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Skip vs. Steph, Jayson Tatum, Luka & LeBron

2022/6/2
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The Skip Bayless Show

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Skip Bayless 在本期播客中对自身评价是否公正地批评了几位 NBA 球星进行了反思。他逐一分析了每位球员的职业生涯和场上表现,并阐述了自己的观点。针对 Steph Curry,他肯定了 Curry 的成就,但也批评了 Curry 的一些行为和在关键比赛中的表现不稳定。对于 Jimmy Butler,他质疑了 Butler 在东部决赛中的一些表现,认为 Butler 有时表现消极,缺乏斗志。关于 Luka Dončić,他批评了 Dončić 的一些场外行为,并认为他应该专注于比赛。对于 Jayson Tatum,他认为 Tatum 尚未达到超级巨星的水平。最后,针对 LeBron James,他既肯定了 James 的成就,也批评了 James 在关键时刻的投篮能力和表现。总的来说,Skip Bayless 认为自己并非出于恶意,而是基于事实和观察,表达自己对体育的真实看法,并希望人们尊重他的观点。

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Skip Bayless questions whether his criticism of NBA stars like Steph Curry, LeBron James, and others is fair, discussing his approach to truth-telling and debate on his show.

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It's the most magical time of the year, and I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about the NFL season. So make sure you're ready with NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. Get the most live NFL games all in one place. Right now, you can save $85 when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV. Sign up today at youtubetv.com slash Spotify. Device and content restrictions apply. Discount apply to first four months of YouTube TV, then $72.99 a month. Ends August 29th. Terms, restrictions, and embargoes apply. No refunds.

Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my 100th Mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at midmobile.com slash save whenever you're ready. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details. Here we go. This is the Skip Bayless Show. Episode 21.

And let's hope this episode goes better than number 21 has for the last couple of years for my Dallas Cowboys as the highest paid running back in all of pro football. I'll leave that alone for the moment. And I will continue to tell you, this is the undisputed. Everything I cannot share with you during a two and a half hour go for the throat debate show known as Undisputed.

Today, on episode 21, I will put myself on the hot seat and I will question myself about whether I have been unfair in my criticism of Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Luka Doncic, Jason Tatum, and last but not least, my man LeBron James. Am I nothing but a hater? I will ask in just a moment. Then I will get to your questions.

about whether I quote-unquote hate LeBron James just because he'll soon surpass Michael Jeffrey Jordan as the quote-unquote goat. Then number two, I will choose my, just my, greatest NBA Finals ever that I was a part of. Then number three, I will tell you which Dallas Cowboy jersey that I predict I will throw in the trash this upcoming football season. Then number four,

Last but not least, I cannot wait to get at this one. I will answer this question from you. Which movie can Ernestine and I watch over and over and over again without it ever getting old? Can't wait for that. But first up, as always, it is not to be skipped. Allow me to get something off my chest and to drop it on your head. Allow me to unburden myself with

about exactly why I do what I do on Undisputed. I have often been called a contrarian, and I deeply despise the term contrarian. To me, a contrarian is someone who delights in taking the opposite view of a popular belief or just conventional thinking and

just because that person enjoys attracting attention to himself or herself. That's a contrarian to me. Yet, that person, that contrarian, often doesn't truly believe what he or she is saying. So to me, a contrarian goes against the grain just to go against the grain. So in the media world, we have what I would call or dismiss as shock jocks.

who constantly try to think up the most outrageous thing they can say, the most outrageous opinion they can have, whether or not they believe it, and most of the time, they do not believe it. They're just trying to attract attention from viewers and listeners and readers by saying something so shocking that you will swallow their bait and you'll take them dead seriously and

You'll say, can you believe what so-and-so said? No, you cannot believe it because so-and-so did not believe it. You got duped. You fell into so-and-so's trap. And look, from my heart, if that entertains you, if that flips your switch, then great. Be my guest.

If it's just cheap thrills that you're after on a daily basis, then if you're just looking for what to me is the equivalent of the carnival barker on the midway, it's just a bunch of thoughtless baloney. Hurry, hurry, step right up and see the man with three eyes. If that's what you want, then you should go for it.

And you should love that. And I don't have any problem with that if that's what you want to entertain you. But that is absolutely the counter opposite, the polar opposite of what I'm all about, or at least what I believe I'm all about. If you want to second guess that, be my guest. I'm also called another word, which is the illegitimate brother of the word contrarian, and that is hater.

I hate the term hater even more than I hate the term contrarian. If I tell you the truth about a team or a star you love, and maybe you know I'm right, but you just can't stand it that I'm right, then you disqualify me as a hater. Oh, you're just a hater. Oh, you just hate LeBron James. No, I don't hate LeBron James. Trust me, as God is my witness, I do not hate LeBron James.

