Mike Greenberg Says the Lakers Should Rest Their Starters In Game 5 In Possibly The Most Insane Take Of All-Time

I'm sure I'm missing one or two because there's no way anyone could possibly remember all the takes from every talking head on sports talkshows over the last however many years, but off the top of my head, this is the most outrageous "take" I've ever heard. Just sheer lunacy and stupidity.

I really hope Mike Greenberg said this for attention and that he doesn't actually believe it, because if he genuinely thinks the Lakers should hand the Warriors one of the three chances they have to clinch this series, he's actually a very dumb man and shouldn't be on television. I can't even wrap my head around this.

Greenberg uses the example of baseball pitchers in the postseason like that's remotely the same thing at all. Hey Greenie, pitchers don't play in every game because their arms would fall off — if teams could have their ace start every game, they'd do it. Nobody is "saving" them. In fact, teams often use pitchers on short rest in the postseason to try to get them to pitch as many times as they possibly can. Everything about this analogy is nonsense.

Even the logic Greenberg uses to justify this take is precisely the evidence against it. The Warriors have been the best team in the NBA for close to a decade, their backs are against the wall and they're going back home in a must-win situation. You have three opportunities to close them out. You don't just concede one of them and move on to Game 6, where one more Warriors win puts you back in this same situation, except now all the pressure is on you. Should the Lakers rest their starters in Game 7, too, since it's such a foregone conclusion Golden State will win in that situation?

I have allowed Mike Greenberg to get me worked up on a Tuesday morning. But this is so stupid.