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Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to the All Ball Pod. I'm Doug Gottlieb,

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Speaker 1: and thanks so much for making this part of your rotation.

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Speaker 1: You're que as the kids like to say. It's really weird,

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Speaker 1: right that Q the que the line something that's used

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Speaker 1: in Europe that we've never used before. We only use

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Speaker 1: now because of the podcasts. That's really I don't know,

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Speaker 1: it's odd to me. Um, there's a lot to discuss

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Speaker 1: in the world of basketball. I kind of think I

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Speaker 1: kind of think, um that the most interesting is the

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Speaker 1: upcoming NBA season. Rick Buker is gonna be our guest

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Speaker 1: in in a moment, and I'm fired up to talk

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Speaker 1: about the Celtics, the Lakers, the Warriors, the Jimmy Butler,

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Speaker 1: and uh, frankly a team like the Spurs who have

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Speaker 1: been impervious to some, so much of this kind of

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Speaker 1: non sense around the league, and now of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: they're very very much previous. Um, well, we'll talk with

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Speaker 1: with Rick Buckle from bleacher Report. Momentarily. Let me I

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Speaker 1: started last week telling you I thought that the Celtics

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Speaker 1: were not only the class of the East, but as

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Speaker 1: many people have come around, I think they're sitting there

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Speaker 1: right You know, they're like stock horse with the Golden

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Speaker 1: State Warriors. And while we have expectations for the Warriors

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Speaker 1: to be better than ever, because well, Kevin Durant should

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Speaker 1: be um kind of in what was it? What was

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Speaker 1: the I'm trying to think what the nickname that he

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Speaker 1: didn't like was, which was it wasn't like Silent Assassin.

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Speaker 1: It was I'll think of it in a second, slim Reaper.

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Speaker 1: That's what it was. Slim Reaper. Well, he didn't love

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Speaker 1: the slim Reaper idea. Now suddenly he's kind of taken

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Speaker 1: on that whole mantra. It's really interesting to see on

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Speaker 1: you know, he's I'm gonna be who I want to be.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be who I'm really how I'm real that

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Speaker 1: that part is fascinating me because I do think this

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Speaker 1: is a year in which Kevin Durant wants to make

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Speaker 1: a point and he's the best player in the league.

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Speaker 1: Last year, he tried to show, at least in the

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Speaker 1: first quarter of the year that he could be a

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Speaker 1: dominant defensive player, and and that showed up as well

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs. He didn't play a ton of defense

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Speaker 1: late in the regular season. The team didn't seem motivated.

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Speaker 1: But I feel like this is a year in which

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Speaker 1: the Warriors maybe aren't as good in terms of their

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Speaker 1: collective pieces early on because they're not gonna have to

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Speaker 1: Marcus Cousins, and even when they get to Marcus Cousins,

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Speaker 1: that's changes who they are and how they play. But

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Speaker 1: I think that Durant may make up for that because

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Speaker 1: I kind of feel like he's going for the scoring title,

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Speaker 1: kind of feel like he's going for the m v P,

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Speaker 1: kind of feel like he's going to show people in

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Speaker 1: his own mind and frankly in my mind that he's

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Speaker 1: the best player in the league. Now that'll that'll that'll

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Speaker 1: strike Lebron lovers as well, you're a hater, and I

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Speaker 1: just I just I despised that. I think Lebron is

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Speaker 1: really good, and I think that he's he's figured out

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Speaker 1: kind of his own version of old man game, right.

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Speaker 1: His jump shots better than it's ever been. He takes

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Speaker 1: more places off defensively than he ever has, and now

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Speaker 1: he's playing for mismatches where I think he'll play some center.

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Speaker 1: I said this when the deal was made that he

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Speaker 1: was coming to the Lakers. Look at the team they're

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Speaker 1: putting together. They don't have a backup five. And it's

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Speaker 1: really smart to play Lebron as your small ball five

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Speaker 1: one because he's awesome and by some people's estimation, the

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Speaker 1: best player in the league. But more than anything that

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Speaker 1: that creates a mismatch, which is, you know, like Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green on his own is not a top twenty player

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. Playhim at center where he can hold

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Speaker 1: his own and nobody scores with their back basket, and

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Speaker 1: he can also switch and guard so many positions, and

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Speaker 1: he's invaluable to what the Warriors do. But if you

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Speaker 1: say Draymond Green or Lebron James, go back and watch

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Speaker 1: the NBA finals. Like Lebron didn't have to guard anybody

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Speaker 1: because he's Garden. Draymond like those are converted power forwards

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Speaker 1: or small forwards made into centers. Are guys that can

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Speaker 1: shoot well enough to keep the center occupied, but they're

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Speaker 1: not good enough shooters to be starting in a small forward.

