WEBVTT - Law Murray on Lakers, Cavs, Clippers and more 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:11.760 On this episode of the Heat Check. 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.440 Is time to check in on the LA Clippers, one 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.439 of the surprise teams in the NBA this season. We 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.200 are joined by friend of shoe Lamarie of the Athletic, 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:23.040 who also covers the NBA at large, so he's gonna 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.680 give us all the tea on the clips, Kawhi, there 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:28.440 are season to date and some other storylines from other 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:29.200 teams that he's. 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.599 Been covering along the way. Great way to start the year, Anthony. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.560 One of the last times you're gonna be producing my show, 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.760 my man, because you're going off doing bigger and better things. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:56.120 Drop that motherfucking beat. That should be Rihanna happy to 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.600 everybody who listens to the Heat Check. I am super 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.160 excited for all the cool days they were going to 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.280 do in the twenty twenty five year. When I can 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:08.360 share them with you, I will. But I cannot personally 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.720 think of a way to start the year better off 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:13.520 than having one of my dear friends that covers the league. 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.639 Law murray On. He is a Philly guy by birth. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:22.479 Before doing the whole academic thing at cal and then 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:26.800 in Pennsylvania and at USC, he was a researcher for 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.119 NFL Media an NBA editor at ESPN for many years. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:32.880 He was a Clippers blogger before signing on with The Athletic, 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.240 where he now covers the Clippers in the NBA at Large. So, Law, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:38.840 you're at the game, at the game cover and for 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.880 the great almost called why not almost call it? Yovan 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.360 Buja in the Lake Great, he's the sick and grade 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:46.280 the sick grade. 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:51.760 Yovon Bouja. You're at Lakers calves and you hadn't seen 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:53.920 the caves yet, like you said just a bit ago. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:58.040 What's stuck out in that game? That's not obviously your 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:00.080 beat normally to cover Lakers. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.880 Yes, and might beat the cover. You know. It was 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.120 just my third Lakers game in like two weeks, which 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.679 is kind of wild. I hadn't seen the Clippers and 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.839 Lakers haven't seen each other, so I've gotten a good 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.160 look at how the Lakers have been. But I can 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.680 tell you I was I don't want to say I 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:26.080 was surprised, but I was interested to see how the 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:30.200 Cavs energy was after beating Golden State the night before 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.600 and the Lakers were off for two days. I was 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.200 at the game Saturday night where the Lakers beat the 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.480 Kings and that was Doug Christie's debut as a head coach, 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.480 and Lebron didn't play that. I mean, it was a 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:44.560 lot of points in that one too, though, So like, 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.000 you know, the Lebron had five days off, he just 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.440 turned forty, and we all had you know, the whole 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.240 Lebron hasn't played thing. You know, I was at the 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.960 Grizzlies game where what twenty four hours before, JJ Redick 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:00.720 was like, I don't know where is I don't know 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.080 if he'll be back. And then it's like, of course 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.320 he's going to show up and play like Lebron with 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:09.280 rest is obviously different than Lebron at on E and so. 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:15.079 And the Lakers went to Cleveland in October, and that's 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.840 when I think people first started to realize, oh, this 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:20.200 Cavaliers team is not messing around, like they smacked the 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:24.240 Lakers at night, even though the Lakers made twenty three 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:28.040 more free throws and the Cavs did right. So for me, 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.120 it's like, okay, you have that kind of game circled. 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:35.960 Cleveland's playing incredibly well. It's a statement game just on principle, 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:43.720 a huge rest disadvantage. And yet Trisa, these Cavaliers players 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.960 were still running up and down the floor because that 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:49.520 is what they are ingrain to do. They are pushing 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.760 the pace under Kenny Atkinson, they are getting good shots. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:57.200 I feel like when I watched the Cavaliers and the 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.760 Donovan Mitchell Cavaliers under JB. Bickerstaff, I got used to 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.840 them draining the shot clock in half court possessions and 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.080 they would get good shots like they were a good team. 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:09.400 But that was their offense. They weren't, you know, they 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:11.320 were not a team in a rush to get a 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.520 shot up. Not that this team is in a rush 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.960 to get bad shots up. I'm pretty sure that if 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:18.880 they're not leading the league and field goal percentage, they're 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:22.640 damn close to it. But they they're not waiting for 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:26.200 you make or miss. They're getting the ball up the floor. 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:30.160 There are I played basketball. You played basketball. Even though 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:34.520 I need proof of yours, you know, I was an 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.640 off guard, and the shooting guard position to me means 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.440 when that ball goes through the net or it's a 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:44.440 rebound or a change possession, you are up the wing. