Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA Pulse production of iHeart Rating in the NBA.
Speaker 1: I'm Sarahustak, NBA analyst for the Yes Network, and today
Speaker 1: is Tuesday, June eleventh. From our extraordinary core group of
Speaker 1: NBA journalists, were joined now by NBA dot Com Senior
Speaker 1: writer Steve Ashburner. Ash, you've been on planes. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you've been on trains, but you have been
Speaker 1: covering this final series going from Boston. Now you're in
Speaker 1: Dallas getting set for Game three that will take place
Speaker 1: on Wednesday at eight thirty pm Eastern on ABC. ASH
Speaker 1: Boston with this two oh series lead, they have been.
Speaker 1: They were dominant in Game one and pretty much the
Speaker 1: same there despite a little bit of a run towards
Speaker 1: the end by Dallas, but overall they have very much
Speaker 1: looked like the better team right away. Let's get to it.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of talk. We know about Boston,
Speaker 1: how good they been in the regular season, what they've
Speaker 1: done in rolling through the postseason, about the completeness of
Speaker 1: their team. They are a complete team, but do it
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor. We're seeing it offensively,
Speaker 1: we're seeing it defensively, We're seeing it from multiple players,
Speaker 1: everyone contributing in a way that it's not just about
Speaker 1: star power, it's about balance. So who is your MVP?
Speaker 1: I know we're only two games in, but Boston two
Speaker 1: games away from closing this thing out. Who is your
Speaker 1: MVP at this point of the finals?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Hi, Sarah, you know it's it's not too soon
Speaker 2: because this is a constant topic, whether it's a finals
Speaker 2: MVP or a Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP, or
Speaker 2: just over the course of the season, which is who
Speaker 2: is the most valuable Celtic. It seems like it's a
Speaker 2: big deal. There is, And maybe that's a byproduct of
Speaker 2: a really deep, talented team, is that people want a
Speaker 2: pecking order. And you know, Tata and Jason Tatum and
Speaker 2: Jaylen Brown have been together for so long. I mean
Speaker 2: they are, in essence the pillars of that team, and
Speaker 2: people have always measured one against the other. And so
Speaker 2: I mean even Jason Kidd just did that, and I
Speaker 2: look at it. You know, sometimes the media tries to
Speaker 2: be too clever by half. I'm the kind of guy
Speaker 2: who looks at sort of the inner game and the
Speaker 2: impact of a of a player more than just his stance.
Speaker 2: And if I were casting a vote at this point,
Speaker 2: I would vote for Drew Holliday. I think that in.
Speaker 1: Both those games, as I was hoping, we maybe had
Speaker 1: different answers.
Speaker 2: Oh well, maybe we should just for the dynamic here.
Speaker 2: But you know, great mind stake alike. I just think
Speaker 2: that you know, when you when you drill down and
Speaker 2: you look at what they needed in any given moment.
Speaker 2: In Game two, particularly, it was the scoring and Tatum
Speaker 2: shooting was off again. Drew Holliday makes, you know, very
Speaker 2: clutch baskets. He can bail out possessions. There was a
Speaker 2: stretch in the third quarter where I wrote about it
Speaker 2: on our site as the turning point of the game.
Speaker 2: Jason Kitty called the time out with about five minutes
Speaker 2: left in the third quarter. His team had gone from
Speaker 2: down two to down six, and then over the next
Speaker 2: two minutes out of that timeout, Dallas went down from
Speaker 2: down six to down twelve. And you know, Drew Holliday
Speaker 2: scored two of the buckets during that stretch. He got
Speaker 2: it on a break after Jaln Brown steel And then
Speaker 2: to finish that stretch, Jason Tatum was doubled and sort
Speaker 2: of in no man's land, and all of a sudden
Speaker 2: Drew Holliday cuts to the basket, Tatum shovels the ball
Speaker 2: over and it's a layup, and Jason Kidd is calling
Speaker 2: a second time out in a matter of two minutes,
Speaker 2: and it just seemed like the lead went to double digits.