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Speaker 1: They're not good enough ball and some something's missing that

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Speaker 1: they can't play their natural position. Size us sometimes it's girth,

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's skill, sometimes it's athleticism. Whatever it is, Lebron

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Speaker 1: is missing none of those. Maybe a little bit of

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Speaker 1: the explosiveness that he had going back five ten years ago.

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Speaker 1: Who wouldn't lose explosiveness as much as he's played. But

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Speaker 1: I think it's genius to play him as your backup

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Speaker 1: small ball five. It is. And you tell me he's

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Speaker 1: not a better option than Javaial, He's not a better

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Speaker 1: option than Beasley, of course is the Lakers are fascinating

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Speaker 1: because Lebron's there. He's only seen success in the playoffs

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Speaker 1: since really he got to Miami. Whatever level of success

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Speaker 1: he should have achieved, getting to the NBA Finals that

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Speaker 1: many years in a row is magnificent. And this is

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Speaker 1: a completely different, completely different level of competition. Think about it.

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Speaker 1: Now only have the Warriors, you have the Rockets. Well,

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Speaker 1: I don't think they're as good as last year, but

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Speaker 1: they're still very, very good. And Oklahoma City, who um

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Speaker 1: I thought coming into the year, coming into the year

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Speaker 1: would be the number two team in the West. The

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Speaker 1: problem is now you have Russell Westbrook who's not quite

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Speaker 1: healthy and Andre Robertson who's gone through a setback and

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Speaker 1: he's gonna be out for a couple of months. And

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Speaker 1: so though that, I I like the collective pieces better

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Speaker 1: than the collective pieces and the continuity of last year

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Speaker 1: better than last year. The the whole hope was that

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Speaker 1: you had Robertson coming in, who's a selfless player. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: it's four on five on offense, but it feels like

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Speaker 1: five and a half on five on defense. He's that

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Speaker 1: good in that versatile. So you take away Mellow who

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Speaker 1: was nothing defensively and a ball stopper offensively. I just

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Speaker 1: like that the whole thing came together. But on second thought,

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Speaker 1: the thunder are behind the Rockets because of injuries, and

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure Grant is nearly the small like they're

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Speaker 1: small ball five? Is Grant? Right? There's the That's a

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Speaker 1: perfect example for why Lebron is a great small ball five.

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Speaker 1: Is that? Uh, if Grant your small ball five or

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Speaker 1: Lebron's the small ball five, who has the advantage be

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Speaker 1: advantaged Lebron. So even though Oklahoma City might not be

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Speaker 1: as good as I would have thought, in Houston not

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Speaker 1: as good as they were last year, those teams are

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Speaker 1: way better than the collective group that was in the

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Speaker 1: East last year. Remember, Boston didn't have their top two players.

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Speaker 1: Toronto couldn't get over Lebron. So those your top three

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Speaker 1: and then kind of go through the list of the

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Speaker 1: other teams. Poortland might take a step back, but that's

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Speaker 1: still a dangerous team with two elite guards. Um. I

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Speaker 1: think Dallas is gonna be a lot better. They tried

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Speaker 1: to be bad last year. They accomplished that goal. But

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Speaker 1: Luka Donte is ready to play. If you haven't seen

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Speaker 1: him in the preseason, he's bigger than you thought. He

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Speaker 1: might be a little bit heavier and thicker than you thought.

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Speaker 1: But you had him to Dennis Smith and Harrison Barnes

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Speaker 1: and the rest of the MAVs, and you bring Dirk

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Speaker 1: off the bench, and that's a pretty good team. Memphis

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Speaker 1: is way better than they they tried to be as

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Speaker 1: soon as Mike Kindly got hurt. Last year, they tried

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Speaker 1: to be bad. I haven't gotten in New Orleans, who

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Speaker 1: seemed to figure it out and they got better after

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Speaker 1: they got rid of de Marcus, and they don't have

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Speaker 1: to Marcus this year. Um. Minnesota, however, they kind of

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Speaker 1: reformed themselves. Utah. I mean, we kind of go into

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Speaker 1: the last and we start getting deeper and deeper. Um No,

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Speaker 1: I'm not buying the Clippers or the Sons, who just

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Speaker 1: fired their general manager as playoff teams, but if those

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Speaker 1: are your also rans in addition to the King's like,

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Speaker 1: it's a very small list and a talented list of

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Speaker 1: rising young players for your also rans. And then we

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Speaker 1: haven't talked about San Antonio, who I thought before they

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Speaker 1: lost the genre, Murray should be better this year and

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Speaker 1: they were last year. Not because I don't like what

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Speaker 1: they had last year, but they didn't have Quiet Leonard

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Speaker 1: last year. So now you had to Martin Rosen, you

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Speaker 1: got Marcus Aldrich and they turned over their roster that

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Speaker 1: age right before our eyes, and I thought again before

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Speaker 1: Murray got hurt, they should be better. So the point

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Speaker 1: about the Lakers is you have Lebron and this idea

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Speaker 1: that you can play fast and aggressive and play a

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Speaker 1: deep bench and and not be a great shooting team

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Speaker 1: around Lebron and still be effective. Meanwhile, he's playing against

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Speaker 1: the tougher level of competition day and day out. Um

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Speaker 1: In addition, I do think these games are bigger to

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Speaker 1: everybody in the In years past, Memphis only got him

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Speaker 1: once in their building, Dallas only got a once in

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Speaker 1: their building, Golden State only got him once in their building.

