LaMarcus Aldridge gave advice to young basketball players while on the All The Smoke podcast: Get a couple go-to moves and don’t overthink.
Former NBA star LaMarcus Aldridge appeared on the “All The Smoke” podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson and provided some advice for young players based on how he became successful:
Simplify your thought process when you need a bucket.
As a freshman at the University of Texas in 2004, Aldridge worked with Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes to define how he wanted to play. Rick Barnes told him to find one thing from three different players, and they would work to implement it into Aldridge’s game.
He chose the fadeaway of Kevin Garnett, the ability of Tim Duncan to face up and get to the middle, and the high release of Rasheed Wallace, which Aldridge considered unblockable.
After a solid freshman year of 9.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.1 steals, Aldridge broke out as a sophomore, posting averages of 15 points, 92 boards, 2.0 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. He was drafted No. 2 overall and then spent the next 16 seasons using the same things he learned from Barnes.
“Look at my game! I went middle like Tim, faded away like KG, and had a high release like Sheed,” Aldridge said. “It seemed too simple.”
Instead of digging deep into his bag and overthinking the best move to go to at crucial moments, Aldridge had a specific go-to action he could pull out when needed.
“Get a move that if it’s [the] fourth quarter — you can go to it. If it’s first quarter — like, my [expletive] was always my fade, beginning of the game and end of the game,” he said. “It helps you stop thinking so [expletive] much, like end of the game, you’re too skilled, you’re trying to think … get one move where it’s like, I don’t care who’s guarding you.”
Aldridge is one of the top 50 scorers of all time.
“I try to tell kids now: I got 20,000 points and I had three moves,” Aldridge said.
To that, Matt Barnes added: “Kobe said he had two moves.”
Aldridge made seven All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams over his career. He spent nine years with the Portland Trail Blazers and five-plus years with San Antonio before finishing his career with the Brooklyn Nets. Over those 16 seasons, he averaged 19.1 points on 49.3% shooting and 8.1 rebounds per game.
One of the louder criticisms of Chet Holmgren since he entered the league has been his lanky frame.
Despite gaining 13 pounds over the last year, the 7-foot-1, 208-pound center continues to hear his skinny frame will not hold up in the NBA when he plays against bigs with notably more mass.
When asked about the concerns on former NBA players Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s podcast, “All The Smoke,” Holmgren said while he is actively looking to add muscle, he’s not trying to overdo it to the point that it becomes detrimental to his health.
“It’s not just about being big. There’s so much into the game now. You got to be able to move still and do so many different things. It’s not necessarily about gaining weight,” Holmgren said. “It’s really just trying to work on my body — stronger, more athletic. The weight kinda comes with it as you add some muscle and get older, you always add weight. I don’t want to add the wrong weight just get some big broad shoulders and now I’m moving slow, can’t move (and) my knees hurt. The focus has been working on my body all around and how it plays into my game.”
This is a smart approach by Holmgren. Adding too much weight in a short span of time can cause long-term consequences if not properly regulated.
The 2022 No. 2 pick looks to be a mainstay for the Oklahoma City Thunder as he prepares to play his rookie season following missing the entire 2022-23 campaign due to a foot injury.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter the 2023-24 season as one of the heavy favorites to make the next leap.
After a surprise 40-win campaign last season, the Thunder look to build off their unexpected success by establishing themselves in the league with one of the youngest cores.
The return of Chet Holmgren, who missed all of last season with a foot injury, will be a shot in the arm for the Thunder. The 2022 No. 2 pick will help improve a notable OKC weakness by being a rim-protecting center.
Holmgren isn’t the only Thunder player fans are excited to see though. The entire roster is littered with recent lottery picks. The list of young and promising players on the Thunder is so long, Holmgren had trouble narrowing it down to one person.
In his appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Holgrem told hosts and former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson he expects the entire team to break out next season.
“We just got so much talent on our team. It’s going to be like a new guy every single game,” Holmgren said. “The ball is gonna bounce this dude’s way this game; this dude’s gonna hit shots this game, you know what I’m saying? We got dudes who didn’t get the most opportunity last year or just got with the team or whatever that when you watch them some games, you’re just gonna see that this dude can hoop. From Cason (Wallace) to (Ousmane Dieng) to Tre (Mann) — all the way down the roster. We got dudes.”
It’s an extremely exciting time for the Thunder. With one of the best young cores in the league to go along with their high volume of draft assets, the sky is the limit in OKC.
