Sam Amick on the Emotions and General Reaction to Bam Adebayo Chasing Down Kobe Bryant's 81-Point Marker

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Papa and Silver with JD continues here on your Thursday.

It's been a heavy dose of Mike Evans, Osa O'Diggy, Zua.

We'll get into a little bit of other topics here as we move closer to the 2 o'clock hour.

I will have Krug in with me tomorrow.

And the week just continues to turn.

We are getting closer to baseball season and we are trying to figure out if and when Steph Curry is going to see the court again for the Golden State Warriors joining us now.

On the Uma guest line, we talk to him every other week, normally on Tuesdays today.

It is the Thursday and it is Sam Amick.

Sam, what's going on? How are you?

JD Gray, great to see you guys.

Thanks for having me.

Likewise, looks like a nice day wherever you're hanging out there with the beautiful camera background.

So we're getting some good weather here.

Looks patio action here.

Oh, yes, the Amick Starbucks.

That's that's the classic spot.

We love it.

I want to start with the 83 point performance of BAM out of bio.

And before I get into what you wrote about it and more of the serious comments and reflecting on Kobe Bryant.

Just a general question because I was trying to do this exercise with a friend yesterday.

We were grabbing a drink.

If you told me going into the year that a player would pass 81 and score 83 and then you made me list out all of my guesses.

At what point would you write down BAM out of bio's name?

And it's hard to do after the fact when you know it.

But I'm thinking like he's a really good player.

What I have pegged him to be the guy to do it.

And hey, here we are.

Anything's possible when you play the Wizards.

Yeah, I mean, I've heard that exercise in a couple of places and I've heard the extreme of like top 150, which is probably a little much.

I don't think he'd be in my top 50.

And I honestly, to be fair, I think that's partly played a part in the reaction to what happened.

Not because he's not a very talented offensive player because there was kind of a sense of this being an aberration.

And then you look more skeptically at it.

Like, all right, how, you know, if you're an average cook who puts together a Michelin meal, like how did you get there?

You know what I mean?

And that's a kind of a rough analogy.

But I think that is part of the conversation.

And I mean, he's a great player man, two way force.

One of the best defensive anchors in the league and a guy who he's covered around 19, 20 points a game his whole career.

He's only went above 21 time and nine seasons.

But it's just not what he's known for to your point.

Yeah, and it's, I mean, it's interesting and he would be down on my list as well.

But is it, do you view, like if James Harden had done this, do you think it would, it would be viewed that much differently?

In the context of how it obviously went, went down with all the free throws and the fouling to get the ball back and all that kind of stuff.

Yeah, I mean, if it was that egregious, I think it'd be similar.

I mean, I look at just ask SGA, you know, what the free throw conversation looks like when he is doing the theatrics and going overboard to get to the line.

To public in the media, you know, myself included our critical at those times.

So I think it would have been similar.

I mean, it's funny in retrospect, you know, I mean, and a bunch of people who liked what I wrote because they didn't like the way I went down and a whole bunch of folks who didn't like it.

And my contention is that, you know, my focus on Kobe and the fact that his 81 point record, you know, there was a moment as you guys know on the telecast or broadcast where Jason read the long time he played my play man kind of made a mistake where he said that

the band was coming out of the game to honor Toby and say, oh, what a great way to go out and then said, well, hold on a minute, he's still out there.

And I think that it kind of did a disservice to band because it did for people like me make you kind of go, oh, that's a great idea.

Because even as messy as this is the way I see it is, it was like an off ramp, right?

Like, all right, the optics are out of control, like what is happening in these past couple of minutes.

I think you did that gesture. I think you get a little more grace from some of the public.

It was not about preserving Kobe. I think it was more like a possible way to avoid this scrutiny that has since come on the way that he got there.

Well, how would you say or what's your sense as to how it's been viewed? Let's say within the league because it's obviously an event that drew a ton of attention.

It's kind of a rare in some ways, regular season moment where people that maybe wouldn't have been watching are finding avenues to be able to watch it, which you could make the cases good for the league.

