Valuetainment - June 18, 2025


“You’re Picking LeBron Over Kobe？” - Dwight Howard SHOCKS NBA Fans in GOAT Debate


Episode Stats

Length

10 minutes

Words per Minute

172.92612

Word Count

1,742

Sentence Count

191

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary

In this episode, we discuss the legacy of Kobe Bryant and the impact he had on the NBA. We also discuss the impact LeBron James has had in the league and what he would have done if he was the number 1 pick in the NBA draft.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 But stay on this. So, teammate, Kobe, LeBron.
00:00:04.660 Teammate, I'm going to go with LeBron.
00:00:12.940 I had my championship with him.
00:00:15.540 We had our longest run together.
00:00:20.220 So I got to pick LeBron.
00:00:21.920 Over Kobe.
00:00:22.940 But if you're an owner and you're drafting somebody
00:00:27.400 and you have your number one draft pick,
00:00:30.320 who are you picking between the two to win?
00:00:33.520 To win?
00:00:34.360 Knowing what I know now?
00:00:35.700 Yeah.
00:00:39.260 Oh, we.
00:00:41.020 Well, you got to go with LeBron.
00:00:43.060 So you're still picking LeBron over Kobe?
00:00:45.200 I mean, knowing what we know.
00:00:46.300 All right, so if you're talking about longevity,
00:00:49.480 if you're talking about just overall,
00:00:54.400 not skill like how people look at skill.
00:00:57.160 I'm talking about everything that encompasses basketball.
00:01:03.080 Look what LeBron has done.
00:01:05.600 Kobe has, he has, he has the most,
00:01:09.840 he's turned himself into the most skilled.
00:01:13.080 But I don't think that he had the most talent.
00:01:17.620 I think LeBron was so talented that he could play one through five.
00:01:21.060 He could do football.
00:01:22.620 He could do all these different things.
00:01:24.060 I felt like Kobe mastered his skill on the court of basketball.
00:01:30.420 He mastered bank shots.
00:01:32.380 He mastered the pump fake, pump fake, turnaround shoot.
00:01:35.220 He mastered the bump phase.
00:01:38.120 He mastered all the moves that Jordan did to the three.
00:01:41.320 He mastered shooting with his left hand.
00:01:42.920 You know, I think that when you look at LeBron,
00:01:47.300 he just mastered everything that comes with basketball.
00:01:50.320 Off the court, you know, he's figured out how to manage that whole side,
00:01:55.680 which most athletes, you can see,
00:01:59.000 they don't have the proper resources or the proper team to do what he's done.
00:02:06.400 And his longevity just stands out to everybody.
00:02:10.860 Okay, so here's one for you.
00:02:12.900 So now that you got LeBron over Kobe, do you have LeBron over Mike?
00:02:17.500 No, you can't have him over Mike.
00:02:19.260 Why is that longevity?
00:02:21.100 LeBron was longer than Mike.
00:02:22.420 He was.
00:02:23.100 Mike faster.
00:02:24.380 He can play five positions.
00:02:25.760 Michael couldn't play five positions.
00:02:27.200 Michael was really three positions, right?
00:02:29.980 While I have Michael LeBron, I felt like he set the bar for everyone.
00:02:37.260 So he was the pioneer of it.
00:02:40.140 So I got to have him.
00:02:42.420 So you draft pick, you're picking Michael over LeBron.
00:02:45.400 I'm picking Michael Jordan.
00:02:46.980 Okay.
00:02:47.720 I want to be like him.
00:02:49.760 That's a question for both of you.
00:02:51.160 I got a question for both of you.
00:02:52.400 Okay.
00:02:53.180 It's actually very interesting because to me,
00:02:55.600 I also like a player that stays with a team.
00:02:57.920 Like Dirk stayed, right?
00:03:00.280 Cope stayed, right?
00:03:01.620 You know, you had a few guys that stayed with the organization for longevity-wise.
00:03:08.040 I don't know how many more players like that I can think about.
00:03:10.260 It's a few.
00:03:11.020 D. Wade.
00:03:11.680 D. Wade, yeah.
00:03:13.160 He ended up with Chicago.
00:03:14.560 Chicago and Cleveland.
00:03:16.700 So change it up.
00:03:19.400 Let's just say that your Lakers had a shitty year
00:03:21.660 and they have number one draft pick.
00:03:24.240 They pick LeBron.
00:03:25.480 You think LeBron would have ever gone to Cleveland or anywhere else