I say so many nice things about LeBron. I think he's a nice guy. I think he's a great guy when it comes to being a social justice crusader and warrior. And I always say on Undisputed, greatest driver of the basketball I've ever seen, still the best passer in basketball. But when I go into detail about what

I don't believe in about LeBron James, then I'm constantly dismissed. Oh, you're just a hater. Obviously, I hear from my partner constantly across the table on Undisputed, the great Shannon Sharp. Ah, you're just a hater. No, I'm a truth teller. Nah, you just hate. Trust me, I don't. So it's all about for me just telling the truth as I see it and believe it and know it and research it and study it.

and say it on television. You don't know how many times I get asked in interviews, how many times over the years I've been asked. It always comes up in every interview I do. Do you really believe everything you say on TV? 1000% I believe everything I say on TV. Ask anybody who's competed against me on TV.

The Shannon Sharps, the Stephen A. Smiths, the hundreds and hundreds of people who sat across from me at the debate desk, been in pre-show meetings with me. Ask them and they'll tell you 1,000% I believe what I argue on television, what I say on television. Because I back it up with facts or with carefully formed observations from the games I watch like a hawk.

I don't watch games, I study games. And then I say what I see. I back it up with facts. Not just flimsy opinion that I throw against the wall for two and a half hours a day on television and hope that maybe 10% of it sticks. I do debate on live TV with extreme passion, as you know, with extreme love of sport, extreme love of sports.

I am psycho-driven to win every single debate, but I back it up with facts. There's no shock jock in my game whatsoever. And as I've said before, and I'm going to say this again, not once, not one single time in my 18-year history of being on national TV debating sports have I ever participated one single time in a contrived debate. Never trick them up.

Trust me, not one time have I ever said, well, I could argue the other side. If you want to go that way, I'll go there. I've never said that, never will say that. Couldn't look myself in the mirror if I ever participated in that. I believe 1000% the side that I take. You could say that Shannon and I are

this way because trust me, Shannon is 1000% believing what he says also, but we're blessed because there are times when he thinks more in the area of conventional wisdom. He might take the more predictable opinion, the more

predictable, prevailing opinion on social media. I guess that would be at times, but there are times when Shannon has the courage of his convictions and he will go completely against the grain. But we are blessed that we have some authentic, 1000% genuine disagreements over LeBron James, Tom Brady, Dallas Cowboys. I could go on. We have some pet topics that work for us because

They 1,000% legitimately worked for us and they did from the start. So now to get to the guts of what I'm trying to drive home, I don't care if you like me or love me or hate me. I just, I do care that you respect me. I do care that you respect my knowledge, my insight, my experience, and my research.

my instincts, that you trust my gut feelings, that they're genuine and they're credible. And in the end, that you trust that I'm going to give you 1000% of the real me. There's no actor, there's no poser, there's no carnival barker in me. And yet, sometimes I feel like I'm the victim of kill the messenger because sometimes I feel like I'm hated or condemned because I'm

I'm the bearer of 100% correct bad tidings. So you write me off as, I hate you because there's a glimmer in there, you know, of truth. Maybe you know deep down that because you respect me, you despise me even more because you know deep, deep down I'm onto something.

And yet, I got to tell you, I had to make a choice early on in my career, because we all do in this career. Do you need to be loved? Because if you need it and you can't stand not to be loved, then you can't do what I do. Because the easier path is to live in that warm cocoon of love, is to tell you exactly what you want to hear about your team or your superstar.

It's to tell you that your guy or the female player that you love is just infallibly, invincibly, eternally great. There are those in my business who do that and they do very well. And yet I don't envy them because I don't have an ounce of that in me. But that's one way to fly and to do very well. But you're going to have to be a homer. You're going to have to be a sellout.

to become famous by association because then all the stars are going to want to do your show because they want you to interview them because you'll do nothing but toss them softball questions and you will protect them and you will honor them to a fault. They know they can completely trust you because you blindly love them. I'm sorry, I don't have any of that in me. So,

I go so far as to worry about this podcast and how it be perceived. And as you've noticed, I haven't had any superstar guests. I've dared some people to come on who have issues with me, and I would delight in having those interviews. But they're not really interviews. They're confrontations. I've had hundreds of them on air, on live national TV.

The Chad Johnsons, Ochocincos, the Terrell Owens, the Terrell Suggs, T-Sizzle, many of those. Love that. Look forward to that again. But I don't want to invite superstars to join me on this podcast because on Undisputed, I don't want to sell out to them. If it's time to legitimately take issue with them and they grace me with

their podcast presence here on this show, then I might pull a punch on Undisputed to protect my relationship with them. And I just don't play that game and I won't play that game. So I don't even start. I don't want to owe anybody anything. I want to fly solo.

and feel like I have complete autonomy to say what I see. That's what I do on TV, say what I see. I would like to think, you can call me crazy if you want, I welcome that. But I believe I was blessed with the capability of seeing things that others don't always see. And it took me a while in this business to develop the courage to say those things

that my instincts told me that I was seeing. So in the end, you do have to have the courage of your convictions when you see what you see. So let's break it down. Let's break me down. Let's deconstruct me versus Steph Curry. I'd say he's in the spotlight, wouldn't you? I'd be the first to admit, I get it. Millions of people love Steph Curry and I got no problem with that. Billions of kids love Steph Curry.