Speaker 2: That gave the Celtics control enough that they could weather
Speaker 2: that fourth quarter run and still be five points up.
Speaker 2: So Drew Holliday knows what it takes. He won with
Speaker 2: Milwaukee back in twenty twenty one. He's he's important at
Speaker 2: both ends. I mean he started out, you know, on
Speaker 2: well defensively, I mean they can put him on anybody, frankly.
Speaker 2: So to me, he's my he's my MVP because he's
Speaker 2: a role player, because he willingly sacrifices. He calls himself
Speaker 2: a utility man. If you're if you're going to look
Speaker 2: at the so called stars, I think Jaylen Brown probably
Speaker 2: would would would win that award if he came down
Speaker 2: to him and Tatum right now. But I really think
Speaker 2: the criticism of Tatum has gotten rather silly. You know,
Speaker 2: he's playing a well rounded game, he seems willing to sacrifice. Yes,
Speaker 2: he's shooting has been very bad, but you know, Kobe
Speaker 2: missed a lot of shots too. I'm not comparing him.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying that a guy can can achieve a
Speaker 2: lot even as he misses shots. And so I just
Speaker 2: think the you know, there's still opportunity obviously in this thing.
Speaker 2: The Celtics have to win too. It could go five
Speaker 2: more games for Tatum to straighten out a shot. But yeah,
Speaker 2: that's how I would rank them. I guess right now
Speaker 2: is Holiday Brown. And you know you can't ignore a
Speaker 2: guy that has the ball in his hands as much
Speaker 2: as Tatum.
Speaker 1: I'm one hundred percent with you on the rankings. And
Speaker 1: I can't say enough about Drew Holliday. Have always been
Speaker 1: a huge fan of his, the disposition he brings to
Speaker 1: the floor, how he obviously competes not only defensively, but
Speaker 1: we're seeing it offensively. And you look at the fact
Speaker 1: in game two, twenty six points, eleven rebounds, had zero turnovers,
Speaker 1: he was highly efficient from the field. I think there's
Speaker 1: so many aspects of his game that he has impacted
Speaker 1: why they're up to oh so, without a doubt he
Speaker 1: at this point would get my vote. But to make
Speaker 1: a little bit of a case to your point about
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown in Jason Tatum. A lot of what they're
Speaker 1: doing is opening up the floor for teammates. You know
Speaker 1: that so much of the defense is predicated on trying
Speaker 1: to slow them down, in particular Jason Tatum, And I
Speaker 1: agree with you on the Tatum dialogue and kind of
Speaker 1: dissection of how he's been playing. Has shot then off. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Is this a time when your best players and one
Speaker 1: that you think is all NBA should be on the
Speaker 1: biggest stage at their best. Yes. However, you look at
Speaker 1: Dallas has been double teaming him, you know, Jason Kidd
Speaker 1: and the coach is tossing doubles on him, blitzing him,
Speaker 1: trying to get the ball out of his hands. If
Speaker 1: that doesn't tell you just the respect they have for
Speaker 1: what he can do offensively. And Jalen Brown his ability
Speaker 1: to get downhill, get to the front of the rim,
Speaker 1: open up the floor. I think there's so many things
Speaker 1: that he obviously is contributing and orchestrating in why Boston
Speaker 1: is playing the way that they are and also defensively,
Speaker 1: same type of deal. But I am with you at
Speaker 1: this point. It'll be interesting to see how things play
Speaker 1: out in this next game, Game three, and also just
Speaker 1: as a series continues. But with that being said, there's
Speaker 1: another piece to the starting lineup, ash that we know
Speaker 1: has been hugely important, and we saw it in Game one.
Speaker 1: Kristaps Porzingis, after missing ten games in the postseason with
Speaker 1: a calf injury, made his return. He put on a
Speaker 1: show quick. He has twenty points in twenty minutes in
Speaker 1: that game one. Game two comes away with twelve points.