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Speaker 1: Utah only got him once in their building, and because

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Speaker 1: that has not worn off yet, because it's not normal yet,

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Speaker 1: it's the new normal. Every night he's gonna walk into

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Speaker 1: not just the normal pack Lebron house, but you're gonna

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Speaker 1: there's a peak. You're gonna get the best of all

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Speaker 1: these teams. That's not every game is played at a

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Speaker 1: d percent. When you're in the NBA. It's hard with

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Speaker 1: to travel on the back to backs and it's a

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Speaker 1: war of attrition, but as close to undercent as in

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Speaker 1: terms of effort is what you're going to get if

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Speaker 1: you're Lakers. So Lebron has made some positive pro Alonzo quotes,

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Speaker 1: but here's the truth from inside the Lakers. Nobody knows

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Speaker 1: about Lonzo. The most important time in terms of development

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Speaker 1: for a young player in the NBA is between in

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Speaker 1: the end of his first season and the start of

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Speaker 1: his second season. And the logic behind is this. Remember

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Speaker 1: the draft is in June after the NBA Finals, and

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Speaker 1: so you get done planning in college sometime in March,

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Speaker 1: maybe in April, and immediately you go and leave and

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Speaker 1: you start working with a trainer and you're training yourself

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Speaker 1: for the combine and four workouts and you prepare you

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Speaker 1: to if you get drafted the end of June, you

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Speaker 1: do the kind of whirlwind in July, Allison, you get

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Speaker 1: thrown into the mixture playing in summer league, and then

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Speaker 1: you get down with summer lead kind of ended July

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Speaker 1: and you got like a month and you can work

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Speaker 1: on your game, some work on your body, but you

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Speaker 1: got to catch your breath, and then you get ready

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Speaker 1: for your first training camp and you get beaten up

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Speaker 1: and it's just kind of learning on the fly. Well,

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Speaker 1: a Lonzo did all of that. He'd never really been coached,

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Speaker 1: His body hadn't been worked on, and his body did

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Speaker 1: break down. The only played fifty some on games last year,

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Speaker 1: and though there were some good things defensively instinctually, rebounding,

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Speaker 1: pasting basketball, obviously offensive game, he's learning on the fly

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Speaker 1: and it was a mess in terms of his shooting,

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Speaker 1: and his on ball defense wasn't good either, and the

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Speaker 1: Lakers were really hopeful, but don't when he hurt his

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Speaker 1: knee and he had the setback and he had surgery.

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Speaker 1: Though he added size and he's got thicker and so

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Speaker 1: the ball comes off better because he has more strength.

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Speaker 1: Kedn't played, he hadn't worked on it. He had no

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Speaker 1: finishing shots last year, and all of this learning on

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Speaker 1: the fly is great, but when their season was over,

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Speaker 1: before the playoffs actually began, that would have been time

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Speaker 1: and which he should have been putting in work. And

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Speaker 1: so whatever Lebron saying in terms of supporting a Lonzo Ball,

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Speaker 1: he has no idea because none of the Lakers have

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Speaker 1: any idea. He hadn't hardly played five on five, whereas

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Speaker 1: the rest of the Lakers have, and you saw how

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Speaker 1: much the improvement you've seen from Josh Hard and Brandon

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Speaker 1: Ingram and Kyle Ko has been some of those guys.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna catch up with Rick Buker from bleacher Report

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Speaker 1: in just one moment, talk a little bit about the

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Speaker 1: Lakers and what he thinks I think is an odd

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Speaker 1: fit between Lebron and maybe a run for a championship.

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Speaker 1: But before we talked to Rick Buker, before we proceed

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Speaker 1: Rick Buker. He's covered the league for years. He works

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Speaker 1: for Bleacher Report. Uh, you guys kind of gave an

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Speaker 1: opening Lance. Let me first start with the Lakers, because

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Speaker 1: I don't think they're great, but they're super super interesting. Um,

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Speaker 1: what's your thoughts as we get ready worked a couple

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Speaker 1: of days away from the season. They are interesting and

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Speaker 1: they have a multitude of pieces, but I don't know

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Speaker 1: what the plan is. You You've got some really young

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Speaker 1: talent that wants to prove itself, and Brandon Ingram and

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Speaker 1: Lonzo Ball as you mentioned, guys that and Kyle Kuzma,

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Speaker 1: all guys that want to prove that they belong in

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Speaker 1: this league and that they can be real players in it.