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:49.080 You are up and out right. Point guards are like, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:51.200 get me the ball, were starting this, but shooting guards 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.200 are You're going up yeah, and the cas just all 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.840 their you know, whoever is off the ball, you know, 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:03.120 whether it's one of DG or Donovan, but especially guys 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:08.800 like Max Thrus, Carriselvert, they are up the floor waiting 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.640 and they get good shots just off of that, and 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.600 that was the game. Pretty much like the Lakers. They 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.600 want to run, but Manning is good at running as 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:22.080 the killer the cap layers. And that was with the 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.800 Cavs on a West coast back back. I thought that 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.120 was incredibly impressive. And you know what helps to have 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.120 that kind of energy when you beat the hell out 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:35.000 of the Warriors on that front end. None of those 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.680 dudes had to play thirty minutes in Golden State, so 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.640 it was like that was the one thing I was like, Okay, 0:05:39.640 --> 0:05:43.320 these guys are outside of Isaaca Carrow fully healthy and 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.040 they did the best job possible taking care of themselves 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.479 on the front end, and that was that made a 0:05:49.520 --> 0:05:53.000 huge difference in the Tuesday night game against the Lakers. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:57.039 Yeah, you mentioned JB bigger staff. I don't like it 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.720 felt like the Calves last year were very predictable and 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.800 that a lot of ISO, a lot of dribble handoff, 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:06.279 and it just kind of felt like if the fans 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.600 know what's going on, you know, it's it's Donovan Mitchell, 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.800 it's Darius Garland. Like they're just there wasn't much creativity 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.560 and now and you never really know what's going to happen. 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.120 I don't know. It feels like they didn't really love 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.320 the way JB. Bickerstaff coached either. Detroit's playing pretty well. 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.640 But sometimes certain coaches are good for like teams in 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.680 certain parts of their life cycle, right, and like maybe 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:35.359 Kenny is a better coach for this part of the 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:36.520 life cycle of his team. 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.240 Yeah, we see that a lot. I thought JB did 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:43.880 an outstanding job building up that team because when JV 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:45.880 took that job, I think he was what the fourth 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.040 head coach in two three years something like that. Yeah, 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.400 you know, they let torond Lu go early in the 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.919 twenty eighteen nineteen season, Larry Drew had to take on 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.039 the rest of that year. He didn't even want the 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:06.359 job up front, and yeah, and slug life, you know, 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.320 and JV kind of had to like stabilize a team 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:17.160 that was incredibly lost, and he did that, like they 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.160 got to the play in tournament and then they got 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:21.440 to the first round, and then last year they got 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:25.200 to the second round. Trista, you I was thinking about 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:30.760 this last night, like you need three things because again 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.880 I just told you. I just saw Doug Christy, you know, 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.200 coach his first game as the Sacramento King's head coach 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:41.520 after Mike Brown got let go. And we know that 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:44.480 franchise in Sacramento. I mean, Cleveland is not that far 0:07:44.520 --> 0:07:50.040 behind us sar as habitual chronic instability and dysfunction. You 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.240 need as a head coach to have two of the 0:07:53.320 --> 0:08:01.200 three relationships in this list ownership, front office, and your stars. 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:07.000 And the extensions are the stars will dictate whether you're 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:10.440 winning or losing a lot of these games. Okay, Like 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.040 if you don't have a star, that's probably going to 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.760 be a real issue for you. The front office, the 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:18.960 thing that the front office is beholden to the most 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.600 is the players that maybe won't play depending on who 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.400 the coach is, right, So you got to have the 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.120 relationship with that management. But you also like the vets, 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:32.640 the free agent who just steign the young guys that 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:36.040 haven't or are showing that they could play, but they 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.079 need some rope. That is a front office consint And 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.520 then the ownership extension is the fans and the media, 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:47.160 all the chatter, because that stuff just is a perception thing. 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:51.600 When you're a head coach, you are basically the face 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.480 of a whole lot of bs. You got to answer 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:57.959 for stuff from media day until the you know night 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:02.840 you're eliminated. And so, you know, I thought JV just 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:06.800 lost too many of the key relationships there. Obviously him 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.600 in the front office had their had their challenges, and 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.480 a lot of those challenges had to do with the 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.240 touch point between what's gonna happen with Donovan Mitchell. Well, 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.840 they decided that JAB was at the end of the line, 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.160 like you mentioned. And the great thing about Kenny Atkinson 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.760 is Kenny's been a head coach and an assistant coach 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:35.120 with so many different situations, rebuilds, revitalizations and everything in between. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:39.520 You know, I'm a big fan of Kenny accent. I 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.000 got to cover him when he was with the Clippers 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.439 to Ron Lou's first year, and we didn't see each 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.280 other in person that whole year. The whole year is 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.080 on zoom, so it's been cool seeing him in person, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.480 you know, the last couple of years with the Warriors, 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.440 and now last night I got to catch up with him, 0:09:55.440 --> 0:10:01.520 and you mentioned predictability. So JV is a guy who defensively, 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.080 he knows what he wants to do. I actually think JB. 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:07.440 The coolest thing with what JB did the you know, 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:10.719 get the calves kind of to break through, was they 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.080 lined up differently. They had Larry markin in at the three, 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.680 Evan Mobley at the four of his rookie year right, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.640 and Jared at the five. It's like teams weren't lining 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:24.800 up like that, right, And there is some predictability with 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:27.800 Kenny Atkinson's Calves. You know that they're going to run 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.160 a whole bunch of pick and roll. You know that 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:33.680 if they get threes up, you're in trouble. They don't 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.040 take the same volume of threes as some of these 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.120 teams in the league do, but their accuracy is what 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.960 kills you. And that is what I think is the 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:45.720 conversation here. I think you do need some predictability, Trista. 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.559 Predictability is an advantage to the teams that have it. 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:56.040 Like if you're you know, if you're you know what 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.440 Boston's going to do, and so it's very predicted what 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.400 Boston's gonna do. That doesn't mean you're gonna stop it, 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.839 you know what I mean, you're still praying as a 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:09.440 certain point that it came that they missshots, But you 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.559 know what shots are coming from. You know who's gonna 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.160 have the ball in their hands. And that's the thing 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.800 with Cleveland Kenny. What he's done is he knows his 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:23.920 personnel and he's maximizing it creatively but predictably in a 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.840 way that JB probably did not show he was going to, 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.079 especially once those relationships got strained with some of the 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:31.520 key guys on that team. 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.280 Heading over to the Lakers really fast. Because I was 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:39.880 reading your article this morning, and uh, like, it feels 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:44.160 like this sentence you could say this year, you could 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.199 say it, last year, you could say it the year 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:52.480 before that. The Lakers insist they're in a good place. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.839 What what are we making of that? Because you look 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:02.240 at the Lakers and I feel like they're the only 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.360 ones that don't really want to admit that the house 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:07.880 has a bit on fire. I don't. 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:11.160 So here's my thing. I don't think the house is 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:14.600 on fire with them. They've been way worse this season 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.839 than they are now. Where they are now to your point, though, 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.679 is seventh in the Western Conference. 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:27.000 That's that's the love. That's the house on fire. That's 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.880 that's what we're when is the goal. 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:38.520 Here's my thing with the Lakers. If the Brooklyn Nets 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.760 hired JJ Reddick and the Brooklyn that's not the New 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.480 York Knicks because again, the Knicks are loud, right, any 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.800 little progress the New York Knicks make, then you're going 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.800 to just act like you know, you're gonna have fifty 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:56.120 cameras in that. Like, but I want to use the 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:00.360 Nets as an example. I would even use Charlotte. So 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:04.360 let's say Charlotte. If the Charlotte Hornets hired JJ Reddick 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.760 and then't they hire they interviewed them. I think they 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:10.280 did in the past. Let's say the Charlotte Hornets hire 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:14.040 JIK and the Charlotte Hornets had Lebron James back in 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:19.760 the Southeastern Division, right, and you're saying they need to contend, 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:22.760 it would hit different. 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.360 You'd be like a forty year old Lebron James and 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:28.840 Charlotte yeah. 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:32.720 Yeah, Like what do you mean content? And so what? 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:37.800 Like the Lakers because they want a championship in the 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:43.640 post pandemic reality of our of our existence, like people 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.160 still look at them as a team that should theoretically 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.640 be just able to win a championship because they made 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:52.680 that fake one. 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.240 Or get out of a plane at least. 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.680 Yeah, Like they made the Western Conference finals in twenty 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:05.760 twenty three, and they ran back that team, thinking that 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.440 they were running back a conference finalist. They ran back 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.800 a seventh seed Tristan. That is and that and that's 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:17.600 the thing. Like the Lakers are fine, They're in a 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.040 good They're in an okay place. If okay is the 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.000 status quo where they've been at. You know, there are 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.800 some teams that will be thrilled to be the seventh 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.080 in their conference this year. You know what I mean. 