Because he's just so lovable. He's listed at six feet, two inches tall. He plays smaller than that because he looks so small compared to the seven footers that he roams among. And he's great in his commercials on TV. He comes across as a really, really nice guy, LeBron-esque. And there's so much to love about him, even to the levels that my teammate across the table, Shannon Sharp, constantly brings up.

Oh, it's the battle of the light-skinned stars. It's Jason Tatum versus Steph Curry. So I don't know. I don't know exactly where Shannon's going with that.

He gets a great kick out of it. It's none of my business, so I avoid it. But is it possible that Steph, light-skinned that he is, is more appealing to some white fans because of that? I have no idea because I don't think that way and I don't play in that space. But that could be operating because Shannon brings it up so constantly. So we wrap it all together and Steph is wildly beloved. He changed the game.

He was the first to start shooting logo threes like they were free throws. He revolutionized because he took bad shots and made them great shots. And we've never seen anything like it before. He turned the three-point shot into the previous equivalent of the slam dunk. He rendered the slam dunk secondary.

in electrifying entertainment because everybody is on the edge of their seats now for Steph's long distance threes. That is great to me, but I have also pointed out along with that package is this whole other Steph Curry that I don't love. I picked the Warriors to win the finals because I just think they're a little better than Boston.

But there are some things about Steph that I point out on Undisputed, call me unfair, that I don't love and I don't think you should either. At times he turns into a showboating hot dog and it just rubs me the wrong way. He shimmies after threes or he beats his chest. He's even got a new habit of

Late in the game, if he makes an and one shot, even before he shoots the free throw, if he's at home, he'll run all the way to the other end of the floor, beating his chest to the crowd before he returns slowly to the other end to shoot the free throw, which obviously at 90%, he's almost certainly going to make, even though he's had a little bit of struggle of late at the free throw line. But we've even got a new one from Steph.

whether you're listening or watching, but you know the one where he puts his hands together on the side of his face as in he made a late three and put you to sleep. I gotta tell you, I'm the biggest Michael Jordan fan. He never did any of that. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, I don't remember any of that. They could talk their trash, whisper it in your ear, but they were never very public or outgoing with their trash talking.

or they're showboating or they're hotdogging. They just didn't do it. Wasn't part of the game. Is it more entertaining? Be my guest if that's what you want to be. I don't love it. And frankly, when we're talking about making late shots, I haven't seen enough of those in the biggest playoff games from Steph Curry. And I have not been afraid to say so on television. So I need you to tell me right now, am I being unfair?

Am I being a hater? Am I being a contrarian? Am I just being a bad guy, a shock jock? By continuing to point out on live TV that, wait a second, Steph has had some miserable finals. Obviously, no finals MVPs. Obviously, he won two finals because of Kevin Durant being the MVP. And he won his first one because...

Andre Iguodala was inserted into the starting lineup for game four when they were down two games to one, excuse me, at Cleveland. And Iggy turned the series around and the season around for Golden State. He guarded LeBron and he ate him up on the offensive end. And Steph had to take a backseat to Iggy. Okay, so what did I see in 2016?

I saw a superstar meltdown that was the second worst I've ever witnessed to LeBron's in his first go-around with the Heetals in 2011 against the Dallas Mavericks when the chosen one became the frozen one in games four, five, and six after the Heat had led two games to one.

Do you remember what Steph did? No, you don't. Nobody wants to hear it. Shannon just keeps poo-pooing it across the table. Really? Okay, dismiss me as a hater. But I look at these numbers and they're glaring. They're staring at me saying, please speak me. Golden State in 2016 was up three games to one on LeBron and Kyrie and company.

And in those final three games, Steph Curry, a two-time MVP, an MVP that year, unanimous, shot 37% from the floor. That is horrendous. 36% from three when he makes 45% for his career.

Last three games, he had a grand total of seven assists as the point guard for the Warriors with 12 turnovers. Seven assists to 12 turnovers. He was a minus 20 plus minus over the last three games. But it gets worse because in the fourth quarter of those three games, two of the three at home

He shot 30% from the floor and 25% from three. He was three of 12. He did not get to the free throw line one time in the last three fourth quarters of that series as they blew a three to one lead. That's on Steph, beloved Steph. I'm sorry, it's just the truth.

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Game 7.

