Smith held these playoffs.

Change your thoughts on Quite Leonard hasn't changed at all.

He came into the he came into the playoffs a superstar.

There's no question about it.

One of the top five players in the game with the top three players in the game, And I think that's exactly where he is right now.

That's how I view him.

I've you a guy that's exceptional defensively.

Offensively, he's a shot.

Makers got tremendous pores.

I still think he needs to get to his spots in order to make shots and things of that nature.

There is no denying that he is a superstar of the highest order.

He belongs in the conversation for one of the top three players in the world.

That's where I viewed him coming into these playoffs.

That's where I viewed him now.

But I do not view him as the best in the world.

Um, this is how it's changed my mind about Kawai.

When last seen in action, I thought he was the second best player on earth toe LeBron James.

They were up 23 points on the unbeatable Warriors with Cady Kawai gets hurt.

The Spurs get swept.

That's the last time we saw him in action.

And he is coming off an M V P caliber season.

So I thought, OK, but he was hurt.

He wasn't the same.

And then he finally got back to action this year, and he wasn't quite as good as the Greek freak or Kevin Durant this season.

And with LeBron at a commission for the playoffs, because Lakers didn't make it.

Okay, let's see what you got.

Candy.

And I thought the freak would be too much for him.

Too big, too strong, too young.

And that wasn't the case.

What Kawai showed me is he picked up the trajectory where he left off, which was still ascending.

He picked it up when it mattered most in the playoffs and continued his assent to now the best player in basketball.

That's how he's.

That's the new stuff I learned from these playoffs.

He is not the best player in basketball, just just everyone.

James and Kevin Durant art.

He's not the best plan.

So is CO y.

Well.

Speaking of, what's playing this Kevin Durant Max, Do the Warriors need K D to win the Siri's?

No, they don't need him.

It wouldn't hurt, though.

What Chris Rock say You can drive a car with your feet.

Don't make it a good idea, right?

You can win without KD, but it's a lot easier to win with them.

But they'll still be favorites because Steph Curry is an M V P caliber player.

Clay Thompson is an All Star, not just in All Star.

He's something more than just a guy who makes all star teams.

He's All Star plus and Draymond.

Green is a perennial All Star who, when it matters most, is a near M V P player.

We seen it consistently throughout his playoff career.

Not to mention it.

Iguodala, who's a big money player.

The Warriors are favorites for a reason.

Even without KD, they're the favorites date of favorites, and they don't need Kevin Durant to win the championship.

But it doesn't mean that Kevin Durant's absence means nothing.

They've got to elevate their level of play similar to what they did against Houston at the end of Game five and then, obviously, Game six, similar to what they did against the Portland Trail Blazers when they swept them.

They're gonna have to show up, step up and handle their business against Colin is around two Raptors because the one thing we do know about Toronto is that they can defend.

And when you have guys like past Kasey Aacm, Anna Kawai Lenin that you're able potentially to put on Steph Curry to put on a Clay Thompson.

If those guys in any way gets neutralized, then Toronto can make this a very, very interesting and compelling Siri's.

It reminds me, obviously, for different reasons, but it reminds me, Max, or what we thought When the Los Angeles Lakers years ago went against the Detroit Pistons, they had shocked they had Kobe, you know, you had calm alone in these boys.

You're looking at them and you see in their potential what what happened?

They ran into a buzz sword that Chauncey Billups, Rip, Hamilton, Ben and Rasheed Wallace would take Shaun Prince, coached by the exceptional Larry Brown, the Hall of Famer.

These brothers were ready to play, and they were more of a team.

Then the Los Angeles Lakers were at that time that that is not the case will go to state.

They are team.

Make no mistake about it, but when you're devoid of that superstar Kevin Durant, that clearly would have preoccupied Kawai Lenin.

Now he's free to do things because he doesn't have to worry about Kevin Durant.

I think there's makes this thing interesting, I think is a big difference between this.

NASA is incidentally, I was doing a show called I Max at the time and predicted that the Pistons would sweep the Lakers in that Siri's after I saw that Pacer Siri's and then, conversely, how the Lakers looked against Minnesota without Sam Cassell, I thought the Pistons would sweep them.

It turns out it was a gentleman sweet, because Kobe got him one game for the one that's different here in that.

That was a well rounded team without a real superstar.

This Toronto team is well rounded, but without any all Stars except for the superstar.

So Kawai is tasked with much Maurin.

This Siri's than any one player was on that in that Detroit on that Detroit team.

And unlike this previous Siri's, they have two guys to throw Adam in iguala 20.3 guys Iguodala, Draymond and Clay.

All three of those guys play defense at a very high level.

It's going to be tough for quite well.

I wasn't comparing that basketball wise.

I was just talking about the tenor from the critics out there that were dissecting and prognosticating about the Siri's in terms of everybody.

Assuming the Lakers had the star so they would win and not taking into account how divided the camp, the Lakers were at that particular time that had a lot to do.

What, why they lost to Detroit?

I will.

Sticking with the Warriors with free agency looming for clay and Durant is it's the last stop for the Warriors dynasty.

Stephen A.

Smith.

Um, I don't know the answer to that question.

In all honesty, For this reason and this reason alone, we don't definitively no, Actually, it's a two part.

We don't definitively know if Kevin Durant is going to leave.

We believe he's leaving and going to New York.

I could tell you that's what New York believes, but we don't know.

Golden State swears they got a shot at keeping him.

That's a B.

If he want to leave, who would they be able to get?

Those are the two questions.

But to answer it directly.

If I had to bet my money and say, This is the end of the dynasty I could say year because I think other stars, including Kevin Durant, are going to be elsewhere.

And that might be too much for Golden State to overcome and ride that wave toe 1/6 consecutive n b A finals appearance.

I think that ultimately that Rome will come to them.

They will be back in the finals.

But I don't know if it will be next year.

Yeah, I don't think that means the end of a dynasty.

I think you can not make the finals for a year or two and then make the finals and then lose and then come back and win a championship like it goes on and on.

As long as you're a powerhouse and you're getting close or winning it, we're in it every year, over over a span of time.

It kind of connects the seasons, and really, that's do it.

Who is the nucleus who's in the core without K D?

You still have Steph, Clay and Draymond and with an aging Iguodala and those guys are good enough to keep your powerhouse.

But without K d, you don't have the kind of unfair advantage over the rest of the league.

And here's the problem.

Stephen A.

There is no way to replace K D.

They don't have the assets to go and get someone else, and they don't have the cap space to maneuver.

So if they lose K d, they have to be content with what they have, which is a whole lot, but they're no longer like the Warriors and everyone else.