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Speaker 1: And then you have this old guard of Lance Stevenson

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Speaker 1: and Jean Rondo and Beasley, and these guys want to

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Speaker 1: prove that they still belong in the league, that they

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Speaker 1: deserve to be here. But I go back to the

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Speaker 1: number one thing for me is why is Lebron James

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Speaker 1: in l A That is the number the first and

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Speaker 1: foremost the number one thing, because the one thing we've

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Speaker 1: seen is you can take all these disparate parts and

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Speaker 1: we can say that they don't really fit, and they

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Speaker 1: don't really fit Lebron and the past teams that he's had.

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Speaker 1: But as we know, he has a remarkable ability to

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Speaker 1: pull disparate pieces together and make them very competitive. But

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Speaker 1: that has been in the past when he is playing

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Speaker 1: for a championship. I don't know that that's I don't

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Speaker 1: know what his motivation is for l A. Everything that

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Speaker 1: I've seen to date says it's too create his post

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Speaker 1: playing career to get on with his foray into Hollywood.

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Speaker 1: Dwyane Wade essentially said that to me in a conversation

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Speaker 1: we had a couple of months ago down in Orlando.

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Speaker 1: So that that, above all anything else, if Lebron is

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Speaker 1: fully committed to making this a championship contending team, then

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Speaker 1: they have a chance to be competitive. If not, then

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Speaker 1: I just don't see how this thing comes together. Well,

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Speaker 1: what I've heard is in their practices it's at a

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Speaker 1: much higher level level of competitive. Uh is remarkable in

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Speaker 1: comparison to last year. Which is interesting because one of

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Speaker 1: the key criticism, and you know it, and I think

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Speaker 1: most people who really know the NBA know it, but

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Speaker 1: fans maybe don't, is he didn't really practice. He wasn't

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Speaker 1: really He was invested in the team in the games,

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Speaker 1: but in terms of the practices, it was it was,

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Speaker 1: It wasn't maybe a little bit below him because you

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Speaker 1: also had older players and he just kind of knew

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Speaker 1: what he had to do when he had to do it. Um,

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Speaker 1: that hasn't be the case here. He has invested in

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Speaker 1: the team process. But I think it's interesting. L A

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Speaker 1: is one of these places, and I know, for people

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Speaker 1: don't know, Buke lives in northern California. Spent a lot

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Speaker 1: of time in southern California, but people seem to think

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Speaker 1: they know what California is like. It's a lot like

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Speaker 1: New York where until you're there, the there's a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a grind to it. There's a super high

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Speaker 1: expectation of it. So even if his thought is, hey,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna take a chance in a year or two

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Speaker 1: and winning another championship, meanwhile set myself up for the

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Speaker 1: rest of my life. This is where I want to live.

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Speaker 1: This where I want to be, the city's expectations are

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Speaker 1: different his own expectation of, Hey, I can handle maybe

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Speaker 1: not competing for a championship for a year. Everyone says that,

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Speaker 1: but you know, just it's just like he thinks he

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Speaker 1: can play without the basketball. Everyone says that, but his

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Speaker 1: default has always been I want to win a championship,

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Speaker 1: his default has always been giving the ball space, everybody

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Speaker 1: out and I'll make a play. And I just I

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Speaker 1: wonder how long the Lakers last before we go back

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Speaker 1: to Lebron James default. Yeah, Yeah, that's the that's the

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Speaker 1: huge question. I don't know, and that's what I'm waiting

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Speaker 1: to find out. And but the indications, look, I've said it.

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Speaker 1: If this Lebron James was willing to play the role

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Speaker 1: that Kobe played on the two thousand and eight US

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Speaker 1: national team where he comes in and says, I'm not

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Speaker 1: gonna worry about offense defensively, I'm going to set the

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Speaker 1: tone because let's face it, with this crew, that's what

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Speaker 1: has to be brought to order. Who's going to defend?

