In recent years, former NBA player Rashad McCants has made a name for himself as an NBA analyst. While plenty of former (and current) NBA players have done the same, McCants is known for his bold takes. However, his bold takes are more about telling it like it is than anything else.
Rashad McCants Shares His NBA Thoughts With PFSN
While McCants’ NBA takes have been getting more attention through his appearances on “Gil’s Arena,” he’s never held back when discussing current NBA controversies.
You punched another black man in the face for no reason tho?? He was your teammate!!!! In America!!! I find it ironic tooooooo pic.twitter.com/5gRlIfi2Ld
— Rashad McCants (@SoundbiteKing) January 31, 2026
In an exclusive interview with PFSN, he shared his perspective on current NBA events, including LeBron James’ present and future, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s impact on the Warriors if he joined, and a thorough assessment of Doc Rivers.
What Happens With LeBron James and the Lakers?
The Los Angeles Lakers and James may very well be on the outs this offseason. Whether he retires or not still remains in question. McCants outlined the two options James had while adding his two cents on James’ priorities.
“He could either take less money next year and re-sign, or he would move somewhere like Cleveland,” McCants said. “And right now, it’s about storybook, it’s about nostalgia. It’s not about winning, and that’s the shame about it, because if it was about winning, he would have took less money this year.
“They would have built pieces around what they have now to help them really be in contention, but the fact that that didn’t happen, and they’re in the situation where they have to work out with what they have, and they don’t have much, especially with Austin Reeves being down, I’m looking at either a move to Cleveland or he re-signs for less money and gives them a little bit more flexibility, gets more pieces.”
McCants added that though James would help Cleveland in a Round Three, whether it would work would depend on what role he accepts there.
“If (Cleveland) did make a move for LeBron in the offseason to bring him back and not lose a Donovan Mitchell and a Mobley, you could potentially make a move and make a run with Lebron there, depending on what kind of seat he’s willing to take inside the minivan,” McCants said.
He elaborated on the minivan metaphor, explaining that it will depend on what he wants if he rejoins the Cavaliers.
“Is he driving? Is he a passenger? LeBron is not the type of guy sitting in the back and lets somebody else take us home,” McCants said. “So, at this particular juncture, like I said, a storybook. How do we want the story to end? Do we want it to end like everyone else’s ended, where he just scores a bunch of points at the end, and he just rides it off with a farewell tour, or does he take it over the top and win the championship and leave on the end?”
McCants then likened James’ farewell to Michael Jordan’s, who he has been compared to since before he entered the NBA.
“Similar to how Jordan did it, I think he’s been chasing Mike for quite some time now. And if he did want to end it and be considered on top, he would have to win it, and he would have to do it in spectacular fashion.”
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If James goes back to the Cavaliers, McCants projected where they would be in the NBA if he were added without subtracting from their current core.
“Given that they don’t lose anything, Jarrett Allen, (Evan) Mobley, LeBron, Donovan Mitchell, and Darius Garland, that’s a contending team for sure,” McCants said. “They’re definitely not gonna be favorites. They’ll be top five.”
It wasn’t all hunky-dory when James first went back to the Cavaliers, but with time and the right moves, they worked it out. If they were to do it again, they may face a similar dilemma as McCants alludes to, not to mention the kind of money James would look for.
Would Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Warriors Work Out?
With the Antetokounmpo drama ongoing, reports say Golden State is going after him to pair him with Stephen Curry and transition to a post-Curry world. The talent between those two as a pair is tantalizing, but McCants expressed his skepticism that they would work out.
“It wouldn’t change the dynamic of Giannis playing with a guy similar,” McCants said. “He played with Damian Lillard, it didn’t work out. I don’t see it, being the same thing, because Steph Curry needs the basketball 100% of the time for him to be effective. He can play off the ball, but he still needs the ball. And so Giannis needs the ball 100% of the time as well. So it’s been proven that this type of dynamic hasn’t been able to work for Giannis. He needs serviceable point guards and shooting guards like Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, and understand that he’s a focal point and that they’ll get theirs when he doesn’t want his.”