00:03:28.100 or you think LeBron would have stayed in L.A.?
00:03:29.700 He would have stayed in L.A.?
00:03:30.640 You think he wouldn't have gone to Cleveland to win one for them?
00:03:32.920 Like you think he would have still stayed in L.A.?
00:03:35.840 Well, if he never started with Cleveland?
00:03:41.660 He was number one draft pick.
00:03:43.480 L.A. picks him up.
00:03:44.500 They had a horrible year.
00:03:46.120 Couple trades.
00:03:47.520 They get back in front and then boom, LeBron going to L.A.
00:03:50.040 I don't believe he would leave L.A.
00:03:51.880 You don't think he leaves in L.A.?
00:03:53.000 It's an interesting question to think about.
00:03:54.180 Not if he starts with L.A.
00:03:55.680 I mean, if he starts with L.A.
00:03:58.100 and he's LeBron James, the number one pick,
00:04:00.240 and he's coming in, as everyone knows who he is now,
00:04:03.900 I don't see what would be the benefit of going somewhere else
00:04:08.400 because this is the biggest team in the –
00:04:10.620 as marketing, they're the biggest team in the NBA
00:04:15.880 and the biggest fan base worldwide and nationally.
00:04:20.460 So why would he want to leave and go somewhere else at that time?
00:04:27.660 Yeah, but the only thing is, like how much did it mean to him
00:04:33.660 to go to Cleveland and win?
00:04:34.840 Do you think he would have stayed 20 years without L.A.?
00:04:36.240 I think that there's a major part of LeBron.
00:04:38.880 And look, I'm a lifelong Miami Heat fan.
00:04:42.800 Like I know everything there is about the Miami Heat.
00:04:45.480 That was my team.
00:04:46.760 When you guys beat them in the bubble, I mean, you remember,
00:04:48.760 I was living in Dallas at the time, screaming and hollering,
00:04:52.420 rooting for my guys out there.
00:04:53.620 Jimmy was fighting.
00:04:54.620 Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Buckus.
00:04:56.040 Got to give him credit, though.
00:04:57.040 That guy's a freaking fighter.
00:04:58.580 But I think there's a part of – two parts.
00:05:01.440 I think there's a part of LeBron that no matter what,
00:05:03.500 he was going to try to get back to Cleveland and win something.
00:05:06.120 Like when he left – he left Cleveland, in my opinion,
00:05:09.840 because they just couldn't assemble the pieces.
00:05:12.440 He went to the Heat, you know, not one, not two, not three, four, five.
00:05:17.300 They put together the super team, the Heatles, with Wade and Bosh.
00:05:21.820 And then as soon as he won, I think he won two out of four championships,
00:05:25.780 right back to Cleveland.
00:05:26.900 I think he went one and two against Golden State.
00:05:30.140 So I think he did that and he did that.
00:05:31.820 But there also – this is my opinion again.
00:05:35.000 I think if you ask just any casual fan,
00:05:38.760 they would have in specific order MJ, LeBron, Kobe.
00:05:44.360 And I think that's undeniable.
00:05:46.660 But there is a part of Kobe that's almost romanticized.
00:05:52.360 Because, I mean, tragically, died too soon, horribly.
00:05:56.640 And because he stayed with the Lakers so long,
00:05:59.980 he became this fan favorite.
00:06:02.100 Like he's not going anywhere.
00:06:03.160 We all love Kobe.
00:06:04.820 But let's not forget, Shaq was the man in 2000, 2001, 2002.
00:06:11.280 Like it wasn't even a question.
00:06:12.580 I think Shaq won all the MVPs.
00:06:14.840 So LeBron put everything on his back, took Cleveland to the finals,
00:06:19.200 took the Heat to the finals, took the Cleveland back to the finals.
00:06:21.020 What's your point, though?
00:06:21.540 What point are you making?
00:06:22.300 My point is this.
00:06:23.300 LeBron, his legacy is a little bit more tarnished
00:06:25.600 because he's sort of seen as like a ring chaser
00:06:28.580 and kind of running around,
00:06:31.220 whereas Kobe is romanticized for staying with the same team.
00:06:33.580 You still haven't answered my question.
00:06:35.080 I think LeBron would have –
00:06:37.580 I'm like running a five-minute breakdown.
00:06:38.600 Tell me, is he going to stay?
00:06:40.180 He would have not stayed.
00:06:41.040 He would have gone to Cleveland at some point.