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Speaker 1: How hard are they going to defend? How hard is

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Speaker 1: everybody going to focus on defending? Lebron could make a

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Speaker 1: huge statement in doing that because it's but it would

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Speaker 1: be the exact opposite of what he's done the last

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Speaker 1: few years, which is, I am I'm gonna handle everything offensively.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to make sure we get to where we

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Speaker 1: need to be offensively, and I'm gonna need you guys

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Speaker 1: to pick me up defensively because I'm not going to

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Speaker 1: expend a whole lot of energy at that end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. See, I'm willing to do that. I don't know,

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Speaker 1: if I don't know if that's Look, I think this

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Speaker 1: can be a really good defense. Like if if Rondo's

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Speaker 1: are starting point guard. He's not what he used to

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Speaker 1: be defensively, but he's a lot better than Kyrie. He's

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Speaker 1: had uh during his Cleveland days. Fair sure, sure, I

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Speaker 1: know a lot of its reputation. Lot that's that's that's

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Speaker 1: one guy. Hold on. I believe that Josh Hart will

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Speaker 1: end up being the starting two guard at some point

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Speaker 1: this season. Okay, Josh Hart is strong as an ox,

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Speaker 1: and though he's not a freak athlete, I think that

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Speaker 1: he could be a very very good defender. And I

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Speaker 1: think the idea is they think if they can get

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Speaker 1: brand Ingram to play hard because he's so long and arranged,

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Speaker 1: he's versatile, like you're thrown out for you know, you're

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Speaker 1: thrown out for pretty good if Lebron doesn't have to

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Speaker 1: be the best defensive player on the floor anymore. Instead

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Speaker 1: it's a collective group of defenders. Yeah, look, I I

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Speaker 1: don't say he's got to be everything defensively, but he

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Speaker 1: has to set a tone there. He has to demonstrate

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Speaker 1: that that's an important end of the floor to him,

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Speaker 1: not it's got to be important to everybody else. And

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Speaker 1: I'm going to do what I do offensively. It's this

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Speaker 1: is how we need to approach things, and maybe maybe

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Speaker 1: that's being delivered in practice. I just I need to

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Speaker 1: see that because I haven't seen that attention by Lebron

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Speaker 1: in the last few years. All Right, let's get let's

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Speaker 1: have to couple other things that are interesting. The Spurs

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Speaker 1: lose de Jon Murray and I didn't think the Spurs

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Speaker 1: were gonna win the title, but I thought they'd be

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Speaker 1: better than they were last year. Kind of surprising last

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Speaker 1: year considering they didn't have Kawhi Leonards. You have and

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Speaker 1: it's you got tomorrow the whole season. You get LaMarcus Aldridge.

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Speaker 1: So what do you do now if here the Spurs

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Speaker 1: where you're still going to be decent, but you lose

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Speaker 1: your starting point guard who very not very good offensively,

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Speaker 1: a very good defensive one. Yeah, it's a look, it's

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Speaker 1: not a good thing. I I'm not a big believer.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't a big believer into John Murray any point

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Speaker 1: guard who at this stage, I mean, the way the

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Speaker 1: game is played. I kind of had this, this conversation

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Speaker 1: with Ryan Holland a couple a couple of days ago,

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Speaker 1: about give me a two guard at the way the

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Speaker 1: games played so heavy pick and roll, give me a

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Speaker 1: two guard who can shoot and handle or you know, essentially,

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Speaker 1: if he's a two guard, he can shoot, who can handle,

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Speaker 1: And I'll take that over a point guard who can

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Speaker 1: see the floor but can't shoot because of the way

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Speaker 1: the game is played right now. And so I I

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Speaker 1: just I believe that because of the way the Spurs

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Speaker 1: execute and play on a night in a night out basis,

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Speaker 1: they have even without Murray, they have enough talent to

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Speaker 1: compete and be a playoff team in the West. Now.

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Speaker 1: They're not gonna be more than that. They're not gonna

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Speaker 1: be anything more than they were last year, but they

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Speaker 1: have enough just because they execute on a night in

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Speaker 1: a night out basis, they have enough to win wins

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Speaker 1: and and get into the playoffs. I don't expect much

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Speaker 1: more than that. My big question after being down there,

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Speaker 1: and I was just down there a couple of days ago,

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Speaker 1: is Gregg Popovich looks as beaten as I've ever seen him. Now,

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Speaker 1: he's not you know, he's never been a mattenee idol,

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Speaker 1: but he looks like he has been racked through the mudd.

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Speaker 1: And this is preseason and I can't help what is it?

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Speaker 1: I mean, like, I know his his his wife died.

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Speaker 1: This is going back last year. Honestly. Yeah, I don't

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Speaker 1: think he's recovered from that. I just and then and

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Speaker 1: then all and then all his like life of Spurs

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Speaker 1: are gone to right, Like he's coaching guys aren't really

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Speaker 1: his guys. Yeah. I walked into that locker room and

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Speaker 1: I look around and I just I'm looking at the

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Speaker 1: names over the lockers, and I hadn't been in there

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Speaker 1: in a while, and I'm like, wow, this is this

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Speaker 1: is this is so unlike any Spurs locker room I've

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Speaker 1: ever walked into. Okay, let's let's go through a couple

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Speaker 1: of Ryan mcdonnog gets fired like a week before the season.