Speaker 1: He did play twenty three minutes, but it appeared that
Speaker 1: he reaggravated his calf after the game. Joe Missoula, as
Speaker 1: you would anticipate, said he has zero concerns. He'll be fine.
Speaker 1: I think Kristap said something about the effective He'll die
Speaker 1: on the court and they'll take a look at it.
Speaker 1: But he'll be playing in game three. But that is
Speaker 1: still something and whether he is available to play he's
Speaker 1: been coming off the bench or otherwise. A lot of it, too,
Speaker 1: is just how he looks, how he's moving when he
Speaker 1: is out there, if he is out there. So do
Speaker 1: you have any one perspective on his impact? But two
Speaker 1: just an in general, if you have any updates or
Speaker 1: information on how he will be and what the prognosis
Speaker 1: looks like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no updates you know, there was no media availability.
Speaker 2: The teams weren't available to us yesterday. On a travel day,
Speaker 2: we will head over there, you know, you go over
Speaker 2: there this morning and then find out what the latest is.
Speaker 2: And even that, I mean you're talking thirty hours until
Speaker 2: the game, however long it is, and you know, a
Speaker 2: lot of healing can go on or therapy whatever. Now,
Speaker 2: obviously the reason they kept them out as long as
Speaker 2: they did is because it's a serious injury, that initial
Speaker 2: CAF strain, and if this is an aggravation of that,
Speaker 2: it could reset the clock. That would be sort of
Speaker 2: the worst case scenario for the Celtics if it's the
Speaker 2: kind of thing that he can get back to where
Speaker 2: he was for the start of Game one, if not
Speaker 2: by Wednesday night, maybe by Friday night. I mean, they
Speaker 2: have a two game cushion right now, and if you
Speaker 2: were going to air on the side of caution, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe you don't use him in Game three. They went
Speaker 2: nine to one without him in the postseason while he
Speaker 2: was out in the in the previous rounds. I mean,
Speaker 2: the hand people talk about. You know, Boston had a
Speaker 2: little bit of an easy road right as they missed
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler in the first round, Donovan Mitchell was hurt,
Speaker 2: he got hurt for a couple of games in the second.
Speaker 2: Then it was Tyre's Halliburton well. Throughout a lot of that,
Speaker 2: Boston was playing without Christoppas presented, So if you want
Speaker 2: to downgrade what they accomplished, you have to factor in
Speaker 2: that they were missing a key part of their team,
Speaker 2: and we saw in game one what a difference he
Speaker 2: can make. He's particularly important against Dallas because of their
Speaker 2: bigs and the ability to clock things up in the
Speaker 2: in the paint. Certainly, Derek White had a nice block
Speaker 2: at the rim late in game two of PJ. Washington,
Speaker 2: But if you have Prezingas on the floor, he's a
Speaker 2: natural rim protector, So that matter is there as well.
Speaker 2: You look at Dallas's lob dunks way down from what
Speaker 2: they're accustomed to winning with, and when they don't have
Speaker 2: that going, when they don't have the corner threes, you know,
Speaker 2: it makes a big difference in their office. So we'll see.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, these calf strains have become sort
Speaker 2: of the the second most important or concerning injury because
Speaker 2: we've seen we saw with Kevin Durant that the calf
Speaker 2: strain led to the Achilles tear. That was the concern
Speaker 2: with Giannis when he didn't participate at the very end
Speaker 2: of the season and in the in the books first
Speaker 2: round is that you know he had a calf strain
Speaker 2: and they weren't going to risk the Achilles. So same
Speaker 2: thing with porzingis. I mean, if they think that it
Speaker 2: could be a domino from calf to Achilles, I'd hate
Speaker 2: to think we've seen the last of them. Obviously, the
Speaker 2: rhetoric after game was that, like you said, he said
Speaker 2: he would die on the court. Achilles doesn't kill you,
Speaker 2: So I think could kill the Achilles, but it would
Speaker 2: be okay, I guess if he's willing to take that chance.