Steph manages to score 17 points while shooting 6 of 19 from the floor, 4 of 14 from 3. And in the fourth quarter, he goes 1 of 6 from the floor and 1 of 5 from 3. Has one game-killing turnover behind the back end of the third row. And would you believe, over the last 6.57 of that game, finally won by Kyrie's closing shot, the last 6.57 of that game,

Steph didn't score a point. He took four, actually took five. One was after it was decided, but the four that he missed that mattered. 528, he misses a three, I'm sorry, a jump shot, two-point jump shot to go up four. 406, he missed a three to go up three, so it was tied. 114, he missed a three again to go up three, so it was tied. 31 seconds left, he missed a three to tie the game.

That's your two-time MVP. That's your beloved Steph Curry. That's on him. That's a meltdown. That's a superstar meltdown of epic proportions. I'm sorry. It's just hard for me to suffer in silence when that happened. And it didn't get much better against Toronto in 2019. Obviously, no KD for the most part. He had his one little blip and then tore his Achilles.

Klay was lost game five, but this is Steph's time to shine. It's Kawhi and company 2019 finals. Last four games, three, four, five, and six. Steph Curry, beloved Steph, shot 33% from three. 33% missed the walk-off shot, the buzzer beater, in the closeout game six at Oracle, and

It wasn't pretty because it wasn't superstar. And we fast forward to these playoffs. Would you believe against Memphis two rounds back that Steph shot 33% from three against Memphis? 33%. He's the all-time greatest three-point shooter in history. Broke Ray Allen's record this year. Would you believe that Klay Thompson closed out that game six against Memphis and

by making eight threes and covering for Steph. Would you believe that as we go to the Dallas series that it was Klay Thompson who closed it out in five, covering for Steph by making eight threes? Interesting. Am I being a hater? Am I overreacting? Am I nitpicking or am I picking boulders, as I say on Undisputed? Am I picking skyscrapers glaring on the horizon?

I'm just trying to tell the truth as I see it. Meltdowns, which brings me to this year's Eastern Conference Finals, one that tore my guts out because I picked the heat before the playoffs started to win it all. And I protected Jimmy Butler against the onslaught from across the table from Shannon Sharpe.

who said, ah, he comes and goes in the playoffs. I said, no, he's a superstar in the playoffs. Not in the regular season, in the playoffs, superstar. Playoff Jimmy, Jimmy Buckets, Shannon Skeptical. 41 points from Jimmy Butler in game one against Boston. Big win at home for Miami. Game two, not quite so great, but still 29 more points as Boston evened it up. And then here we went, game three,

I don't know how, but Boston stole, excuse me, Miami stole game three at Boston in spite of Jimmy Butler, who mysteriously, suspiciously didn't play at all in the second half after a very quiet first half. Really? Well, I know he's got troublesome knees, arthritic knees, inflamed knees,

But he looked just fine to me in game one and game two. And in the moments I saw him in game three, he looked fine. I didn't see flinch. I didn't see limp. I didn't see gimp. I saw no sign of real knee problems. And yet all of a sudden after the game, there's Eric Spolster saying, hey, the doctor shut him down. Was Spoh covering for Jimmy Butler? I don't know. All I know for sure about Jimmy, there's history here.

There's history in Chicago, in Minnesota, in Philadelphia, again and again and again of internal clashing with teammates and coaches. Lots of history clashed with Spoh very publicly for all to see during a timeout back in March. You remember it well, I'm sure. I've never seen Eric Spolster lose his temper the way he lost it in front of the TV cameras.

You want some of me? Spoh was saying to Jimmy Butler. Jimmy pushed the deepest switch in Coach Spoh. He lost it for a few minutes and had to be restrained by Udonis Haslam, who had to restrain himself from going after Jimmy Butler. That's what Jimmy can do to a team.

Did something happen that night in Game 3 at halftime in Boston? I have no idea, but I think I'm within my rights to at least wonder out loud about it, and I did on Undisputed. I don't know what happened because Jimmy Butler, in Games 4 and especially Game 5 back at home, looked disengaged.

He almost looked like he was pouting, like he was playing without really playing, like he was quitting without really quitting. And I called him out for it after game five, out of my mind on Undisputed. Am I just being a hater? Well, I like Jimmy Butler. I'm not saying I love him, but I like him in the playoffs. But I'm not going to pull a punch because I had defended him to Shannon. I'm going for the throat because there's plenty of throat that has been exposed.

What was that about? I'll go to my grave wondering, what was he doing? And then game six, back in Boston, it was a flat out indictment of Jimmy Butler because all of a sudden his knees were miraculously healed. He was whole again. He was engaged. He was back in attack mode. In games four and five,

He barely attacked. I think I saw stats that said he actually attacked the basket, I think it was nine times in game four and 10 times in game five. And I can't even remember that many. And then in game six, he attacked the basket 28 times. Oh, there he is. He's back.