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying his moves deserve allowed him to earn

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Speaker 1: a contract extension, but like a week before the season,

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Speaker 1: something had to happen. Yeah, something had, But it doesn't

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Speaker 1: it doesn't. Mutton, I don't know. I don't know exactly

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Speaker 1: what happened, haven't heard yet, but it doesn't have to

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Speaker 1: be anything significant. When it comes to Robert Sarbor, he

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Speaker 1: is as much of a wild card as any owner

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Speaker 1: you can possibly imagine. So I have not heard definitively

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Speaker 1: what it is. I'm hoping that I'm going to find

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Speaker 1: out in the next couple of days. But ultimately it's

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Speaker 1: his decision making. You're trying to explain it, trying to

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Speaker 1: get a rationale for it. Here. The other part for

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Speaker 1: me is I'm looking at Elton brand hired by Philadelphia.

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Speaker 1: James Jones looks like he's going to get the job

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Speaker 1: at least on an interim basis with Phoenix suns Um.

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Speaker 1: So I guess experience really isn't a factor. And the

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Speaker 1: whole we're gonna go hire guys from M I T

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Speaker 1: and analytics Genus. I guess that's gone by the boards too.

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Speaker 1: Help you tell me, Doug, what we have. These are

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Speaker 1: billion dollar businesses, now billion dollar businesses, and we're hiring

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Speaker 1: people to run them on basketball operations and now with

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Speaker 1: gms they have been handled media and the business side

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Speaker 1: have to do all that. We're hiring guys who have

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Speaker 1: virtually no experience doing anything remotely close to the job.

427
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:33,520
Speaker 1: This is I'm not going I agree. Now, it's their money,

428
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,439
Speaker 1: it's their toy. They're allowed to play with it. However,

429
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:39,760
Speaker 1: they liked right, and I would. I would fend Elton

430
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: brand only in this sense. I've heard the exact same thing.

431
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 1: I've also heard like, hey, look, um uh, it's a

432
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,320
Speaker 1: he's a little bit of a figurehead and he does

433
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 1: have some experience from the from the from the G

434
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 1: League thing, you know, like look, I think here's the deal.

435
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,800
Speaker 1: I don't no no no no no no no no no,

436
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: no no no. I I look at it differently, like, yes,

437
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 1: they know these guys can't come up with new ideas.

438
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 1: I think here's what's fascinating. Um, Kyrie commits to staying

439
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,680
Speaker 1: in Boston. I think he figured out and I had

440
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,520
Speaker 1: heard when I was there this summer that he loved

441
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: their culture. They felt like I look, I played for

442
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,639
Speaker 1: and they were like, look, we've got the best coach,

443
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,200
Speaker 1: we've got a brand new facility. We've gotten rid of

444
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 1: the doctors that didn't that Isaiah Thomas thought ruined his career,

445
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,920
Speaker 1: like we got we'll get you the best medical attention

446
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 1: and oh yeah, by the way like Danny gets over

447
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,359
Speaker 1: on all these mooks, right like, he just keeps killing

448
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 1: these guys. And that's my fear for the the seventies

449
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 1: sixers is the seventies sixers hiring a guy who is

450
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,640
Speaker 1: you know, is not ready for this and there's still

451
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:47,040
Speaker 1: another step that's needed there right there, just like they're

452
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,159
Speaker 1: not there anybody who thinks they're they're they're not. They're not.

453
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 1: They're they're not. They were ahead of ahead of schedule,

454
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,320
Speaker 1: and one or two bad moves. Even experienced guys make

455
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,480
Speaker 1: questionable moves. Look at Oklahoma City, you got one of

456
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 1: the most respected guys in the game. You look back,

457
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: you're trying to explain a way that James Harden thing.

458
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,240
Speaker 1: But it was a mistake, um I you know, even

459
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,600
Speaker 1: if the owners wanted it, it was it was a mistake.

460
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,120
Speaker 1: The point is that that's the fascinating part, because there's

461
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 1: some good pieces in Phoenix, there's some great pieces in Philadelphia,

462
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: and you have guys that don't have a ton of

463
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: experience and based upon image and relationships and how they

464
00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,719
Speaker 1: look in front of a camera, got a job and

465
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,640
Speaker 1: and what happens with those assets is going to be fascinating. Well,

466
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 1: the thing with Phoenix is just weird because you hired

467
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,640
Speaker 1: a guy who everybody that I talked to Laud's Koskoff

468
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: and what he can be as a head coach. You've

469
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: now fired the guy who hired him, and that makes

470
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 1: for an awkward always makes for an awkward situation. I

471
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 1: don't know that James Jones is gonna come in if

472
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 1: you hope the job is gonna want his own guy.