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:33.240 Okay, we can't do that. We can't. 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:37.880 We realized that the Lakers and Lebron's twilight is not 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:38.880 that place. 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.560 Just like it's that same way with Golden State though too, 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:47.560 like it's Steph Curry's. 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.960 Like the Golden State Warriors are hell amid And finally 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:55.680 Stephen Curry said it himself, like that's since Kevin Durant 0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.680 left that franchise. They the Warriors have had, including this season, 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:03.760 they've had one year where they can feel like they 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.680 were proud of it, and they won the championship. And 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.160 the thing is, because of the success they did have 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:10.560 when they were making the finals five years in a row, 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:15.600 people attached that twenty two team to everything else that 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.760 they've done over the last decade. And there's and and 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:23.200 I feel like that's wrong, and that's just NBA fans 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.760 have gotten to the point where it's like the Warriors 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:28.080 our name brand. Look, we grew up when the Warriors 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:31.720 were ashy s L and made the playoffs once in 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:35.720 seventeen years, right, And it's like that's no offense to 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.880 the war The Warriors have an awesome rooted fan base, 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.720 you know, shout out to the arena in Oakland days. 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:45.280 You know. What I'm saying like that is that's their 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.480 fan base. But nationally and how they're covered, you know, 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.600 as far as the whole scope of the league, everyone 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:57.000 looks at the Warriors as a team that should be contender. 0:15:58.120 --> 0:15:58.520 Run it. 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:02.600 What you're saying is, really we should. They're getting covered 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.280 like their contenders, but really they're closer to like if 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.960 it was Charlotte or a non name brand or a 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.680 team that hasn't done as much, then it would be 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:14.640 really not Nobody would be talking about it. 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:17.920 Nah, we'd be like, oh my god, why is stuff here? 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.000 Why is Lebron with the Lakers. No, Instead, it's make 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.600 the Warriors great again, make the Lakers great again. You 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:27.080 know every time, you know, you got to put every 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.760 Warriors Lakers game on national TV, because one, you know, 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:33.360 it's easy money. It's shooting fish in a barrow. You know, 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:35.840 two of them are going to do some stuff to 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.920 act like you know, they're cool, and they are cool now, 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.800 but like we know that that's not how this started. 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:47.080 And like they're both in their twilights, they're both showing 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:49.920 real signs of the climb. It's not to say they're 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:51.880 not good players now, it's not to say that they 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.360 aren't great or aren't you know, deserving of all of 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.440 our excitement when they do any of the stuff that 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:02.160 reminds us of their of their peaks. But those players 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.280 are not peaking right now. Kevin Durant and Phoenix is 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.080 not peaking right now. But notice that we ain't talking 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:10.280 about the Suns and trying to make them great again 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:15.040 like the Warriors and the Lakers, because the Sons ain't 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.560 never done anything like they made the finals. That saying 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:20.600 it's like you can't even make the finals and be 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.480 says that you gotta win a championship or whatever. The 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:25.400 Suns haven't done that, so they don't get the same 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.560 level of Hey, can y'all move heaven and Earth to 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:32.760 save the end of this guy's you know whatever you 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.440 want to call this stage of guys like Katie or 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:42.000 bron or steps career. You know, it's a branding thing. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.480 Like the Lakers, they're supposed to be. They're supposed to 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:47.720 be where they are right now. Now, if you look 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.199 at it from that perspective, yeah, they can be satisfied 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.520 going into the first week of January. But if you're 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.439 thinking that they're a contender, no, the only people who 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.280 think their contenders are the people who are in that 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:04.639 building with the Lakers and obviously have a reason to 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.840 not be real with themselves, and the people who want 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:09.960 you to watch the Lakers. And there's a lot of 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.480 people who no matter again, no matter what is going 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:15.280 on with that team, they want you to focus on 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.760 the Lakers more than a team like the Cavaliers. I 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.680 wrote a damn story last night, and if I wasn't, 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:22.760 you know, on the. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.280 Beat, if you weren't on the Lakers, you wouldn't have 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:26.000 been writing about that. 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:30.960 Yeah, Like if my assignment wasn't was open ended, I 0:18:30.960 --> 0:18:34.600 would have been like, hey, like, look at this Cavaliers team. 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:36.760 I'm hoping there would be better chances to do that. 