Why? I don't know. Did he say, well, all is almost lost, so I'm sort of toying with this series. Now I'm going to try. I'm going to get us to a game seven, and then we'll see what happens. And he did. It was a masterpiece of a performance. 47 points at Boston blew me away, knocked me off my couch right onto the floor. Where was that guy? Indictment.

So we go to game seven and I tweeted before game seven, can I trust this man in game seven? No, I don't trust Jimmy Butler. And he was a little passive in the first quarter. And then all of a sudden when the game looked like it was lost, because it really was lost, here he came in second quarter, he scores 18. And then he went quiet again in the third quarter when the game got close.

And then he went even quieter in the fourth quarter. He only scored four points in the fourth quarter. And you know what happened? Not Jimmy Butler. All the rest of them happened. Boston's up 13 with 335 to go. And here came the heat. Not Jimmy Butler, but the heat. Jimmy didn't contribute a single point down the stretch until you know what happened with 16 seconds left.

He gets the rebound off yet another Marcus Smart miss. He missed five shots in a row over the last 335. He said, this is my team, my time. I'm taking over. I don't need you, Jason Tatum, or you, Jalen Brown. I'm doing this. And he missed his fifth shot. Jimmy gets the rebound. And here came Jimmy dribbling the ball all the way up the floor. And there was Al Horford back as always. The pros pro on defense, backpedaling in the lane.

And all of a sudden, Jimmy Butler, who shot 23% from three during the regular season, says, I got this. Did he? I don't know. I'm still not sure. I'm okay with your best player taking the shot to win the game because if you make it, you're up one, that three, not his shot, one that

He could certainly say, well, I missed it because I'm not the greatest three-point shooter. He's not. But he has made some in the clutch. He was actually five for his last 11 threes in this series, and he didn't even come close. He went short left, ticked off the left side short rim, and that was basically the game. To Marcus Smart's credit, he went back down and made the two free throws that made it a four-point game and iced it.

So, again, I'm going to go to my grave wondering, did Jimmy really try to make that three? I don't know for sure. And you can call me a hater, a contrarian, a shock jock. But these are the kind of questions that loom large in my psyche because was he feuding with somebody? Was he pouting? I don't know. It's just hard to trust Jimmy Butler.

when he had done that to that team in game three, four, and five, and then he had gone so passive and so quiet in the fourth quarter of game seven. This is what I do. Luka Doncic, my hating. When I was asking all along what my friend, my brother Lil Wayne, finally asked on Twitter. I mean, Luka, he pouts to the ref. He cries to the ref. He flops over missed calls.

Then he goes the other way after he makes an amazing shot giggling. And my man Wayne finally, as only Wayne can in just a few little words, very succinctly and scathingly tweeted, Luke, oh, because that's what Wayne felt emotionally as he was rooting for his brother, Chris Paul, on the other team, Phoenix versus Dallas.

And I was with Wayne because he was just basically saying, you're better than this. Just play basketball. Enough of all this other stuff. Well, it's like Steph. Just play. Just be a superstar. Show me you can do it in the biggest moments with the highest stakes. And then I'm good. Then I'll say what I see. I will stand up and give you a standing ovation on Undisputed. I've said about Luke all along.

genius in the lane, serious basketball genius, underrated strength in the lane. I don't know where he gets it. Doesn't appear to be from the weight room, but underrated strength. But I said from the start, he can't shoot. Not at a superstar level. He just can't shoot. And I look back at this regular season. I say, well, look, he attempted the seventh most three-point shots in all of basketball, nine per game. He made 35% of them. That ranked 103rd. Free throw line,

By superstar standards, he's horrible. So he attempted the fifth most free throws in the league this year, made 74%. That ranked 91st. Can't shoot. Can I say that? Can I get away with that? I just, I do, and I will. Jason Tatum, great kid, and he still is a kid. He's only 24 years of age. Maybe I'm too hard on him. Shannon Sharp has already adopted him, driving his bandwagon, Celtics since Shannon...

a number zero Jason Tatum jersey, which he displays proudly as if he discovered Jason Tatum. I can barely take it. But Shannon is already saying there's a seat at the superstar table for Jason Tatum. And all I know for sure is carefully watching what just happened against Miami in game one, Jason Tatum, soon to be superstar, shot two for nine from three.