Part of why the pairing of Lillard and Antetokounmpo failed is that they were both used to being their teams’ alpha dogs. Curry compromised when the Warriors added Kevin Durant, but there’s no telling whether he and Antetokounmpo would fit as well, since Antetokounmpo is a fundamentally very different player.
So if not the Warriors, who could be the Greek Freak’s next team? McCants outlined three teams that could get a deal done while using an accurate metaphor to explain how trade talks would work among the Bucks and their trade suitors.
“You still have a luxury vehicle that you’re going to be getting off of, and you’re going to want a luxury vehicle back. So if it’s not a luxury vehicle per se, it’s going to be a lot of different mid-size cars that are very nice that you will want to be in your garage. And I think that there’s only a few teams out there that got that type of assets, being Detroit, Houston, and San Antonio, maybe, and then you thinking about a team like OKC.”
While Antetokounmpo’s suitors have been named, it’s not exactly clear who’s in the lead because of how much would go into a trade.
What’s His Read on Bucks HC Doc Rivers?
With the Bucks situation falling apart, many have pointed to Milwaukee replacing Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers when they were 30-13 as the start of when everything went wrong. It may have been a sinking ship regardless of Rivers’ hiring, but McCants gave a full breakdown of how unpredictable coaches like Rivers can be, since their success can overshadow their failures.
“I don’t think people really understand the history when they’re watching the game of basketball. Doc Rivers had one of the longest losing streaks in NBA history before the Big Three trade. I don’t think anybody remembers that. I think I do because all the players came to Minnesota in that trade and told me everything that was going on, so they didn’t consider Doc a good coach up until Doc won a championship with that Big Three.”
McCants never played for Rivers, but played for the Minnesota Timberwolves when the Boston Celtics traded for Kevin Garnett in 2007. He didn’t name names, but the Timberwolves’ return package — Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, and Theo Ratliff — were all on a Celtics roster that lost 18 consecutive games that season.
McCants then used Rivers’ inability to replicate the success he had in Boston to point out that it’s not always a given that coaches will bring success to the teams they inherit.
“You win the championship with the Big Three, you consider this guy who can do magic, but he hasn’t done magic since. He went to L.A., he had Lob City… couldn’t get over the hump, and all of a sudden, all these guys don’t have anything great to say about you because they get the remnants of the same 18-game losing streak Doc Rivers when you don’t have the perfect stars aligned to win a championship.
“Certain coaches need the perfect stars to be considered a great coach and when you don’t have that, you have excuses. I think there’s a lot of coaches that people consider great coaches because they won with stars, and then they don’t have stars, and then you’re like, ‘Where’s the winning?’ Because if you’re a good coach, you can win with any players.”
McCants concluded by explaining the key ingredient for a coach to thrive with his team, no matter who is on it.
“(That) doesn’t mean that you don’t have a winning formula without winning players or elite Hall of Fame players. You can win with any guys as long as they’re executing and buying into your system.”
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It will be interesting to see whether Rivers sticks around with Milwaukee once the Antetokounmpo situation is resolved.
What is McCants Currently Working on?
McCants has two books coming out: “Played” and “The Book of Solomon”. These are not the first books he’s written; he’s also written “The Light With Love“ and “Then, She Met Me.”
While speaking with PFSN, McCants delved into the message he tries to convey through the books he’s written.
“That you can pretty much express yourself in a variety of ways, especially when you want to be well-versed. I’ve been around the globe as far as culturally and played overseas in many different countries. I was able to see a lot of different aspects of life and traditions, and a lot of different morals, and when it comes down to just having a taste palette for different experiences.
“Just wanted to really just dive in and express myself in that way. At the end of the day, you got to leave something behind. I wanted to be remembered for something so not necessarily about promoting books or anything. It’s about actually doing it. And people will find it if they look for it.”
McCants also made it clear that his repertoire extends beyond basketball.
“I just feel like just being a human being, period, not just an athlete. I never wanted to be pigeon-holed in anything. I’ve been doing music for 25 years. Nobody really knows.
“I’ve been in film for 15-plus years. Directing and producing and writing. So there’s a lot of things that I don’t really let people in on based on and just being my thing. Writing books was just something that just was a part of a creative process. Once I kind of transitioned from playing ball and getting out of the big three and just thinking of other things that I can make money off of, or just express myself.”
