No I didn’t say “hot cake”. Those are delicious. I am talking about “hot takes”. According to the internet (which is never wrong) a “hot take” is a piece of commentary, typically produced quickly in response to a recent event, whose primary purpose is to attract attention.
You know you aren't in the same class as Jordan right?
Translation: a “hot take” is when some annoying blowhard says something ridiculous just so people will comment on your twitter, scream at the TV in a crowded gym, write a comment on your blog, or simply keep talking about you long after you should have any significance at all. If you were wondering who the poster boy is for non-nonsensical “hot takes” it is this gas bag:
Are you saying that someone thinks I'm annoying? That is simply odiferously, and titanically, preposterous!
Some are saying that this week, Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen had one of the hottest takes in recent basketball memory. During an NBA-Allstar segment on ESPN’s First Take (a show that tries to force its hosts to do nothing but create silly soundbites) Pippen dared to say, “When I look at LeBron, he's not what Michael was as a player. He’s not even what Kobe Bryant was as a player. So, when you talk about trying to compare Michael's instinct, his ability to take over games, his ability to want to have the last shot, LeBron doesn't have that gene. That's not in him. Kobe has that gene. I see a little bit of it in Paul George. Kawhi (Leonard), (Russell) Westbrook. ... Not too many players go on the basketball court with that."
Pippen went on to describe this missing characteristic as the “clutch gene”.
This is especially interesting considering that just two years ago, Pippen said that LeBron, "probably ahead of Jordan”.
Pippen’s comment is actually not a hot take. It has nothing to do with “a recent event”. LeBron showed that he did not have what Jordan and other’s have 8 years ago when he decided to take the easy way out and join another star’s team. He then continued to show it by deferring to teammates time and time again when they simply needed him to go and be the best player in the world today.
Pippen’s comments are especially interesting considering that just two years ago, Pippen said that LeBron was "probably ahead of Jordan”. “Hot takes” don’t normally take two years to figure out.
I loved Scottie Pippen as a player. During the Bulls Dynasty, it was actually Pippen who was my favorite player, not Jordan (I was a young and dumb rebel). But I have to say, Scottie is wrong on this one. His premise is correct. LeBron is missing something that will never allow him to be considered the greatest ever. But it is not “clutch”. To me “clutch” can be defined best by it’s opposite “choking”. I think everyone has a similar definition of “choking”. “Choking” is cracking under the pressure when your team needs you the most. So “clutch” is avoiding doing that.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I can’t remember LeBron choking very often. But a big reason for that is that he disappears or defers in so many big games and situations. He simply has not always taken the ball to have the opportunity to be “clutch”.
When you can do this, the smart basketball play is never to pass to Rodney Hood.
LeBron is the most physically gifted athlete I have ever seen. His combination of size, strength and speed is simply super-human. In addition, he played in an era where the physicality is taken out of the game. The rules do not allow him to be guarded the way Jordan and others were. Although the guy is simply unstoppable, there are countless games where his team needs a basket to stop a run… and he passes to someone.
You are a giant. You are insanely fast. You are better than anyone on the court. Take the freaking ball to the hole, dunk it in your opponents face, and cut their freaking hearts out! But no. His team needs him. He’s the greatest out there and he makes “the smart basketball play”. Wrong. The smart basketball play is for the most athletically gifted player in the history of sports to put his team on his back and will them to victory.
And that is the missing gene. It is not “clutch”. It is WILL. Jordan willed his team to victories in six championships and never ever had to play a game seven. There was simply no way Jordan would lose. He hated losing.
Poor Craig Ehlo
LeBron loves winning. And that is the huge difference. Personally, I call this “being a killer”. A killer would rather die than lose. A killer says, “Give me the damn ball and let me go to work”. I am not saying a killer is always a ball hog. Killers know they need to get the ball to their teammates in order to keep them engaged throughout the game. The Bulls even made sure Bill Cartwright would get the first offensive touch of the game to energize him and his razor sharp elbows. But when the game is on the line, a killers’ teammates look at him and say “we helped you get here no go win this thing”. And a killer does. Then when a killer draws a triple team, it is a surprise when he passes to a little slow point guard who nails a three to win the game.