In Game 3, a horrendous loss at Boston, lost by six. Jason Tatum, soon to be superstar, shot three of 14 from the floor, one of seven from three, had six turnovers to go along with seven that he had in Game 1. And that led to a Game 4 in which they did win, but he shot one of seven from three. And now we go to Game 6.

was another low point with seven more turnovers, four in the fourth quarter, which leads to game seven. Soon-to-be superstar Jason Tatum down the stretch. Last 428 of that game took zero shots. Maybe it's because Marcus Smart wouldn't let him shoot, but four times Boston lost at home, twice to Milwaukee, twice to Miami in the previous two rounds. And in those four home losses, soon-to-be superstar Jason Tatum

Shot 32% and averaged four turnovers a game. Not superstar numbers. Trust me. Which brings me finally to my guy, LeBron James, who's actually LeShannon's guy, LeBron James. And I told you all the nice things about LeBron, all the good things that I say about him. And yet, is it okay for me to bring up the fact that on clutch shots, late and close shots,

Since LeBron entered the league, he has missed 109 of those. That's 27 more than Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook or Dwayne Wade. On late and close, what would be called clutch three-point shots, he's missed, LeBron has 54 of those, which is second only to Westbrook's 57.

Clutch free throws. This is really LeBron's Achilles' feel. Late and close free throws. LeBron has missed 17 of those since he entered the league, nine more than any other player. Second is J.R. Smith, his former Cleveland teammate. School is back, and Dick's Sporting Goods has what you need to win your year. We've got everything from cleats to sambas, dunks, and more. Plus, the hottest looks from Nike, Jordan, and Adidas. Find your first day fits in-store or online at dicks.com.

So have I been unfair with a LeBron who, just like Luka, is by superstar standards a poor three-point shooter and a poor free-throw shooter? I'd like to think I haven't been. Even this year, the Lakers became the fakers because they went 33-49.

Well, LeBron ranked 15th in the league in three-point attempts. That's high. That's eight a game by LeBron. He shot 36% from three. That ranked 93rd. That's Luka-esque. Free throws this year, LeBron was 15th in free throw shooting in attempts, six per game.

but he ranked 86th in free throw makes, in free throw percentage at 76. It's so many wasted free throws and wasted trips with missed threes. Should I bring that up? Should I have gone so far as to, on Undisputed, actually ask our producers to pull the video of a game this year at Toronto that they wound up actually winning in overtime, and on the game-winning sequence,

I'm sure the play had to be called for LeBron because who wouldn't call the play for LeBron? Westbrook looked for LeBron and he hid behind his defender. He actually hid from the basketball. I showed it in plain sight. He hid on the video I showed on Undisputed and the ball moved around. And finally, Avery Bradley said, well, I got this and he made the three that won the game.

I hark back to what happened in the bubble on the championship run, game two against Denver, last play of the game. Play was called for sure for LeBron. Rajon Rondo was the inbounds passer, said, I locked eyes with LeBron. He froze. Really? The GOAT froze? So Rondo had to desperately kick it to the far wing.

to an AD who was looping all the way across the set to receive the basketball over near the bench and he went straight up and shot a three that went in to save the game and you could argue maybe save the season. Have I been too hard on LeBron James? Am I a hater, contrarian, shock jock? I'm sorry, I say a big NO to that. Let's take a question from you, shall we? Let's go to Ian from Nevada.

Ian asks, does your criticism of LeBron stem from your fear that LeBron might surpass Jordan as the GOAT? Ian, trust me, 1,000% big no. The only areas in which LeBron James will ever surpass Michael Jeffrey Jordan are just longevity records because LeBron has now played 382 more games than Jordan ever did in the NBA. 382, that's

going on five seasons more than Jordan played. Other than that, Jordan won 10 scoring titles to LeBron's one. Jordan won a defensive player of the year to LeBron's none. And maybe more important, Jordan never had one meltdown in one playoff series like LeBron did in 2010, that last go-around, the first time around in Cleveland against Boston. Remember games four, five, and six?

Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert subsequently accused LeBron of quitting in those games. Anybody ever accuse Jordan of quitting? No. 2011 finals, I already mentioned the epic meltdown of LeBron James in games four, five, and six, followed up by the 2014 finals when LeBron's heat got blown off the floor after five games by a record finals margin. Did that ever happen to Jordan? No.

You can't scrub any of that off LeBron's legacy and resume. And in the end, we're looking at Jordan 6-0 in the finals with six finals MVPs to LeBron 4-6 in the finals. Jordan, as mentally tough a clutch superstar as I ever witnessed, versus a LeBron who can be, on occasion, the mentally weakest superstar I have ever closely observed.

So, Ian, the only thing I fear is getting struck by lightning on the Undisputed set when my partner, LaShannon Shark, dares to call LeBron James the GOAT already. He's proclaiming that for the last six years. Phony GOAT is as far as I can go. Another question, Jeremy L.

from Joplin, Missouri asks, "What is the greatest NBA Finals in history?" Okay, this one I might surprise you with because it's a personal preference.

Obviously, I was there for every step of the way of Jordan's finals, Chicago 1998. I was there game six that night, the fairytale ending. Jordan stole the ball from Carl Malone, dribbled it all the way up the floor with Scottie Pippen standing on the wing with his hands up. Give me the ball, give me the... No.