In an appearance on “All The Smoke” with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson said he wants MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to join the Warriors.
When asked about a current player he would like to play with, “The Answer” replied with the reigning back-to-back Most Valuable Player. Former Warrior turned Brooklyn Net Kevin Durant also got a mention as a player Iverson would like to play alongside.
Jackson followed the conversation with a comment about Antetokounmpo leaving Milwaukee for the Bay Area. The 11-time All-Star agreed with Jackson, saying he wants Antetokounmpo to go to the Golden State Warriors.
Watch the exchange between Barnes, Jackson and Antetokounmpo via @warriorsworld on Twitter:
Watch Iverson’s full episode on All The Smoke via YouTube (Barnes, Jackson and Iverson begin discussing Antetokounmpo and the Warriors at the 1:41:45 mark).
While there’s been no indication Antetokounmpo has plans to request a trade out of Milwaukee, the NBA’s transaction wire is known to bring a handful of surprises. Until Antetokounmpo officially signs the dotted line with the Bucks, the fans of Dub Nation will continue to monitor his situation in Milwaukee with hopes of him landing at Chase Center.
Matt Barnes said he didn’t get the court time to feel he deserves the 2017 Warriors championship ring. Tracy McGrady understands through his time with the Spurs.
Matt Barnes won a championship ring with the Golden State Warriors in 2017.
He doesn’t have the ring. He doesn’t want it. He feels he didn’t do anything to deserve it.
On the “All The Smoke” episode with former NBA star Tracy McGrady that aired Thursday, Barnes said his ring is in the office of Warriors vice president of communications Raymond Ridder.
When McGrady shared detail about his final NBA season with the San Antonio Spurs, he and Barnes expressed similar emotions about the playoff runs in their respective final seasons
The day before the final game of the 2013 Spurs regular season, McGrady signed to help fill in for injured players. He had recently finished playing in China and now says he was mentally checked out of basketball, but out of respect to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, he rejoined the NBA.
McGrady didn’t play in the regular season. He didn’t see action until Game 4 of the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers, in which he played five minutes in a blowout win to complete the sweep.
In the second round the Spurs faced the Warriors. Popovich told McGrady he didn’t want the veteran to be “chasing” the young team around, but that he’d play in the next series if they got there. Again, McGrady said about five total minutes of action against Golden State.
The Western Conference Finals came against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“(Popovich) takes me on the bus, like, ‘You ready?’ McGrady said. “I was like, ‘Bruh, I’ve been waiting for this my whole career.'”
He played 6 minutes, 45 seconds in the first game and didn’t see the court for the rest of the series. He knew he wasn’t in a position to complain about it.
“You can’t say nothing,” McGrady said. “I am Tracy. I ain’t T-Mac. I can’t say nothing.”
McGrady played twice in the Finals: Game Two was for 7 minutes, 43 seconds in a 19-point loss. Game Three was for 6 minutes, 39 seconds in a 36-point win.
The Spurs lost the series to the Miami Heat in seven games. McGrady said they flew back to San Antonio, he thanked Popovich, and then he left the NBA for good.
“Listen man, if they would’ve won that championship, I know I was on the team,” McGrady said before pausing, struggling to phrase his feelings properly.
“I’m a competitor, bro. I can’t go through that journey and have satisfaction with that. It would’ve been cool for them to get that ring, but it was hard for me to even accept if we had won that. I gotta go through the journey. The journey is what makes that fulfilling.”
Stephen Jackson, who co-hosts the podcast with Barnes, tried to argue it would have been nice to have that piece of hardware, but McGrady was unmoved.
Barnes backed McGrady up with personal experience.
“I got a free ride, I got a free ring,” Barnes said. “I don’t count myself as an NBA champ for the exact same reason you said.”
Barnes was on the 2017 Warriors championship team, but he only played 20 regular season games and received few playoff minutes.
“Obviously I wasn’t at the standpoint of who you were, but the culmination of my career, when people say you won a ring, I don’t count that for the exact same reason you said,” Barnes said.
“I was playing good leading up — I came in when (Kevin Durant) went down. Played consistent, 20, 25 minutes a game.”
Durant missed 19 games from March 2 through April 5. Barnes played in each, starting five and averaging 21.5 minutes per game.
In the third-to-final game of the regular season, Durant returned. Barnes got injured.