Speaker 2: But I'm sure they don't want to do it. And
Speaker 2: if it's a different numerically, you know, being up to
Speaker 2: zero versus being down oh two, So we'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that's the question. And I think to the
Speaker 1: point about that there's different injuries that playing through is
Speaker 1: one thing, pain tolerance is another thing, but actually putting
Speaker 1: yourself in harm's way of a very severe injury that
Speaker 1: not only can I pact you right now in this series,
Speaker 1: but you think about even next season and just big
Speaker 1: picture looking at it. I'm sure that's something that obviously
Speaker 1: they will be taking into consideration. But you said it game,
Speaker 1: this is a big game. This isn't a game that, yeah,
Speaker 1: Boston is sitting here with a two to zero lead,
Speaker 1: but the tenor of those series shifts in the final
Speaker 1: shifts very quickly if this becomes three to zero as
Speaker 1: opposed to two to one in Dallas getting an opportunity
Speaker 1: to come back home. They have not shot the ball
Speaker 1: well short of Luka Doncic and Dancic has had a
Speaker 1: lot of seemingly uncharacteristic turnovers. His numbers have looked good,
Speaker 1: but overall he just needs help. And the guy that
Speaker 1: you anticipate, you hope, you expect to help him will
Speaker 1: be Kyrie Irving a huge part of why they got here,
Speaker 1: and he has struggled and whether you want to look
Speaker 1: at the history between him and the Boston Celtics organization
Speaker 1: and if any of that played a factor in the
Speaker 1: environment in TD Garden, but it's it's been a tough
Speaker 1: sledding for Kyrie. In Game one he had twelve points,
Speaker 1: twelve to twenty six. He was zero five from three.
Speaker 1: Game two, sixteen points, didn't hit a three point shot
Speaker 1: as well, seven of eighteen from the field. You can
Speaker 1: probably say that about both teams though struggling from the
Speaker 1: three point line. But it's looked at he has not
Speaker 1: looked like himself. He has not looked like how he
Speaker 1: has looked throughout the course of the postseason, in particular
Speaker 1: for a player who has talked about a lot of
Speaker 1: having been here, having done that, having that experience, needing
Speaker 1: to help the others along the way, what do you
Speaker 1: think the biggest concern should be and has been about
Speaker 1: the play of Kyrie And how do you think that
Speaker 1: changes here for Game three?
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you I want to almost cut him
Speaker 2: a little slack because, you know, for everything we heard
Speaker 2: about Luca and Kyrie being the best offensive backcourt in
Speaker 2: NBA history, right now they're making Boston look like it
Speaker 2: has the best defensive backcourt in NBA history with Holliday
Speaker 2: and Derek White. Now, those guys did finish on the
Speaker 2: second team All Defensive Honors, and they could have been
Speaker 2: first team. You know, the way voters voter could have
Speaker 2: easily flipped that makes a difference. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: this is this is Kyrie's time he has said it essentially,
Speaker 2: and it makes total sense. They would not be here
Speaker 2: without the symbiosis of Kyrie and Luca and how they
Speaker 2: learned to play off each other, and how what a
Speaker 2: lot of us thought was going to be a battle
Speaker 2: for the ball and a my turn year turn situation
Speaker 2: has become much more cooperative and room for each Luca
Speaker 2: being willing to indulge Kyrie's hot streaks and get the
Speaker 2: most out of those guys. They wouldn't be here now
Speaker 2: if that wasn't the formula, and if that's not going
Speaker 2: to be the formula now, they're not going to win
Speaker 2: a championship or even extended, you know, to six or
Speaker 2: seven games. Kyrie, I thought for sure, would bounce back
Speaker 2: better in Game two. He's he seems to have a
Speaker 2: knack for not stacking up bad games. He can have one,
Speaker 2: but then he's he's pretty much on point. Didn't happen.
Speaker 2: He got a credit Boston's defense for that. I think
Speaker 2: the switching coverage and everything else they're they're throwing at
Speaker 2: those guys has has taken away some of what Kyrie does.