Jordan, a little subtle push off of Brian Russell. Everybody pushed off in those days and got away with it, but Jordan rose up from near the free throw line and he held the pose as the ball ripped through the net and through the hearts of those Utah fans. I was there for all of the above. Impossibly great, pure goat, but I'm not picking the 1998 finals. No, I am going with, ready for this, 2013.

LeBron's Heat versus my San Antonio Spurs, a finals that ultimately ripped my heart out. But it was just so epic. You realize if the Spurs had won that finals, as they should have, they should have closed it out in game six. If they'd then gone ahead and won in 2014, as they did, you realize that Tim Duncan would have gone 6-0 in the finals. 6-0.

and matched that guy Jordan. So here we went, game one in Miami. Tony Parker stole it with a late shot off the glass. Heat bounced back in game two. LeBron blocked Tiago Splitter's quote-unquote jump shot, and Tiago can't jump any higher than I can. But that was the highlight of the game, even though LeBron scored only 17 and was outscored by Mario Chalmers on the Heat.

Then we go to San Antonio. Spurs big in game three. Heat rally in game four. LeBron had 33. Dwayne 32. Spurs dominated game five to go up three to two. But here's my personal preference. That week in San Antonio, I was there on my old show, First Take. Greatest week of my career. Never experienced anything like it because we did our shows outdoors on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

I became that week the mayor of San Antonio. I could not leave my hotel room without getting mobbed. I couldn't walk across the street from the hotel without getting mobbed because they loved it in San Antonio that I loved their Spurs. I've been a longtime Spurs fan since the days of the Iceman George Gervin. And those shows down on the Riverwalk, open to the public,

were nothing but insane rock concerts. So loud that on the set we couldn't hear each other talk on live TV. It was divine lunacy. It was heavenly insanity. I will never forget it. And yet we were there for those middle three games. It was the 2-3-2 format of old. And we had to go back and

to South Beach and we had to go back to American Airlines Arena for game six. And you know what happened. My Spurs were up five points with 28 seconds left. Five with 28 seconds left. Ginobili missed a free throw, Kawhi missed a free throw. They have cordoned off the arena ready to present the trophy to my Spurs. Heat fans are fleeing into the night out the exits and somehow

It came down to a last shot by LeBron James to tie, and he labricked it. He'd actually unraveled over the last three minutes of the game, had two turnovers in the last one minute of the game, three total over the last three, and yet long rebound out to Chris Bosh, who kicked deftly into the corner to Ray Allen, who somehow got his feet behind the three-point line and made the greatest clutch shot I have ever witnessed.

As painful as it is to admit, that made that the greatest finals ever because my Spurs could not get up off the mat. Ray shot them in the heart. They couldn't get off the mat for overtime nor for game seven. Kudos to LeBron. He was great in game seven against a team that was done. Done in by Ray Allen. Greatest finals ever. Another quick question.

From Randy from New York. I'm guessing this is a Giants fan. How many jerseys do you think you'll throw in the trash this year? Let's begin with my Dallas Cowboys. I have been known to go completely psycho after Cowboy losses, over emotionally, overreact, and fire a Dak or Zeke jersey into the kitchen trash can. I've done it twice that I can remember.

I lose it after they lose, especially when I am convinced they're going to win. So what just hit home from me was this week, Pro Football Focus ranked the top three players on every NFL team. Would you believe that my quarterback and my running back were not ranked in the top three on my team?

It was Zach Martin. He'll be a Hall of Famer, but he's an aging offensive guard. And my man Micah, 11 from heaven, will make the Hall of Fame, I believe. I got to knock on some wood here for Micah and his health, but I believe he's Hall of Fame bound. And Tyron Smith, another aging offensive lineman, left tackle. But those are the top three. No Dak, no Zeke. Zeke looks washed to me. Dak has fallen back into the middle of the pack of quarterbacks.

And when that hit home to me, it was so devastating that I decided, as I looked at Philly's upgrades, I'm just leaning toward picking the Eagles to win the East next year because they deserve to be picked because they probably had the best offseason any team had. They had a great draft, not a good one, but a great one. And because of that, they're a little better than my Cowboys. So, yeah.

I truly fear Jalen Hurts, the playmaker quarterback that he is. I fear Philadelphia that they're going to win the East next year. And I kind of like fearing them because it's going to take the pressure off me and off them for me not to pick them for once next year. My expectations will be none. So...

In the end, there'll be no reason, because there's no expectations, to throw my number four or my number 21 in the trash. So I kind of like it because next year, I believe my Dallas Cowboys are trash proof because I don't expect them to do much of anything but hover around 500 and finish second to the Eagles and miss the playoffs. Trash proof. Which brings me to my final question.

