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Beyond Physical Toughness: Redefining What Makes an NBA Player "Soft"

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We dive deep into what makes an NBA player "soft" after Brandon Jennings called Jason Tatum soft, exploring the subjective nature of this common basketball criticism and whether it's fair to apply to many stars.

• Examining the dictionary definition of "soft" versus how it's used in basketball contexts
• Questioning whether players like Paul George, Joel Embiid, and Anthony Davis deserve the "soft" label
• Proposing that softness should be defined as shortchanging your team in ways you can control
• Analyzing an online list of supposedly "soft" NBA players including surprising entries like Vince Carter
• Challenging the notion that lack of physicality automatically makes a player soft
• Discussing how players like Pau Gasol have changed their "soft" perception through championship performances

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Speaker 1:

What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show. It's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, trayden, as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day.

Speaker 1:

Today we're going to talk about what's a soft NBA player, but before we do that, make sure you hit that like and subscribe button, comment and tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. But, like I said, today we're going to talk about what's a soft NBA player, and this whole conversation actually spurred from me listening to Brandon Jennings and he said Jason Tatum is a soft NBA player. Now, for me I'm like I don't know if JT should be viewed as soft. Right, jason Tatum, a soft NBA player, player that's kind of tough. We can also say, well, brandon jennings was a soft player. I don't necessarily think either were soft players. I think when we're talking about soft, it depends on what your definition of soft is right. For example, if we're using well, the dictionary's definition says easy to mold, cut, compress or fold, not hard or firm to the touch. Second definition says having a pleasing quality involving a subtle effect or contrast, rather than sharp definition. So, ladies and gentlemen, I got to say this, that second definition, having a pleasing quality that might be what we talk about when we say, oh, that person is too soft. Because, again, the physicality aspect, that's what we think about when we think tough players soft is obviously the opposite of tough. So, again, jt, he does, he does look, he does look like a nice guy. So maybe that's what does it for soft players Like let's use another example like Paul George, right, we've heard Paul George, joel Embiid, anthony Davis, ben Simmons, I've even heard Scottie Pippen, jamal Murray, andrew Bynum.

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These players have been viewed as soft. Right, I've even heard Dwight Howard be viewed as soft before. Keep in mind, dwight Howard was one of the most dominant players physically in the game, but yet he was viewed as soft. A lot of times, ladies and gentlemen, we think players are soft, again, just because they're nice guys. Well, they might not be the most dominant, but they have a lot of talent. Or it just goes back to oh well, they're not be the most dominant, but they have a lot of talent. Or it just goes back to oh well, they're not the most physically dominant.

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Paul George is called soft, but yet didn't Buddy break his leg and then came back and still whooped Like he got a bucket after the fact, but yet we call him soft. Why? Well, I mean, I guess the mental aspect I do. I do understand that is a part of the game, but I don't want to call buddy so for real, for real, joel Embiid. Okay, joel Embiid is called soft because he's not, he's not there, he's not available. That's injuries, that is a part of him. I'm not, I'm not, trust me. But I've already talked about Joel Embiid. He needs to do better working out right, I can't call him soft, end of day, but he is a dominant force on the block. He's just talented, so he can actually do more stuff. It's not like KD's out there dominating physically, even though, again, stature is a little different, but still he's shoving foot. Oh, kd, you should be on the block more. No, he's able to do other things. Same thing with joelle and beat, and I will say joelle and beat needs to stop falling on the floor so much.

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But self, I don't know. Again, ladies and gentlemen, it just depends on your definition of self. Look at anthony davis and ben simmon. Those are two prime examples. Injury prone. Right, we talk about ben simmon, that Ben Simmons. He was dealing with a back injury, I can't. Hey, bro, if you say you have a back injury, I'm going to give you some grace. Anthony Davis, he started to get injured when he was on my Lakers.

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Are they really soft? Like that's tough, ladies and gentlemen, like that's tough, that term soft, that term soft is so subjective it really truly is. And again, I hate putting that term on certain players because I understand what that means. If you're a player that's basically saying hey, you don't want to play hard, and my definition of soft is you shortchanging your team, your fan base yourself, because, let's be honest, everybody's not going to give 100% effort every game. But if you shortchange your team in a manner which is now detrimental and it's something that you can actually control and you're not trying to work towards that with your team, I view that as soft. That's me personally, because everybody's play style is different. Not everyone's going to be physical. I can't say Steph Curry is the most physical player, anthony Edwards is more physical. Does that mean Steph Curry is less tough than Anthony Edwards? I think that might be tough to say. So again, ladies and gentlemen, just because we're talking about physicality, let's not say that's soft. Now, if that's your definition, cool. I get it, but that's not my definition personally, and I was actually curious about who are some players that are actually viewed as soft. I was curious if we can get a little assistance here online, and I did find a nice little surprising answer.

Speaker 1:

So let's talk about this list, shall we? So for starters, we did have Andre Bargnani. Again, this is the top 10 players often considered the softest. Andre Bargnani was number one. Vince Carter at number two. That sounds stupid as hell. Like I'm sorry, that sounds crazy. I get he injury prone if that's just the case. But he played 22 years.

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Like I can't say he's soft. I don't know where that even came from. This is just showing you you can't trust sources everywhere. Pau Gasol keep in mind buddy was called Pau Gasol. What was that? 08, right, when he was with us. After that he turned the corner because we won that championship then in 2010,. I think it's solidified. Hey, he not a punk. You know what I'm saying. Like Pau cool, but he did have that moment where he was called pal Gasol. But you are able to change that moniker if you do get labeled that, ladies and gentlemen. So I do want to keep that note. So I appreciate pal being on this list because that was fair. But again, I don't know if, if he, if he was called soft when he was on the Grizzlies, maybe more abs alone.

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But let's talk about Kwame Brown though. Yeah, I didn't think Kwame was soft until you listen to people like MJ, I guess, gilbert Arenas, people like that, I guess mentally right. But Kwame you just typically heard anybody wasn't that good to be a number one pick. That was the knock on Kwame. So that's a little interesting. Charlie Villanueva, ladies and gentlemen Charlie Villanueva, ladies and gentlemen, that's an interesting one right there.

Speaker 1:

Proceeded as soft due to lack of physical play and on-court demeanor. That's interesting. Tmac effort and leadership question. Question criticized for being a poor practice player. Well, look, based on my definition, ladies and gentlemen, that would be viewed as soft. If that's the case, gotta be fair. Gotta be fair.

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Chris bosh, often labeled as soft due to perceived lack of toughness and physicality. Keep in mind, chris Bosh played the five when he was supposed to be a four on that heat team. He took a lot of slack and he removed his ego from the team. Chris Bosh is not soft at all whatsoever. I refuse to acknowledge that. I understand why some people might troll him when they say that, but I don't view Chris Bosh as soft at all whatsoever. Kyle Korver criticized for poor defense and perceived lack of physicality. I can't call Buddy soft. I'm sorry dog, he was tough, he was tough for me. And Mike Dunleavy there's no way in the world. There's no way in the world we're calling Mike Dunleavy soft.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, ladies and gentlemen, I hope y'all are realizing you cannot trust all sources online, but you can at least trust me, to be fair, I promise you. But again, I'm curious what y'all think the term soft is. I'm really curious because, based on the lesson that I just read, based on the definition that I just gave, I got to hear y'all answers. So that's all we have for today. Thank you all for listening. Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one. Take care.