473
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,440
Speaker 1: That said, if Kevin McHale is as rumored as a

474
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 1: long term solution, uh is he is? He gonna roll

475
00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,640
Speaker 1: with with Igor. It's just it's weird. Doing it eight

476
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 1: days before the season makes you look like you don't

477
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 1: know what you're doing. But to your point, the hiring

478
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:12,359
Speaker 1: of Elton makes actually less sense than this, because, as

479
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 1: you know, there's some people around the League of phil

480
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 1: Philadelphia took a step back. It's this this offseason. Nonetheless,

481
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:21,679
Speaker 1: they do have one more step to take, and it

482
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: is one of the most difficult to take, and really

483
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: take somebody who is shrewd about that last step, who

484
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,639
Speaker 1: understands how not to overreach, and yet to find the

485
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,760
Speaker 1: last few pieces that are going to bring this thing

486
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 1: together and make them a bona fide title contender. Why

487
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 1: you would put that in the hands of a neophyte

488
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: is beyond me. You're right at the last step, at

489
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 1: the precipice of really coming home and laughing he said

490
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:59,840
Speaker 1: there ahead of they lost for four freaking years. Yeah,

491
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 1: the sacrifice that they made to put these pieces together,

492
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,240
Speaker 1: it's uh. I mean we're now on the what six

493
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 1: seven year plan and and now and now you're right

494
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,360
Speaker 1: at that at the crux of making it happen, and

495
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 1: you hand it to the guy who's never done it before. Okay,

496
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,760
Speaker 1: I I got like two minutes for you. Um, Golden State.

497
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 1: I think this is the year Kevin Durant tries to

498
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,639
Speaker 1: show everybody's the best player in the league. But but

499
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 1: I still think it's a weird season because they don't

500
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 1: have DeMarcus and when they do get de Marcus, um,

501
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: they're going to be different because if you play them,

502
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: you gotta play big and that's not who they are. No,

503
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 1: there's no question, and you're gonna have to do that

504
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,120
Speaker 1: with the in the last couple of months of the season.

505
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,879
Speaker 1: Where are we trying to get together the Hampton five

506
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 1: and how we play small ball or we just put

507
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: that to the side and figure out how we're going

508
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,760
Speaker 1: to accommodate DeMarcus. It's going to it's going to be

509
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,600
Speaker 1: a really tricky challenge on from them in terms of

510
00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 1: what they want to get going. If the Marcus is

511
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 1: going to be happy, if they're just playing small ball

512
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,440
Speaker 1: and they call on him here, here, and there, he's

513
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 1: in the Zaza Petulia of replay you the first six

514
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,199
Speaker 1: minutes of the game and the first six minutes of

515
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 1: the second half, and otherwise we'll call you if you

516
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: need if we need you. I don't know that that

517
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,919
Speaker 1: that works. But above and beyond all of that, the

518
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:26,680
Speaker 1: health of Draymond Green is for me the number one

519
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,160
Speaker 1: thing to observe. Obviously, he's having some knee issues right now.

520
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,560
Speaker 1: I've heard they also have some hip problems. His deal

521
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: is up. He doesn't want to he doesn't want to

522
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: go through the Isaiah Thomas thing, or actually he is

523
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,240
Speaker 1: in the high Isaiah Thomas position of doesn't want to

524
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 1: get surgery, doesn't want to take time off, wants to

525
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,679
Speaker 1: see if he can battle through it and get a

526
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,360
Speaker 1: new deal before he has to take care of it.

527
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:50,520
Speaker 1: We'll see where that goes. But if they don't have

528
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 1: a Draymond Green, a fully capable Draymond Green. I don't

529
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 1: care what the Marcus cousins is. They ain't win another championship.

530
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: And remember the shoulders what's supposedly was there last year

531
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and he couldn't make a shot and

532
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,400
Speaker 1: they still want to inspite of that. It's gonna be interesting.

533
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: Follow Rick Buker on Twitter download his podcast, which is

534
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 1: an awesome one. Buke, thanks so much for joining us.

535
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,280
Speaker 1: Look forward to touching base at some of these games

536
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 1: and through the through the All Ball Pod in future.

537
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: What a great conversation with Rick Buker. I want to

538
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,439
Speaker 1: give you my thoughts on the Jimmy Butler situation in

539
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: the Twin Cities. Before I do so, let me talk

540
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:28,480
Speaker 1: to you about QUIP. One of the most important things

541
00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:31,959
Speaker 1: we do for our health every day. This brush your teeth.