This is for me and my wife Ernestine from Ian from Chino, California. What movie can you watch over and over without it ever getting old? That is a great question that I deeply appreciate, which brings me to two crazy confessions. I told you I was a little off, but...

Ernstine, to this day, makes fun of me over two movies that if they ever pop up on the movie channel when I have time, such as Saturday morning on the treadmill, or maybe Friday night as I'm waiting for her to finish preparing dinner for us, if they pop up and I've got a minute, I watch them like a zombie. And you will never guess what those two movies are, but I'm willing to confess to you why I love both.

why I'm addicted to watching both and I just watch them over and over with no thought. I just get absorbed into the screen and I know every line and every plot twist obviously, I know them cold. The first is rounders, rounders. I just, I start watching and I can't stop watching because that final

Texas Hold'em confrontation, the final showdown between Teddy KGB and the Matt Damon character, it just remains enthralling for me. And I know who wins. That's the point. I know who wins. But there's just something so convincing about John Malkovich as that taunting Russian bully who...

who just as soon see Matt Damon's character broken, battered out in the back alley by his henchman grandma, who's a guy. And Malkovich just sells me on the fact that I fear him and I loathe him and I find it deliciously satisfying that Matt Damon just cleans him out in the final confrontation.

And to hear Malkovich, "Check, check, check. All you do is check, check, check." It just gives me chills to even say it right now. I'm addicted to watching Rounders because I love the competition and I love how Matt Damon's character wins the way he wins in the end. And then exit stage left with the money to pay off his professor who had loaned him his life savings

Says goodbye to Gretchen Maul, hops in the cab, and he is bound for the World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas. I love that. I got that inside of me. Which brings me to my second movie. I can't take my eyes off, and you won't believe this one either. It's Tin Cup. I'm addicted to Tin Cup because I play golf, and Tin Cup gets golf. It's so real to me. I relate to Kevin Costner's character, that gopher broke driving range pro.

who winds up leading the US Open and refusing to lay up on the final hole and blowing the whole tournament by hitting, what, five shots in the water until he's got his let down to his last golf ball and he tries it again with his three wood over the water on 18, the par five, and he holds it just to prove to himself he could fly the water with that three wood. I got so much of that in me.

I grew up playing all the gambling games that they play in 10 Cup. Part of me wants to be Roy McAvoy, the driving range pro. And please don't tell Ernestine I said this, but Renee Russo, as Roy's psychiatrist love interest, is, I'll just say, something. She is something. Me as a psycho golfer, if only I had Renee Russo as my shrink, I might break 80.

Then again, Ernestine shocked me actually when I asked her which movie she could watch over and over again. With her answer, I didn't see this one coming, she said Die Hard. You would watch Die Hard over? I didn't even know that. She's watched it with me maybe 38 times, but I didn't think she would choose that. And yet she readily admitted to me she's into that young Bruce Willis.

She says that was his sexiest, his coolest, his baddest. That moonlighting phase, Bruce Willis. And silly me, I love Die Hard because I love watching John McClane outwit and outfight the bad guys led by Hans Gruber. To me, the greatest villain ever in moviedom because he's just so deliciously diabolically evil, played by the late, great Alan Rickman. But

Ernestine and I can look out our living room window and we can see Nakatomi Plaza, which is actually on Avenue of the Stars. It's the Fox Tower. I'm on the Fox lot here. But it's why Die Hard is near and actually literally near and dear to our hearts because we can see the plaza. And obviously it takes place all in that plaza on Christmas Eve. Yet, just for the record,

She and I do love our classic comedies, and we could watch these over and over: Caddyshack, Blazing Saddles, any of the Inspector Clouseau/Pink Panther movies. But in the end, we both agreed if we had to pick just one over and over and over again, it would be Anchorman because it so hilariously and brilliantly skewers and satirizes the TV business I live in and Ernestine knows so well.

I have worked with several Ron Burgundies. I'm talking about pompous blowhards made for TV who take themselves way too seriously, but it works on TV. I got to tell you, the hit rate for jokes in Anchorman is the highest of any comedy ever in my view. Just off the top of my head, Sex Panther. It's illegal in nine countries and it works 60% of the time, every time.

60% of the time, every time. Okay. And then Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone saying to Ron Burgundy, Mr. Burgundy, you have a massive erection. It's just all time, all time for us. And we could watch that tonight again and laugh and laugh and laugh some more. I'm Ron Burgundy? No, I'm not.

I think I'm still Skip Bayless, and that is it for episode 21. And I want to thank you for listening and or watching. Thank you once again to the great Jonathan Berger and his All Pro team for making this show go. Thanks very much to Tyler Korn for overseeing me. And I ask you to remember, Undisputed is every weekday, 930 to noon Eastern Time on FS1.

And the Skip Bayless Show is every week.