00:06:41.940 I think so as well.
00:06:43.060 So here's my question for you.
00:06:44.580 You're also a Kobe guy, not a LeBron guy.
00:06:46.540 But no, to me, I'm a guy –
00:06:48.380 like, okay, I'm looking at his draft year, right?
00:06:52.620 Was that 0-4?
00:06:53.520 Okafor is number two.
00:06:55.120 Gordon, you're first.
00:06:56.220 Gordon, three.
00:06:57.440 He goes Chicago.
00:06:58.360 Sean Livingston, by the way, if he doesn't get injured,
00:07:00.420 that guy was a very interesting player.
00:07:02.920 Very clean, golden state.
00:07:04.780 I don't think I ever saw him miss the small shoot.
00:07:09.680 It was like the way he was.
00:07:12.040 Devin Harris, Josh Childress, Lua Dank.
00:07:14.860 He came to the Lakers.
00:07:16.140 He had a $61 million contract that Lakers were stuck with.
00:07:18.680 I'll never forget that.
00:07:19.520 AI, Iguoduo, Jackson, Robert Swift.
00:07:24.680 Chris Humphrey's your boy.
00:07:26.280 You were at his wedding.
00:07:28.220 And you're going down the list here, right?
00:07:30.060 But imagine –
00:07:30.680 Pick number 14.
00:07:31.240 Okay, you get picked because you went to Orlando, right?
00:07:33.580 Rich DeVos, that whole organization.
00:07:35.220 But say you go to the Lakers.
00:07:37.160 What do you do?
00:07:37.920 Do you stay?
00:07:38.740 You don't know what happens?
00:07:39.820 Would you be with them for a while or would you still be like,
00:07:43.260 no, I kind of want to go see what Atlanta's like, you know?
00:07:46.260 I kind of want to go to see what this is like.
00:07:48.300 If I'm drafted from the Lakers?
00:07:49.800 Lakers, number one draft pick, you're there.
00:07:52.040 I got to stay.
00:07:52.920 You got to stay, so that's how you process it.
00:07:54.360 Yeah, I got to stay.
00:07:55.400 I'm with the most story franchise.
00:07:57.380 I can't take away –
00:07:59.340 I don't want people from Orlando saying, oh, but you left us.
00:08:03.400 No, this is different because this is not year one leaving Orlando.
00:08:09.680 This is year nine.
00:08:12.420 I've already been in Orlando for eight years when I left.
00:08:16.420 You know what I'm saying?
00:08:17.060 And so – and I think that kind of made it look like I was going at the fans
00:08:23.660 or I wanted to leave because of the city and stuff like that.
00:08:26.680 And why would I leave a team because of the city?
00:08:30.260 It makes no sense.
00:08:32.720 So you would have stayed in L.A.?
00:08:34.500 Would I have stayed in L.A.?
00:08:35.400 Yeah.
00:08:36.620 I wanted to play with – not play, but be coached by all I feel.
00:08:41.300 I thought that would have been big for my development.
00:08:44.120 Why, though?
00:08:44.620 Just purely for your development?
00:08:45.780 Yes, because I grew up in an era of basketball where everything was quick.
00:08:53.820 One, two dribbles get to the basket.
00:08:55.600 One dribble finish.
00:08:56.940 Two dribbles finish.
00:08:58.680 Three dribbles max.
00:09:00.560 Post-ups.
00:09:01.900 Pick.
00:09:02.780 Get seals and stuff like that.
00:09:05.180 In this offense with field, I would be forced to, you know,
00:09:08.820 do more fundamentally sound things.
00:09:12.160 Catch it at the top of the key.
00:09:14.340 Get to the basket.
00:09:15.240 Make a move.
00:09:15.980 What's up, y'all?
00:09:16.820 This your boy, Dwight Howard, a.k.a.
00:09:18.640 the Hall of Fame Superman in the building.
00:09:21.480 Then, if y'all want to connect with me, ask me any questions, just go to Manect,
00:09:25.940 and I got all the answers for y'all.
00:09:29.140 Yeah, I can tell you how many women – Wilt Chamberlain.
00:09:31.400 No, that was just fake.
00:09:32.540 But guess what?
00:09:33.280 I got all the expertise.
00:09:35.320 Basketball.
00:09:36.200 Chess.
00:09:36.660 If you want to learn how to do Snapchat.
00:09:38.740 If you want to learn to get that jump shot silky smooth like me.
00:09:41.800 If you want the fresh fade with the nice hair, come check your boy out.
00:09:46.400 We got expertise in a lot of areas.
00:09:48.440 Remember, Manect and Connect.
00:09:51.200 I'll see y'all there.
00:09:52.960 Peace.
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