“Worst ankle sprain of my life. I’m not healthy until the end of the second round when they’re already 8-0,” Barnes said. “So me being a vet, knowing they’re not going to change the rotation, I don’t expect them to change the rotation. I’m just gonna sit here and be a super vet and cheer these (expletives) on, talk to people when they need to be talked to, and just enjoy the ride.”
Barnes returned in round two, recording five minutes combined in Games 1 and 2 against the Utah Jazz and then played 13 minutes in the blowout Game 4 to complete the second-round sweep.
He played 10 minutes in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Spurs and almost 15 minutes in Game 2, but didn’t get more than five minutes in another game that year.
“It’s amazing to hear you say it, because I don’t count that ring,” Barnes said. “I didn’t sweat, I wasn’t in the (expletive) dog hole with these dudes, I didn’t get to guard LeBron … I feel you, it’s interesting to hear you say that.”
Instead, Barnes appreciates that championship for his kids.
“The best part about it was the twins they got to enjoy the ride. You couldn’t tell my (expletive) kids they weren’t on the court,” Barnes said. “They were right up there with Steph and KD trying to grab the trophy. My boys got their rings. That was the absolute best part.”
Boston Celtics team president shut down the idea Jayson Tatum could have been stolen from the team by the Suns in the draft.
According to Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge, there was precisely zero percent chance the All-Star forward would have ended up playing for the Phoenix Suns.
This was of course in reference to comments made by Jayson Tatum in a recent episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast on which the Duke product revealed he had been leaning heavily towards wanting to be drafted by the Suns ahead of the 2017 NBA Draft.
Ainge responded — also on a podcast, this time ESPN’s “The Lowe Post” — to speculation about how close the reality Tatum described was to playing out in real life:
“Jayson was never going to end up in Phoenix, even if he didn’t come in for that second workout with us a few days before the draft in Boston,” he explained. “We were still going to take Jayson Tatum.”
At the time, the Celtics had traded back with the Philadelphia 76ers, correctly divining they were after guard Markelle Fultz with the top overall selection.
With the Los Angeles Lakers signaling for weeks they’d be after point guard Lonzo Ball, Boston felt confident enough they’d get their man at No. 3.
They did, and while Phoenix was indeed picking fourth, it would have required a heft offer to convince the Lakers it would have been worth passing on the draft apple of their eye.
The ex-post facto conversations springing up regarding what other teams could’ve (and probably should have, if it were even possible) done doesn’t bother the Celtics president, though.
“It’s good that we have Jayson and it’s good that there are stories coming about him and how everybody else would have gotten him,” noted Ainge on the podcast, a wry grin almost audible on the recording.
Boston Celtics All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum shared how he nearly backed out of the workout that sold Danny Ainge on drafting him and more in a new interview.
Boston Celtics All-Star swingman Jayson Tatum appeared on the popular podcast “All the Smoke” Monday, and gave a wide-ranging interview to former NBAers-turned-podcast-hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
As one might imagine, life in pandemic was a necessary prelude, but the trio spent little time speaking on quotidian issues early.
Salient points by now quite familiar to Celtics fans were addressed, from working out at home to getting a hoop to shoot on to waiting for test results were discussed as they have been several times now.
But soon things got interesting.
Barnes revealed the extent of Tatum and childhood friend and Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal’s food drive for Boston and St. Louis, Missouri — Beal and Tatum’s hometown — which raised nearly $300,000 to help feed locals struggling through the pandemic.
“I was sitting here with my mom, we was thinking of a way that we could help and give back to where I’m from,” began the Missourian forward.
“And, you know, for me, that’s all I’m always thinking about what can I do for the people back home in St. Louis, because — for those that don’t know, St. Louis, it’s not like any other one of those big cities, a lot of people from St. Louis, we don’t come from much, we don’t have a lot and growing up, we all kind of grew up in the same area.”
So, Brad [Beal] is another person that really helps and gives back to St. Louis, and he’s like my big brother,” Tatum added.
Beal was very much on board, ready to help the local population struggling to make ends meet as they are in much of the U.S. these days.
On the topic of the 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame class including Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Tamika Catchings, the Duke product related it to “The Last Dance” — perhaps unsurprising given the ubiquity of the ESPN documentary in basketball culture at the moment.
“For me, especially watching this [Michael] Jordan documentary and hearing people like around you guys age and older, how my dad talked about Jordan really made me realize … that was Kobe for me. Kobe was my Jordan and he was the reason I started playing basketball.”
I had all the jerseys, all the shoes I wanted to be just like him so, Kobe was Jordan for me,” he finished.