But then it's garnered so much negative attention, whether it's where the wizards are in their tank job or maybe it being BAM who's not on anybody's top 50 to be able to break that kind of a record.

Is it drawn more attention to some of the negative aspects I would say that the league is going through than the positive when you think on the surface that a guy going for 83 would bring a positive light.

I think so. I think John the tanking component is part of it because nobody respects the wizard.

As far as how it's been received around the league, I also have heard from some head coaches and people who kind of behind the scenes are saying that as much as everybody loves and respects Eric's poultry, the heat are to some degree lucky that there wasn't an edgy or coaching staff on the other side.

The coaches that are like, no, we would have put it into this. This is embarrassing. It's disrespectful. There was a sportsmanship conversation that fans can agree with or not, but in terms of just relaying feedback within the NBA.

That was a real conversation. It's not a disrespect to BAM. It's more so like guys, you're up by 30. What are we doing here?

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Yes, so I guess to that point, Sam, you know, why do you feel like this one was different from, say, Booker 70, Kobe's 81, even Wilts 100, like looking for extra possessions down the stretch during an all time scoring performance isn't new, but is it just kind of the combination of it all with the NBA, the modern issues that they're going through, tanking the fact that it was the wizards, maybe the extra fouling.

Making it a little bit more blatant about hunting for the extra possessions.

I think it's all of those things, Greg, and I think it's, I mean, in my own, you know, attempt to, I guess, bolster my own defense. I've since looked even deeper into the context here.

And the reality is when people say, oh, what would Kobe have done? He would have gone for it. Well, guess what history actually says otherwise multiple times.

60 plus points through three quarters and then went to the bench. They were up by 30 points. That happened several times. Clay Thompson more appropriately for the Bay did that in the game where he got to 60 after three.

Now, admittedly, I remember watching that game and wishing this team care left him in because he was having so much fun.

But you know, James Harden got to 60 after three and said, now, so I don't agree with the crowd that says everybody would have gone for it.

And I share this, you know, somewhat kidding, but there's substance to it.

You know, I know I'm in the right guys, because you know, Swaggy P and Nick Young agrees with me.

Of course.

And the interview the other day, I mean, you got like one of the most shameless chuckers in the history of the game.

And then granted he is a Kobe stand, so to speak, just from their friendship and their relationship.

But Nick said in no uncertain terms that he thought, you know, the way that I did it was too much.

And it was, you know, kind of not in concert with the game. So that's my biggest thing is it was questionable to begin with that he was still out there.

But to push past 90 seconds with 27 point lead. Sorry about the noise guys.

You know, that's a little much and even Pat Riley himself, I don't know if you guys saw the clip where he's congratulating them in the hallway after the game.

And only he knows if he was kidding, but his first comment to bam was, I want to take you out after 70, you know, and, and that was a question around the NBA like is, is Pat Riley okay with this?

This is, this is not a great look for key culture.

$2,000 fines for everybody, right?

I say that kidically, that was his line from the statue unveiled down in L.A. when the guys that showed up without ties other than James worthy.

The former players, he had the joke $2,000 fines for everybody.

So maybe he'll be handing out some, every point, every point past 70, $2,000 fines for Spowe and, and for you, bam.

You're listening to KBR1045 FM and 680 AM San Francisco, these sports leader cumulus media station hour number three here.

We're joined by Sam Amick on the Ouma guest line here on these sports hitters, switching gears to the warriors, things have taken an uglier turn here over over the last few days.

With the, the losses to Utah and to Chicago, given where those teams stand, what is your sense as to how the, the warriors internally are dealing with the fact that steps still not back.

It's probably going to be a couple of weeks still before he's able to return.

And while they had been quietly more competitive, maybe than people would have anticipated they would be, it feels like the worm is starting to turn here over the last couple of games in a way where this thing could potentially get ugly with the road trip that they've got coming up and some of the opponents that they've got coming up here.

Now, I mean, you laid that out well, John. I'll have a better feel for them tomorrow. I haven't been around them a lot.