Speaker 2: He's still a great finisher. He still can make plays
Speaker 2: that that dazzle you. Know, creative shot maker, but he
Speaker 2: hasn't hit a three pointer yet in the series, and
Speaker 2: so you know the pressure is going to grow on him.
Speaker 2: Being home will help until it hurts, because at some
Speaker 2: point the fans are going to get a little bit antsy.
Speaker 2: If this becomes three games that Kyrie's off, it's going
Speaker 2: to be off the hard to turn it around then
Speaker 2: if Dallas obviously, if they go down three, nobody's won yet.
Speaker 2: And while that is going to happen one of these years,
Speaker 2: I don't see this Dallas team as being the team
Speaker 2: that's going to dig out of an O three hole.
Speaker 2: So it puts so much pressure, so much attention on
Speaker 2: the Wednesday night game.
Speaker 1: With that being said, Ash, what are your predictions for
Speaker 1: the outcome of Game three.
Speaker 2: I actually think Dallas will win Game three. I think
Speaker 2: they will get a bump from being home. I think
Speaker 2: Kyrie will play better. Uh you know, we saw we
Speaker 2: saw Luca walking around pre game two like a mummy.
Speaker 2: I mean he had re wrapped, he had his torso wrapped.
Speaker 2: You know, if two days uh two off days by
Speaker 2: Wednesday night, that should help. There's only one day in
Speaker 2: between Games three and four, so better to use the
Speaker 2: rehab time now, and I think I think the role players,
Speaker 2: guys like Derek Jones Jr. And And Derek Lively, Daniel Gafford,
Speaker 2: those guys will be much more comfortable at home and
Speaker 2: and two one series. I mean, it's it's so important,
Speaker 2: you just you can't dig into that O three hole.
Speaker 2: And I think the urgency for Dallas will will mean
Speaker 2: a lot. Now that said, I would expect if that
Speaker 2: happens for Boston to Game four. Boston hasn't lost on
Speaker 2: the road in these playoffs. Uh, They're able to handle
Speaker 2: that stuff very very well well, and you know that
Speaker 2: that might be enough if they come in that they
Speaker 2: you go and expecting a split, they could they could
Speaker 2: go for the sweep. But if they do that and
Speaker 2: drag Dallas back to Boston for game five minutes three
Speaker 2: to one, Like I said, I don't think this Manvericks
Speaker 2: team is capable of flipping the script to that degree now,
Speaker 2: not based on what we've seen so far.
Speaker 1: As I'm with you, I would go with Dallas. I
Speaker 1: don't think this will be a sweep. I think they
Speaker 1: end up getting this one, but I do think Boston
Speaker 1: will ultimately close it out. However, I think this is
Speaker 1: going to be big games on the side of both
Speaker 1: Kyrie and Jason Tatum. I think those are two players
Speaker 1: who historically, and you look at how they play, have
Speaker 1: not stacked together as many games of shooting inefficiently and poorly.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could even say that about Boston for
Speaker 1: as much as we're talking about Dallas, and I do
Speaker 1: believe this is going back home, especially some of the
Speaker 1: complimentary players, role players, bench players coming in and being
Speaker 1: a little bit better. I do think that will happen,
Speaker 1: and shooting better and all that. Game two, Boston shot
Speaker 1: just under twenty six percent from three. They're not a
Speaker 1: team that ten to thirty nine from the three point line.
Speaker 1: I anticipate that will be better. But I do think
Speaker 1: that Dallas will ultimately find a way behind Luca and
Speaker 1: behind Kyrie to pull off Game three. But I think
Speaker 1: also you're going to see I think it's going to
Speaker 1: be a tight one, and I think that's where it
Speaker 1: goes back to us talking about closers and having closers
Speaker 1: and what Luca and Kyrie can do. I think we'll
Speaker 1: see more of a closely played game and Dallas just
Speaker 1: pulling it off at the end, being there at home.
Speaker 1: But I do think this is where we've talked about.