Garnett talks Kobe, Wolves, banners and more in Hall of Fame interview https://t.co/2a7oIlimDC
Tatum’s father Justin was evidently more a fan of another member of this year’s Hall of Fame class, though.
“Kevin Garnett was my dad’s favorite player. So I remember anytime anytime the Celtics played the Suns and him and Mr. Stoudamire matched up, my pops would call me like. ‘Yo, turn on TV — there’s two animals playing against each other.”
Tatum also discussed becoming a Jordan Brand player, which his agent arranged in 2019. After the details were settled, there was a Jordan Brand group trip to France, and Tatum described getting to know the man himself at a dinner.
They had exchanged words briefly earlier in the day at media events, but didn’t really have a chance to talk much.
In the evening, however, Jordan Brand athletes convened for a dinner in a more conversational environment, and Tatum related how he made an impression on the basketball legend.
“Melo [Anthony] was there. Blake [Griffin] was there. Russ [Westbrook], Spike Lee … everybody was there,” he related. “So … I’m still nervous, right?”
“I walk in, and MJ is sitting down, his wife [was] next to him and Spike next to her. So I walk in, and I was going go say what’s up before I sit down … Then, I walk over to him and like my hands are sweating. And I was like, ‘What’s up, Mike?’; when I went to go shake his hand, I knocked over his wine glass on the table and it broke.”
Tatum is not, of course, the first person to get nerves upon meeting the NBA icon, and probably is far from being the last. But the revelation drew chuckles from Barnes and Jackson just the same.
Discussion shifted to the Duke product’s college days under coach Mike Krzyzewski, touching on everything from the Cameron Crazies camping out for weeks just to get home tickets to home games to Tatum’s feelings about recent NCAA debates on allowing students to profit off of their likenesses.
“I think you should be able to make money off your likeness,” offered the St. Louis native.
“If I was at Duke and I want to say ‘Hey, I want to host the autograph session on Saturday for three hours and $50-25 a signature, I feel like you should be able to do that,” he added.
It might surprise Boston fans to hear that during the draft process, the former Blue Devil was sold on living in Arizona after thinking he’d be drafted by the Phoenix Suns, and had to be coaxed by coach K to make it to a workout with the Celtics, though.
Noting it was mostly a foregone conclusion that guard Markelle Fultz would go No. 1 overall, Tatum also didn’t bother working out with the Los Angeles Lakers, with that franchise making it clear they planned to draft point guard Lonzo Ball.
But after meeting coach Earl Watson and touring the greater Phoenix area, he fell hard for the city and had already started thinking about getting a home there with his mother.
Afterwards, Tatum returned home to St. Louis briefly before heading to New York for the draft, and his agent called, saying “Danny Ainge called and said they’re gonna trade their pick,” according to Tatum. “They’re going to go to three and they want you to come to Boston in the next day to work out.”
There was plenty of fascinating #Celtics stuff coming out of #SSAC18 this weekend. First up on @TheCelticsWire, Director of Player Personnel Austin Ainge shed some light on to the team’s decision making process behind drafting Jaylen Brown & Jayson Tatum. https://t.co/TzoOYy0ACs
“I’m like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to go to Boston — I like it out here in Phoenix; it’s cool. The weather’s nice. I get a big house. I get a pool … he’s like ‘Brad Stevens is a great young coach, and they’ve got a great history,'” he said.
“I’m like, ‘I’m not trying to hear it. I want to go to Phoenix.’ My agent’s like, ‘Just think about it.’ And then, we hang up. I’m like, I’m not going to this workout. Like, I’m cool. Then, Coach K called me right after my agent did. He’s like ‘Jayson, the Celtics called; they want you to come work out. I think Brad Stevens is a great coach and it’s a great place to be. You’ll learn a lot.'”
“So, I go,” he added.
Tatum would workout with the Celtics, and Ainge and the rest of the office became convinced he was their guy as a result. They took the Duke product with the third overall pick of course, and the rest is history.
“When I finally heard my name called, it was by far the best day of my life, because this is what I’ve been working for for 16 years,” he explained.
“But [there] was a part of me that didn’t really want to go to Boston, because they just was the number one team in the East. They had Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, [Marcus] Smart, [Jaylen Brown], Jae Crowder. I was like, ´’I’m not going to play — I’m trying to get buckets.”
How does he feel about that now, though?
“Everything worked out,” he said with a laugh.
The interview is over an hour long, and full of far too many gems to list here; listen for yourself in the episode embedded above, or subscribe via however you usually listen to podcasts — for Celtics fans, this episode is a must-listen.