Maybe I'm going to be at the Minnesota game and, you know, like you kind of set up the jump guys. It's first of all, admittedly, as somebody who enjoys watching the game, you're going, all right, you're going to make this track to not watch that curry.

That's never as entertaining as it would be otherwise.

Minnesota has been scuffling in their own right. And I'm curious to see how that game goes.

But it is kind of crazy to look back a few games at the OKC game and how well they can port it themselves and porzinga's had a presence in that game.

And you kind of felt like they'd be able to keep their head above water a bit. And then, you know, they turn around and drop a bunch of games to lottery bound teams and taking teams.

That's a tough stretch. I mean, they're playing. If you do the math, they're playing positioning is is still pretty firmly safe. You know, we all know where this is going.

It feels like a last ditch effort where, you know, whether it's one game before two games before or who knows, maybe Steph doesn't play until the plan.

You know, I wouldn't rule anything out, but it will be a fascinating, you know, can you flip a switch and actually make some noise and get on to play internament.

And then, you know, who knows shock the world and put up a fight in a first round matchup. We'll have to wait and see.

Within that, you have can porzinga's down the floor, can Anthony Melden, you know, carry a larger load.

But tough times for the warriors as they kind of stumbled from the finish line here.

It's not going to say I'm a keer on the UMA guest line. So when the trade for porzinga's initially happened, I thought, all right, well, hey, look, the value of the rest of the season is to see how he and Steph can play.

And then to see maybe is it going to be a good fit with Steph, theoretically, Jimmy at some point.

Dremon, maybe Melden, who knows what's going to happen with Horford, but it was all about to see if it was the good fit.

Well, Steph is going to continue to be sideline into your point. We don't know exactly when he's coming back.

So my question with all that would be, what can the warriors get out of the porzinga's experience while Steph remains sideline from playing with him on the court?

They, I mean, they in a vacuum, excuse me, they need to decide what they think of this guy. I mean, that's all there is to it. He's going to be a free agent this summer.

And it's just, it's one of the more challenging player evaluations that I can remember in recent history.

When you consider the body of evidence that we have of him at his best, when it, I can see why she'll make him a Mike Dunlidian teacher and the rest of their group got excited to say, dang, this could, this could really pop with our group.

Like, oh, yeah, he has a condition that is always going to be making it tough to know if he's going to play that will, he might play, but it might impact his energy.

And then you're not going to get the same level of play that you might have otherwise.

It is, it's just the uncertainties are pretty overwhelming when it comes to his situation. And then you have the ticking clock of the summertime and his free agency where not only do you want to know if you want to offer him a contract.

But as you guys know, there's this kind of tangential factor, if you will, regarding that salary slot and some of their trade possibilities in the summer.

And how, you know, porzinga could come into play in another yana's pursuit or somebody of that nature. So a lot to consider and not the kind of evidence, I think they were hoping for.

Sam, Amy joining us here on these sports leader, quick note aside from the NBA and aside from the Warriors and Sam, you don't have to weigh it on this, although I do believe you're a 49ers fan of the 49ers.

Yeah, play the breaking new standard, the 49ers are bringing back Dre Green law on a, on a one year deal that per E and rap report of the NFL network and now others, a one year, seven point, five million dollar deal for Dre Green law who spent last year with the Broncos, the Niners, he was gone and got on the plane and tried to get him to come back.

He went to Denver, Denver, cut him. And so Dre Green was coming back to the Niners will have more on that coming up. So Sam, you can, you can come in on that as a, as a resident, 49er fan or we can, I can ask you an NBA question, either way, brother.

I mean, listen, they've had so much trouble in the middle of the field on defense, that's, that's a familiar name, a welcome name. JD, I thought you, because I got another notification on my phone, I thought you were going to dive deep on the, the belated white Howard retirement that just got announced.

Oh, the other, yeah, you buried the lead, JD.

I did. I buried the lead. I never made light of this stuff, but does make the laugh when it's like, there's this latent effect, which is like, oh, he finally figured out, and this happens a lot, like he's not getting another job. So, yeah, it's time to retire.