542
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,000
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543
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,840
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544
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545
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546
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547
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Speaker 1: the built in two minute time or pulses every thirty

548
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Speaker 1: seconds to remind you to switch sides. And maybe most importantly,

549
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Speaker 1: it's got brush that are automatically delivered every three months

550
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 1: for just five dollars. I love quip because it's easy,

551
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Speaker 1: it's smart, and makes my teeth shiny. Clip starts to

552
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553
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554
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555
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556
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Speaker 1: refail pack free at g e t q u i

557
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 1: P dot com. Slash Doug reminds me a little bit

558
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 1: of War of the Roses. Remember that Kathleen Douglas is

559
00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 1: the Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas Danny DeVito's the lawyer.

560
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,800
Speaker 1: They tried to split up the house by putting like

561
00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:39,480
Speaker 1: a line down the middle. Yeah, this this doesn't work.

562
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: What's gonna be fascinating to see is who does invest

563
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: in Jimmy Butler's future. First, there's just the reality of

564
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler's a really well regarded player, but is he

565
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 1: your best player? No? No, not to win a championship.

566
00:29:54,800 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: So your second best player? Ooh, you like you need

567
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 1: him to feel like he's your second best player, but

568
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: in reality be your third best player. And you know

569
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: the idea that his mentality struggles to get along with

570
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 1: some of the guys in the Timberwolves like, I don't know.

571
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: I just you've already been through two franchises, and I

572
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: don't know how many will be open to him. I

573
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 1: guess the Brooklyn Nets will. I would guess the New

574
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: York Knicks will. But the Knicks have said we're not

575
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,520
Speaker 1: willing to part with our assets in order to trade

576
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: for anybody right now. Now, again, that's everybody's saying it.

577
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: People say a lot of things and they do something else.

578
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: But they parted ways with with assets to get Carmelo

579
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: Anthony and could have gotten him in free agency. They're

580
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: not gonna make that same mistake again. I guess the

581
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 1: issue is Jimmy Butler becomes what if they send him

582
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 1: to Sacramento, Like, you know what, you want to make

583
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,520
Speaker 1: us look bad at practice? Fine, will send you to

584
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:02,320
Speaker 1: Basketball Siberia. See how that works out for you. We're

585
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: gonna send you to Miami. And I think and part

586
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,000
Speaker 1: of this is being angry, and anger can provide a

587
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 1: great amount of motivation. He could be angered by the

588
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: fact that he thought a deal was imminent with the

589
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,840
Speaker 1: Miami Heat. Who wouldn't want to live in Miami play

590
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: for Eric Spoelstra and pat Riley. They've won championships there

591
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 1: with Shack and when Lebron and d Wade and I

592
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:26,560
Speaker 1: could come in and I could be the next guy.

593
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: You live on South Beach and all of a sudden,

594
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: like now we don't have the deal, and it's because

595
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,480
Speaker 1: Minnesota couldn't agree to terms. You're mad, you go to practice,

596
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 1: you take out of that anger on the other team.

597
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:40,200
Speaker 1: But when you say things now, maybe Minnesota does the

598
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: deal anyway, Maybe they do, or maybe they go thatph

599
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: you Jimmy Butler, right, we're gonna do you favor trages

600
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: the Miami Heat. Make your life better? Why you made

601
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: our lives worse? You've you've hurt your you undercut our

602
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,280
Speaker 1: value for you. Maybe you sit there for a couple

603
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,719
Speaker 1: of weeks said on nice, see how that See how

604
00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 1: you like that? And as much as you could say,

605
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 1: you shouldn't if you're a team, you shouldn't be vengeful

606
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:13,959
Speaker 1: if I'm the minds. As much as we think the

607
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves have no leverage, they still have the asset

608
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: and a lot of dealing. Jimmy Butler is not just

609
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:25,040
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler. But they don't want any bad contracts in return,

610
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: and this could help them because they're not motivated to

611
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 1: help him get to somewhere. I'm not gonna take a

612
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 1: bad contract just to get you off my books. You're

613
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:38,960
Speaker 1: already treating us like crap. It's gonna be amazing and

614
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,560
Speaker 1: bea never lets us down. And then you have college basketball,

615
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:46,960
Speaker 1: all of the whistleblowers, all of the discussion with um,

616
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:52,000
Speaker 1: the Adidas Runners and Christian Dawkins. Now, look, I I

617
00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:56,920
Speaker 1: agree with Dan Dockets in his tweet that coach k

618
00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 1: and Roy Williams and these these guys that are two

619
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: of the pre eminent, pre eminent premier coaches and aren't

620
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 1: accused of cheating should get out ahead of it and

621
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,600
Speaker 1: say like, look, we we don't want these unsavory types.

622
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: We don't want these people around college basketball. And this

623
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: is how it works. And but um, look, my feeling

624
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:25,479
Speaker 1: is there's always been in basketball somewhere between five and

625
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 1: of a U players like this, College players like this

626
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 1: where they're looking for a handout