Floyd Mayweather applauded Errol Spence Jr.’s confidence after Spence said he’d beat a prime Mayweather.
Welterweight titleholder Errol Spence Jr. raised some eyebrows when he said recently that he’d beat a prime Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather’s response? Respect for the young fighter.
“I’m proud of him,” Mayweather told FightHype.com,” He’s supposed to believe in his skills, he’s supposed to believe in his talent.
“I want all these fighters to believe if they were facing Floyd Mayweather, they would win.”
Spence made his comments on the “All the Smoke” podcast.
“One hundred percent focus, in my prime, I think I’d beat Floyd,” Spence said. “… I’d just try to break him down physically. I know he’s not going to be broken down mentally. He’s just one of those type fighters, just like Shawn Porter. You can break him down physically, but mentally, he’s always going to be there.”
He went on: “I’d cut him off. I’d use my jab. Even the Oscar De La Hoya fight, Oscar De La Hoya should have used his jab a lot more. I’d have used my jab. I’d throw my combinations. I’d work the body and then work the head. A lot of people go to the head and then work the body.”
Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) is considered one of the best active fighters. He’s No. 7 on the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list.
The welterweight titleholder is fortunate to have survived a horrific, car-flipping accident in October, only a few weeks after he outpointed Shawn Porter in a sensational fight in Los Angeles.
Spence is able to train but not spar. He lost teeth in the accident, which required posts to be implanted in his mouth. He can’t resume sparring until the posts are replaced by permanent teeth.
He doesn’t have an opponent in place for when the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
Errol Spence Jr., who had teeth knocked out in his car accident, must get posts replaced with permanent teeth before he can spar.
Errol Spence Jr. has said he feels like he did before his horrific, car-flipping accident in October. He has only one more obstacle to overcome: his dental situation.
The welterweight titleholder lost teeth in the accident, which required three posts to be implanted in his mouth. He won’t be cleared to spar until the posts are replaced with permanent teeth.
“I have no restrictions in my training except sparring,” Spence said on the “All The Smoke” podcast, which is available on Showtime Sports’ YouTube channel. “I can’t spar yet because I got my teeth knocked out. And they put two posts in my mouth, well, three posts in my mouth. And I’m waiting on them to heal.
“And once they heal, then I’ll get my permanent teeth. And then I’ll be able to spar.”
Spence told podcast hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that the shutdown of boxing because of the coronavirus pandemic will have allowed him time to ease back into his normal routine.
“In all actuality, this pandemic has really been helping me out a lot, yeah, basically [with] recovery and just taking my time to get back,” Spence said. “But I’m already back. I’m 100 percent. I went to a facility in Cleveland, where they checked me out, checked my brain, gave me MRIs and things like that, and everything went well.
“So, everything’s been going good. I think I’m 100 percent healthy and in shape.”
Spence doesn’t know who or when he’ll fight next. Manny Pacquiao reportedly is a viable option but, as arguably the top 147-pounder, he has a number of good options in a deep division.
Kanter played 108 games with Durant in Oklahoma City across a season and a half after coming over from the Utah Jazz in February 2015.
Enes Kanter has never been one to shy away from controversy.
The Swiss-born Turkish national has been outspoken in recent years against the Turkish government as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for what he’s called a “human rights tragedy”.
Now, the former Thunder center is speaking about something else. Or rather, tweeting about something else.
Kanter’s former teammate in Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant, recently joined SHOWTIME Basketball’s All The Smoke, where he sat down with his former Golden State teammate Matt Barnes, as well as Stephen Jackson, to talk about things as he continues to work back from the Achilles injury that has kept him sidelined this season.
As it usually does with Durant, the conversation turned to his decision to leave Oklahoma City for the Warriors following the 2016 season. Durant said it was because he “needed a change” and that while in OKC he “didn’t play with a lot of skill guys”.
Kanter needed just five letters and a crying laughing emoji to respond.
Kanter played 108 games alongside Durant in OKC from 2015 through 2016. He averaged 18.7 points and 11 rebounds in 26 games after coming over from Utah in 2015, and 12.7 points and 8.1 rebounds the year after.
Kanter isn’t the first one of Durant’s former Thunder teammates to take issue with some of KD’s comments.
Durant and former-Thunder center, Kendrick Perkins, got into a Twitter feud in January after Perkins said that former Thunder point guard was the “best to ever put on a Thunder uniform”.