Speaker 1: Tatum does so many things on the floor, and despite
Speaker 1: not shooting the ball well, I think this is a
Speaker 1: game that he will come back to knocking down shots
Speaker 1: in the way that we are accustomed to seeing him.
Speaker 2: It's a great point, serily, because I think the conventional
Speaker 2: wisdom on this series going in was, you want, if
Speaker 2: Boston is going to win, they're gonna need a bigger
Speaker 2: cushion late in games. If the game is close, then
Speaker 2: you know you're gonna fear what Don't and Irving can do.
Speaker 2: And while Game two got down to five, there wasn't
Speaker 2: much time left at that point, it was just about
Speaker 2: a minute.
Speaker 1: Don't as Dallas fans talking about that that push from
Speaker 1: behind Jaylen Brown, Derek White on PJ. Washington But no,
Speaker 1: but I feel you, and I.
Speaker 2: I think Boston has had enough of a lead that
Speaker 2: they haven't had to worry so much about those late
Speaker 2: game heroics, and just a closer game would bring out
Speaker 2: the best I think in the Mavericks.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think we may see that in Game three.
Speaker 1: Some other news, we've had some other news happening about
Speaker 1: the NBA in regards to a team not still playing
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers were going to
Speaker 1: get to their coaching search and the latest right after
Speaker 1: this welcome back to NBA Cal Sarakustak joined by the
Speaker 1: great Steve Ashburger and Ooh ash Oh Lakers trying to
Speaker 1: put it together get a head coach. We've seen reports,
Speaker 1: We've heard reports. This has been ongoing since their season
Speaker 1: ended and they decided to part ways with Darvin Ham
Speaker 1: and the latest was that Danny Hurley was their guy.
Speaker 1: They had been targeting him. He flew out to Los
Speaker 1: Angeles over the weekend and made a decision on Monday,
Speaker 1: and his decision was to stay at Yukon to go
Speaker 1: for that third straight national championship. He's built just an
Speaker 1: extraordinary legacy already, it feels like with the Huskies. But
Speaker 1: that leaves the Los Angeles Lakers back to the drawing
Speaker 1: board and been some names that have still been out there.
Speaker 1: We've heard about James Rego, We've of course heard a
Speaker 1: lot about JJ Reddick, some others that they will bring in.
Speaker 1: What's your What was your reaction I should say to
Speaker 1: Hurley deciding to stay at Yukon and more so on
Speaker 1: the side of rejecting the Lakers offer and what's next
Speaker 1: for the Lakers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was interesting, Sara, because I was on a
Speaker 2: flight with a lot of NBA media people yesterday and
Speaker 2: while there was a lot of sleeping going on, initially,
Speaker 2: once somebody, i mean there was Wi Fi available, So
Speaker 2: once somebody saw that news of Hurley's decision, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, the laptops are coming out. People are firing up,
Speaker 2: you know, their ex app and and trying to figure
Speaker 2: this out. And then of course a lot of chatter too,
Speaker 2: because let's face it, there was skepticism about the whole
Speaker 2: thing from the get go. The fact Adrian Wojnarowski who
Speaker 2: broke that story of Hurley being a candidate and breaks
Speaker 2: all kinds of stories which are you know, very much legitimate,
Speaker 2: but he has a particular relationship with the Hurley family.
Speaker 2: He had written a book about Bobby and Danny Hurley's dad,
Speaker 2: you know, a renowned coach, high school coach out in Jersey,
Speaker 2: And so it seemed like, wow, almost like an almost
Speaker 2: like an inside job, and you wondered whether this was
Speaker 2: and coming on the heels of Gino Arama getting a
Speaker 2: contract extension, it seemed like maybe this is a little
Speaker 2: bit of leverage for Danny Hurley to make sure he
Speaker 2: gets the deal he's seeking from Yukon. So a lot
Speaker 2: of skepticism, and yet I mean, the pieces all seemed
Speaker 2: to have proven out that the Lakers did look at Hurley,
Speaker 2: they interviewed Hurley, they apparently offered him a job. I mean,
Speaker 2: if they hadn't, and this was that part was bogus.
