in Portland with Terry but maybe more so on steroids because of the pace between what the game was like then and what

It’s like now 10 years later they are going to be a handful to to deal with in the Eastern Conference and uh I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like uh for them as a team and what type of potential matchups we may get in the Eastern Conference playoffs yeah yeah absolutely

Um they yeah they they’re they’re not I mean they they were in the inseason tournament finals and they’re you know towards the top of the East and they made that big they made that big move I don’t I could see you know Bruce uh being moved at some point um I don’t

Know if he’s in for the long run in Toronto um but speaking of you know Toronto I mean there were trade rumors about the Raptors um Veterans of you know Pascal OG Fred vanl last year um but you know with the moves that they made this year what what do you think the

Direction of the team is going to be for them I mean I know they obviously picked up RJ quick um it’s hard you know like I know M Messiah was very close with Pascal you saw he got emotional talking about the trade um but I think they all kind of

Knew it was time to move on I mean I think the first Domino was was Nick nurse leaving um last year so you know what do you think of of the Raptors and what their future holds I think msai knows what he’s doing obviously he’s one of the best uh I call

Him managers of teams throughout the NBA because obviously he’s he’s handling roster he’s handling Personnel he’s handling Acquisitions And Trades um he knows what he’s doing and he’s collecting a lot of different assets for them to be able to make a decision on how to move forward obviously moving OG

Moving Pascal they were able to get RJ Barrett a Canadian um who is extremely um eager to kind of prove people wrong coming out of New York and being so young but so talented um you get quickley who was due for a big payday and now can be you know your guard of

The future a guy who can score can run pick and role play and ISO and you get a lot of different assets along with that that you can move whether that’s first round picks second round picks pick swaps so they have flexibility to still compete for a spot in the playoffs

Whether that’s play in or otherwise and they still still have draft assets to be able to go get another player or just draft well and right that positions you very well in the league where there’s a lot of talent coming um whether that’s from this upcoming giraffe or the

Giraffe everybody hopes to be a part of with the kid that’s going the Duke right now and seems to be very very good well also if you um you know ask sto rakovich Scotty Barnes is the face of face of the NBA future face of the NBA

So lot of uh did you hear that yeah I mean Scotty’s Scotty’s great he certainly has uh they they didn’t want to let go of him he he’s the anchor they wanted to hold on to um we’ll see I mean I’m I you know I’m happy for RJ being

Back I’m I’m happy for for quick to kind of get some more um run because it was pretty inconsistent uh in terms of getting a real flow in in New York so um we will see we’ll see what happens with the Raptors but uh speaking of Darko

Rakovich he had he had he’s been getting a lot of play with his postgame uh comments and you know he went on that I like him a lot you like him I like him a lot yeah I do I’ve heard great things about him GT was telling me stories

About him yeah strong personality very blunt clearly love love him love him clearly don’t know him but love him don’t know him at all cuz him and Mike Brown they they they were on some they were on some comedy maybe Darko not wasn’t you know

Um trying to be funny but um you know he was upset after a 23-2 fourth quarter free throw split um in the fourth quarter against the Lakers and then Mike Brown got ejected after running you know onto the court and then yelling at a ref against the buck and then brought out

The laptop um which is definitely a meme and yeah um see I always like I don’t you I’m going to ask you this and understanding what you what you could say um as president of the Players Association but like what do you think uh of how much coaches are voicing their

Opinions on refs uh this this season and um you know how have you felt about the officiating cuz I know officiating complaints is Al like is part of the fabric of the game as much as any sport but I I said it like early on in our

Podcast it just feels a little different this year I think twofold I I can understand the discontentment from coaches if that’s even a word from coaches players I I was thinking about it I’m like I got to look that up disc this is it’s late okay you

Got what are you saying these too late these two 30 somethings up here post put down wait discontentment it’s a word isn’t it uh yeah yes it’s a word there we go I didn’t have to make one up this time but I can understand um their frustration because it’s a competitive game it’s

Impossible for them to get every call right and it’s impossible for you not to feel slighted as a player because in your mind you’re getting fouled more often than you are in your mind Things Are going your way so I can understand that but I think and I had this

Conversation today with the competition committee and you know just understanding the rules and making sure we’re all on the same page with the actual Rule and the way the rule is being officiated because sometimes there’s blurred lines between that and you have certain referees who enforce the rule one way and certain referees

Who enforce the rule another way so then that’s where you get the the gray lines and you get players saying well like last night that wasn’t a foul and tonight it’s a foul or last night tonight that was a foul tonight is not a foul like why is why is there a

Difference um but I think the conversations can be more productive for our game sometimes in private like being able to talk to the referees being able to have a referee meeting where you’re watching the film you’re breaking it down this is what I see Tommy what you

See and I think we’re in the process of doing more of those types of things which I think will be helpful but in terms of Mike Brown and um Darko just kind of expressing you know their feelings I think have a right to your own opinion you have a right to express

Things in the way that you see fit yeah and you get in front of a microphone post game and it’s emotional it’s going to happen and I think they both went went about it in different ways Mike brought out the laptop and I thought that was you know pretty funny because I

Was really watching the clip too to kind of see like wait let me see what he’s talking about here and I think that kind of painted the pict I mean he got hit with a $50,000 fine Darko I think was 25 yeah and I think in in my so the so

The props cost him an extra 25 I think it was the props and the ejection he got ejected didn’t didn’t leave the court in a timely manner I think that in the rule book it says like upstaging or showing up the referees um I think he he he

Checked all the boxes um in terms of what what you can be penalized for under under under these settings and circumstances but I think you have a right to do things the way you see fit what I would like to see happen is more dialogue between players and refs and

More respect from both both parties we got to respect the referees more as players cuz we’ be snapping on them and I think they got to like meet us halfway and understand that like we got a lot on the line every night like when I shoot a

Three and somebody comes under me and I twist my ankle and there’s no foul call and I still got a rehab two weeks later like of course I’m going to be upset about that I’m going to scream on you so it’s like you got to understand the

Moment and then as players we also got to understand that like look these refs aren’t perfect they’re going to make mistakes and we also aren’t being wronged as much as we think we’re being wronged I think that’s we got come to grips with and come terms but I don’t

Know I mean do you think you guys have the capacity to do that when you’re when you’re competing at the highest level not always but I think there’s a maturity that has to kick in from older players and older referees right like you have more experience other think I

Think we’re seeing like training of younger referees you know like there’s been a transition a bit um and that happens though like you only can get better from learning from your mistakes as I would think specifically as a as a ref because your it’s all it’s it’s basically your how present and your

Instincts and your your how your complete understanding of the game but you know I think some players find it to be you know if there’s biases playing like I think that’s sometimes you know what what kind of sends some players like are you like how much are you impacting this game and for

What reason and just and I’m saying that purely from like uh no matter how long it takes I my anger First Blood just As an enemy has been defeated an enemy has been defeated an enemy has been defeated CH dragon and an ally has been defeated theet is close back to base our Slayer Lane Tower is under attack our lane Tower is under attack Tower is under attack an ally has been defeated you have been

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Defeated no matter how long it takes I will an ally has deated my anger Tower is under attack your Tower destroyed our base is under attack to has destroyed our B Tower is under attack has been defeated No Escape sh down deated ofwhere the enemy darker has sumon you have defeated an enemy

I can turn anything into a weapon your Tower destroy your team destroyed a tower you have deated Holy Dragon has defeated an ally has been Defeated enemy has Defeated foreign foreign foreign speee spee

FIRST TAKE | “The next face of NBA is here!!!” – Stephen A. on Anthony Edwards makes strong case for dunk of the year