Chris Webber, Steve Smith & Greg Anthony Speak On Kwame, LeBron & Preview The NBA Season

With the NBA season right around the corner, I caught up with three former players-turned-anaylsts from NBA TV today to preview the upcoming season. Chris Webber, Steve Smith and Greg Anthony broke down questions for an hour on everything from Kwame Brown‘s signing to the effect the lockout will have on young egos. While they disagreed on a number of things, they all seemed to be convinced that Boston’s old vets will actually be helped by the lockout.

Why? Anthony said he thought because most of their core has already been through a lockout in 1999, they’ll know how to pace themselves and will know what to expect. As far as the other veteran contenders, everyone was perplexed by the Lamar Odom trade with Anthony saying it’s not justified unless it creates a domino effect to a bigger trade. Meanwhile, Webber believes Dallas let the goods get away, saying about Tyson Chandler, “He’s the only reason they won the championship last year” before calling the new Knick the most important defensive player in the league.

As for the rest of the conversation, here are some of the highlights:

On how the lockout will affect veteran teams:
Anthony: “The big advantage Boston’s going to have, they have a lot of players from their core who have gone through a lockout before. While they might be older, I think they’re going to be able to recall from their experience on it. I think Doc Rivers can do a really good job of resting his guys over the course of the regular season.”

“Sometimes you can push younger guys too hard. It’s like with kids. Kids don’t know when they’re tired. They’ll just try to fight through it and play through it. Older guys have the experience – less than an ego – and they’ll know when their bodies are not ready, and coaches are more willing to trust them.”

On Rick Adelman and Minnesota:
Webber: “He’s going to empower players to be as good as you want and he’s going to give you enough rope to hang yourself. As a player you need to have personal responsibility. You are gonna have to work on your game because he’s gonna say, “If you’re open and don’t shoot it you’re gonna have to come out of the game.” He builds that trust within players.

“When I was in Sacramento, we had a lot of young guys and a lot of foreigners who weren’t accustomed to playing in the NBA and he made sure they were comfortable. He made sure he explained things to them so they weren’t as intimidated.”

Kevin Love, he’s definitely going to love not being in that triangle. The triangle is only for Shaq and Kobe and the Lakers. He’s going to love to have the freedom to play his game.”

Anthony: “There’s two coaches in the NBA that I think are Hall of Fame, great coaches when you get beyond the Pat Riley, the Phil Jackson and the Gregg Popovich. To me, it’s Rick Adelman and George Karl. I think Rick Adelman is one of the best offensive minds in our game. When you look at all of the teams he’s ever coached, they always get more offensively out of their team than anybody else. He’s a genius in that respect.”

On Ricky Rubio and Jason Williams comparisons:
Webber: “Rick (Adelman) is patient and he earned it coaching Jason. Jason definitely tested him. Rubio hasn’t played in the league yet so he doesn’t need to be thinking about being Jason Williams.”

“I hope he doesn’t get caught up in being flashy because you gotta be real good man, and very frankly, I know I might catch some flak for this but this is not international ball. This is the league. Hopefully he’ll average more assists than turnovers. That should be goal No. 1. The magic and all that, you gotta learn that down the road.”

On Atlanta as an NBA destination:
Webber: “Atlanta is a different animal. I wouldn’t suggest as a player that you live in Atlanta. If you want to be honest, you don’t sell out games. I always get killed in Atlanta for saying this, but if you don’t have a home base then don’t come. I feel sorry for Joe Johnson when Derrick Rose comes to town or when New York comes to town.”

“Being a young player, I just think it’s tough to live in any major city. I won’t just say Atlanta.”

Steve Smith: “You see people in Atlanta who aren’t based in Atlanta and they cheer for different teams and players.”

“If you are a franchise-type player like Chris Paul or Dwight Howard, you want to know who your ownership is, and it’s been in flux.”

On LeBron James:
Anthony: “The advantage that all players have today, and we went through the lockout, is your superstars are far more marketable and likeable and if they play at a high level, ultimately the fans will come back and all will be forgotten.”

“That’s an advantage for LeBron. I don’t think it’s going to be nearly as venomous (this year) because of what we went through with the lockout and quite frankly that’s because they didn’t win it so all of the people who hated on LeBron, they’re probably happy because he still hasn’t gotten it done when it mattered most.”

Webber: “I disagree a little bit. I think LeBron is going to get booed more than ever before. He doesn’t have to accept the villain role, but that’s who he is.”

On Chauncey Billups‘ bad luck:
Smith: “I think under the new collective bargaining agreement this was unfair to have him go to the Los Angeles Clippers. I thought there should’ve been some kind of provision where he was allowed to go to a different team.”

“I don’t think people realize how much you go through as a player moving your family into different situations. You don’t have a lot of control, especially when you have to play under these rules.”

On the shortened season:
Webber: “I think the back-to-back-to-back, I think that’s just unfair in basketball rules. Three games in a row. I just remember those nights and then as a competitor, the young guys aren’t going to want to come out which could cause injuries.

Anthony: “I still think the product will be pretty high quality because – this is from before me and Smitty came in – it used to be in the old generation, you came to camp to get in shape and to start to get ready. Nowadays, and this started back when I came into the league, you had to come into camp in shape to have a chance to play. That mindset has carried over and that’s the way it is for most guys. You’re going to see most guys coming into camp in better shape.”

Smith: “Not having a normal training camp, I think most teams will have questions going into the season that haven’t been answered.”

On the Warriors:
Smith: Mark Jackson is bringing an element that they have not had in the past. They’ve had great teams, exciting teams that we’ve all loved to watch. But when you start talking about winning in the playoffs and ultimately winning a championship, you must play a little defense. Maybe Kwame Brown is not Tyson Chandler but that’s a good start for the Warriors.”

Anthony: “If you look at Kwame Brown like Chris Webber as a No. 1 overall pick then you don’t think of him as being a solid basketball player. If you just look at Kwame Brown for what he’s able and capable of doing, he’s a nice acquisition because he can defend the rim. He’s one of the best post defenders in our league and that’s probably one of the biggest weaknesses that they’ve had.”

On who is in the better situation: Dwight Howard or Chris Paul?
Smith: “I think it’s Dwight Howard in a landslide.”

Webber: “I think they peaked three years ago, so how do you instill hope and confidence in a team when still have to play Chicago, Boston, Miami. The other thing is I don’t even know how Chris Paul did it last year against the Lakers.”

On Lamar Odom situation:
Anthony: “I would equate it to telling your wife you want a divorce and then coming back the next day and saying “No, I didn’t really mean that. I don’t want a divorce.” I think once you dangle that out there and then actually pull the trigger, that damage could be irreparable. I actually believe the only reason it may work out with Pau Gasol is I felt after the season with how poorly Pau played that in his mind, he expected to be traded. I think he emotionally he had come to gripes with the fact that he probably was going to be moved over the course of the season and into this upcoming season.”

What has you most hyped for Christmas day? What did you find most interesting

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