Speaker 2: I mean, they would be out there right now saying no, no, no,
Speaker 2: this is absurd. You know. So those pieces, all you know,
Speaker 2: proved to be true. That doesn't mean that Danny Hurley
Speaker 2: had genuine interest in going to Los Angeles. It could
Speaker 2: mean that, like any of us might might you know,
Speaker 2: if we had marketability, might try to do It's like,
Speaker 2: oh wait, somebody might want to interview me for a job. Well,
Speaker 2: I want to make sure my current employer knows that,
Speaker 2: because it's a good way to get a raise. So
Speaker 2: it could be you know, even that simple. I I
Speaker 2: wasn't surprised when I heard the news he was staying
Speaker 2: at Yukon. I guess, you know, to get to the
Speaker 2: to the bottom line, it just it seemed like it's
Speaker 2: a tough job with the Lakers. I mean they change coaches.
Speaker 2: They're not patient. They've got a roster that has you know,
Speaker 2: serious issues, if not right now, but coming up because
Speaker 2: of lebron James's future and you know where they're going
Speaker 2: to backfill in terms of young talent and the whole
Speaker 2: Ronnie James potential pressure on that team. There's just there
Speaker 2: are better situations that could open up in the next
Speaker 2: few years that you know. Any Hurley, he's the only
Speaker 2: young enough guy. He could wait and dip his towe
Speaker 2: in the NBA waters a little bit down the road.
Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens now. I mean I heard
Speaker 2: people making a case that this was a ploy of
Speaker 2: some sort that benefits everybody. Right, Oh well, well woes
Speaker 2: he has another scoop, Danny Hurley, you know, becomes this
Speaker 2: this coaching darling and ends up with you know, I
Speaker 2: can't lose decision, you know, take seventy million dollars from
Speaker 2: the Lakers or get a better deal to stay where
Speaker 2: you love and where you've won. And that the Lakers
Speaker 2: somehow benefited by showing that they were really searching for
Speaker 2: the best possible coach. You know, it wasn't just say well,
Speaker 2: we're going to take lebron suggestion and hire JJ Reddick
Speaker 2: without without considering other candidates. Now I look at that
Speaker 2: and I say, well, yeah, but the message there is
Speaker 2: that JJ Reddick is not your first pick then right,
Speaker 2: he's at best your second choice. And is that a
Speaker 2: good thing? But yeah, I guess that can be debated
Speaker 2: in terms of the the credibility that would be stole
Speaker 2: upon upon Reddick that he uh, you know, he finished
Speaker 2: second for a you know, a high profile job, and
Speaker 2: there were other candidates as well, and it was a
Speaker 2: real search. So I don't know that. That's a lot
Speaker 2: of inside basketball management stuff. I think Reddick looks like
Speaker 2: he's going to be the Lakers next coach. Never say never,
Speaker 2: but you know, eventually, all the parts will fall into place,
Speaker 2: and we'll see a similar league in preseason and next season,
Speaker 2: and we'll find out if if both these guys or
Speaker 2: all these people made the right decisions.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting. That's that's what we come to
Speaker 1: you for. Ash is all the inside. You give us
Speaker 1: all the inside, the NBA charter, all of those things.
Speaker 1: So we'll have to circle back with you with all
Speaker 1: the good stuff, and uh wait to see what does happen.
Speaker 1: The Lakers have said that they, as you would expect,
Speaker 1: want to have a coach in place, a head coach
Speaker 1: in place by the draft, which is a little over
Speaker 1: two weeks. So you continue to monitor all those things
Speaker 1: and what is happening with the Finals as you continue
Speaker 1: to cover it and watching you and reading on NBA
Speaker 1: TV and NBA dot com. And until then, Ash, enjoy
Speaker 1: yourself in Dallas and we will talk with you soon.
Speaker 2: Thanks Sarah.
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