Bottom Feeders Sports Podcast

01/04/2026

People still talking about Shaedon Sharpe like he’s just athletic, like it’s just hops, like these posters are accidents. Nah. This ain’t random. This is intent. He’s putting people on posters because he’s attacking space, reading angles, timing his lift, and finishing through bodies. That’s skill meeting confidence, not just jumping high.

What makes it different is he’s not hunting highlights, the highlights are finding him. He’s driving with purpose, elevating with balance, and finishing like he expects contact. That’s why defenders keep ending up under him instead of stopping him. Posters don’t come from dunking, they come from beating someone to a spot and rising anyway.

And here’s the part people miss, these aren’t empty plays. These are in-game, momentum-shifting dunks. Crowd killers. Bench lifters. The kind that make defenders think twice the next possession. That matters. That’s impact.

He’s not trying to be a dunker. He’s becoming a scorer who can finish above the rim whenever he decides to. Big difference. When a player can score at all three levels and still put you on a poster, that’s when the league starts adjusting, not the other way around.

If you think this is the peak, you’re not paying attention. He’s just getting comfortable.

01/04/2026

The most slept on player in the NBA right now is Keyonte George.

Not underrated. Slept on. There’s a difference.

People keep reacting to team record instead of player growth, and that’s how real development gets missed. What Keyonte is doing right now is the exact type of third-year jump the league always recognizes later, never early.

Here’s the real breakdown.

Year 1:
Came into the league adjusting. Around 13 points a game, learning pace, learning reads, learning how fast NBA defenses actually close. He wasn’t handed the keys yet, but the shot creation was already there.

Year 2:
Usage increased. Scoring climbed into the mid-teens, assists jumped, turnovers stabilized. He started closing games, started seeing doubles, started being treated like someone defenses actually cared about.

Year 3 (now):
Around 25 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds per game. Primary creator. Primary closer. Primary decision-maker. That’s not a role jump, that’s a responsibility jump. He’s not scoring more by accident, he’s scoring more because the ball lives in his hands and the offense bends around him.

That assist number matters more than people realize. For context, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s career-high assist average is just over six a game, and he didn’t reach that until Oklahoma City fully handed him the offense. Keyonte is already there in year three, without Shai’s spacing, without Shai’s roster continuity, and without Shai’s media push.

And this type of jump isn’t random. We’ve seen it before.

James Harden went from a role scorer early to a full-blown offensive engine by year three once the ball became his.
Stephen Curry didn’t look like that version of Steph until year three when the game slowed down.
De’Aaron Fox didn’t make the leap people talk about now until his third season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t become Shai until year three either.

This is the pattern.
Year one is survival.
Year two is confidence.
Year three is control.

Utah being a bottom-feeder doesn’t disqualify what’s happening. If anything, it exposes it. He’s not being hidden behind stars, not picking spots, not getting easy looks off someone else’s gravity. He’s taking the best defender, the late-clock shots, the blame when things go wrong, and the responsibility when things go right.

That’s why this isn’t a hot take. It’s a timeline take.

Bottom Feeders Sports Podcast isn’t here to tell you who the league already decided to crown. We’re here to document who’s actually growing before the narrative catches up.

If you still think this is empty stats, name the guards making this kind of leap in year three right now.
If you think he’s not slept on, explain why nobody’s talking about it.

That’s the conversation.

Bottom Feeders Sports Podcast

01/04/2026

We gotta give real credit where it’s due. Dylan Harper is FOR REAL. Second pick type talent and he’s been showing it every time he’s on the floor, even with games missed, even without the rhythm most young players need to settle in. That’s not easy, especially for someone carrying expectations that high.

What I respect the most is the maturity in his game. He’s not rushing shots, he’s not forcing moments, he’s reading the floor, controlling pace, getting to his spots, making the right play. You can tell he understands the difference between being talented and being impactful. That’s rare at this stage.

Missing games usually slows young players down, knocks timing off, creates doubt. With him, it hasn’t. He comes back steady, confident, composed, like the moment isn’t bigger than him. That’s a blessing for any program and a big sign of what’s coming next.

This is exactly the type of player Bottom Feeders Sports Podcast is built to highlight. Not just the loud hype, but the real growth, the real feel for the game, the guys who show you who they are even when the situation isn’t perfect. If you’re watching closely, you already know. If you’re not, you’ll catch up later.

01/04/2026

Good morning. Jaylen Brown went to LA and dropped 50, 18 for 26 from the field, and the game felt like it was on his terms the entire night. You could see it early, the pace, the confidence, the way he was picking spots instead of forcing anything, just letting the game come to him and taking what the defense gave up.

This is what it looks like when a player knows who he is and doesn’t rush the moment. He wasn’t out there trying to prove a point, he was just hooping, getting downhill, knocking down shots, making the right reads, and keeping pressure on the Clippers every possession. When it looks that easy, it’s because the work already been done.

People still love to debate Jaylen Brown, where he ranks, what he is, what he isn’t, but nights like this don’t need debating. You don’t accidentally score 50 on the road playing within yourself. That’s comfort, that’s growth, that’s a player who understands his game.

Bottom Feeder Sports Podcast always watching the details, not just the headline. If you watched that game, you know exactly what that was.

Jaylen Brown — vs Clippers (at LA)
• 50 PTS
• 18-of-26 FG
• 6-of-10 3PT
• 8 REB
• 4 AST
• 2 STL
• 1 BLK
• 1 TO

Bottom Feeders Sports Podcast

01/02/2026

Mike Leonard

This is a safe place for REAL basketball Minds, a place where media narratives don't exist!

10/21/2025

Amen Thompson will be an All-Star this year and make an All-NBA team this year

08/21/2025

With Mike Leonard – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

07/15/2025

Jason Kidd saw something in Giannis before the world did, when most people thought he was just a raw forward, Kidd gave him the ball and said run the offense.

That move changed Giannis’ whole trajectory. It made people believe he could be a point guard.
It made defenses respect his mind, not just his athleticism.

Now he’s trying to do the same thing with Cooper Flagg.

Before his first Summer League game, Kidd said he wanted Cooper to play point guard to make him uncomfortable, not to embarrass him, to stretch him. Just like he did with Giannis.

And here’s the wild part, Cooper Flagg already has flashes of Giannis’ rim pressure, Tatum’s polish, and Blake Griffin’s bounce in traffic.
That’s three completely different weapons in one package.

Mike Len 🗣️ ✍️

So what type of player is that really?
If Jason Kidd unlocks this version of Flagg the same way he unlocked Giannis… we might be watching the next blueprint get drawn right now.

What do you see in Cooper Flagg?
And more importantly, can he handle that level of responsibility?