Yeah, I mean, there are a few, right? Like I always, the running joke I have is like, I feel like Brandon Crawford of the Giants ends up re-retiring like every three months.

It's like, oh, does that mean they have to have another ceremony for Brandon Crawford? I thought he had to.

Rudy, we all forgot about Rudy, and he was announced together. I was like, Rudy, Rudy's on TV on, on prime or one of the networks I saw my camera was peacocker.

Like Rudy's doing post game shows and is pretty good at it. I'm thinking, like, yeah, what's, what's going on here?

I was just going to say, I think Brett Farve also just retired at some point today, too, for the fourth time.

Sam, who's, who's the, who's the drag green law of your NBA media circle? Someone who like lives on the edge a little bit is phenomenal, a little what they do, but isn't afraid to cross lines.

So I wish he was in the market so we could hear him to give him a hard time. He's an East Coast buddy of mine and a colleague at the athletic Joe Varden is Cleveland based, kind of eddies sarcastic.

In my phone, I nicknamed him diplomacy Joe, and that's literally how I have him in my phone, and that is an ironic nod to his lack of diplomacy.

Some of our, you know, Slack channel for our company, when you'll have big bosses like weighing in saying, hey, we need this, we need that.

And then you have Joe who allegedly like the rest of us is a worker be will just like yell at the higher up and just feel like that's a stupid idea.

Just the type of stuff that you politically, you don't normally do, but it works for Joe. That's who comes to mind.

I knew I like that guy. I knew I've liked that guy every time I've got a little bit of maybe it.

He definitely has a little bit of J.D. Adam. No, I, one more on the Warriors just real quick, and it's way too early, but we are kind of having the offseason discussion because of where the team currently sits.

De Anthony Melton is an obvious opt out. He's making the minimum player option next year. He's making the minimum. So he opts out.

Al Horford player option. I think at the taxpayer mid level, around six million, you would think he would opt out. Do you, I mean, again, I'm, you may not have a lot of intel on either guy, but the Warriors obviously would want to bring both back because they've been highly productive players.

You could make the case they've been the best and second best or second best and third best players for this team here in the time where Stefan and Jimmy have been out.

But just what's your feel for maybe Al's desire to keep playing and he came to the Warriors because he thought he was helping put them over the top.

Are they farther away now and how would, you know, Melton maybe factor that in even though I think we all would agree that Melton's really enjoyed his time with the Warriors, you know, coming back when he didn't have to last year.

So I probably had a cap and again, this is just early speculation, but De Anthony would seem more likely to me than Al because Al, the questions about Al wanting to retire were pretty loud for.

Like you said, it was a unique kind of desire to come trying to put the Warriors over the top that compelled him to come to the West Coast.

You know, you've heard at times this year that that he hasn't enjoyed it the way that he thought he would.

And so in terms of just kind of the mood around that situation, it's nothing by any means remotely close to toxic or anything.

But it's just, you know, I mean, look at look at the record, look at the challenges.

There's been some good and some bad, but I, you know, I probably lean against Al continuing, but maybe retiring. That's obviously going to be a play again.

So the Anthony is a tricky one because, you know, you would think that he has, you know, helped himself and earned a bigger payday.

But free agency money is not what he used to be and you've got to find the right fit.

And I think that he probably really likes and appreciates the role he's been given.

So as far as the basketball side, you know, he's got a lot of support with this Warriors group.

So I'm curious to see what he does.

Sam, always good to talk to you. We appreciate your flexibility throughout the week as well.

A lot of news to be shortened through and I'd like to think it will mellow out at some point.

We'll get to the end of the regular season here for the NBA.

Baseball is going to start up NFL always has its dead points too.

So we'll catch up with you in a couple of weeks and we'll continue reading you as always.

Thanks guys. Be good. Appreciate you.

Absolutely. Sam Amick read him in the athletic. You can give him a follow.

And one of our favorites to have on the sports leader.

Alright, come on back. Let's react to the breaking news.

Dre Green law one year seven point five million dollars.

It is a reunion for a big play. Dre in the bay.

We'll talk about it next on these sports leader.