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:40.159 The Cavaliers have much bigger games than last night. Like 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.800 last night was a big game for the Lakers. For 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.840 the Cavaliers, it was let's just get through this back 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.399 to back on the West Coast, the Cavaliers and Thunder 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.520 are gonna be on national TV twice this month. Those 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:56.000 two teams are absolutely running the league in their respective 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:59.359 conferences and overall. Because you know how many games the 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:02.439 Cavs have lost against Western Conference teams this year, just. 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:11.720 One zero, which wonder because I thought zero. 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.760 Loss, they're more fine than the Western John Morant was. 0:19:19.520 --> 0:19:21.840 I know, I know they are very fine in the way. 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.600 What about the Clippers we talked about in the summer. 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:30.240 I was skeptical. I was even more skeptical by Norm 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:36.560 powace comments about addition by subtraction. They are currently in 0:19:36.640 --> 0:19:39.280 the sixth place, only three and a half games back 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:44.240 of second in the West. You sort of predicted this 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:49.520 being okay, But I don't know if you predicted it 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:52.800 being this okay outside of the Spurs loss, which was 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:55.000 built to ask just the other night. 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:58.439 Yeah, and the big part of that was not to 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:00.920 make excuses her. The Clippers, I mean, they've been awful 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:05.879 in the second night of back to backs for several weeks, 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:11.080 but logistics were terrible there. If that game was a 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:14.800 normal game, it would have started an hour later, coming 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:17.960 from you know where they played the night before. This 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.399 is why you don't mess around in New Orleans. You know, 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.240 you don't fall behind fourteen and you don't have to 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.040 run Norman Palace minutes to forty and Visus Zubots, who's 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:31.000 a big, big person, you know, having to play the 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.000 minutes that he had to play James Harden at the 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.520 stage of his career. But the great thing about the 0:20:35.560 --> 0:20:38.639 Clippers is, you know, when it's not a second night 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:40.680 of back to back, you know what you're getting out 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:42.800 of them. They're gonna play hard, and they have the 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:46.360 players to play hard and the play without agendas. Last year, 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:50.320 the Clippers were great for a significant portion of the season. 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:55.280 I need great. They were, like we were talking thirty 0:20:55.280 --> 0:21:00.680 three and eight from you know, I believe the end 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:04.280 of the losing streak in November where at by the 0:21:04.359 --> 0:21:07.320 end of it they had to sit Russell Westbrook or 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.240 not sit him but make him a second unit player. 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:12.399 You know, from that point until the end of the 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:14.760 Grammy shirt thirty three and eights for the damn good right, Trista, 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:18.080 that team didn't believe. That team didn't believe that they 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.040 were going to do anything. There was just too many agendas, 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:23.879 too many guys split and when kawhi'snee gave out, that 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:24.280 was it. 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:28.639 And people agendas like getting paid, agendas. 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:35.679 Getting paid, playing time, touches rolls, you know, guys like 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:37.920 when you have a guy like PJ. Tucker on your 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.320 team who is traded as a part of the James 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:44.600 Harden deal, and the front office has an idea of 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.159 how they want to use him, but the coaching staff 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:51.399 is like, he's not helping, and he wasn't like you know, 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.120 they tried him. He was getting cooked. And he obviously 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:59.800 doesn't do anything offensively, like nothing at all. He doesn't 0:21:59.840 --> 0:22:01.560 even and shoot the corner three like he used to. 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.480 And that's okay. PJ. Tucker is pushing forty, you know 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:07.679 what I mean, Like he's at the stage of his 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:10.800 career where it's you know, a credit to him that 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:12.960 he got the contract that he got, but he's not 0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.320 helping the team. And last year I saw like when 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.800 you gotta keep PJ. Tucker Bone Thiland from your last 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:23.560 game before the All Star break because they didn't get 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:26.320 traded to a team that was playing as well as 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:28.119 the Clippers were. The Clippers were in first place in 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:30.879 the West for about twenty four hours right before the 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:33.800 trade dead nine. That's a red flag obviously. It's like 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.720 what is going on where guys this team could do 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:40.000 something special and guys who are on that team are 0:22:40.040 --> 0:22:44.840 acting like this just because they're not playing. So not 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.639 to say that that's completely gone away. Like PJ. Tucker's 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:50.760 still in the roster. The difference is he's not traveling 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.760 and around the team this year. Bone Island's still in 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:56.600 the roster. It's just that Bones has never been in 0:22:56.640 --> 0:22:58.880 the rotation this year and the few chances that he's 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.159 gotten he had and you know, the coaches have not 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:04.119 been convinced that he should stay in the rotation, so 0:23:04.200 --> 0:23:09.520 he doesn't play. So you still have, you know, a 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:13.600 lot going on. Kawhi isn't playing right now. That said, 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:18.800 have they re ranted their team. They didn't sign Paul George, 0:23:18.840 --> 0:23:22.720 which we have an old way of thinking. Pay a 0:23:22.760 --> 0:23:26.000 guy as much as possible to keep him or at 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.359